Photo Courtesy of New Zealand Transport Agency Auckland interchange finish wont be delayed by April work shutdown, officials say. Photo Courtesy of New Zealand Transport Agency Project completion, including tunnelling, remains on track for early 2017 Work has resumed on a key element of the billion-dollar Waterview Connection highway project in Auckland, following delivery of substandard concrete in April that stopped construction, says the New Zealand Transport Agency. The error required repairs on a large interchange, but managers of New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project say it won’t affect overall job schedule.A production fault at an Auckland batch plant operated by
Enlarge The Low and Slow Tour, as of June 14. Click the image to enlarge. Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure (scroll down for the updated Low and Slow itinerary)While working away at my desk at ENR’s home office in New York City, in spirit I have been touring the nation’s infrastructure with transportation editor Aileen Cho and author Dan McNichol, on special assignment for the cross-country expedition.Happily, I did get to sit in the driver's seat when Mrs. Martin visited Penn Station during the pretour. And I’ve had lots of opportunity to stay involved, working with the
Related Links: Judge Braden's ruling Commentary on ruling by Liz Fagot, senior advisor, Dawson & Associates A May 1 ruling in federal district court in Washington, D.C., found that a failure of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-built levees in New Orleans allowed flooding and led to an illegal government taking of private property. The ruling has potentially big implications, prompting experts to consider appeals."I can't see the Corps not wanting an appeal on this," says Les Edelman, a senior counsel and senior advocate at Dawson and Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm specializing in federal water resources and environmental
Related Links: Low & Slow Across America's Infrastructure Moving west across the country, Aileen and Dan visit the the CityArchRiver 2015 project in St. Louis.Click the image to begin the slide show.
Related Links: ENR's Low & Slow Across America's Infrastructure Tour How One Old Car Became a Metaphor for America's Infrastructure Staff members of ENR turned out on May 15 to say bon voyage to the stars of our "Low & Slow Across America's Infrastructure" tour and pose for a group photo in front of New York City's Pennsylvania Station.ENR Transportation Editor Aileen Cho and author Dan McNichol, on special assignment to ENR, are traveling coast to coast, chronicling public officials' efforts to finance, maintain and rebuild U.S. infrastructure for the future. The two reporters are driving in McNichol's 1949 Hudson
Related Links: ENR's Low & Slow Across America's Infrastructure Tour How One Old Car Became a Metaphor for America's Infrastructure Darrell Carlisle approached the 1949 Hudson sedan, nicknamed Mrs. Martin and serving as a low-slung symbol of America's aging infrastructure. Standing at a gas station off Interstate 64 between Louisville, Ky., and St. Louis, the Jefferson, Ind., resident recalled a "60 Minutes" television episode on infrastructure and thought of a Pittsburgh bridge, which had a special platform built to catch spalling concrete."Every time I go across a bridge, I think about that," Carlisle said. "How well was this built, and
Enlarge Click image to enlarge. Related Links: ARTBA Puts Gas Tax-Rebate Plan on the Table Construction Groups Fight Proposal to Slash Federal Gas Tax Nebraska is the latest state to raise its gas tax, with the state Legislature overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts' (R) veto of a bill that adds 6¢ per gallon over the next four years.Originally approved by Nebraska's unicameral Legislature by a 26-15 vote in early May, the measure increases Nebraska's current 25.6¢-per-gallon gas tax in yearly 1.5¢ increments, beginning on Jan. 1, 2016. Once fully implemented, the increase is expected to generate $76.2 million in additional revenue
Related Links: Boston Goes Green in Meeting Federal Consent Decree Terms Federal authorities have given approval to DC Water and the District of Columbia to modify their combined-sewer-overflow plan and incorporate large-scale green infrastructure.Under a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced on May 20, the agency can eliminate a planned underground tunnel along Rock Creek. The agreement calls for green infrastructure—such as rain gardens, green roofs and porous-pavement installations— as well as targeted sewer separation. The system's design allocates 365 impervious acres of land along Rock Creek for management of up to
Related Links: Crews Battle Ice To Clean Up Yellowstone River Oil Spill Flash Flood Roils Utah Oil Spill Cleanup Arkansas Spill Zone Residents Await Plan to Return Home; New Leak in Missouri Plains All American Pipeline's claim that it could take "months" to determine the cause of the May 19 Santa Barbara spill doesn't make sense to other experts in the field."These are steel pipes," said Richard Kuprewicz, president of Accufacts, a Bellingham, Wash.-based energy consulting company. "This isn't rocket science—a visual examination will usually show the cause of the failure. So, saying they're going to need months to determine
Related Links: Low & Slow Across America's Infrastructure Mrs. Martin is America’s broken infrastructure. A third of the way to the West Coast Aileen and I parked under the great St. Louis Arch for the Memorial Day weekend.Mrs. Martin, after passing a younger, bright-red Tesla parked in front of our hotel which shuttles guests around downtown St. Louis, retired to her room on the 10th floor of a convention center parking garage. Reflecting on how the Low & Slow tour is method acting the nation’s broken infrastructure I’ve logged notes.Click to begin the slide show
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