December 2024 California & Northwest Industry News: Historic Hawaii Bridge Slated for Reconstruction
The Wailuku River Bridge is known as the Singing Bridge for the faint humming or singing sound emitted as vehicles traverse it.
Photo courtesy Hawaii Dept. of Transportation
The Hawaii Dept. of Transportation (HDOT) has received a $33-million federal grant to rehabilitate the 70-year-old Wailuku River Bridge on Hawaii Belt Road in Hilo. The span is on the list of eligible properties for designation on the National Register of Historic Places. The total project cost is estimated at more than $55 million, with HDOT’s capital improvement program funds and Federal Highway Administration bridge formula funding making up the remainder. Work on the bridge is slated to begin in 2027 and take approximately two years.
Amtrak has named PCL Construction Services to lead design and construction of the $300-million upgrade to the King Street Yard in Seattle. When completed, the rail yard will feature a new two-bay maintenance and inspection facility and a new service and cleaning facility. Additional improvements include relocating existing facilities, upgrading utilities and adding space to store train maintenance materials. This work will be completed within the rail yard’s existing footprint, south of the Stadium District in Seattle. Regular service will be maintained throughout the duration of this project, with completion expected in 2027. Funding for the project comes from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
LA Metro’s Southeast Gateway Line was awarded a $231-million grant by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) in late October. The light rail transit line will run 14.5 miles from the Slauson/A (Blue) Line Station to the city of Artesia and include nine new stations. The $7.1-billion project will provide direct connection to the Metro C Line (Green), Metro A Line (Blue) and LA County’s broader regional transit network. Metro officials anticipate receiving a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) next year. Approximately $2 billion in local and state funds already are committed to the project.
Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) has selected Balfour Beatty to deliver the approximately $170-million reconstruction of Inglewood High School in Los Angeles. The project involves approximately 110,000 sq ft in new construction and approximately 105,000 sq ft in modernizations to the existing high school. The project is scheduled to start in the summer of 2025 with an expected delivery in 2027.
