Skanska, Whitestone, N.Y., in a joint venture with Watsonville, Calif-based Granite Construction, has been awarded a $542-million contract to construct the new PATH station at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. Skanska’s share of the contract is 80%. PATH is the Port Authority’s commuter rail system, which connects New Jersey to downtown Manhattan. The joint venture is responsible for placement of all cast-in-place concrete to construct the new station platforms 36 feet below and immediately west of New York City Transit’s No. 1 subway line’s structural box. The concrete roof will form the plaza to
Traffic moved across the Bridge of Lions on March 17 for the first time in four years following the lengthy restoration of the historic landmark in St. Augustine, Fla. A key part of the work required the rehab team to remove the bridge’s signature arched girders and, after sandblasting, return them as non-load-bearing elements. Photo: Reynolds, Smith & Hills The bridge that is considered a signature of St. Augustine, Fla., was rehabbed in phases that included building a temporary bridge. In 2004, the Florida Dept. of Transportation awarded a rehabilitation contract to Tidewater Skanska Inc., Virginia Beach, Va., for a
The project will rebuild the Congress Parkway interchange, which connects Interstate 290 to the north-south leg of Chicago’s Wacker Drive, the double-decker downtown artery made famous in the movie “The Blues Brothers.” Photo: City of Chicago Rebuilding Wacker Drive’s north-south leg will take about two years. Chicago’s Wacker Drive played a starring role in “The Blues Brothers.” After opening the initial round of bids from three prominent Chicago contractors on Feb. 11, the city disqualified two, then rejected the third for being too expensive. The lowest bid, at $73 million, came from a joint venture of F.H Paschen and Cabo
A rocky season in Colorado began on cue on March 8 with a rockslide on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs. It punched holes in a bridge and dumped boulders the size of semitrucks on the highway, closing a 17-mile stretch. Four days later, the Colorado Dept. of Transportation announced that Flatiron Construction Corp. of Longmont, Colo., was the apparent low bidder for the contract to repair damage. The job includes 400 linear ft of westbound barrier, 150 linear ft of eastbound steel bridge rail, a design-build fix of 460 sq ft of retaining wall, 500 tons of base course and
The Washington State Dept. of Transportation escaped one last schedule hurdle in its planned opening of the new, $519.8-million state Route 120 Hood Canal Bridge, thanks in part to the ample time allotted for functional testing of the new west-half lift span.
Construction of a $1.4-billion, 11-kilometer light-rail line connecting Vancouver, B.C., to other provincial cities is set to start in early 2011, even though Translink, the municipal transportation authority, cannot yet fund its share of the project. British Columbia Prime Minister Gordon Campbell says the line, which has portions at grade, elevated and below ground, will move forward despite uncertainties on funding its final $400 million. The project also is sponsored by provincial and federal governments.
Plans for $45 billion investment in a 540 km core network of high-speed railroads were launched by the U.K. government on March 11. Work on an initial 206 km line between London and the Birmingham area, estimated to cost up $26 billion, could start around 2017, forecasts the Department for Transport. “Building this network would not only revolutionize Britain’s transport, but would also present significant new opportunities for the U.K.’s design, engineering, construction and manufacturing sectors,” says transportation secretary Andrew Adonis. At this stage, the government expects the project to be publicly funded. The core Y-shaped network, for 400 km
A rock slide on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs, Colo., punched holes in a bridge and dumped boulders the size of semitrucks on the highway, closing a 17-mile stretch of the road on the morning of March 8. There were no injuries. The slide occurred at midnight, just west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon, scattering approximately 20 boulders ranging in size from 3 ft to 10 ft in diameter. The largest is estimated to weigh about 66 tons. Colorado Dept. of Transportation geologists attributed the slide to a freeze-thaw effect caused by warm spring weather. CDOT implemented
Private investors will be interested in high-speed-rail projects—if the federal funding stream remains consistent, experts say. In particular, advocates are hoping the $2.5-billion Tampa-Orlando line will prove the mode’s viability. However, it still needs about $1.2 billion more to be completed. Photo: Scott Judy / ENR High-speed-rail line in Florida could be potential national showcase. The assurance of future federal funding is a key first step in attracting necessary private-sector investment, said Michael Cant, vice president of financial advisory services, SMI International Financial Advisory Group, Montreal. He led a session on private-sector financing this month at a conference in Orlando
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