Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Fits and starts, bumper to bumper. ENR Transportation Editor Aileen Cho and I headed to Washington, D.C. along the dreaded, traffic-clogged I-95 corridor. And we're riding in a 1949 Hudson Commodore. Why? To send the message that "America’s infrastructure is as old, rusty and as energy defunct" as the car.If we’re successful, we’ll travel 5,000 miles to the West Coast in Mrs. Martin, the nickname I've given my Detroit lead sled. Aileen and I will be journaling the lack of investment in vital infrastructure and how that is putting the U.S. in
Photo by Dan McNichol The Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey, one of the first stops on the Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure tour. Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Disgusted with gridlock and the politics of Washington, DC when it comes to the infrastructure spend, I headed into it and towards it. On a hot and humid Wednesday morning in May I began the shlep through Boston’s morning rush. As I rolled onto the Mass Pike I felt the glare of workers starting their daily driving grind. Peering out of hermetically sealed cockpits, where music was streaming
China Railway Tunnel Group, with an Israeli partner, has won an $800-million contract to build the tunnels and underground stations in the western section of the first line of the Tel Aviv light rail system.It is the largest tender for the project’s Red Line, awarded by NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd.The joint venture of Shikun U’Binui subsidiary Solel Boneh and the Chinese firm will manage digging of two parallel 5-kilometer long tunnels that constitute the main part of the underground section of the first line. Completion of the 22-km long line that runs from Petah Tikva northeast of the
Transportation bottlenecks often occur in Bangladesh, where numerous rivers flow through its cities. The Karnaphuli River, for instance, separates the Chittagong district into two parts, dividing the city and the port from the heavy-industry area. With the district's three existing bridges congested and unable to meet their current traffic loads, the state-owned Bangladesh Bridge Authority has invited expressions of interest from international consultants for a 3.4-kilometer-long, multi-lane road tunnel under the Karnaphuli River, approximately 2 km downstream from Chittagong’s airport. The project cost is estimated at $800 million; the project is expected to take four years to build. Respondents to the
Related Links: FRA May 16 statement on safety directives Amtrak May 16 blog post, incl. train-control system background and update Under new Federal Railroad Administration directives, Amtrak is making safety improvements on its Northeast Corridor line, including expanding its use of technology to control train speeds.The orders, which FRA announced on May 16, came four days after Amtrak train No. 188 derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight passengers and injuring scores of others.According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident, northbound train No. 188 was running at 102 miles per hour—more than double the speed limit—when it
NTSB Scrutiny of May 12 Amtrak train crash near Philadelphia has turned to positive-train-control systems, which can reduce speed on curves automatically. Prior to the crash, Amtrak had PTC equipment installed but not activated, pending tests. Amtrak President Joseph Boardman pledged to have a system in operation by year-end. Related Links: NTSB May 13 briefing on Amtrak accident Fact sheet on Senate commerce-committee rail bill As the investigation continues into the May 12 Amtrak crash that claimed at least eight lives and injured scores of others, increased scrutiny is falling on positive train control, or PTC, a system that can
Photo by Todd Harrell/National Guard Geotechnical engineering project won kudos upon 2008 completion but failed in 2015. Related Links: Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges Negligence on W. Va. Airport VIDEO: Landslide at airport (WTAE Pittsburgh) The failure in March of a geosynthetically reinforced runway extension at Charleston, W.Va.'s Yeager International Airport has triggered a lengthy dispute among the facility's insurance carrier, designer Triad Engineering and contractor that will involve millions in damages.The damage liability involving insurer AIG Aero, Triad Engineering, Scott Depot, W. Va., and Pennsylvania contractor Cast and Baker now is estimated at $16 million to $26 million."It's been 55 days
Related Links: Infrastructure Week Audio of Biden's May 11 infrastructure speech (remarks start at approx 55 minute mark on the timeline) Government, industry and labor-union officials on May 11-15 marked the third-annual Infrastructure Week by speaking about the economic importance of highways, rail lines, waterways, ports and other public works at events held around the U.S. But hovering over all the speeches was deep frustration over the lack of progress in Congress on infrastructure advocates' prime goal: a long-term surface-transportation bill.At the program's May 11 Washington, D.C., kickoff event, attendees heard Vice President Joe Biden declare, "We have to have
Photo by JR Long for ENR Tuned mass rail dampers (above) use steel and rubber plates to reduce vibration. Crews install precast concrete panels at rail crossings (below). Photo Courtesy Sacramento RT Related Links: $1.5-Billion Light Rail Line Takes Shape In LA The 10 Longest Urban Metro Transit Systems in the World Tight space constraints along a 4.3-mile light-rail expansion for the Sacramento Regional Transit District, or Sacramento RT, required engineers to modify plans and adopt new rail-damping technology to reduce noise in residential areas.And crews with joint-venture contractor Balfour Beatty and Teichart must meet a strict time line to
Related Links: Contractor Placing World's Largest FRP Deck, After Settling Dispute With Owner Dozens of Test Projects Later, Advocates Still Have Durable Dreams In the bucolic town of Brookfield, Vt., crews are finishing work on the world's first composite floating bridge. It is the eighth iteration of the original log bridge built in 1820, after a town resident fell through ice and drowned in what is now called Sunset Lake.The 318-ft x 20-ft, single-lane Brookfield Bridge, which carries Vermont Route 65 across the lake, employs a fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) flotation system with a 100-year design life. Construction of the $2.4-million
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