With bids due soon for an estimated $8.7-billion tunnel project between New Jersey and Manhattan, the governor of New Jersey has announced tough new measures to control costs and potential fraud. Seeking to "ensure transparency and accountability" in the effort to build a new commuter rail link under the Hudson River, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) issued an executive order Oct. 7 that mandates more state oversight of "spending and contracting." As the country's largest transit public works endeavor, the project will involve construction of two commuter rail tracks and require 21,000 feet of tunneling. Set for completion in

President Obama signed a bill on Oct. 1 providing a one-month extension for the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: a Legacy for Users and one month’s appropriations for nearly all federal agencies. In a blow to state transportation agencies, the Senate failed to pass a three-month SAFETEA-LU extension, thus triggering an $8.7-billion rescission of highway contract authority. Under the continuing resolution (CR) that Obama signed, agencies have funding to carry through Oct. 31, generally at 2009 levels. SAFETEA-LU was extended through that date, too. The measure was needed because Congress had not approved any of the 12 appropriations

The 1905 shaft-driven Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway swing bridge over Bayou Boeuf near Morgan City, La., has begun a new life after an intensive four-day project that converted it into a computerized, hydraulically operated crossing with opening times cut from 17 minutes to seven. Photo: Angelle Bergeron / ENR Crane operator holds span over pivot assembly while workers install collar. Photo: Angelle Bergeron / ENR Alignment and balance were critical as crews maneuvered center span into place. Related Links: Quick Change Artists: BNSF Railway Bridge Span Replacement During a 96-hour window that ended at midnight on Sept. 24, OCCI

The Massachusetts Port Authority is wrapping up a repaving job that features the first application of warm-mix asphalt (WMA) on a U.S. runway. Currently, Federal Aviation Administration specifications do not address warm-mix asphalt. However, the mix is gaining attention because of its environmentally friendly properties. Photo: Massachusetts Port Authority Warm mix goes down easy with airport engineers and contractors at Massport’s Boston Logan International Airport, which is the country’s first to embrace the environmentally friendly material. J.F. White Contracting Co., Boston, began its approximately $12-million contract in July to repave a 7,000-ft-long, 150-ft-wide runway at Boston’s Logan International Airport, says

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved the $1.2-billion San Pedro Waterfront Project, a 400-acre waterfront revitalization that is expected to take a decade to complete. The multi-phase project includes three new harbors, a public pier, a cruise-ship terminal and a “downtown” with promenades and 300,000 sq ft of commercial space. The project is currently under conceptual design. The port will fund approximately $900 million of the cost and expects to raise the other $300 million through private investment.

President Obama signed legislation on Oct. 1 that provides a one-month extension for the federal highway and transit programs as well as the appropriations for nearly all federal agencies. Obama also signed a separate bill that extends Federal Aviation Administration programs, including airport construction grants, for three months. The larger of the two measures is a continuing resolution (CR), which contains funds to keep federal agencies operating through Oct. 31, as well as a one-month extension of the current surface-transportation authorization statute, the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act; a Legacy for Users. The CR was needed because

States are committing more American Recovery and Reinvestment Act highway funds to specific projects, and pavement improvements continue to get the largest share of those dollars. But the mix of ARRA-funded highway work is shifting a little, to more complex projects, the Government Accountability Office reports. Total federal ARRA highway outlays—reimbursements to states—also still lag well below obligations. GAO’s latest ARRA update, released on Sept. 23, shows states had obligated nearly $18 billion of $26.7 billion in ARRA highway aid by Sept. 1. That is a 7% gain from $16.8 billion obligated by July 17. The top ARRA highway category

The phone call was from Chicago, and Theodore Zoli, vice president and bridge technical director in the New York City office of HNTB Corp., was working on a project. When he took the call, he wondered what might be wrong. Daniel J. Socolow, director of the fellows program at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, broke the news to him: He was one of 24 recipients chosen to receive $500,000 over the next five years, no strings (or bridge cables) attached, for his work on bridge design and security reinforcement.“I almost fell off my chair,” recalls Zoli, 43.

The Port of San Francisco and the city’s Dept. of Public Works has selected a design team consisting of Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz Architects, Pfau Long Architecture and cruise consultant Bermello Ajamil & Partners of Miami to submit a contract for approval for the conversion of Pier 27 into a new, modern cruise terminal. Port spokeswoman Renee Dunn Martin says this team beat out nine other firms that applied. It’s not a done-deal yet, she says, until the port and the DPW negotiate a fee proposal. A recommendation is due at the Port Commission’s next meeting on Oct. 27. A new

With the 2009 federal fiscal year set to end Sept. 30, House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a government-wide stopgap measure that would provide enough money to keep federal agencies operating for one additional month. Lawmakers hope that the "continuing resolution," which runs through Oct. 31, will provide time for congressional appropriators to reach agreement on the spending bills for the full fiscal 2010. Attached to the "CR," on which House and Senate conferees reached agreement Sept. 24, are parallel one-month funding and operating authority extensions for surface transportation and Federal Aviation Administration programs. Current highway-transit and aviation authorization