Good morning. On Aug. 28, Chief of Construction Ed Fink told the California High-Speed Rail Authority Finance and Audit Committee that Central Valley construction showed steady progress through June 2025, with $92,300,000 in expenditures for the month and 1,509 craft workers on site.
Fink said structures and guideway are each about 59% complete and that crews are working at 37 active locations. “We put down 300,000 cubic yards in the last four weeks,” Fink said, reflecting an increase in guideway production as more work areas open. He said guideway completion should move toward about 65% in September as additional sections become available.
Utilities and right-of-way: Fink reported 1,578 utility relocations complete, 93 in progress and 146 not started. He identified a handful of critical utility relocations — including Houston Avenue and Idaho Avenue — that the team is tracking closely. On right-of-way acquisitions, the report showed roughly 99.2% complete; the chief of construction said remaining parcels are not impacting the current critical path.
Design-driven scope changes prompted contingency use for two bridges in the Central Valley CP2/3 packages. Fink explained that design advancement and refined hydrology modeling required replacing some planned embankments with elevated structures for the Lakeland and Alpaugh bridges — about 600 linear feet of elevated structure across the two bridges — and that the change order was initiated as design progressed.
On structures, Fink said recent openings included Tulare Street and Avenue 88 and that work has begun on Shaw Avenue in CP1. He identified Olive Avenue and Houston Avenue as critical remaining starts and said the Fresno Trench on CP1 is another focus of attention. For the railhead, Fink said the majority of track is in place; the track portion of the railhead is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 3, and the overall site — including perimeter fence and subgrade work — is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Fink also described earned-value metrics showing progress behind plan in some areas. He said right-of-way access recently opened with the San Joaquin Valley Railroad in one area, which will enable more production. The chief of construction said the program anticipates increasing production over the next three months to catch up to planned targets.
Why it matters: these milestones — utility relocations, right-of-way clearance, bridge and guideway progress, and the railhead schedule — affect the project’s construction tempo, material deliveries and the overall schedule for later work such as track materials staging and testing.
Less-critical detail: Fink summarized that a small number of BNSF-related access-road parcels remain and that the remaining right-of-way needs are understood; he said the team is confident additional parcel needs are unlikely but did not rule out rare exceptions.