Your 5-minute Guide to Industry News & Trends
Your 5-minute Guide to Industry News & Trends
Vol. 2, No. 6 ● March 20, 2008
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Innovations Calendar
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Deteriorating urban pavement costs average driver $400 Twenty-three percent of the nation’s major metropolitan roads - interstates, freeways and other critical local routes - have pavements in poor condition, resulting in rough rides and costing the average urban motorist $413 annually in additional vehicle operating costs due to accelerated vehicle deterioration, additional maintenance needs and increased fuel consumption, according to a new report released by TRIP. According to the TRIP report, continued increase in urban traffic is putting significant wear and tear on the nation’s urban roads. Overall travel on urban roads increased by 39 percent from 1990 to 2005; urban travel by large commercial trucks grew at an even faster rate, increasing by 49 percent from 1990 to 2005. Full Story |
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Ontario's Nick Market wins title of best loader/backhoe operator in North America At the Case North American Rodeo Series Championship event on Tuesday, March 11, Nick Market of Windsor, Ontario, beat four other finalists to win the title of Case Rodeo Series North American Champion. Along with the title, Market was awarded the grand prize - a 50th Anniversary limited-edition Case 580 Super M Series 2 loader/backhoe, valued at nearly $120,000. From a field of 4,200 loader/backhoe operators from across the United States and Canada, Market joined top five finalists Jeff Coble, Dennis Drake, Corey Jessen and Tim Reynolds for the championship competition. Full Story
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WVDOT Crossings Book showcases West Virginia bridges West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Paul Mattox has announced the release of the book, "Crossings – Bridge Building in West Virginia." This coffee table-size hardback accompaniment to the award-winning documentary of the same name will also be sent to every middle and high school, college, university and public library in the state. Full Story |
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Tennessee's Bracken Paving wins 2008 Contractor of the Year award Alan and Amanda Bracken, owners of Bracken Paving in Kingsport, Tennessee, won the eighth annual Contractor of the Year award sponsored by Equipment World magazine and Caterpillar during a recent ceremony at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Full Story
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South Carolina Department of Transportation seeks public comment The South Carolina Department of Transportation is seeking comments from the public on the draft Statewide Comprehensive Multimodal Transportation Plan. A copy of the plan will be made available for public review at www.scdot.org/inside/multimodal/multimodal_transplan.shtml. Comments will be received until April 11, 2008. Full Story
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Florida floats proposal to raise toll from 35 cents to $7.25
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$50 million cost savings means more Missouri highway projects sooner By pinching pennies, estimating construction work to the dime and encouraging innovation, the Missouri Department of Transportation has saved nearly $50 million that will be used to tackle 36 new highway projects this year. Located throughout the state, the projects include resurfacing, bridge approach repairs, and new signals, lights and signs. Nineteen of the projects were scheduled to be built in the next two years, but now will begin this year. Another 17 projects that will now begin this year were not yet listed on MoDOT's five-year construction program, which runs through 2012. The new project list can be found at www.modot.org. Full Story |
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Alaska DOT&PF releases STIP draft amendment 17 for public comment The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program amendment is designed to parallel changes in the federal funds allocation process. The funding process now focuses on specific types of projects resulting in additional bridge and safety funds and less general highway funds, a major change to the former flexible funding style. “Even though we’re near the midpoint of the fiscal year, the Federal Highway Administration advised us that there would be a reduction of the 2008 funds by $15 million,” said Jeff Ottesen, DOT&PF’s Director of Program Development. Full Story
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U.S. DOT approves $430 million loan to complete new alternative to congested I-35 in Texas A $430 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation will give Texas the financial push it needs to help complete a new north-south highway as an alternative to the congested I-35 from Austin to San Antonio. The new southern portion of the four-lane highway is scheduled to link to the already opened northern one in 2012. When complete, the 91-mile SH 130 corridor will be entirely tolled and provide a new route to take traffic off the most congested section of I-35 in the central United States. Full Story
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U.S. releases an additional $195 million for I-35W bridge in Minneapolis U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters has released an additional $195 million in emergency relief funding to help rebuild the I-35W bridge that collapsed in August 2007. This brings the total federal transportation investment in the recovery and rebuilding effort to almost $377 million. The $195 million will go toward the repair and reconstruction of the bridge. In addition to bridge-related repair and recovery efforts, emergency relief funding has also gone toward restoring traffic flow in the region and clearing debris immediately following the collapse. Full Story |
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Median guard cable virtually eliminating crossover deaths on Missouri interstates
