Related Links: Transportation's Next Chapter: Maintenance, Mobility, Money P3s Fuel Construction of Lone Star Lanes Continuing its trend of building managed toll lanes with private-sector partners, the Texas Dept. of Transportation has "conditionally" awarded a team led by Kiewit Corp. an $847-million, 3.5-year design-build contract to expand and upgrade State Highway 183, also known as the Airport Freeway, in Dallas.The award is "not set in stone," says Ryan LaFontaine, a TxDOT spokesperson. "There is a period where we'll go work with them to make sure their promises match what we require. Also, public hearings will be held. The process will
Related Links: Automation, Weather Will Influence Future Airport Designs Frustrated Airport Officials Call Out Feds, Airlines Knoxville's airport rents out land to office complexes, car dealers and the U.S. Postal Service. Huntsville International Airport receives revenue from a golf course and cotton farmers. And several other airports, especially the one in Albuquerque, are seeing increasing savings and tax credits from solar panels.American non-hub airports increasingly are turning to non-aeronautical budget enhancers as they face uncertainty in shaping long-term capital plans. "Non-aeronautical revenue represents a good opportunity for architects, engineers, contractors and investors to participate in the changing aviation environment," says
Photo Courtesy of T-Engineering-Ceneva Final tranche from Turkish bankers will underwrite the country's third Bosporus Strait span. Related Links: Turkey Still Seeks Bids for Bosporus Crossing Byzantine Port, Botched Buildings With construction of Turkey's third Bosporus bridge about 25% done, its consortium has secured $2.3 billion of Turkish bank loans to complete the build-own-operate deal's project financing. The roughly 2.2-km-long bridge will cross the Black Sea mouth of the Bosporus waterway between Garipçe and Poyrazköy about 35 km north of Istanbul. Work began early last year and should end in 2016. Bankers finalized the final piece of funding on May
Photo Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bill calls for hikes In Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund spending on port dredging. Related Links: Text of WRRDA House-Senate conference report Industry Officials Hail House-Senate Deal on New Water-Resources Bill (enr.com 5/13/2014) [subcription] The first major water-resources bill in more than six years is heading to President Obama's desk. The $12.3-billion Water Resources Reform and Development Act authorizes nearly three dozen new Army Corps of Engineers projects, directs the agency to speed up its feasibility studies and provides new revenue sources for dredging, flood control and other water projects.WRRDA focuses on the Corps,
Photo by AP Wideworld Intensity of wind-whipped blaze, apparently started by a blowtorch cutting rebar, quickly flared out of control, destroying falsework and deforming steel and iron elements of bridge construction. Related Links: Pair of Big-City Blazes Sparks Review of Safe Welding Habits New Overpass Rises Swiftly From Ashes in Michigan Investigators had not determined at ENR press time whether the May 5 collapse of the $59-million Interstate 15 overpass project was caused by code violations or negligence: Before the collapse, a fire was ignited on that windy day as construction workers used blowtorches to cut excess rebar from falsework.The
Related Links: Nigeria Infrastructure Boom Spurred by $1.1-Billion Chinese Investment China Railway Construction Corp. has, through its subsidiary China Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd., signed an agreement with Nigeria’s transport ministry to build a 1,385-kilometer-long, single-track high-speed railway line with an estimated $13.1 billion price tag.The project is expected to connect 10 Nigerian states with the capital of Lagos, but its exact route has not been disclosed because of concerns of sabotage by rebels, particularly in the oil-rich Niger delta.Also unclear is when construction will start and the mix of workers that will build the line.With at least 22 stations
Photo by David Sailors NJDOT decided to shut down northbound lanes completely so the contractor can go in and replace the 3.5-mile deck within two years as part of a 10-year, $1-billion rehabilitation program. Related Links: Rival Bidder on New Jersey Highway Rehab Eyes Winner's China Tie | N.J. Gov. Christie Details Decision on ARC Tunnel Project Contractor crews bolted from the starting gate in mid-April, commencing a two-year marathon effort to replace three miles' worth of the Pulaski Skyway northbound deck. About a month after the lanes were completely closed, on April 12, project officials say "Autogeddon" has been
Map courtesy Fla. Dept. of Transportation In addition to the rebuilding of general-use lanes, the 21-mile-long project includes reconstruction of 15 major interchanges, construction of roughly 140 bridges and the addition of four variable-priced toll lanes. Related Links: FDOT Officially Names Short-Listed Groups for I-4 Ultimate Job Interstate 595 Widening Mark's Florida's First P3 Effort A concessionaire headed by Skanska Infrastructure Development will lead the Florida Dept. of Transportation's largest public-private partnership project to date: the $2.3-billion rebuild of Orlando's Interstate 4.A joint venture of Skanska USA Civil Southeast, Granite Construction and Lane Construction will lead construction. HDR Engineering and
Related Links: Israel Rail Job Work Resumes After TBM Deviation is Found Booming Ridership Prompts Push for More Light Rail in Jerusalem As part of a plan to expand its 1,100-kilometer national rail network by 600 km in the next few years, Israel awarded last month its largest-ever railroad-track contract, a $400-million award, to a consortium of Germany's DB Bahnbau Gruppe and Israeli contractors Shikun U'Binui Ltd. and Lesico Ltd.The team beat out a consortium of France's TSO, Spain's Indra and Israel's T.A.N. Earthmoving Ltd.The work involves three separate new lines: the 22-km double-track line from Acre to Carmiel; the
Photo Courtesy of HNTB New Interbelt Bridge in Ohio replaces a structurally deficient predecessor; other projects like these could be put on hold if federal transportation funding legislation isn't addressed by Oct. 1. + Image ENR Art Dept. Related Links: Obama Rolls Out $302-Billion Transportation Proposal Don't Wave The White Flag On Federal Transportation Funding As the Highway Trust Fund balance shrinks and the current surface transportation law's Sept. 30 expiration date looms, the Obama administration has fleshed out the details of its $302-billion plan to save the trust fund from insolvency and boost highway and transit spending over the
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