CSX National Gateway Phase 2

A leading supplier of rail-based freight transportation in North America, CSX initiated a three-year project to upgrade its bridges, tunnels, and tracks. The goal was to accommodate double-stack freight trains and increase transportation efficiency by either lowering the tracks or raising the height of overhead structures. Schnabel provided services as part of a design-build team led by Parsons and Clark Construction.

For two Winchester & Western Bridges in Martinsburg, West Virginia, we performed geotechnical and geophysical investigations and identified various adverse site conditions affecting embankments and abutments associated with the bridges. CSX chose to raise the bridges, and we designed the embankment support using PLAXIS to model staged construction of the permanent soldier pile and lagging walls.

In Washington, DC, three active CSX rail tracks run in a depressed rail corridor between 9th Street SW and Maine Avenue SW. In response to the findings of our subsurface investigation, CSX chose to lower the track grade to increase clearance under four bridges. We consulted and observed activities during excavation and construction of the modified retaining wall.

In Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia, a steel bridge carries the Norfolk Southern Railway Company mainline tracks over two sets of CSX tracks. Track relocation required excavation into the slope below the north bridge abutment and the north embankment while maintaining active railroad traffic. Following a subsurface investigation and recommendations, we provided on-site consultation and oversight during the underpinning and doweling construction.

For the Point of Rocks Tunnel and Catocin Tunnel in Maryland, we conducted a geotechnical investigation and provided engineering recommendations to assist with lowering CSX tracks inside two hard rock tunnels.