Imagine any aspect of our natural environment-air, water, soil, habitat, flora, or fauna-and you can envision the impacts that our nation's transportation infrastructure has upon them. The same with cultural resources-neighborhoods sliced in half, noise and air emissions, historic structures torn down in the name of progress.

photo courtesy of APA

Roads and highways, airports and water ports create permanent changes to our communities, imposing social, cultural, and environmental impacts to surrounding areas. Environmental review is required so that these impacts are considered during the transportation planning and design process and mitigated, if required.

Environmental review and permitting, however, is often one of the most complex, cumbersome, and time-consuming portions of a transportation project.

In enacting TEA-21 (the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century) in 1998, Congress affirmed that America's transportation infrastructure is imperative to our mobility, productivity, and economic well-being. Congress also acknowledged the challenges of the environmental review process, and mandated, through Section 1309, that the environmental review process be streamlined.

Is environmental streamlining working?

The Regulatory Climate

Transportation projects that receive federal funding must follow environmental review procedures prescribed in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which also acts as an umbrella process for guiding compliance with key elements of other federal environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. Most individual states follow a similar environmental process for transportation projects that do not receive federal support.

photo courtesy of APA

According to the FHWA, through environmental streamlining, TEA-21 Section 1309 aims to address concerns relating to delays in implementing projects, unnecessary duplication of effort, and added costs often associated with the conventional process for reviewing and approving surface transportation projects.

"The goal is to facilitate faster and cheaper environmental review processes, without reducing the level of protection to the environment," says Janet Myers, senior fellow with The Center for Transportation and the Environment at the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University.

Streamlining Pilot Programs Move Forward

The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) is overseeing 10 pilot projects in seven states (California, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin) to develop and test various ways that the environmental review process can be streamlined (see www.transstreamnet.org for more details).

These pilot tests are part of a larger effort to reengineer the environmental process, both within organizations (for example, where environmental activities are housed and the effects on decision-making and information flow) and external to organizations (looking at how the review process works and how to make it more effective).

photo courtesy of APA

In the Riverside County (CA) Integrated Plan, one pilot project consists of an integrated planning effort to address transportation, habitat conservation, open space, watershed, and land use issues simultaneously and together. According to the project sponsors, the Integrated Plan is expected to significantly shorten the time frame for concept to delivery of transportation corridors because of the early resource agency involvement and concurrent review of completed draft documents.

In another pilot project, the state of Florida is completely redesigning its environmental review process to allow for early environmental screening at the planning stage of a project, rather than during the project development phase.

Thinking Beyond the Pavement

Another major trend intended to create more environmentally and community-friendly transportation projects is emerging: context-sensitive design (see www.fhwa.dot.gov/csd for more information). States are looking at context-sensitive design as a way that planners and design engineers can understand and incorporate the public's involvement and help minimize environmental and cultural impacts, and, more fundamentally, as a way to make complex transportation projects work.

photo courtesy of Parsons

According to the FHWA, context-sensitive design is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility.

Five pilot states-Maryland, Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Utah-are developing training programs on context-sensitive design, strategic plans and new policies on implementing context-sensitive design, and enhanced ways of promoting community outreach during project development.

Involving Communities Early

A large part of our transportation infrastructure-including the nation's Interstate system-was originally built without regard for environmental or cultural impacts. All this changed with the enactment of NEPA.

photo courtesy of EFCO

"Over the years since NEPA, state DOTs have developed pretty good methodologies for considering and mitigating environmental impacts," says Carol Cutshall, director of Wisconsin DOT's Bureau of the Environment, and chair of the Transportation Research Board's Environmental Analysis in Transportation committee.

"But considering that most transportation infrastructure is now being built in urban and suburban areas, our present challenge and focus is on urban and cultural impacts," says Cutshall. "It's imperative that we get out into the community early to identify its wants and needs so that we can build the best project possible to address those needs."

Early and continued community involvement is a critical step in the context-sensitive design process and it helps to establish credibility and trust between DOTs and other project stakeholders, including natural resource agencies that ultimately have responsibility for environmental review and permitting.

Moving Toward Environmental Excellence

Are the federal and state government's efforts at environmental streamlining working? "From a macro view, it may seem like 'business as usual,' with changes in schedule or costs difficult to quantify," says Myers. "However, at a state and local agency level-and even at a project level-dramatic changes are occurring."

photo courtesy of PBS&J

For example, solving wetlands and other mitigation issues early in the process is a huge benefit for state and local DOTs. In well-defined proj-ects, several states are actually starting mitigation efforts prior to final design, so that natural resource agencies and the community are comfortable that the appropriate solutions will be in place and working before the impacts occur.

Some states are developing "categorical" solutions in which threshold impact levels and environmental standards can be developed for certain categories of projects. Then, similar proj-ects can be batched together and go through the pre-established environmental criteria as a group, thereby avoiding the cost of doing environmental analyses on each project individually.

