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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” www.constructionequipmentguide.com Published 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. ashington, 19034 • 215/885-2900 • To ll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.ConstructionEquipmentGuide.com July 30,W 2014 • Vol. LIVPA • No. 16 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910 Nationally
Inside
West Carson Street Viaduct Heartland Project Passes One-Year Mark Infrastructure Crews have encountered existing utilities (waterline/gas lines) while costructing the new Duquesne Light Company electrical ductbank. As a result, crews had to go with extra depth trenches.
AGC Holds 25th Annual Scholarship Event…8
PennDOT is scoring five consortiums on their qualifications and will select at least one to submit a proposal. A consortium typically includes engineers, contractors and a financial group. The project is moving through uncharted territory. Generally, this is how it will work: The consortium will acquire financing upfront for designing and building the bridges, then design and build. The state will pay the consortium at project milestones, probably tied to bridge completions. The consortium then inspects and maintains the bridge for up to 35 years. Bottom line: PennDOT gets a bundle of bridges done early, and the consortium gets five years of steady work. The state would still own the bridges. The bridges cannot be toll bridges, according to PennDOT spokeswoman Jamie Legenos. The details, and pricing, however are still being worked out. “I don’t think I understand,” said a spokesman of George S. Hann & Son Inc., a small bridge contractor in Fort Littleton. “I don’t see where
America’s rural heartland is home to nearly 50 million people, and its natural resources provide the energy, food and fiber that support the nation’s economy and way of life. But, a new report finds that the nation’s rural transportation system, which is critical to the nation’s booming agriculture, energy and tourism sectors, is in need of modernization to address deficient roads and bridges, high crash rates and inadequate connectivity and capacity. The report, “Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Heartland,” was released July 10 by TRIP, a national non-profit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C. It defines Rural America as counties that lack an urban area of at least 50,000 in population or lack a large commuting flow to an urban county. The TRIP report finds that traffic crashes and fatalities on rural roads are disproportionately high, occurring at a rate nearly three times higher than all other roads. In 2012, non-interstate rural roads had a traffic fatality rate of 2.21 deaths for every 100 million vehicle miles of travel, compared to a fatality rate on all other roads of 0.78 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles of travel. Rural traffic fatality rates remain stubbornly high, despite a substantial decrease in the number of overall fatalities. “More than 46 million Americans live in rural and less densely populated areas of the country where their primary mode of transportation is a personal vehicle,” said Kathleen Bower, AAA vice president, public affairs. “Motorists expect and deserve safe, well maintained roads and
see BRIDGES page 114
see TRIP page 116
see VIADUCT page 110
Bobcat Celebrates One Million Loaders…46
PennDOT-Private Partnership Moves Ahead to Replace Bridges By Jim Hook SPECIAL TO CEG
Alex Lyon & Son Hosts Appreciation Event…130
Table of Contents ............4 Paving Section ..........75-89 Backhoes & Attachments Section ....................91-107 Auction Section....128-141 Business Calendar ......134 Advertisers Index ........142
Pennsylvania is moving ahead with plans to quickly replace hundreds of its nearly 4,500 structurally deficient bridges with the help of a private consortium. The consortium would design and build the bridges within five years, then maintain them for a quarter century. Several bridges are in southcentral Pennsylvania. The Rapid Bridge Replacement Project would replace about 600 bridges statewide. The state’s goal is to start construction in 2015. The current list includes 94 bridges in Franklin, Adams, Cumberland, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin and Perry counties, according to John Kennedy, portfolio manager of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 8. The two in Franklin County are the Pa. 233 bridge over Carbaugh Run near the Totem Pole Playhouse and the Pa. 274 bridge over a branch of Tuscarora Creek near Doylesburg. Core samples already have been taken at the Pa. 233 bridge.
Needs Update