Archinect - News

36% of all U.S. bridges are structurally deficient, study finds

2023-08-29T13:49:00-04:00

A study of every bridge in the U.S. Department of Transportation database has discovered a need for $319 billion worth of major repairs or replacement work on a total of 222,000 spans across the country.

The findings published in the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s 2023 analysis also showed an overall decline of 560 bridges in need of repair versus last year. The news comes a little less than two years removed from the belabored passage of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a piece of legislation that included no less than $40 billion for bridge projects through the end of 2027.

Construction Dive has more analysis of the new report, which showed an increase in the overall share of bridges that are in "fair" condition simultaneous to a decline of those in both "poor" and "good" categories.

Previously on Archinect: A new infrastructure approach could save millions per year, say researchers

West Virginia leads all states, with 20% of all its br...

Dodger Stadium gondola project clears major legal hurdle as challenges remain

2023-01-18T15:40:00-05:00

On Monday, Jan. 9, [Frank] McCourt scored a court victory when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff sided with proponents. Beckloff rejected a challenge to the unusual relationship between McCourt’s private company and the county’s public mega transit agency, LA Metro, which was struck without competitive bidding.

The former Dodgers owner was behind the leadership team that had been selling the project under the guise of environmental concerns (the scheme does reduce traffic by about 3,000 cars for each of the stadium's 81 home games) after cutting an alleged sweetheart deal with Metro Chief Phil Washington. The court ruling cited the Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation policy on unsolicited proposals as a legally-justified means of circumventing the competitive bids process, which in this matter at least had tremendous civic and democratic consequences that touch on gentrification and other hot-button issues.

The plan is under further scrutiny for its role in McCourt’s apparent desire to create an LA Live-type development where the stadium's parking lots, which he still owns almost half of, currently exist. Meanwhile, a new study from the UCLA Mobility Lab has called into serious question the 5,000 projected hourly ridership figure that Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit Technologies (...

Planning officials are getting fed up with Elon Musk's string of empty tunnel promises

2022-11-30T14:49:00-05:00

The six-year-old company has repeatedly teased cities with a pledge to “solve soul-destroying traffic,” only to pull out when confronted with the realities of building public infrastructure, according to former executives and local, state and federal government officials who have worked with Boring. Boring has yet to make good on its most ambitious pitch: that it can design tunnel-boring machines that are so fast to operate that they will drive down costs and shake up the industry.

The concerning string of incidents has led some to label Musk, now the world’s richest man, as a highly-compensated grifter. Chicago, Los Angeles, Maryland, and San Bernardino County are among the list of victims of Boring’s illusory promises, with even some of the company’s own demonstration sites becoming abandoned relics of a pursuit Musk began after losing patience with LA traffic in 2016.

Prominent financial interests keep pouring money into the entity in spite of its repeated ghosting. Several large-scale constructions are still tentatively planned. To date, its sole completed project is a 1.7-mile EV tunnel at Las Vegas Convention Center that was qualified under a local Amusement and Transportation Systems (ATS) provision, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Final LAX Automated People Mover station tops out

2022-08-24T18:46:00-04:00

The 2,000-ton final structural piece of Los Angeles International Airport’s new Automated People Mover stations project is in place after the conclusion of its six-month construction phase was announced last week by Balfour Beatty, as part of LINXS Constructors.

A total of 127 piles were needed to complete West Central Terminal Area (CTA) station, the last and largest of six stations, which will be connected to Tom Bradley International Terminal via a pedestrian bridge that’s slated for placement in the fall. Once complete, the 1.2-million-square-foot station will connect the rest of the 2.25-mile-long tract to Terminals 3, 4, and 5 and form the bookend of a system that will serve approximately 30 million people a year.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Balfour Beatty US (@balfourbeatty_us)

“Topping out the final station at the West Central Terminal Area signifies our team’s progress in providing a revolutionary travel experience for worldwide passenger...

Empire State Development approves massive Penn Station redevelopment proposal

2022-07-22T18:58:00-04:00

New York State officials on Thursday approved a sweeping redevelopment of Midtown Manhattan that would transform Pennsylvania Station, the busiest transportation hub in North America, from a run-down transit center into a city centerpiece. The eight-member board of Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency and the group steering the project, unanimously voted in favor.

The Penn Station Redevelopment Plan is set to be one of the largest real estate projects in U.S. history. The project, spanning approximately 18 million square feet, includes the construction of 10 skyscrapers surrounding the station that will host office and retail space, 1,800 housing units, and a hotel.

It also includes a long-overdue renovation of Penn Station. Improvements to the station include cosmetic upgrades, the reconfiguration of the train hall serving NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road, subway improvements, and the construction of a rail tunnel under the Hudson River. This is estimated to cost $7 billion, with the cost of the rest of the redevelopment adding an additional $13 billion to the bill.

The project’s approval allows an application to be made for federal funding. The proposal now heads to the Public Authorities Control Board, a state body responsible for granting financial approval for applications from statewide public authorities, which will review and vo...

California climate action plan calls for all-electric new homes by 2026

2022-05-12T17:11:00-04:00

A new draft plan by the California Air Resources Board was released on Tuesday that lays out an ambitious roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality in the state by 2045.

