No Picture
Project Related

Pittsburgh PA Light Rail Tunnel Construction and Cost Overruns

The Port Authority of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) has a major transit improvement project dubbed the North Shore Connector. Its main components are twin bored tunnels 1.2 miles long that will connect the Port Authority’s Light Rail Transit system, the T, 1.2 miles from the Gateway Subway Station underneath Stanwix Street and the Allegheny River to the North Shore. It will travel under the river and provide three new stations and allow for future improvements beneficial to future development and continued downtown revitalization. The $435 million project is making news recently for cost increases, drawing comparisons to Boston’s Big Dig much to the dismay of the Port Authority. Read on for project maps, links and more info. 

[…]

Available Resources

Second Issue of International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories [Official This Time]

The International Journal of Geoengineering Case Histories has formally announced their second issue. Apparently when I posted about it previously, they had only two of the four papers.

This second issue contains four case histories that come with additional downloads. In particular, check out Dr. Edmund Medley’s Paper on the 2006 Hawaii Earthquakes. He has some neat  photos including some in 3-D (more about his 3-D photos).

 

[…]

Project Related

Seattle Light-Rail Tunnel Likely to Break Ground This Year

Thanks to approximately $100 million from President Bush’s proposed 2009 budget, the $1.8 billion project creating a light-rail line from downtown Seattle to the University of Washington is likely to break ground some time this year. The project will involve twin bored tunnels on the order of 3 miles in length. It is scheduled to open for use in 2016.

There is another notable tunnel project associated with the Seattle Light Rail, known as the Beacon Hill tunnel which I have blogged about before.

[…]

Standards and Codes

US House Passes National Tunnel Inspection Program

The US House of Representatives passed legislation approving a national tunnel inspection program. This of course came about as a result of a fatal accident from 2006 in a tunnel on Boston’s Big Dig project where a concrete ceiling tile fell on a car killing one person. More after the break. 

[…]

Project Related

Boston’s Big Dig Finally Complete

The $14.8 billion project that has constructed a dizzying array of underground highways, bridges, ramps and tunnels in the middle of Boston has finally ended. The end of 2007 apparently was also the end of the Bechtel/Parsons Brinkerhoff joint venture that designed and built the project. More… (Photo by brewrat)

[…]

Project Related

London Crossrail Project – Will Be Largest Civil Project in Europe

According to ENR, the U.K. government has approved the 7-year, $32-billion London Crossrail Project which will reportedly be Europe’s biggest civil engineering project. It will include 41.5-km of tunnels 6-m in diameter laid out in pairs. The tunnels will pass underneath London and connect surface networks on either side of the city. Link after the break. (Photo by tkosaka)

[…]

Project Related

Hanging Lake Tunnel (Colorado) repair nearly complete

A stretch of tunnel on Eastbound I-70 in scenic Glenwood Canyon Colorado was closed last March because of a 70-foot long crack in the ceiling. Since then the two-lane westbound bore has been handling both eastbound and westbound traffic while repairs to the damaged segment were undertaken. This project has a little of everything: heavy excavation, rockfall, slab reinforcing, geofoam, and even geogrid! Read on for more details, a map and photos. (Photo by Concrete Works Of Colorado)

[…]

Geologic Hazards

Devil’s Slide Tunnel Construction Kicks Off

On September 17, CALTRANS and Kiewit Pacific held a "tunnel excavation celebration" to kick off the start of tunnel construction on The Devil’s Slide Tunnels project on California State Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) in San Mateo County between the town of Montara to the south and the city of Pacifica to the north. The project involves the creation of a separated two-lane road, one lane in each direction. This road will pass through twin tunnels, over twin bridges and connect with an existing non-separated two-lane road at each end. The new road will be approximately 6,500 feet long, made up of the roughly 4,000-foot twin tunnels, the 1,500-foot north approach road (which includes the 1000-foot parallel bridges), and the 1,000-foot south approach road. Upon completion, the new road will bypass geologically unstable portions of existing Route 1, sections of roadway subject to lengthy closures, high maintenance costs over the years, and risk of permanent failure. Thanks Geology.com for the heads up. [Read on for more background, photos, maps, and movies!] (Images by CALTRANS)

[…]

Failures

Tunnel Repair Begins on CO I-70

ENR reports that repair work has begun on a portion of the Hanging Lake Tunnel on I-70 in Glenwood Colorado after a crack opened up in the tunnel bore ceiling slab. Read on for more info. (CDOT Photo)

[…]