Related Links: State DOTs Taking Controversial Guardrail Model Off Approved List FHWA Releases Trinity ET-Plus Guardrail End Terminal Re-testing Plan Vowing that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will “leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of this issue,” agency acting administrator Gregory Nadeau told reporters Nov. 12 that re-testing of the ET-Plus 4-in.-wide guardrail end device manufactured by Trinity Products will commence the week of Nov. 17 at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.The FHWA will determine by early 2015 whether the 4-in. version will “pass” or “fail.” If the latter, it will no longer be
Related Links: Gridlock Sam Calls for a New Transportation Formula Sam Schwartz Engineering Acquires Metro Transportation Group Move NY With midterm elections out of the way, a former New York City traffic commissioner is ramping up his call for a revamp of the New York City area's tolling system in order to increase infrastructure investment.SCHWARTZSam Schwartz, also known as "Gridlock Sam," says he and Move NY, a grass-roots advocacy group, are progressing to "launch season" and trying to garner political support for his congestion pricing plan. It would impose $5 driver tolls and 50¢ bike tolls on the free East
Related Links: Commercial Opportunities in Brazil for U.S. Firms Top Chinese Design Firms Eyeing a plethora of construction opportunities in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, a Chinese construction giant and an Australian investment veteran have officially teamed up with a Brazilian bank. Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, principal investing and capital markets arm of Macquarie Group, announced on Nov. 4 an agreement to form Macquarie Development Corp. with China Communication Construction Co. (CCCC) and Banco Modal.The new corporation will make equity investments in preconstruction infrastructure development projects in Latin America. In a press release, Mark Ramsey, head of Latin America
Tricky geology and a dense urban environment marked the journey of Harriet, a lone tunnel boring machine that excavated dual 1.26-kilometer-long, two-lane highway tunnels under the Government Cut shipping channel in Biscayne Bay, to connect Dodge and Watson islands.
The city of Anaheim is home to big-ticket draws such as Angel Stadium, the Grove arena, the Honda Center sports venue and, of course, Disneyland. Now, it is home to an iconic structure that heralds the arrival of a new age of transit in traditionally auto-centric
Related Links: Transit Builders Buoyed By Ridership Figures Fear Of Bankruptcy Looms Over Bridge, Rail Conferences Buoyed by record-breaking public-transit ridership figures, American Public Transportation Association members are warning of the increasingly dire consequences ahead for U.S. infrastructure without action on long-term federal reauthorization funding.APTA hopes Congress will take note of the 10.7 billion transit trips taken in 2013—the highest ridership in 57 years, the group says—and of the insatiable demand for federal programs that provide funding for mass-transit projects. The Federal Transit Administration awarded a record $15.7 billion for over 2,000 grants in FY 2014, acting administrator Therese W.
Related Links: For Panamax Port Expansions, The Freight Wait is Almost Over Ports Seek Rising Tide of Public, Private Funds After nearly two decades of planning, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) this month has begun a $706- million deepening of the Port of Savannah harbor by 5 ft. It formally signed a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) Oct. 8 with the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps expects bids on Oct. 29 for a dredging contract for 19 of 40 miles of entrance channel, estimated at $100 million. Another estimated $75-million contract to build dissolved oxygen injection systems should receive bids
Related Links: Deadly Guardrails on Trial Again in Trinity Whistle-Blower Case Highway Guardrail May Be Deadly, States Say Virginia's transportation department this month followed Missouri, Nevada and Massachusetts in taking off a controversial guardrail end-terminal model from its approved highway-products list. The ET-Plus model, which includes a steel fixture that is meant to absorb a vehicle's impact, is the subject of various lawsuits claiming the fixture has acted, instead, as a deadly spear.In an Oct. 10 letter to a sales manager with Trinity Highway Products LLC, the manufacturer of the ET-Plus, the Virginia Dept. of Transportation requested additional documentation regarding
Related Links: Airports Peg Their Five-Year Capital Needs at $71 Billion Automation, Weather Will Influence Future Airport Designs In terms of NextGen air-traffic-control technology, U.S. airports are ready for takeoff, but the industry is still waiting on the tarmac for progress on a key goal: raising the per-ticket passenger facility charge (PFC) to $8.50 from $4.50, to fund infrastructure projects.Noting that, in the past five years, $5 billion has been invested in NextGen technologies nationwide, Edward Bolton Jr., the Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen assistant administrator, said, "This is a make or break time in the history of the program. The
Related Links: As Hong Kong-Macau Tunnel Progresses, Denmark Floats a Record Breaker Longest Sunken-Tube Tunnel Planned For Contractors and Their Advisers, A Sinking Feeling Is Good in Busan Chinese engineers had never built an immersed tunnel on the open sea, let alone one that, upon completion, would be the world's longest, at a total length of 6.7 kilometers, and one of the deepest, at almost 45 meters, under China's Pearl River Delta.The idea of directly linking the economic powerhouses of Hong Kong and Macau—shortening the three-hour drive to about a half hour—had floated around for almost 20 years. But it's