Tag: road construction: Page 47

Business

Road builders, construction groups oppose bill to lower gas tax, surrender federal highway authority to states

Construction groups and transportation interests have written Congress to express opposition to the so-called “devolution” of the federal highway program and the proposed Transportation Empowerment Act. The bill, introduced in the House and Senate last fall, transfers almost all authority over federal highway and transit programs to the states over a five-year period. It would […]

September 18, 2014

Technology

New “bridge in a backpack” construction method saves Vermont town time and money

Those who have driven in the Fairfield, Vermont, area recently may have wondered what construction crews were doing placing hollow tubing over Wanzer Brook. Don’t worry, the crews weren’t going crazy. They were implementing a new bridge construction method dubbed “bridge in a backpack.” According to a report from the Burlington Free-Press, the hollow tubes are made of […]

September 16, 2014

Roadbuilding

Why repair cracks when you can avoid them altogether?

Fibers in concrete bridges controls cracks High-performance, fiber-reinforced concrete controls cracks and provides satisfactory bond strengths in bridge deck construction, say Levon C. Hoomes, E.I.T., Celik Ozyildirim, Ph.D., P.E., principal research scientist, and Michael C. Brown, Ph.D., P.E., associate director, Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research, in their 2014 TRB paper, “Evaluation of High […]

September 10, 2014

Roadbuilding

A crack-resistant road? You better believe it!

Stress-absorbing membrane interlayer in Rural Nevada In Washoe County, Nev. County Highway 447 was improved by cold in-place recycling, placement of a fiber-reinforced SAMI, and finished with a Type III slurry surfacing as the final wearing surface instead of a costly total reconstruction. “With fuel prices going up, we are seeing a lot more truck […]

September 4, 2014

Roadbuilding

A road without fibers is a road soon to be in need of repair

New research is reaffirming the benefits of steel or synthetic engineered fibers in asphalt pavements and concrete, where they enhance performance, replace fine matter, and in the case of concrete, control shrinkage cracking and keep deicing salts away from reinforcing steel. For decades, fibers of all origins have been hawked as cure-alls for pavement problems. […]

August 29, 2014

Business

The LA Sheriff’s Dept. melted thousands of guns to recycle them as road construction material

Thousands of handguns, rifles and other weapons have been destroyed to eventually be used in construction of roads and bridges. Nearly 5,000 weapons were melted and converted into steel rebar as part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s 21st annual Gun Melt event. More than 178,000 weapons have been destroyed as part of the event […]

August 28, 2014

Roadbuilding

Vehicles covered in oil and grime after construction project gone wrong

Drivers headed west on Highway 19 near Northfield, Minnesota, found an unpleasant surprise on their vehicles. Commuters saw signs warning of road construction, but didn’t think anything of it until they exited their vehicles after reaching their destination. That’s when they found their vehicles covered in oil and grime. It was the result of a simple […]

August 28, 2014

Roadbuilding

Kansas to receive $1.2 billion for improvements

The Kansas Department of Transportation has announced a projected $1.2 billion improvement program for highways, bridge replacement and local projects throughout the state. The funds will create several short- and long-term highway and bridge construction jobs, with work expected to begin throughout 2015 and 2016. The improvements are a continuing part of the 10-year T-Works […]

August 25, 2014

Roadbuilding

How to avoid highway work zone injuries and deaths

Serious injury and death is becoming an all-too-common occurrence for highway construction workers. Although workers aren’t always at fault, there are several preventable measures that can be taken to help reduce the risk of such a horrible and tragic accident. Here are several steps that can be taken to help keep road crews safe: Use […]

August 22, 2014

Construction Equipment

Construction worker rolled over by equipment and killed while laying asphalt in Arkansas

A worker in Batesville, Arkansas was killed earlier this month when he was rolled over by a piece of equipment. John Garner, 52, was killed while construction crews were laying asphalt, according to a report from KAIT TV. Authorities say Garner was helping with the construction when a “piece of rolling equipment” flipped and rolled […]

August 19, 2014

Business

Bursting bubble of big tobacco financing gives glimpse of road building’s future without a gas tax increase

Last week I wrote about how states that engage in public-private partnerships (P3s) and other types of debt and bond financing would create short term gains and long term disaster for the road building industry. This weekend I read an article on ProPublica, an independent journalism site, that shows how the exact same thing—only using […]

August 12, 2014

Business

Mud in Your Mouth: How Rex’s Outrageous developed Road Crew Crunch, a line of construction-themed snacks

Blame it on Grandma. “My grandmother had a snack mix she called Gravel,” relates Daren Rexroad (but please call him “Rex”), “made of peanuts, pretzels, cereal and white chocolate.”  Using her recipe, Rex started experimenting, substituting dark chocolate there, milk chocolate here. Soon he had several snack mixes people were urging him to start selling. […]

August 4, 2014