August 2010
This month’s newsletter includes information about: Steel bridge in New Hampshire bids lower than expected - beats concrete NHDOT officials were pleased this June when bids on the Newington-Dover Little Bay Bridge (designed by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin - VHB) came in roughly $5 million below original estimates; eliminating the concrete option. NH Department of Transportation Turnpike Administrator Chris Waszczuk said a slow economy has construction firms competing heavily for contracts resulting in recent bids for projects coming in 10 to 15 percent below state estimates. The bridge project is part of a larger $220 million effort that will seek to upgrade and widen portions of the Spaulding Turnpike and redesign its on/off ramps between Newington to the area immediately south of the tolls in Dover. The winning bidder and general contractor Cianbro Corporation (NSBA member) of Pittsfield, Maine, came in at just over $50 million, just shy of 10 percent below the state's estimate of $55,451,000. Cianbro will be working with fabricator Casco Bay Steel Structures, Inc., another NSBA member, to fabricate the steel for this project. According to Christopher D. Baker, PE, principal and national director of structural engineering at VHB, “The nearly 6-million lb structural steel bid item for the 1600-ft-long by 75-ft-wide bridge came in at an impressive $1.51/lb. Informally, the contractors who considered the concrete option indicated that they did not think they could beat steel on this project so they did not even bid. You can read more about this project from the June 19, 2010 Fosters Daily Democrat article by clicking here.
Join our NSBA Membership Web Forum on October 29, 2010 Mark your calendars – NSBA will be hosting its first membership web forum on Friday, October 29, 2010. We’ve received many positive comments about our newsletters, but feel that email can be so impersonal. To actively engage a broad spectrum of our members all at once, NSBA will host an online forum to discuss some of the exciting things NSBA has planned for our collective future. While we have a rough agenda for the web conference, we would like to give members the opportunity to suggest issues that they would like to see discussed. Our future NSBA initiatives must not be limited to our staff. We, as a not-for-profit organization, are here to support your programs as they relate to our industry. In the words of Jerry McGuire, “help us help you!” Please send your suggestions to Brian Raff, NSBA's Marketing Director at raff@steelbridges.org.
NSBA/ARTBA Call for Photographs Would you like to see your organization’s name in lights? We would too! That’s why we’re reaching out to the steel bridge community to ask for high resolution images of your most recently completed bridge projects. NSBA would like to feature your photos and projects in our new print campaigns, newsletters, Modern Steel Construction magazine articles, etc. If you are interested, please send all images to Brian Raff at raff@steelbridges.org. Please follow the same bulleted submission guidelines that the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) references below. Concurrent with NSBA’s call for photos, the editorial staff at ARTBA’s “Transportation Builder” (TB) magazine is also calling on ARTBA Members in the steel bridge community to share your company’s best photos with their readers. TB is planning its seventh annual special section in the September-October issue featuring outstanding photos of highway, transit, bridge, tunnel, airport, port or waterway projects from across the nation. It has been a huge success in the past. This will provide a great opportunity to showcase for TB’s readers your company’s or agency’s work in the design and construction of transportation improvement projects. SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS TODAY! Please send all photographs with captions and the name of the photographer and submitting company via email to ARTBA’s Jaime Mahoney (mailto:jmahoney@artba.org). Photos may also be sent on a PC-formatted CD-ROM (no floppy disks) by mail to Jaime at: The ARTBA Building, 1219 28th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20007. The guidelines below should help you in submitting your photo. All submissions must be received by Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Submission criteria:
Have you signed up for a SteelDay event yet? 150 to choose from in the U.S.! Remember, SteelDay is your opportunity to see the structural steel industry’s most advanced and efficient technologies, tools, and processes available, as well as network with other professionals in the design and construction community. Sign up to attend one or more of the 150 events planned on September 24 at www.steelday.org/FindEvent. Plan a visit to one of the eight SteelDay host bridge fabricators: AFCO Steel in Little Rock, Ark. GMF Structural Division/GMF Industries in Lakeland, Fla. High Steel Structures in Lancaster, Pa. Hirschfeld Industries in Greensboro, N.C. Industrial Steel Construction in Gary, Ind. MC Ironworks in Bath, Pa. Mountain States Steel in Lindon, Utah W&W Steel (part of AFCO) in Little Rock, Ark.
Or check out a bridge design workshop taking place at Kansas State University. In cooperation with SteelDay, the university’s 17th annual event will review the latest developments in bridge design practice and LRFD, and provide information about available resources from AASHTO/FHWA and KDOT. Sign up is limited at many events, so choose your event(s) as soon as possible! Planning is underway for new events happening in several larger metro areas: Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles (event to coincide with the SEAoC conference), New York City (at the Lincoln Center), Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and more! If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Chris Moor (moor@aisc.org, 813.472.9264) or visit www.steelday.org.
New bridge arrives in NYC after float down Hudson A prefabricated 350-ft-long bridge that will replace a 109-year-old span across the Harlem River arrived Monday, July 26, 2010 aboard two barges that were pushed and pulled by tugboats. Read It | Watch It
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