| Other Work |
| A Compilation of Other Work in Contextual Infrastructure
Design |
| Following are highlights of additional
projects. These further illustrate that much contextual infrastructure
planning success is achieved by working attentively with clients-to
address planning and engineering details important to the communities. |
|
Fort Washington Way rehabilitation under construction.
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Fort Washington Way Reconfiguration
Cincinnati, Ohio
By Dan Carrier, Cincinnati, Ohio 1-513-639-2134, carrier@pbworld.com
The $320 million Fort Washington Way project in Cincinnati, Ohio,
involved the reconstruction and re-alignment of a complex mixture
of freeway, ramps and city streets in downtown Cincinnati. The project
reconnected the central business district with the riverfront and
served as a catalyst for urban renewal of the downtown Cincinnati
area. It included significant landscaping and urban design enhancements.
The Fort Washington Way project was designed, bid and constructed
in 34 months. Supporting the City of Cincinnati in this extraordinarily
fast-track project was a PB-led consulting team. We provided planning,
design and construction/program management services.
The project team wanted to create a design that would welcome the
driver to the City, and so considered the aesthetic effect of all
of the features of the project. The new design included a depressed
primary corridor called the "trench," which lies between
downtown Cincinnati and the riverfront. Second and Third Streets,
the new collector/distributor system, run parallel to this trench.
Some of the aesthetic design features of the project included:
- Retaining walls along the trench that are
sloped back 10 degrees and faced with precast concrete architectural
panels to give the primary stretch of highway an "open"
feeling.
- Two pedestrian-scale, fully functioning cable-stayed
bridges that visually anchor each end of the corridor.
- Box girder bridges used in place of steel
plate girder bridges for a smoother, more appealing look.
- A reduced number of columns on the project's
Third Street Viaduct structure-accomplished by using post-tensioned
pier caps and trapezoidal pier cap cross-sections as opposed to
the traditional rectangular cross-section.
- Planting strips placed along the pedestrian
bridges and two rows of trees lining Second and Third Streets
to bring greenery to a very urban area of downtown Cincinnati.
In addition to the aesthetic elements of the project, the community
involvement program was a very important part of the project's success.
A reconstruction project this extensive required a comprehensive,
professionally run public information program that extended from the
beginning of planning through the end of construction. This type of
program was needed to gain public acceptance of the project and provide
information about road closures and detours throughout the duration
of construction. A monthly general planning and coordination meeting
of all the stakeholders, with appropriate individual follow-up, was
one of the means used to accomplish this. Suitable and timely input
to the media about project activities also helped get information
out about the project.
The project team also conducted more than 300 public meetings and
events, including a "halfway point celebration." A six-minute
video, "Connection to the Future," which explained the project
and its impacts, was developed and distributed to local libraries
and made available for free rental at local video stores. The project
team also created and administers a project-specific Web site (www.fww2000.com),
which has received more than 6 million hits to date.
Northern Avenue ramp of Central Artery's Ted Williams Tunnel |
Central Artery/Tunnel Project
Boston, Massachusetts
By Brian Brenner, Central Artery/Tunnel, Boston, Massachusetts,
brbrenne@bigdig.com
As a member of the Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff joint venture serving
as the Management Consultant for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority,
PB is participating in and contributing to all phases of project design
and construction.
The Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) project has an extensive program
for construction mitigation and planning. Briefly, this includes:
- Mitigation of impacts of tunnel excavation
and dewatering to existing facilities, and preservation of historic
buildings
- Maintenance of traffic and traffic staging
during construction
- Control of dust, air quality monitoring,
and an extensive program of construction noise specification,
monitoring and control
- Community outreach programs, with involvement
of community groups and representatives at all phases of the project.
The project maintains a public information bureau that is involved
in presentations to schools and community groups. One particularly
unusual spin-off of this effort is the "Big Dig First Night
Tour," on New Year's eve-a guided tour into the tunnel construction
site. An estimated 25,000+ visitors inspected the tunnel on December
31, 2000.
