Case Studies
During the fall of 2016, a particularly bad storm hit a shoreline road in Gisborne, New Zealand. Monstrous waves slammed into the shoreline slope, which eroded away due to oversaturation and lack of foundational support. The erosion washed away part of the slope and took a portion of the road with...
The Teodoro Moscoso Bridge is the longest bridge spanning a body of water in Puerto Rico. The four-lane, 1.4-mile-long toll bridge spans the San José Lagoon, connecting the cities of San Juan and Carolina while also serving as the main entrance to the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport. The...
Winters in the Midwest can be harsh, especially on the roads. As roads age and are exposed to the elements, the striping that delineates lanes tends to fade first. Creating a systematic approach to maintaining road markings is important, but many cities overlook this and may not budget for it. In...
In July 2000, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) sent a letter to Scott Fier, president of American Highway Products, approving the use of his company’s adjustable riser rings when raising utility and manhole rims to grade after pavement lifts. Formal language describing acceptable...
Widening a highway includes widening and replacing bridges, and for that, cranes are in high demand. Florida’s I-4 corridor, an east-west expressway that connects Daytona with Tampa, is undergoing an ambitious five-year, $2.3 billion widening project that will expand the expressway from four lanes...
The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Miss., was undertaking an airport improvement project that included repairing, repaving, and adding new runways and taxiways. As part of this improvement project, the airport discovered several aging and deteriorating drainage culverts under...
The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge or its official name of the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, spans Lake Washington from Seattle to Bellevue and was replaced in 2016. The new bridge is certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest and widest...
Green Diamond Resource Co. is a fifth-generation, family-owned forest products company—a major timber supplier of power poles and various specialty products, as well as logs for sawmills.
Based in Shelton, Wash., the company relies on its efficiency in growing and harvesting timber on 1 million...
Major District Road (MDR) 31 passes through Shaha and Kolpewadi villages in Sinnar Taluka, part of District Nashik in India’s Maharashtra state. Overseen by the Nashik Public Works Department (PWD), the road provides an important link between sugarcane farms and sugar mills in the area. During peak...
With a deadline approaching, one backed by a very large fine if it were missed, officials of the city of Cleveland, Ohio, recently reopened the part of Superior Avenue that runs through Public Square downtown.
The following timeline is an overview of the circumstances that led to the reopening of...
Highway work zones are hazardous, both for drivers who must maneuver through traffic control arrangements and for construction workers who operate steps away from passing vehicles. In this environment, a split-second distraction or unexpected incident can have grave consequences. To prevent serious...
Asphalt overlays are one of the most common and well-studied roadway projects, so innovation seems unlikely, especially the kind of new idea that saves significant time and money without a major capital investment. But Rowe Construction, an Illinois paving firm, recently saved about 400 man-hours...
When a road turns into a raging river, it becomes both dangerous and damaging. This is exactly what happened in July 2013, when the city of Lebanon, N.H., was swamped with more than 4 in. of rain within 48 hours—2 in. fell in just 45 minutes. The deluge caused flash flooding, which left residents...
A large corporation in the Boulder, Colo., area experienced a serious situation on its property when a pair of 48-in. elliptical corrugated metal pipes (CMP) collapsed in the immediate vicinity of many critical utilities. The pipes were located at the very end of the storm-water system that handles...
Cleburne, Texas, located about 30 miles south of Fort Worth, is the county seat of Johnson County. Like most cities in the United States, road maintenance is a major concern there.
In 2015, Cleburne city officials knew something had to be done about the number of roads in need of repair due to...
Built circa 1921, Pittsburgh’s Beechwood Boulevard Bridge, known locally as the Greenfield Bridge, underwent rehabilitation in the 1980s. By 2013, plans to replace the aging structure were underway. The old bridge was demolished, and the erection of the new bridge began in early 2016. Reaching...
In the report titled “Development of Temporary Rumble Strip Specifications,” commissioned by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), authors Steven D. Schrock, Ph.D., P.E., F.ITE, Vishal Sarikonda and Eric J. Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. add significantly to the body of knowledge of temporary rumble...
Designed to meet the needs of this century, the New NY Bridge is built to last well into the next. To assure the longevity of the massive concrete structure, engineers and builders have added substantial precast concrete elements into the design. Bearing the load on the heavily trafficked road and...
The work of building and maintaining America’s roads and bridges relies heavily on the effective management of traffic, which includes limiting proximities among motorists, workers and equipment in construction zones.
A Federal Highway Administration (FHA) analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics...
All great visions have to start somewhere. This one began with over 3 miles of paved multi-purpose trail winding through the scenic Clear Creek Canyon near Denver.
Installing the retaining walls was no easy task, as the terrain includes steep slopes, flooding issues along the river, active...