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AGC contractors recognized for safety commitment and innovation An unwavering and unmatched commitment to safety has won Barnhart, San Diego, California, the Associated General Contractors of America's (AGC) Construction Safety and Excellence Awards (CSEA) Grand Award. The Grand Award is chosen from CSEA first-place winners as the "best of the best" in construction safety excellence. Other awards were given for various division and occupational categories, including Building Division, Heavy, Specialty Contractor, Municipal Division and Highway Division, and organized by number of work hours, to recognize the companies who have developed and implemented excellent safety and loss prevention programs achieved through management commitment, employee involvement and program innovation. Full Story
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Expanded avalanche management program reduces closures of Idaho 21 Avalanche-related closures on Idaho 21 have been significantly reduced this winter by using explosives to bring down unstable snow before it slides and blocks the highway. The route, one of Idaho's popular winter recreation routes and host to the vast majority of the state's avalanches, is typically closed 60 days per year, but has been closed just 28 days so far this winter through these pre-emptive measures. Three different methods are primarily used in this first-year program to deliver explosives: an avalauncher (a cannon-type device) to deliver explosives into avalanche chutes; "heliblasting" to drop explosives in avalanche-prone areas by helicopter and, when conditions warrant, ITD avalache mitigation crews ski into areas and set charges by hand. Full Story |
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Virginia-U.S. partnership to speed information retrieval The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is collaborating with the federal government on a pilot project that will improve access to the full content of research reports from all state transportation agencies by helping create a permanent archive of its own research publications. The National Transportation Library is partnering with VDOT because VDOT's library is already digitizing, or scanning, the full 60-year catalog of reports from the Virginia Transportation Research Council, VDOT’s research division. The Research Council now has about 10 years worth of its reports online. Full Story |
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Louisiana engineers apply innovation to calm post-Katrina traffic Responding to a growing national frustration with traffic congestion, engineering firm ABMB has adapted an innovative design, Continuous Flow Intersection (CFI), to ease gridlock. Opened in 2006, the use of a two-leg CFI in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - the first of its kind to be built in the United States - allows left-turning vehicles to cross opposing traffic several hundred feet prior to the main intersection, thereby removing the left-turn phase. This "green time" is allocated to the other signal phases, increasing intersection capacity and reducing congestion. Through the assistance of ABMB, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development was recently named a Gold Level Winner at the National Partnership for Quality National Achievement Award program for its innovative CFI technique. ABMB's revolutionary CFI system at Airline Highway and Sherwood Forest Boulevard in Baton Rouge was recognized for outstanding achievement. "Louisiana has established itself as a trend-setter with this cutting-edge design," said NPHQ Executive Director Bob Templeton. The NPHQ added that the CFI concept is "a revolutionary technique to address operational issues." The award recognizes overall project quality; the partnership between state departments of transportation and private contractors; technical and materials innovations; the effectiveness and creativity of public involvement; the teams' effectiveness in meeting or exceeding expected deadlines, costs, and deliverables; responsiveness to environmental needs and opportunities; and adherence to other principles of quality management. "ABMB's innovative new solution has relieved a major traffic problem in our community and moved us beyond the 'status quo' thought process," said Baton Rouge Mayor Melvin L. 'Kip' Holden. "The CFI design positions us as leaders on the state, national, and international levels in highway technology." The new formula moves traffic effectively while at the same time, saving taxpayer dollars associated with more costly congestion fixes. The intersection of Airline Highway and Sherwood Forest Boulevard has proven to be one of the most congested intersections in Louisiana. The CFI concept, however, eliminates "conflict points" at an intersection by allowing vehicles to cross over opposing traffic several hundred feet before the intersection through a series of carefully timed traffic signals. According to a recent study commissioned by the DOTD to evaluate the success of CFI: Congestion time at the intersection has been reduced by as much as 40 percent during the evening rush hour, which is the intersection's worst congestion period. CFI has allowed approximately 10 percent more traffic to pass through the intersection. The number of crashes at the intersection has been reduced by 27 percent since the CFI has opened. Public opinion also confirms the success of the CFI technique. The study indicates that: Approximately 92 percent of drivers are satisfied with the operation of the CFI. About 87 percent of drivers believe the traffic congestion has lessened. About 74 percent of drivers believe travel time has decreased. About 68 percent of drivers believe safety has increased. Previously, a CFI prototype was built at Dowling College in New York, followed by a full-scale project in Maryland, at the juncture of State Highway 228 and State Highway 210, approximately 15 miles south of Washington, D.C. Currently CFIs are under design or construction in Utah, Ohio and Mississippi. In addition, CFI is receiving serious consideration in Arkansas, Maryland and Texas.