And finally, states are working through the logistics of using transportation monies to fund additional natural resources staff to handle the increased permitting and review workload.

A higher level of effective environmental stewardship is, indeed, coming to pass in the transportation industry. "We're seeing many incremental changes," says Cutshall, "that will ultimately benefit the transportation industry and our nation's environment."

The Hot Mix Asphalt industry's record on continuous improvement in the arena of environmental quality is impressive. While production of HMA paving material has increased by more than 250% over the last 40 years, total emissions from HMA plants have dropped by at least 97%.

Today, fume and particulate emission levels are very low and well controlled. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has recently removed HMA plants from its list of industries considered major sources of hazardous air pollutants.

Thanks to the initiative spearheaded by NAPA members, all highway-class pavers produced in this country incorporate engineering controls to enhance the work environment at the paving site. In partnership with government agencies and representatives of asphalt workers, the Asphalt Pavement Alliance strives to encourage both practical improvements and research that will make even more improvements possible.

Asphalt pavement is the most recycled material in America. Not only does the asphalt industry recycle more of its own product than any other industry in terms of both percentages and tonnage, it also incorporates products from other industries into pavements in ways that are environmentally sound.

The asphalt industry's everyday practices conserve precious natural resources, reduce reliance on landfills, and enhance the environment.

No pun intended, but a major driver of Professional Service Industries, Inc.'s (PSI's) environmental consulting business is directly related to transportation projects. As a long time provider of geotechnical engineering and construction testing services to transportation clients, PSI has seen a marked increase in opportunities and requests to provide a variety of environmental services to this market sector.

"Environmental issues affect many aspects of highway, transit and airport construction and maintenance, from site selection and right of way studies to the upkeep of bridges and facilities," says Walter Goin, P.E. and COO of PSI. "Much like private development or commercial projects, transportation projects must deal with environmental impact and due diligence requirements, wetlands challenges, remediation or management of hazardous materials, and air quality issues. And, there are worker and public health concerns often associated with these high-profile projects."

Recent PSI environmental project experience for transportation clients includes environmental site assessments for corridor studies, remediation design for hazardous materials abatement, asbestos consulting for airport renovations, and lead-based paint testing and inspection of bridges. "We see transportation as a continued key market for our firm's success," says Goin.

Carrying over 240,000 people each day in cars and trains, New York City's Williamsburg Bridge spans the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. With a suspension span of 1,600 ft and a total overall length of 7,308 ft, it was the world's longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1903.

Since 1994, CTE has been providing resident engineering and construction inspection services to the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) on various projects that are part of the comprehensive reconstruction and rehabilitation of the bridge.

CTE's primary responsibility on this $730-million project is the replacement of both the Manhattan and Brooklyn approach viaducts that support the north and south inner and outer roadways. CTE's initial contract covered the south roadways, and two additional contracts were added to include the north roadways, as well as the demolition and replacement of the existing New York City Transit BMT structure that runs down the center of the bridge.

New electric feeders and electric service buildings for the bridge were installed in Brooklyn and Manhattan providing new electric service for the entire bridge. A Traffic Management System is being installed utilizing Variable Message Systems, closed circuit television monitoring, and additional signs, which will be linked by fiber-optic cable to the NYCDOT Joint Transportation Operations Center in Queens.

CTE also supervised the removal of asbestos-containing materials from the existing transit systems and demolished buildings below, and supervised chemical lead paint removal and full-containment blast cleaning on the north approaches.

The Suncoast Parkway, Florida Dept. of Transportation Turnpike District's latest addition to the Florida tollroad system, is one of the most environmentally friendly major transportation projects in the country.

"By proactive partnering with the community and environmental regulatory agencies, we were able to design and construct the 42-mile-long Parkway with the fewest impacts possible to the natural environment in west Florida," says Max Crumit, project manager for PBS&J, a leading provider of infrastructure planning, engineering, construction management, and program management services.

The mitigation project includes preserving 10,170 acres of prime land in public ownership, including 600 acres of prime habitat that will never be developed. Wildlife crossings were incorporated into the roadway design and there was limited clearing in many areas to save existing trees and natural growth.

Also built into the project is the Suncoast Trail, a multi-use recreational corridor that parallels the entire Parkway, providing an important north-south pedestrian and bicycle connector between public lands, parks, and greenways.

Large projects require a large work force and a commensurately large fleet of equipment, tools, and supplies. The logistics of assembling the right tools for the right job can be immense. That's why many projects, sites, facilities, and clients look outside for this expertise-bundled and ready to go.

AMECO's Site ServicesSM solution is designed to help construction projects finish on time and under budget by increasing craft productivity, reducing costs, and duplicating and standardizing equipment, tools, and spare parts. AMECO is a full-service provider of construction equipment, expendable and non-expendable tools, consumables, and safety supplies.

