Washington state Dept. of Transportation (WsDOT) officials hope to finalize designs this summer for a 2.3-mile section of the $4.65-billion, 12.8-mile state Route 520 corridor improvement project, in Seattle, which includes the world’s longest floating pontoon bridge. Photo: Washington State Dept. of Transportation Project floating along On-site work is under way for new pontoon construction (above), which is part of the expanded Washington state corridor (below) connecting Seattle to points east. + Image WsDOT is working with the City of Seattle, the University of Washington, King County Metro and Sound Transit on design decisions regarding the westside section of the
California’s High Speed Rail Authority is reconsidering plans for a new leg, which would run from Los Angeles to San Diego, of a $42-billion, 800-mile system; instead, it now is weighing a shared-track arrangement with Amtrak. The proposal was put forth on April 8 by Richard Katz, an authority board member. He says that the measure could save an estimated $2 billion and would eliminate the need to demolish hundreds of homes and businesses. The project has been awarded $2.25 billion in federal stimulus funding and could begin construction as early as fall 2012.
By the end of April, a joint venture called Audubon Bridge Constructors plans to begin pulling cable on the John James Audubon Bridge at St. Francisville, La., the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America. The JV has been on the project since April 2006, contending with a vast, wet site and water levels that vary as much as 40 ft. The bridge is expected to be completed in mid-2011. Photo: Angelle Bergeron Complex horizontal beams joining the pylon columns began taking shape in March. They are nearing completion now as towers head to 520 ft. Cable-pulling is expected to begin
Plans are moving forward for the first, $750-million, 25-mile section of the long-awaited $4.5-billion Baton Rouge Loop transportation project. Photo: HNTB Crossing designs are evaluated by the captains who will guide ships beneath them. Related Links: Piloting Virtual River Crossing The overall project includes an 80- to 90-mile controlled access toll roadway that will encircle Louisiana’s capital city metro area and alleviate congestion by providing additional capacity to Interstates 10 and 12 and alternate routes for local traffic. The first 25-mile section “has been broken out into an independent project,” which means it can advance ahead of the rest of
After contractual juggling and debates over the alleged dangers of steel rail ties, Austin’s Capital Metro opened its 32-mile MetroRail commuter line between the city of Leander, Texas, and Austin’s downtown Convention Center on March 22, a year later than originally planned. “The overall integration of the Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system took longer to implement than anticipated,” Capital Metro spokesman Adam Shaivitz says. Last August, board-meeting minutes indicate, a system used for switching from freight to passenger rail had field-test problems. The opening comes more than five years after voters approved the “All Systems Go Plan” referendum. The agency
Crews have filled in about 80% of nine voids leftover from a 2-mile tunneling job through Seattle’s Beacon Hill. Japan’s Obayashi Corp. did not discover the voids while boring the parallel, 1-mile tunnels as part of its $280-million contract, which has since increased to $312 million. Owner Sound Transit contends the contractor is at fault. Photo: Sound Transit Crews pump low-density concrete into tunnel voids found by drilling. The new, $2.6-billion, 16-mile Link Light Rail from downtown Seattle south to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport required tunnels and a station 180 ft deep beneath Beacon Hill. Obayashi in 2004 won the contract
Hillman joined Swiss post-tensioning firm VSL in 1990 to work on a 385-m-long incrementally launched bridge in Utuado, Puerto Rico. Six months later, the project manager left the job. Hillman, then age 27, found himself in charge of completing a type of structure built only once before in the Western Hemisphere. And it was slowly collapsing. Photo: John Hillman It was an incrementally launched bridge being pushed across the piers by 1,000-ton rams supported on the abutments, says Elvin Wright, then VSL project superintendent. But the project was behind schedule and in trouble. Wright credits Hillman with saving the day.
The government is widening a whistle-blower probe into the safety of northern Nevada’s 8.5-mile-long Interstate 580 extension between Reno and Carson City, following the discovery of a hairline crack in one of its bridges. Photo: Nevada DOT Authorities are probing a hairline crack on the record-setting cathedral-arch bridge in Nevada. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 24 directed U.S. Dept. of Transportation Inspector General Calvin L. Scovel to expand his investigation of the project’s final leg to include the 1,722-ft-long, 295-ft-tall Galena Creek Bridge. It will be North America’s longest cathedral-arch bridge when completed in fall 2011. Dickinson,
With the fourth and last 10,000-tonne concrete element sunk, the U.K.’s new, 1.5-km-long River Tyne Tunnel crossed a major milestone late last month, but a missed dredging window, imposed to protect salmon migration, will cost a delay of two months. Photo: New Tyne Tunnel. Four sunken tube elements were built in dry dock by the contractor. Photo: New Tyne Tunnel. All four sunken tube segments have been floated into place on the Tyne River. Related Links: Tyne Tunnel Sunk Work now focuses on the final connections between the four 400-m-long concrete elements of the sunken tube tunnel (STT) near Newcastle.
Municipalities and ports in northern Germany and across Denmark have started competing to host construction sites for the planned 19-km fixed crossing across the strait, Fehmarn Belt, between the two countries. Construction lasting six years is forecast to cost up to $7.3 billion. About three years before sitework is scheduled to start, the Copenhagen-based state company managing the project, Femern A/S, has published requirements for production and construction sites. Final site choices will be made by the companies that will handle three large contracts for the project. Though a bridge is the expected form of crossing, Femern A/S is still
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