May 11, 2023 - FRESNO, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority), in collaboration with Tutor-Perini/Zachry/Parsons, today announced the completion of the Cedar Viaduct in Fresno. The 3,700-foot viaduct will take trains travelling at 200-plus mph over State Route (SR) 99, Cedar and North avenues.

“At almost three-quarters of a mile long, the Cedar Viaduct is one of our largest and most visible structures across the alignment and one of the significant achievements to date on the program,” said Central Valley Regional Director Garth Fernandez. “The completion of this structure was made possible by our dedicated project team and by the numerous women and men in Labor who brought the project to life.”

From the highway, traffic can see a dual span of cast-in-place arches that help support the weight of future high-speed trains traveling atop the deck of the structure. Each arch spans 179 feet and is nearly 40 feet tall. Each dual span of arches are staggered from either side of the bridge, so they can be seen from both sides of the highway.

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The Cedar Viaduct is one of several structures along the high-speed rail line with arches. Just a few miles away, SR-99 drivers can see similar arches for the 210-foot span of the San Joaquin River Viaduct—the Authority’s gateway to the Central Valley. The Cedar Viaduct is part of Construction Package 1, the first 32-mile stretch of high-speed rail between Avenue 19 in Madera County and East American Avenue in Fresno County.

Since the start of construction, the Authority has created more than 10,000 construction jobs, a majority going to residents from the Central Valley. This includes 3,429 that have gone to residents from Fresno County, 1,946 from Kern County, 1,033 from Tulare County, 442 from Madera County, and 369 from Kings County.

The Authority has begun work to extend the 119 miles under construction to 171 miles of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. There are more than 30 active construction sites in California’s Central Valley, with the Authority having environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin.

For more on construction, visit: www.buildhsr.com
Source: CA. HSR