Hundreds of dinosaur tracks and fossils estimated more than 120 million years old have been discovered during construction of a mining road in the highlands of Central Peru. Officials with the Antamina mining company announced the find last week. Photo: Compañía Minera Antamina S.A. Dinosaur footprints discovered during road construction in Central Peru. The discovery was originally made in 2006 during the construction of a road by the company between a crossroads at Conococha and the Antamina’s Yanacancha camp about 250 miles northeast of Lima. A preliminary examination of the site - since dubbed Cruz Planta - uncovered dozens of

With just two months until scheduled completion, contractors at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla., are putting finishing touches on the U.S. Navy’s largest hangar, which is being built to make room for five squadrons coming from Maine under the government’s Base Realignment and Closure program. Slide Show Photo: Mortenson Construction Co. Setting times for the clear-span box truss sections improved with repetition. Photo: Mortenson Construction Co. Five squadrons will move from Maine to Jacksonville, Fla. Mortenson Construction Co., Minneapolis, is the design-builder for the $127.7-million project under a multiple award construction contract with the Navy. The scope of

With the help of special skids and common soap, an Oregon contractor has replaced two bridges in two weekends as part of a $46-million design-build project for the Oregon Dept. of Transportation. Slayden Construction Group Inc., Stayton, broke ground on the project in June 2007 and wrapped it up in January, replacing a total of five 80-year-old bridges along Highway 38 between the towns of Elkton and Drain. Photo: Slayden Mammoet’s system allows new span in Oregon to slide sideways into place atop new bents. The project’s biggest challenge arose on two bridges known as Crossing 3 and Crossing 4.

New York state’s Dept. of Transportation is bringing science to snowdrifts. The agency last month presented “SnowMan,” software for optimizing snow fences on existing roads and for designing highways to reduce drifts, at a conference of the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board. Stuart Chen, a professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, who designed the software with Michael Lamanna, a former graduate student, says it can reduce whiteouts and pavement icing and the “extra costs” of snow plowing and deicing salts. Photo: Darrell F. Kaminski, NYSDOT Ten-foot-tall

Quick thinking and a unique construction solution allowed crews to repair a burned wooden trestle on the southern approach of the 72-year-old Pattullo Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, in eight days rather than the anticipated six weeks. The compression-arch, suspended-deck bridge caught fire Jan. 18. As firefighters battled the blaze, Mark Smith, vice president for Surespan Construction, North Vancouver, B.C., hustled his family into his truck and drove to the site. After surveying the charred timbers, Smith called Buckland and Taylor Ltd., the local bridge design firm hired to design a replacement for the wooden structure, to devise a solution.

Bong-Hyun Cho, manager of the immersed tunnel site for the $1.8-billion Busan-Geoje fixed- link project, finally can get some sleep. Six of 18 concrete tunnel elements, 180-m long and 45,000 tonnes, have been towed successfully from a dry dock 35 km away, sunk into the turbulent depths of the Pacific and placed atop specially designed gravel beds with tight tolerances. "If the gravel beds fail, the project fails," he says. "I was so anxious." Slide Show Photo: Halcrow Korea’s 8.2-km-long sea link will connect the mainland to Geoje Island through three islets. After a rocky start with glitches in the

According to the House Democrat’s Stimulus Bill report, the Coast Guard alters, repairs, or removes bridges that it deems a hazard to marine navigation, and it says there are 12 eligible bridges that fit that category right now. The bill provides $150 million to “fund authorized bridges that have 90 percent of their design completed and could begin construction during fiscal year 2009.” Although a “subject matter expert” conversant with the Coast Guard’s bridge replacement initiative was not available at press time due to the federal holidays, the service supplied a list of twelve bridges it has declared unreasonably obstructive

The U.K. government gave its approval on Jan. 15 for a third runway and sixth terminal at London’s Heathrow airport. Construction is estimated at $13.5 billion, and a rail hub also could be built at the airport providing high-speed links to London and central England. The project has proved controversial with many opponents, including the Conservative Party, challenging the scheme on environmental grounds. Transportation Secretary Geoff Hoon says measures to reduce the environmental impact include limiting the runway’s early use and allowing access only to the “cleanest planes.” Because of the urgent need, he says permitting will begin soon for

The nearly decade-long fight over whether to raze or rebuild the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Seattle’s waterfront is nearing a final decision. On Jan. 13, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) announced that she favors replacing the 55-year-old highway with a $4.25 billion deep-bored tunnel. King County Executive Ron Sims, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Port of Seattle Chief Executive Officer Tay Yoshitani also support the plan. Elected officials have been debating whether to rebuild or replace the viaduct since 2001, when the double-deck freeway was damaged in an earthquake. A month ago, an advisory committee created to study design options

A planned rail transit spur in northern Virginia has moved another step forward, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters' approval of a $900-million, multi-year federal funding commitment towards the project's $2.6-billion first phase. With Peters' Jan. 7 action, the proposed "full funding grant agreement" goes to Congress for a 60-day review. Slide Show Photo: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority First phase would carry line part way to Dulles airport. Related Links: FTA Approves First-Phase Funds for Virginia Rail Project The $900 million would help finance an 11.6-mile first stage of a planned 23-mile extension of of the Washington Metropolitan Area