TriMet TV Episode 3 · Oct. 22, 2007 · 1:40 · Download (19MB M4V)

Making Tracks: MAX Crossing Installation

Watch the sparks fly! The Portland Mall Light Rail Project reached a milestone in late September as crews installed the last of the four new MAX crossings on 5th and 6th avenues.

Text transcript of this episode

The Portland Mall Light Rail Project reached a milestone in late September as crews installed the last of the four new light rail crossings on 5th and 6th avenues.

Paul, onlooker: "Looks like lots of sparks flying. A little loud, but not too loud."

Here at Southwest 6th and Yamhill—just steps from Pioneer Courthouse Square—is one of the downtown intersections where the new MAX Green Line will cross the existing tracks.

Before the crossings could be installed, crews had to remove the old track.

Gary Hopkins, chief inspector: "They said go, we fired up the saws, and took out the old pieces of rail. They came out in about 15 minutes. Then we brought in the new crosses and dropped them into place."

The rail pieces used in the crossings were custom made in Luxembourg.

Robert Barnard, director of mall design and construction: "When the contractor gets it, it's essentially in four pieces, where actually the cross has been pre-fabricated. If you imagine there's four Xs and you want to weld them all together to make like a Tic-Tac-Toe."

Work began on a Friday night and was completed by Monday morning to minimize the disruption to MAX riders.

Gary Hopkins, chief inspector: "So it's kind of a real detailed piece of work."

By the end of 2007, track construction on 5th avenue will be complete, and the street will be opened to vehicle traffic all the way from Union Station to Portland State University.

MAX trains begin rolling on the new tracks in September of 2009. You can watch the construction progress, or get updates by email, online at portlandmall.org.

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