The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s Infrastructure an overall score of D+ in its 2017 Report. Roads and bridges were given scores of D and C+ respectively. Read the Full Report
AASHTO Journal, 02 December 2016 Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan unveiled a $765 million plan to replace an aging, two-lane toll bridge spanning the Potomac River on US 301 with a four-lane structure from Charles County in the state’s southeast to King George County, Va. Hogan made the announcement Nov. 21 while standing at the base of the 75-year-old Harry…
AASHTO Journal, 30 September 2016 Arizona drivers who have been anticipating a new bridge to carry US 95 traffic over flood-prone Fortuna Wash near Yuma don’t have much longer to wait. The state Department of Transportation said the bridge that will end rain delays there should begin taking traffic by the end of November. ADOT said final work should…
AASHTO Journal, 26 August 2016 Officials of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and Maine Department of Transportation said Aug. 24 they had to permanently close the malfunctioning Sarah Mildred Long Bridge to motor vehicle traffic more than two months early. The 76-year-old lift bridge connects Portsmouth, N.H., and Kittery, Maine, on the US 1 Bypass over the Piscataqua…
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that revises the existing methodology for computing the bridge health index (BHI). Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 12 August 2016 Gov. Greg Abbott and other Texas officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 8 to launch a $930 million construction project to build a new Harbor Bridge over the Port of Corpus Christi’s main turning basin. When completed – mostly by April 2021 – planners say the new structure will provide 205-foot clearance over…
AASHTO Journal, 15 July 2016 Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley jointly announced a partnership to share costs of an estimated $75 million project to replace Interstate 20 bridges over the Savannah River and the Augusta Canal, and to widen a portion of I-20 around the border. Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry and…
The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that considers the behavior of twin steel box-girder bridges and develops methods for evaluating their redundancy level in fractures of one tension member. Read the Report
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, 14 June 2016 Scott Shenk The state’s new prioritization program became official Tuesday—and so did more than $200 million in funding for projects across the Fredericksburg region. After the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) voted on the measure Tuesday in Richmond, state Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne took a moment to say the group had…
AASHTO Journal, 10 June 2016 The Washington State Department of Transportation awarded a $115.9 million design-build contract to construct a “Direct Connector” flyover ramp in Renton that will address heavy congestion at the Interstate 405/SR 167 interchange. The agency said that will be the first Seattle-area project funded under the “Connecting Washington” revenue package the Legislature approved in 2015,…
Better Roads, 19 May 2016 Chris Hill The truth is, while there are still a relatively large number of structurally deficient bridges across the country, roughly 58,500, that figure has dropped in recent years. It’s still not good, as the American Road & Transportation Builder’s Association estimates with current funding levels, it would take 21 years to replace…
Associated Press, 18 May 2016 LOUISIANA, Mo. • An old, narrow and deteriorating Mississippi River bridge at Louisiana, Missouri, may finally be replaced within the next few years, following two recent developments. The Federal Highway Administration last month approved a proposal to build a new Champ Clark Bridge 50 feet south of the existing one in Louisiana, a town of…
American Road & Transportation Builders Association 18 February 2016 National & State Data Available: www.artbabridgereport.org (WASHINGTON)—There’s good news and bad news to report about the condition of America’s bridges. The good news is there were 2,574 fewer structurally deficient bridges in 2015 compared to the number in 2014. The bad news is there are still 58,500 on the structurally…
Mississippi Business Journal 15 March 2016 Mark McConnell Mississippi Department of Transportation Deputy Executive Director and Chief Engineer Mark McConnell was recently appointed to chair a committee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. AASHTO President Paul Trombino appointed McConnell to chair the Transportation System Preservation Technical Service Program known as TSP2. The mission of TSP2…
The FHWA has updated its guidance on highway preservation and maintenance activities to be consistent with MAP-21 and the FAST Act. The following guidance memoranda have been superseded: • Pavement Preservation Definitions, September 12, 2005, • Preventive Maintenance Eligibility, October 8, 2004, and • Preventive Maintenance Questions and Answers, December 16, 2004. Link to the FHWA’s Revised Guidance (.cfm)…
TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 487: Public Perception of Mileage-Based Use Fees explores proposals to replace the current motor fuel tax with a road usage charge assessed on vehicle-miles traveled, often called a mileage-base user fee (MBUF). The report identifies and assesses various measures of public opinion on the MBUF concept. Read NCHRP Synthesis 487
AASHTO Journal, 5 February 2016 The Idaho Department of Transportation found itself caught between requirements to inspect overhead suspension cable saddles on the 1,500-foot-long Dent Bridge north of Orofino and the need to safeguard federally protected osprey that had been nesting at points that would prevent inspections. Old osprey nest. Its answer was to build four new aluminum platforms…
The Institute for Transportation at Iowa State University has released a report that reviews available rehabilitation alternatives and solutions to complete rapid rehabilitation projects. Read the Report
JC online Lafayette Journal & Courier 1 January 2016 (Photo: Journal & Courier file photo) The Indiana Department of Transportation will test license plate-tracking technology next year to monitor “unpermitted overweight vehicles,” the agency said Tuesday. Officials said INDOT will pilot the technology after an overweight semi passed over Interstate 65’s southbound Wildcat Creek bridge in Tippecanoe County. Crews spent three days repairing damage to…
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report that examines the current conditions of the nation’s bridges, as well as changes in bridge conditions that have occurred over the last 10 years. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 11 December 2015 The Connecticut Department of Transportation will use an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, to “perform limited visual bridge inspection tasks” this month of its mile-long Gold Star Memorial Bridges on Interstate 95. The announcement said this was part of “CTDOT’s ongoing mission to improve and evaluate its operations and to assess the usefulness and…
AASHTO Journal, 4 December 2015 A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office finds that while states have been reducing the number of problem bridges on the roadway network, one in four bridges is deficient in some way. “Nearly 25 percent of all bridges are deficient,” the GAO said, “with 10 percent categorized as structurally deficient and…
AASHTO Journal, 30 October 2015 The TRIP infrastructure research group reported Oct. 28 that 15 percent of Maine’s roadway bridges are structurally deficient and in need of repair or replacement, just days before state voters will decide on an $85 million transportation bond proposal. TRIP said the structurally deficient rating “means there is significant deterioration of the bridge supports…
The Iowa Department of Transportation has released a report that focuses on developing a framework for making asset management decisions on low-volume bridges in agricultural counties. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 16 October 2015 AASHTO’s new “BATIC Institute” – an educational office designed to help state departments of transportation and other industry participants consider options to finance their infrastructure projects – is taking registrations for its inaugural webinar on Nov. 4 about the Pennsylvania DOTs Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. The Institute, which will offer both online and in-person…
AASHTO Journal, 09 October 2015 Minnesota Department of Transportation researchers who are testing the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to inspect bridges expect to launch a second phase of their work this fall, after an earlier demonstration showed how one drone type can aid inspectors. This past summer, MnDOT began researching how to employ UAVs to help…
Better Roads, 05 October 2015 Bobby Atkinson Drones could become the primary method for bridge inspections for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The department has been impressed by the initial tests run with the technology and are planning to push its capabilities further with a second phase of testing next month. According to Minnesota Public Radio, MnDOT is getting ready…
Better Roads, 02 October 2015 Chris Hill The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LDOTD), Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are working together on a historic bridge management program to aid in preservation efforts for the structures. The “Programmatic Agreement” was “executed” October 1 and will last 20 years. It sets up planning…
PIARC Newsletter No. 55 is now available. Access the Internet Version
Better Roads, 25 September 2015 Chris Hill The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is painting a grim picture of the economic impact on the state with current bridge funding and maintenance programs, estimating $94 billion in lost production value and a loss of 100,000 jobs over a 20-year period. The department’s 2015 Bridge Condition Report provides an overview of…
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