march/april 2015 tb

Mar.-Apr. 2015 TransportationBuilder 1

Innovations Driving the ROI in U.S. Transportation

Infrastructure

builder® March-April 2015www.transportationbuilder.org

Economy Driven

R

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MARAPR 2015VOL. 27, NO. 2contents

The official publication of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association

www.transportationbuilder.org

COLUMNS

Chairman’s Message

President’s Desk

AEM Corner

DOT Local Hiring Pilot Program Raises Serious Concerns

6

A-4

15

17

TransportationBuilder 3

ON THE COVER

FEATURE

Insert after page 10 Innovations Driving the ROI in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure

ARTBA Members Tap Digital Media to Urge Congress to Fix the Highway Trust Fund

13

On the cover: The New N.Y. Bridge, courtesy of the New York State Thruway Authority.

13A-24

Economy Driven:

Mar.-Apr. 20154 TransportationBuilder

StaffPUBLISHERT. Peter [email protected]

DEPUTY PUBLISHER Matt [email protected]

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mark [email protected]

PUBLICATIONS EDITOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNERJenny [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nick Goldstein

ARTBA vice president of environmental & regulatory affairs

Mark Holan

ARTBA editorial director

Transportation Builder® (TB) is the official publication of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, a federation whose primary goal is to aggressively grow and protect transportation infrastructure investment to meet the public and business demand for safe and efficient travel. In support of this mission, ARTBA also provides programs and services designed to give its members a global competitive edge. As the only national publication specifically geared toward transportation development professionals, TB represents the primary source of business, legislative and regulatory news critical to the success and future of the transportation construction industry.

Transportation Builder® (ISSN 1043-4054) is published bi-monthly by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Postmaster: Send change of address to Transportation Builder®, c/o ARTBA, The ARTBA Building, 1219 28th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007. Phone: 202-289-4434, Fax: 202-289-4435, www.artba.org; [email protected]. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions are $105/year for ARTBA members, which is included in the dues; $120/year for non-members; and $200/year non-U.S. mailing addresses. Copyright ©2015 ARTBA. All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Visit us: www.transportationbuilder.org

builder®

Executive CommitteeChairman: Nick Ivanoff Ammann & Whitney, New York, N.Y.

Senior Vice Chairman: David S. ZachryZachry Construction Corporation, San Antonio, Texas

First Vice Chairman: Robert E. AlgerThe Lane Construction Corporation, Cheshire, Conn.

Northeastern Region Vice Chairman: Dave GehrParsons Brinckerhoff, Herndon, Va.

Southern Region Vice Chairman: Tom ElmoreEutaw Construction Company, Aberdeen, Miss.

Central Region Vice Chairman: Kathi HolstRoadway Construction & Maintenance Services, Warrenville, Ill.

Western Region Vice Chairman: Steve McGoughHCSS, Sugar Land, Texas

Vice Chairman At-Large: Ward NyeMartin Marietta Materials, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.

Vice Chairman At-Large: Scott L. CasselsKiewit Infrastructure Group, Inc., Kiewit Corporation, Omaha, Neb.

Vice Chairman At-Large: Melissa TooleySouthwest Region University Transportation Center, Texas A&M

Transportation Institute, College Station, Texas

Vice Chairman At-Large: John R. KulkaHRI, Inc., State College, Pa.

Vice Chairman At-Large: Mike DonninoGranite Construction Company, Lewisville, Texas

Vice Chairman At-Large: Paul Acito3M Traffic Safety & Security Division, St. Paul, Minn.

Treasurer: Tom HillSummit Materials, LLC, Denver, Colo.

Secretary: Pete RuaneARTBA, Washington, D.C.

ARTBA-TDF Board of Trustees Chairman: Leo Vecellio, Jr.Vecellio Group, Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla.

ARTBA-TDF Board of Trustees Vice Chairman: Paul YarossiHNTB, New York, N.Y.

Contractors Division President: Jeff ClydeW.W. Clyde & Co., Springville, Utah

Contractors Division First Vice President: Tim DuitTTK Construction, Edmond, Okla.

Research & Education Division President: Lily ElefterladouUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

AEM Representative: Ron DeFeoTEREX Corporation, Westport, Conn.

Materials & Services Division President: Randy LakeOldcastle Materials, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.

Planning & Design Division President: Tim FaerberHNTB Corporation, Chicago, Ill.

Public-Private Partnerships Division President: Matt GirardPlenary Concessions, Denver, Co.

Traffic Safety Industry Division President: Sue ReissImpact Recovery Systems, San Antonio, Texas

Transportation Officials Division President: Paul GrunerMontgomery County Engineers’s Office, Dayton, Ohio

Council of State Executives: Mike PepperMississippi Road Builders Association, Jackson, Miss.

Immediate Past ARTBA Chairman: Doug BlackJohn Deere Landscapes, Alpharetta, Ga.

Past Chairman’s Council Chairman: Jim MadaraGannett Fleming, Allentown, Pa.

Young Executive Leadership Council Chairman: Ponch FrankRanger Construction Industries, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Joint Committee Representative: Matt CummingsAECOM, Philadelphia, Pa.

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editor’s note

Jenny Ragone,

Publications

Editor & Graphic

Designer

For this special issue of “Transportation Builder” (TB), ARTBA has produced a stand-alone publication: “Economy Driven.” By showcasing 25 innovative transportation-related construction projects, this special section is designed to educate Congress and other key stakeholders about the enormous value of infrastructure investments. The “Economy Driven” insert begins at page 10 of TB’s regular content.

ARTBA also launched a new digital media campaign this spring urging Congress to fix the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). The Phone2Action platform makes it quick and easy to contact your appropriate senators and House representative through social media, email and phone calls. It only takes a few taps on your smart phone or tablet. The current federal highway/transit funding authorization expires on May 31, so please take action now at www.p2a.co/artba. Read more about the campaign on page 13.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue of “TB.” Please feel free to share your reactions at: [email protected].

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need urgent repair. ARTBA staff placed the story first with “USA Today,” which drove all the subsequent—and extensive—national and local news coverage in print and online, and on radio and television. Almost every story referenced the pending HTF crisis.

Policy Substance ARTBA March 12 released a substantive proposal to help jump start policy discussions on the Hill. Our “Getting Beyond Gridlock” (GBG) plan was well-received by members of Con-gress from both parties. GBG marries a 15 cents-per-gallon increase in the federal gas and diesel motor fuels tax with a 100 percent offsetting federal tax rebate for middle and lower income Americans for six years. It would fund a $401 billion, six-year highway and public transit capital investment program and provide sustainable, user-based funds to support it for at least the next 10 years.

“Congressional Quarterly” noted: “[T]he ARTBA plan seeks to turn the tax issue on its head and perhaps change the terms of a long-running debate in Con-gress.” We will continue to push GBG.

Social Media & Advertising Campaign In March, the 31 members of the ARTBA co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) used their respective social media networks to release 10 infographs over a two-week period, with each containing a key finding from new research conducted by IHS Global—“Transportation Infrastructure Invest-ment: Macroeconomic and Industry Contribution of Federal Highway and Mass Transit Program”—quantifying the economic impacts of the federal surface transportation program. The campaign was augmented with digital and print advertising.

from the chairman

Nick Ivanoff

President & CEO

Ammann & Whitney

2015 ARTBA Chairman

TMAW Keeps Fighting

the Battles the Industry

Can’t Afford to Concede

The passage of a permanent Highway Trust Fund (HTF) fix and a multi-

year highway and transit bill has been the focus of ARTBA’s Transportation Makes America Work (TMAW) program during the first quarter of 2015.

As I write this column in mid-April, it remains unclear what direction Congress will take regarding these important measures. The funding authorization for the highway and transit program, which is financed through the HTF, expires at the end of May. And Congress can’t move to pass a long-term bill until it reaches agreement on the HTF.

These are critical battles with no room for surrender. That’s why ARTBA, through the TMAW program, has been launching a wave of “advocacy carpet bombings” to keep the pressure on members of Congress and the Obama Administration.

Bridge Report Card On April 1, ARTBA caused a big splash with the release of its second annual “bridge report card,” which showed that 61,000 structurally deficient U.S. bridges

“Economy-Driven: Innovations Driving the ROI in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure” To educate the new Congress about the enormous value of infrastructure invest-ments, ARTBA developed a custom, 32-page magazine showcasing industry innovation and the use of cutting-edge technology—through a series of 25 proj-ect vignettes—to deliver transportation improvements that provide a real return on investment for U.S. taxpayers. The magazine will be distributed nationally to an audience of about 30,000 and to all congressional offices in late April. Your copy is inside this issue of “TB.”

Coalitions While ARTBA utilizes TMAW to advance the transportation construction industry’s agenda, we are still making major six-figure investments in support-ing industry coalitions pushing comple-mentary messages about the HTF and the passage of a long-term transportation bill, including: the U.S. Chamber-led Americans for Transportation Mobility, TCC, The Road Information Program, and Energy Equipment & Infrastructure Alliance.

More information about these TMAW initiatives can be found on www.tmaw.com.

We continue to prepare other advocacy “smart bombs” to direct at Congress until it completes the task at hand, but we need your help.

If you’ve already made your TMAW contribution again this year, we say “thank you.” If you have not, we ask your company to make a major financial commitment soon. As you can probably guess, many of our opponents outspend us every day. That’s why your continued financial support is so critical.

Regardless of what happens by the May 31 stopgap funding deadline, or later this summer, let’s continue sharing the pro-transportation investment message with the American people and keeping pressure the 114th Congress. I know there’s some battle fatigue out there, but we can hardly afford to stop fighting for our industry.


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ROADS&BRIDGES ARTBA ECONOMY DRIVEN A-2

Innovations Driving the ROI in U.S. Transportation

Infrastructure

Economy DrivenSpring 2015

an Astec Industries Company

Sponsored by The Astec Industries Family of Companies:

On May 31st, the road runs out. Do your part to ensure congress passes a long-term

highway-funding bill. Together, we can solve America’s crumbling infrastructure

crisis. Contact your federally elected representative today. Follow the cause on

Twitter @DontDeadEnd.

