Rehabilitation of a 368-ft-long,70-year-old Warren through-truss bridge in Westfield, Mass., is now a major urban revitalization project that includes three bridges and a half-acre of parkland, as crews deal with live trains, endangered mussels and sub-zero temperatures. “Originally, in 1994, we were just studying the old bridge,” says Mark Ennis, project manager for STV Inc., New York City, the principal architectural and engineering firm for the $70-million project. “We found it could be rehabbed. The work would involve replacing the deck system and some strengthening of truss members, repainting and updating of the bearing systems.” Graphic: STV Inc. Warren truss
Federal funding for surface transportation projects should migrate from the traditional petroleum fuel-based tax to a mileage-based user fee by 2020, according to a 15-member commission appointed by Congress two years ago. The bipartisan group released its final report Feb. 25 with recommendations for overhauling the highway trust fund, which is due for reauthorization later this year. The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission includes financial experts, lawyers, politicians and transportation industry leaders such as Elliot Sander, chief executive officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Jeffrey C. Crowe, chairman of Landstar System, Inc. “We were charged with
For years, a higher-speed rail route between Chicago and St. Louis "has been a construction season or two away from reality," says Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association. Pleasantly surprised by the $8-billion pot created in the final stimulus package for high-speed rail, he says, "Hopefully this will put it over the edge." Photo: California High Speed Rail Authority High-speed rail projects get $8 billion, up from zero in the House version of the bill. High-speed rail is the surprise winner in the $787-billion package, which includes $48 billion for transportation infrastructure. "It was a
Bart Ney gets concerned calls from people just about every day. They see the steel trusses starting to cross San Francisco Bay between Yerba Buena Island to the west and the new 1.2-mile-long precast concrete Skyway to the east, alongside the existing eastern steel truss span of the old Bay Bridge. They wonder why the trusses don’t look at all like the striking self anchored assymetrical suspension span they saw in the renderings. Slide Show Susan Lohwasser / ENR A temporary bridge will take shape this year to carry segments of new self-anchored suspension span until cable arrives. Related Links:
Jack Wilson admits it: He welcomes the rising price of asphalt. It’s not a concrete bias—he is a 40-year contracting veteran who worked impartially with both asphalt and concrete. But now that asphalt milling and repaving is more expensive, he believes the time has finally come for his asphalt overlay invention to gain a wide audience. Photo: Polycon Proprietary overlay creates a protective seal over existing asphalt, eliminating need for constant milling Related Links: America May Gain from Materials Designed To Stretch Your Stimulus Dollars Packing in Particles Yields 100-Year Concrete Mixes Long-Life Composite Bar Receives Second Chance Cylindrical Solar
With the help of special skids and common soap, an Oregon contractor has replaced two bridges in two weekends as part of a $46-million design-build project for the Oregon Dept. of Transportation. Slayden Construction Group Inc., Stayton, broke ground on the project in June 2007 and wrapped it up in January, replacing a total of five 80-year-old bridges along Highway 38 between the towns of Elkton and Drain. Photo: Slayden Mammoet’s system allows new span in Oregon to slide sideways into place atop new bents. The project’s biggest challenge arose on two bridges known as Crossing 3 and Crossing 4.
Bong-Hyun Cho, manager of the immersed tunnel site for the $1.8-billion Busan-Geoje fixed- link project, finally can get some sleep. Six of 18 concrete tunnel elements, 180-m long and 45,000 tonnes, have been towed successfully from a dry dock 35 km away, sunk into the turbulent depths of the Pacific and placed atop specially designed gravel beds with tight tolerances. "If the gravel beds fail, the project fails," he says. "I was so anxious." Slide Show Photo: Halcrow Korea’s 8.2-km-long sea link will connect the mainland to Geoje Island through three islets. After a rocky start with glitches in the
Rail, marine and airport officials are pragmatically waiting for the final version of a stimulus bill. Everyone would like more stimulus project funds, but they would also like policy and programming changes. Such changes could be reflected in attempts to reauthorize the six-year transportation trust fund and the airport improvement program later this year. At a Transportation Research Board session held earlier this month in Washington, D.C., Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pedersen said many officials were calling the stimulus request process a “dress rehearsal” for reauthorization. Related Links: Proposal in House Fires Up Debate Does Massive Spending Help or
Since he was involved in the watershed $1.5-billion design-build widening of Interstate 15 and managed operations for the Utah Dept. of Transportation during the 2000 Olympics shortly thereafter, it is not surprising that Jim McMinimee has Olympian ambitions regarding construction.