An important component of the overall project is the replacement of
the I-93 Central Artery viaduct downtown with a tunnel. This will
provide 30 acres of developable land in the middle of the city, a
unique opportunity. The project has made provisions for air rights
design to accommodate future buildings and parks above the tunnel.
The CA/T project includes the "artery arts" program, which
will sponsor installation of public artwork in project facilities.
Built on rudder terrain H-3 highway included aerial sections
as well as the longest tunnel in Hawaii, 1.6 km (1 mile) |
Interstate Route H-3
Oahu,
Hawaii
By Stan Kawaguchi, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1-808-531-7094, kawaguchi@pbworld.com
As the largest public works project in Hawaii's history, H-3 has provided
several notable opportunities for innovative contextual infrastructure
planning. Since initial involvement with H-3, PB has provided the
following services:
- Environmental impact statements
- Preliminary engineering
- Alignment modifications
- Design management
- Construction management.
Unique project elements or PB accomplishments:
- Approved for construction after 20 years
of litigation and appeal
- 1.6-km (1-mile) Tetsuo Harano Tunnel, the
longest in Hawaii
- Most intensive single survey of Oahu forest
birds ever conducted
- Construction costs reduced by millions through
use of exploratory tunnel
- Seven section design teams supervised and
coordinated.
Construction of SR 87 included cactus relocation, rock-face
relandscaping and erosion mitigation |
SR 87 Construction Management Services
Northeast of Phoenix, Arizona
By Hal Emery, Tempe, Arizona 1-480-966-8295, emery@pbworld.com
PB was selected to perform construction administration services for
17.6 km (11 miles) of the SR 87 roadway improvement project. As an
extension of Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) staff, we
and our subconsultants were selected to provide:
- Partnering workshop and pre-construction
conference
- Project management and administration
- Monitoring of traffic control and safety
programs
- Construction inspection, surveys and materials
testing
- Landscaping and architectural treatments
- Blasting and rock sculpting.
This project featured several unique elements. Among them, and some
of our accomplishments, are the following:
- The environmental mitigation used on SR 87
was so successful that it has become the standard for all future
roadway designs within the Tonto National Forest.
- Approximately 450 boulders ranging from 1m
to 1.5m (3 to 5feet) in diameter, were salvaged and placed on
embankment slopes to help preserve the natural environment. Also,
all concrete areas and excavated rock slopes were stained with
an environmentally benign photosensitive liquid to help them blend
into their surroundings.
- The transplanting of 4,000 saguaro, ocotillo,
barrel, prickly pear, and cholla cactus plants made this the largest
cactus-salvaging program ever undertaken, according to officials
of the U.S. Forest Service, who were quoted in the June 10, 1996
Engineering News-Record.
- The project's concrete box culverts were
roughened to encourage bat habitation. This is vital because native
bats pollinate rare cacti and control the insect population-having
a significant impact to the ecosystem.
- All 17.6 km (11 miles) of the work site were
fenced on both sides to secure against intrusion by horses and
cattle from an adjacent ranch.
- Approximately 2.3 m3 (3 million
cubic yards) of earth were excavated for this project. By comparison,
the Panama Canal required excavation of only 1.9 m3
(2.5 million cubic yards).
- The upgraded highway opened five months ahead
of schedule.
West portal of Glenwood Canyon Reverse Curve Tunnel |
Glenwood Canyon Tunnels
Western
Colorado
By Doug Slakey, San Francisco, California 1-415-243-9501, slakey@pbworld.com
PB provided preliminary and final design and construction management
for the Hanging Lake and Reverse Curve tunnels, part of the 19 km
(12-mile), four-lane Glenwood Canyon Highway project. While trucks,
cars and recreational vehicles pass through these tunnels, hikers
and cyclists less than 0.8 km (one half mile) away in the Hanging
Lake Recreation area, one of Colorado's most scenic and popular destinations,
are virtually unaware of their presence. As described by Colorado's
former governor, Roy Romer, the project proved that "we can reconcile
our environmental ethic with our transportation needs."
