Federal Highway News

The collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge has highlighted what engineers say is an urgent need to better protect the piers holding up spans over shipping channels as the size of cargo ships has grown in recent decades.Federal authorities continue an investigation into why a massive cargo ship lost power and crashed into a pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday, bringing down the structure and killing six workers who had been filling potholes atop it.The Maryland Transportation Authority did not respond to questions about what…

Like many ports, the Alaskan Port of Homer faces aging infrastructure and capital needs well beyond the local funding capacity. The port is a key link in the supply chain for 47 remote, rural, disadvantaged or Alaska Native communities served by Homer, making proposed port infrastructure upgrades critical for shipping statewide as well as for the local community.Enter the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This unprecedented…

Much has been said both in Congress and by the current administration of the need to restore and enhance our nation’s transportation infrastructure, including its maritime transportation infrastructure. Recent legislation, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), the Inflation Reduction Act, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2023, and the related appropriations acts, has shown that Congress is ready to provide substantial funding in support of these stated goals.

With travel and tourism nearing pre-2020 levels, and transit systems benefiting from a return to work, passenger vessels have seen renewed activity. In its year-end review, John Groundwater, Executive Director of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), which advocates for the sector in Washington, D.C. wrote: “As we are nearing the end of the calendar year, we are delighted to report that our industry, and our members, are reporting far and wide that they have experienced very…

The main access road to Brazil's Paranagua port, the country's second busiest for grain exports, remained blocked by political protesters on Tuesday, according to a statement from the port authority, hobbling shipping from one of the world's top food producers. Blockades in the area were first reported Monday afternoon after similar demonstrations erupted throughout the country as supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro protested against his narrow election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A new bill recently introduced by Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) aims to increase federal funding for public ferry services in the United States.The “Ferry Service Expansion Act” would boost funding for both the Federal Highway Administration’s formula and the Federal Transit Administration’s competitive grant programs to the levels requested by the Public Ferry Coalition, building upon New Federal Investment in Ferry Service under Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.Specifically…

Kongsberg Maritime’s Sensors and Robotics Division has released ScanFuseTMpowered by Qii.AI, a web-based software application that enables Civil Engineers to create comprehensive mosaics of maritime assets above and below the waterline by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning.Civil Engineers use sonar images to assess the structural integrity of waterfront facilities and structures such as port wharfs and berths, bridge piers and dams. These images assist engineers to determine whether hydraulic scour threatens the structure…

The Biden-Harris Administration on Friday announced new funding aimed at improving ferry service across the U.S. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced $172.2 million in Fiscal Year 2022 formula funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law improve ferry service and provide more travel options in 35 states and three territories.“Many Americans rely on ferry service as a primary means of travel, making it a critical connection to jobs, healthcare and other daily needs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Heavy rainfall in southeastern Brazil has prompted miners including Vale SA to suspend some operations, they said on Monday, after downpours caused deadly floods in the northeast and threatened to delay harvests in the midwest.Rainfall is expected to remain heavy this week in most of top mining state Minas Gerais, after runoff closed roads and railways.The rains may also have contributed to the dramatic collapse of a canyon rock face in the state on Saturday, killing 10 people visiting a waterfall on boats.In the northeastern state of Bahia…

Shipbuilder and Heavy Steel Fabricator Metal Trades, Inc., located on Yonges Island, SC has announced the launch of its largest ever built new construction barge. This barge is 370’ x 59’ x 14’. It is designed to hold a total of 18- 60 foot rail cars capable of carrying cargo for up to 2298 Long Tons for New York New Jersey Rail, LLC (NYNJR), a short line railroad and wholly-owned entity of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Metal Trades, Inc. is contracted to build a total of two of these barges and the first of these barges is to be delivered next week.

Tropical Storm Beatriz approached Mexico's Pacific coast on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, dumping heavy rains that resulted in at least two deaths, caused landslides and forced road closures and flight cancellations. The emergency services in the southwestern state of Oaxaca said a landslide in the village of San Marcial Ozolotepec buried some houses and rescuers had found one dead boy, while one more was missing. Another woman was killed by a landslide in the village of San Carlos Yautepec, the emergency services added. The NHC said the storm was about 15 miles (24 km) south of the town of Puerto Angel, on Mexico's southwestern Pacific coast, blowing maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour (72 kmh).

Amy Beavers, USCG Licensed Master, Academic Principal and VP of Regulatory Compliance at Maritime Professional Training has passed away on November 5. Services will be held on Saturday, November 12, at 11:30 a.m. at Rio Vista Community Church, 880 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33316. Longtime maritime training expert and provider Amy Beavers was widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable stakeholders in the industry when it came to regulatory matters, especially where it intersected the U.S. Coast Guard's credentialing department. Notably, she served as Vice Chair of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC), but to most of the mariners who came through MPT for training, she was simply regarded as the "go-to" person for answers.

