The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners last week unanimously approved the Environmental Impact Report for the project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach with a new, nearly $1-billion span. The Port of Long Beach, in partnership with Caltrans, will oversee the project to design and build a higher, wider bridge that would be parallel to and just north of the existing Gerald Desmond Bridge. Once the new bridge is completed and open, the old structure would be taken down. The project will generate an average of 4,000 jobs a year during the
One of the tallest bridges in the U.S. is about to receive an extensive seismic upgrade, including 2.2 million lb of structural steel. Bids open on Sept. 7 for a $71-million seismic retrofit for the 1970s-era Foresthill Bridge in Auburn, Calif. At 730 ft tall and 2,428 ft long, its retrofit will pose dizzying challenges to the selected contractor. Photo: Courtesy Of Place County Public Works California’s tallest bridge will receive a $71-million seismic upgrade. “We are garnering a lot of interest from contractors,” says Ken Grehm, director of public works for owner Placer County. Grehm has led more than
Oklahoma is on a mission to ensure it never again wins the dubious honor of having the nation’s highest percentage of substandard bridges. The Oklahoma Transportation Commission this month approved a $4.3-billion, eight-year budget to fund 1,750 vital bridge and highway projects from 2011 through 2018. The transportation budget is the state’s largest ever, says Oklahoma Dept. of Transportation spokeswoman Terri Angier. Photo: Oklahoma DOT More than wear and tear, debris accumulation can accelerate a bridge’s structural undermining. In 2002, the non-profit organization The Road Information Program (TRIP) reported that Oklahoma had the country’s highest percentage of structurally deficient or
Companies working on the $670-million Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis have shattered geotechnical records with a 36,067-ton load test on one of the bridge's drilled-shaft, concrete foundations. Photo: MTA Joint Venture Record-breaking load cell makes its final descent. Related Links: St. Louis Link Will Be Tough, Diverse, Green Osterberg Cell Transformed Testing Award of Excellence Winner Clyde Baker 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 hydraulic load cell was then lowered to the
Twenty-five states have filed 77 applications totaling more than $8.5 billion for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's next round of high-speed-rail grants. Many applicants will be disappointed: DOT only has about $2.3 billion to distribute. The department expects to announce the winners of the new round of grants "in early fall," says Rob Kulat, a spokesman with DOT's Federal Railroad Administration. FRA did not have a list of applicants available. Based on reports from some, but not all, states, among the largest requests are from California, which is seeking $1.58 billion, and Florida, which is applying for $1.1 billion. Another
Twenty-five states have filed 77 applications totaling more than $8.5 billion for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's next round of high-speed-rail grants. Many applicants will be disappointed: DOT only has about $2.3 billion to distribute. The department expects to announce the winners of the new round of grants "in early fall," says Rob Kulat, a spokesman with DOT's Federal Railroad Administration. Odds of winning are long, but not as daunting as in FRA's initial high-speed-rail grant competition, when the agency was inundated with $57 billion in applications for $8 billion in grants. DOT officials announced the winners of that first
The decade-long expansion of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has suffered its share of turbulence, but the $6-billion capital program is now soaring to new heights with elevated roads and a new terminal, and to new depths, with key components located beneath an active taxiway. Photo Courtesy Of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Extension of people mover will connect new 1.2-million-sq-ft terminal beneath a taxiway to the existing concourse, for a total of 40 international gates. Photo Courtesy Of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport New international building will carry 12 gates and five floors. All construction procurements are complete, with 256 active subcontracts
A mediated settlement of a decade-long fight has opened the way for construction of a new, $800-million container terminal and port-access road in Charleston, S.C. On Aug. 6, the South Carolina State Ports Authority and the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League concluded several months of negotiations with an agreement on specific actions to monitor and reduce air emissions from port operations and mitigate gridlock through increased use of rail connections. The settlement ends a 2005 court challenge regarding permits by the League, but the battle dates back to 1999, when the League objected to an earlier plan because of emissions
China plans to award a design-build contract soon for the sunken tube tunnel and artificial islands comprising part of the 30-kilometer-long, $5.5-billion road link between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau, in the Pearl River Delta. Bids for the bridge section will follow in a few months, says a project source. Officials plan to open the link in 2016. Road link across the Pearl River Delta will include a sunken tube tunnel and artificial islands. From Hong Kong, some 5 km of bridges will link to two 700-meter-long islands, which will be linked by the tunnel. The crossing will continue on
Officials with the Denver International Airport will decide this year whether to move ahead with a signature rail bridge design, unveiled July 29, by architect-structural engineer Santiago Calatrava. The 720-ft-long suspension bridge would likely have a $60-million-plus price tag, which is more than double preliminary cost estimates. Photo Courtesy Of Santiago Calatrava Design by Calatrava for symmetrical suspension bridge may be too costly to build. The symmetrical, tied-arch, steel-and-concrete span is planned as part of a $650-million south terminal redevelopment, which also includes a hotel and a train station. But it is also part of a commuter rail link owned
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