College of Sciences Newsletter

Edition 6

October 1, 2001

 

LOOK WHAT SPRANG UP ON OUR SIDEWALK!

Official Groundbreaking Ceremony outside the Alfriend Chemistry Building
 
 
 

The Mag Lev, magnetic levitation transportation system, is slated to begin transporting passengers in summer 2002.  It will connect the back of the campus with the new development east of Hampton Boulevard.  Guideway and station construction should be completed by the end of December 2001.

The system will consist of a single vehicle, about 45 feet long, with a capacity of 100 riders.  It will run every seven minutes at speeds up to 40 mph.  The 3,400 foot-long elevated guideway will be supported by 39 concrete columns that runs from Powhatan Apartments through the center of the campus (right next to the Ocean/Physics building, Webb Center and Alfriend Chemistry building) and across Hampton Boulevard near the new Constant Convocation Center.  Stations will be at Powhatan, Webb Center and at a surface parking lot just north of the convocation center.

American Maglev is funding the project from both private and public sources.  This includes a $7 million loan approved by the Virginia General Assembly and administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and $7 million from private companies, including Dominion Virginia Power and Lockheed Martin.  The state loan is to be repaid from proceeds of a future high-speed, revenue-generating maglev project connecting Hampton Roads to Washington, D.C. and slated to be operational by 2007.