Infrastructure Projects Proceed in PA, FL, MN, VA, MD

It’s widely accepted that transportation infrastructure — including streets, bridges and transit systems — must be maintained in order to move goods and critical workers at all times. Recently, Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, reinforced the importance of infrastructure projects, saying, “Construction workers provide an invaluable economic service, maintaining and improving the nation’s infrastructure, including critically important energy and communication systems, roads and bridges…”

The state and local government spending alone on transportation and water infrastructure across the U.S. in 2017 were reported by the Congressional Budget Office to be $342-billion. Following are a few infrastructure projects that are currently proceeding full speed ahead.

In Florida, the $864-million Howard Frankland Bridge construction project has been put on a shortened schedule to take advantage of lighter traffic. FDOT is planning for more progress to be made on the project during a day of work when there’s less traffic to contend with. The bridge, which crosses Tampa Bay, connects Tampa and St. Petersburg and will have toll lanes and non-toll lanes. Additional projects in Florida include road widening in Palm Beach County, an $802-million design-build project involving I-395, I-95 and SR 836 in Miami, and another highway project in Orlando.

In Pennsylvania three projects, with a total value of about $530-millon, are proceeding on the turnpike system. They include widening and reconstruction on Montgomery County’s northeastern extension, a rehab of the Tuscarora Mountain Tunnel, and work to replace the lighting in the 80-year-old Allegheny Tunnel in Somerset County. PennDOT is also restarting $1-billion in five dozen highway, tunnel, drainage, and bridge projects across the state which it characterizes as critically important.

Work continues on the light rail Purple Line in Maryland. The 16-mile Purple Line will extend from Bethesda to New Carrollton and provide a direct connection to the Metrorail lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. It will also connect to MARC train, Amtrak and local bus services.

In Virginia, where traffic volumes decreased by over half in the early part of 2020, the State Department of Transportation approved extended hours for lane closures to give contractors more flexibility for construction activities. The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, begun in 2009, continues in Northern Virginia with extension of the Metro Silver Line . Interstate 66, the only interstate highway going west from Washington, DC to Northern Virginia, is also being widened.

The 1,210-mile long, $8-billion Keystone XL oil pipeline expansion is under construction on the first U.S. segment in Northern Montana. Stretching from Hardisty, Alberta, Canada to Steele City, Nebraska, it is designed to transport up to 830,000 barrels (bbl) of crude oil per day beginning in 2023.

Minnesota Department of Transportation has scheduled $1-billion in road projects in 2020. They include five projects in Minneapolis, two in Bloomington, plus other projects scattered around the state. MnDOT provides updated online descriptions of the projects with maps to track its infrastructure projects.

In Utah, Missouri, Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and many other states, most major road projects are continuing, ensuring that the nation’s infrastructure needs continue to be addressed.  

Today’s infrastructure projects have become more complex and data rich and require civil engineers to reduce errors, improve cost estimating and shorten schedules. For this reason, Autodesk Civil 3D is widely used on infrastructure projects, and version 2021 was just launched. You can learn about the new features by accessing the Applied Software webinar, “An Inside Look at the Civil 3D Update.” Two free Applied Software e-Books spotlight the use of Autodesk Civil 3D software on specific infrastructure projects: “Preliminary Roadway Design Using InfraWorks” and “Residential Subdivision Grading Beyond the Roads.”

If your company is interested in adding Civil 3D to your software portfolio, or if your users are ready to become power users, contact Applied Software today. Through a quick discovery call, a Civil 3D expert can help empower you to reach the next level on your infrastructure projects.