ENR MidAtlantic Infrastructure & Transportation Today

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Traffic relief is on the way for commuters on I-270 in Maryland. Opinions expressed are those of the advertisers. MidAtlantic Infrastructure & Transportation Today Queuing Up in WHAT’S INSIDE The Free State ◆ Nation’s First Progressive The I-270 Innovative Congestion Management Program Design-Build Highway is underway to improve travel time and safety Project Brings Ramp Metering to Maryland By Dan Naumovich ◆ Amtrak’s ADA Stations Program Enhances Accessibility for Rail Passengers in Virginia ◆ Double Ring Wale Used for Cofferdam at a New Pump Station in Delaware enr.com/SpecialAd ?, 2017 | ?23

MidAtlantic Infrastructure & Transportation Today SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Progressive Design-Build Project Brings Ramp Metering to Maryland Ramp metering systems are not a new The Maryland Dept. of Transpor- Cabinet interface equipment for radar PHOTOS: COURTESY OF RUMMEL, KLEPPER & KAHL concept, but their use throughout the tation State Highway Administra- detectors is placed on the I-270 mainline United States can only be described tion’s (MDOT SHA’s) I-270 project is lanes to measure vehicle volume, speed as selective. A map on the Federal designed to break up 14 bottlenecks and and occupancy to determine meter rates. Highway Administration’s website add 12 new lane miles along the 34.4- shows that Minneapolis-St. Paul and mile corridor. The roadway currently Shown is a cabinet during ramp metering Los Angeles are hotbeds of ramp meter serves 250,000 vehicles per day, and proof-of-concept testing. control, while Dallas-Fort Worth it has been estimated that motorists and St. Louis have yet to embrace the traveling southbound from Frederick design-build approach is the closest to a congestion-relieving solution. The state to I-495 will shorten their morning true design-build procurement,” offers of Maryland will soon be getting a dot commute by up to 30 minutes. Improve- Michael Higgins of Concrete General, on the map via the $100-million I-270 ments are also expected to reduce delays overall project manager of the design- Innovative Congestion Management by 43% and reduce crashes. build team. “The owner provided the Program that’s currently underway. design-build team with the purpose “Traffic-responsive ramp metering of the project: Reduce recurring and “The purpose of traffic-responsive will be effective because while the non-recurring congestion, and improve ramp metering is to regulate the flow traffic demand is very high, the actual travel time reliability along the I-270 of traffic entering the mainline from freeway capacity can accommodate it. corridor for a lump sum amount without interchanges,” explains Jeff Roberta of However, the frequency of interchanges any set scope. Our team had to look Rummel, Klepper & Kahl (RK&K). and volume of traffic entering at these at every possible solution, including “Regulating the flow of entering traffic locations during the peak period leads innovative approaches such as traffic- helps to prevent the buildup of conges- to turbulent traffic conditions at ramp responsive ramp metering, to determine tion caused by significant numbers merges, and these operations affect the what would win the pursuit and what of vehicles merging into traffic all at whole roadway, causing congestion that we could actually deliver. The progres- once. Traffic-responsive ramp metering ultimately lasts for several hours each sive design-build approach necessitates applied to a series of interchanges along day in the peak direction,” Roberta says. the development of a strong, collabora- a stretch of roadway works to keep the tive team of constructors, designers and mainline flowing at a sustainable rate, To facilitate the system, ramps are estimators working together to deliver a avoiding the congestion bottlenecks being widened to provide additional successful project.” ◆ that can cause an entire stretch of room for vehicles as they queue at the highway to become congested.” meters, and acceleration ramps are being lengthened where necessary. “In An advanced hazard identification beacon addition, queue detection will also be (HIB) is placed at the top of each I-270 on- installed to monitor vehicles on the ramp. The HIB will flash when ramp meter- ramps and prevent them from backing ing is activated to warn motorists. up onto the intersection arterials. This will allow for optimizing freeway opera- tions without negatively impacting the local roadway network,” Roberta adds. RK&K is serving as the lead design firm on the I-270 project, which also holds the distinction of being the first highway project in the nation to utilize a progressive design-build delivery approach. The firm partnered with Concrete General, the prime contractor, as well as 14 other firms to execute the project that is currently scheduled for completion in mid-2021. “In my more than 20 years of experience in the alternate procure- ment delivery process, the progressive 24 | August 17/24, 2020 enr.com/mid-atlantic/resources/SpecialAd



