NEWS RELEASE: First High-Speed Rail Structure in Kern County Completed

Oct 28 2020 | Kern County

KERN COUNTY, Calif. – The California High-Speed Rail Authority today announced the completion of Poso Creek Viaduct in Kern County, the first completed structure in the 22-mile segment of high-speed rail from the Tulare-Kern county line to Poplar Avenue in Kern County known as Construction Package 4. It is the fourth high-speed rail structure completed in the Central Valley since August.

Construction on Poso Creek Viaduct, located south of Blankenship Avenue and west of State Route 43 just north of the City of Wasco, included several environmental protections. Crews followed strict guidelines and preventive measures to protect the Poso Creek bed with silt fencing and fiber rolls, and safely diverted area wildlife with exclusionary fencing.

“Our goal is to deliver the greenest infrastructure project in the nation, and we’re doing that by protecting our natural resources and important habitats like Poso Creek,” said Garth Fernandez, interim Central Valley Regional Director. “Thanks to the hard work of our crews and through effective mitigation efforts, we were able to complete this project and restore the environmental footprint to its original state.”

The viaduct structure spans more than 240 feet long and 56 feet wide and will allow high-speed trains to cross over Poso Creek.

In August and September, three structures part of Construction Package 1 in Madera County opened to traffic, including grade separations at Avenue 10, Avenue 15, and Avenue 7.

Since the start of construction, nearly 4,500 construction workers have been dispatched to work on the high-speed rail project at 32 active construction sites between Madera and Kern counties.

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