Photo Courtesy of kcstreetcar.org In Kansas City, streetcar project teams are using PDF collaboration software by Bluebeam and mobile devices to coordinate relocation of utilities' systems. Related Links: iPads and Tech Support: Time Saved Vs. Time Spent Bluebeam, Citrix Tie-Up Extends Desktop Power to Tablet Apps It has been only a couple of years since Kansas Dept. of Transportation (KDOT) engineers began using online storage for plans and project files. Washington state DOT just last year launched a website that publicly displays its projects' status and data. Until recently, the Iowa Dept. of Transportation did not have tools such as
Related Links: Transportation's Next Chapter: Maintenance, Mobility, Money P3s Fuel Construction of Lone Star Lanes Continuing its trend of building managed toll lanes with private-sector partners, the Texas Dept. of Transportation has "conditionally" awarded a team led by Kiewit Corp. an $847-million, 3.5-year design-build contract to expand and upgrade State Highway 183, also known as the Airport Freeway, in Dallas.The award is "not set in stone," says Ryan LaFontaine, a TxDOT spokesperson. "There is a period where we'll go work with them to make sure their promises match what we require. Also, public hearings will be held. The process will
Related Links: Automation, Weather Will Influence Future Airport Designs Frustrated Airport Officials Call Out Feds, Airlines Knoxville's airport rents out land to office complexes, car dealers and the U.S. Postal Service. Huntsville International Airport receives revenue from a golf course and cotton farmers. And several other airports, especially the one in Albuquerque, are seeing increasing savings and tax credits from solar panels.American non-hub airports increasingly are turning to non-aeronautical budget enhancers as they face uncertainty in shaping long-term capital plans. "Non-aeronautical revenue represents a good opportunity for architects, engineers, contractors and investors to participate in the changing aviation environment," says
Courtesy FCC Total diameter of the excavated tunnels was nearly 10 meters. Related Links: Panama Canal Owner and Contractors Agree to Final Cost, Schedule Terms Excavation Under Way on Panama City Metro A design-build team led by Brazilian engineering and construction conglomerate Norberto Odebrecht and the Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) last month completed the 14-kilometer, $1.8-billion Panama Metro light-rail line. The work featured two earth-pressure-balanced tunnel-boring machines, each 9.77 meters in diameter, dubbed "Marta” and "Carolina." The Panama Metro route includes seven kilometers of tunnels and more than five kilometers of elevated guideway. The metro will
The port city of Da Nang not only hosts a key link to the developing eastern regions of Vietnam, world-renowned beach resorts and the route to the UNESCO heritage town of Hoi An, it now has become a tourist attraction and source of economic development in its own right, thanks to the—literally—fire-breathing Dragon Bridge.
Photo by David Sailors NJDOT decided to shut down northbound lanes completely so the contractor can go in and replace the 3.5-mile deck within two years as part of a 10-year, $1-billion rehabilitation program. Related Links: Rival Bidder on New Jersey Highway Rehab Eyes Winner's China Tie | N.J. Gov. Christie Details Decision on ARC Tunnel Project Contractor crews bolted from the starting gate in mid-April, commencing a two-year marathon effort to replace three miles' worth of the Pulaski Skyway northbound deck. About a month after the lanes were completely closed, on April 12, project officials say "Autogeddon" has been
Photo Courtesy of Missouri DOT Pennsylvania's Rapid Bridge Replacement Project follows on the heels of Missouri's recent rapid replacement of 802 bridges. Related Links: Bridge Industry Conference Showcases Missouri Innovations $2.6-Billion Ohio River Bridges Project Ramps Up In Louisville Informed by recent public-private partnerships (P3) and accelerated bridge construction (ABC) programs in other states, Pennsylvania is well under way with the process of combining the two concepts into its plan for addressing 614 structurally deficient bridges.The Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation (PennDOT) late last month asked four teams to submit proposals for its Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. In a release, PennDOT
Photo Courtesy of Illinois Tollway A $12-billion, 15-year construction program aims to ramp up economic development in the regions around O'Hare airport. Related Links: Illinois Highway Builders Keep Massive Job On Track Success of Illinois Extension Overcomes Difficult Past In a video shot by the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, a construction worker named Robert Hall gives a testimonial for IRTBA: "It gives us a lot of work, especially when our economy was bad," the Geneva Construction Co. employee says. "IRTBA allowed us to go get more work … gave us an opportunity to keep on rolling when the
Photo courtesy New York State Thruway Authority Under presidential designation, new Tappan Zee Bridge project received expedited, collaborative permitting with high-level federal and state agency representatives meeting weekly. Related Links: Support for Environmental Review Reforms Gains Momentum Streamlining Smoothes Progress on Maryland Highway Project New California Streamlining Law Gets Mixed Reviews New York State's New Design-Build Law a Sign of the Times? Fourteen years ago, the New York State Thruway Authority proposed a plan to replace the then-44-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge, a 6,014-ft-long, seven-lane crossing carrying Interstates 87 and 287 over the Hudson River. That proposal followed decades of Band-Aid
Related Links: Airports Emphasize Flexibility In New Designs DOTs Are Gaining "Complete Streets" Smarts P3 Experts Point to the Canadian Experience Infrastructure Investors Are Willing To Pound The Pavement Viewpoint by John D. Porcari: Project Environmental Reviews, Undo the Do-Over Loop Harvey Hammond, chairman of HNTB Corp., was talking about the firm's future as it marks its 100th anniversary this year—as well as the future of funding improvements to the nation's bridges, railways, ports, tunnels and major highways. "The infrastructure needs and demands will always be there," he says. "The question is: How do we respond to [them]?"For U.S. states