The Panama Canal Authority is planning a permanent road connecting North and South American land masses on the canal’s Atlantic side. Source: ACP In the next few weeks, officials with the agency, known by its Spanish acronym ACP, plan to award a feasibility contract for possible alternatives for a permanent vehicular crossing at the Gatun Locks near Colon. Preliminary plans call for either a bridge or tunnel. Currently, traffic must use a small road that runs directly in front of the locks. The arrangement requires that the only road crossing at that end of the canal must be closed when
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is changing the criteria it uses to evaluate which new transit projects it will fund. Industry officials say the shift is likely to give a boost to streetcar and urban light-rail projects in the competition for federal money, but other options, such as bus rapid transit, will still be in the game. Photo: Trimet Observers say future urban light-rail projects, such as the existing system (above) in Portland, Ore., and streetcar-line proposals will benefit from DOT’s policy shift on new transit starts. In unveiling the shift on Jan. 13, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said the
Florida is looking to the private sector to bankroll high-speed rail. The state’s proposal for federal funding anticipates that private-sector funding would cover all operations and maintenance expenses for a planned line between Orlando and Tampa. State transportation planners aren’t committing any state funding to the system for the foreseeable future. Despite widespread enthusiasm for the project, the president of the Florida Transportation Builders Association is worried about high-speed rail’s long-term impact on state transportation funding, especially since the state has no dedicated funding source for a rail system. “There doesn’t appear to be any recognition at all of the
Many transportation experts say federal and state transportation departments need to radically change how they fund and deliver projects, with an emphasis on performance measures, private involvement and design-build. A number of federal and state officials are calling for a “major reform” in how federally funded transportation projects are assessed and delivered and how their own departments are organized. “The time is right to move to a performance-based program,” says Jeffrey Paniati, executive director of the Federal Highway Administration. “We need to focus less on the process and more on the outcome” of projects, he says. Paniati was part of
The Padma Bridge, which at 6.1 km will be Bangladesh’s longest bridge when completed, will cross the Padma River 50 km south of Dhaka, the capital. The bridge’s two-level superstructure will carry four lanes of traffic on the upper level, with a rail line and gas transmission line below. The project also includes 13.8 km of approach roads. The bridge is being designed by the New Zealand office of Maunsell AECOM, with support from the firm’s Hong Kong office. Design is expected to be completed by December 2010, with construction commencing in 2011 and lasting about three and a half
A contractor last month completed relocation of a 1,800-ft-long flood-prone stretch of state Route 12 on Hatteras Island, N.C., but a longer-term plan to elevate other parts of the highway faces potential delays. RPC Contracting Inc., Kitty Hawk, N.C., began work in late November on a $439,600 lump-sum contract to shift the 1,800-ft stretch of roadway 23 ft to the west, placing it at the edge of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation’s right-of-way through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Construction was completed by Dec. 11, after which the contractor would have faced liquidated damages of $5,000 per day.
Spanish construction logos are among the first to be seen by visitors to the Irish Republic as they drive into Dublin from the city’s airport. A blend of funding, design and construction expertise has secured for the Spanish a large and growing slice of Ireland’s infrastructure market. Photo: W.S. Atkins PLC. A major redesign eases construction at Dublin’s N3-M50 interchange. Related Links: Dublin Beltway's PPP Upgrade Crossing the airport road is a roughly $360-million project to upgrade the M50 toll road, sweeping around the west of Dublin. Spanish firms control 85% of the consortium that is widening 23 kilometers of
Construction is scheduled to start this year on what will be the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the U.S., linking St. Louis and western Illinois over the Mississippi River by 2014. The scope, limited bids and challenges of the Interstate 70 project caused the winning bid to exceed engineering estimates by almost $40 million. Image: MoDOT New St. Louis-Illinois crossing will be challenging but potentially rewarding for the contractor. On Dec. 30, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded the $229.5-million contract to a joint venture of Massman Construction, Kansas City, Mo.; Traylor Brothers Inc., Evansville, Ind.; and Alberici Constructors
Managers of London’s Crossrail railroad have chosen the final five of 24 design teams for the estimated $26-billion project, said to be Europe’s largest infrastructure job. Last month, Crossrail Ltd., short-listed five international consortiums to compete for the two main tunnel contracts, extending 18.1 km, with awards due by June. Preparatory work on the tunnels’ western portals, at Royal Oak, is due to start this month. The 118-km east-west railroad will include 21 km of twin, 6.2-m dia. tunnels under the city. All schedules could change after the government elections, which must be held before June. The opposition Conservative Party,
Photo: DHV Group Vietnam bridge initiative will allow much larger vessels to travel the Mekong River. Vietnam’s ministry of transport, public works and water management has launched a four-year, $100-million project to improve navigation along 250 km of the Mekong River, a key transportation corridor. Netherlands-based DHV Group has won a contract covering design and management, and construction is due to start in a year. Work on 18 existing and new bridges, as well as a lock, will allow 600-tonne vessels to ply the river, about 20 times bigger than those now in use.
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