Two years ago, only cows occupied the hilly 922-acre expanse just outside Branson, Mo. But aggressive construction, including moving nearly 12 million cu yd of earth has transformed it into the nation’s first privately financed and operated commercial airport.
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority can proceed at full speed with its $7-billion capital program, thanks to being the nation’s first transportation agency to sell more than $1 billion in taxable bonds that come with a 35% reimbursement from the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Build America bonds (BABs) will contribute $1.375 billion to the authority’s 10-year capital program, along with $375 million sold in traditional tax-exempt bonds. Photo: Aileen Cho / ENR Gutierrez-Scaccetti (right) and Raczynski lead $7 billion in planned capital projects. Photo: New Jersey Turnpike Authority A broadened investor base means the
California’s first American Recovery and Reinvestment Act infrastructure project broke ground last week while the state confirms that $1 billion of act funding has been obligated to 80 total projects. Slide Show Photo: Sherman Chu, Courtesy of Caltrans Brian Gates, Top Grade’s COO, addresses the audience at the Fairfield I-80 project groundbreaking. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and representatives from Caltrans and Top Grade Construction of Livermore, the general contractor, were on hand April 30 to break ground on the $13.5-million pavement improvement project on a 50-year-old section of Interstate 80 in Fairfield between State Route 12 and Air Base Parkway,
An early congressional review of economic-stimulus activity in core infrastructure sectors gives generally good marks for federal and state agencies' progress so far. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 29 held the first of a planned series of hearings on the stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It focused only on programs under the panel's jurisdiction, but they include such key sectors as highways, rail and Environmental Protection Agency water programs. Office of Rep. James Oberstar Rep. James Oberstar Related Links: State-by-State Stimulus Breakdown By Category and Status Prepared Statements by Witnesses As of March 31, the
Aided partly by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), New York City-area transportation agencies are speeding work on multibilliondollar capital plans. The marquee project is the $9-billion rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, dubbed Access to the Region�s Core (ARC). ARRA provided a $130-million “down payment” for the tunnel, said Susan Bass Levin, deputy executive director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in addressing the Professional Women in Construction’s New York chapter at an April 23 forum. “Now we can break ground in the coming months.” The agency has committed $340 million to the tunnel
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on April 23 voted to fund the first phase of the $1.03-billion Interstate 405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project, adding a northbound 10-mile-long carpool lane, between I-10 and U.S. 101, to one of the region’s most congested freeways. The freeway connects the San Fernando Valley with the greater Los Angeles area. The project is a joint venture between Metro and Caltrans. Kiewet Pacific Co., Santa Fe Springs, Calif., was awarded a $712-million design-build contract. The project will be built in phases based upon funding availability. About $372 million already has been secured, including
A consortium led by Parsons Transportation Group Inc., Washington, D.C., has won a $1.46-billion, design-build-operate-maintain contract for 20 miles of light-rail lines in downtown Houston. It is the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) of Harris County’s largest contract. The Houston Rapid Transit JV also includes Granite Construction Co., Watsonville, Calif.; Kiewit Texas Construction, Fort Worth; and Stacy and Witbeck Inc., Alameda, Calif. The team will extend the north, east-end, southeast and uptown lines; build storage and inspection facilities; construct 32 stations; and renovate an existing operations center. METRO selected the runner-up Parsons team after breaking off talks with Boise-based Washington Group
Light-rail owners, planners and builders are enjoying unprecedented public support—and facing unprecedented challenges as a result. With more than 30 cities building light-rail systems, the need for workforce talent and funding is greater than ever. “There is no better time ever to be in transit,” said Leslie Rogers, a San Francisco-based regional administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, speaking to attendees of the Transportation Research Board/American Public Transportation Association Joint Light Rail Conference held April 19-21 in Los Angeles. “We have a great friend and partner in Washington. In thirty years we’ve never been as excited and re-energized.” But Rogers
The often-turbulent journey of Miami International Airport’s $6.2-billion capital improvement program is currently flying smoothly, yet officials also are braced for what they say is the most challenging construction period of all. “This is the decisive year,” says Jim Eldridge, construction manager for the joint venture of Odebrecht Construction, Inc., Coral Gables, Fla., and Parsons Transportation Group, Pasadena, Calif. “It’s like playing the Super Bowl every day for six months.” Photo: Andres Romero/ Parsons Odebrecht J.V. More than 800 construction workers a day are currently working on Miami’s expanding north terminal. Photo: Andres Romero/ Parsons Odebrecht J.V. The joint venture
It may be old hat in Europe and Asia to rocket through the landscape on a 200-plus-mile-an-hour train. But in America, all that promoters of high-speed passenger rail service have to show for three decades of effort are dusty feasibility studies stretching from Florida to California. Photo: California High Speed Rail Authority Simulation of high-speed trains in California. Yet by committing $13 billion in stimulus and budget funds to high-speed train travel to reduce traffic congestion and cut pollution, the Obama Administration is giving these projects a critical boost. A priority is a line that would whiz passengers 520 miles
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