DC: Silver Line Service to be Reduced March 16, Due to Concrete Structural Repairs Near Benning Road
March 12, 2018
The service change is necessary to address a crack in the concrete "floating slab" beneath the rails between Benning Road and Capitol Heights stations. Metro currently has a speed restriction in the area to allow trains to continue to operate safely until permanent repairs are made March 16-18. The existing structure dates back to the original construction of this segment of the Blue Line, which opened in 1980.
In order to make repairs, Metro will need to remove the rails and fasteners and carefully extract approximately 18 square feet of existing concrete before pouring new concrete into the substructure. Crews need 72 consecutive hours to complete the work and allow sufficient time for the new concrete to cure. Silver Line trains will operate every 24 minutes with single tracking through the work zone starting at 10 p.m. Thursday, all day Friday and throughout the weekend. Blue Line trains will be rerouted to New Carrollton.
Metro expects normal service as of 5 a.m. Monday, March 19.
"Unfortunately, this is a repair job that cannot wait and cannot be confined to a weekend," said Joe Leader, Metro's chief operating officer. "To the customers at the 10 stations who will be impacted on Friday, March 16, we apologize and hope that they will consider using stations on other lines or alternate travel options that day."
