Fay, S&B USA Construction awarded CSX contract for the Alexandria Fourth Track

Fay, S&B USA Construction (Fay), a Pittsburgh-based firm specializing in heavy civil infrastructure projects in the Mid-Atlantic region, has been awarded a contract by CSX for the Alexandria Fourth Track Project. This project will construct six miles of railroad track and related infrastructure in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, Virginia, to separate passenger and freight trains.

The Alexandria Fourth Track Project will construct six miles of a new fourth railroad track extending south from Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center in Arlington to just west of Alexandria Union Station. In this rail corridor where five tracks converge into three, the new track will be built within the existing railroad right-of-way to enable more railroad capacity between Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The new fourth track will be dedicated to passenger trains, while remaining interoperable for freight traffic during maintenance or construction activities. The north end of this project will connect to the southern end of VPRA’s Long Bridge Project in Arlington, Virginia.

Serving as the general contractor to CSX, Fay’s scope of work includes: site preparation; six miles of track construction; excavation; construction of a bridge; building retaining walls; modifying an existing crash wall at Telegraph Road; installing reinforced concrete culvert structures and drainage pipe; and building a new maintenance-of-way at-grade crossing for CSX crews. The anticipated duration of construction is approximately two years.

“Backed by 75 years of heavy-civil experience, Fay brings proven rail expertise and disciplined execution to advance the Alexandria Fourth Track Project safely and seamlessly,” said Ryan Surrena, President of Fay. “Strong partnerships and reliable field performance will define how we deliver this work.”

As one component in a portfolio of projects in Northern Virginia supporting the Transforming Rail in Virginia (TRV) initiative, the Alexandria Fourth Track will enable more railroad capacity and increase the efficiency of train operations. The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA), the City of Alexandria, Amtrak, Virginia Railway Express (VRE), and CSX are partners in these rail infrastructure investments.

This new award builds on Fay’s ongoing projects for VPRA and CSX. Fay is currently part of Long Bridge Rail Partners (LBRP)—a joint venture of Trumbull Corp.; Fay, S&B USA Construction; and Wagman Heavy Civil, Inc.—as the design-build contractor for the Long Bridge South Package. The joint venture is constructing a new two-track railroad bridge and an adjacent bicycle-pedestrian bridge over the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Potomac River.

Additionally, Fay is delivering two other contracts for CSX to create clearance for double-stack freight trains to pass through the city of Baltimore. The first is currently converting two arches of the North Avenue Bridge over CSX tracks into a single-span bridge. In an adjacent project over the same tracks, a Skanska-Fay joint venture recently substantially completed a project increasing the clearance of the historic Howard Street Tunnel.