The Kleinfelder Blog

As the prime consultant on the replacement of the North First Avenue Bridge Over the BNSF Railroad (Overhead), Kleinfelder began supporting the City of Barstow’s project over 11 years ago, first providing feasibility support, followed by environmental documentation and permitting services, and then project management, bridge planning, and design engineering.

Funded through the Highway Bridge Program (HBP) and in coordination with Caltrans Local Assistance, the project replaces a 1930’s 1,160-foot-long bridge over a BNSF Railroad classification yard. The Overhead replacement is part of a major realignment of North First Avenue to provide safety improvements to this key link across the City of Barstow. The enhancement of North First Avenue also includes replacement of two bridges (one 700-foot and the other 350-foot) over the Mojave River and Mojave Overflow, which Kleinfelder also worked on while supporting the Overhead replacement.

Key Kleinfelder deliverables during the PAED phase of the project included the Advanced Planning Study, Type Selection Report, Environmental Document (Categorical Exclusion) and Project Report.  During the PS&E phase of the project, 30%, 60%, 90%, 100% and IFB sets of PS&E were prepared.  In addition to these standard Caltrans HBP process deliverables, Kleinfelder prepared draft letters for approval, constructability reviews, and memoranda of understanding with stakeholders including a lengthy Construction and Maintenance Agreement (CMA) with BNSF. Extensive coordination among the design team and between the City of Barstow, Caltrans Local Assistance, and the BNSF Railroad as well as other project stakeholders was critical to the project’s success.

This long-term, complex project involved a multidisciplinary team and became well known by San Diego office staff due to its duration. In fact, the project’s Principal-in-Charge Kelly Burnell wrote a song about the project, “Barstow Project Blues,” which highlights Project Manager Karibia Baillargeon’s seemingly never-ending work on the project and frames some of the mundane aspects of engineering projects in a lighthearted and humorous way.

“The North First Avenue Bridge Over the BNSF Railroad project presented many challenges, however, our team’s unwavering commitment to developing innovative alternatives and providing quality deliverables at every step of the way was crucial to successfully getting the project to the construction milestone,” commented Karibia. “With the groundbreaking ceremony completed, we’re all very excited to see the replacement bridge design come to life and look forward to supporting the project during the construction phase.”

Congratulations to the all the team members who contributed to this significant project, including Project Manager Karibia Baillargeon, Lead Bridge Engineer Sami Megally, Principal-in-Charge Kelly Burnell, and technical team members Ty Brittain, Keith Gazaway, Josh Olmedo, and Jake Montgomery.