This 11 mile project is the second Light Rail Transit project that C.S. McCrossan performed work on, the first being the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit. Beginning near the former Metrodome and ending in St. Paul, the Central Corridor Light Rail passes through the University of Minnesota and along University Avenue, bridging the gap between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The C.S. McCrossan/Ames portion of this four year project took two years to complete, beginning in 2010 and ending on schedule in 2012. Structural enhancement and re-decking was performed on the Washington Avenue bridge passing over the Mississippi River between East and West banks of the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus.
Structural techniques were used to minimize the impacts of the Central Corridor to the University of Minnesota campus. Roughly 1,450 feet of track were installed on “floating” concrete slabs, in an attempt to reduce the transfer vibrations from trains to the University labs. 3,150 feet of additional conduit is installed below the overhead contact system, to reduce potential interference of the trains with University labs.