VRE & Clark Construction Top Out New Maintenance Facility in Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg, VA - Clark Construction joined representatives from the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) on August 30 to celebrate the topping out of the Lifecycle Overhaul and Upgrade (LOU) Facility project in Fredericksburg, Virginia. At the celebration, the final steel beam was signed and placed atop the facility. Clark is serving as the contractor on the project.

The 33,500-square-foot facility, which broke ground in December 2020, supports the maintenance infrastructure required to carry out lifecycle repairs onsite, thus reducing out-of-service time for rolling stock, improving costs, and maintaining locomotives, railcars, and cab cars at the highest level of reliability. The facility more than doubles onsite workspace. Once complete, the maintenance facility will house industrial equipment such as a drop table and a wheel truing machine. Over the past months, crews have excavated more than 64,000 cubic yards of soil, placed 2,600 cubic yards of concrete, installed 5,300 linear feet of new track, and erected 40 tons of steel to bring the facility to full height.

In addition to the maintenance facility, the project also includes the construction of two new railroad tracks to accommodate four cars simultaneously.

“This milestone would not be possible without the strong partnership between Clark, VRE, Gannett Fleming, STV, and the other design and trade partners on this project,” said Ed Hanley, vice president at Clark Construction. “The trust and support from these parties, coupled with the hard work and dedication of the project’s talented craft workers, has enabled this critical infrastructure project to progress safely and successfully. I’m tremendously proud of this team that has worked 100,000 hours without a single recordable safety incident.”

“The project team has brought us to this exciting achievement, the placement of the final beam, as we move toward delivery of this transformational facility,” said Rich Dalton, chief executive officer of the Virginia Railway Express. “We look forward to our continued partnership, which will ensure the successful completion of the LOU.”

With structural steel complete on the maintenance facility, the team will shift its focus on installing the maintenance equipment, overhead crane, and office areas within the facility. The project is slated to complete in Spring 2023.