Free Republic

What the heck is wrong with us? On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.’s entire Metro subway system shut down with almost no notice to perform emergency inspections, just days after a cable fire “crippled” three lines. The nation’s second-busiest rail system has been plagued by safety problems in recent years, including a 2015 incident where smoke from an electrical malfunction killed one person and a deadly 2009 crash on the system’s Red Line that killed nine people. And with a new Metro chief that has been vocal about returning to a culture that puts safety first, many say that Wednesday’s move is...

Dianna Montague made history when she became the first African-American woman to join the Philadelphia’s Iron Workers Union Local 405. As the chairman and CEO of Iron Lady Enterprises Inc., Montague holds the distinction of being one of the only female ironworkers in Philadelphia. She is a certified master welder, rigger and rod setter. Montague is now working on one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects, the $3.9 billion New NY Bridge. It will replace the Tappan Zee Bridge in Hudson Valley, N.Y., and is expected to be completed in 2018. Her company is responsible for land-based rebar fabrication and...

On February 5, a windy day in Lower Manhattan, a 565-foot crane collapsed and killed a man when it struck the parked car in which he sat. Crews had been planning to secure the Worth Steet crane because the forecast projected sustained winds at stronger than 25 mph, but they were too late. After the collapse, Mayor Bill de Blasio required crawler cranes, the mobile type of crane that can move around a work site, to cease operation and transition to safety mode anytime there are sustained winds of more than 20 mph or gusts of more than 30...

This is all video and, if you don't want to give the goon squad a hit, I'll summarize for you:A clip is shown from the most recent debate about a new twist on a very old story-- 30 years old.Trump is supposed to be responsible now for the sins of a contractor he hired 30 years ago, even though one of the cheated workers, then an illegal Polish immigrant and now a U.S. citizen, is quoted as seriously considering voting for him.This is their 8 seconds of balance in 4:15 minute hit piece. If you blink, you'll miss it!

A divide between the Illinois tollway and Chicago on the cost of airport land needed for the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway extension is threatening progress on the massive project, considered vital for the suburbs. An agreement to sell property on the western edge of O'Hare to the tollway at market value more than a decade ago has disintegrated, officials said, and the city's latest price tag of about $190 million is giving the tollway sticker-shock. "We've been negotiating for a long time. ... It's within the last couple of months I've realized how far apart we were," tollway Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said....

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has announced with members of the state general assembly a plan allowing the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to add at least one additional lane in each direction to a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 55 near Chicago using a public-private partnership (P3) agreement. IDOT is allowed to use P3 agreements only if the general assembly adopts a resolution supporting a proposed project, a state law in place since 2011. This would be the first P3 managed lane project in the state. “By using existing resources to leverage private investment, we can build the type of infrastructure...

One person was killed and another was critically injured when a construction crane tumbled onto a Tribeca street Friday morning, officials said. The crane fell on a row of parked cars when it toppled over on Worth St. near Church St. about 8:30 a.m. as heavy snow fell onto the city. One person died at the scene, officials. A second person was trapped inside a vehicle and was freed by responding firefighters.

CLARKSVILLE, Md. — Big improvements to Maryland Route 32 will cover more than 20 miles from Clarksville to Eldersburg. Gov. Larry Hogan and Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman announced Thursday that a stretch of Route 32 will get a much-needed expansion. After nearly a decade of pleading with state officials, the traffic and safety nightmare on Route 32 is finally being addressed. Hogan is committing $152 million to widening the highway and making safety improvements. "Governor, there are citizens who have died on this roadway. There are friends of all of us who have died or have been hurt, and...

video 4:52

Years ago, the Tokarski family gathered with friends around a kitchen table in an old Indiana farmhouse. They were discussing the looming construction of Interstate 69 and how they could possibly stop it. The group suspected a project of such magnitude, an interstate route stretching across the southern half of Indiana, would cause severe environmental 
damage. “We really had the project almost at a standstill until Mitch Daniels came into office,” said Thomas Tokarski, now the president of Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads. “We still have huge amounts of support from the people in Indiana.” Since that farmhouse meeting, Tokarski...