Called the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan, the guide highlights the necessity for a comprehensive shift away from fossil fuels across all sectors, notably households, businesses, and transportation.

The plan suggests the state require all new homes to have electric appliances starting in 2026 and new businesses by 2029. For existing homes, 80% of appliance sales should be electric by 2030 and 100% by 2035. As noted by TIME, this, coupled with the plan’s stringent transportation regulations, would put a significant new demand on the electric grid, which would require California to rapidly scale up solar power and storage options. Hydrogen infrastructure would also need to expand.

The plan is not final, however. It wi...

North America’s largest cruise terminal begins construction, designed by Arquitectonica

2022-03-21T13:39:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the largest cruise terminal in North America. Located in Port Miami, and designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the MSC Cruises Terminal will be capable of hosting three cruise ships simultaneously as well as 36,000 daily passengers, upon its completion at the end of 2023.

Image courtesy of Arquitectonica

The $350 million, 492,000-square-foot scheme adopts a long, thin footprint in response to site constraints, while a flowing form allows for embarking and debarking functions to be overlapped across four levels. The flowing roof profile is also visible in the terminal’s interior, accentuated by parallel lighting and supported by colonnades to gently divide the vast space.

Image courtesy of Arquitectonica

“The design maximizes the limited footprint by creating a layered embark and debark experience, allowing both processes to overlap seamlessly,” said Arquitectonica in a statement. “The form of the building expresses this layering visually, highlighting th...

Foster + Partners-led team chosen to design new mixed-use Stockholm Central Station

2022-01-18T14:51:00-05:00

A team led by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Swedish firm Marge Arkitekter has been unveiled as the winners of the competition for the development of Stockholm Central Station in Stockholm, Sweden. The pair is joined by LAND Arkitektur, Thornton Tomasetti, Ramboll, Wenanders, and TAM Group. Together their proposal will see the creation of an integrated transport hub for a new pedestrian-friendly mixed-use urban district.

“As the world’s collective focus shifts to more sustainable ways of living, working and traveling, it is vital that we enhance and redevelop our transport nodes and repair and connect the urban fabric around them,” said Luke Fox, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners. “We look forward to developing these proposals with Jernhusen, Trafikverket and the City of Stockholm over the coming months.”

Originally opened in 1871, Stockholm Central Station sits in the heart of the city, serving as Sweden’s largest transportation hub. The new district will accommodate fut...

Russia's historic wooden airports are still in use today

2018-09-12T14:47:00-04:00

This is the era of the glass and steel airport. As if made from the same mold, shiny, glittering terminals have become a status symbol for any city with aspirations. But all of this is a world away from the remoteness of Russia's Arctic regions and the Siberian wilderness [...] built in the mid-20th century when the Soviet Union saw in air transport a way to expand the state's reach to every corner of its territory, even if that meant little more than a dirt runway and a radio shack.

A collection of Russia's historic wooden airports are the antithesis of our current experience of most urban airports. Rather than immense glass and steel constructions, these old structures are made of simplistic wooden designs.

While many may look dilapidated, several are still in operation with regular airline service. Take a look at some of these unique transportation hubs below:

Mar-Kyuyel' Airport, located in Russia's Far East. Image: Russian Platinum.

Solovki Airport, located near Russia's Solovetsky Islands. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Seymchan Airport, located in Magadan Oblast, Russia. Image: Sever.Aero.

Mezen Airport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Image: Shutterstock.

Check out the full collection of Russia's wooden airports here.

AERIAL FUTURES release a new video exploring integration of airports and cities

2018-06-27T14:28:00-04:00

AERIAL FUTURES, a non-profit think tank exploring innovation in the architecture of flight, have created a new film titled Urban Constellations looking at the relationship between a city and its airports. Using NYC as a case study, this video asks how fragmented pieces of infrastructure can be reimagined more holistically, in order to simultaneously improve air travel and urban life.

The film features experts who discuss the challenges and opportunities for the future of NYC’s aerial infrastructure, drawing on the New York think tank’s focus on urban design and digital interfaces.

The next public AERIAL FUTURES event will take place on Thursday, July 19 at the Denver Art Museum. This edition, entitled Constructed Landscapes, will ask how airports influence the future of mobility and transportation.

Competition for America's Sorriest Bus Stop highlights America's very sorry public transit system

2017-08-29T17:19:00-04:00

For the past few years, the site Streetsblog has been shedding light on some of America's most dreadful public transit systems with their competition for the "Sorriest Bus Stop in America." The tournament takes user submissions for uncomfortable, inaccessible, and sometimes, outright dangerous bus stops and pits them against one another for a good, and necessary, public shaming.

Bus stop in San Juan nestled between two yellow concrete bollards. Image via Google Street View.

So far, in this years tournament a precariously balanced Pittsburgh bus stop located on the side of a four-lane highway beat out a Medford stop that lacks a sidewalk and pedestrian access. A pair of stops on the side of a state highway in Chapel Hill that require crossing the highway or going on a 1/2 mile roundabout to reach won against another shelterless stop in San Juan that is nestled between parked cars and marked by two yellow concrete bollards. Two Southern California stops, one in San Diego that requires ...