 Welcome to this week's edition of This Week in Civil Engineering, also known as TWICE, a weekly news show focused on providing civil engineering professionals with the most important and relevant industry updates. We hope you enjoyed Kamini's first episode. I'm your host for this episode, Jeff Smith. I'm a licensed professional engineer practicing structural engineering in New York City. I oversee a team of the most creative designers, building, renovating, and sustaining the world's future landmarks. You can find all of the episodes of This Week in Civil Engineering at TWICE.News. That's TWICE, T-W-I-C-E.News. References to all of the news stories covered will be in the episode show notes. And if you're watching on YouTube, be sure to subscribe to the TWICE playlist to receive weekly episodes. Now it's time for What's Happening This Week in Civil Engineering. Now it's time for This Week's News. You are about to hear excerpts from the story's reference, links to all the full articles can be found at TWICE.News. Let's cover the biggest breaking news stories from this week that might affect civil engineering companies and professionals. The U.S. Department of Transportation awards $1 billion in the latest round of build grants from Tom Ichnowski at ENR.com. The U.S. DOT awarded 70 projects totaling $1 billion in 44 states for improvements to highways, bridges, transit systems, and other types of infrastructure under the better utilizing investments to leverage development, also known as build grants. Congress capped the total grant amount for an individual state at $100 million. 75% of the amount is for highways, roads, and bridges. This is subject to a maximum of $25 million for six projects, one each in Florida, Iowa, Maine and Pennsylvania, and two in Texas. The grant will finance the replacement of the Teconic Bridge over the Kennebec River connecting Waterville and Winslow to the extent of $40.5 million. The biggest amount, $50 million, was received by Texas for two projects, followed by Florida at $49 million, also for two projects. Highway and Bridge projects got 77% of the total 54 awards. How will this latest round of grants affect your organization? Next up, why specifications and codes are the key to more concrete innovation? From Matthew Jetmore at ENR.com. The purpose of codes or specifications for concrete structures is important to ensure safety, sturdiness, and resilience. There is a perpetual debate between the need for prescriptive or composition and procedure of concrete mix versus performance specifications for concrete. Historically, it was sufficient to specify the recipe and the procedure to obtain a certain strength, but what we are really concerned with is the performance. The same concrete mix and process can lead to varying results and performance depending on many factors, including the quality of the ingredients and the ambient conditions. This goes on to show that the performance specifications are the best to use. Prescription specifications do not take into account the innovation in chemical admixtures to enhance performance. The fast-changing requirements of dense high-rise structures needed in record time and the fast-changing safety norms makes innovation to get the required performance necessary. Instead of using prescribed ingredients based on historic generalized assumptions, to set an example, the use of carbon dioxide mineralized concrete to reduce the carbon footprint did not exist decades ago. It is not the case that prescriptive specifications do not change the procedures and ingredients to suit specific performance needs from time to time. Pre-certification, quality control, and testing are needed, but we also need to specify performance to accommodate innovation and better methods. You can find the entire article at ENR.com. Also, episode 153 of EMI's The Civil Engineering Podcast features an interview with Ron Berg of ACI covering current concrete trends which can be found at civilengineeringpodcast.com. Next, let's look at the biggest civil engineering stories in the United States. First up, Congressional Transportation leaders back a one-year extension of the FAST Act from Eugene Malero at TTNews.com. The 2015 FAST Act, which expires on September 30th, has the support of Congressional Transportation leaders for an extension of one year. Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Bissaro believes the Act should not be allowed to expire and should not be extended on a month-to-month basis, but that there should be a five-year, $287 billion reauthorization of the Highway Law. Making long-term investments in roads and bridges will reduce red tape, ensure environmental protection, and recovery of the economy. FASIO, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, agrees to backing a year-long extension, but neither agency has come up with a concrete roadmap for the extension. It is felt that it is likely to ride piggyback on a must-pass federal funding legislation rather than coming to a separate bill. Like the Highway Law, federal funding authority expires at the end of the month. During the State of the Union Address, the President urged Congress to pass Bissaro's Highway Bill, which gained pie-partisan support in committee. The Democrats desired the extension of the nationwide high-speed internet, a five-year surface transportation rebuilding plan, and further streamlining of environmental permanent guidance. Nearly 100 groups, like the American Association of Port Authorities, propose a year-long extension of the FAS Act, saving the need for $37 billion and $32 billion in emergency funding for departments of transportation and public transit agencies, respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in public agencies revenues drying up, leading to delays or cancellations of $8 billion in surface transportation projects, with no