Bladensburg Garage Facility – United States

Our American teams are contributing to the replacement of the Bladensburg Garage Facility bus centre, one of 10 such centres of this type in the American capital, Washington D.C.

The Bladensburg centre is currently operated by Metrobus, one of the operators of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). In operation for almost 60 years, this bus centre, located in the north-east of the city, is one of the oldest in the network, and its obsolescence means that it needs to be completely replaced.

A STATE-OF-THE-ART, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE

The American authorities chose a new ultra-modern garage with a capacity of 300 vehicles. To reduce energy bills, the lighting equipment will be low-energy and the roof, fitted with photovoltaic panels, will have openings to provide natural light. Employees will benefit from a separate entrance and more parking space for their cars.

SYSTRA’S BIM EXPERTISE

SYSTRA is providing pre-construction services, particularly relating to the site’s electrical and communication systems. Our main task is to design a BIM model covering all electrical, security, fire alarm, interior and exterior lighting, gas detection, telecommunications and inter-departmental coordination equipment.

To ensure that the new equipment will work well with the existing equipment, SYSTRA is also responsible for systems integration, as well as safety and security certification, two key aspects of the project, and will identify all the sub-systems that need to be protected during the demolition phase.

This bus depot project is not a first for SYSTRA on the other side of the Atlantic, as we were involved from 2014 to 2020 in the refurbishment of the Hilton Garage bus centre in Maplewood, New Jersey, for the operator NJ Transit. SYSTRA also worked on the D.C. Streetcar line in Washington.