The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a preliminary report on the recent collapse of the Interstate 5 Bridge in Mount Vernon, Skagit County, Washington State. Read the Report
AASHTO Journal, 21 June 2013 State officials from Indiana and Kentucky joined federal officials and community members Tuesday to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Ohio River Bridges Project’s Downtown Crossing, which will provide a new link over the Ohio River for the two states. The $1.3 billion project will include a new bridge that will carry six lanes of…
AASHTO Journal, 21 June 2013 Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, joined Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WS) to introduce a bill this week that would provide $5.5 billion for state transportation departments to address the 150,000 or so structurally deficient bridges across the nation. “Congress simply cannot…
Tom Warne Report, 9 June 2013 Sacramento Bee – May 30, 2013 Questions over corroded tendons, broken bolts and bad welds facing transportation officials over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge led to the announcement this week that the scheduled opening on Labor Day weekend would not be confirmed until July. Bay Area Toll Authority commissioners said officials are now…
AASHTO Journal. 7 June 2013 A Senate Appropriations panel, chaired by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), will hold a hearing next Thursday to examine the collapse of the I-5 bridge, which occurred May 23 just north of Seattle. The hearing will also consider that incident in the context of the overall status of the nation’s transportation infrastructure issues. Two witnesses are currently…
Tom Warne Report, 26 May 2013 Sacramento Bee – May 19, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO – The rising cost of the $6.5 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge could skyrocket with the discovery of cable problems in addition to the bolt and rod issues previously detected. New concerns have surfaced on the skyway approach to the suspension span, where rain and…
Tom Warne Report, 26 May 2013 Associated Press – May 21, 2013 OLYMPIA, Wash. – Gov. Jay Inslee signed an $8.7 billion transportation budget this week that sends money to road maintenance and continues financing for existing major projects in the state. A legislative compromise on the controversial Columbia River Crossing Project was cut out of the budget by…
AASHTO Journal, 24 May 2013 The Federal Highway Administration announced last week it will soon be utilizing a new innovative technology to gauge the safety and structural integrity of bridges while saving time and money: a robot. The new tool, created through a partnership between FHWA and Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, combines multiple advanced scans…
AASHTO Journal, 24 May 2013 President Obama’s U.S. Transportation Secretary nominee and Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx visited Capitol Hill Wednesday for his nomination hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. After opening remarks, Foxx briefly highlighted his credentials for the position and laid out his priorities: keeping the focus on safety across all transportation…
AASHTO Journal, 24 May 2013 Washington State Department of Transportation officials and local emergency response rescuers were pressed into action late Thursday when a portion of an Interstate 5 bridge located near Mount Vernon, about an hour north of Seattle, apparently collapsed, sending vehicles into the Skagit River below. There were no reports of fatalities from the incident. WSDOT…
Tom Warne Report, 18 May 2013 Associated Press – May 14, 2013 SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s $6.3 billion eastern portion “has a fighting chance” of opening by the end of the year, in spite recent structural concerns, officials overseeing the construction reported Tuesday. State lawmakers grilled officials in charge of the project and their decision…
AASHTO Journal, 19 April 2013 Michigan’s New International Trade Crossing hit another milestone last week after obtaining a federal permit needed to move the project forward. The bridge is expected to enhance the $70 billion-per-year trade relationship between Canada and the State of Michigan. “This is all about jobs for today and tomorrow,” Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said in…
Crain’s Detroit Business, 12 April 2013 Artist’s rendering of the New International Trade Crossing bridge as seen from the Windsor side. Gov. Rick Snyder today called the $2.1 billion New International Trade Crossing a gateway for “jobs today and tomorrow” after the U.S. Department of State issued a key permit for what would be a second bridge over the…
AASHTO Journal, 12 April 2013 California Department of Transportation last week broke ground on an interchange project in Monterey County that will cut down on the area’s congestion while also making the area safer for drivers. Caltrans’ $69 million project will remove three intersections on U.S. Highway 101 and replace them with a new interchange, located near Red Barn…
AASHTO Journal, 12 April 2013 Rhode Island Department of Transportation officials joined Gov. Lincoln Chaffee last week to announce the launch of an I-95 bridge preservation program that will help to keep the bridges on the interstate in good shape for a longer period of time, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars. RIDOT said the program’s goal is to “address issues…
“Crosscut Public Media”, 12 April 2013 If state lawmakers want us to weigh in on a proposal (and taxes) to fund new transportation projects, they better make sure the plan includes fixing our crumbling roads and bridges. Read the Article by Douglas B. MacDonald, Washington State Secretary of Transportation, 2001-2007
Tom Warne Report, 8 April 2013 Sacramento Bee – April 2, 2013 The California Department of Transportation announced this week that it is looking into whether the large bolts that broke last month on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge project had not passed quality control test by the department’s materials lab. Dyson Corp. of Ohio manufactured the bolts which…
Tom Warne Report, 2 April 2013 San Francisco Chronicle – March 27, 2013 The discovery of broken bolts on part of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is putting extra pressure on bridge officials working toward the opening of the $6.4 billion project in just five months. Caltrans toll bridge program manager Tony Anziano said they intend…
Tom Warne Report, 22 March 2013 The Seattle Times – March 15, 2013 The new head of Washington state’s transportation department announced this week that she has hired an expert to review the I-5 Columbia River Crossing, Highway 520 bridge and Highway 99 tunnel. Secretary Lynn Peterson announced that the former director of two of those projects, Ron Paananen,…
AASHTO News, 19 March 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), commends the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for its comprehensive assessment of the nation’s current infrastructure conditions and needs. The 2013 Report Card finds that inadequate investment has resulted in deteriorating U.S. infrastructure. “This Report Card accentuates the need for a…
On March 21, 2013, HC Bridge will receive the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for development of the hybrid composite beam (HCB®) for highway and railway bridges. John Hillman, president of HC Bridge, credits the success of his technology to the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs….
Tom Warne Report, 8 March 2013 New York State Thruway Authority – March 5, 2013 The project manager well known for the quick replacement of the collapsed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis has been hired to manage one of the largest bridge projects in the U.S. The New York State Thruway Authority has announced Peter Sanderson as project manager for…
AASHTO Journal, 8 March 2013 Officials from the North Carolina Department of Transportation were joined by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to update the public on the progress of the I-85 interchange project in Charlotte. The $92 million interchange (including $50.6 million of federal funding), which aims at cutting traffic congestion on I-77 and many local streets, has already…
The Reason Foundation has released a report that discusses the condition of the United States’ roads and bridges based on data from the Highway Performance Monitoring System, the National Bridge Inventory, the Fatal Accident Reporting System, and the Texas Transportation Institute’s reports on urban congestion. Read the Report
Contact us for more information.