Our responsibilities included analysis of alternative alignments and
construction procedures; design, construction engineering, and analysis
of an exploratory tunnel; final design and construction management
of both tunnels.
Some of the unique project elements or PB accomplishments included:
- First use of rock reinforcement as the primary
stabilization element in an FHWA-funded tunnel project, which
saved an estimated $12 million
- First U.S. tunnel to use light-emitting diode
signing and fiber-optic lane use signals
- First use of a low-volume incident detection
system to detect traffic stoppages in the tunnel
- Special blasting techniques avoided cliff
scarring, which led to a natural final appearance.
Our firm received a number of awards for this project, which was also
named 1992 PB Project of the Year. These awards include:
- Outstanding Project Award from the California
Geotechnical Engineers Association for the Reverse Curve Tunnel
- 1995 Design for Transportation National Honor
Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department
of Transportation for achieving the highest quality of design
based on international standards
- First-place award from the Consulting Engineers
Association of California for the Reverse Curve Tunnel
- Grand Award in the American Consulting Engineers
Council's 27th annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition
for the design and construction of the Hanging Lake Tunnel
- ASCE 1993 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement,
together with the entire Glenwood Canyon Project.
MARTA train entering Buckhead Station with tile murals visible
on walls |
Buckhead Station
MARTA - Atlanta,
Georgia
By Ray Hornbuckle, Atlanta, Georgia 1-404-848-5700, hornbuckle@pbworld.com
Phase I
Prestigious office space, hotels and shopping malls surround Buckhead,
the center of Atlanta's entertainment district, and Buckhead Station-the
first Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station
located in the median of a highway, SR400. Buckhead Station was planned
long before SR400 became a reality. A portion of the subway line section
leading to the station was constructed as part of a high-rise building
before SR400 was approved, not only saving MARTA money, but also making
this MARTA alignment possible. The presence of MARTA's planned rapid
transit line in the highway median contributed to public approval
of this highway extension. The station design was coordinated with
adjacent developers with respect to their present and future development
plans, future air rights, compatibility of material/ finishes and
selection of architectural design elements.
Land values surrounding the station site are very high, so innovative
land use ideas were conceived. For example, the traction power substation
and train control rooms were located between tracks to alleviate the
need for acquiring additional real estate. The station was configured
to be partially open and partially enclosed, such that smoke evacuation
of the adjoining subway section could be handled using only vent shafts
at strategic locations, eliminating the need for emergency fans and
fan rooms.
Aesthetically, the station exterior is simple but well articulated
through the use of hipped metal roofs at platform and street levels.
The interior of the station is designed to create a pleasant and stimulating
visual experience for patrons. Use of porcelain enamel panels provides
a crisp, clean environment for the enclosed pedestrian bridge. Structural
glazed face tile and baked aluminum acoustical metal ceiling panels
enhance the station atmosphere. Skylights and clear story features
have been cleverly used to bring natural light into the station. Artwork
distributed liberally throughout all levels of the stations makes
a welcoming statement.
To optimize scheduling, station foundation and earthwork was done
as part of SR400 highway construction. Station superstructure work
was completed prior to opening of SR400 and station finishes were
completed with SR400 in operation.
Phase II
The planned north entrance consists of constructing a north concourse
over the existing station platform and operating MARTA rail tracks.
Access to this concourse will be via pedestrian bridges over existing
SR400 highway, allowing access from east and west sides of the Buckhead
District. These pedestrian bridges are being designed to not preclude
their conversion into vehicular bridges, such that shuttle buses may
be operated by Buckhead Area Transit Management Associates subsequent
to widening them in the future. The station concourse is currently
configured to accommodate the future vehicular bridge. To minimize
construction time over trackway, steel girders will be used to simplify
erection during the short non-revenue periods available at night.
