Articles by Aileen Cho

A massive effort to revamp the American air-traffic-control system from land-based to satellite-based equipment, dubbed NextGen, could result in greater flight efficiency and fuel cost savings at all major hubs by 2014, says Randolph Babbitt, Federal Aviation Administration chief. He also stressed the need for the next generation of land-side and air-side infrastructure. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Babbitt urged members of the American Association of Airport Executives last month in Dallas to work toward implementing multimodalism. “We have to advance our infrastructure to NextGen standards,” he said. “It’s the only way to keep pace with the rest of

Advocates for a 269-mile magnetically levitated rail line between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif., are pressing the Federal Railroad Administration for $45 million originally appropriated in the six-year federal transportation bill in 2005. In an April 7 letter to FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto described a scenario in which Nevada Dept. of Transportation repeatedly submitted scope of work plans since 2008, without receiving any response. “[We] steadfastly insist that the FRA comply with the Congressional mandate that the USDOT and the FRA take the steps necessary to allocate funding...for the maglev project,” she wrote. “We're

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

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.

Building information modeling, still relatively rare in the transportation construction world, proved key in gaining public approval for a planned $573-million, 9.4-mile rapid-transit bus system in Hartford, Conn. Advocates hope transit agencies will begin to ramp up use of BIM in future projects. Slide Show Image: SEA Three-dimensional imaging proved a valuable public-outreach method. The Connecticut Dept. of Transportation had planned on design-build for the line connecting Hartford and New Britain. “We had a designer bring the project from [environmental permitting] to 30% design,” says Michael Sanders, ConnDOT transit administrator. But after then-Gov. John Rowland (R)—who had approved special design-build

Rocky economic times, green infrastructure, lean construction and helping the industry be heard were themes at the Associated General Contractors of America convention in Orlando on March 17-20. AGC has to be about “the industry, not about the politics,” says AGC’s new president, Ted Aadland, CEO of Aadland Evans Construction Inc., Portland, Ore. “We can’t afford to be a partisan organization. We need to work with elected officials in both parties on the issues.” Aadland said AGC is like “the sleeping giant”—members can “wake up” to influence those who make codes and regulations and reach out to other construction associations

Building information modeling, still relatively rare in the transportation construction world, proved key in gaining public approval for a planned $573-million, 9.4-mile rapid-transit bus system in Hartford, Conn. Advocates hope transit agencies will begin to ramp up use of BIM in future projects. Slide Show Image: SEA Three-dimensional imaging proved a valuable public-outreach method. The Connecticut Dept. of Transportation had planned on design-build for the line connecting Hartford and New Britain. “We had a designer bring the project from [environmental permitting] to 30% design,” says Michael Sanders, ConnDOT transit administrator. But after then-Gov. John Rowland (R)—who had approved special design-build

High-speed rail advocates celebrated the Jan. 28 award of grants from the $8-billion pot that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but officials must now figure out how to leverage the seed money into successful long-term programs. Florida, one of the big grant winners at $1.25 billion, is now pondering design-build and public-private partnerships along with other funding sources. Related Links: Public Works: Industry’s Salvation Transportation, Military and Civic Projects are Saving the Day for Some Southeast Firms Most of the funds went to long-term programs that now can proceed with environmental reviews and preliminary engineering. But