DontLetAmericaDeadEnd.com

Contents

Economy Driven

A letter from ARTBA President Pete Ruane . . . . . . .A-4

Here’s to a clear California road ahead . . . . . . . .A-7

Good for 100 years in Minnesota. . . . . . . . . . . .A-8

Keeping Montana current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A-9

Mobility through the Motor City. . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

A “PATH” made clear, a N.Y. “Hub” rising . . . . . . . A-11

A long time coming for Miami . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12

Wide open in Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Breaking the ice in Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

Two-in-one for Kentucky and Indiana . . . . . . . . A-15

A firmer float in Washington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16

Not in the way in the Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17

New York style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-18

Improved Florida infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . A-19

A Missouri diamond in the rough. . . . . . . . . . . A-20

Quietly saving some Virginia green . . . . . . . . . A-21

N.J. Turnpike doubles down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-22

Sorting it out in Nevada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-23

Fixed in a hurry in Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-24

‘Stakeless’ resurfacing through Kansas. . . . . . . . A-25

A breakthrough in Seattle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-26

If the slide fits for Indiana and Kentucky . . . . . . . A-27

Wisconsin cuts and covers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-28

Rolling over forward in Utah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-29

Implementing systemic change in S.C. . . . . . . . A-30

In Pennsylvania, an award-winning ABC model . . . A-31

A-26

A-8

A-24

A-19

ON THE COVER: The New NY Bridge, courtesy of the New York State Thruway Authority. Read about the innovative project on page A-18.

American Road & Transportation Builders Association

Spring 2015

ARTBA ECONOMY DRIVEN A-3

Economy Driven

PETE RUANEARTBA President

& CEO

U.S. Transportation InfrastructureIT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IN THE EARLY 1900s, AMERICA WAS STUCK IN THE MUD.

Railroads were the preferred method of

travel, and automobiles and airports were

still in their infancy.

Fast forward to 2015. Today, America has

the most complex—and sophisticated—

intermodal transportation infrastructure

network in the world, and the “pick and

shovel” enterprise has long been replaced

with a high-tech industry that is driven by

some of the nation’s brightest minds.

Apple founder Steve Jobs is credited

with saying: “Innovation distinguishes

between a leader and a follower.” This

publication, Economy Driven, is chock-full of

examples of innovation and leadership by

the public and private sectors in delivering

transportation infrastructure improvements.

Among some of the noteworthy examples:

“Truss sliding”: This unique construction

method moved a new 2,400-ft.-long truss

along steel rails and plates and “slid” it into

place atop the existing piers on a bridge

connecting Kentucky and Indiana. The

approach was the fastest and most cost-

effective way to build the new structure with

the least impact on the surrounding area.

Deployment of Low-Cost But Highly Effective Safety Enhancements: To reduce

the high number of traffic fatalities at inter-

sections, South Carolina erected oversized

yellow, diamond-shaped advance warning

signs on the left and right sides of roads

ahead of intersections—some with solar-

powered flashers mounted on top—and

created new pavement markings at 2,000

intersections at a cost $6,000 per intersec-

tion. The result: a significant reduction in

injuries and fatalities.

Smart Technology: Achieving proper

density is critical on asphalt paving jobs.

Intelligent compaction is increasingly

used by equipment manufacturers. Using

sensors and colorful monitors, operators

see exactly what sections of the pavement

need extra attention, and what sections

need to be left alone. In the future, multiple

rollers on a jobsite will be able to talk

to each other to make sure the proper

density is achieved.

Accelerated Bridge Construction: ABC is a technique that allows work to

progress concurrently on site and off

site. Building the bridge deck section off

site and reassembling it on site reduces

traffic disruptions, provides a safer

environment for workers and motorists,

and increases productivity.

Unprecedented Project Coordination: The five-year, $2.3 billion expansion of

the New Jersey Turnpike—which doubled

capacity when completed in 2014—con-

sisted of interchange improvements and

35 miles of road widening. In addition to

the 1,000 workers employed every day,

there were 17 general contractors, 327

subcontractors, five construction manage-

ment firms and 21 utility companies involved

in construction. Such a massive project

required strong management skills, unified

scheduling and cooperation among the

private sector and N.J. Turnpike Authority. The

partnership paid off, and the project came

in $200 million below the estimated budget.

Of course, the real beneficiaries of the

projects highlighted in Economy Driven are

the American people. Their tax dollars help

finance project design and construction.

This publication, which also previews the

possibilities of the future, is being shared with

all members of Congress and with other key

stakeholders around the country to help

them better understand why expanded

investment in all modes of transportation is

critical to Building a Better America!

© 2015 ARTBA

THIS PUBLICATION MAY NOT BE

PART, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN

PERMISSION FROM ARTBA.

Spring 2015

A-4 ECONOMY DRIVEN ARTBA

THE DRIVE TO REVIVE AMERICA’S AILING INFRASTRUCTURE Everywhere you look, our infrastructure is failing. And with an under-served system, another calamity may be just around the bend. Not only is this a danger to our families and communities, it’s costing us more than we know. Jobs. Economic health. Quality of life. And more. As we strongly support efforts in Washington to federally fund a long-term solution, we can also band together and advocate for infrastructure investment and improvements in our own communities. It’s time to act locally for a state of change.

DireStates.com

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Take advantage today of these VALUABLE RESOURCESavailable from ARTBA!

www.artba.org

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www.transportationbuilder.org

The ARTBA Building

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I-91 IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIF., ranks

among the nation’s worst commutes. In fact,

traffic congestion on the eastbound portion

of I-91 between Anaheim and Corona is

among the worst areas in the nation.

Led by the Riverside County

Transportation Commission, the S.R. 91

Corridor project aims to put a big dent

in the general perception of this stretch

of road by adding regular lanes, tolled

express lanes, auxiliary lanes and direct

express lane connectors from northbound

I-15 to westbound I-91, and from eastbound

I-91 to southbound I-15.

Improvements to interchanges,

ramps and surface streets also are

being made along the I-91 corridor.

These improvements aim to reduce

delays, allow faster emergency response

and help motorists to, in the words of

Caltrans, “fast forward” their travel. In

addition, this innovative design-build

project is creating 16,200 jobs.

The $1.3 billion project is one of

the largest and best congestion relief

efforts in California history. It follows a

sustainability management plan based

on the Federal Highway Administration’s

Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation

Sustainability Tool (INVEST).

The project’s specs involve more than

110,000 feet of new drainage and the

relocation of 92 full utility systems. More

than 320,000 feet of sound barriers will be

constructed, and 83 retaining walls will be

raised, totaling an estimated 1 million sq. ft.

An increase in road safety is expected

from a lower speed limit of 55 mph.Thirty

bridges will be reconstructed, rescued or

otherwise repaired, and another 19 will

be widened.

Here’s to a clear road aheadMajor Calif. project shines light on crucial corridor

PROJECT: S.R. 91 Corridor

LOCATION: Corona and Riverside,

Calif.

OWNER: Riverside County

Transportation

Commission

DESIGNER: URS Corp.

PARTNER AGENCIES: Orange County

Transportation Authority,

Caltrans

CONTRACTORS: Atkinson/Walsh

(Atkinson Contractors

and Walsh Construction

Co. JV)

PRELIMINARY STUDIES HAVE SUGGESTED that once the project is complete, users of regular lanes can

save an average of 12 minutes per day when traveling round-

trip during peak morning and afternoon hours. Moreover, users

of the Riverside County I-91 express lanes can save an incredible

78 minutes daily when compared to using the regular lanes.

Interesting fact


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THE NEW HASTINGS BRIDGE WAS DESIGNED for a 100-year lifespan. In practical terms,

it enhances mobility and safety for both

the community and the region, and has

become part of Hastings’ identity.The

the project by almost five years after the

Minnesota Legislature passed the 2008

Transportation Funding Package. In order to

deliver this major project under an acceler-

ated schedule, a competitive contracting

process called “design-build best value”

was utilized.

The unique 545-ft.-long freestanding

tied-arch main span—the longest free-

standing arch main span in North Amer-

ica—includes trapezoidal variable depth

steel box arch ribs, post-tensioned concrete

tie girders and a redundant grid steel

floor system.The north approach includes

five spans north of the main span and is

a pretensioned, precast concrete girder

bridge.The south approach is made up

of two side-by-side bridges that cover five

spans south of the main span into down-

town Hastings. It consists of post-tensioned,

solid, cast-in-place concrete slabs.

Among the notable challenges

addressed over the course of the project,

workers operated in a narrow section of the

Mississippi River.They dealt with winter freeze-

up, spring floods and navigation traffic.

“We certainly overcame high water in

the Mississippi River from March through

August 2011—significant river elevations

that prohibited progression of bridge pier

construction in the river and the delays

associated with that,” said project manager

Steve Kordosky, characterizing some of the

project’s challenges.“Then the Minnesota

government shut down in summer 2011,

which impacted steel fabrication. However,

-

ated the project as a result, from a July

2014 target to a fall 2013 target.To do that

required a closure of the river’s navigational

channel during the navigation season.

Lots of commerce going up and down the

river during this time, so we worked with the

Coast Guard and the shipping community

to get it done timely and properly.The

project has to date been very well received

by the public.”

Good for 100 yearsLongest freestanding arch main span built to last

PROJECT: Highway 61 Hastings

Bridge

LOCATION: Hastings, Minn.

OWNER:

of Transportation

DESIGNER: Parsons

CONTRACTORS: Lunda/Ames (Lunda

Construction and Ames

Construction JV)

THE ENTIRETY OF THE HASTINGS BRIDGE STRUCTURE weighs in at 3,300 tons, among the heaviest

bridges in the state. In order to place the structure correctly,

900-ton strand jacks were employed to lift the structure 55 ft.

into place. This, to date, marks the heaviest bridge move in the

U.S. The application of this bridge-placement protocol bears

implications for all future large bridge projects.

Interesting fact


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MDT TRAVEL INFO. MOBILE APP IS A RECENT APPLICATION that provides

travelers information for the entire state

of Montana, including road conditions,

construction projects, road incidents,

still-camera images and atmospheric

information.The application also allows

users to find their current locations and

map routes based on address or city

name. Routing, addressing and base

maps are provided by Google Inc.