Precast elements will be used to enclose the station and to provide
architectural definition for the pedestrian bridges.
Coordination is under way for design of pedestrian access paths that
lead to the pedestrian bridges with on-going plans of adjacent developers.
Aesthetically, this addition will complement the design of the existing
station.
MARTA's Newest Rapid Transit Rail
Atlanta, Georgia
By Ray Hornbuckle, Atlanta, Georgia 1-404-848-5700, hornbuckle@pbworld.com
First shipments of MARTA's newest rapid transit rail cars are now
being accepted. The 100-car order is being built by Breda in Pistoria,
Italy.
While the exterior of the cars appears somewhat similar to the existing
MARTA fleet, there are numerous interior and exterior visual differences
and improvements that will make transit riding more pleasant and safer
for passengers. Forexample:
- The rear of the car has end windows so one
can easily see into the next car.
- Full grab rails are provided across the car
ceiling at the center doors and finger hand grips
are provided in the ceilings at the end doors.
- Blue rubber-tile floors
with welded seams, hold promise for cleaner looking floors and
are expected to be more practical to clean.
- Intercom panels at each
end of the car provide a means for passengers to communicate with
the operator, should there be an emergency.
- Ample knee room is provided
for all 61 passenger seats.
- Stand-back areas at the
center doorways serve as refuge areas for passengers to prevent
boarding or deboarding passengers from being blocked.
- Brighter interior lighting with
28 ceiling-panel lights is provided in each passenger compartment.
- Exterior identification of
these cars is distinct in the MARTA three-color band around the
entire car, just below the windows.
- Blue and white interior colors
add to the appearance of bright, clean, safe cars.
- Crisp, legible destination signs
on the front and rear of each train provide clear identification
for those passengers not yet on board.
- Station announcements scroll across interior
signs in the ceiling at both ends of each car.
- Improved ergonomic design in the
cab with increased space, an improved and new seat, simplified
controls and console, and an operator storage area are provided
for the operator.
- Alternating current (ac) traction motors, coupler and link
bar improvements, on-board microprocessor for monitoring and fault
detection in troubleshooting, and improved braking and slide control
increase the reliability of the new cars.
From the outside, the shiny stainless steel body with black panels
and MARTA colors gives the impression of a new vehicle for the new
millennium.
Compressed Natural Gas Projects for MARTA
Atlanta, Georgia
By Joe Pittman, Atlanta, Georgia 1-404-848-5810, pittman@pbworld.com
Parsons Brinckerhoff-Tudor and Parsons Brinckerhoff Tudor-Turner Associates
have performed three compressed natural gas (CNG) related projects
for MARTA since September 1994:
- Design and design services during construction
(DSDC) and construction management for the Perry Boulevard Bus
Facility
- Design and DSDC for the Browns Mill Heavy
Maintenance Facility Modifications
- Design and DSDC and construction management for the Laredo Drive
Bus Facility CNG Conversion project.
The Perry Boulevard project was for the design and construction of
a new 10-hectare (25-acre) bus operating facility designed to handle
up to 240 CNG fueled buses. This project was fast-tracked in order
to be operational for the 1996 Olympic Games. The Browns Mill project
included the design and construction of structural, mechanical and
electrical modifications to the engine and transmission overhaul,
brake overhaul, body work and paint booth bays to allow the facility
to handle CNG fueled buses. Both the Perry and Browns Mill projects
were completed on time and within budget. The Laredo Drive project
is still ongoing. It includes the design and construction of new fuel/service
and bus wash buildings designed for CNG buses and a turnkey contract
for a compressor station to supply CNG for fueling up to 240 buses.
The project also includes the design and construction of structural,
mechanical and electrical modifications to the maintenance bays in
the existing main shop building to allow the facility to handle CNG
fueled buses.
