9 infrastructure megaprojects to watch | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

Brightline West now has all the necessary right-of-way, environmental approvals and labor agreements it needs to break ground along the Interstate 15 corridor, according to U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). With speeds of 200 miles per hour and no grade crossings, the rail line would cut travel times in half compared to driving, to about two hours.

While a start date hasn’t been announced, the private-public partnership also has the benefit of Florida-based Brightline’s experience building its existing high-speed rail line between Orlando and Miami, which was completed last year. Rosen said it’s feasible Brightline West could serve passengers by 2028, when Los Angeles is set to host the Summer Olympics.

North Houston Highway Improvement Project
$9.7 billion
Houston, Texas

Texas is investing billions into its roads and highways over the next decade, and the $9.7 billion I-45 project in Houston is one of the state’s biggest such efforts. The heavily congested highway has the dubious distinction of being among the most dangerous in the country. 

The project will widen and reroute I-45 near and north of downtown and widen the freeway between downtown and Beltway 8. Construction on the downtown-area segment is expected to start this year, starting with drainage columbus oh dump truck company and new connections to the east of downtown.

Planning for the project began more than a decade ago, but faced several delays when the Federal Highway Administration and Harris County forced Texas DOT to address environmental and civil rights complaints. Those issues were resolved in late 2022 and early 2023, allowing Texas DOT to move forward with its plans with some modifications, including bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.

Work will be executed in three phases made up of a series of smaller projects that ultimately will connect, but no columbus oh dump truck company have been selected yet, according to Texas DOT spokesperson Danny Perez. The overall project is expected to be complete by 2042.

Interstate Bridge Replacement
More than $7.5 billion
Oregon and Washington

The push to replace the century-old I-5 bridge over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington got a $600 million boost in December, a year before construction could start in 2025. The Interstate Bridge Replacement project’s goal is to provide a safe, earthquake-resilient multimodal corridor on the West Coast.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported at the beginning of the year that Greg Johnson, the program leader for the project, said a new cost estimate would be forthcoming this year. In 2022, planners had said the project would cost between $5 billion and $7.5 billion, with an aim at hitting a $6 billion midpoint. But that was already an increase of the original cost estimate, which came in between $3.2 billion and $4.8 billion in 2020. 

The Interstate Bridge Replacement program received the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega Program. That pool of money was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support large, complex projects that are likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility or safety benefits.

The scale of the price increase, and where additional funds will come from, are still unknown.

West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee system
$3.7 billion
Southeast Louisiana

Over 60,000 Louisianans in the southeast section of the state have little or no hurricane protection. During Hurricane Isaac in 2012, a storm surge flooded 7,000 homes, submerging I-10 — the main evacuation route for New Orleans — and slowed emergency response around the region.

The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project aims to fix that. The 18.5-mile levee system will consist of flood walls, urban levees and pumps. It received $760 million in funding from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. As of the summer, the full project cost had reached $3.7 billion, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The USACE awarded the first levee contracts in December 2022 for a $9.3 million section set for completion this year. Those awards followed at least four more levee contracts worth $22 million to $39 million, for stretches set for completion within the next two years.

In preparation for the work, the USACE has constructed nine roads totaling 14 miles through marsh and swamp. Crews also have begun to move tons of material, such as sand and clay, to construct walls as high as 12 feet to better protect the region from storm surges.

Construction Dive reached out to USACE for more information on the columbus oh dump truck company selected for these contracts but did not hear back by time of publication.

Brent Spence Bridge
$3.6 billion
Kentucky/Ohio border

A joint venture of Chicago-based Walsh Construction and Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Construction was selected last year to overhaul the aging Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati with interstates 71 and 75. The project will break ground later this year, according to the project website, and officials expect columbus oh dump truck company to substantially finish in 2029.

The $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project will rehabilitate the existing double-deck bridge and build a new span to the west. The project will improve approximately 8 miles of both interstates through Kentucky and Ohio.

The project will receive $1.4 billion in funding from the federal government’s Bridge Investment Program, a part of the $1.2 trillion IIJA.

Soo Lock Project
$3.2 billion
St. Mary’s River, Michigan

Phases 2 and 3 will continue this year on the $3.22 billion Soo Lock project on St. Mary’s River in Michigan. Officials are overhauling the locks to create new passageways and maintain the critical trade route, which handles about 7,000 ships annually.

The goal of the project, spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is to build a second lock, the size of the original Poe Lock, in the footprint of the decommissioned Sabin Lock.

For phase 2, a joint venture of Fredericktown, Ohio-based Kokosing Industrial and Overland, Missouri-based Alberici Constructors will rehabilitate the upstream approach walls, which will allow modern vessels to tie up and wait in line to pass through the new lock. Work on this phase of the project is expected to wrap up in the summer.

Phase 3, from a joint venture of Kokosing Industrial, Alberici Constructors and Evansville, Indiana-based Traylor Bros., encompasses a variety of tasks including the demolition of the existing Sabin Lock, bedrock excavation and the construction of a new lock. The JV recently picked up a $213.8 million option for additional work, such as the addition of a new power plant bridge ramp and upstream wide wall monoliths.