advertisement

---

Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) crews have begun welding the first portion of rail for the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail project, agency officials announced yesterday.

On Monday, crews were scheduled to begin welding two, 80-foot lengths of rail in downtown Portland using a thermite welding process that superheats aluminum, iron oxide and alloy elements to produce molten steel that permanently joins the rails, TriMet officials said in a prepared statement.

The overall project is now about 30 percent completed, they said.

In all, more than 29 miles of rail will be installed along the 7.3-mile line, which will extend from the terminus of the MAX Green and Yellow lines at Portland State University in downtown Portland to South Waterfront, S.E. Portland, Milwaukie and North Clackamas County.

The project will include 10 stations and feature a first-of-its-kind multi-modal bridge over the Willamette River that will accommodate light rail, buses, bikes, pedestrians and a future streetcar extension.