Long-awaited link across the bay will ease traffic and create a signature gateway to Mumbai PHOTO BY JANICE L. TUCHMAN FOR ENR ? Inclined. Two four-legged pylons lean together, creating a formwork challenge. div id="articleExtrasA" PHOTOS LEFT COURTESY OF HCC; PHOTO RIGHT BY JANICE L. TUCHMAN FOR ENR ? Tower Head. Anchorage boxes were fabricated on-site to close tolerances and assembled in sections, with care for the exit angle of the guide pipes for the stay cables. div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" By Janice L. Tuchman in Mumbai with Neelam Mathews After years of legal delays, monsoons, heavy lifting and a

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar D-Minn.) says he plans to unveil a new multi-year surface transportation bill in "a couple of weeks" and adds that it will move to the House floor during the first week of June. Oberstar, who discussed the legislation at an Apr. 24 press conference, declined to disclose the price tag for the measure, which his panel's staff is now drafting. But highway and transit groups released a report that says annual capital spending by all levels of government must more than double to meet projected needs. The report, issued Apr. 24 by

After years of legal delays, monsoons, heavy lifting and a lot of fancy formwork, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a 4.7- kilometer viaduct with two cable-stayed spans, made its final connection on April 20 and is slated to open to traffic in mid-May. When it does, the bypass over the sea will cut the time of a trip across Mahim Bay in Mumbai, India, from about 40 minutes to just six. Slide Show Photo: Janice L. Tuchman / ENR Two four-legged pylons lean together, creating a formwork challenge. Drivers who had to suffer through 23 traffic lights to make the trip

Drawing on $8 billion from the federal economic stimulus, the Obama administration has laid out a blueprint for developing high-speed rail in 100- to 600-mile-long corridors around the country. The plan, which the U.S. Dept. of Transportation unveiled April 16, does not say which projects will be funded. DOT will start awarding the first round of grants for ready-to-go upgrades to existing routes by late summer. A second phase would have a longer-range focus. However, carrying out the plan’s lofty aims will require much more than $8 billion. It is uncertain where that new money will come from. + Image

The Dept. of Transportation has released a blueprint aimed at developing high-speed rail in 100- to 600-mile-long corridors around the country. The plan, released April 16, does not say which projects will be funded, but it does include a map of high-speed rail corridors that could qualify for federal aid. The program could provide significant design and construction opportunities. DOT's Federal Railroad Administration will start awarding the first round of grants by late summer. Related Links: Rail Strategic Plan Map of High-Speed Rail Corridors The plan, mandated by the recently enacted economic-stimulus legislation, proposes a three-pronged approach: "Ready to go"

Anticipating billions of dollars in state and federal funds, California can now pay some 80 engineering consultants that have worked for months on its planned 800-mile, $46-billion high-speed rail line stretching between Sacramento and San Diego. The Pooled Money Investment Board approved a $29.1-million loan at its April 6 meeting after state Treasurer Bill Lockyer successfully sold $6.54 billion in bonds in March. The cash-strapped state owes $5 million for scoping and design work on the project. Engineers have worked for months for the California High-Speed Rail Authority without funding authorization. The Roseville, Calif., office of URS Corp., in a

Denmark seems to turn out another major fixed road and rail link on a regular basis. Rival design teams have just been chosen to work on bridge and sunken tube options for a 20-km crossing of the Femern Belt to northern Germany, with construction planned to start in just over two years. Two similar mega-projects had already been finished in quick succession. An early conception of the crossing that pictures cable-stayed spans. Related Links: Denmark, Germany Plan New Massive Baltic Sea Crossing In Next Decade For Contractors and Their Advisers, A Sinking Feeling Is Good in Busan The Danish government

Nevada legislators have blocked a proposal to convert existing public roads along sections of U.S. Highway 95 and Interstate 15 in southern Nevada into toll lanes operated by a private company. Kelvin Atkinson, chairman of the Assembly Transportation committee, opted not to introduce the bill to create a network of toll lanes. The project required legislative approval to move forward since state law prohibits toll lanes. + Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics. Construction Contract Value Cumulative Year-To-Date Through February 2009.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on April 1 that the government will provide $7.2 billion for transit projects in the greater Toronto area. The bulk of the money, $5.6 billion, is earmarked for three of seven transit lines that Toronto wants to build over the next 15 years. The longest and most expensive would be the $3.7-billion, 31-kilometer-long Eglinton Crosstown, connecting with Pearson International Airport. Construction is expected to start in 2010 and be completed by 2016. Approximately 13 km would be underground. The Ontario funding is not conditional on any matching grants from the city.

A $575-million management contract on London’s $22-billion Crossrail project has gone to a team of San Francisco-based Bechtel Ltd., London, Halcrow Group, London, and Paris-based SYSTRA. The team will oversee design and construction of the system’s tunnels under the city for owner Crossrail Ltd., including a 21-km-long twin-bore tunnel under the center of London and six new stations. The award follows last month’s $146-million program management contract win by a team of AECOM, Los Angeles, CH2M Hill Cos., Englewood, Colo., and the U.K.’s Nichols Group.