As the Port of Long Beach, Calif., moves forward with its 10-year, $4-billion modernization program, two of its largest components are seeing sharp cost increases. The $1-billion Gerald Desmond Bridge project faces a 15% budget increase, while the price tag on the $1.2-billion Middle Harbor project has now risen by $29.5 million. Related Links: Long Beach's Long-term View Long Beach, Calif., Approves $1-billion Bridge Replacement Project Much of these increases occurred because the port was built on an oil field, with dozens of abandoned wells and other obstructions left behind when drilling ceased decades ago. As a result, prep work
A worker was killed Monday morning at the Levi's Stadium site in Santa Clara, Calif., the second death in four months at the $1.3-billion project. A 61-year-old driver for Tampa-based steel subcontractor Gerdau Ameristeel was unloading a bundle of rebar at the new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers when the bundle fell and crushed him, says Cal-OSHA spokesperson Kathleen Hennessy. The worker from nearby Vacaville, Calif., whose name has not been released, was transported to the hospital and later died from his injuries. Related Links: Calif. OSHA Investigating Worker Deaths at 49ers Stadium, Cement Quarry The job site was
Julie L. Labonte will join the San Francisco office of MWH Global as vice president and director of program management for the Americas, beginning in January 2014. Labonte is a professional civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience in utilities engineering for the private and public sectors. Until the end of 2013, Labonte will remain in her current position as director of the San Francisco Public Utility Commission's Water System Improvement Program—the largest wet infrastructure program ever undertaken by the city and county of San Francisco. Labonte was named the American Society of Civil Engineers 2013 Government Civil
In an effort to expedite the construction of a new $448-million sports-and-entertainment arena in downtown Sacramento, the California Legislature late last week overwhelmingly passed a bill to prevent potential litigation over environmental concerns. Image courtesy of City of Sacramento The arena is intended to boost redevelopment of Sacramento's blighted downtown. Image courtesy of City of Sacramento/AECOM AECOM produced this early concept drawing of the arena prior to the firm's selection as architect. Related Links: PLA Deal for New York's Tappan Zee Bridge Construction 49ers Use 'Integrated Bridging Design-Build' To Speed Stadium Construction The bill's passage came on the heels of
The opening date for the San Francisco-Oakland East Bay Bridge has been moved back to the original date of Tuesday, Sept. 3. The bridge opening had been postponed until December to allow time for contractor American Bridge/Fluor Joint Venture to install permanent saddle braces to replace the clamping force lost when corroded steel bolts broke during tensioning in March. Photos courtesy Caltrans As the temporary shims are put in place to allow the bridge to open on time (above), work continues on the permanent saddle fix (below). Related Links: View a Brief Video of a Worker Installing a Temporary Shim
In 1997, a 13-year-old girl and her family stopped to watch an explosive demolition of an abandoned hospital in Australia. She was killed by flying debris. "Almost overnight, implosions worldwide ceased being actively promoted as spectator events," wrote Brent L. Blanchard, operations manager for consultant Protec Documentation Services, Rancocas Woods, N.J., in his history of the demolition technique. Photo courtesy of David Seibold Injury to onlooker may trigger new efforts to discourage live viewing at demo site. Related Links: A History of Explosive Demolition Bakersfield Power Plant Implosion Gone Wrong Results in Serious Injuries Now there is a sad new
Tamara Clarke has joined HOK's San Francisco office as senior project manager. Clarke has 25 years of experience in justice-sector projects, most recently as DLR Group justice and civic principal in Phoenix. Related Links: Upload New Hires & Promotions to ENR California's People Gallery Read Other Recent Updates About Construction Professionals Beverly Prior PRIORwas appointed president of Los Angeles-based HMC Architects, where she will lead the expansion, strategy and development of the 330-person firm. Prior has more than 30 years of industry experience. She was president of Beverly Prior Architects for 25 years until 2011, when the firm merged with
Aimed at preventing rail disasters like the one that killed 79 people in Spain last month, Los Angeles commuter-rail operator Metrolink is installing a sophisticated control system along its 512 miles of track. Image Courtesy of Parsons Installation of positive train control technology on Metrolink trains will help prevent collisions and over-speed accidents. Related Links: American Companies Adopt Swiss Hardware for Railroad Surveying FRA Issues High-Speed Rail Guidelines The $210.9-million project involves a network of software, signal network updates and communications towers—known as positive train control (PTC)—that will interoperate with similar systems overlayed onto freight-railroad networks operated by United Pacific,
A plan to expand and upgrade Southern California's congested state Route 91 has received a $421-million federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation's July 3 loan announcement means construction on the $1.3-billion design-build project in Riverside County can begin by the end of 2013. Related Links: States Gear Up to Seek Expanded TIFIA Loan Aid "This project is going to make Riverside County more accessible and more attractive to potential employers and businesses once it's completed," says John Standiford, deputy executive director of the Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), which applied for the
The San Francisco Bay Bridge will not open on time because of the ongoing effort to fix broken shear bolt rods. California lawmakers, meanwhile, vow to hold accountable those responsible for the delay to replace the seismically deficient current bridge. Image courtesy of Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee A saddle retrofit will replace the lost clamping force from the failed rods that are embedded in the pier cap. Image courtesy of Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee Locations for defective bolts, along with over 2,200 other bolts that will be either replaced after bridge completion or monitored over time, are shown
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