AMECO tailors its project support solutions to meet the needs of a single construction company or to support multiple contractors and subcontractors working to complete a complex capital project. AMECO has worked hand-in-hand with countless construction managers, developing a proper approach and then supplying equipment and tools to projects of all sizes all over the world.

Managing complex transportation projects is tough, particularly when every schedule seems to be a fast-track schedule. Having an equipment and supplies expert on the team-from the early stages of project development all the way through until project demobilization-enables the project risk to be reduced and the project rewards to grow.

The eastbound and westbound bridges over the Cuyahoga River and valley are a critical component of the Ohio Turnpike's third lane widening between Youngstown and Toledo. The Trumbull Corp./National Engineering, Joint Venture of Pittsburgh, PA, and Strongsville, OH, used the EFCO Plate GirderŪ Form System throughout the project.

Plate GirderŪ was developed specifically to handle heavy-duty construction forming for bridges, stadiums, buildings, and power plants. The dependable tensile, compressive, and shear strengths of steel give the Plate GirderŪ System the ability to be self-supporting, self-spanning and to work as an excellent high-quality concrete form in the same application.

To pour the 17 hollow core bridge stems, the joint venture used special filleted inside retractable box corners and EFCO's Flipper Lock Jump system accessories. The contractor chose to pour a single base pour height and then continue upward with 40-ft lifts. The tallest stem height was approximately 145 ft.

EFCO's Redi-RadiusŪ panels were used to form the 21-ft-radius soffits and EFCO tension/compression forms were used to carry the large load. "The tension/compression form and the larger formwork panels kept the working points to a minimum," said Terry Reed, EFCO territory manager. "Because the stems are so high, this greatly reduced the labor needed to handle the formwork, which reduced cost and improved safety."

For nearly two decades, W. R. MEADOWS was concerned about high solvent content construction liquids contributing to environmental pollution. The company refocused and redirected its product research and development capabilities to create concrete construction liquids that would not harm the atmosphere and would improve worker safety. MEADOWS' ef-forts paid off.

Paving train sprayer applies Sealtight 160-White Series Curing Compound over newly placed concrete pavement on a midwest highway.

A broad line of true water-based, environmentally friendly products emerged in the early 1980s. Tagged the "Sealtight Green-Line," these products are designed for concrete curing, sealing, hardening, set acceleration, evaporation retarding, form release agents and more, number nearly 60 items today.

MEADOWS' highway curing compounds are part of this coveted group of problem solvers. The 1100-Clear Series and 1600-White Series are ready-to-use, VOC compliant and produce an impermeable film, which optimizes water retention. The products enhance concrete by providing increased compressive and tensile strengths. They also offer greater resistance to cracking, surface crazing, corrosive salt action, chemicals and minimizing excessive shrinkage. No run-off problems exist. 1600-White reflects sun's rays to keep concrete cooler, prevent excessive heat build-up and thermal cracking.

The recent passage of the $7.8-billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan adds a new dimension to transportation work in the state of Florida. The plan provides the road map for restoring and protecting the South Florida ecosystem and affects virtually every construction project due to requirements for mitigating environmental impacts.

Carter & Burgess, a national transportation firm with several offices in Florida, is preparing plans for a 12.5-mile widening of I-4, east of SR 44 to west of I-95. A key part of the firm's practice involves working with state and federal transportation agencies to minimize the impacts of transportation projects to the environment.

Carter & Burgess senior project manager Jim Myers says that it's becoming the norm in Florida to look at the environment from an "ecosystems management" point of view. "Such a comprehensive approach enables regulatory agencies from several levels of government to get involved in the process of determining the best activity to benefit the entire environmental region," Myers said.

Other Carter & Burgess projects include US 160 over Wolf Creek Pass in the southern Colorado mountains, where the firm designed special underpasses for endangered lynx, and the Wadsworth/US 36 interchange in Broomfield, Colorado, which involved the use of special techniques to minimize impact to a mobile home park protected by the Environmental Justice Executive Order.

With today's concerns for cost-effectiveness, schedule adherence and resource conservation, many clients turn to Program Management (PM) contracts. PM contracts benefit both Owner and Program Manager, through creation of a long-term relationship and mutual trust, often enhanced by a partnering program, and continuity and stability in the project documents, which all participants can use with confidence.

Parsons, a major provider of PM services, has found that the scope of work for PM assignments can vary greatly. Usually, though, PM contracts include most or all of the following characteristics: long duration, multiple phases, multiple projects within a program, integrated/augmented client staff, design management and construction management duties, capital budget and financial management responsibilities.

Among the many Parsons Program Management projects that have benefited from these services are the $2+-billion Northeast Corridor high-speed rail improvement project and the $1+-billion Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport project. Both projects have included complex planning, design, construction and environmental issues. The Northeast Corridor project is completed and operating, and the Cleveland-Hopkins project is well on its way to a successful conclusion.