Dive Brief:
- Clark Construction advanced major structural upgrades for the Metro system in Washington, D.C., within a 56-day sprint last summer, according to an Oct. 29 news release. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority says the work at the Bethesda and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro stations was delivered on time and on budget.
- Improvements required the locally headquartered builder to conduct specialized demolition, removal of materials and replacement of tracks. In Bethesda, crews also constructed a new mezzanine, designed to connect the Red Line with the Maryland Transit Administration’s future Purple Line light rail, slated to open next year.
- The civil arm of the Bethesda, Maryland-based contractor has a 50-year history of work on the WMATA’s Metro transportation network, and it detailed the complex work required to deliver the project on a tight schedule.
Dive Insight:
Following a 44-hour demolition in November 2025 at the Bethesda station, Clark Civil’s teams erected heavy steel, applied fireproofing and placed structural concrete within the station.
In December 2024, the Washington Post reported the cost of the mezzanine had grown, inflating from an estimated $2.4 million in 2016 to $52 million. Both WMATA and Clark Construction did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment on current construction costs.
Simultaneous to the Bethesda station work, 3 miles away Clark performed the first major overhaul of the Grosvenor-Strathmore station since its 1984 opening. With specialized remote-demolition robots, crews removed over 18,000 square feet of platform tile and concrete topping slab, according to the news release. They replaced 1,200 linear feet of track edge along the 600-foot platform…