Photo by Jeff Rubenstone for ENR San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge file photo (2012) Related Links: Caltrans Responds to Alleged Testing Flaws on New Bay Bridge Emergency repairs are getting under way on thirty-two steel-threaded connecting rods on the $6.4-billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s 10,176-ft.-long eastern span, after California Dept. of Transportation officials revealed the rods snapped after being tensioned. The 525-ft-tall self-anchored suspension (SAS) structure is still expected to open on Labor Day weekend, as scheduled, carrying 280,000 vehicles daily over two stacked 5-lane roadways. American Bridge-Fluor Enterprises is the joint-venture general contractor, with T.Y. Lin International, San Francisco, and
Image Courtesy of MassDOT A historic station will receive a major expansion, but not before planners using modern simulation tools attempt to identify every possible construction scenario. Image Courtesy of MassDOT Related Links: Massachusetts Presents Ambitious Transportation Vision Boston South Station A historic Boston transit hub is undergoing a high-tech examination in preparation for its future. Early-stage work on Boston's $850-million South Station expansion proposal is deploying a robust level of construction-sequence modeling in hopes of minimizing major construction conflicts within a rail hub that sees more than 100,000 daily commuters.South Station, a 110-year-old architectural icon, is Boston's busiest multimodal
Photo Courtesy of ERC Construction activities continue for a new Virginia tunnel as a lawsuit looms. Related Links: Virginia Takes Steps To Propel Two Transportation Projects The $2.1-billion Midtown Tunnel project in Virginia is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing debate over the imposition of tolls on existing transportation infrastructure.On March 13, the Portsmouth, Va., City Council unanimously endorsed a citizen-driven lawsuit challenging the use of tolls to help fund construction of the new tube parallel to the 50-year-old, 4,300-ft-long Midtown Tunnel, which carries more than one million vehicles a month between the city and Norfolk.The public-private project (P3) involving
The ASCE released a promotional video for the 2013 infrastructure report card. The American Society of Civil Engineers' latest evaluation of the condition of U.S. infrastructure shows improvement, but not by much.
Photo Courtesy of WSDOT The 57.3-ft-dia "Bertha" is currently the world's largest tunneling machine. Now being shipped to Seattle in segments, she will begin excavation for the new state Route 99 this summer. Related Links: Here Comes Bertha Alaska Way Viaduct Proceeds Despite Mayor's Opposition When the 57.5-ft-dia earth-pressure-balance tunnel-boring-machine called Bertha reaches Seattle from Japan next month, it will make its debut at a 400-ft-long, 80-ft-wide and 80-ft-deep launch pit that crews have been toiling on for months. The 6,700-ton, 326-ft-long tunneler's arrival will be a key milestone in the $3.1-billion, 12-project program to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.The
Related Links: ASCE 2013 infrastructure report card Infrastructure Facing $1.1-Trillion Funding Gap in 2020, ASCE Says The latest infrastructure “report card” from the American Society of Civil Engineers shows small improvements in the overall condition of America’s infrastructure.The report card, released on March 19 in a digital format, showed that the state of infrastructure in six sectors,—drinking water, wastewater, solid waste, roads, bridges and rail—improved slightly. Those improvements brought the overall grade to a D+, up from a D four years ago.The grades in 2013 range from a high of B- for solid-waste infrastructure to a low of D- for
AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade Indian laborers use machinery to dig at a construction site in Mumbai. India's economic growth slowed to a 5.3% annual rate in last year's first quarter, the lowest in nine years. Meanwhile, inflation has averaged 9.2% a year since the start of 2010. Related Links: Growth in India's Infrastructure Markets Projected Amid PPP Slowdown, India Turns to Cash Contracts Corruption, regulatory bottlenecks and other hurdles have slowed down the pace of infrastructure development in India. Having just released their current budget, however, lawmakers in India are making a strong effort to reach out to investors to help
Photo courtesy of Ministry of Transport and Communications The first phase will include nine freight yards along the rail network, which will extend from Sohar to Duqm, the two largest yards with ports. Related Links: International Contractors Grab Oman Transport Work Oman, Egypt Lead Middle Eastern Push To Upgrade Airports Oman has released a tender for the preliminary-design consulting-engineer contract for the first phase of the Oman national railway network.The bid package, issued under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is for nine freight yards, which will be key junctions along the initial 1,061-kilometer length of the rail network. The
Related Links: Cracks Delay Floating Bridge Project Test Pontoon Prepares Team For Real-Time Construction Flaws in the design led to cracks during post-tensioning of the first four concrete pontoons built for the replacement of the world's longest floating bridge in Seattle, says the Washington State Dept. of Transportation. The fix could cost tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially delay the $4.13-billion project.In detailing a report from a blue-ribbon review panel, state Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond maintained that the pontoons—designed to a 75-year life cycle—are structurally sound. But the report revealed that five cracks up to .03