Additional base maps are provided by

ESRI Inc.

of November through April, road conditions

are reported twice a day, or as major

changes occur.Although the information is

not in real time, conditions are updated as

changes occur.

The application displays images

road network, and data from the remote

weather information systems (RWIS).The

atmospheric information is provided

by Iowa Environmental Mesonet and is

updated every five minutes.

“The mobile application is so informative

application regularly,” said Brandi Hamilton

The application also provides access

to camera images from neighboring

states and provinces to show road condi-

tions on various routes in those areas.The

be highly customizable and has layers

that can be turned on and off by the

user.These include a road incident layer,

a construction layer, an RWIS/camera

layer and an atmospheric layer.The base

map can also be changed from a default

Google map, a Google terrain map and

an ESRI line map.

Keeping currentStatewide app to ease congestion, keep folks in the know

PROJECT:

Mobile App

LAUNCHED: 2012

OWNER:

MAP SUPPLIERS: Google Inc., ESRI Inc.

THE MDT TRAVEL INFO. MOBILE APP, launched

in the winter of 2012, quickly generated more than 13,000

downloads despite very little promotion. Prior to the winter

increase awareness of the resources available to Montana

travelers. Since that media effort, the app has received a total

of 34,000 downloads. In the month of November 2014 alone,

there were 208,000 map views, 1.4 million webpage views and

new users topped 30 percent.

Interesting fact

ARTBA ECONOMY DRIVEN A9

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AIL

THE $140 MILLION M-1 RAIL STREETCAR SYSTEM, currently under construction on

-

edented public-private partnership and

model for regional collaboration. It is the first

major public transit project led and funded

by private businesses and philanthropic

organizations in partnership with local, state

and federal governments.

The streetcar will travel north and south

on both sides of Woodward Avenue for

3.3 miles (6.6 miles round trip) between

Congress Avenue (the Riverfront) and West

Grand Boulevard (the North End/New

Center neighborhood) once it is completed

in late 2016. It will service 20 stations (16

curbside and four median running) at 12

locations. Once operational, the modern

streetcar system will boast Wi-Fi, bike storage

and level boarding.Additionally, 60 percent

of the streetcar line will operate off-wire.

centers and most visited destinations while

providing a foundation for improved and

expanded public transit throughout the

region,” said Paul Childs, chief operating

officer of M-1 RAIL.“The system will ignite

tremendous new growth and job creation.”

The M-1 RAIL streetcar project has

already awarded nearly 30 percent of

construction and concurrent road work

minority-owned, and disadvantaged busi-

percentage is twice the national average

when compared to similar projects, and

amounts to nearly $40 million in contracts.

To achieve this milestone, the M-1 RAIL

project has broken down larger bid pack-

ages into smaller ones to ensure local firms

could compete for the work. Partnering with

Construction began on July 28, 2014, and is

set to be completed in late 2016.

Mobility through the Motor CitySleek new rail line will offer multimodal transit

PROJECT: M-1 RAIL Streetcar System

LOCATION:

OWNER: M-1 RAIL for first 10

years of operation, then

ownership transferred to

Regional Transit Authority

of Southeast Michigan

DESIGNER: URS Corp.

CONTRACTOR: Stacy and Witbeck Inc.

UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION COMPONENTS OF THIS PROJECT include the flash-butt welding of initial 80-ft.-

long “strings” of American-made steel rail into 560-ft. segments,

on rollers to their final resting place along Woodward Avenue

for track installation. Once these 560-ft. strings were in place,

they were then welded together using thermite rail-welding

processes, which employs a chemical reaction to bond the

steel together. Additionally, this project requires the complete

reconstruction of two highway overpass bridges, which were

originally constructed in 1967 and 1955, respectively.

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THE STATE-OF-THE-ART WORLD TRADE CENTER (WTC) Transportation Hub will

serve more than 200,000 daily commuters

and millions of annual visitors from around

the world.At approximately 800,000 sq.

ft., the nearly $4 billion Hub, designed

by internationally acclaimed architect

Santiago Calatrava, will be the third-largest

transportation center in New York City, rival-

ing Grand Central Station in size. In a joint

venture with the Westfield Group, the Port

Authority of New York and New Jersey will

develop, lease and operate a major retail

space at the WTC site, including in the Hub.

The concourse will conveniently con-

nect visitors to 11 different subway lines,

the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rail

system, Battery Park City Ferry Terminal,

the WTC Memorial Site, WTC Towers 1, 2,

3 and 4, the World Financial Center and

the Winter Garden. It will represent the

most integrated network of underground

pedestrian connections in New York City.

The Hub features an “Oculus” design,

which will give the facility a distinctive,

wing-like appearance.When completed,

this upper portion of the Transportation

Hub will serve as the main concourse.

Incorporating 225,000 sq. ft. of multilevel

retail and restaurant space along all

concourses, the Hub promises to be

a destination location, becoming the

centerpiece for all of Lower Manhattan.

Close to the Transportation Hub is the

Vehicular Security Center (VSC) and Tour

Bus Parking Facility construction project.As

part of a comprehensive plan developed

by the Port Authority, the VSC will be a com-

prehensive security screening checkpoint

for all buses, trucks and cars accessing

the WTC site and parking facilities.When

complete, this structure will reach five stories

underground into a basement with con-

necting ramps leading to the parking and

below-grade facilities of all of the adjacent

projects on the 16-acre WTC site.

A “PATH” made clear, a “Hub” risingA massive, state-of-the-art transportation center

PROJECT: World Trade Center

PATH Station and

Transportation Hub

LOCATION: New York City

OWNER: Port Authority of New

York & New Jersey

DESIGNERS:

Partnership, in

association with

Santiago Calatrava

CONTRACTORS: More than 150 major

companies, primary of

which include: Skanska

Koch, Tutor Perini, Judlau,

Five Star Electric, EIC

Associates, Sorbara

Construction and Enclos

Construction.

A NUMBER OF FAST-TRACKING STRATEGIES and innovative methodologies were employed on the overall

project for the Hub, the most eye-catching being the “Oculus,”

which will be one of the most complex buildings in the world

when it opens, bearing “wings” rising more than 200 feet. These

parts were fabricated in Italy and shipped to New York City

expressly for this project. In total, 610 pieces of steel weighing

more than 12,500 tons make up the Oculus. Additionally, top-

down construction of the Transit Hall enabled completion of

the Memorial Plaza in time for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11

attacks in advance of the PATH Transit Hall and platforms below.

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BY CONNECTING S.R. A1A/MACARTHUR CAUSEWAY TO DODGE ISLAND, the Port

of Miami Tunnel (POMT) project provides

direct access between the seaport and

I-395 and I-95, creating another entry to

Miami in addition to the Port Bridge.

On Oct. 15, 2009, the state of Florida

and MAT Concessionaire, LLC, executed

the final agreement for the project, which

was developed as a public-private part-

nership (P3) and a design-build, finance,

operation and maintenance contract.The

concessionaire’s team is comprised of

Bouygues Civil Works Florida as the design-

build contractor, and Transfield Services

Infrastructure as the tunnel operator.

The project is a 35-year concession

agreement, which provided 55 months

for design and construction, as well as

operating and maintaining the tunnel.

The agreement will be completed on

Oct. 15, 2044.

The POMT has helped improve traffic

flow in downtown Miami by reducing the

number of cargo trucks and cruise-related

vehicles on congested downtown streets,

and aids ongoing and future development

in and around downtown Miami.

The tunnel has incorporated new

technology features, including automatic

incident detection and active sprinkler

fire suppression systems. In addition, 91

roadway CCTV cameras and a 110-ft.

video wall enable display of the entire

tunnel interior in less than 15 seconds,

while its 50-ft. hurricane flood gates

ensure the tunnel will survive storm surges.

Air quality is maintained with eight air

quality sensors driving the tunnel’s 44

powerful ventilation fans.

Live lane control and dynamic mes-

saging systems ensure timely safety

information for motorists, and improved

guardrail systems are designed to reduce

the severity of accidents.

A long time comingA multiyear megaproject delivers in a big way

PROJECT: Port of Miami Tunnel

Project

LOCATION:

PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP:

city of Miami

DESIGN TEAM: Mark Croft, P.E.; Mario

Cabrera, P.E.; Ivan Hay,

P.E.; Erik Padron, P.E.

CONTRACTOR: Bouygues Civil Works

Florida

TUNNEL OPERATOR: Transfield Services

Infrastructure

THE PROJECT INCORPORATED a tunnel boring

machine (TBM) specifically constructed for the project. The

total length of the TBM was 428.5 feet long, or more than one

football field.

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THE ILLINOIS TOLLWAY IS IN THE PROCESS of

rebuilding and widening the Jane Addams

Memorial Tollway portion of I-90, which has

reached a critical need for infrastructure

expansion and modernization.The project

is divided into two segments for planning,

design and construction purposes: the

western segment spanning approximately

37 miles from the cities of Rockford to Elgin,

Ill., and the eastern segment spanning 25

miles from Elgin to Chicago.

In November 2014, the Illinois Tollway

completed the first segment of the I-90

Rebuilding and Widening Project, open-

ing a rebuilt, six-lane roadway between

Rockford and Elgin.Work on the eastern

segment of I-90 from Elgin to Chicago is

scheduled through 2016, with this year’s

work including the start of roadway

rebuilding and widening, and continuation

of noise wall and retaining wall installation,

utility relocation and drainage work.

Construction also includes new

and improved interchanges, as well as

reconstruction of the Fox River Bridge and

local crossroad bridges throughout the

I-90 corridor to accommodate the new,

wider roadway.

The bridge expansion was facilitated by

large-scale barges, which provided mobility

to crews and designers. Lane expansions

on both eastbound and westbound sides

of the bridge required the installation of

new systems of piers.The new piers are set

beneath the existing bridge, which will then

be removed and a new, thicker surface laid

down in line with the new piers to maintain

the same height.

The concrete girders are reinforced with

stainless steel rebar, a cost premium that is

expected to mitigate maintenance costs

exponentially, reducing cracks in the deck

and reinforcing girder integrity.