support from the federal government in sight. ATA spokesman Sean McNally stated that an extension should not take the pressure off Congress to act on a long-term bill. This is an interesting and important story in the CE world. It seems unlikely that the long-term approach will succeed, but a one-year extension may be favored in view of the uncertain situation that exists in our economy. Civil engineers with an interest in infrastructure will await the outcome with baited breath. Next up, New Oregon Inlet Bridge to get behavior tests with billions of laser points from Jeff Hampton of the Virginian pilot. Engineers are conducting a high-tech survey marking billions of points on the New Oregon Inlet Bridge to make sure it reacts as designed in the harsh, out-of-banks elements. When it is complete, state officials will have a three-dimensional map covering every fraction of an inch along the 2.8-mile-long concrete span, said Pablo Hernandez, a bridge engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. It's the best way to make sure it behaves, he says. The bridge is an infant in its life. We're making sure it's behaving according to its design, said Hernandez. The $252 million Mark Bassanite Bridge opened in February of 2019 to replace the old Bonner Bridge that had lasted 56 years. All beyond its expected lifespan. Set on North Carolina 12, the bridge connects northern outer banks to Hatteras Island. The bridge won awards for its strength and design, and is expected to last 100 years even in the harsh, out-of-banks environment. Many of its supports sink 140 feet into the bottom of the volatile waterway. Nearly 50 flexible steel tendons run lengthwise through holes in the upper bridge parts to tie it all together. The old span was crunched by a loose barge in the 1990s and had to be closed for repairs. It endured dozens of hurricanes and winter storms. Seven years ago, currents in the Oregon Inlet scoured sand away from the support pilings to a precarious level. The state closed the bridge while replenishing the sand below and stabilizing the pilings. At times, pieces of its concrete fell into the water and rusting reinforcement steel was exposed. For the last several years, the bridge needed one repair after another, but the bridge was also monitored by GPS surveys, and despite its age and propensity for repairs, it never moved, Hernandez said. State engineers want to be sure that the new bridge behaves in the exact same way. EMI is currently seeking a guest from the project team to pair on the Structural Engineering Channel podcast, which can be found at structuralengineeringchannel.com. Let's take a quick break from the news for this week's Civil Engineering Career Inspiration, a story from my days as a new engineer. About two weeks into my first engineering job at Sillman, Bob Sillman, the firm's founder and president, asked me to join him for a meeting. For those who didn't get a chance to meet or work with Bob, you should know he was not only a great engineer, but an even better person and mentor. Given Bob's talent and standing in the industry, I assumed I would be tagging along with him to be a fly on the wall and just get my feet wet seeing the type of work I could expect to encounter during my career. During the meeting, when the architect asked Bob a direct question, he looked at me and said, I don't know, Jeff, what do you think? I was completely stunned. After I composed myself, I gave what I thought was a reasonable answer and Bob agreed. It was a small moment in the meeting and probably nothing out of the ordinary for anyone else in the room, but it stuck with me to this day for so many reasons. One, Bob knew the answer and did not need me to respond, but he gave me the opportunity so that I would get used to speaking meetings and practicing skills not often taught in school. Two, Bob had confidence that I would not put my foot in my mouth. His confidence gave my own confidence a big boost and ensured that the architect would take me seriously in any future meetings. And three, it reminded me to never lose focus in a meeting because you never know when you're going to be asked a question or put in the spotlight. I took these lessons as I grew to be a manager and have tried to recreate these opportunities with my own staff. Given the impact this small moment had on my career, I recommend all engineers, no matter how junior or senior, find their ways of doing the same. And now back to the news. Next, let's move on to some international news and civil engineering from this week. First up, Network Rail to design and build composite footbridges from Rob Horgan at newscivilengineer.com. Network Rail, in partnership with National Composite Center, will design and build prefabricated composite footbridges Futura at its station. Composites are low carbon, corrosion resistant construction materials and will be installed faster and maintained easier. This will lead to less disruption and passenger inconvenience. This will also lead to cost reduction. The components will be prefabricated in factories with electronic controls for easy and fast precision fit assembly at the stations. This may be a welcome innovation in the CE space. We will continue to update you on this innovative topic. Next, the opening of the Rotong tunnel completed at a cost of about three thousand two hundred crore Indian rupees is crucial at a time when there are border issues with China in Ladakh from Suresh Sharma and Himanshi Duwan of timesofindia.indiatimes.com. The world's longest motorable tunnel at a height of three thousand meters and a length of nine point zero two kilometers constructed at a cost of four point four billion US dollars is located in the Rotong pass in the Eastern Pier Punjal range on the Lamanali Highway in India is now ready to open. It is 10.5 meters wide, 5.52 meters high with a foot path of