Testing didn’t reveal it, but reality showcased it when crews started drilling piles for a new $3.2-million Lax Kw’alaams ferry dock in Port Simpson, British Columbia, completed last month. The “piles were walking,” says Claudio Pirillo, project manager for Prince Rupert, B.C.,-based Broadwater Industries. Photo: Broadwater Marine contractor faced challenge of setting piles on a 45� slope. A new dock will accommodate the 15-vehicle Spirit of Lax Kw’alaams’ ferry and offices for B.C.’s Ministry of Forests and Range. To build it, crews were to drill and socket 12 35-in.-diam steel piles 4 meters deep into bedrock for a ramp to
The U.K.’s new government has begun slashing public budgets, but enough cash remains for a $1-billion upgrade of London’s Victoria subway, or tube, station. Construction is due to begin next year, with a 2018 completion deadline. Photo: Transport For London. Victoria subway-station upgrade will include new entrance. Transport for London (TfL) on June 10 signed a construction contract for the major tube station with the Vinci BAM Nuttall Ltd. joint venture. The same team won a $730-million contract to upgrade the system’s Tottenham Court Road station last December. Used by some 80 million people a year, the Victoria tube station
The Florida Dept. of Transportation and concessionaire Miami Access Tunnel officially broke ground in late May on the $1-billion Port of Miami Tunnel project, designed to ease traffic congestion in downtown Miami. Photo: Florida Dept. Of Transportation Two 4,250-ft-long�tunnels will connect Watson Island to Dodge Island, the location of the Port of Miami. Image “Everybody working on this project is very excited,” says Rick Wilson, chief operating officer and technical manager for Miami Access Tunnel (MAT), Miami, which will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the tunnels. A tunnel project in Florida is unique, he says. Design and construction are
A 98-year-old, accident-prone southeast Texas bridge is being upgraded following a long and bumpy bidding process. The U.S. Coast Guard declared the rolling-lift single-leaf bascule causeway bridge connecting Galveston Island with Texas a navigational hazard in 2001. Old bascule bridge was subjected to repeated barge collisions. The 108-ft-wide bridge often is struck by barges, costing more than $2 million in repairs each year, says Raymond Butler, Gulf Coast Intracoastal Canal Association�s former executive director. A new structure�designed by Galveston County with Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Modjeski and Masters�triples the clearance width. Bids came in higher than expected in October, resulting in value-engineering
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has pledged to work with an influential industry group to encourage more girls and young women to embark on transportation careers. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood last month signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) with the Women’s Transportation Seminar International last month in Washington D.C., noting the need in particular for environmental engineers is expected to rise by 30% over the next decade. Photo: WTS LaHood’s team advocates women’s transportation careers. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The MOC was the brainchild of WTS President Elaine Dezenski. Members met with the U.S. DOT in April. “Lightbulbs
A massive effort to revamp the American air-traffic-control system from land-based to satellite-based equipment, dubbed NextGen, could result in greater flight efficiency and fuel cost savings at all major hubs by 2014, says Randolph Babbitt, Federal Aviation Administration chief. He also stressed the need for the next generation of land-side and air-side infrastructure. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Babbitt urged members of the American Association of Airport Executives last month in Dallas to work toward implementing multimodalism. “We have to advance our infrastructure to NextGen standards,” he said. “It’s the only way to keep pace with the rest of
The Washington State Dept. of Transportation is creating a list of best construction practices for floating bridges, based on results of tests conducted on a pontoon built at one-sixth the typical size. The best practices will be used by the design-build team that won the contract to build new pontoons for the state Route 520 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge. At 2,285 meters, SR 520�s bridge is the longest of its kind in the world. Photo: WSDOT Engineers run curing tests on a scale-model pontoon at a yard near Olympia, Wash., in an attempt to minimize cracks. Photo: WSDOT WSDOT and
Prefabricated segmental bridge designs that have helped speed construction and save money in many parts of the country may also have a place in seismically active regions, according to recent tests conducted by the University of Buffalo’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, and its Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER). As part of a Federal Highway Administration-funded project exploring seismic response of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) systems, the research team erected a half-scale 60-ft-long, eight-segment post-tensioned superstructure supported by 10 ft, 5 in. tall hollow piers on 10 x 10 ft concrete foundation blocks. The blocks were
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) wielded his veto on May 28, returning $160 million in funds to the state Transportation Trust Fund and $19 million to the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. “It’s awesome,” says Bob Burleson, president of the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association (FTBA) in Tallahassee. “He sent a strong message to the Legislature and future legislatures to keep their hands off the trust fund.” Dick Kane, communications director for the Florida Dept. of Transportation in Tallahassee, issued a statement responding to the governor’s veto, saying, “We appreciate that the Governor recognizes the value and job opportunities the Florida Dept.
Advocates for a 269-mile magnetically levitated rail line between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif., are pressing the Federal Railroad Administration for $45 million originally appropriated in the six-year federal transportation bill in 2005. In an April 7 letter to FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto described a scenario in which Nevada Dept. of Transportation repeatedly submitted scope of work plans since 2008, without receiving any response. “[We] steadfastly insist that the FRA comply with the Congressional mandate that the USDOT and the FRA take the steps necessary to allocate funding...for the maglev project,” she wrote. “We're
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