Carrying both commuters and water, tunnels have long snaked through the bedrock beneath New York City, but now the labyrinth is growing: Multiple projects are under way totaling nearly $2.5 billion, with several other tunneling jobs on the horizon. Photo: Launch Box Second Avenue subway’s first phase is a $350-million, four-year contract. “Everyone wants these projects done as soon as possible, so we have a flurry of underground activity,” says Gary A. Almeraris, vice president of Skanska USA Civil, Whitestone, N.Y., which has major contracts on three of the region’s biggest tunneling jobs. “This is good news for the New
Despite the financial crisis in southern European Union countries, the Portuguese government has launched construction of a $1.9-billion high-speed railroad to the Spanish border. But it has delayed bidding for a 13-km-long bridge that would carry the line north into Lisbon over the Tagus River. Map: RAVE Photo: RAVE The financial crisis has delayed bids on 13-km-long Tagus River crossing. Portugal’s first high-speed line will extend 165 km from Poceirão, some 34 km south of Lisbon, to Caia, halfway between Elvas, Portugal, and Badajoz, Spain. Due for completion in about four years, the line will carry trains running up to
The Washington State Dept. of Transportation has extended completion of the $1-billion Highway 99 bored tunnel under Seattle to November 2016. Three international teams are vying to build the 56-ft-wide tunnel that will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. WsDOT will offer technical credits for proposals that set a completion date earlier than 2016. The project will require the world’s largest-diameter boring machine, with drilling to take 13 months.
Work on the $1-billion Port of Miami Tunnel project, long delayed and nearly cancelled due to financial reasons, has finally begun. On May 24, work officially commenced with site clearing and grubbing and delivery of equipment and materials. The project’s price tag includes $607 million for design and construction. The Florida Dept. of Transportation selected concessionaire Miami Access Tunnel, led by Bouygues Publics Travaux of France, to design, build, finance, maintain and operate the tunnel. The project will reroute trucks out of downtown Miami, providing direct access to the port from the MacArthur Causeway, also known as Highway A1A. A
Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co. has agreed to pay the Illinois Dept. of Transportation $40 million to settle a 2001 lawsuit contending the aggregates producer damaged a former major artery that bisects an operating company quarry in McCook, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The road has been closed for more than a decade after it shifted suddenly. Photo: Vulcan Materials Aggregate mining was the cause of the Joliet Road collapse, the state of Illinois contended. Vulcan Materials disputed the claim but has agreed to pay the state DOT $40 million. The suit contended that Vulcan, the largest construction aggregate supplier
Construction is under way on the largest and most expensive highway project in the state of Utah, the $1.725-billion Interstate 15 CORE project. This week, crews from a consortium called Provo River Constructors began prep work along a 24-mile stretch, which included grading shoulders to add two lanes in both directions, the extension of a drainage pipe and the demolition of three bridges. Later stages of the project will rebuild and reconfigure 10 freeway interchanges and replace 55 aging bridges. Provo River Constructors includes Wadsworth Bros. Construction, Draper, Utah; Fluor Corp., Aliso Viejo, Calif.; and Ames Construction, Salt Lake City.
Ten years ago, after a lengthy period of being tested on bridges throughout the country, fiber-reinforced polymer composites—touted for their lightness, longevity and resistance to corrosion compared with traditional materials—seemed poised to enter the U.S. mainstream bridge-building market.
In Maine, contractors are “blowing up” bridges: They are inflating hollow carbon-fiber tubes on-site, bending them into arches and infusing them with resin. Filled with concrete, the bridges are ready to be decked, backfilled and paved. Acting as bridge arches for short spans, carbon tubes are inflated and filled with concrete by workers in Maine. Related Links: Dozens of Test Projects Later, Advocates Still Have Durable Dreams Material for Milk Containers Now Supports Railroad Traffic Brit E. Svoboda, chief executive of Advanced Infrastructure Technologies Inc., which owns the rights to the system, is hiking around the U.S. to promote its
Like any railroad crossing, the two short bridges completed this month at Fort Eustis, Va. will be expected to support 130 tons. Unlike typical crossings, however, they are made almost entirely of materials that once were used to contain milk and detergent. Contractors say plastic materials allowed for lighter equipment. Related Links: Dozens of Test Projects Later, Advocates Still Have Durable Dreams Bridge-in-a-Backpack Tech ‘Blows Up’ Next-Gen Bridges Working with Rutgers University, Axion International Holdings Inc., New Providence, N.J., developed proprietary polymer formulas that combine plastics to make an end product tougher than its ingredients. Sales partner Innovative Green Solutions
A contractor’s value-engineering suggestion shaved $2 million off Idaho’s first single-point urban interchange (SPUI), now nearing completion over Interstate 84 near the Boise airport. Photo: Idaho DOT Single-point urban design and value engineering saved money Designer Stanley Consultants, Meridian, Idaho, recommended a SPUI instead of a diamond interchange because it requires less land, moves traffic more quickly and permits wider sidewalks and new bike lanes, says Bob Jacobs, Stanley’s chief transportation engineer. The smaller footprint saved $600,000 by eliminating the need to acquire two buildings. The $17.8-million cost is funded by the federal stimulus bill. Stanley faced a tight timetable
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