Phase 2 of Blue Ridge Tunnel restoration project could start soon

Phase 2 of Blue Ridge Tunnel restoration project could start soon

By Liz Ramos The (Lynchburg) News & Advance  Dec 24, 2017

NELSON COUNTY — Pending approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, Nelson County and a Charlottesville-based construction firm will start construction on the next step of the Blue Ridge Tunnel’s restoration.

Next up are tasks such as removal of concrete bulkheads, restoration of brick lining, remedying drainage issues and strengthening the tunnel.

Fielder’s Choice Enterprises Inc. submitted the sole bid proposal of $2,774,460 for Phase 2 of the project Nov. 9. The bid exceeded available funding for the project, which is between $2.3 million and $2.5 million. The company previously submitted a bid proposal of $3.4 million in June, which was rejected in June as excessive.

To lessen the scope of work so the project could be awarded, county officials and Fielder’s Choice Enterprises agreed to remove three items, including the removal of brick casement, which is a final row of bricks to maintain the brick facade of the tunnel, graffiti removal and reconstruction of the barrier wall above the tunnel’s eastern portal.

“Hopefully by next month, we will have the project awarded, and Fielder’s Choice can mobilize into Phase 2,” County Administrator Stephen Carter said at the Nelson County Board of Supervisors meeting last week.

Carter said the work order changes won’t affect the structural integrity of the restored tunnel and can be completed later.

The county has been working to restore the historic 1.2-mile railroad tunnel, an engineering and construction marvel of its time, which opened in 1858 and was taken out of service in 1944.

The tunnel, designed by famed state civil engineer Cladius Crozet, carried the Virginia Central Railroad beneath Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains and connected the Shenandoah Valley with Virginia’s Piedmont.

“If this works, which hopefully it will work, the tunnel itself will be substantially restored and rehabilitated, and then we can aim at the third and final phase, which is the trail and the parking lot. The progress is slowly being made,” Carter said at the board meeting.

The county submitted a proposal for the removal of the three items to VDOT and the highway administration, including justifications for the reductions on the project, by Dec. 20.

“The priority for the County is to authorize and complete Phase 2. So, unless the final decisions from VDOT and FHWA prohibit this, the county will proceed based on the decisions these two agencies make,” Carter said in an email.

If the project moves forward, Carter said Phase 2 completion will take approximately 10 months.

According to Carter, the estimated project expense, excluding engineering and geotechnical services, ranges from $1,511,460 to $1,753,707. The estimate is based on Fielder’s Choice Enterprise’s submitted bid proposal with the three items removed from the proposal.

Carter said any excess money will be allocated for contingency funding of changes in the scope of work that might be presented or necessary. The balance of funding might be required to be used toward the items the county removed from Phase 2, he said.

Carter also said if there is an additional balance of funding from Phase 2, the county will seek to allocate it for Phase 3 of the project.

Phase 3, which is the final phase of the project, includes construction of the western trail and parking lot.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia/phase-of-blue-ridge-tunnel-restoration-project-could-start-soon/article_6ca72ba6-a6bb-500d-9bb2-44da46138f03.html

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