Talk about "fast track." Applications for the next round of federal high-speed-rail grants, totaling more than $2.3 billion, are due by Aug. 6, and winners will be announced by Sept. 30, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation says. Related Links: FRA Guidance Document: Service Development Program FRA Guidance Document: Individual Project Funding Availability In announcing the timetable on June 28, DOT noted that the new grants include $2.1 billion for high-speed-rail corridor proposals and $245 million for specific construction projects within corridors. The new round's funding comes from DOT's fiscal 2010 appropriations. It follows the hotly competitive first round, in which
Before barging and lifting two halves of a 2,650-ton truss assembly for the superstructure of the $1.2 billion Huey P. Long Bridge widening, the contractor wanted to have a way to monitor how the steel was reacting to all of the jostling. MTI, a joint venture of Massman Construction Co., Kansas City, Mo., Traylor Bros. Inc., Evansville, Ind. and IHI Inc., New York, NY, hired Applied Geomechanics Inc. San Francisco to develop a monitoring system that would keep the contractor apprised of stresses to the truss in real time. “As they lift, think of two parallel pieces of paper,” says
On June 14, construction broke ground on the $328-million West County Connectors Project, which will link carpool lanes at a three-highway convergence in Orange County, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Of OCTA The design-bid-build project is one of the county’s largest construction jobs in a decade, say officials. A joint venture of the California Dept. of Transportation and the Orange County Transportation Authority is set to complete the job by mid-2014. The first project segment will connect the westbound to the northbound high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes and reconstruct a highway interchange and a bridge crossing. The second segment also will connect two HOV
To spectators, the 10-hour lift of a 528-ft-wide, 2,650-ton steel-truss-span assembly that is part of the Huey P. Long Bridge widening project may have seemed like watching paint dry, says John Brestin, project manager for consulting engineer HNTB Corp., Kansas City. “But when you think about the fact this was three years in planning—from concept to design to getting it up—it was more like the blink of an eye.” And after the successful June 19 lift, HNTB and the contractor, MTI, say they expect subsequent lifts will be several hours faster when the next span, over the Mississippi River’s main
Prefabricated segmental bridge designs not only help shave time and money off construction but also may perform well in seismically active regions, according to recent tests conducted by the University of Buffalo’s Dept. of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and its Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research. As part of a Federal Highway Administration-funded project exploring the seismic response of Accelerated Bridge Construction systems, the engineering research team in May erected a half-scale, 60-ft-long, eight-segment, post-tensioned superstructure supported by 10-ft, 5-in.-tall hollow piers on 10 x 10-ft concrete foundation blocks. The blocks were mounted on twin shake tables at the
All eyes are on asphalt prices this summer as highway and paving contractors vie for dwindling opportunities amid rising materials costs. Indexes for May, which show an overall upward trend for paving asphalt, diesel fuel and paint for highway striping, are a cause for concern for contractors who fear a repeat of the price-hike wallop of 2008. “Prices look relatively stable now, but it was the same in 2008 before they skyrocketed—and we never saw it coming,” says Richard E. Dinkela, owner of St. Louis-based Creve Coeur Paving LLC. “We’re trying to be more careful, to be educated on jobs
A 528 ft-wide, 2,650-ton steel truss span, supported by a U-shaped stability frame, is being readied for lift and placement on June 19 as part of a $1.2 billion widening project for the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, La. Video Photo: Angelle Bergeron A 2,650-ton steel truss span, part of a $1.2 billion widening project for the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, is prepared for lift and placement on June 19. Related Links: New Scheme Prepared For Bridge-Truss Installation (VIDEO) Span Readied To Receive Steel: A Bridge Grows in New Orleans (VIDEO) Time-Lapse of Huey Long
The effort to build the longest bridge in Peru began in 1978, and, if all goes as planned, the 722-meter-long span over the Madre de Dios River in the Peruvian Amazon will be completed in December. Constructing the Guillermo Billinghurst Bridge—a task spanning more than three decades—will cap the effort to build a paved road in South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean: the Interoceanic Highway. The $2.37-billion project to build the road across southern Peru was expanded last year to include the long-awaited span. When completed, the $25.71-million bridge will link the city of Puerto Maldonado
Michigan Legislature watchers say the state’s Senate could vote within the next few weeks on a bill that would let the state enter into public-private partnerships for the first time in history. If it passes the Senate, the legislation will almost certainly be signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), who has come out in favor of the legislation. The corresponding bill passed the Michigan House on May 26. Backers say allowing the state to enter into public-private partnerships would open the door to about $5 billion in private investment in more than a half- dozen highway, bridge and
Construction is set to begin this month on a 1,045-meter-long bridge over the Mackenzie River near Fort Providence in Canada’s Northwest Territories—a project that required a substantial redesign, adding $18 million to the total cost. The new superstructure design had to be integrated with the original approved substructure design. Photo: Rendering: Infinity Engineering A redesign of a new Canadian crossing reduced the amounts of concrete and steel needed. An independent design review team of San Francisco-based T.Y. Lin International and Edmonton, Alberta-based BP Tech Engineering found to be substandard the design by Calgary-based Spronken JR and Associates Ltd. The territories’
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