A gantry system designed and produced

exclusively for this project was used to

raise the concrete girders and then slide

them into place.The gantrys can then be

relocated to continue construction further

down the bridge.The adoption of the new

system of concrete girders, which are much

larger than those used in the bridge’s

original 1950s-era construction, has allowed

designers to reduce the number of pier units

from 14 to seven.

Wide openI-90 in Illinois undergoes a major rejuvenation

PROJECT: I-90 Rebuilding and

Widening Project

LOCATION: Chicago area

OWNER: Illinois State Toll Highway

Authority

CONTRACTORS: Multiple firms, including:

Alfred Benesch & Co.;

BCP Tollway Partners

JV; Knight E/A Inc.; STV

Inc.; Plote Construction

Construction Co. JV;

Walsh Construction

Co./K-Five Construction

Corp. JV

THE GANTRY SYSTEM ALLOWS TRUCKS to pick up beams for the expansion from the existing roadway

and place them on the new piers. The Illinois Tollway also is

creating a new mobile app that will allow motorists to pay for

tolls, eliminating the use of transponders.

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THE VETERAN’S GLASS CITY SKYWAY (VGCS) is a cable-stayed bridge in

winters that the VGCS has been in service,

ice up to ¾ inch thick has formed on the

stay cables five times.

As the stay cables warm up, ice sheds

in curved sheets that can fall and be

blown across the bridge.The falling ice

sheets pose a potential hazard and may

require lane or bridge closure.The ice

damage and hazard problem required a

team that included experts familiar with

icing, the VGCS’s construction, the struc-

tural measurement system on the bridge,

and green technology used to develop a

new solution.

No existing anti-icing or deicing technol-

ogy was found to be a workable solution.

Heating was effective but expensive and

manage icing administratively.

Researchers from the University of Toledo

developed a sensor system capable of

detecting the buildup of a sheen of water

between ice and stay sheaths, signaling

when chunks may break free.

A real-time ice monitoring system for

local weather conditions on the VGCS and

the stays collects data from sensors on

the bridge and in the region.The study of

the past weather and icing events led to

quantitative guidelines about when icing

accumulation and shedding were likely.

The monitoring system tracked the icing

conditions on the bridge with an intuitive

interface to provide bridge operators with

up-to-date icing information.

If conditions favorable to icing occur,

the monitoring system notifies the research

ice has formed, the monitor then tracks

the conditions that might lead to ice fall,

which allows officials to mobilize teams to

the location and make a decision regard-

ing closure or traffic diversion in case of

danger.

Breaking the iceA new way to solve bridge ice formation

PROJECT: Veteran’s Glass City

Skyway

LOCATION: Toledo, Ohio

OWNER:

ICE SENSORS: Research team led by

University of Toledo and

University of Cincinnati

DESIGNER: FIGG Bridge Engineers

CONTRACTOR: FruCon Construction

A REAL-TIME ICE MONITORING SYSTEM FOR local

weather conditions on the VGCS and the stays collects data

from sensors on the bridge and in the region.

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THE OHIO RIVER BRIDGES PROJECT, a joint

effort between Kentucky and Indiana, is

expected to help more than 100,000 drivers

every day by improving traffic safety and

reducing roadway congestion between

southern Indiana and Louisville. Initial

planning for the project dates back to1969,

though construction work began in 2013.

half of the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges

project, which Kentucky and Indiana are

jointly building to dramatically improve

includes a new I-65 bridge for northbound

traffic, a revamped John F. Kennedy

Memorial Bridge for southbound traffic and

the rebuilding of the downtown inter-

changes on both sides of the river.

The East End Crossing—a new bridge

and highway connection that will com-

plete an outer loop around the greater

Louisville area—is being built and financed

as a public-private partnership involving

the Indiana Finance Authority and the

contracting team, WVB East End Partners.

When completed in late 2016, the region

will have a new bridge that widens I-65

from seven to 12 lanes over the Ohio River

in downtown Louisville and a reconstructed

Kennedy Interchange where I-64, I-65 and

I-71 converge.The new bridge and its

counterpart in Louisville’s East End will be the

area’s first new bridges in more than 50 years.

A cable-stayed bridge with three sets

of twin towers was chosen as the design

less obstructed views of the downtown

Louisville skyline.

The new I-65 Bridge also will take on all

northbound- and southbound-diverted

traffic off the Kennedy Bridge, which is

expected to alleviate rerouting issues.

Nearly 28,000 drivers use I-65 South to

access I-64 and I-71 on a daily basis, about

12 percent of the nearly 225,000 vehicles

that travel across the Ohio River between

Louisville and southern Indiana each day.

When the project is completed, all

northbound I-65 traffic will use the new

downtown bridge and all southbound I-65

drivers will use the Kennedy Bridge.

Two-in-oneA joint venture designed to cure traffic congestion

PROJECT: The Ohio River Bridges

LOCATION: Louisville, Ky.

OWNER: Kentucky Transportation

Cabinet (KYTC);

DESIGNER: Community

Transportation Solutions

CONTRACTORS: Walsh Construction Co.

Walsh-Vinci-Bilfinger

(East End Crossing)

THE PROJECT WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS to seek

and gauge public input to help determine many design

stayed bridge with three sets of twin towers was chosen as the

design, allowing for clearer views of the Louisville skyline.

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SINCE SPRING 2012, SAILORS ON LAKE WASHINGTON have watched football-field-

sized concrete pontoons being locked into

place on the water.

A total of 74 massive pieces—measuring

28-ft. tall, 75-ft. wide and 360-ft. long—of the

S.R. 520 floating bridge in the state of Wash-

ington have been pieced together.The final

three are due to fit in spring 2015.The new

structure, which will carry six lanes of traffic,

is a bit longer than the existing bridge,

whose 7,580-ft. floating section currently

holds the title as the longest of its kind in

the world. It will not have a draw span.Tall

sailboats trying to maneuver through Lake

Washington would stop traffic 30 minutes

at a time, but the new bridge will not lift to

allow water traffic to pass. On the east end

there currently is a 58-ft. high clearance,

and when the project is complete the

clearance will be 70 ft. high.

“At least 50 boats are taller than [58

ft.] and have to choose which side of

the lake to be on until the new bridge is

constructed,” Ian Sterling, spokesperson

.Once the remaining three pieces arrive,

a series of 17-ft. long bolts will connect

them in place.All of the pontoons come

equipped with columns so a road deck

could be placed on top.According to

Sterling, about 700 sections of road deck

were being put in place by April 2015.The

pieces are driven out to where they need

to be placed.

The new bridge has been designed to

handle much higher tolerances than the

old one, which would have to be closed

during high-wind events due to waves

crashing on the road itself.The new floating

span will be a bit higher and also able to

withstand stronger earthquakes.

The east end approach is nearing

completion, and construction on the West

Approach Bridge North began in fall 2014.

This bridge is almost as long as the main

floating bridge and replaces one that was

extremely vulnerable to earthquakes.

Though a lack of funding is preventing

the West Approach Bridge South from

getting off the ground, plans are set.

“The legislature has not fully funded

the program at this point,” said Sterling.

“They funded all the way from the east

side of the bridge, which is now a six-lane

highway and has two median transit

stops, bike and pedestrian paths, and new

carpool lanes.The next goal would be to

fund the corridor all the way into Seattle

proper . . . to I-5.”

A firmer floatNew Pacific Coast bridge will tolerate more stress

PROJECT:

Bridge – Evergreen Point

Floating Bridge

LOCATION: Seattle and Medina,

Wash.

OWNER: Washington State

CONTRACTORS: KGM (Kiewit/General/

Manson JV) for floating

bridge and landings;

Mowat-American JV for

west connection bridge

THE EVERGREEN POINT FLOATING BRIDGE is

one of only a few spans of its kind in the world. Pontoons are

held in place by enormous steel cables that are connected

to anchors buried deep in the lakebed. Washington State is

reported to have the four longest and heaviest floating bridges

in the world.

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NOT MUCH CAN GET IN THE WAY OF THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI RIVER, and a stake-

holder committee wanted to make sure a

new bridge didn’t change that.

“A cable stay with towers would be too

tall so the committee wanted something

with towers that stayed within the river

line,” said Paul Kivisto, bridge construction

An extradosed bridge design helped

lighten the impact.The span features towers

just 67 ft. above the bridge deck, and it also

allowed for 600-ft. spans instead of traditional

500-ft. pieces, meaning less would be

planted in the Mississippi River.

“There are other types of bridges that

would have been equally cost-competitive,

but this gave the benefit of being cost-

competitive and aesthetically pleasing.”

It’s fair to say that construction progress

has been equally satisfying.All five of

the river piers are in the water and have

reached the height of the enormous cross

beams. One cross beam—measuring 18.2 ft.

high, 15.2 ft. wide and 116.4 ft. long—serves

each pier, which is made up of two columns.

The cross beams handle the loads of the

precast segments and deck, and distribute

all the weight to the 10 cable-stayed pylons.

According to Kivisto, pier tables, which are

built on top of the cross beams, are being

placed on two of the piers, and the cross

beam of a third pier is half-completed.The

other two are awaiting construction.The two

columns that form the river pier are sup-

ported by a 43-sq.-ft. footing which contains

four 9-ft. diameter drilled shafts.

For this project, officials will be able to use

bridge information management (BIM)

system. Users can access inspection reports

and photos by simply clicking on a segment

of the bridge.This is the largest BIM applica-

Come springtime crews will be installing

what Kivisto called a “segment lifter,” which

will lift pieces of the superstructure in place.

Segment erection off piers 8, 9 and 12 will

be out to full cantilever (300 ft. off each

pier) by the end of summer 2015.When

complete, the St. Croix River Crossing will

carry two lanes of traffic and a 12-ft. wide

pedestrian/bike lane.

Not in the wayRespecting the landscape in the Midwest

PROJECT: St. Croix Crossing

LOCATION: Oak Park Heights, Minn.,

and St. Joseph, Wis.

OWNERS:

of Transportation

CONTRACTORS: Lunda/Ames Joint

Venture

DESIGNER:

of Transportation

THE LAST THING ANYONE WANTED was a huge,

larger-than-life bridge photo-bombing the landscape that

includes the Mississippi River. It was essential that the St. Croix

River Crossing was part of the Minnesota/Wisconsin aesthetics,

so an extradosed bridge design was used.

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UNDER CONSTRUCTION SINCE 2013, THE NEW NY BRIDGE will replace the aging

and deteriorating Tappan Zee Bridge when

it is completed in 2018.The high-profile

dual-span twin bridge, with an estimated

project cost of $3.9 billion, is designed

to last 100 years without major structural

maintenance, according to the New York

State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), which is

administering the project along with the

-

It is New York’s first design-build project

of this massive size and scope, and officials

are working in conjunction with design-build

firm Tappan Zee Constructors LLC (TZC), a

joint venture of several major and globally

known engineering and construction

companies.The design-build method fosters

innovation project-wide because engineers,

contractors and owners have the ability to

collaborate in an integrated process.

TZC ensured that many of the bridge

components would be prefabricated off site

for numerous reasons.The New NY Bridge

crosses the Hudson River at one of its widest

points, in a heavily residential area lack-

ing the open space needed to fabricate

components on site. Off-site prefabrication

ensures a safer work environment when

assembling components at smaller staging

areas close to the project. It also fosters a

high level of quality control, allowing the

design-build team to decrease costs and

better control the schedule.

The design for the 3.1-mile twin-span

bridge features angled main span towers at

a height of 419 ft.The cable-stayed structure

will be one of the widest of its kind in the

world upon completion in 2018.

New York StyleNew NY Bridge will be a colossal piece of work

PROJECT: Tappan Zee Bridge

Replacement

LOCATION: Tarrytown, N.Y.

OWNER: New York State Thruway

Authority (NYSTA)

CO-SPONSOR: New York State

CONTRACTOR: Tappan Zee

Constructors LLC (TZC),

comprising firms Fluor,

American Bridge,

Granite, Traylor Bros.,

URS and GZA

TZC OWNS ONE OF THE LARGEST barge-mounted,

floating cranes in the world—the Left Coast Lifter (LCL). The LCL

has the capacity to lift up to 1,929 tons with one pick, allowing

the team to place larger pile caps, girders and deck segments

while better controlling safety, quality, costs and schedule.

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TOUTED AS THE LARGEST INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT IN STATE HISTORY, the Florida

begun rebuilding 21 miles of I-4, from west

of Kirkman Road in Orange County to east

of State Road 434 in Seminole County. The

project will result in a variety of innovations,

including 25 approved alternative techni-

cal concepts and 27 project technical

enhancements that aim to entirely

transform the Central Florida corridor

through Orlando.

By using an accelerated design-build

construction schedule, the team also

aims to deliver the project to the public in

2021—17 years sooner than they would

have through traditional funding methods.

“This is a very aggressive schedule,”

said Loreen Bobo, P.E., I-4 Ultimate con-

“We are designing and constructing 250

lane-miles in less than seven years.”

Working with a team that includes the

design-build joint venture SGL Construc-

tors (comprised of firms Skanska, Granite

140 bridges, reconfiguring 15 major

interchanges, reconstructing the entire

existing roadway and increasing the posted

speed from 55 mph to 60 mph.A major

innovation for the project is the building of

four dynamic tolled express lanes (two in

each direction), which will effectively man-

age congestion on Central Florida’s busiest

roadway while providing a safer, more

functional corridor.

In addition, the project team is pursuing

Platinum Envision certification, considered

similar to Leadership in Energy and Envi-

vertical construction.The Platinum Envision

certification highlights the cost-effective,

energy-efficient and adaptable long-term

infrastructure improvements embodied in

the project.

Improved infrastructureI-4 Ultimate focuses on the big picture

PROJECT: I-4 Ultimate

LOCATION: Orange and Seminole

counties, Fla.

OWNER:

FINANCING: I-4 Mobility Partners

(Skanska and

John Laing)

CONTRACTOR: SGL Constructors

(Skanska, Granite

and Lane JV)

DESIGNERS:

Engineering Group

OPERATIONS/MAINTENANCE: Infrastructure Corp.

of America

THE FOUR DYNAMIC TOLLED EXPRESS LANES will be based on congestion, meaning the toll varies accord-

ing to traffic volume. The pricing will help maintain traffic flow

by monitoring the number of vehicles using the express lanes.

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DIVERGING DIAMOND INTERCHANGES (DDI) are a relatively new innovation in

roadway design, where traffic entering an

interchange briefly moves to the other side

of the bridge to make a left-hand turn onto

an entrance ramp. In Harrisonville, Mo., a

I-49/291 interchange, which is undergoing

improvements through spring 2016.

most effective when you have a higher

level of turning movement than through

movement in an intersection,” said Lee Ann

Kell, project manager with the Missouri

“You can use a shorter, narrower bridge

because you don’t have to incorporate

left-turn lanes.”

Rte. 291 serves as the primary access

point for I-49, designated as an interstate

in 2012.The area is primarily commercial,

with more than 60 businesses lining the

in the U.S. in 2009 when it completed one

in Springfield, and has added more since.

was between $9 million and $11 million,

compared to a standard diamond (up to

$12.5 million) or a roundabout with loops

(up to $13.8 million).

The Harrisonville interchange features

a new bridge, new ramps and realigned

side roads.“We’re not trying to shoehorn it

into the existing bridge structures, which

actually made it easier,” said Frank

Wetherford, P.E., senior engineer at

TranSystems, the engineer of record.

Also of note is the project’s funding,

made possible through a transportation

between the city of Harrisonville and local

businesses.The city formed a 182-acre

district within which an additional 1-cent

sales tax was charged to the businesses

and designated specifically for the I-49/291

funded projects before, but this marks the

first time that existing businesses have been

the primary source of funding.

As of February 2015, the project was

estimated at 25 percent complete, with

early work focusing on building the new

bridge for Rte. 291.

A diamond in the rough

PROJECT: I-49/Rte. 291 Interchange

LOCATION: Harrisonville, Mo.

OWNER:

DESIGNERS: TranSystems (engineer

of record), Parsons

Transportation Group

CONTRACTOR: Lehman Construction

LLC

DIVERGING DIAMOND INTERCHANGES eliminate the need to make a left-hand turn across oncoming

traffic, significantly improving safety. Vehicles entering a ramp

on the right simply turn before making the crossover.

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THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (VDOT) needed to restore

11 60-year-old bridges in Virginia’s capital

region of Richmond, all located along I-95 at

an intersection of two major interstates with

high traffic volume—150,000 vehicles per day.

“It wasn’t an option to do conventional

bridge construction where you would shut

down one complete side of the interstate,

push traffic to the other side and take several

months to construct one bridge,” said Scott

The tight corridor along I-95 also didn’t

provide enough room for conventional

bridge construction.To replace the bridges,

-

ated bridge construction, or ABC, which

utilizes innovative planning, material and

construction methods. “We built each

bridge off-site and then took them apart

like pieces of a puzzle and put them back

in place on-site in a matter of 10 hours per

night,” Fisher explained.

The bridge deck sections were built in

pre-constructed concrete units and then

transported to the worksite each weeknight

between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. when traffic

volumes were lighter.The 11 bridges required

234 pre-constructed concrete units to be

replaced over the life of the project.

The casting yard where the off-site work

took place eliminated the safety hazards

and pressure of high-volume traffic and work-

ing 30 feet in the air. The yard also allowed

crews to accelerate productivity, focus

on quality and finish ahead of schedule.

However, building the bridge sections off-site

left little room for error.

“We required two separate surveys of

each section to be completed indepen-

dently so that we had the best calculations.

Even a couple of inches difference in a

12-section bridge could throw us off com-

pletely,” said Fisher.

A massive public affairs campaign utilized

the project website, social media and other

mediums to keep the public informed.

-

tions to inform the homeless, who used the

bridges for shelter, of alternative options.An

independent survey found 87 percent of

drivers altered their driving behaviors based

on the communication they received.

The project was completed in

summer 2014 more than three months

ahead of schedule and about $16

million under budget.

Quietly saving some greenAccelerated construction benefits Va. project

PROJECT: I-95 Bridge Restoration

LOCATION: Richmond, Va.

OWNER:

ENGINEER: URS Corp.

CONTRACTOR: Archer Western

Contractors

ACCELERATED BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION allows work to progress on-site and off-site concurrently.

Building the bridge deck section off-site and reassembling

them on-site restricts traffic disruptions, provides safer work

conditions and increases quality and productivity.

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AT THE PEAK OF ITS CONSTRUCTION, the

New Jersey Turnpike Expansion was the

largest ongoing roadway project in the

Western Hemisphere, with about 1,000 work-

ers employed every day. The five-year-long

project cost $2.3 billion and consisted of

interchange improvements and about 35

miles of road widening, finally opening to

traffic in October 2014.

The expansion, containing 12 lanes

of roadway and 170 added lane miles,

doubles traffic capacity and is built to

accommodate a projected increase in the

Turnpike’s congestion. By 2032, northbound

traffic volume is expected to increase by

nearly 68 percent. Southbound traffic is

forecast to increase by 92 percent.

The widening program has eliminated

traffic backups at a spot that was known

throughout New Jersey as “The Merge,”

where five lanes reduced to three.“The

Merge” created up to 5-mile backups on

weekdays and could clog 10 miles on

Fridays or holidays.

There were 17 general contractors, 327

subcontractors, five construction man-

agement firms and 21 utility companies

involved in construction.With so many

players, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority

established unified scheduling to decide

which contract needed to have the

highest priority in certain areas. Sometimes

that meant delaying one contractor so

another with a higher priority could get its

work done.

“There’s a certain cost of doing that, but

we were willing to accept it’s the only way

you can build a project like this,” said Larry

Williams, the Turnpike Authority’s deputy

chief engineer in charge of construction.

“The process has to be fluid and dynamic.”

The Turnpike Authority, which funded

the expansion, also hired a constructability

consultant to manage the eight design

firms to ensure the sections they were

in charge of were compatible with one

another. The bonds sold to pay for the

project are being repaid with revenue

generated by a two-phase toll increase

that was adopted in 2008 and has been in

full effect since 2012.

The expansion came in at $200 million

under its $2.5 billion estimated budget.

N.J. Turnpike doubles downExpansion doubles traffic capacity

PROJECT: New Jersey Turnpike

Expansion

LOCATION: I-6 in Mansfield Township

(Burlington County) to

just south of I-9 in East

Brunswick Township

(Middlesex County)

OWNER: New Jersey Turnpike

Authority

THE LARGEST EXPANSION IN THE HISTORY of the New Jersey Turnpike was completed on schedule and

under budget. The massive project involved about 140,000

cubic yards of concrete, 2.4 million tons of asphalt, 123 miles

of guardrail, four miles of noise barriers, 17 miles of relocated

pipeline and 140 new over-the-road signs. More than 120,000

new trees also were planted to replace 91,000 trees that were

removed during construction.

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WHEN DETERMINING THE SPECIFIC ROUTE FOR A HIGHWAY BYPASS, it’s important to

consider all of your options.

By using the Trimble Quantm Alignment

Planning System, the firm Carter & Burgess

-

-

sands of possible alignments to produce a

list of the top 20 sorted by cost.

The Boulder City Bypass will result in a

four-lane divided highway route for U.S.

beyond. It will connect the end of I-515

in Henderson to the start point of the

City and Lake Mead.Work began in early

April 2015, with the project completion

anticipated in early 2018.

The bypass, which is being completed

in two phases, presents several challenges,

including hilly and undulating terrain.The

project also involves several stakeholders,

Transportation Commission.

The primary purpose of using the

Quantm system was to reduce construc-

Carter & Burgess were able to achieve cost

savings of 10 to 15 percent.

The first phase of the bypass, a

2.5-mile corridor, is being funded by

the Federal Highway Administration. It’s

envisioned as the initial segment of I-11

to connect Las Vegas with Phoenix—the

country’s two largest cities currently not

linked together by an interstate. Carter &

Burgess is working on phase two of the

bypass, a 12-mile section.

“The bypass will reroute traffic away

from downtown Boulder City,” said Tony

“Residents had previously complained

about increased truck traffic through the

middle of town as a result of the Hoover

An $83 million contract has been

awarded for the first phase of the project,

a four-lane, 2.5-mile concrete interstate

freeway.This corridor usually carries 34,000

vehicles daily with heavy truck traffic.

Other project components include

a 1,200-ft. long, 28-ft. tall cast-in-place

concrete retaining wall with graphics

illustrating scenes from the construction

main visual element.The textured, multi-

colored retaining wall will be coated with

a special anti-graffiti film that serves as a

deterrent for taggers.

Sorting it outAlignment system considers all costs

PROJECT: Boulder City Bypass

LOCATION: Boulder City, Nev.

OWNER:

DESIGNER: Carter & Burgess

CONTRACTOR (PHASE ONE): Fisher Sand & Gravel

CONTRACTORS (PHASE TWO): Regional Transportation

Commission of Southern

Nevada, Las Vegas

Paving

BY USING THE QUANTM ALIGNMENT PLANNING SYSTEM, analyze thousands of possible alignments for the bypass and

sort through the top 20 options by cost. That analysis provided

a 10 to 15 percent construction cost savings.

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ON SEPT. 26, 2013, A NAVY TRANSPORT SHIP being towed by tugboats slammed

into the superstructure of Mathews Bridge,

which spans 7,736 ft. across the St. Johns

River in Jacksonville, Fla.

The impact severed a main truss mem-

ber, one of the bottom beams that support

the triangle shape (a truss) of the bridge.

Although the bridge did not collapse from

losing this primary beam, it was immedi-

ately closed to traffic because of safety

concerns. In the next 24 hours, architecture,

engineering and consulting firm Reynolds,

Smith & Hills (RS&H) had to develop and

articulate a plan for its five contractors and

then—within a day—provide fully detailed

drawings to construction crews.

The team had to review steel fabrica-

tor drawings in 12 hours—a process that

normally takes 30 days. RS&H was able to

capture and visualize the effects of the colli-

which was developed during the 2007 deck

replacement.The deck was replaced with

a rigid, lightweight Exodermic deck, which

may have helped stabilize the bridge after

it was hit by the Navy transport ship. RS&H

and its subconsultants developed a bold

method to restore geometry to the bridge,

using a stressed post-tensioning bar and

leveraging steel strongbacks, which act as

secondary support members to the existing

structure, to perform temporary repairs that

enabled final restoration of the bridge.

In order to replace the severed main

truss, the team faced several unique

challenges. First, the connection points

for attaching the replacement chord

were badly deformed from the force of

the impact.A method known as heat

straightening was used to restore these

points. In addition, a shorter and lighter

stub beam was installed at the impact

connection point.

by more than 100 strain gauges, which

the engineers used to ensure tension was

being properly and safely restored to the

new truss.They allowed the team to dynami-

cally see the stresses on the bridge in real

time.These techniques sped repairs and

allowed the bridge to reopen to traffic after

only 33 days, a full week before the already

aggressive deadline.

Fixed in a hurryFlorida bridge gets emergency relief after crash

PROJECT: Mathews Bridge

Emergency Repair

LOCATION: Jacksonville, Fla.

OWNER:

DESIGNER: Reynolds, Smith & Hills

(RS&H)

CONTRACTOR: Superior Construction

THE USE OF STRAIN GAUGES ALLOWED

the team to dynamically see the stresses on the bridge in real

time. These techniques sped repairs and allowed the bridge to

reopen to traffic after only 33 days, a full week ahead of the

already aggressive deadline.

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WHEN KING’S CONSTRUCTION WAS HIRED IN 2010 TO COMPLETE TRIM WORK AND FINISHED GRADE for a 4-mile section

of U.S. Rte. 59 south of Lawrence, Kan., the

company decided to go “stakeless” for the

trim work.

Instead of running string lines, King’s

Construction used a grade-control solution

a baseline for surveyors, designers and

machine operators.This fostered greater col-

laboration between surveyors and designers

-

tions of projects with greater accuracy and

real-world geospatial points.

Used in resurfacing projects, manual

staking establishes physical horizontal and

vertical controls across each section of the

road being trimmed. In traditional staking,

preliminary lines run across the project site

and stakes are reset to keep pace with

design changes.This generally requires

navigating machines around stakes, which

is particularly challenging in intersections

or curvy sections of the road.

“Trimble machine control on our trimmer

completely eliminated the need for stakes,

which means we only needed one grade

an estimator for King’s Construction.“We

were able to complete fine grading of

the 4-mile stretch of road within 1/4-inch

tolerances much more quickly.”

Ping and John Combs from Trimble’s

local dealer estimated ROI by comparing

the cost of stakeless resurfacing to manual

staking methods.

“We looked at the numbers, and to

run stringline for this project alone would

cost around $89,000,” Combs said.“That

is money that King’s Construction realized

they would never get back.The cost of

the equipment along with the additional

savings they were able to realize meant the

equipment would basically pay for itself

during the first job, and purchasing the

technology would be their future.”

automatic grade-control system, Ping said.

“It really opened the door to other contrac-

tors going ‘stakeless’ for future road work.”

‘Stakeless’ resurfacingU.S. route through Kansas makes it look easy

PROJECT: U.S. Rte. 59

LOCATION: Lawrence, Kan.

OWNER:

CONTRACTOR: King’s Construction

USING STAKELESS RESURFACING instead of manual

stakes eliminated the need to run 17 miles of stringline for this

greater accuracy, which prevented re-work of subgrade and

also offered additional cost savings for the client.

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IN 2011, THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION and the Washington

and build the S.R. 99 tunnel beneath

downtown Seattle.

The tunnel is designed to replace the

double-deck Alaskan Way Viaduct along

Seattle’s waterfront.

The 57-ft. diam., 1.7-mile-long bored

tunnel begins on Alaskan Way South

near South King Street, moves away from

the waterfront at Yesler Way toward First

Avenue, and ends at Sixth Avenue North

aims to create a safer S.R. 99 corridor and

remove the seismically vulnerable viaduct,

which was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually

earthquake, causing the waterfront

freeway to sink.

However, the boring machine com-

monly known as “Bertha” stalled in January

project’s original completion date three

years behind schedule.

In order to repair the machine, crews

had to dig an 80-ft.-diam. access pit to a

depth of 120 ft. Soil settlement in the area,

as well as concerns over the structural

integrity of adjacent buildings, further

disrupted rescue operations.

Repair work has picked up, and as

of March 31, the damaged machine’s

4-million-lb. front end was raised to the

resume in August, if the repair process

goes smoothly.

Hitachi-Zosen, the manufacturer of

Bertha, is funding the repair to the front

end, in an agreement separate from the

official warranty.

-

neers gauge the project’s proximity to other

underground structures. It also serves as an

effective communication tool to the public,

giving residents a clear look at what the

finished project will look like and how it will

affect the face of their city.

To date, the state of Washington has

spent approximately $1billion of the $1.35

billion contract for the north and south

entrances as well as the four-lane high-

way tunnel that will replace the Alaskan

Way Viaduct.

A breakthroughBig “Bertha” bores 2-mile tunnel under Seattle

PROJECT: Alaskan Way Viaduct

Tunnel

LOCATION: Seattle

OWNER: Washington State

CONTRACTORS: Seattle Tunnel Partners, a

Perini Corp. JV

AN $80 MILLION TUNNEL BORING MACHINE

called “Bertha” was created exclusively for the project and

weighs 6,700 short tons.

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SPANNING NEARLY A HALF-MILE, THE NEW TRUSS SLIDE OF THE MILTON-MADISON BRIDGE is one of the longest of its kind

in North America.The 2,427-ft.-long truss

moved along steel rails and plates and

“slid” into place atop the existing piers in

April 2014. It is twice as wide as the original

structure and carries U.S. 421, connecting

the towns of Madison, Ind., and Milton, Ky.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

the deteriorating 84-year-old structure

needed “superstructure replacement.”

The truss-sliding method was the fastest

and least expensive way to build a new

bridge with the least impact on the

surrounding areas.

To achieve this, contractor Walsh

Construction Co., La Porte, Ind., teamed up

with design firms Burgess & Niple Engineers

of Columbus, Ohio, and Buckland and

Taylor Ltd. of North Vancouver, Canada, to

build the new bridge.

Original construction estimates

put the cost of replacing the Milton-

Madison Bridge at approximately $131

million. In February 2010, the project

was awarded $20 million in federal

funding under the American Reinvest-

ment and Recovery Act. Kentucky

and Indiana secured and evenly split

funding for the remaining costs.

The new bridge reopened permanently

in April 2014, but additional work is being

completed.The next tasks include comple-

tion of the pier caps, removal of temporary

piers, stone placement around river piers to

prevent soil erosion and touch-up painting.

Work resumed in March 2015 on the

Milton-Madison Bridge as construction

crews modified sidewalk bearings, which

required raising the sidewalk approximately

one inch in some areas.Weather permit-

ting, painting also will resume in April 2015.

All work is expected to be complete by the

end of May 2015.

If the slide fitsRecord-breaking truss-slide process gets it done

PROJECT: Milton-Madison Bridge

LOCATION: Madison, Ind.; Milton, Ky.

OWNER:

Kentucky Transportation

Cabinet (KYTC)

DESIGNERS: Burgess & Niple

Engineers, Buckland and

Taylor Ltd.

CONTRACTOR: Walsh Construction

THE MILTON-MADISON BRIDGE IS A JOINT EFFORT between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

They secured state and federal funding for the remaining

cost of the project, which was evenly split by both states.

Construction was projected to create or preserve 1,400 jobs.

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THE MITCHELL INTERCHANGE, part of

Wisconsin’s southeast freeway system,

breathes economic life into urban Milwau-

kee and the surronding region.The I-94,

I-894 and I-43 system interchange ushers

commuters, tourists and commercial carri-

ers into and out of the city, carrying more

than 21,000 vehicles daily.

The north-south I-94 corridor has

recently been under development, due

to the expectation that traffic volumes will

increase 30 percent by 2035.A 35-mile

freeway project will increase the corridor

from six to eight lanes and expand

access between south Milwaukee and

the Illinois border.

But the deteriorating Mitchell Inter-

change, built in the 1960s, was considered

ill-equipped to handle the anticipated

growth. Following the successful design

on the Marquette Exchange project,

Milwaukee Transportation Partners (MTP), a

joint venture of HNTB and CH2M HILL, were

called in to address the challenge of the

Mitchell Interchange.

When the Mitchell Interchange environ-

mental study was completed in 2006, MTP

faced an immediate design challenge:

The original freeway configuration was

significantly elevated, and, with three ser-

vice interchanges less than a mile apart,

the team had to maintain safe access at

those interchanges.

“Initially, we looked at creating a

three-level system interchange, but it

would have been extremely intrusive to the

community,” said Kathleen Matson, HNTB

deputy project manager.

Instead, the team designed three

cut-and-cover tunnels for the I-43 north and

I-94 to I-894 movements.The tunnels allowed

roadways to traverse over these movements,

replacing seven highly skewed bridges.The

approach minimized scheduled closures,

lowered the interchange from its previous

height configuration and reduced project

costs by $10 million.

“The original interchange had eight times

the number of statewide accidents,” said

-

ing entrances and exits on the right, as MTP

did, lowered on accidents and congestion

as cars move in and out of system ramps.”

Cut and coverComplex interchange project boosts safety

PROJECT: The Mitchell Interchange

LOCATION: Milwaukee

OWNER:

of Transportation

DESIGNERS: Milwaukee

Transportation Partners

(HNTB and CH2M JV)

CONTRACTORS: Walsh Construction;

Wisconsin Constructors,

a JV comprised of

Lunda, Edgerton

Contractors and Michels

Pipeline Construction

THE USE OF THREE CUT-AND-COVER TUNNELS in

the design minimized the need for multiple levels of roadway,

increased overall safety and reduced the project costs by

$10 million.

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THE I-15 RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT that runs from Lehi to Spanish Fork near

Provo, Utah, stretches far and wide—far, as in

40 km (25 miles), and wide, as in 10 lanes.

“It’s the largest job we’ve ever been on,”

said Tyler Shepherd, project manager for

Staker Parson Companies.“It’s the largest

job ever in Utah.The fact it’s all being done

in only three years time is amazing.”

The placement of 720,000 metric tons

(or nearly 800,000 U.S. tons) of warm mix

and stone mix asphalt occurred alongside

the construction of 55 bridges, 52 new

and widened on/off ramps, 20 arterial side

streets and 4,000 drainage boxes.

system on the main portion of the interstate

to keep the paving surface uniform and

design to guide the screed—a basic com-

ponent of an asphalt paver that flattens,

smooths and partially compacts asphalt

mix into a flexible road surface—in order to

place asphalt materials with precision in

grade, slope and elevation.

“Anything that we paved that would

system directly contributed to the crews’

ability to keep the project moving forward

at remarkable speed.

Each crew placed about 1,361–1,542

metric tons (equivalent to 1,500–1,700 U.S.

tons) per day, or about 136–181 metric tons

(150–200 U.S. tons) of mix per hour.The mix

would have moved faster if not for frequent

obstacles.“When we weren’t paving

bridges, there were days we hit 300 tons

(272 metric tons) per hour,” Shepherd said.

While the paving and compaction

went well throughout the project, logistics

proved challenging.

“The biggest obstacle we didn’t see

coming was how many times we would

have to move a crew from one area to

another because of scheduling needs,”

Shepherd said.“But we all communicated

and worked well together. It’s been a

challenging project in many ways, but very

definitely a good one.”

Shepherd concluded, “You just have to

be patient and realize you’re not going to

be able to place as many tons as you’d

like every day. But we understood that

going in.”

Rolling ever forward

PROJECT: I-15 Reconstruction

LOCATION: Provo, Utah

OWNER:

DESIGNER: Staker Parsons

Companies

CONTRACTOR Provo River Constructors

EACH WORK TEAM PLACED 1,361–1,542 metric tons

of warm mix asphalt and/or stone mix asphalt each day, or

the paving surface smooth and even.

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AFTER BEING DESIGNATED AS HAVING ONE OF THE HIGHEST PROPORTIONS OF TRAFFIC FATALITIES at intersections in the nation,

South Carolina sought a new approach

to improving safety and saving lives on its

roadways. It partnered with 3M and the

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to

implement a series of simple fixes at nearly

2,000 locations, resulting in a significant

reduction in crashes at a relatively low cost.

What changed in the transportation offi-

cials’ approach was the use of data analy-

sis to identify the most dangerous intersec-

tions in the state. Rather than addressing

troublesome spots on a case-by-case

basis, they installed relatively low-cost fixes,

such as larger signs and new pavement

markings.An early analysis of 458 of the

nearly 2,000 updated intersections found

a 22 percent reduction in crashes overall,

showing that these simple methods were a

more cost-effective solution.

To pay for these fixes, South Carolina

drew money from the Federal Highway

Safety Improvement Program. Other states

also are increasingly using their safety

funds to implement similar system-wide

changes. Hiring a private contractor

significantly reduced the estimated 20

years it would have taken South Carolina

workers to complete the job. 3M completed

the job in 2013 after three years, with an

average cost of $6,000 per intersection and

a project total of $12 million.

Officials believe the project was instru-

mental in helping prevent crashes and

fatalities.Aside from the reduction in overall

crashes, there was a 34 percent drop in

crashes at intersections without traffic sig-

nals and 43 percent reduction in nighttime

crashes at those same intersections.

Implementing systemic changeQuick fixes reduce traffic accidents statewide

PROJECT: S.C. Systemic

Intersection

Improvements

LOCATION: South Carolina

OWNER: South Carolina

PARTNER: Federal Highway

Administration

CONTRACTOR: 3M

THE USE OF COMPLEX DATA ANALYSIS helped

South Carolina reduce fatalities via simple, low-cost improve-

ments such as yellow, diamond-shaped advance warning

signs, new pavement markings and new traffic-signal lights.

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IN AN EFFORT TO REDUCE ITS STATEWIDE LIST of bridges that are considered structur-

accelerated bridge construction (ABC)

projects across the Commonwealth.

One project, while modest, made a fine

example of applied cost efficiency and

successful time and worksite management.

The S.R. 288 Bridge project in Lawrence

County, Pa., involved the replacement of

the bridge that spans Wampum Run on

an accelerated schedule. Because losing

access to the bridge meant a 22-mile

detour for the 4,500 vehicles that cross the

officials bid out the project for an ABC

model and design to minimize the time the

bridge would be out of service.

The existing 60-ft. concrete arch structure

carried S.R. 288 over Wampum Run and

provided an important crossing for both

residents and the local trucking industry.

The winning contractor, Joseph B. Fay,

employed a modular 78-ft. steel rolled

beam structure founded on integral

abutments. In what was initially estimated

to take a month, Fay completed the project

in only seven days, from initial closure to full

reopening to traffic.

Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson’s (JMT)

structural engineers proposed a design

employing precast units for the pile

caps, wingwalls, cheekwalls, backwalls,

approach and sleeper slabs units.The

concrete deck and barriers were cast

to the steel beams off-site using conven-

tional methods, creating three modular

units, and the beam modules were

connected with ultra high-performance

concrete, a concrete with a 28-day

strength of more than 22 kilopounds per

square inch (ksi).

The S.R. 288 Bridge project stands as

an example of how ABC can be applied

to areas in which the closure of a bridge

or re-routing of traffic would lead to hard-

ships for local communities.

An award-winning ABC modelCrucial bridge is erected in record time

PROJECT: Pennsylvania’s

Accelerated Bridge

Construction: the S.R.

288 Bridge Project

LOCATION: Lawrence County, Pa.

OWNER: Pennsylvania

Transportation

DESIGNER: Johnson, Mirmiran &

Thompson (JMT)

CONTRACTOR: Joseph B. Fay

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS PROPOSED A DESIGN employing precast units for the pile caps, wingwalls,

cheekwalls, backwalls, approach and sleeper slab units.

Interesting fact


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27th Annual ARTBA Public-Private Partnerships in Transportation Conference

“P3s in Transition: The Next Chapter”

The nation’s premier and longest-standing event for P3s in transportation

Hyatt Regency Washington 400 New Jersey Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001

Early registration is now open at www.artbap3.org

SAVE THE DATE | JULY 15-17, 2015

Tentative Schedule at-a-glance

To sponsor or exhibit at the ARTBA P3 Conference, contact ARTBA’s Ed Tarrant at 202.289.4434 or [email protected].


