A Positive Impact COVER STORY: WALSH-SHEA CORRIDOR CONSTRUCTORS

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1 A Positive Impact Job opportunities and open communication with the community are just as important to the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project in Los Angeles as tunneling and rail placement. BY JIM HARRIS 14

2 Walsh-Shea Corridor Constructors Crenshaw/ LAX Transit Corridor project Project cost: $2 billion-plus Location: Los Angeles Employees onsite at peak: 400 We re very sensitive to the community and how they re impacted by what we re doing. Erich Engler, business manager The ultimate success of the more than $2.058 billion Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project in Los Angeles hinges on much more than just the project team s ability to bore tunnels, dig ditches, place rails and build station platforms. All eyes are on this project, says Erich Engler, business manager for Walsh-Shea Corridor Constructors, the joint venture awarded the design/build contract for the project. The team consists of Walsh Construction Co., J.F. Shea Construction Inc., HNTB Corp., L.K. Comstock National Transit Inc., ARUP and the LA Urban League. We re constantly giving both local and national officials updates on the project and our hiring efforts, Engler adds. This is a big deal, and we realize that. We re very sensitive to the community and how they re impacted by what we re doing, and can t overstate the importance of communication. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti are among the officials keenly interested in the effort. The Crenshaw/LAX light rail line will provide a vital transportation link for this community and our entire city, Garcetti said in a statement. Heavy construction is anticipated to begin this summer on the project, which centers on the construction of the Metro Crenshaw/ LAX line, an 8.5-mile light rail line. The line, owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro), will run mainly north and south along Crenshaw Boulevard and will connect the communities of Inglewood and El Segundo to LA. Groundbreaking on the project was in January, and the project is slated to conclude in The Crenshaw line will include eight stations, three of which will be located underground. Four stations will be at-grade, and one will be located above ground, Senior Project Manager Jim Gardner says. Other project components include a maintenance facility, six aerial bridges, park and ride lots and traction power substations. Metro will also acquire new rail vehicles and maintenance equipment for the line. The Walsh-Shea construction contract totals $1.3 billion of the total cost, making it the largest contract Walsh has ever secured, Engler notes. The project is one of 12 transit projects funded by Measure R, a half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles County voters in Other funding sources include state and federal grants. The Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project is Walsh Construction s largest-ever contract. «Opportunity Builders The transit corridor project is the first to be built under the terms of a project labor agreement (PLA) adopted by Metro in The pact made between Metro and the Los Angeles/Orange County Building Trades Council stipulates that all projects valued at more than $2.5 million will include a targeted hiring program that will help provide jobs to economically disadvantaged workers. This will not only provide construction employment and training opportunities to many who reside along the Crenshaw/LAX Transit 15 MAY/JUNE 2014 CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

3 Walsh/Shea has specific hiring requirements to meet during construction. «16

4 This is the first and largest project of its kind here [in the Crenshaw community]. Project alignment, but it will also help build the workforce of tomorrow, Metro says. For Walsh-Shea, this means that 40 percent of the jobs created by the project will go to workers living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Of that amount, 10 percent of the jobs will go to low-income, chronically unemployed people. In addition, 20 percent of the contracts awarded for the project must be with contractors designated as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Engler says. Walsh-Shea hired LA-based nonprofit organization PVJOBS to coordinate the hiring process. PVJOBS is acting as a liaison with local unions, trade schools and community groups to ensure the targeted hiring mandate is met. The contractor is also working with the National Association of Minority Contractors to meet the DBE requirement. The Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor Project will create jobs that are badly needed throughout this region and jobs that are welcome news to individuals within our communities, LA County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. In addition to creating jobs, the project team is also working closely to ensure the project will have a positive environmental and aesthetic impact on the surrounding area. The Crenshaw community is a very diverse, vocal and active community, and this is the first and largest project of its kind here, Engler says. The community wants to be involved in all decision-making, especially when it comes to the environment. Community outreach is huge on this project. Walsh-Shea and the California DOT regularly host meetings to update the public. Metro also formed an organization the Crenshaw Leadership Council to work with the community. Ongoing Work Recent and ongoing project work includes a separate MTA contract for advanced utility relocation along Crenshaw Boulevard. The transit authority contracted with Metro Builders & Engineers Group» Walsh/Shea is ensuring the corridor project will have a positive impact locally. 18

5 Recent work on the corridor project includes utility relocation and pot-holing. «to replace a storm drain at the intersection of Crenshaw and 48th Street and relocated sewer lines at the intersections of Crenshaw and 60th Street and Crenshaw and 67th Street. Other advanced utility relocation work includes moving dry utilities for the Federal Aviation Administration and Los Angeles World Airports that cross the authority s right-of-way at LAX. Private utilities also worked to relocate water lines, gas lines, phone lines and overhead power lines. Initial heavy construction work will involve demolishing existing Metro properties. Eventually, Walsh-Shea will begin underground work to build the three stations beneath Crenshaw Boulevard. The team will use tunnel boring as well as cutand-cover and open trench methods on the underground portions of the line. 19 MAY/JUNE 2014 CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

6 A Good Marriage Tunneling and underground work related to subway and transit projects is a specialty for J.F. Shea Construction, one of the main project partners involved in the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor project. The company, founded in 1880, is one of the oldest and largest privately held companies in the United States. Shea s other high-profile projects include underground work on the extension of the No. 7 subway line in New York City. That project includes excavating and constructing twin-bore shielded tunnels 24 feet in diameter by 13,000 feet long to connect existing tunnels in Midtown Manhattan. Walsh Construction ranks as the second-largest domestic heavy contractor and seventh-largest mass transit and rail contractor in the country by Engineering News-Record. The company has extensive experience in railways, bridges and heavy civil work including the recently completed 25-mile, $1 billion Dallas Area Rapid Transit Green Line project. That project is one of the largest light rail lines built in the United States, the company says. The Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project is a good marriage of Shea s tunneling experience and Walsh s light rail and highway experience, Gardner says. The Crenshaw/LAX Line project also benefits from the experience and capabilities of several of the other members of the Walsh-Shea Corridor team, including: HNTB Corp., an experienced transportation system planner and designer; L.K. Comstock National Transit Inc., a specialty electrical contractor that has completed more than 100 installations totaling more than $3 billion; ARUP, a global engineering, planning, design and consulting firm; and The LA Urban League, a community organization focused on advancing equal opportunities on behalf of minority groups. Paragon Steel Fabrication & Construction At Paragon Steel Fabrication & Construction, we have high expectations- from the quality of our work to the services we provide. Recent Southern California projects we re proud to have been part of include Tongva Park, where we fabricated overlook structures and discovery forts; Mid-City Expo Line, where we fabricated transit stations and platforms; and Natural History Museum, where we fabricated gates, arbors and rebar palm trees. Discover how we can turn your idea into reality at 20