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Old Colony tie replacement to cost $91.5 million

E-mail|Link|Comments () April 27, 2010 01:25 PM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

State transportation officials say a project to address problems with concrete ties on the Old Colony commuter rail line will cost an estimated $91.5 million.

The transit authority expects to replace all 147,000 concrete ties with wood ties along 61 miles of track. Fifty-nine road crossings will also be replaced, MBTA General Manager Richard A. Davey said in a letter to South Shore elected officials.

The project, which will affect the entire system, including both the Middleborough and Plymouth/Kingston branches, will last until the end of 2011, the letter dated Friday said.

The Greenbush Line will also be affected when crews work on the tracks that the lines share between South Station and Braintree.

Trains will run during the morning and evening rush on the Old Colony Line, but bus service will be offered at other times. Neither bus nor train service will be offered on weekends. When work takes place on the main line between South Station and Braintree, weekend service will also be canceled on the Greenbush Line.

"I want to thank you in advance for your patience, cooperation and understanding in the implementation of this very vital project," Davey said in the letter.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said Rocla Concrete Tie Inc. had supplied the ties, which were installed in the mid-90s, and the ties hadn't lasted as long as they were supposed to.

"We expect Rocla to honor its obligations under the warranty. We have been negotiating with them," he said.

The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Inc., which runs commuter rail for the MBTA, has already started replacing some ties that were causing problems with the track, he said.

But the plan is for MBTA to award a tie replacement contract in July and for work to begin in August, Davey said in the letter.