Construction Week: Colo. DOT Bridge Replacement Rolls Into Place in a Weekend; Seattle Launches TBM
Colarodo's DOT Prefabs Bridge Replacement and Rolls It Into Place Over the Weekend
The Colorado Dept. of Transportation placed a new bridge over Interstate 70 in Denver on the weekend of July 20 in the state's first-ever rolling bridge-replacement project.
CDOT closed I-70 in both directions on July 19, and a crew of more than 100 workers from contractor Kiewit Infrastructure, Denver, demolished the aging Pecos Street bridge. Built in 1965, it was in poor condition. Netherlands-based heavy-cargo transportation specialist Mammoet started moving the 4.8-million-lb replacement bridge onto I-70 at noon on Saturday, and I-70 was reopened to traffic by Monday morning.
The new structure was built in CDOT's first-ever "bridge farm," located a block from the site. The $18.6-million project is scheduled to be completed this September.
At Midyear Point, Construction Activity Slips Below 2012's Level
The dollar value of total construction starts through the first half of 2013 is estimated at $233.8 billion, which is 2% less than the same period of last year, according to the latest Dodge starts data compiled by McGraw Hill Construction. A robust 28% increase in residential work was offset by a 9% decline in the nonresidential building market and a 24% drop in non-building construction.
Fracking Pollution Fine Calls for Improved Wastewater Control
XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp., has agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty and spend approximately $20 million on a comprehensive plan to improve wastewater management practices to recycle, properly dispose of and prevent spills of wastewater generated from natural-gas exploration and production activities, including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The settlement, announced on July 18, was reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Dept. of Justice to resolve an alleged Clean Water Act violation in which fracking wastewater stored at XTO's Penn Township Lycoming County, Pa., facility, was observed spilling out of an open valve. Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection inspectors observed pollutants from the release in a tributary of the Susquehanna River basin.
