Tag: California Department of Transportation: Page 8

Roadbuilding

3 strategies for balancing safety and roadside weed control

Balancing public and crew safety while maintaining effective roadside weed control is an ongoing challenge for DOT managers. Rights of way can be dangerous places when weeds obstruct sightlines, compromise road surfaces and provide fuel for wildfires. To learn more about solutions to vegetation management that meet safety challenges, I spoke with several roadside management […]

August 14, 2014

Business

Report: Caltrans decision to hire inexperienced Chinese firm for Bay Bridge welding “will haunt” travelers “for generations”

A detailed investigative report from the Sacramento Bee has found that the California Department of Transportation’s decision to hire a Chinese firm with no experience building bridges to construct key parts of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, “will haunt the new span and the traveling public for generations to come.” Construction on the bridge was completed last […]

June 10, 2014

Roadbuilding

U.S. DOT to provide $325 million TIFIA loan for California’s Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement

The U.S. Department of Transportation is providing a $325 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to help pay for the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project in Long Beach, Calif., Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced last week. The $1.2 billion project — a joint effort of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and […]

May 26, 2014

Roadbuilding

Geosynthetics speed construction

Geosynthetics Speed Construction While Enhancing Pavement Performance Geosynthetics comprise a family of value-added products that allows highways, roads and bridges to be built faster, cheaper and longer lasting. Some geosynthetics enhance pavement longevity by separating good materials from bad. Some promote water flow from pavement structures as they facilitate drainage. And while most geosynthetics are planar […]

May 1, 2014

Roadbuilding

Oklahoma DOT looks to Caltrans for bridge assessment advice

Bridges across the nation are aging, with many now well past their projected life spans. Oklahoma’s bridges are among those aging structures. In the “Better Bridges 2013 Bridge Inventory,” Better Roads reported that 14 percent of the state’s 7,664 bridges were either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Add that recent seismic activity, which, according to a […]

April 22, 2014

Roadbuilding

Cal Poly Pomona engineering students get real-world road building experience from Caltrans

If you want to be a transportation engineer in Southern California, your chances improve dramatically when you have Xudong Jia as your professor.  At California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), Jia teaches in the Civil Engineering department with classes of students who want to build the roadways of the future. Several years ago, […]

March 14, 2014

Construction Equipment

Caltrans agrees to remove netting from bridge construction site to remove threat to swallows

The California Department of Transportation recently reached a settlement with conservationists to remove netting draped across a construction site near San Francisco consisting of two bridges. According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, Caltrans draped the netting over the Petaluma and Lakeville Overpass bridges on Highway 101 to keep cliff swallows from nesting beneath […]

February 13, 2014

Construction Equipment

State investigation concludes Caltrans systematically quieted safety critics of new Bay Bridge span

An investigation by the state Senate Transportation Committee has concluded that the California Department of Transportation “systematically” worked to quiet “serious allegations” aimed at the safety of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. According to a report from the San Jose Mercury News, the committee interviewed multiple engineers involved in the construction of […]

January 30, 2014

Roadbuilding

Seven states use technology, innovative solutions to combat extreme winter weather

It’s no secret that extreme winter weather can drive up costs, forcing state transportation departments to think creatively when looking for effective solutions within their budgets. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) President and Secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Mike Hancock notes that some DOTs have found solutions to cut costs, […]

December 26, 2013

Roadbuilding

Diamond saw cut surface textures improve pavement performance

Increasingly, specifiers around the world are recognizing the benefits of diamond grinding and other diamond saw cut textures for their pavement and bridge deck surfaces. While most properly designed and constructed Portland cement concrete pavements (PCCP) can last for 30 to 40 years with minimal structural damage, functional issues such as ride quality, noise and […]

November 15, 2013

Roadbuilding

Caltrans wins Pavement Pioneer Award for Perpetual Pavement projects

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has received a national Pavement Pioneer Award for the long-life asphalt pavement projects recently constructed on Interstate 5 in Northern California. Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty received the award on behalf of the agency at the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) Fall Asphalt Pavement Conference last week in Sacramento. Mike […]

October 31, 2013

Roadbuilding

AASHTO announces Faces of Transportation photo contest winners

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) announced Thursday that two photos of workers at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge won the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award in the association’s Faces of Transportation photo contest. A judge selected the Grand Prize winner. California Department of Transportation Engineer Martin Chandrawinata received […]

September 27, 2013