Tight spaces, inside and out, a challenge on Amtrak job

Without a doubt, Greg Powell says, this is the tightest quarters he's encountered during his construction career.

Powell, project manager for Northern Sierra Construction Inc.

as it builds a new Reno Amtrak station, faces daily challenges getting material onto the construction site.

On one side of the job site, the 24-foot deep train trench is off limits except for rare hours when Powell and his subcontractors are given permission to deliver materials.

On the other side of the project, the temporary shoo-fly track that diverts trains around the trench project serves to hem in the work.

And if Northern Sierra Construction needs to lift heavy items into the building, it's required to close down heavily traveled Center Street to allow a crane to work.

Think that's tight? Just look at the interior of the project, Powell says.

The 4,000-square-foot footprint of the building includes two elevators, an escalator and two sets of staircases.

The completed building will have ticketing and other passenger services on the main floor.

A mezzanine will house the building's mechanical hardware, and the passenger platform will be at trench level, 24 feet below the street.

Essentially, the layout means that Northern Nevada Construction began work in a large horseshoe carved below street level next to the train trench a horseshoe with limited access.

Another challenge for Powell and Gar Teuscher, Northern Nevada Construction's superintendent on the project, is a tight schedule.

Construction initially was planned to start in November.

The start was delayed until Feb.

21, Powell said, but the completion date of late September remained unchanged.

The new Amtrak station designed by VBN Architecture of Oakland, Calif., incorporates some of the look of the historical structure next door.

For instance, Powell said, the stucco of the new building will match the old.

Light fixtures are inspired by those in the old station.

The project carries a $3.6 million budget.

The structural engineer on the project is Tobey Wade Structural Engineers of Reno.