Photo by Greg Aragon / ENR Crews building a route extending the original Expo line from Culver City to Santa Monica dealt with a tight urban environment. Enlarge Click map to enlarge. Related Links: L.A. Expo Line To Open Late, Over Budget Snaking above, below and through busy streets, sound studios, artist colonies and freeways, the extension of the Exposition Line from Culver City to Santa Monica is nearing completion thanks in part to the flexibility imparted by design-build, project officials say.The 6.7-mile, $1.5-billion project includes seven bridges and seven stations squeezed into a busy urban setting. The light-rail system
The Federal Highway Administration this month gave Arizona approval to proceed with plans for the state's first major public-private-partnership project, the $1.9-billion Loop 202/South Mountain freeway in the Phoenix metropolitan area.FHWA signed a record of decision March 5, and according to the Arizona Dept. of Transportation, the agency will immediately begin acquiring right-of-way, selecting the construction team and finalizing plans. Five development teams have submitted statements of qualifications to ADOT and will move on to the next stage of the selection process. The final development team is expected to be chosen by January 2016."We are currently reviewing the submitted statement
Related Links: Europe's Largest Rail Project Ramps Up At Halfway Mark, $24-Billion U.K. Crossrail Project Back on Track Some 60 archaeologists in London have started excavating about 3,000 skeletons dating back to 1569 from the city's first municipal burial ground. The excavation will allow construction to start on a new entrance to the Crossrail railroad at Liverpool Street Station.Thousands of Londoners, many of whom were victims of plague, were buried up to the mid-18th century at the Bedlam burial ground, which took its name from the nearby Bethlem Royal Hospital for the mentally ill."There are up to 6 meters of
Photo Courtesy of Washington State DOT After 15 months of sitting stuck under the city, TBM Bertha has been rescued. Related Links: Divers Searching for Way To Get TBM 'Bertha' Moving Again Sinking Soils Further Impede Efforts To Extricate Alaskan Way Viaduct's Stuck TBM After sitting virtually stalled in her tracks for more than a year, Bertha, North America's largest-diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM), has finally been rescued. Before she can begin excavating again, contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) must open up the 57.5-ft-dia cutter head to see how extensive repairs need to be.Bertha had sat under downtown Seattle since
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard February CSX derailment in West Virginia spilled oil into the Kanawha River. Tracks were inspected three days earlier, the railroad says. Related Links: Pipeline Advocates Question Crude-By-Rail Safety As Crude Oil Shipments Soar, Rail Carriers Step Up Safety A growing tally of oil-train derailments so far this year in the U.S. and Canada—some involving newer, supposedly safer tank cars—has called more attention to what politicians and environmental groups see as poorly maintained, aging infrastructure throughout North America's freight rail network. To address the public's concern, the American Association of Railroads says its members are
Photo Courtesy of Sundt-Slayden A bridge job employs prefabricated arches and nitrogen-cooled concrete. Photo Courtesy of Sundt-Slayden Related Links: Truss Travels On Teflon-Coated Track Prefabricated steel arches, liquid nitrogen-cooled concrete and two perched box caisson river piers are facilitating the construction of a new $307.5-million Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Ore.—the largest project of its kind in the history of Multnomah County.In 2013, crews with the Sundt-Slayden joint venture contractor moved a 1,100-ft-long truss span 66 ft north to serve as a temporary detour over the Willamette River. Since then, other techniques have kept the team busy. Crews are currently erecting
Related Links: FHWA ET-Plus webpage (with links to summaries of latest rounds of tests) Six senators seek GAO study of guardrail issues (press release) A type of roadside guardrail that has sparked controversy about its safety has passed a set of crash tests, and states can continue to seek federal reimbursements for the cost of purchasing it, the Federal Highway Administration says.The test results, which FHWA officials announced on March 13, aren’t the last word, however, on the ET-Plus guardrail end caps, made by Dallas-based Trinity Industries Inc. FHWA officials say that they will continue to review additional information about
Related Links: Best of the Best 2014 Aviation Improvements Squeeze Into San Diego Green Build Expansion at San Diego Airport Two design-build teams squeezed $907 million worth of construction into one of the world's busiest single-runway airports, managing to modernize and expand an 85-year-old terminal and related facilities while shaving a collective $45 million off the budget and pumping $415 million in contracts to local businesses as part of the San Diego International Airport's Green Build Expansion.The 460,000-sq-ft Terminal 2 expansion also makes it the world's first commercial airport terminal to receive a LEED Platinum rating, says Bob Bolton, director
The Texas Transportation Dept. late last month said that a $1-billion public-private partnership (P3) proposal from a Spanish-Israeli-US team to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a toll road in Harris County, the first such project type in the Houston area, is "best value," according to a March 3 announcement by the Israel-based team contractor Shikun & Binui.It is part of the Blueridge Transportation Group, a consortium vieing for the SH 288 toll lanes project that also includes Spain-based ACS Infrastructure Development Inc., InfraRed Capital Partners, ACS unit Dragados USA Inc. and Arizona-based Pulice Construction Inc.The apparent win would be
Photo Courtesy Kiwi Rail Aging rail bridges and trestles are being replaced across New Zealand. Photos Courtesy Kiwi Rail Rail bridge replacements on the South Island have to be completed on tight schedules to minimize interruptions in service. A 5.6-magnitude earthquake on January 5 gave South Island New Zealanders a sharp reminder of the devastating quakes which damaged much of Christchurch in 2010 and 2011. It also brought much of the rail network to a temporarily standstill while engineers checked the system’s safety.KiwiRail, New Zealand's rail operator, declared Christchurch's North Line, South Line and Hokitika Line, clear to reopen after
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