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Just when the nation’s airports thought their post-9/11 recovery challenges were behind them, upheaval in the nation’s airline industry has clouded the future of many facility and airside construction programs. Months of surging oil prices, volatile credit markets, and sagging U.S. economic fortunes culminated in a summertime string of drastic service cutbacks, steep fare hikes, and other measures aimed at staunching the flow of red ink from the airlines’ balance sheets. Clark County, Nev., Department of Aviation Scheduled for completion in 2012, the 1.87-million-sq-ft Terminal 3 will enable McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas to handle an additional five million

Ohio Dept. of Transportation officials and Cleveland May­or Frank Jackson are locked in discussion over whether ODOT should close one of the city’s major bridges that is rapidly deteriorating. The 5,078-ft-long Inner Belt Bridge, a canti­levered steel-truss structure similar in design to Min­neapolis’ Interstate 35W bridge, was scheduled for rehabilitation until recent inspections prompted the state to propose closing it and building a replacement over two years. Jack­son says closing the bridge, which carries I-90 through downtown, would choke off a needed economic lifeline. It carries nearly 120,000 cars per day. Photo: Donald Bowen Corroded steel chords compromise Inner Belt

Earning a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is a good start, but airport project designers and builders need to move beyond it, say industry officials. Simply relying on �checklists� of environmental items is �the tail wagging the dog,� said David Callan, director of sustainable design and high performance building technology for Syska Hennessy Group Inc., Chicago, at a roundtable held in New York City last month by McGraw Hill publications ENR and Aviation Week. The �tail wagging the dog� metaphor became a popular phrase for the four airport officials, three engineers, architect and contractor participating in the roundtable.�

After a 15-month probe, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined the probable cause of last year�s fatal I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a design error that caused the failure of gusset plates on the 41-year-old 1,907-ft-long steel-deck truss bridge. They could not carry loads that included deck upgrades, construction materials, equipment and rush-hour traffic when it fell, killing 13 people and in�juring 145. The eight-lane bridge was a non-redundant fracture-critical structure. Slide Show Photo: NTSB I-35W bridge had gusset plates that were too thin Along with the main finding, which the board approved on Nov. 14, NTSB also

On the road to transportation funding, state departments of transportation are gripping the wheel and holding on for a bumpy ride. Decreasing revenue, a hazy future for the federal highway trust fund and a shaky lending market have led many state authorities to delay projects, rework deals and make deep cuts. Slide Show Photo: ICC Maryland is reducing its construction program but its $2.4-billion Intercounty Connector projects escaped the budget axe. Related Links: The Complete Top Owners Sourcebook with Market Data and Analysis The sluggish economy has hit many states, including Virginia, hard. Reduced revenue from fuel taxes and vehicle

“LEED is the tail wagging the dog.” So said David Callan, director of sustainable design & high performance building technology for Syska Hennessy Group, Inc., Chicago. He was describing the tendency to rely on “checklists” when designing and building an airport terminal. Photo: Aileen Cho Port Authority’s DeCota and Knoesel attended roundtable. Photo: Aileen Cho ENR and Aviation Week co-host gathering of airport movers, shakers. Speaking at a McGraw-Hill-sponsored aviation roundtable held Oct. 21 in New York City, Callan noted that building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified facility amounts to implementation, but not innovation. “It’s not the be-all

Ending a 15-month investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the probable cause of last year's fatal bridge collapse in Minneapolis was the failure of gusset plates due to a design error and the bridge's increased live and dead loads caused by earlier upgrades and the traffic and and construction materials and equipment on its deck at the time it fell. Related Links: NTSB Blames Minn. Bridge Collapse On Gusset Plate Design Error See all past coverage in ENR's Bridge Collapse Update Center Thirteen people were killed and 145 injured on Aug. 1, 2007, when most of the

Any money from a stimulus package will mostly fund bridge upgrades and repaving projects in Pennsylvania, along with expanding variable message signs and traffic management systems. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation released Jan. 16 its $1.5-billion wish list of highway and transit projects, just days after the House Appropriations Committee released its $775-billion draft proposal. �While the economic recovery bill is not yet enacted, we believe its primary thrust will be short-term improvements and the candidate list is in line with that assumption,� stated Allen Biehler, PennDOT Secretary. Related Links: Questions Swirl On Stimulus Plan Mong the largest projects on

A beleaguered epoxy supplier has called on the National Transportation Safety Board to correct several adverse findings regarding the July 10, 2006 Interstate 90 tunnel plenum collapse that killed a 38–year–old local woman. NTSB found at a public hearing exactly one year later that the use of fast–set epoxy proven unable to support sustained loads caused the anchor bolts to creep out. NTSB criticized epoxy supplier Powers Fasteners, Inc., Brewster, N.Y., because it "failed to provide the Central Artery/Tunnel project with sufficiently complete, accurate and detailed information about the suitability of the company's fast–set epoxy for sustaining long–term tensile loads."