Tension fabric panels mark new rail extension

The Valley Metro Rail Line in Mesa, Ariz., recently expanded its light rail transit (LRT) service to four new stations and a park-and-ride facility along a 3.1-mile route. The Central Mesa LRT Extension went “live” on Aug. 22, but not without a coherent identity and amenities for the four new stations. FabriTec Structures LLC, Dallas, Texas, a design/build specialist in tension fabric structures, added shade and style to the new metro line.

The company installed 44 identically shaped PTFE tensile membrane fabric panels at the four stations, giving customers increased shade—a total fabric surface area of approximately 5,060 square feet—in the toasty Arizona temperatures. The wing-shaped fabric panels also give the stations a graceful flying ambiance suggestive of speed and ease that ties together and relates the four separate stations in Central Mesa. The curved steel arms, saddles and steel clamping were designed and engineered by FabriTec as well.