An official road-building rating system similar to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for buildings may be coming soon. While the Federal Highway Administration prepares to select a team to create national guidelines, the University of Washington and engineering firm CH2M Hill have already compiled a comprehensive system called Greenroads. Source: ACP Greenroads Category Weights: Shows the distribution of voluntary credit points in each of the categories. The performance metrics system, officially unveiled this month at the annual Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, D.C., outlines minimum requirements to qualify as a green roadway, including noise mitigation, storm-water management
Las Vegas Monorail Co., private owner of a $650-million, 4.2-mile automated rail line connecting eight Las Vegas Strip resorts and the convention center, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 13, one month after an announced $500-million expansion to McCarran International Airport. The dual-line system began operation on July 15, 2004. Granite Construction Co. Inc., Watsonville, Calif., and Bombardier built the monorail under a $354-million, fixed-price contract. Estimated to carry 40,000 passengers a day, the monorail ran into trouble when, on Sept. 1, a 20-in., 60-lb rubber steering tire broke off during transit. Officials replaced the wheel assemblies and
The Panama Canal Authority is planning a permanent road connecting North and South American land masses on the canal’s Atlantic side. Source: ACP In the next few weeks, officials with the agency, known by its Spanish acronym ACP, plan to award a feasibility contract for possible alternatives for a permanent vehicular crossing at the Gatun Locks near Colon. Preliminary plans call for either a bridge or tunnel. Currently, traffic must use a small road that runs directly in front of the locks. The arrangement requires that the only road crossing at that end of the canal must be closed when
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is changing the criteria it uses to evaluate which new transit projects it will fund. Industry officials say the shift is likely to give a boost to streetcar and urban light-rail projects in the competition for federal money, but other options, such as bus rapid transit, will still be in the game. Photo: Trimet Observers say future urban light-rail projects, such as the existing system (above) in Portland, Ore., and streetcar-line proposals will benefit from DOT’s policy shift on new transit starts. In unveiling the shift on Jan. 13, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said the
Florida is looking to the private sector to bankroll high-speed rail. The state’s proposal for federal funding anticipates that private-sector funding would cover all operations and maintenance expenses for a planned line between Orlando and Tampa. State transportation planners aren’t committing any state funding to the system for the foreseeable future. Despite widespread enthusiasm for the project, the president of the Florida Transportation Builders Association is worried about high-speed rail’s long-term impact on state transportation funding, especially since the state has no dedicated funding source for a rail system. “There doesn’t appear to be any recognition at all of the
Many transportation experts say federal and state transportation departments need to radically change how they fund and deliver projects, with an emphasis on performance measures, private involvement and design-build. A number of federal and state officials are calling for a “major reform” in how federally funded transportation projects are assessed and delivered and how their own departments are organized. “The time is right to move to a performance-based program,” says Jeffrey Paniati, executive director of the Federal Highway Administration. “We need to focus less on the process and more on the outcome” of projects, he says. Paniati was part of
The Padma Bridge, which at 6.1 km will be Bangladesh’s longest bridge when completed, will cross the Padma River 50 km south of Dhaka, the capital. The bridge’s two-level superstructure will carry four lanes of traffic on the upper level, with a rail line and gas transmission line below. The project also includes 13.8 km of approach roads. The bridge is being designed by the New Zealand office of Maunsell AECOM, with support from the firm’s Hong Kong office. Design is expected to be completed by December 2010, with construction commencing in 2011 and lasting about three and a half
A contractor last month completed relocation of a 1,800-ft-long flood-prone stretch of state Route 12 on Hatteras Island, N.C., but a longer-term plan to elevate other parts of the highway faces potential delays. RPC Contracting Inc., Kitty Hawk, N.C., began work in late November on a $439,600 lump-sum contract to shift the 1,800-ft stretch of roadway 23 ft to the west, placing it at the edge of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation’s right-of-way through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Construction was completed by Dec. 11, after which the contractor would have faced liquidated damages of $5,000 per day.
Spanish construction logos are among the first to be seen by visitors to the Irish Republic as they drive into Dublin from the city’s airport. A blend of funding, design and construction expertise has secured for the Spanish a large and growing slice of Ireland’s infrastructure market. Photo: W.S. Atkins PLC. A major redesign eases construction at Dublin’s N3-M50 interchange. Related Links: Dublin Beltway's PPP Upgrade Crossing the airport road is a roughly $360-million project to upgrade the M50 toll road, sweeping around the west of Dublin. Spanish firms control 85% of the consortium that is widening 23 kilometers of
Construction is scheduled to start this year on what will be the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the U.S., linking St. Louis and western Illinois over the Mississippi River by 2014. The scope, limited bids and challenges of the Interstate 70 project caused the winning bid to exceed engineering estimates by almost $40 million. Image: MoDOT New St. Louis-Illinois crossing will be challenging but potentially rewarding for the contractor. On Dec. 30, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (MHTC) awarded the $229.5-million contract to a joint venture of Massman Construction, Kansas City, Mo.; Traylor Brothers Inc., Evansville, Ind.; and Alberici Constructors
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