Protesters have agreed to open access to Brazil's main poultry exporting port of Itajai in Santa Catarina state, the port said on Wednesday, ending a lingering flashpoint after a two-week truck drivers' protest. A union of autonomous truck drivers agreed to the port's proposal to raise payments for transporters inside the port's grounds, the port said in a statement. The protests demanding lower diesel fuel prices and higher payments to cover freight costs were concentrated in southern Brazil in its final days, blocking meat exports and leaving some grocery stores with bare shelves. Warehouses outside Itajai port were full of containers carrying refrigerated meat for companies like BRF SA…

Some truck drivers in Brazil continued blocking roads on Tuesday, slowing grains deliveries to southern ports, even as adherence to the strike diminished and a key highway in top soy state Mato Grosso opened. Nationwide, there were 18 roadblocks over rising freight costs by the end of the day on Monday, well below peaks of more than 100 a week ago, federal highway police said. With the two-week-old protests concentrated in the south, however, the situation at No. 2 soy exporting port Paranagua remained critical, a spokesman said. On Monday just over 700 trucks arrived at the port, less than half the normal amount for this time of the year. With stocks running out, the port can only guarantee exports of soybeans and soymeal through Wednesday, the spokesman said.

Striking truck drivers resumed some roadblocks in Brazil on Monday even as the government cracked down on protesters and promised to implement a law to lower toll costs and give other benefits to the transport sector. Nationwide there were 24 road blockages in four states, down from 99 points a week ago, the federal highway police said. Except for two roadblocks on the BR-163 highway in the top soy growing state of Mato Grosso, all were in the south. In Rio Grande do Sul, where police had completely cleared roads by detaining protesters and bringing in back-up troops on Sunday, striking drivers were stopping cargo trucks at 12 points though they were letting passenger cars pass, police said.

Alaska can use an existing British Columbia ferry terminal for several more years if Canada enforces an order blocking so-called "Buy America" purchasing rules from being applied to its reconstruction, a state official said on Tuesday. A $15 million plan to overhaul the Prince Rupert ferry terminal, which is located in Canada, has escalated into a trade dispute with the United States. Alaska has refused to seek a waiver to the controversial law, designed to protect U.S. companies from foreign competition in transportation infrastructure projects. That prompted Canada on Monday to fight back by invoking rarely used anti-sanction laws that would prevent bidders on the project from agreeing to use only U.S.-made iron and steel, potentially delaying construction.

Last July, President Obama announced the Build America Investment Initiative, an Administration-wide effort aimed at boosting private investment in our nation’s infrastructure. And Friday, Vice President Biden announced new steps that federal agencies are taking to bring private sector capital and expertise to bear on improving our nation’s roads, bridges and broadband networks. These actions and announcements are the first steps that the Administration is taking as part of the Build America Investment Initiative’s two-year action plan. These steps highlight important progress within DOT.

The Canadian government signed an order on Monday blocking the United States from applying controversial "Buy America" purchasing rules on the demolition and reconstruction of a ferry terminal that is located on Canada's Pacific Coast but operated by Alaska's Department of Transportation. The U.S. federal rules are designed to protect U.S. companies from foreign competition in transportation infrastructure projects. The state of Alaska has refused to waive the provisions for the $15 million rebuild of the Prince Rupert, British Columbia, ferry terminal although the project is solidly in Canadian territory. Canada is fighting back by invoking rarely used anti-sanction laws to prevent bidders on the project from agreeing to use only U.S.-made iron and steel.

In recent years, ferries have been in the spotlight, in part because of growing mass transit needs and increased road congestion, but also because of concerns about the deadly South Korean ferry sinking last April. We asked Captain Terri Bernstein, the Passenger Vessel Association’s 2014 President, about the industry’s status in the United States. Based in Alexandria, VA, the PVA has over 500 member companies. Ferries are safer, especially since 9/11, but regulatory requirements have swelled and can be onerous, Bernstein said. She’s the owner of BB Riverboats, Inc.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced a $10.8 million TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant for the rehabilitation of the Wando Welch Terminal project, one of 72 transportation projects in 46 states and the District of Columbia that will receive a total of approximately $600 million from the Department of Transportation’s discretionary grant program. Maritime Administrator Paul ‘Chip’ Jaenichen visited the Port of Charleston today to tour the project site and meet with port officials.

Until January of this year, Sean Connaughton oversaw seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. Connaughton is probably better known to MarineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional programs for the marine transportation industry. This included advising and assisting the Secretary of Transportation on commercial maritime matters…

Infrastructure renewal and engineering combine to provide an obscure, often under-appreciated, but nevertheless critically important aspect of marine operations. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, the waterway abundant geography provides engineering and specialized moving company Omega Morgan with all sorts of challenges that involve bridges spanning rivers. Whether crossing or moving these spans, West Coast-based Omega Morgan, faces particularly unique engineering challenges.

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway awaits the chance to rescue the crowded eastern seaboard with a readymade alternative to the parking lot known simply as I-95. The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) extends 1,200 miles from Norfolk, Va. to Key West, Fla.. That much is common knowledge. What you may not know is that the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the AIWW in 1919 and the entire waterway was completed in 1940. Consisting of natural inlets, salt-water rivers, bays, and sounds; others are manmade canals, the canal is included on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark.