March/April 2015 TB

Mar.-Apr. 2015 TransportationBuilder 1
Innovations Driving the ROI
in U.S.Transportation
Infrastructure
builder®
March-April 2015
www.transportationbuilder.org
EconomyDriven

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MARAPR 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 2
contents The official publication of the American Road
& Transportation Builders Association
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 MembersTap Digital
Media to Urge Congress to Fix
the HighwayTrust Fund
13
On the cover: The New N.Y. Bridge, courtesy of the New York
State Thruway Authority.
13A-24
EconomyDriven:

Mar.-Apr. 20154 TransportationBuilder
Staff
PUBLISHER
T. Peter Ruane
transportationbuilder@artba.org
DEPUTY PUBLISHER
Matt Jeanneret
mjeanneret@artba.org
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Mark Holan
mholan@artba.org
PUBLICATIONS EDITOR &
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Jenny Ragone
jragone@artba.org
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;
artbadc@aol.com. 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 Committee
Chairman: Nick Ivanoff
Ammann & Whitney, NewYork, N.Y.
Senior Vice Chairman: David S. Zachry
Zachry Construction Corporation, San Antonio,Texas
First Vice Chairman: Robert E. Alger
The Lane Construction Corporation, Cheshire, Conn.
Northeastern Region Vice Chairman: Dave Gehr
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Herndon, Va.
Southern Region Vice Chairman:Tom Elmore
Eutaw Construction Company, Aberdeen, Miss.
Central Region Vice Chairman: Kathi Holst
Roadway Construction & Maintenance Services, Warrenville, Ill.
Western Region Vice Chairman: Steve McGough
HCSS, Sugar Land,Texas
Vice Chairman At-Large:Ward Nye
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Vice Chairman At-Large: Scott L. Cassels
Kiewit Infrastructure Group, Inc., Kiewit Corporation, Omaha, Neb.
Vice Chairman At-Large: MelissaTooley
Southwest Region UniversityTransportation Center,Texas A&M
Transportation Institute, College Station,Texas
Vice Chairman At-Large: John R. Kulka
HRI, Inc., State College, Pa.
Vice Chairman At-Large: Mike Donnino
Granite Construction Company, Lewisville,Texas
Vice Chairman At-Large: Paul Acito
3MTraffic Safety & Security Division, St. Paul, Minn.
Treasurer:Tom Hill
Summit Materials, LLC, Denver, Colo.
Secretary: Pete Ruane
ARTBA, Washington, D.C.
ARTBA-TDF Board ofTrustees Chairman: Leo Vecellio, Jr.
Vecellio Group, Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla.
ARTBA-TDF Board ofTrustees Vice Chairman: PaulYarossi
HNTB, NewYork, N.Y.
Contractors Division President: Jeff Clyde
W.W. Clyde & Co., Springville, Utah
Contractors Division First Vice President:Tim Duit
TTK Construction, Edmond, Okla.
Research & Education Division President: Lily Elefterladou
University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
AEM Representative: Ron DeFeo
TEREX Corporation, Westport, Conn.
Materials & Services Division President: Randy Lake
Oldcastle Materials, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.
Planning & Design Division President:Tim Faerber
HNTB Corporation, Chicago, Ill.
Public-Private Partnerships Division President: Matt Girard
Plenary Concessions, Denver, Co.
Traffic Safety Industry Division President: Sue Reiss
Impact Recovery Systems, San Antonio,Texas
Transportation Officials Division President: Paul Gruner
Montgomery County Engineers’s Office, Dayton, Ohio
Council of State Executives: Mike Pepper
Mississippi Road Builders Association, Jackson, Miss.
Immediate Past ARTBA Chairman: Doug Black
John Deere Landscapes, Alpharetta, Ga.
Past Chairman’s Council Chairman: Jim Madara
Gannett Fleming, Allentown, Pa.
Young Executive Leadership Council Chairman: Ponch Frank
Ranger Construction Industries, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Joint Committee Representative: Matt Cummings
AECOM, 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
HighwayTrust 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:
jragone@artba.org.
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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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ROADSBRIDGES ARTBA ECONOMY DRIVEN A-2
Innovations Driving the ROI
in U.S.Transportation
Infrastructure
EconomyDrivenSpring 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
EconomyDriven
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

EconomyDriven
PETE RUANE
ARTBA President
CEO
U.S.Transportation Infrastructure
IT’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
Dire States is an advocacy effort created and supported by CASE Construction Equipment, a brand of CNH Industrial America LLC.
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Take advantage today
of these VALUABLE RESOURCES
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www.artba.org
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The ARTBA Building

PHOTOCOURTESYOFRIVERSIDETRANSPORTATIONCOMMISSION
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 ahead
Major 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

PHOTOCOURTESYOFPARSONS
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 years
Longest 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

IMAGECOURTESYOFMONTANADOT
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 current
Statewide 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

PHOTOCOUTRESYOFM-1RAIL
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 City
Sleek 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFSILVERSTEINPROPERTIESINC.
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”rising
A 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEPORTOFMIAMITUNNELPROJECT
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 coming
A 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOBYBRIANBUDZYNSKI
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 open
I-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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFFIGGBRIDGEENGINEERS
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 ice
A 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEOHIORIVERBRIDGESDOWNTOWNCROSSINGPROJECT
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-one
A 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFWSDOT
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 float
New 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFMNDOT
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 way
Respecting 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHENEWYORKSTATETHRUWAYAUTHORITY
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 Style
New 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFFDOT
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 infrastructure
I-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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFMODOT
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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOBYTOMSAUNDERSOFVDOT
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 green
Accelerated 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFTHENEWJERSEYTURNPIKEAUTHORITY
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 down
Expansion 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFNDOT
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 out
Alignment 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFSUPERIORCONSTRUCTION
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 (RSH) 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. RSH 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. RSH
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 hurry
Florida bridge gets emergency relief after crash
PROJECT:
Mathews Bridge
Emergency Repair
LOCATION:
Jacksonville, Fla.
OWNER:
DESIGNER:
Reynolds, Smith Hills
(RSH)
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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFKING’SCONSTRUCTION
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’ resurfacing
U.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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFWSDOT
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 breakthrough
Big “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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFINDOT
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 fits
Record-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.
Interesting fact

MARBLESTREETSTUDIO;PHOTOCOURTESYHNTB
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 cover
Complex 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFCATPAVING
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.
Interesting fact

STOCKPHOTOBYNICKOBEC,DISTRIBUTEDTHROUGHFREEIMAGES.COM
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 change
Quick 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.
Interesting fact

PHOTOCOURTESYOFJMT
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 model
Crucial 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
etarrant@artba.org.

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 Concerns
by 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 Industry
ARTBA’s
OSHA
10-Hour
Guideline
Books
All materials can be found at www.workzonesafety.org
This 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 wbernhard@aem.org, or
414.298.4106.

March/April 2015 TB

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