News

New Transportation Bill will likely result in more Design-Build and P3 projects. Read more here. Read More

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that the Utah Department of Transportation is experimenting with technological systems that could eventually allow cars to talk to one another or with traffic signals. UDOT’s director of intelligent-transportation systems, Blaine Leonard, is “part of a nationwide technical group trying to work out details and standards.”  Read More

This September marks a year since the devastating floods of 2013. In that year, Coloradans have seen an amazing outpouring of strength and resilience. In a feature article on the flood event in March of this year, industry news magazine Roads and Bridges commented that “The public-private-sector response to the flash floods—which took place during monsoon rains Monday through Sunday Sept. 9-15—was so productive that the last major highway [SH 7] was reopened the day before Thanksgiving.” Read More

The US 40 bridge over the East Fork of the Elk River, approximately 7 miles west of Steamboat Springs, was identified as one of several bridges in Colorado in poor condition. These bridges were prioritized for replacement utilizing the Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery (FASTER) administered by the Colorado Bridge Enterprise (CBE). Read More

Traffic and multi-modal travel in the Lakewood area have increased drastically and CDOT determined that changes to the interchange and roadway configuration were necessary to improve safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. CDOT, in partnership with FHWA, undertook an Environmental Assessment study in 2007 to identify potential improvements to the interchange. The goal of the project was to identify a design for the interchange and roadway to provide additional roadway capacity to meet current and future traffic demands for the area, enhance operational efficiency, improve safety, and better support multi-modal demands, while minimizing impacts. Read More

In its second feature article on the project (the first appearing in the July 30 edition), ENR Mountain States reported on the many innovative solutions delivered in the Pecos over I-70 Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) project. ABC projects aim to minimize the impact on the travelling public for the affected area by reducing onsite construction time. RockSol provided structural plan review, safety critical review, structural inspection including post-tensioning, and quality assurance materials testing on this project. Pecos Street reopened last Labor Day weekend. Read More

CDOT approved a $55 million improvement package for the widening of I-70 westbound at the Twin Tunnels in Idaho Springs. The work on the westbound project will begin this year, and the eastbound expansion project — totaling $106 million — finished up late last year.  Read More

According to the DenverPost, “Americans spend a total of 600,000 years stuck in traffic every year. The nation has about 100,000 bridges old enough for Medicare. And a recent global ranking put the United States’ infrastructure in 25th place, just behind Barbados. But Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says he sees signs the nation may finally be ready to tackle its ‘infrastructure deficit.’ One reason for optimism is that some members of Congress are beginning to talk about specific proposals to shore up the Federal Highway Trust Fund, which has been teetering on the edge of insolvency for years.” Proposals to address the impending infrastructure deficit include: reforming corporate taxes, increasing the gas tax by 15 cents over the next three years, and replacing the gas tax with a federal sales tax on gas. Also, more efficient construction practices and materials — such as using warm asphalt instead of hot mix asphalt — can save billions of dollars.  Read More