Despite inclement weather, construction of the new St. Anthony Falls bridge in Minneapolis to replace the Interstate 35 bridge that collapsed and fell into the Mississippi River Aug. 1, 2007, is moving forward. It's a weather situation with which Flatiron-Manson, the design-builder for the project, has experience. Their cold-weather construction background has kept workers and materials warm through a tough Minnesota winter. And progress continues.
At the beginning of April, the majority of the drilled shaft foundations for the bridge supports were complete. Concrete poured in the shaft foundations has achieved strengths averaging 8,380 pounds per square inch. Crews continue falsework construction and have begun pouring the concrete. They poured concrete for the sides and bottoms of the south approach spans at the end of March and concrete pours for the road beds of those spans was scheduled for the middle of April.
Work for the first half of April included assembling "Big Ben," a barge-mounted crane designed to lift pre-cast segments for the main span into place beginning in May. Other work at this time includes installing the barrel for a pedestrian tunnel that will run under the south end of the bridge, constructing the falsework on both sides of the river and pouring concrete for one to three segments a day in the casting yard.
By the middle of May, builders should pour 41 of the 120 pre-cast segments for the main span of the bridge.
Community involvement also continues as a factor in the project. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) Web site: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/ contains advisories about expected noise and light affecting local residents, traffic and parking closures and construction traffic. The sidewalk superintendent talks have proved so popular that the bike lane in one section is closed for the Saturday morning talks. The Mn/DOT Web site also contains progress reports, a Web cam, animated movies and a "Faces of the Project" featuring interviews with those working on the design-build project.
But Minnesota isn't the only state with important infrastructure bridge work. The dangerous state of much of the United States' infrastructure was highlighted in March when a crack in a bridge support on Interstate 95, north of Philadelphia, spurred officials to close the highway for two days for repairs. The crack, noted by a structural engineer in October, had widened; the engineer passed by on March 17 and noticed that the half-inch crack was now two inches wide and some four feet long. He alerted authorities, who decided an emergency repair was called for.
The section of I-95 was closed March 18 and re-opened March 20 after steel supports were added to the bridge. Some 190,000 vehicles use that section of I-95 every day, and the closure caused significant traffic jams as drivers had to detour.
Late winter and spring is the time when infrastructure problems become noticeable - the freeze/thaw cycle during the winter and the corrosive effects of road salt weaken roads and bridges. Much of the necessary transportation infrastructure repair is typically deferred for economic reasons, but itfs starting to look as though those needs are continuing to grow.
The American Society of Civil Engineers has estimated that the cost of bringing the nation's roads and bridges up to par will run in the trillions.
DBIA Award Entries Due May 30
Entries for the three different National Design-Build Award competitions - the National Design-Build Project Awards, the Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award and the Distinguished Design-Build Leadership Award - are due no later than May 30 at the Washington, D.C., DBIA office.
To be considered for a National Design-Build Project Award, projects must demonstrate successful application of design-build principles, including collaboration in the early stages of the project and the acceptance of single-entity risk. The project must be completed on time, on budget and without litigation. Winning projects are honored for their advanced and innovative application of total integrated project delivery and finding unique solutions for project challenges.
Project submissions may be awarded a National Design-Build, Design-Build Excellence or Design-Build Merit Award in one of 13 categories. To be eligible, projects must have been completed between March 31, 2005, and March 31, 2008.
Nominations for the Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award should be for an individual who has made significant contributions to the design and construction industry through outstanding leadership and the advancement of design-build delivery. The award may be presented to any individual, independent of specific institutional affiliation with any organization, including DBIA. The number and frequency of awards are strictly at jury discretion. Nominations may be submitted by organizations or individuals, including the nominees themselves.
Nominations for the Distinguished Design-Build Leadership Award should go to individuals who have demonstrated leadership in the advancement of best design-build practices and of design-build as the project delivery method of choice. Nominees need not hold DBIA membership and can be submitted by DBIA members, other practitioners or the nominees themselves.
Judging will take place at DBIA in June 2008 by a jury of industry experts, including DBIA members, owners and design-builders.
Award presentations will take place during the 2008 Design-Build Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, November 3-5, 2008. Visit www.dbia.org for more information, the award entry application and complete entry rules. Direct any questions to Stephenie Zvonkovich at szvonkovich@dbia.org.
Design-Build Growing in Asia
Representatives of the Korea Institute of Construction Technology met with DBIA representatives in Washington in March to discuss their countryfs interest in learning the ins and outs of design-build. DBIA President Walker Lee Evey briefed Hwan Pyo Park and Kyung Ho Chin about design-build and its evolution and growth. Asian countries continue to show great interest in integrated delivery and are working to become leaders in design-build worldwide.