In a state where four out of five traffic improvement projects bust their original deadlines, Florida transportation officials expect to beat the odds with one of the largest jobs ever undertaken in the Sarasota-Manatee region. Construction of the state’s first diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 75 and University Parkway, which began Aug. 3 and is set for two years, will end before the September 2017 World Rowing Championships draw tens of thousands of visitors to nearby Nathan Benderson Park, state officials promise. But the timeline leaves Prince Contracting, the Tampa-based company that won the $74.5 million contract, just one month...

Most folks probably think of the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank as just that – a bank that finances major highway and bridge projects. S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston and a member of the Infrastructure Bank (STIB) Board of Directors, described the bank, created by the Legislature in 1997, as a “funding arm” in a recent (Charleston) Post & Courier story. But in addition to providing funding to the state Department of Transportation and local governments, STIB in recent years also has assumed the role of a general contractor or project manager, paying millions of dollars directly to certain companies for...

A man who complained about a pay practice was chased by.... read more at excerpt

It may have escaped the attention of Baltimoreans but things have gotten a little testy in the New York-New Jersey area in recent weeks over the state of century-old rail tunnels running under the Hudson River. The deteriorating condition of the tunnels is threatening Amtrak and other rail service, but how to pay for a $14 billion-plus replacement has proven a challenge. Unfortunately, that's not just a problem for New York City but for Baltimore and other stops along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the nation's most heavily traveled railway handling more than 750,000 passengers a day. The stations in Baltimore and...

Lincoln-Way choice to build two schools was questioned at the time Gregory Pratt Lincoln-Way 210 officials had big plans for the school district's future in 2005 — booming population growth would fuel new success. Ten years and a $225 million referendum to build two schools later, District 210 is on the state's financial watch list and needs to close one of its four schools to try and make ends meet. District officials defend the decision to forge ahead with the construction of two schools in the late 2000s, saying they trusted enrollment figures that showed the district would have thousands...

Experts gather at Vanderbilt to discuss the future of 3D printing with concrete.Every month or so an article comes out reporting that some new object has been made using 3D printing: Everything from jewelry to prosthetic devices to electronic circuit boards to assault rifles to automobiles has now been created in this fashion. The prospect that this revolutionary manufacturing method will have a major impact on how we construct the various concrete structures that dominate the modern built environment brought almost three dozen experts to the Vanderbilt University campus July 16-17 to identify the areas of research required to realize...

(SLIDE-SHOW-AT-LINK)A pioneering 3D-printed house just popped up in Xian, China - and Chinese company ZhuoDa “built” the two-story villa in less than three hours. Made up of six 3D-printed modules, the house was assembled like LEGO bricks before a live audience who were then invited to explore the interior. The modular fireproof home can withstand a magnitude-9 earthquake and is made from a special construction material the company is keeping secret. The company completed approximately 90 percent of the construction in an off-site factory before shipping the modular pieces to the installation site. The company completed approximately 90 percent of...

I was interested to read the article from The Sun News on Thursday about the last-minute delay of the permit to pave International Drive. This project will take thousands of cars off of the gridlock of Highway 501, and relieve congestion in Carolina Forest. On the day before we were to receive the permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coastal Conservation League filed an appeal. It seems they want the road to be redesigned to include multiple bear crossings, at a cost of millions of dollars to the taxpayers of Horry County. That’s millions of scarce taxpayer dollars...

Construction on the new Interstate 74 Bridge is supposed to be done by 2020, but money – and time – is running out. On Saturday, July 11th, 2015, Representative Cheri Bustos visited the Quad Cities to meet with local leaders about federal funding. Right now, Congress is trying to pass a highway bill to fix and fund our area’s infrastructure. However, if they don’t find a solution by July 31st, 2015, federal funding for those projects – like the I-74 Bridge – will end. Monday, July 13th, 2015, a spokesman for Bustos said that if federal funding for the project...

Beijing (AFP) - China has begun building a 314-metre (1,030-ft) high dam which will be among the world's tallest, officials said, as the country massively expands hydropower. The Shuangjiankou dam on a tributary of China's mighty Yangtze river will be completed in 2022, the environmental ministry said on its website Tuesday. The facility, costing 36 billion yuan ($5.8 billion), will be higher than the world's current tallest dam, the 305-metre Jinping-1, also in China. China has been expanding its hydropower electricity generating capacity as it seeks to reach a goal of obtaining 20 per cent of its power from non-fossil...