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
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
Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Fits and starts, bumper to bumper. ENR Transportation Editor Aileen Cho and I headed to Washington, D.C. along the dreaded, traffic-clogged I-95 corridor. And we're riding in a 1949 Hudson Commodore. Why? To send the message that "America’s infrastructure is as old, rusty and as energy defunct" as the car.If we’re successful, we’ll travel 5,000 miles to the West Coast in Mrs. Martin, the nickname I've given my Detroit lead sled. Aileen and I will be journaling the lack of investment in vital infrastructure and how that is putting the U.S. in
Photo by Dan McNichol The Bayonne Bridge in New Jersey, one of the first stops on the Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure tour. Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Disgusted with gridlock and the politics of Washington, DC when it comes to the infrastructure spend, I headed into it and towards it. On a hot and humid Wednesday morning in May I began the shlep through Boston’s morning rush. As I rolled onto the Mass Pike I felt the glare of workers starting their daily driving grind. Peering out of hermetically sealed cockpits, where music was streaming
China Railway Tunnel Group, with an Israeli partner, has won an $800-million contract to build the tunnels and underground stations in the western section of the first line of the Tel Aviv light rail system.It is the largest tender for the project’s Red Line, awarded by NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd.The joint venture of Shikun U’Binui subsidiary Solel Boneh and the Chinese firm will manage digging of two parallel 5-kilometer long tunnels that constitute the main part of the underground section of the first line. Completion of the 22-km long line that runs from Petah Tikva northeast of the
Transportation bottlenecks often occur in Bangladesh, where numerous rivers flow through its cities. The Karnaphuli River, for instance, separates the Chittagong district into two parts, dividing the city and the port from the heavy-industry area. With the district's three existing bridges congested and unable to meet their current traffic loads, the state-owned Bangladesh Bridge Authority has invited expressions of interest from international consultants for a 3.4-kilometer-long, multi-lane road tunnel under the Karnaphuli River, approximately 2 km downstream from Chittagong’s airport. The project cost is estimated at $800 million; the project is expected to take four years to build. Respondents to the
Related Links: FRA May 16 statement on safety directives Amtrak May 16 blog post, incl. train-control system background and update Under new Federal Railroad Administration directives, Amtrak is making safety improvements on its Northeast Corridor line, including expanding its use of technology to control train speeds.The orders, which FRA announced on May 16, came four days after Amtrak train No. 188 derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight passengers and injuring scores of others.According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the accident, northbound train No. 188 was running at 102 miles per hour—more than double the speed limit—when it
NTSB Scrutiny of May 12 Amtrak train crash near Philadelphia has turned to positive-train-control systems, which can reduce speed on curves automatically. Prior to the crash, Amtrak had PTC equipment installed but not activated, pending tests. Amtrak President Joseph Boardman pledged to have a system in operation by year-end. Related Links: NTSB May 13 briefing on Amtrak accident Fact sheet on Senate commerce-committee rail bill As the investigation continues into the May 12 Amtrak crash that claimed at least eight lives and injured scores of others, increased scrutiny is falling on positive train control, or PTC, a system that can