Tag: road construction: Page 39

Roadbuilding

This Dutch bike path could be the precursor to solar energy-capturing roads everywhere

A bike path in the Netherlands that’s shorter than a football field could be the future of energy and travel. Engineers built the 229-foot test track with a solar road surface. Al Jazeera reports the path’s surface can be driven over while also generating electricity. The small test track has generated enough electricity in just six months […]

May 22, 2015

Roadbuilding

Lafarge announces rural road solution as a low-cost alternative to asphalt

Lafarge announced recently a new concrete solution to reduce the costs of rural roads up to 55 percent over a 20-year life cycle. Lafarge Malaysia announced the new rural roads solution recently and pilot projects are expected to get underway soon, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported. “Rural concrete roads are more durable, especially in […]

May 22, 2015

Roadbuilding

Without long-term road funding, a Minnesota group has resorted to duct tape

Duct tape is a go-to problem solver in many situations. But it’s usually a temporary fix. No one is going to keep fishing out of a boat patched up with duct tape. And duct tape isn’t going to fix the Minnesota’s lack of transportation funding, no matter how big. But it is holding together a […]

May 21, 2015

Roadbuilding

National Public Works Week kicks off with “low and slow” infrastructure tour

Author Dan McNichol, who has driven a 1949 Hudson across the country to bring attention to road and bridge conditions, helped the American Public Works Association (APWA) kick off National Public Works Week with an appearance in Washington, D.C. at the city’s Public Works Fleet Campus. McNichol is driving the classic car from Brookline, Massachusetts to Los […]

May 21, 2015

Roadbuilding

House passes transportation funding patch

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved HR 2353, the Highway Transportation Funding Act of 2015 in a 387-35 vote. The bill, introduced by Congressmen Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman, and Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), House Ways and Means Committee chairman, extends funding for the Highway Trust Fund until July 31 through a […]

May 20, 2015

Roadbuilding

Report finds current road, bridge conditions are impairing economic growth in rural areas

Research by The Road Improvement Program (TRIP) finds that 15 percent of major rural roads in the U.S. are in poor condition, and 1 in 10 rural bridges are functionally obsolete, conditions that “slow the pace of economic growth in rural America.” “America’s rural transportation network plays a key role in the success and quality of […]

May 20, 2015

Roadbuilding

Nebraska legislature overrides governor’s veto of gas tax increase

Almost immediately after the Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to raise the state’s gas tax, it appeared the newly-approved road funding was at risk as Gov. Pete Ricketts shot down the bill with a veto. But just a week later, lawmakers struck back by overriding the governor’s veto without any votes to spare. The Journal Star […]

May 19, 2015

Roadbuilding

Semi causes 4-vehicle crash into work zone, killing Colorado DOT worker

A Colorado Department of Transportation worker was killed last week after a four-vehicle crash in a construction zone. David Morris, 61, was driving a CDOT dump truck when a semi-truck failed to stop at a construction zone on Highway 50 Friday afternoon, CBS Denver reported. Traffic on the road was reduced to one lane because of […]

May 19, 2015

Roadbuilding

ACI releases multi-format 2015 Manual of Concrete Practice

The American Concrete Institute has released its 2015 Manual of Concrete Practice that includes more than 240 “standards and reports,” and made it available in two digital formats in additional to the seven-volume hard copy set. The two digital versions, a USB drive and online, both offer “search and retrieval” software to search through the […]

May 19, 2015

Roadbuilding

Work on short-term transportation funding patches heats up as deadline nears

Efforts to create at least a short-term patch for transportation funding are in the works this week, with one bill, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (HR 2353), set to go before the House of Representatives Rules Committee today (May 18). Congressmen Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania), Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman, and Paul Ryan […]

May 18, 2015

Roadbuilding

Illinois releases 6-year, $8.4 billion highway improvement plan

The Illinois Department of Transportation plans to spend $8.4 billion on roads in the next six years, but it’s not enough to prevent what IDOT expects to be a “rapid deterioration” of the state’s roads. IDOT plans to focus the majority of the money on maintaining the state’s 1,431 miles of highway and 357 bridges, […]

May 18, 2015

Roadbuilding

North Carolina, Missouri DOTs ask for public input on services/work zones

We’re used to taking customer service surveys for retail outlets, but it’s a rare instance when a public service institution actively seeks out such feedback. Such are the recent efforts of both North Carolina (NCDOT) and Missouri Departments of Transportation (MoDOT). NCDOT is conducting its first customer survey by mailing out questionnaires to “randomly selected […]

May 18, 2015