Prefabricated segmental bridge designs that have helped speed construction and save money in many parts of the country may also have a place in seismically active regions, according to recent tests conducted by the University of Buffalo’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, and its Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER). As part of a Federal Highway Administration-funded project exploring seismic response of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) systems, the research team 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
Upset with a perceived lack of opportunities for Richmond, Va.’s minority contractors, the executive director of the NAACP’s Virginia state conference has threatened “direct action” against current and planned city construction projects. King Salim Khalfani alleges that only 6% of city contracts have minority involvement in planning or construction, reported the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Unless that figure is improved, Khalfani said, the NAACP will disrupt various projects. One tactic would be parking unmarked dump trucks at construction sites to block access. The organization is focusing on projects that are publicly funded or receive government-backed financing. Potential targets include the Richmond Redevelopment
Upset with a perceived lack of opportunities for Richmond, Va.’s minority contractors, the executive director of the NAACP’s Virginia state conference has threatened “direct action” against current and planned city construction projects. King Salim Khalfani alleges that only 6% of city contracts have minority involvement in planning or construction, reported the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Unless that figure is improved, Khalfani said, the NAACP will disrupt various projects. One tactic would be parking unmarked dump trucks at construction sites to block access. The organization is focusing on projects that are publicly funded or receive government-backed financing. Potential targets include the Richmond Redevelopment
The Mid-Atlantic�s cash-strapped transportation departments continue to make the most of every dollar received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. �It�s been a welcome bridge in these economic times,� says Malcolm T. Kerley, chief engineer for the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, which has reduced its six-year project plan by more than $4 billion over the last few years. �The stimulus has helped create some jobs and probably allowed more than a few contractors to stay in business.� Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Allen Biehler agrees, calling his state�s $1.026-billion ARRA allotment �a godsend in terms of how it has helped
Already scrambling for highway funding, state departments of transportation and road contractors now are stymied by a nationwide shortage of pavement-marking paint. Photo: WSDOT Highway contractors are coming up short because of kinks in the road-paint supply chain, thanks to recession and a critical chemical shortage. The source of the shortfall is a mixture of economics, chemistry, production disruptions and international trade, and the result will likely be rationed paint and higher prices through most of the summer—and perhaps beyond. Brian Deery, senior director of the Highway & Transportation Division at the Associated General Contractors of America, says DOTs may
With cracks as sharp as the frozen Arctic air, a 1,357-ft steel communications tower in Port Clarence, Alaska, tumbled to the ground on April 28, the first step in the U.S. Coast Guard's decommissioning of its network of LORAN radio navigation facilities across the country. Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Tower demolition is start of Coast Guard decommissioning of aging navigation signal network. The 400-ton, 45-segment triangular steel tower is the largest man-made structure to be felled by explosives, according to Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI), Phoenix, Md., which performed the operation as a subcontractor to Jacobs Field Services North America. For
With cracks as sharp as the frozen Arctic air, a 1,357-ft steel communications tower in Port Clarence, Alaska, tumbled to the ground on April 28, the first step in the U.S. Coast Guard�s decommissioning of its network of LORAN radio navigation facilities across the country. Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Tower demolition is start of Coast Guard decommissioning of aging navigation signal network. The 400-ton, 45-segment triangular steel tower is the largest man-made structure to be felled by explosives, according to Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI), Phoenix, Md., which performed the operation as a subcontractor to Jacobs Field Services North America. For
As the result of a rare closure of interstate highway, a 15-mi rehabilitation of Interstate 385 near Laurens, S.C., is on track to be completed in just eight months—and for two-thirds of its original estimated cost. Photo: Portland Cement Association, Southeast Region Recent paving activity on the I-385 project. Closure of section of South Carolina interstate highway is allowing SCDOT to complete the project in just eight months. Originally constructed as U.S. Route 276, the four-lane divided highway linking Greenville with Interstate 26 was added to the interstate system in the mid-1980s even though it hadn’t been designed to those
New faces are nothing new in the Carolinas, which have long been among the nation’s fastest-growing states. But with construction activity at a standstill in many other parts of the U.S., local contractors increasingly find themselves vying with competitors representing a cross-section of unfamiliar area codes. Image: BE&K Building Group A joint venture of BE&K Building Group and Turner Construction Co. won the contract to build Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner final-assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. Image: Turner Construction Co. Turner Construction is managing construction of the 500,000-sq-ft, 21-story Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel Tower III in Cherokee, N.C. “The make-up of the
The Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005 has been a lifeline for some Virginia contractors during a recession that has driven many other sectors to a near-standstill. But with less than 18 months remaining before the mandated Sept. 15, 2011, deadline for completing BRAC, contractors are coming down to crunch time. W.M. Jordan Co. is building the second phase of the Ordnance School Central Campus project at Fort Lee, Va., one of the last components in the Army’s multibillion “Home of Ordnance” initiative at Fort Lee. Related Links: Focus on Virginia To minimize operational disruptions and maintain readiness across
