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Outstanding Engineering: Michigan’s “96fix” Highway Rehabilitation

Monday, April 11th, 2016
Outstanding Engineering - Michigan's "96fix"

96fix was the largest single-season construction project in state history. Reconstruction of the seven-mile stretch of the 40-year-old freeway included the rehabilitation of 37 bridges, installation of LED lighting and storm sewers, and safety improvements. The $153 million project was completed early and under budget, and brought I-96 in line with current standards. Innovative technologies included visual modeling to gain public support for closing the freeway during construction and 3-D design model for fine-tuning paving work. The process saved taxpayer dollars, cut freeway closure time, and improved pavement quality and safety.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Rachel Gutter, Director, Center for Green Schools

Wednesday, April 6th, 2016
Rachel Gutter, Director, Center for Green Schools

Rachel Gutter is Senior Vice President of Knowledge at the U.S. Green Building Council and Director of the Center for Green Schools.

“It’s been 20 years since the federal government published a comprehensive inventory of K-12 public school facilities, and at the time…more than 15,000 schools in the United States had air that was actually unfit to breathe. And then they dropped it for the last 20 years…because of our limited insight into the conditions of the school facilities, we have no sense of just how pervasive the problem is. But just like we know that lurking across these hundred thousand K-12 public schools there are thousands of schools that still have air that’s unfit to breathe, we know that there are likely thousands of schools that have water that’s unfit for drinking. And that’s not acceptable.”

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Outstanding Engineering: Tallahassee Regional Transportation Management Center

Monday, April 4th, 2016
Outstanding Engineering: Kimley Horn Tallahassee Regional Transportation Management Center

2016 ACEC National Recognition Award Winner Firm Name: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Project Name: Tallahassee Regional Transportation Management Center Project Location: Tallahassee, Florida Client Name: City of Tallahassee Operated by the City of Tallahassee and Leon County, the Regional Transportation Management Center is a model of local government operations mutually benefiting from the integration of […]

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Posted in Congestion, Local, Outstanding Engineering, Roads, Technology, The Infra Blog

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ACEC Webinar: Impact of Climate Change on Civil Infrastructure

Thursday, March 31st, 2016

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 1:30pm ET in order to discuss the impacts of climate change on engineering services and civil infrastructure…The potentially severe impacts on civil infrastructure from climate change require updating infrastructure policy to integrate climate resilience planning into current decision-making. For the engineering profession, this means new service opportunities.

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Posted in Climate Change, National, Private Investment, Technology, The Infra Blog

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Keith Roe, Incoming President, American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Tuesday, March 29th, 2016
Keith Roe, ASME

K. Keith Roe, PE, has been selected as the president-nominee of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for the 2016-2017 term of office. Roe, a fellow of ASME, has been an active member of the Society for more than 40 years.

I think one of the biggest challenges in this area is getting people to understand what the issues are…It’s an important thing and it really is so important to our economy. We need to do a better job, all of us, at getting the message across. People need to understand that those roads, those bridges, the highways, the electrical infrastructure, the oil and gas infrastructure, our ports and harbors, these are all vital to our world commerce.

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Outstanding Engineering: Phase 1 of Florida’s SunRail Commuter Rail System

Monday, March 28th, 2016
HNTB: Florida SunRail

Since its opening in May 2014, SunRail has proved a practical alternative to I-4, the region’s main thoroughfare. The initial 31 miles of Phase 1 of the SunRail Commuter Rail System serve passengers at 12 different stations across eight different cities in Central Florida, from DeBary in the north to Sand Lake Road in the south. On average, 3,700 Central Floridians ride the train per day.

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Outstanding Engineering: Virginia’s I-95 Express Lanes

Monday, March 21st, 2016
Outstanding Engineering: Virginia's I-95 Express Lanes

The 14-mile I-95 Express Lanes project is the nation’s first retrofit of an existing reversible two-lane HOV system into a high-occupancy toll (HOT) roadway. The project team designed operational improvements to the existing six-mile HOV segment from Dumfries to the Prince William Parkway, along with an additional eight-mile extension into Stafford County.

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Outstanding Engineering: Capacity Improvements on Alaska’s Glenn Highway

Monday, March 14th, 2016
Alaska's Glenn Highway Capacity Improvements

With increased traffic expected to exceed the highway’s design capacity in the coming years, the project team was tasked with designing new lanes that will be used for both regular and high-occupancy vehicle traffic, reducing the grade on a steep approach to the northbound Eagle River Bridge, designing new bridges over the Eagle River, and creating new frontage roads.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Dennis Slater, President and Secretary, Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM)

Thursday, March 10th, 2016
Dennis Slater, President and Secretary, AEM

Dennis Slater is President and Secretary of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). He oversees operation of all Association programs, which focus on core service areas of market information and equipment statistics, public policy representation, product safety and technical support, and trade shows.

“…Equipment manufacturers build the machines that make America. They build the machines that harvest crops and feed America and feed the world. Originally this was something that we just explained to our members, and we decided it’s not good enough. You have to also ask your members, you have to explain to their employees so they get involved in this and understand that their jobs depend on policies that support their jobs…This year, especially, we’ve gone out there now to the candidates that are running to say “what’s your manufacturing platform? What are your solutions for infrastructure?”’

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Posted in Competitiveness, Employment, Funding, Guests on The Infra Blog, Jobs, Policy, Private Investment, The Infra Blog

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Outstanding Engineering: Connecticut’s CTfastrak BRT System

Thursday, March 3rd, 2016

CTfastrak is the region’s first dedicated mass transit system in more than 50 years. Carrying more than 16,500 riders each weekday, the system centers around an exclusive 9.4-mile guideway dedicated to the BRT system that links central Connecticut communities. It reduces traffic congestion and shortens commute times for commuters in Hartford, West Hartford, Newington and New Britain, CT.

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