The Amtrak Tampa Union Station project consisted of upgrades needed to achieve compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance for the boarding platform adjacent to the historic Tampa Union Station, a total of 970 linear feet of platform supported by nearly 400 helical piles where put in place while the station continued to operate. Work was coordinated in close proximity to the active rail as well as next to a Historical Rail, requiring a high degree of coordination with the rail operators. The project operated fully during the pandemic initiating all Safety requirements and adapting to new CDC guidelines throughout and was ultimately delivered on time and within the budget. The Tampa Union Station project was awarded a 2021 ABC Excellence in Construction Award.
Quality
There was a high level of quality assurance and quality control throughout the project. It was absolutely critical that the new work not affect any of the existing, operational elements of the train station or existing rail, in addition to protecting all elements of the Historical rail. The piling retaining system was installed in very close proximity to the existing active rail, requiring regular monitoring to verify that the rail was not being adversely impacted.
Because of the need for smooth passenger transfer, the platform itself had a very low threshold for variance, requiring extraordinary precision during fabrication and placement of the precast members, the FRA requirement was less than ¼” elevation change in both running and cross slopes of the platform. The project underwent multiple layers of qualify verification throughout the project, culminating in a three-day quality review by quality compliance consultants, who verified that every inch of the project met the high level of quality standard of which resulted in comments from Amtrak of which Collage Companies has “Set the Bar” for others to meet the “Gold” standard of quality.
Federal Compliance
The project was also built following stringent Federal requirements, including wage rate requirements, OSHA Standards, and Railway worker Safety standards.
Safety
Despite all of the challenges with the active railway, passenger traffic and a tight site, work was completed safely with zero incidents. Defined controls and strict safety requirements were implemented on the project, and Collage worked alongside Amtrak and the station to assure that safety was a top priority.