one meter on both sides with a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour. It is estimated that the tunnel will see the traffic of three thousand cars and one thousand five hundred trucks a day. The distance between Manali and Le will now be 46 kilometers or 28.5 miles less, reducing travel time by four hours. The tunnel has fire hydrants every 60 meters, emergency exits every 500 meters, turning caverns every 2.2 kilometers, air quality monitoring every kilometer. In addition to the 4G internet network, emergency telephones are at regular intervals, broadcasting system and automatic incident detection system with CCTV every 250 meters. It has 11 KVA electricity and UPS power source in case of power failure. The opening of this tunnel is of great strategic importance as it will allow faster movement of defense equipment at a time when India is facing problems with China at the Ladakh border. It is certain that the construction of this tunnel has many stories of trials and tribulations faced by the design engineers and construction engineers. Detail, as they may become available, will be a great learning experience for engineers interested in tunnel construction. Next up, Japan's tallest skyscraper to be named Torch Tower to be built in Tokyo from Kyoto at scmp.com. Developer Mitsubishi estate has revealed that they plan to build the tallest 390 meter or 1280 foot high skyscraper named Torch Tower in Tokyo. It will be located in the Maranuchi Business and Commercial District in front of Tokyo Station. It will have 63 floors above ground and four floors underground. The Torch Tower will have offices, a luxury hotel, a hall for 2,000 people and an observation deck from where visitors can view Japan's tallest mountain, Mount Fuji. It will have three other buildings and a 7,000 square meter plaza. The total area of the project will be 31,400 square meters. The project is expected to cost 4.7 billion dollars and will be ready by 2027. At present, the tallest building in Japan is the 300 meter Abeno Harukas in Osaka and a 330 meter construction is underway by Mori Building Company in central Tokyo with the target year of completion of 2023. The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and stands at 828 meters. The race to reach the skies by architects and builders is on. The unique challenges faced in each of these marvels of construction will produce even more learning experiences for civil engineers and structural engineers alike. On that note, let's cover a few infrastructure related stories. Hurricane Sally, Pensacola Bay Bridge may be out of commission for a month or more. From Kevin Robinson at PNJ.com. A part of the road on the Pensacola Bay Bridge was destroyed recently during Hurricane Sally. Florida Senator Doug Broxen stated that it is likely to take more than a month to repair. The hurricane was expected to make landfall considerably west of Pensacola, but it came near Gulf Shores, Alabama, causing destruction in Pensacola. It caused a lot more damage than what would have been expected as it had been classified as a category two hurricane. Several barges had broken loose. Five washed up near downtown, a sixth was found near Escambia Bay and the Interstate 10 Bridge and a seventh was lodged against the Garcon Point Bridge. DOT staff will check and report the extent of the damages to local structures as soon as it is safe to do so. Hurricane Sally left 95 percent of Escambia County and 66 percent of Santa Rosa without power with no clear idea when power will be restored. The weather continues to create challenges to infrastructure worldwide and there is no doubt civil engineers will continue to be on the call to help to respond and to repair or help replace damages. And last but not least, Road Runner, crucial hurdle cleared for $1.2 billion project improving I-10 Barraza Aviation from Shaq Davis at Tucson.com. The plan for a $1.2 billion interstate 10 widening project in reconfiguration of the Barraza Aviation Parkway recently cleared an important hurdle in the efforts to one day provide better travel experiences in Pima County. The Arizona Department of Transportation's final environmental assessment to determine the impacts to the areas surrounding the project was determined to have no significant impact, the report says. The goal is to widen I-10 from I-19 to Colb Road and provide an extension of Arizona 210 Barraza Aviation Parkway from Golf Links Road to I-10. Alvaron Way in this area would be designated Barraza Aviation Parkway along with an interchange that provides direct access from Palo Verde Road to I-10, a dot said. Adding a connection between I-10 and State Route 210 in Southeast Tucson would facilitate the use of State Route 210 as a business spur, providing local downtown traffic with a desirable alternative to I-10, offloading traffic and thereby improving traffic operations on I-10, a dot said. Overall, the project would add up to two lanes in each direction from the I-10, I-19 interchange to Alvaron Way, up to four lanes on I-10 from Alvaron Way to Colb Road, as well as improvements to the corridors, interchanges, and bridges about 15 miles of road would be addressed. To wrap up, here's an inspiring quote to motivate you for the rest of your day. Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal by Vince Lombardi. What obstacles are currently in your path to success? There you have it. That's what's happening this week in civil engineering. You can find references to all of the stories mentioned at twice.news and all episodes are also published in video on EMI's YouTube channel at youtube.com slash engineering careers. Remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And of course, YouTube for the video version. This is Jeff Smith, signing off. We'll see you next week in the meantime. Go be the best civil engineering professional you can be.