Project Uses Highway Sensors to Track Lifecycle of Concrete
A team of Purdue University engineers is using roadway sensors to compile data on “concrete maturity” during select highway patching and paving projects – a project that seeks to establish “evidence-based recommendations” on the optimal time to re-open highways to traffic once construction activity is completed. [Above Photo by Erin Easterling for Purdue University.] The Indiana Department of Transportation is overseeing this project, which so far has embedded sensors into three state high...
APTA Study Highlights Transit Needs of ‘Late-Shift’ Commuters
A new study compiled by the American Public Transportation Association highlights the rising number of “late-shift” workers on night and weekend shifts, and the study says those weekend late-shift workers tend to suffer from “inadequate access” to public transit services. In particular, the food service, health care, construction, education and finance industries entertain “high projected growth rates” for late-shift work over the next seven years, yet a lack of late-shift transit options can...
Video: Texas DOT Explains Why Its Bridges Are ‘Bat-Friendly’
Engineers working for the Texas Department of Transportation are trying to make the state’s bridges and related infrastructure more hospital to bats for a number of reasons as the nocturnal flying rodents help to naturally suppress the insect population without the use of pesticides while acting as pollinators to assist in flowering plant reproduction. In fact, over 500 plant species rely on bats to pollinate their flowers – including species of mango, banana, durian, guava and agave, which i...
When Michigan City, Indiana’s Franklin Street Bridge Buckled In Artic Temperatures Contractors And Engineers Turned To FiberSPAN
DAYTON, Ohio - When record-breaking temperatures buckled Michigan, City Indiana’s Franklin Street Bridge in February 2019, traffic was brought to a standstill. The 87-year-old crossing—the lakeshore town’s only movable [bascule] bridge—crosses Trail Creek, a gateway to Lake Michigan for locals and tourists. The structure uses counterweights to raise and lower its spans to provide clearance for boat traffic. Its’ crumbling concrete “leaves” and steel supports needed a quick fix. The LaPorte Count...
Technology Helping ADOT to Manage Traffic through I-15 Bridge Project
PHOENIX – To enhance safety and manage traffic through the bridge improvement project along Interstate 15 in the Virgin River Gorge, the Arizona Department of Transportation is using a first-of-its-kind alert system to help reduce emergency braking and collisions. With I-15 reduced to one lane in each direction during construction, traffic begins to queue during peak travel times and holidays. A queue warning system that includes portable message boards informs drivers of stop-and-go traffic...
IBI Group to Lead Hurontario LRT Design as Part of Mobilinx Preferred Proponent Consortium
TORONTO - Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Metrolinx announced on August 26 that Mobilinx is the preferred proponent to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Hurontario Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. IBI Group (TSX:IBG) will be leading the design team as part of this significant project expected to commence in the fall of 2019. The Hurontario LRT will provide 18km of rapid transit to the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, addressing transportation demand and enhancing the urban env...
Iowa County Engineer to Save Over $100,000 Using Innovative Steel Design for Bridge Replacement Project
The spans for the Fourteen Mile bridge near East Lynn, West Virginia were installed on August 20, 2019. This is the first PBTG bridge for WV. If you’re a county/state engineer or a bridge owner, cost is always a deciding factor in which material to choose for your next project. A new design using press-brake-formed steel tub girders (PBTG) is providing a durable, cost-saving solution for short span bridge projects. A PBTG bridge consists of modular galvanized shallow trapezoidal boxes...
Acrow Bridge Provides Emergency Detour to Open Flood-Damaged Route in Rock Port, Missouri
(Parsippany, New Jersey) – 03 September 2019 – Acrow Bridge, a leading international bridge engineering and supply company, noted today one of its modular steel bridges was installed recently in Rock Port, Missouri to restore passage after severe flooding earlier in the year damaged the existing structure, which was subsequently closed. It was particularly critical the route be restored as quickly as possible as it is the only access for BNSF Railway crews to service flood-damaged equipment and...
FHWA Disburses $225M in Competitive Highway Bridge Program Grants
The Federal Highway Administration awarded $225 million in Competitive Highway Bridge Program or CHBP grants to 20 state department of transportation projects in 18 states on August 29; grants that only state DOTs could apply for and that fund a variety of bridge projects in rural areas with population densities of less than 100 people per square-mile, based on U.S. Census data. [Above photo by the Missouri DOT.] FHWA noted that those funds must be used for highway bridge replacement or re...
USDOT Announces $4.36 Million Grant to Restore Gulf Coast Passenger Rail Service
BILOXI, MS – U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Elaine L. Chao today announced that DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded $4,360,000 to the Southern Rail Commission to help restore intercity passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast. “This funding will help Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama resume passenger rail service between New Orleans and Mobile to enhance regional economic growth and rural mobility,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Cha...