Related Links: Edmonton Bridge Contractors Straighten Buckled Girders Until March 16, everything was coming together very nicely on the new bridge at 102nd Avenue over Groat Road in Edmonton, Alberta. Two days earlier, the crew from fabricator and erector Supreme Steel had placed and bolted the first of seven central girder sections that would complete the span. Winds interrupted work for awhile, but by Sunday night crews resumed girder placement until six sections were up. Then, at about 2:15 a.m. on Monday, March 16, four of the girders buckled laterally, three deflecting several feet and leaving interior braces bent or
EarthCam The site of the new Waterdale Bridge in Edmonton, where steel arch sections will be assembled when all sections arrive. Photo from City of Edmonton website Steel sections for the Walterdale Bridge appear in an image that appears to be taken at Daewoo's fabrication shop in Korea. Related Links: Edmonton's Other Big Bridge Headache Announcement of Walterdale Bridge Delay by Edmonton Before an Edmonton bridge's steel girders buckled in March, officials in the Canadian city and project contractors were already facing a long delay on another, more important bridge project there.The construction team working on the Alberta provincial capital's
Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Buckling columns in the days after installation on a bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Within days, bracing and cranes hooked to the girders helped eliminate the deformation in the deep bridge girders. Related Links: Watch the buckled girders straight on the Edmonton Bridge via Earthcam Edmonton city officials are overseeing a review by a structural consultant on what caused four deep steel girders on a new bridge being built over a busy thoroughfare to buckle soon after their placement March 16.The structure has been stabilized but the project delays are costly, at more
Related Links: Protests Push the Public Procurement Process In a change endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration, the New Mexico Dept. of Transportation will take contractors' past performances into account when they bid on highway projects over $5 million.NMDOT believes the procedure will result in lower costs and delays. The Associated Contractors of New Mexico (ACNM) thinks the new rule will result in less competition and higher bid prices.CHURCH"Our goal is to change New Mexico contracting from 'low bid' to 'quality bid,' " says NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Tom Church. "This process will encourage the good contractors to continue with excellent
Rendering Courtesy of Jerusalem Municipality Officials say cable car system will relieve traffic congestion in the Old City, but project has opponents. Jerusalem city officials are moving ahead with plans to build a controversial cable-car project despite a decision by a French consulting firm to back out of the project for apparent political reasons.The 2.3-kilometer long cable-car system, a $32-million project, is designed to carry thousands of passengers daily between the city's downtown and the Old City, to reduce traffic in the area of sites holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.Part of the system route crosses Jerusalem's eastern section, which
Map by Jeffrey Cox/ENR Massive infrastructure plan aims to link Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia with the rest of Africa. Related Links: Rising Cement Demand in East Africa Draws European Manufacturers Africa Road Projects To Drive Demand for Asphalt After four years of negotiations with landowners, construction of the first phase of the $3.1-billion berths project in Kenya’s coastal town of Lamu is back on track. The new berths will be part of a $24.5-billion, seven-component Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport (Lapsset) corridor project, the largest ever in eastern Africa.The building of the 32 berths, which is now slated
Photo by Shem Oirere Kenya has launched a $2.8-billion, 10,000-km road-paving program, to be completed in 2017. Related Links: Rising Cement Demand in East Africa Draws European Manufacturers Sub-Saharan Africa's Energy Sector on Growth Trajectory in 2015 With many countries in Africa planning or implementing major highway building programs, demand for asphalt is expected to rise. That has prompted an increase in asphalt imports and a French asphalt company’s acquisition of a large West African company.Imported asphalt’s price is much lower than locally produced material, especially in Nigeria, where marketers are lobbying for punitive import taxes. The low price of
Related Links: The Economics of High Speed 2 - Economic Affairs Committee report HS2 Chairman Higgins Pushes Rail Program Forward Legislation for UK's HS2 Rail Program Will Move, Government Official Tells Engineers The U.K. government has failed to justify its planned $74-billion investment in HS2, a new high-speed railroad that will link London to industrial centers in the north of England, according to a March 25 report from an influential committee of Parliament. The report calls on officials to make a better case for “one of the most expensive infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the U.K.”Clive Hollick, chair of the
Photo by Nicholas Zeman / ENR Downtown Crossing will start cable work at a ramped-up pace. Related Links: $2.6-Billion Ohio River Bridges Project Ramps Up In Louisville $2.6-Billion Ohio River Spans Set for Award in December Crews are grappling with inclement weather and extra responsibilities on the design-build portion of the $2.6-billion Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP), linking Kentucky and Indiana. The main contractor hopes to ramp up work and stay on schedule.Walsh Group won the $860-million design-build Downtown Crossing contract in 2012, with a December 2016 slated completion. Walsh is also in a $763-million concessionaire contract to build ORBP's
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