June 2023

TOWN OF WALLKILL, NY—Officials with the New York State Department of Transportation held a public hearing on June 1 at Wallkill Town Hall to update the public on its re-evaluation of planned improvements to Exit 122 on Route 17.

BEAR MOUNTAIN, NY—As Hudson River bridge crossings go, the cost of construction of the Bear Mountain Bridge was a real bargain.
Back when it opened in 1924, spanning one of the narrowest sections of the Hudson River, the project took 20 months to complete at an initial cost of $2.9 million. In today’s dollars, that’s about $51 million for the 2,255-foot parallel wire cable suspension bridge that connects four counties over an equal number of generations in the lower Hudson Valley.

TARRYTOWN—The names of failed bridges continue to haunt our nation’s transportation legacy. Mianus River, Schoharie Creek, Tennessee Hatchie River Bridge, Cypress Street, San Francisco-Oakland Bay and I-35W—left scores of dead and injured and continue to serve as tragic reminders of the need to boost funding for the nation’s and, in particular, New York State’s aging and deteriorated bridges.

NEW YORK—The polluted air in early June, affecting much of the U.S. from wildfires in Canada, should remind us that we are all connected on this planet and that climate change is real. It should also spur our local politicians to support strategies that reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) which contribute to extreme weather conditions that lead to widespread wildfires, floods, extreme heat and more.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s campaign to regulate all U.S. ditches hit another roadblock on May 25. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) that the agency exceeded its authority in developing new wetlands regulations.

As anyone in the construction industry knows, subcontracting is as widespread in the industry as hammers and nails. Given this state of affairs, it is important that contracts between an owner and general contractor, and the general contractor and subcontractor (and lower tier subcontractors) be harmonized to the greatest extent possible.

Next Gen Leaders Profiles of the Industry’s New Generation Julia Apostolou Current Employer:  Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., White Plains, NY Job Title: Transportation Planning and Traffic Operations (Summer Intern) Age: 20 Achievement: Louis G. Nappi Scholarship Award, 2020 University and Degree: University of South Carolina, Civil Engineering, soon with a B.S. in Engineering (BSE). Favorite

Toward the end of 2022 a computer program known as ChatGPT—a form of artificial intelligence—burst into the public consciousness with the possibility of revolutionizing communications. Artificial intelligence, broadly defined, is the simulation of human intelligence by computers.

ALBANY—The New York State Legislature passed before the end of the legislative session last week the “Roadway Excavation Quality Assurance Act” (S4887, A5608), which “provides that utility companies or their contractors shall use competent workers and shall pay the prevailing wage on projects where a permit to use, excavate, or open a street is required to be issued.”