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Louisiana DOTD, FHWA, AGC form partnership to improve Louisiana transportation system
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ACPA now accepting excellence awards nominations ACPA is now accepting nominations online for the best-of-the-best concrete pavement projects in airports, highways, and streets and roads completed in 2007. To make the process easier and faster for members, ACPA is accepting nominations for the 19th annual "Excellence in Concrete Pavement" Awards online. The awards program is limited to projects completed in 2007; the deadline for nominations is July 18, 2008. Full Story |
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2008 Accelerated Bridge Construction
Conference - Federal Highway Administration Superpave Mix Design - National Center
for Asphalt Technology 2008 Toll Road Summit of the Americas -
International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association 2008 North American Snow Conference -
American Public Works Association 2008 Spring Convention & 20th Anniversary
Celebration - International Concrete Repair Institute 2008 Conference - National Association of
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For our full events calendar, go to http://www.betterroads.com/calendar |
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Construction faces tumultuous year for projects, prices, labor,
says AGC economist Nonresidential construction will experience wide variance in demand, materials cost and labor availability, according to the Construction Inflation Alert released by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). "In 2008, some nonresidential segments will continue to grow, including power and energy, but others such as lodging will slow or decline," said AGC's Chief Economist Ken Simonson. "Diesel, copper and steel are among materials costs likely to accelerate, while others remain benign." The large increase in diesel fuel prices compared to a year ago, along with the importance of diesel fuel to highway construction, makes it likely that highway costs will go up even more. Looking beyond 2008, there are two factors that make it likely that a 6-8 percent growth rate for construction input prices will be sustained. Full Story Construction costs to moderate in Ontario - BTY Group A new report released by BTY Group shows that construction costs are continuing to rise in Ontario, but at a more predictable pace. BTY Group forecasts that greater price stability in the provincial construction market will help maintain a healthy level of investment in both the public and private sectors of the industry. Although construction costs continue to be at record high levels across Canada, the escalation rates in Ontario are stabilizing, while double-digit increases are still occurring in Alberta and Saskatchewan. BTY Group forecasts construction costs will rise by 7% in 2008, 6% in 2009, 4% in 2010, and 4% in 2011; that, despite challenges in manufacturing, Ontario's construction sector will be driven by strong population growth and the replacement of aging infrastructure; and larger and complex construction projects will have greater cost escalation than smaller projects. Full Story Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales U.S. total business sales for December were $1,163.5 billion, up 1.5% from last month. Month-end inventories were $1,457.9 billion, up 0.8% from last month. 3/13/08 U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services The nation's international deficit in goods and services increased to $58.2 billion in January from $57.9 billion (revised) in December, as imports increased more than exports. 3/11/08 Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories January 2008 sales of merchant wholesalers were $387.7 billion, up 2.7 percent from last month. End-of-month inventories were $414.8 billion, up 0.8 percent from last month. 3/10/08 Economy At A Glance: http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm |
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March 2008 Issue Highlights:
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www.BetterRoads.com for
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Compiled by Larry Green, news editor, Better Roads. To contact Larry about the newsletter content, send e-mail to . Interested in being a sponsor of our newsletter? Contact your sales representative for more information. Click here for list of contacts.
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On Wednesday, March 12, Florida residents were invited to sound off on a plan that would hike tolls on the Pinellas Bayway and at Fort DeSoto in Pinellas County. Under the Florida Department of Transportation plan, tolls on the Pinellas Bayway would increase from 50 cents to $1.25 on July 1. By the end of the bond issue in 2038, they would be $3.50. The general public annual pass would go from $50 a year to $125 and, by 2038, to $256 a year. At the Fort DeSoto toll booth, which is currently a 35-cent charge, the toll would jump to $2.50, and then to $7.25 by 2038. 
Median guard cable on Missouri's busiest interstate highways is virtually eliminating highway crossover deaths, according to new numbers released by the Missouri Department of Transportation. Statistics for 2007 show only two crossover fatalities at cable locations, compared to 55 the year before cable was installed. Nearly 500 miles of guard cable were installed from 2004 to 2006 in medians of the state's busiest highways, where congested, high-speed traffic was resulting in vehicles crossing medians and colliding head-on with vehicles going in the other direction.
Louisiana is the fourth state to receive national recognition for forming a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the highway system. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), Federal Highway Administration and Associated General Contractors are the chairs of the Louisiana Partnership for Highway Quality. The group recently received a Tier 1 accreditation from the National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ) for its work in forming this partnership.
