For a highway construction worker, focusing on the job is easier when someone is watching your back. On many roads, that person is the flagger, whose stop/slow sign helps maintain a peaceful, safe balance between traffic and work-zone activity. Photo By Intelli-Strobe Automated flagging devices are increasingly seen as one way to keep workers safe. However, a paramount concern is whether drivers will obey a machine rather than a person with a paddle. Photo By Safety Technologies Unfortunately, not enough motorists watch out for the flaggers; according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 88 flaggers were killed on the
MICHAELS A sluggish rule-making process has stymied efforts to improve construction-site safety, officials from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and union groups say. But construction industry sources note that, before going into effect, the rules need to be carefully considered and reflect the opinions of all stakeholders. OSHA administrator David Michaels, along with Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO’s director of safety and health, spoke about the agency’s accomplishments and challenges over the past 40 years at an April 21 panel discussion at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. Michaels said that while the overall rates of workplace deaths,
A new Bureau of Reclamation report concludes that projected temperature increases as a result of climate change are likely to affect the timing and quantity of stream flows in all western U.S. basins. In turn, that possibility could have a significant effect on water supplies in that region, says the congressionally mandated study, released on April 25. The report assesses how climate-change risks could affect hydropower, flood control, and fish and wildlife across eight major river basins, including the Colorado, Rio Grande and Missouri. BuRec, through its WaterSMART Basin Studies program, already is working with communities across the western U.S.
Debate over the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s decision to construct an underground station at Dulles Airport as part of its Metrorail extension project intensified this week, with local political leaders criticizing the choice as “irresponsible” and the agency defending the move as being in the best long-term interests of passengers and the community. The controversy stems from the MWAA’s April 6 approval of a plan to locate the subsurface station 500 ft from the main Dulles Terminal. Although the $600-million station and associated tunnel were part of the original 2005 design for the $3.5-billion second phase of the 23-mile light
While the replacement of Seattle's aging Alaskan Way Viaduct plods toward a definite construction start date, long-needed improvements are well on the road to completion on another of the city's critical elevated structures. PCL Construction Services Inc., Seattle, has completed 257 drilled shafts for columns that will support the widening of the 3,000-ft-long Spokane Street Viaduct. One of Seattle's five busiest roads, the viaduct carries up to 70,000 vehicles a day between Interstate 5 and the West Seattle Bridge and serves as a primary truck route for the Port of Seattle and the Harbor Island industrial area. The $72-million project
While the replacement of Seattle’s aging Alaskan Way Viaduct plods toward a definite construction start date, long-needed improvements are well on the road to completion on another of the city’s critical elevated structures. Photo: SDOT Spokane Street Viaduct gets a makeover in anticipation of bigger Alaskan Way Viaduct work. PCL Construction Services Inc., Seattle, has completed 257 drilled shafts for columns that will support the widening of the 3,000-ft-long Spokane Street Viaduct. One of Seattle’s five busiest roads, the viaduct carries up to 70,000 vehicles a day between Interstate 5 and the West Seattle Bridge and serves as a primary
Science-fiction writers have spun countless tales of malevolent, rampaging robots laying waste to helpless cities as panicked citizens flee in horror. Now, life is imitating this pulpy art—at least to some extent—with the emergence of a more benign but immensely versatile type of remote-controlled robot designed specifically for demolition work. Fitted with hydraulic breakers and other attachments, track-based, electrically powered demolition robots can venture into interiors, hazardous environments and confined spaces to dismantle floors, ceilings and wall slabs, keeping workers out of the way of falling concrete and other dangers. Demolition robots, which are free from the emissions issues associated
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set an ambitious agenda for the next six months. Many of its top priorities, identified in the semi-annual agenda released on Dec. 20, involve the construction industry. While some sources say that OSHA has been revitalized under Assistant Secretary David Michaels, they wonder if the agency might be taking on more than it can accommodate. “OSHA has a lot on its plate,” says Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association. “We’re concerned that they may not have the resources to fully address all the issues, such as silica.”
With most of the world’s economies still searching for a way out of their economic woes, global transportation design and construction firms are finding solace in markets that largely have escaped the downturn’s most devastating effects. Photo: Courtesy of Aecom Hong Kong’s XRL costs $8.6 billion. Photo: Courtesy of Parsons Brinckerhoff The list of Asian projects includes the expansion and modernization of the Indira Gandhi Airport. Related Links: Overview: Finding Work in Tough Times View Complete Global Sourcebook with Rankings General Building: Firms Say World Market Is Thawing, Albeit Slowly Power: Growing Demand Fuels Worldwide Boom Environment: Global Expansions Yield
