Accelerated Construction: Transferring the Technology
Reducing travel delays and disruptions caused by highway construction
and increasing work zone safety are the twin goals behind the Accelerated
Construction Technology Transfer (ACTT) initiative. Sponsored by the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of
State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) Technology Implementation
Group (TIG), ACTT promotes the use of innovative technologies and techniques
to accelerate the construction of major highway projects. "A successful
ACTT deployment is one that evaluates all possible options for acceleration
of construction, including planning and design aspects of highway projects,
for the benefit of the community and the traveling public," says
Dan Sanayi of FHWA.
The ACTT initiative kicked off last year with two pilot accelerated
construction workshops held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (see August 2002 Focus). The ACTT strategy is
to bring together staff from the host Department of Transportation and
experts from other State highway agencies, industry, academia, and FHWA.
In addition to design and construction, these experts' skill areas might
include innovative financing, right-of-way, utilities, and innovative
contracting, as well as work zone traffic control and worker safety,
reflecting the many elements involved in accelerating a highway project.
The Indiana workshop focused on a needed improvement to Interstate
465 on the west side of Indianapolis. Following standard practice for
reconstruction of the corridor would mean 5-8 years of construction,
with two to three engineering contracts and at least five separate construction
contracts. The workshop challenge was to see if corridor construction
could be completed within budget in 3 years while effectively maintaining
traffic flow and accommodating local traffic generators, such as the
Indianapolis International Airport and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Workshop recommendations involved, among other things, optimization
of prefabricated highway components, innovative work zone traffic control
and incident management plans, and long-life roadway and bridge designs.
INDOT's workshop evaluation concluded that implementing the workshop
recommendations would make the project goals attainable.
The Pennsylvania workshop examined options for accelerating the rehabilitation
of a 2.8-km (1.8-mi) segment of Pennsylvania Route 28 in Pittsburgh.
Construction challenges include having to work on a tightly confined
corridor that is supported by a retaining wall adjacent to railroad
tracks along the northbound lanes. Adjacent to the southbound lanes
are numerous residences and businesses and several historical landmarks.
Recommendations made at the workshop for accelerating construction included
transporting construction materials via river barges, in lieu of trucks,
to minimize traffic congestion during construction; moving utility lines
off of the corridor to minimize future traffic disruptions caused by
utility work; and using multiple, high-speed wall construction teams
to build the hillside walls and two of the lanes.
Following the success of the Indiana and Pennsylvania workshops, FHWA
and TIG have been planning further implementation of the ACTT concept.
The FHWA division offices are currently sharing ACTT work plan information
with State highway agencies and soliciting their participation in the
program. Several States have indicated that they are interested in the
program, of which four (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Texas)
have made formal requests to hold a workshop. The Texas and Connecticut
workshops will be conducted in September of this year, with initial
visits to the two States for pre-workshop coordination scheduled for
July 15 and July 25, respectively. The California Department of Transportation
will host its workshop in October. Detailed project information for
these upcoming workshops will be provided in future issues of Focus.
Connecticut also recently accelerated a bridge project in New Haven.
To learn more, see sidebar, page 4.
For more information on ACTT or hosting a workshop in your State,
contact Dan Sanayi at FHWA, 202-493-0551 (email: dan.sanayi@fhwa.dot.gov).
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For the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), constructing
a new bridge over the New Haven Interlocking and Rail Yard presented
the challenge of trying to minimize disruptions to both traffic
and train service. To meet this challenge and eliminate the difficulty
of building a bridge over active rail lines, ConnDOT specified
that this portion of the bridge be completed in a single night
operation over a weekend.
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| Construction of the new Church Street
Bridge in New Haven, CT, involved the use of the largest mobile,
land-based high capacity crane currently in existence. |
After months of work building the structure alongside of the
active rail lines, the Church Street Bridge was lifted and set
into place at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2003. The construction
operation, which was a first for ConnDOT, involved the use of
the largest mobile, land-based high capacity crane currently in
existence. The high-capacity crane, owned by Lampson International
LLC, was delivered in more than 200 tractor-trailer loads of parts
and required more than 4 weeks to assemble. The crane lifted the
entire truss span over 20 m (65 ft) in the air and traveled more
than 30 m (100 ft) towards the tracks, where the span was set
in its final position. The truss span measured 97 m (320 ft) long
and weighed more than 850 tons. This span is the main segment
of the 390-m-long (1,280 ft) bridge that will carry the Church
Street South Extension over the New Haven Rail Yard. The new bridge
and roadway extension will connect New Haven's Union Avenue with
Sargent Drive and provide an alternate route for traffic heading
to the downtown, Sargent Drive, and Long Wharf areas of the city.
ConnDOT estimates that it saved approximately 1 year on its overall
contract time by using the accelerated method of construction.
The agency looked at two other proposals for the project, with
the first being a traditional stick building of the structure,
which would have cost an estimated $2 million more than using
the crane. The second approach considered was to launch the bridge
using a gantry, which would have cost $1.1 million more than the
crane. These two approaches would have required temporary bents
(supports) to be erected between the main railroad tracks. As
this work would neccessitate four track outages, it could only
have been accomplished on the weekends. The work also would have
been impeded by the severe winter of 2002/2003 and the wet spring,
making the accelerated approach an even smarter choice.
For more information on the Church Street Bridge project, contact
Larry D'Addio at ConnDOT, 203-389-3132.
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| The Church Street Bridge was lifted
and set into place in a single night operation. |
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Articles in this issue:
Structures Repair Goes Ultrasonic
TIG Announces Focus Technologies for 2003
Accelerated Construction: Transferring the Technology
Reducing Utility-Related Delays: A Resource Guide
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