ARTBA’s Digital Campaign on Highway Trust Fund Hitting the Mark by Mark Holan

Daniel Alvarez, finance manager at Virginia-based Transurban, typically

isn’t active on social media, or buttonholing his elected officials.

But he couldn’t resist the chance to join a new digital campaign that allows ARTBA members and their supporters to connect with their members of Congress through email, Twitter and Facebook. The outreach took only minutes, just a few taps on their smart phone and tablets.

The Phone2Action digital platform was unveiled at ARTBA’s Federal Issues Program & Transportation Construction Coalition Fly-In, April 13-15, in the Nation’s Capital. It is part of a sustained effort by ARTBA to urge federal lawmakers to fix the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which, on average, is the source of more than 52 percent of highway and bridge capital investments made annually by state governments.

The current federal highway/transit funding authorization expires on May 31 unless Congress takes action, and the next HTF cash crisis could occur later this summer. Congress was continuing to discuss possible legislative actions as this issue went to press.

to members of Congress, underscoring popular support for sensible transportation funding solutions.

Alvarez and others also made old- fashioned personal visits to their members of Congress during the Fly-In, and ARTBA continues to pursue other strategies to keep pressure on lawmakers to fix the HTF.

The digital campaign uses the hashtag #fixthetrustfund. It is accessible at http://p2a.co/ARTBA. Information about the campaign also is being made available through an instant alert text messaging system, which can be accessed by texting HIGHWAY to 52886.

Within minutes of downloading the Phone2Action platform, Alvarez and other meeting attendees were sending messages to the two U.S. Senators of their home state and the appropriate U.S. Representative, based on their home ZIP code. As they did so, electronic pins dropped on a map of the nation pro-jected on a meeting room wall, showing where the messages were coming from.

“It was very new to me, and it was very rewarding,” Alvarez said. “It was an easy way to reach out to the relevant people.”

With 90 percent of Americans owning cell phones and nearly 75 percent using social media, along with the fact that all 100 U.S. senators and 97 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives have Twitter and Facebook accounts, the platform makes it easy to drive home messages about the need to fix the HTF and pass a long-term transportation bill.

ARTBA will continue to utilize the Phone2Action platform as Congress debates how to fund road, bridge and public transit improvement projects. Within a week of launching the campaign, more than 1,455 emails, tweets and Facebook postings were sent


More than 3 million miles of roads and over 300,000 bridges in the United States are owned and maintained by local governments.

In 1982, the Federal Highway Administration established the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP). In 1991, the Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) was also created. LTAP and TTAP help local governments improve management of their transportation networks.

There are 58 LTAP/TTAP Centers: one in each state, one in Puerto Rico, and seven regional Centers that serve tribal governments. Most Centers are housed at colleg-es, universities and state departments of transportation.

and environmentally sound surface transportation system by improving skills and increasing knowledge of the transportation workforce and decision makers. LTAP/TTAP strives to improve safety for users on local roads, help local governments build and maintain their

The FHWA LTAP/TTAP Clearinghouse, managed by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association- Transportation Development Foundation (ARTBA-TDF), provides program support for LTAP and TTAP Centers.

road workers how to do their jobs safely.

The national program focus areas are safety, workforce development, infrastructure management and organiza-tional excellence. LTAP/TTAP Centers help communities improve the quality and condition of their transportation network.

For more information about the LTAP and TTAP, or to get contact information for your local LTAP/TTAP Center, please visit:

www.LTAP.org

Local & Tribal Technical Assistance Program

Essential Tools to Improve the Local & Tribal Transportation Network

Training, Knowledge Exchange & Direct Assistance


DOT Local Hiring Pilot Program Raises Serious Concernsby Nick Goldstein

Geography could trump safety and good business sense under a local

hiring preference proposal from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

The department’s one-year pilot program, launched March 6, allows state and local transportation agencies to utilize geography-based hiring preferences on federal-aid highway and transit projects. For now, the preferences are optional and require approval from the Federal Highway Administration or Federal Transit Administration.

Previously, DOT interpreted such hiring preferences as conflicting with federal law, which requires contracts to be awarded through a competitive, low-bid system, unless otherwise specified. Now DOT cites a 2013 U.S. Department of Justice legal opinion, which interpreted federal law as giving discretion to permit local hiring preferences provided they do not “unduly limit competition” in federal-aid procurement.

DOT noted that the pilot program will allow for the potential approval of geographic, income-based and veteran preferences. It asserted that allowing the preferences will enable “disadvantaged workers in the communities where projects are located to benefit from the economic opportunities such projects represent.”

ARTBA submitted detailed comments about the pilot program April 3. We found several problems, including how it

would unduly limit competition.

By preferring workers in one location over another, businesses closer to the preferred location would enter the bid-ding process with a significant advantage. Out-of-state businesses would have to hire an entirely new workforce to bid on a job. If this did not deter them from bidding outright, at the least it would heap costs on their proposal, making it highly unlikely they could compete with firms located closer to the proposed job.

The proposed pilot program also could have on tremendous impact on workers. Ideally, a state will have multiple transportation projects underway in different locations. Workers should have the opportunity to be a part of building any of these improvements if they can get to the job site. But geographic-based preferences could disqualify these workers simply based on where they live.

Additionally, a company in areas where the pilot program is engaged may have to lay off workers who meet the geographic preference requirement for one job, but not the next project. This has the potential to transform careers in transportation construction from stable jobs to positions that could be taken away simply because a worker does not live in the “right” place.

In fact, this type of impact is already occurring in cities with their own geography-based hiring ordinances. Contractors have reported being forced

to disband otherwise diverse workforces because local hiring requirements are done on a ward-by-ward or ZIP code basis. In some instances, this could be required on the same job, such as a road or boardwalk project that spans multiple ZIP codes or wards.

A literal interpretation of a geographic-based hiring preference could require a job crew to be broken up on multiple occasions during a single construction project. Such a course of action would drive up job costs and decrease stability for workers.

Geographic-based hiring preferences also could have a significant impact on job safety. Many transportation construction jobs require very particular qualifications. Not all locations will have applicants who are qualified to fill such jobs. If a company is forced to hire unqualified workers to satisfy the geographic requirement, both safety and job quality could be put at risk.

ARTBA concluded the proposed rule would drive up the cost of public transportation improvements, jeopardize worker safety and possibly either conflict with, or run counter to, existing regulatory requirements to achieve a diverse workforce.

ARTBA strongly urged DOT to abandon this pilot program and instead focus on voluntary efforts designed to maximize both the economic growth and job-creating opportunities presented by transportation construction. Indeed, a better area for DOT to focus its energies is the achievement of a long-term, stable source of transportation funding that would allow the country to maintain and grow its infrastructure network.

If that goal can be achieved, jobs in all locations will follow.


Safety Training at your site at

no cost

Safety Training for the Roadway Construction Industry

Roadway Safety+

Safety Training for the Roadway Construction IndustryARTBA’s

OSHA 10-Hour

Guideline Books

All materials can be found at www.workzonesafety.orgThis material is based upon work supported by the Federal Highway Administration under agreement DTFH61-II-H-00029. Any opinions, findings,

and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the Author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the

U.S. Department of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administration.


AEM corner

Safety Campaign

for Underground

Utilities

Road builders often encounter underground utilities that, if struck by equipment, can cause serious injuries and expensive damage.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has begun a safety campaign to prevent underground utility damage from horizontal directional drills, vacuum excavators, trenchers and other equipment. The campaign is designed to promote best practices for site preparation and equipment operation, and to demonstrate that underground utility installation and repair can be done safely and efficiently.

One element of the campaign is correcting some common misconceptions about underground utility work and replacing them with the facts. Here are some important examples:

Depths of utilities can be assumed Locator depths are approximate. Depths of utilities absolutely cannot be assumed. Even within a block, a utility may dip or rise. Utilities must be exposed to verify location and depth.

It will never happen to me Thinking, ‘I’ve done it a million times and nothing has happened,’ can lead to serious consequences. Don’t take chances. The risk is too great.

Exposing to the depth of the utility is good enough Expose to the depth of the intended bore path. Then, visually ensure that both the drill head and back reamer have crossed the existing utility with plenty of clearance.

Just drill deeper to avoid existing utilities Drilling deeper is appealing, but it’s dangerous because it creates potential dangers for later utility work. Locators become less accurate at approximately 10 feet, which means when you dig below that you could be creating real problems for the next utility operation, which also might decide to just drill deeper.

Sewer lines don’t need to be or cannot be located If a sewer line is breached, the sewer will clog. The plumber will run a snake into the sewer and damage the line. If it is an electric line, the plumber can be shocked. If it is a gas line, the gas could migrate into the sewer and ignite once inside homes.

There are no utilities present when there are no location marks A lack of marks could mean only that the utilities have yet to be located. Many states have a positive response system so they can verify that all utilities have cleared the area.

If something happens after I call 811, they are liable Excavating contractors are responsible to verify that utility locations are correct. This includes contacting utilities that don’t subscribe to 811, looking in the area for signs of utilities (outbuildings, pipeline markers, light poles, utility boxes, meters, etc.) and exposing the utilities to verify the locations.

-

-

Exposing utilities (potholing) is part of the contract price for drilling A better approach is to check the contract carefully, ensuring that potholing is actually in the contract because digging a hole to the correct depth may still not expose the utility.

Electric strike alert systems can be ignored The safe approach is to always assume that when an alarm sounds there has been an unexpected electric strike. This results from cross boring and cutting an underground electric line going to a business or home. There are two kinds of alarms, voltage and current detection systems. Regardless of which system you use, if an alarm sounds, assume there has been an unexpected electric strike.

AEM assists manufacturers and the off-road equipment industry in fostering safety best practices through the association’s extensive array of safety manuals, videos and related training materials. Visit www.safetymaterials.org for more information.

For safety, everyone plays a part. For more information and to get involved, contact AEM’s William “Bernie” Bernhard at [email protected], or 414.298.4106.


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