The Perry and Laredo projects called for innovation in the design
of the CNG delivery system controls and in the interface with the
MARTA Materials Management Information System. All three projects
called for innovation in the deployment of beam type and point source
infrared CNG detectors to provide an effective detection and alarm
system, and use of non-sparking electrical equipment and classified
natural gas fired radiant heaters to reduce potential ignition sources.
Innovative mechanical ventilation systems were required to eliminate
the potential for pockets of natural gas reaching volatile concentrations.
Tuen Mun Area 54 Study
Hong
Kong
By Lai-Fai Cheng, 852 2579 8509 Hong Kong lfcheng.hk@pbasia.com
The Territorial Development Strategy Review envisaged that housing
would not be adequate to meet the estimated demand after 2001 because
of an estimated shortfall in the supply of flats available for new
occupancy. In response, the government identified Tuen Mun Area 54
as a potential area for housing development. The review proposed housing
types, development parameters and planning layouts, and assessed the
development impacts on infrastructure capacities, transport networks
and environmental quality.
PB was charged with the review, design, tender and construction supervision
for all the civil, geotechnical, structural, electrical and mechanical
work; environmental mitigation and land contamination investigation;
woodland conservation and compensatory planting and landscape works;
and coordination with the government archaeological department. The
tight schedule for this project consisted of 3 months for the review
stage, 4 months to complete the Gazettal Plans, 19 months for the
design phase, and 52 months for the construction works.
Some particularly interesting community planning issues included:
- Forming about 3.2 ha (8 acres) of land for
housing, educational, open space, and GIC use
- Extending 600 m (1,980 feet) of district
distributor with footpaths, amenity areas and cycle tracks
- Constructing local roads with footpaths and
re-provisioning existing access roads and/or junctions if necessary
- Constructing slopes, earth retaining structures
and landslide preventive works
- Constructing stormwater drains, sewers and
water mains
- Developing landscape hardworks and softworks
associated with the slopes, amenity areas and other roadside areas
- Conducting review of traffic impacts and
improvement of affected existing road junctions
- Conducting focused traffic noise impact review,
including direct and/or indirect noise mitigation measures
- Designing woodland conservation works and
compensatory planting
- Conducting a tree and ecological survey,
and formulating a woodland management plan for the conservation
area
- Assisting in the preparation of Gazettal
Plans for community consultation
- Assisting the government on land resumption
issues in terms of justification on the amount of land to be resumed.
Our performance was rated by the client as "good" in the
first "half-year performance report."
Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Study
Portland,
Maine
By Allan Hodges, Boston, Massachusetts 1-617-426-7330, hodges@pbworld.com
The Portland region is changing, and some of the changes are threatening
the lifestyle promoted in the state's official motto: "Maine,
the way life should be." In a unique assignment, PB's Boston
office assisted the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Study
(PACTS), the metropolitan planning organization (MPO), to raise public
awareness about these changes, about where the region is heading and
about what the latest trends and forecasts mean. Our team developed
a colorful brochure, based on two technical memoranda we prepared
that highlight the major socioeconomic, land use and transportation
trends and forecasts, and their implications. These memoranda covered
an 80-year period, between 1960 to 2040. The brochure, representing
"A Lifetime in Portland," was designed by Tim Case, Senior
GIS Analyst in Boston. It was published in late 2000 and has been
widely distributed. The objective is to get the general public involved
in a "better approach" to long-range regional transportation
planning efforts that PACTS initiated in 2000.
Working closely with the PACTS Planning Committee and two subconsultants,
and with data from the Greater Portland Council of Governments, we
analyzed socioeconomic, land use and travel trends data between 1960
and 2000. Major findings included:
- Population growth outside the MPO boundaries
grew eight times faster than inside them.
- While the number of jobs had grown steadily,
they were dispersed throughout the suburbs, generating more travel
demand and congestion.
- Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) jumped 22 percent,
while employment grew 11 percent and population only 2 percent
between 1990 and 1998.
