Work is under way on a $571-million upgrade to a mountainous, five-mile stretch of Interstate 90 - Washington’s busiest east-west connector. Located miles from Seattle, the scenic highway, which is part of Snoqualmie Pass, weaves through the Cascade Range. The Washington State Dept. of Transportation’s comprehensive plan calls for widening the road from four lanes to six, repaving it with freeze- and thaw-resistant concrete, straightening curves, stabilizing rock slopes, and adding a chain-up area and 1,200-ft.-long snowshed. Moreover, WSDOT will add or replace four bridges and build four new ones bridges and culverts in an effort to improve fish and
Making the U.S. energy-independent and overhauling outmoded transportation infrastructure are the two key engineering challenges to be faced in the next decade, say nearly 60% of 323 design-firm CEOs in a survey released on Aug. 30 by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Washington, D.C. Fewer respondents noted needed upgrades of infrastructure for water-wastewater treatment and flood control, cyber-security, sustainable building and electrical grids as challenges through 2020. Responding CEOs were among 2,000 leaders of ACEC member companies contacted for the survey. More than 80% of the respondents say they run companies with 200 or fewer employees. Almost 30%
Hoping to attract cargo traffic from an expanded Panama Canal in 2014, the Port of Miami is taking steps to refurbish a dormant 4.4-mile rail corridor linking the port with the Hialeah Intermodal Railyard, operated by the Florida East Coast Railroad. The Port, FECR and the Florida Dept. of Transportation are collaborating on the $46.9-million project, which is still contingent on receiving a $28-million so-called TIGER grant (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. If approved, the two-year project would restore a one-track rail link that has been out of service for several years, due
A new isolated bearing system designed to preserve the alignment of critical bridge structures while saving millions in construction costs may make its debut on a high-speed-rail project in Turkey. It has been proposed for California’s planned high-speed-rail system as well. Photo: Courtesy of EPS A new isolation system, tested successfully in California this spring, may be used on two Turkish bridges. CCCI Consortium—a design-build partnership of the China Railway Construction Corp., the China National Machinery Import & Export Corp., Istanbul-based Cengiz Insaat and Ankara-based IC Ictas Insaat—plans to include a segmental displaced control isolation system manufactured by Vallejo, Calif.-based
The state-owned rail companies of Botswana and Mozambique are preparing to build an estimated $7-billion transport project that would include one of Africa’s longest railways and a deepwater port on the Indian Ocean, south of Maputo. A recent agreement between the two governments calls for the scheme to include private financing, but backing has not yet been secured. Photo: Wikipedia The Beira port facility in Mozambique would be supported by a new deepwater port to handle larger ships. Photo: Courtesy of CFM Congestion at the port and railway complex at Maputo, Mozambique, will be alleviated by a new rail system.
The amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-financed projects under contract in highways and other infrastructure sectors is slowly rising closer to the 100% mark, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's latest update on the economic-stimulus measure shows. With the ARRA programs now in the 18th month since the measure was signed, the month-to-month gains in funds under contract are modest. The committee's latest monthly stimulus scorecard, released Aug. 26, says that of the $38 billion that ARRA allocated for highway, transit and wastewater-treatment programs under the panel's jurisdiction, $34.1 billion, or 90%, was under contract as of July 31.
Israeli officials have terminated a franchise agreement awarded in 2006 to an international engineering-construction consortium to build a $2-billion, 23-kilometer light-rail network in metropolitan Tel Aviv because the owner and its contractors cannot agree on financial terms. The gap between the government’s cost figure and that of the building team’s, comprising firms from Israel, China and Portugal, is said to be around $100 million. Israel also is set to seize $35 million in financial guarantees the consortium had provided. The team already has spent $65 million on the project, and the state has spent close to $250 million on related
Behind the art-decorated walls along Miami-Dade International Airport’s mile-long north terminal, construction workers are building at a feverish pace the last major piece of an overall $6.2-billion capital improvement program. After a decade that saw delays and disputes, the team hired to build the stalled $3-billion terminal expansion expects an on-time delivery next year, with no major claims. photo: Courtesy of POVJ The renovated and expanded north terminal (above) is almost complete, with almost 4 million sq ft of space. A people mover also is nearing completion (below). Photo: Courtesy Of POVJ Work on the 50-gate terminal began in 2001,
Firms working on the $670-million Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis have shattered geotechnical records related to one of the bridge’s drilled-shaft concrete foundations while verifying a time-saving, alternate pier plan. Photo: Courtesy MTA Joint Venture Record-breaking load cell makes its final descent at St. Louis. The test, performed this past June, consisted of drilling an 11.5-ft-dia shaft 43.5 ft under the riverbed, then cutting an 11-ft-dia socket more than 23 ft into the underlying limestone bedrock. An Osterberg load cell then was lowered to the bottom of the rock socket, and reinforced concrete was poured into the hole. When
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved the first $250 million of about $2 billion in highway project contracts funded last year by Proposition 12 bond proceeds. Included in the contracts is a major corridor mobility project to widen Interstate 35 north of Waco from four to six lanes. The contract is for $165 million. Nearly 39% of the state’s population lives along the I-35 corridor. Roadway rehabilitation projects in 11 Texas counties account for 12 of the 16 approved projects, which are worth more than $84 million.
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