MidAtlantic Infrastructure & Transportation Today SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Amtrak’s ADA Stations Program Enhances Accessibility For Rail Passengers in Virginia As the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrates that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with PHOTO: COURTESY OF RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION CO. its 30th anniversary, Amtrak is continuing to make upgrades disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else— that enhance the level of accessibility for persons with including the use of public transportation. disabilities. At multiple stations from Vermont to Virginia, Railroad Construction Co. (RCC) has been working with Following the notice to proceed in June 2019, RCC began Amtrak’s ADA Stations Program to support the legislation the two-phase project to repair, replace, install and construct ADA infrastructure, passenger information display systems Railroad Construction Co. is currently working with Amtrak to and State of Good Repair program improvements at the enhance ADA accessibility at its Ashland, Va., station. Amtrak Station in Ashland, Va. Existing platforms have been replaced with concrete slabs on helical piles, railings, walkways and curbs. Electrical upgrades required the crew to jack and bore under the tracks for the safe installation of aesthetically pleasing, candy-cane-shaped light poles along the platforms. Two modernized wheelchair lifts, each with an accompanying building and metal and glass canopy, will be installed. Bricks from the original platform will be incor- porated into the restored hardscape, and reinstallation of historical signage will complete the project. With a total of 480 calendar days to finish, the dedicated team will have Amtrak’s Ashland Station fully adhering to Dept. of Transportation Accessibility Standards for Trans- portation Facilities and Amtrak Engineering Stations & Facilities Standard Design Practices by the end of this year. ◆ Double Ring Wale Used for Cofferdam at New Pump Station in Delaware Kuhn Construction and Peirce Engineering have worked Additionally, any interior bracing couldn’t penetrate the PHOTO: COURTESY OF PEIRCE ENGINEERING on multiple civil and construction engineering projects in the walls of the new pumping station structure while under MidAtlantic. When New Castle County needed a new pump construction. This limited the contractor to only one solu- station for Richardson Park in Wilmington, Del., Kuhn bid tion: a circular cofferdam with internal bracing outside of the on and was awarded the contract. Subsequently, Peirce was proposed structure. subcontracted to do the design work for the new wastewater pumping station substructure shoring. For more information about Nucor Skyline’s cofferdams and other offerings, visit www.nucorskyline.com. ◆ Nucor Skyline supplied the steel sheet piles and H-piles used for the pump station project, along with some design Drone footage shows the circular cofferdam used for excavation review by its engineering team. The plans called for NZ 19 at the Richardson Park pump station in Wilmington, Del. sheet piles installed as a 90-ft-dia circle, with HP 14 x 89 piles as internal walers on the inside perimeter of the sheet piles. Nucor Skyline shipped the sheeting directly to the site, and the HP sections to Greiner Industries to be rolled to form the 90-ft-dia bracing for the cofferdam. The site conditions included bedrock above the footing elevation, and the rock bench height varied from one side of the jobsite to the other. Using an ICE 28C vibratory hammer with a Manitowoc 222 crane, Kuhn drove the sheet pile to refusal. The shallow depth of the bedrock and the contract requirement that all tiebacks be removed upon project completion made the use of tiebacks impractical. 26 | August 17/24, 2020 enr.com/mid-atlantic/resources/SpecialAd

STRUCTURAL STEEL SOLUTIONS H-PILES • SHEET PILES • PIPE PILES • THREADED BARS • STRAND ANCHORS • MICROPILES • HOLLOW BARS • WIDE FLANGE • PILING ACCESSORIES n Full range of ASTM sections available n Available grades include A572, A588, A690, A709, A913, A992; all domestically produced n Full range of fabrication services n Currently stocking 8” to 21” grade 50 wide flange, in 40’ to 70’ lengths n 16” & 18” flange width sections available for increased buckling resistance n Longer lengths up to 130’ available nucorskyline.com/wf | 888.450.4330 © 2020 Skyline Steel, LLC. Skyline Steel, LLC (doing business as Nucor Skyline) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nucor Corporation, the largest producer of steel in the United States.