Investments in the Future

Denning, James; ,

Investments in the Future

by James Denning, Assistant Editor; Civil Engineering, 345 East 47th St. New york, NY 10017,

Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1994, Vol. 64, Issue 7, Pg. 40-43

Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

The projects that earned the 1994 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Awards of Merit were improvements to the nations transportation and environmental infrastructures. On the outskirts of Spokane, Wash., CH2M Hill's local office provided planning, design and construction services to clean up a Superfund site. Starting with a frank campaign to inform and involve th public, the company worked on eight concurrent projects, including a gas collection and burning system, a sewer relocation and an extraction well, to close the complicated site quickly and create a wildlife area on top of it. Parsons Brinkerhoff, New York, also make quick work of it's winning project, the New Baldwin Bridge, over the Connecticut River between Saybrook and Old Lyme, Connecticut. The project is the second largest post-tensioned segmental concrete bridge in the country, spanning 2,530 ft with its 488 precast segments. Despite the bridge's size, only eight different types of segment were used, speeding construction and helping to ensure quality. Fastest of all, however, was probably the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA, with its project to replace or repair 21 rail crossings in the heart of Philadelphia. Working around the clock during two service shutdowns totalling ten months, crews also replaced the old bolted track with continuous welded rails, repaired the overhead catenary power system, installed new communications and power control cables, and created a new station to serve Temple University.

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