The Massachusetts Port Authority is wrapping up a repaving job that features the first application of warm-mix asphalt (WMA) on a U.S. runway. Currently, Federal Aviation Administration specifications do not address warm-mix asphalt. However, the mix is gaining attention because of its environmentally friendly properties. Photo: Massachusetts Port Authority Warm mix goes down easy with airport engineers and contractors at Massport’s Boston Logan International Airport, which is the country’s first to embrace the environmentally friendly material. J.F. White Contracting Co., Boston, began its approximately $12-million contract in July to repave a 7,000-ft-long, 150-ft-wide runway at Boston’s Logan International Airport, says
The phone call was from Chicago, and Theodore Zoli, vice president and bridge technical director in the New York City office of HNTB Corp., was working on a project. When he took the call, he wondered what might be wrong. Daniel J. Socolow, director of the fellows program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, broke the news to him: He was one of 24 recipients chosen to receive $500,000 over the next five years, no strings (or bridge cables) attached, for his work on bridge design and security reinforcement.“I almost fell off my chair,” recalls Zoli, 43.
Applications are in for the first batch of federal high-speed-rail grants financed largely by $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. An unofficial round-one tally shows states are seeking about $6.6 billion. That is far below the $102.5 billion in “pre-applications” states filed in July, but it reflects the first round’s emphasis on individual projects that are ready to start. Moreover, with the construction industry struggling, the new applications represent a substantial amount of potential infrastructure work, including bright possibilities for engineering firms. The dollars are expected to be even larger in the next round of applications, which
In just a decade, the “big four” Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have embraced public-private partnership (P3) projects to the point where they are almost a mainstream construction-delivery method.
35 years after traffic was suspended, a former railroad bridge gets a major facelift. A nearly 7,000-ft-long railroad bridge is undergoing an extreme $35-million makeover over the Hudson River, thanks to hundreds of precast concrete panels, community zeal and the windblown determination of engineers and contractors. When completed by October, the revamped 121-year-old Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge may be the world�s longest pedestrian bridge at 6,768 ft, say officials. Photos courtesy of Bergman Associates Old railroad bridge will become a soaring walkway over the Hudson River when it opens later this year. The historic bridge’s 3,094-ft-long, 25-ft-wide main span consists of
Senior Transportation Editor Aileen Cho sat down recently with Stuart S. Chen, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Arun M. Shirolé, a senior vice president of bridge engineer Arora and Associates, P.C., New York City. They discussed the origins of Bridge Information Modeling, why they believe it’s needed to integrate design and operations management, the role of vendors and where it goes from here. View of a Portion of the Bridge Computer Model CHEN What is Bridge Information Modeling? AS: It came about back in the late '80s. I was
The airport world marked the latest leg of its journey toward standardizing sustainability this month in Chicago. The Chicago Dept. of Aviation, which is running a $6.6-billion modernization program, has unveiled the latest version of a sustainability manual that now offers specific guidelines and scoring systems for design, construction, operations and maintenance, concessions and tenants at airports. “Say goodbye to the old manual and hello to a new sustainable airport,” says Eugene Peters, director with Ricondo & Associates Inc., a Chicago-based aviation consultant. “This applies to everything...not just what you build but how you built it. Photo: OMP Green Airport
Virtual design and construction tools are crossing over from buildings to transportation projects. Officials admit that 3D parametric modeling in the transportation sector has trailed the buildings sector, but they say change is afoot. “In 10 years, we will be living in a BIM world,” predicts Cosima Crawford, chief engineer for the New York City Transit Authority. “It’s our new reality,” she says.That reality has transportation teams tackling the same challenges their building counterparts are seeing in their transition to building information modeling. These include BIM technology issues, process change and institutional buy-in. Image: NYC Transit Authority For new projects,
High-speed rail is red-hot. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has been flooded with proposals seeking a piece of the $8 billion it received for high-speed rail grants in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, the potential plans far outstrip DOT’s ARRA rail bank account. DOT’s Federal Rail-road Administration reported on July 16 it had received 278 rail-grant “pre-applications” totaling $102.5 billion. Some applicants may not win grants, but more money may be on the way. A House committee has recommended an additional $4 billion for high-speed rail in regular 2010 appropriations. Photo: California high speed rail authority California’s $40-billion
Faster, stronger and greener elements need to be part of bridge construction in the U.S., accomplished through fast-track project-delivery methods, Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques or alternative materials, according to a variety of industry officials. Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) could contribute to all those themes, said speakers at the International Bridge Conference held in Pittsburgh on June 14-17. “The ABC mantra is ‘Get in, get out and stay out,’” noted David White, marketing manager with Sika Corp., Lyndhurst, N.J., a manufacturer of FRP components. “FRPs will fit all of that, especially the ‘stay out.’” But the higher initial cost of installing composite
