Locomotive Service Facility at the Amtrak Seattle King Street Coach Yard
Seattle
Award of Merit
Owner: National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak)
General Contractor: PCL Construction Services Inc.
Lead Designer & Civil & MEP Engineer: TKDA
Structural Engineer: Hanson Professional Services Inc.
Built to service very heavy rail cars, this maintenance shop houses a 55-ton overhead bridge crane and a 125-ton drop table that are used to switch out traction motors and locomotive axles on Amtrak train cars.
To handle the immense equipment loads, the facility was built atop a series of steel-driven pipe piles, each 24 in. in diameter. The piles were driven to an average depth of 180 ft below grade.
A heavily reinforced structural system of concrete grade beams ties the pile foundations together to support the pre-engineered metal building.
To reduce lighting costs, crews installed 29 large translucent panels on three sides of the building to bring in more natural light.
The project was completed months ahead of schedule, aided by strategic phasing of construction, including concrete, painting and CMU activities that flowed south to north across the site to take advantage of the 380-linear-ft building.
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