The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) awarded a construction management contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) for a rail replacement and tunnel rehabilitation project on the system's Blue Line subway, which connects the downtown business district with O'Hare International Airport.

The $88 million project is one of the first in Chicago to be fully funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It involves replacement of 31,000 existing wooden half ties with new concrete half ties and 6,200 track feet of stone ballast with new concrete slab and direct fixation fasteners. The project also includes the installation of 29,000 track feet of new rail and the installation of 44,000 linear feet of new contact rail.

Additionally, two track crossovers will be rebuilt, all lighting and drainage systems along the route will be cleaned, and some structural repairs will be performed in the four-mile-long Dearborn Blue Line subway tunnel.

As the construction manager, PB is responsible for schedule and cost control and quality/safety assurance, as well as construction supervision, inspection and documentation.

Due to heavy traffic on the Blue Line, most track and tunnel rehabilitation work will be performed during weekend track outages. The project is scheduled to be completed in March 2010.