Sidewalk Superintendent's Report
Delegate Kenneth R. "Ken" Plum
 
I have always liked big construction projects.  The sand bar in the creek across from our home was one of my favorite play spots when I was a youngster.  I would move the sand around to imitate the laying of asphalt on nearby roads, or I would dig a trench just like workers installing a natural gas transmission line were doing.  The Tonka toys Santa Claus brought my boys were my favorite.  Little wonder that I get excited about seeing the construction work on the Silver Line extension of Metrorail from west Falls Church through Tysons Corner and Reston to Dulles Airport and two stops beyond in LoudounCounty!
 
One has to be vigilant to keep up with the rapid pace of construction.  To the east the Orange Line of Metro has been interrupted a couple of times as the connections for the two lines are put into place.  The piers that will lift the new line from the center of I-66 up across the westbound lane to the median of the interconnector highway that runs between I-66 and the Dulles Toll Road are standing erect like a modern day Stonehenge.  Some of the spans between the piers are in place.
 
A most spectacular sight for construction project lovers comes when the line reaches Route 123 where it once again rises up from the median strip to cross Route 123 and the Beltway and to run parallel to Route 123.  Most of the piers are in place, and the movable gantry crane is in place assembling sections of bridge span that are being made in a specially constructed factory at DullesAirport.  The sections are held together with tension cables.  There is much to gawk at here, so be sure to be careful in your driving to not take your eyes off the road.  I wish there was a good place to pull off the road to properly supervise the work.  Do not confuse the work that is going on at this point with the work that is also going on at the same time to add the HOT lanes to the Beltway.
 
Inside the area that is enclosed with a high fence between the two shopping centers at Tysons Corner is where the tunneling is taking place under the crest of the hill.  Because the tunnel is through soil rather than rock, a special tunneling machine is being used to construct the incoming and outgoing tunnels.  Seldom mentioned during the debate about tunneling at Tysons Corner was the fact that a short tunnel was always planned at the highest point of the route.  The tunnels will end just west of Route 123 in the median of Route 7.  On that side of Route 123 the tunneling method will be "cut and cover," and you can see the beginnings of that work already in place.
 
The work in the median of the Dulles Access Road at Wiehle Avenue is the construction of the station there.  It is scheduled to open in 2013.  The Dulles Corridor Rail Association which I chair recently gave recognition to those persons and organizations who have worked to put the necessary financing and accessing documents in place to complete the line by 2016.  It seems like a long time to construct the line, but it is a complex project.  Commuters will have to wait for this great new transportation alternative for our community, but in the meantime it keeps us sidewalk superintendents employed.