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1/24/2023
The Orange County Transportation Authority's (OCTA) emergency construction work on the corridor in south San Clemente, California, has stopped slope movement and stabilized tracks to allow weekend passenger-rail service to resume Feb. 4.
The track needed to be stabilized after slope movement endangered the safety of trains traveling along the corridor. The track is used by Metrolink and Amtrak passenger trains and BNSF Railway Co. freight trains.
Service has been suspended since late September 2022. Construction to stabilize the track began in November 2022.
Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route will restart weekend service on Feb. 4, while Metrolink trains will continue to operate on weekends as far south as San Clemente Pier Station, OCTA officials said in a press release. Site conditions will continue to be monitored while the rest of the work is completed by the end of March, when weekly passenger service could be restored.
Located right on the California coast, that track had shifted as much as 28 inches between September 2021 and September 2022. The repairs called for 130-foot steel anchors to be drilled into the bedrock of the slope adjacent to the track to prevent further sliding. OCTA contracted Condon-Johnson and Associates Inc. on the $12 million project.
Track movement stopped once crews finished installing and locking off the first row of grade beam panels and ground anchor tiebacks that are stablizing the slope, OCTA officials said. The track has shown no signs of movement since the first row of more than 100 ground anchors was installed.
Crews currently are excavating for installation of the second row of tiebacks and grade beams.