Congress recently approved a long-term federal transportation funding bill that includes two high priority corridors along Interstate 11 in Arizona. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, which is designed to last for the next five years, is a sign of significant progress. Now local departments of transportation can plan their infrastructure projects for years to come. Read More »

The Subcommittee on Aviation held a roundtable discussion Tuesday concerning the policies for hiring, staffing and training air traffic controllers with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). With the roundtable starting at 10 a.m., the discussion will be held at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2167. Attendees will include the Aviation Subcommittee, Matthew Hampton. Read More »

Although President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act last week, the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America hopes to see continued Congressional support for the nation’s infrastructure in the coming years. The measure, which will allocate $305 billion toward infrastructure projects over the next five years, was the first long-term highway funding bill since 2005. Read More »

The Every Day Counts named the ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as the innovation of the month Thursday. UHPC is created from ultra-high strength steel to create fiber-reinforced concrete. Using UHPC heightens the durability of the structure and simplifies the construction of connection, which is one of the most important parts of prefabricated bridge elements. Read More »

The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan was recently granted to the state of Delaware for its new US 301 project for a mainline toll. Read More »

The FTA, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation, recently launched a transit-oriented development (TOD) initiative for local communities near transit areas. Transit development projects generate new jobs as well as services and also helps communities become more walkable and diverse. The TOD initiative has been introduced throughout the United States. Read More »

Crews working with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) conducted work on the bridge replacement project for Hell Canyon bridge, located on State Route 89, Thursday. The work first began at 7 p.m. and ended on schedule at 7 a.m. Friday. The night work required that drivers follow reroutes for a new, temporary detour that ran alongside the current highway. Read More »

The “First Hill Streetcar Safety Day" took place Thursday to emphasize safety features in Metro streetcars. The event was held at the Broadway & Denny, Occidental & Jackson and 14th & Washington streetcar stations. At the event, streetcar operators sat with stationary streetcars and people were encouraged to board the streetcars in order to see the new features. Read More »

The Federal Aviation Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation, released its revised safety rating for the Kingdom of Thailand Tuesday. As of July, Thailand currently doesn't meet the safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This places Thailand within the Category 2 International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating. Read More »

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has scheduled a public meeting Tuesday about the Allston I-90 Interchange improvements. The meeting will be held at the Jackson Mann Community Center and give the public the chance to learn more about the progress and improvements that have been made throughout the last six months in replacing the I-90 Allston Interchange. Read More »

Leaders from the Michigan Department of Transportation published a new research report. The report is entitled “Research on Evaluation and Standardization of Accelerated Bridge Construction Techniques." There is now a full listing of research reports that MDOT has published between 1940 and 2015 available on the MDOT website. All of the reports are online in the form of PDFs. Read More »

The AAR published the latest U.S. weekly rail traffic for the week ending Nov. 28 as well as for the first 11 months in this year. For November, carload traffic amounted to 1,041,605 carloads. This is a decline of 10.4 percent or 120,259 carloads compared to November of last year. Additionally, U.S. railroads generated 1,024,162 trailers and containers for the month. Read More »

A railroad crossing in Breitung Township in Dickinson County will now be signed as “exempt,” allowing trucks and buses that typically stop at the crossing to continue across the railroad tracks. The review of the Wisconsin Central (WC) crossing was completed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Third Street runs along US-141, just east of the highway. Read More »

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) congratulated Congressional conferees Tuesday for coming to an agreement about the first long-term surface transportation legislation in approximately 10 years. The agreement includes the railroad industry in the United States and calls for safety improvements for tank cars when they transport flammable liquids throughout the nation. Read More »

The Government and Accountability Office released the latest bridge conditions for all bridge structures within the United States, which has a total of 610,749 bridges. Twenty-three percent of them are part of the National Highway System, which makes up 58 percent of the total deck area for the United States. Deck area refers to the width of the surface of the road on the bridge. Read More »

The Idaho Transportation Department is holding an open house event Wednesday to explain plans and designs for the replacement of the Broadway Avenue bridge located in Boise’s downtown area. The project requires crews to remove as well as replace the bridge that crosses the Boise River. They will also make improvements on Broadway Avenue, from Front Street to University Drive.  Read More »

Construction investments for the month of October achieved its highest level of growth in nonresidential, residential as well as public categories. Investments in construction for October amounted to $1.107 trillion. This is a seasonally adjusted yearly rate. It is 1 percent more than the total from September and an additional 13 percent more than the figure from October 2014. Read More »

Leaders from the House and Senate committees announced a bipartisan, bicameral agreement Tuesday for the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. The leaders include U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Read More »

A long-term transportation bill that includes funding would significantly impact engineering and construction businesses in creating new jobs and sustaining long-term viability in the industry, among numerous other benefits, according to ACEC. ACEC members would like to see such a bill come from current U.S. House-Senate conference negotiations to reconcile differences. Read More »

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. recently delivered one of its Q-Cab160 back-of-cab CNG storage systems to OEM. The new storage system is the top in its industry. It will be installed on an OEM natural gas-powered tractor at the Truck Mod center, allowing the systems to be applied using secondary installation methods or using direct OEM trucks. Read More »