Related Links: Viewpoint: Vietnam, Indonesia Hold Opportunity for U.S. Infrastructure Firms Indonesia Announces Major Power Projects To Meet Growing Demand In a little more than 18 months, Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, has become unrecognizable as the $1.8-billion Mass Rapid Transit project continues to cut a deep scar across the city. With 13 stations—seven elevated, six underground—along with a rail depot, the project features the construction of both cut-and-cover and bored tunnels, the latter using tunnel boring machines (TBMs) where space restricts deep excavations. With deep secant pile support and precast segmental pre-stressed viaducts also a feature, the project brings to Indonesia
photo by JUDY LABENSOHN New highway will soon connect to Motza interchange in Jerusalem that now is under construction. Israel’s Finance and Transport Ministries have issued a pre-qualifying tender for the construction of a second major access highway at the entrance to Jerusalem, an expected $380-million project.The public-private partnership tender is for the 5 km-long Highway 16 that will link the Motza interchange on Highway 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to the Givat Shaul/Begin Highway (Highway 50) interchange. The project, set to take three years to complete, is designed to substantially ease traffic at the sole entrance to Jerusalem
Related Links: AAPA State of Freight report (04/21/2015) U.S. ports say they need $28.9 billion in upgrades to roads, rail, bridge and tunnel links over the next 10 years to handle the heavy volume of freight they expect, according to a new American Association of Port Authorities report.The AAPA State of Freight survey, whose results were released on April 21, says, “Investment in America’s port-connection infrastructure is a critical national priority.”AAPA says that, from 2000 to 2013, the container volume that moved through U.S. ports rose by about 50%, to 44.6 million 20-ft equivalent units, increasing the load on their
Photo Courtesy of TTC A $2.5-billion subway extension is facing at least two years of delay. Related Links: Ten Drives, Four TBMs Build Toronto Subway Extension TTC Report The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), seeking to minimize existing schedule overruns, has entered into an $80-million sole-source management agreement with Bechtel Canada for the remainder of the $2.5-billion Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE), which will provide an 8.6- kilometer link between the city of Toronto and its neighboring authority, the Regional Municipality of York.In March, Sameh Ghaly, TTC chief capital officer, and Andy Bertolo, chief project manager, were axed. Then, the city
Related Links: Virginia Investigates Controversial I-460 Toll Road Plan VDOT Statement on Termination of Route 460 Contract The short, troubled life of the U.S. Route 460 Corridor Improvements project apparently has ended. The Virginia Dept. of Transportation this month announced that it will terminate its $1.4-billion design-build contract with US Mobility Partners to build the 55-mile limited-access highway in southeast Virginia.LAYNE"The Commonwealth has determined it is in the taxpayers' best interest to terminate the contract," said state Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne in a statement. VDOT's attempts to work with the team on a revised version of the project "proved unsuccessful."
Related Links: Edmonton Bridge Contractors Straighten Buckled Girders Until March 16, everything was coming together very nicely on the new bridge at 102nd Avenue over Groat Road in Edmonton, Alberta. Two days earlier, the crew from fabricator and erector Supreme Steel had placed and bolted the first of seven central girder sections that would complete the span. Winds interrupted work for awhile, but by Sunday night crews resumed girder placement until six sections were up. Then, at about 2:15 a.m. on Monday, March 16, four of the girders buckled laterally, three deflecting several feet and leaving interior braces bent or
EarthCam The site of the new Waterdale Bridge in Edmonton, where steel arch sections will be assembled when all sections arrive. Photo from City of Edmonton website Steel sections for the Walterdale Bridge appear in an image that appears to be taken at Daewoo's fabrication shop in Korea. Related Links: Edmonton's Other Big Bridge Headache Announcement of Walterdale Bridge Delay by Edmonton Before an Edmonton bridge's steel girders buckled in March, officials in the Canadian city and project contractors were already facing a long delay on another, more important bridge project there.The construction team working on the Alberta provincial capital's
Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Buckling columns in the days after installation on a bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Within days, bracing and cranes hooked to the girders helped eliminate the deformation in the deep bridge girders. Related Links: Watch the buckled girders straight on the Edmonton Bridge via Earthcam Edmonton city officials are overseeing a review by a structural consultant on what caused four deep steel girders on a new bridge being built over a busy thoroughfare to buckle soon after their placement March 16.The structure has been stabilized but the project delays are costly, at more
Related Links: Protests Push the Public Procurement Process In a change endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration, the New Mexico Dept. of Transportation will take contractors' past performances into account when they bid on highway projects over $5 million.NMDOT believes the procedure will result in lower costs and delays. The Associated Contractors of New Mexico (ACNM) thinks the new rule will result in less competition and higher bid prices.CHURCH"Our goal is to change New Mexico contracting from 'low bid' to 'quality bid,' " says NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Tom Church. "This process will encourage the good contractors to continue with excellent
Rendering Courtesy of Jerusalem Municipality Officials say cable car system will relieve traffic congestion in the Old City, but project has opponents. Jerusalem city officials are moving ahead with plans to build a controversial cable-car project despite a decision by a French consulting firm to back out of the project for apparent political reasons.The 2.3-kilometer long cable-car system, a $32-million project, is designed to carry thousands of passengers daily between the city's downtown and the Old City, to reduce traffic in the area of sites holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.Part of the system route crosses Jerusalem's eastern section, which