If you want a good deal on granite countertops, you may consider talking to the folks building the second phase of Metro's Silver Line.
"We've found a lot of rock," said Charles Stark, the executive director of the Dulles Corridor Project. "It's basically granite; it's very hard rock. So you have to use sophisticated methods and sometimes it's just a matter of jack hammering through."
Most of the granite has been found under the Dulles Toll Road and Airport Access Road near the future Herndon and Innovation Center stations, Stark said. It has caused some setbacks, but as of this point, the contractor has found a way to push through it all. And a side benefit for the contractor -- they get to keep the granite.
Now the focus is on building -- and there is plenty of building going on. Beams, columns, girders and cranes are everywhere you turn along the Dulles Corridor.
Huge girders that will go over the Dulles Greenway are being shipped in this week from Pennsylvania. Some are 104 feet long by 9 feet tall. You may see them coming in on I-66 or the Beltway.
Of course all of this means Metro is coming. The second phase of the project will run from Reston to Dulles Airport and then continue into Loudoun County.
Some travelers at Dulles Tuesday said they wished the train was already there to get them around traffic.
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"You've got the toll road, you've got other sorts of traffic, you never know what you are going to hit," said James Flint as he headed for a flight.
Optimistically, crews want to have the second phase of the Silver Line open in late 2019 -- barring any more granite setbacks.
