...end of the property. This will facilitate and support the growing transportation needs of the region, including Amtrak�s third busiest route in the nation, the popular Capitol Corridor.

A fifth leg of the project is Riverfront, a re-invigorated waterfront with restaurants featuring spectacular views, housing, parks and open space, and pedestrian and bike trails for easy access to the Sacramento River.

Kwong says the project is currently using up the more than $100 million in federal stimulus money it was granted with get-ready infrastructure work, which includes new roads, grading, sewer installation and new power systems.

Elias A. Rashmawi, director of land redevelopment for Thomas Enterprises, says a contract for a new bridge at 5th Street over Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way was awarded to North Highlands-based MCM Construction. He says construction is scheduled to begin later this month and be completed in early 2011.

Rashmawi says contract bids for two bridges at 6th Street were opened April 7, with work scheduled to start late May or early June and completed in early 2011.

Bids for the $43-million Track Relocation project were opened April 14 with a contract to be approved in early May. Construction should begin this summer and finish in early 2012. The project consists of relocating approximately 2.3 track mi of heavy rail and constructing new passenger tracks and platforms, a passenger tunnel and a pedestrian tunnel.

Other upcoming project bids include a 5th Street Viaduct and roadway and Railyards Blvd. in June; and the I-5 Richards Interchange Interim Project, which will advertise in August.

Teichert is currently moving dirt stockpiles from the 5th and 6th streets overcrossings, as well as abandoning existing utilities and demolishing old concrete foundations, and preparing for the Track Relocation project.

Mitchell says an interesting challenge on the project will be dealing with a tight schedule.

“If we are successful on the Track Relocation Project we will likely encounter groundwater which will be recycled after going through an onsite treatment facility,” says Mitchell. “This will require a plan for capturing and piping the water to the treatment system. The schedule deadlines for the track relocation include a drop dead date for completion of the track rail work or the city will lose a portion of their funding. We may need to work multiple shifts to achieve the deadlines.”

The Railyards site helped transform the city into a transportation hub for California and the West in the 1880s and became the largest railroad complex west of the Mississippi, employing more than 4,000 workers in the early 20th century with machine shops, a steel foundry and lumber mill.

Over the next 20 years, Thomas Enterprises says the Railyards project will generate an overall regional economic impact of $33 billion by creating 19,000 permanent jobs, 2,800 annual construction jobs and resulting in an ongoing, annual positive economic impact of $2.7 billion.