- Public fixed-route transit ridership plummeted
from 3.6 million passengers in 1970 to 1.1 million in 1998.
Clearly, the influence of major road improvements, including new interchanges
on the Maine Turnpike, attracted new developments well beyond the
tight urban centers and traditional corridors. "Cars R Us"
has a new meaning in the region. Suburban sprawl has come to Maine!
Travel demand and socioeconomic forecasts to 2040 showed these past
trends continuing with the higher growth rates occurring well beyond
the MPO's seven-member core communities. Forecasts indicate that travel
time will increase 35 percent on major roads and 54 percent on minor
ones. The resulting traffic congestion will increase from 24 kilometers
(15 miles) of roadways in the Portland region and its outer areas
to 129 kilometers (80 miles). It was also predicted that increasing
bus frequency and capacity in selected corridors and within the Portland
peninsula during the rush hours may reduce automobile travel demand
in the future. Clearly, the dispersed development pattern aided by
a highway improvement program that promotes it is one of the causes
of the fast emerging sprawl pattern of development in the state's
most populated region. The resulting land use pattern also makes it
more difficult to serve with transit.
The brochure's major message is provocative on purpose: "The
Time to Act is Now. The more we suburbanize, the fewer options we
will have for changing development patterns and improving transportation
systems. There is still time to address our regional transportation
problems, but the next five years are critical. If we fail to act,
what you see is what you will get: more sprawl, more spending and
more congestion."
"New
Town" Master Planning Project
Lexington, Kentucky
By David Hafley, 1-859-272-5400, hafleyd@pbworld.com
In November 2000, the Town of Martin selected PB as the owner's program
manager for the redevelopment plan. In this capacity, we expect to
provide a full range of services that will include program management,
site planning, infrastructure, facilities design, landscape architecture,
traffic, and park planning and design.
Since the earliest record of settlement in the Levisa Fork Basin,
Martin, Kentucky, and other communities along the narrow valley floor
have been subjected to frequent flooding, with significant floods
occurring in 1862, 1957 and 1964. Then, in 1977, record flooding devastated
Martin and other regional communities. The town's downtown flooded
twice again, once in 1984 and once in 1998. As a result of the floods,
the downtown has experienced declines in population, investment and
economic activity.
In response to Congressional authorization to design and construct
flood control measures, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers retained
PB to prepare a plan for redevelopment of the Martin community in
a flood-safe location. The plan calls for a new downtown designed
around a town center plaza with commercial, public and community uses.
After businesses are relocated to the site, the existing downtown
will be made flood-safe and rebuilt as a neighborhood with houses,
churches and park areas.
We led the public participation, site selection, programming, design
and project financing process on this unique response to community
flood protection challenges.
A Five-Phase Plan
We prepared the Martin Redevelopment Plan in five phases:
- Phase I: Site Selection.
Using both qualitative and quantitative processes, we worked with
the local redevelopment task force to identify and select the
preferred site for the relocated downtown area.
- Phase II: Planning and Design Principles.
We updated earlier market studies to establish accurate
space requirements for commercial, residential, public and semi-public
buildings, then used these requirements to develop planning and
design principles and programming estimates that would guide the
design process.
- Phase III: Community Plan. We
prepared a redevelopment plan that included an integrated commercial/public/institutional
and housing area designed to be economically competitive and have
a strong community design orientation. A conceptual greenway plan
for the evacuated floodway was also included.
- Phase IV: Cost Estimates. We
developed detailed cost estimates for the non-federal sponsors'
share of the project. The projected total cost of the redevelopment
project is estimated at $95 million. The estimated non-federal
share, which is the responsibility of state and local entities,
is estimated at $25 million.
- Phase V: Financing Plan. We analyzed the project
costs, cost sharing responsibilities and the proposed construction
schedule. The financing plan assesses the non-federal sponsors
(formerly the Town of Martin, now Floyd County) and the Commonwealth
of Kentucky.
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