High Speed Field Work for
High Speed Rail

FHI, PB and Amtrak staff prepare to cross the
Connecticut River Railroad bridge on a
stormy May afternoon.

In a very large fieldwork effort, FHI delineated wetlands for the the New Haven – Hartford – Springfield Line rail corridor, which traverses all of Connecticut and two towns in Massachusetts. Accompanied by Amtrak rail safety personnel ("flags"), FHI wetland scientists walked nearly 50 miles this spring on unforgiving ballast, through cool rain and hot sun, hanging flags along wetland–upland boundaries. As FHI soil scientist David Laiuppa noted, "Although the mosquitoes were at times unrelenting and the days were long, the experience of seeing parts of the state that most people cannot legally see [due to restricted rail right-of-way] was well worth the effort." The wetland flags placed by FHI will be surveyed and mapped for use by project designers. Where possible, the future high speed rail track and station improvements will be placed to avoid wetland impacts.

Don't look down! Not many people have the
opportunity to access (legally) the railroad
bridge that crosses the Connecticut River
in Enfield. FHI and PB staff had the opportunity
to cross this structure and took in
some amazing views of
the surrounding landscape.

FHI carried out this work as part of the Program Management team for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, under contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff. The state and federal permit applications which FHI will later be preparing require extensive descriptions of the affected wetlands and their ecological and social values. To that end, FHI is now conducting wetland function-value assessments for the corridor, and will later prepare wetland mitigation plans if wetland impacts cannot be avoided by the project.

FHI's David Laiuppa completes functions and
values assessments at one of the nearly
250 wetland systems investigated along
the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Rail line.
That's one nice looking safety vest!

The field work is part of the data gathering phase of the permitting efforts. Simultaneous FHI efforts have included discussing the permitting approach with regulatory agencies, constructing the critical path schedule for permitting activities, and holding a permitting workshop. In addition to our environmental role, FHI is also providing public outreach services for the program…but that's an article for a different newsletter issue. Visit the project website at www.nhhsrail.com for more information about the rail program.

We are proud to be part of this fast-track project which will soon bring more high speed rail travel options to the New England community.