A bill that would have funneled as much as $100 million a year to road, bridge and railroad projects in Alabama was removed from the state Senate’s agenda on Tuesday after four days of debate. Sen. Lowell Barron (D-Fyffe) sponsored the legislation in an effort to create a state-funded stimulus bill that would whittle away at Alabama’s backlog of road and bridge projects. The money would have come from the Alabama Trust Fund, comprising about $2.6 billion in royalties from natural gas drilling off the state’s coast. Republication opponents argued the trust-fund money should remain intact. The Senate voted 20-11
Colombia has awarded the first two contracts for the $2.6-billion, 1,000-kilometer Ruta del Sol highway project. The largest such road effort ever undertaken in the South American country, the project will connect the capitol city Bogota and the Caribbean coast. + Image Map: Sue Pearsall The 1,000-km tollroad will link Bogota to the Atlantic Coast. In January, Colombia’s National Dept. of Planning and National Institute of Concessions (INCO) awarded the seven-year, $660-million contract to Helios Road Consortium, led by Colombian construction firm Grupo Solarte, to construct and operate the toll road. The group also includes Colombian construction firm Conconcreto and
High-speed rail advocates celebrated the Jan. 28 award of grants from the $8-billion pot that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but officials must now figure out how to leverage the seed money into successful long-term programs. California and Florida, the anticipated big grant winners at $2.25 billion and $1.25 billion, respectively, are now pondering design-build and public-private partnerships along with other funding sources. + Image Image: U.S. DOT Florida, California and the Midwest all received big chunks of ARRA grants. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation was flooded with applications, receiving $57 billion in project funding proposals.
India plans to build 15, 600 kilometers of expressways by 2022 at a cost of more than $100 billion, and the concrete industry needs to be prepared for increasing demand, says the country’s transport minister. Starting in April, India’s daily average construction rate of 9 km of roads may increase to 20 km, says Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath. Mumbai-Pune Expressway is one of few India roads with some concrete paving Nath spoke at the National Seminar on Concrete Highway Projects, held in New Delhi last month, at which sponsors emphasized sustainability and quality. According to Sumit Banerjee,
The North Carolina Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT) has set Sept. 30 as the new target date for completing the Oak Island Bridge project in Brunswick County, N.C. Part of a new 4.5-mile link to connect Oak Island with the mainland south of Wilmington, the troubled $36.5-million project has twice experienced lengthy delays since work began in August 2007. Construction was halted for six months after a 121-ton concrete girder fell 40 feet from a temporary support brace in December 2008, killing one worker and injuring two others. Prime contractor Barnhill Contracting Co., Tarboro, N.C., and bridge erection subcontractor Lee Construction
Transit projects in Denver, San Francisco, Hartford, Honolulu and Minneapolis will get a first-time boost from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program for fiscal year 2011. But FTA administrator Peter Rogoff conceded that the consistency of annual levels of funding will be uncertain as long as the six-year transportation reauthorization bill is delayed. At a Feb. 2 press conference, Rogoff announced $1.82 billion for 27 major transit projects for FY 2011. That includes $835 million for 19 new construction projects, including $80 million for two rail lines in Denver, $45 million for a busway to connect Hartford and New
California is the top winner but Midwest states and Florida also scored big in states' fierce competition for $8 billion in federal grants to build high-speed-rail lines around the country. Related Links: High Speel Rail Awards Summary High Speed Rail Map Round Two of ARRA Rail Grants Draws Huge Crowd States Vying for First ARRA Rail Grants States Clamor For High-Speed Funding The White House released a list of awards on Jan. 28, [see full list pdf attached] shortly before President Obama and Vice-President Biden were scheduled to make a formal announcement in Tampa. The funding is part of the
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing its worst budget crisis in 30 years -- and it will only get worse if a six-year transportation bill waiting to be reauthorized is cut as the Obama Administration vows to rein in domestic spending, said its chairman and CEO. Jay Walder, who rejoined the agency last July after a 19-year stint in London, asked attendees at a New York Building Congress luncheon Jan. 28 to approach him directly with ideas about how the MTA can simplify its "risky, cumbersome" contracting process, described as the "MTA premium" by the industry. "Come to
Denver’s Regional Transportation District says it will need about $2.4 billion more than expected to build all components of the city’s FasTracks rail expansion. The agency, which released its 2010 FasTracks budget in January, puts the total at $6.6 billion, well beyond the $4.2 billion it can collect from taxes in the near future. RTD oversees bus and rail transit for the six-county Denver metro area. In 2004, the agency spearheaded an election in which voters approved $3.95 billion in new taxes for FasTracks. The program aims to build 122 miles of new commuter-rail and light-rail lines, 18 miles of
The Federal Transit Administration approved last month the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s revised testing plan for eleven 30-year-old foundations that will be used to support piers for the new Dulles Metrorail extension in northern Virginia to Dulles International Airport. Photo: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Team Agency will begin tests on piers originally built in the 1970s to see if they can handle new light-rail system to Dulles Airport, after initial criticism. The concrete foundations, supported by concrete and steel caissons driven 50 to 60 ft deep, are among 13 that were installed by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation in the