Top Projects of 1987
by Kneeland A. Godfrey, Jr., Sr. Ed.;Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1987, Vol. 57, Issue 7, Pg. 54-57
Document Type: Feature article
Abstract:
Five notable entries in the 1987 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement competition are summarized. The Keehi Interchange of the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu is only 1.9 miles long, but completing it took 11 years and $148 million; the two most important factors were overcoming a 150 ft deep layer of extremely soft, unconsolidated clay, and the need to keep 10 highway lines open at all times for the 250,000 vpd traffic flow. The redevelopment of Union Station in Indianapolis, a 29- month, $50 million project, restored landmark buildings in the train station area and added a 276-room hotel (including 13 Pullman sleeper cars transformed into 26 suites), a shopping center with 50 specialty stores and over 40 restaurants, four nightclubs and an amphitheatre plus a bus terminal and a 900-car parking garage. The elevated tank at Perdido Key, near Pensacola, Florida, is unique in being cast in place near the ground and then being jacked up 65 ft to its position. By casting it there, testing could be done before lifting, and precasting of the concrete leg segments could proceed along with the rest of the work, reducing construction time. The St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace, at 129 ft or 12 stories tall, was the second highest ice structure ever built. Lake ice 2 ft thick was sawed into 9,000 blocks. The city, construction trades, and lay volunteers combined to raise the $200,000 construction budget, donate equipment and erect the structure, perhaps the most photographed and reported-on building in Minnesota history. The Banfield Light Rail Transitway in Portland, a new 15 mi light rail line combined with a 4 mi relocation of Banfield Freeway at a cost of $300 million, is said to be the first joint highway and transit project of its kind in the U.S. Designed to reduce auto volume and air pollution, other results of the project's success are the development of an $85 million metro convention center and the location of a new high-tech industrial plant.
Subject Headings: Project management | Highways and roads | Railroad trains | Railroad stations | Rail transportation | Parking facilities | Ice
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