The contractor building Maryland’s Purple Line said it anticipates needing an additional five months and $187.7 million to build a required “crash wall” along the light-rail tracks.
Such a request would increase the project’s potential delays to 506 days, or nearly 17 months, when added to other problems the contractor has cited. It also would bring the potential cost overruns on the $2 billion construction contract to $526 million — more than 25 percent over budget.
The contractor, a consortium of companies called Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP), said in an April 7 letter to the Maryland Transit Administration that CSX Transportation is requiring that a crash wall be built along the Purple Line tracks. The light-rail tracks will run adjacent to CSX tracks between the community of Lyttonsville and the Silver Spring Transit Center.
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Crash walls are designed to absorb the forces of a derailed train to protect nearby facilities and structures, such as piers that hold up bridges carrying traffic over the tracks.
PLTP also told the state in a March 11 letter that it might need to file a “force majeure” claim because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The companies did not provide any details, but such claims typically argue that a contract can’t be followed because of an “act of God.”
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