Mead & Hunt historians recently surveyed Greenfield, a postwar neighborhood in Detroit.
If you look along major transportation corridors, you might notice entire subdivisions of similar houses that reflect the scale, styles and traditions of the postwar housing boom. Evidence of the explosion in residential building that occurred after World War II — more than 40 million houses built between 1946 and 1975 — can be seen in cities, suburbs and rural areas across the country. Continue reading
I received an email today from the National Trust that caught my eye. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has put out a call to help preserve historic buildings and structures at Yosemite National Park. Their website cites that ”the National Park Service (NPS) has proposed a plan that will demolish more than 100 of its historic structures, including its iconic Rustic style bridges.” Continue reading
As a historic preservation specialist who frequently works on Section 106 compliance for transportation projects, I sometimes find assessing the visual impacts of the proposed project on historic properties to be very challenging. So, it was with great interest that I read the recently published National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) report entitled Evaluation of Methodologies for Visual Impact Assessments. Continue reading
ADC50 members exploring the Columbia River Highway at the 2011 conference in Portland.
As the incoming chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Historic and Archaeological Preservation in Transportation (ADC 50), I am excited to announce the call for participation in our mid-year meeting. This year’s conference will be a joint meeting with the Native American Transportation Issues Committee (ABE 10) in Sacramento California on July 21 -24 hosted by Caltrans. The meeting will include presentations, a poster session, reception, and field trips to Kennedy Gold Mine and historic Amador County wineries. Continue reading
The recently released American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s Infrastructure includes a discussion of the status of our nation’s infrastructure in the following categories: water and the environment, transportation, public facilities and energy. Continue reading
Katie’s presentation will focus on the Sorlie Memorial Bridge in Minnesota and its innovative roller bearings to accommodate shifting at the banks of the Red River of the North.
SIA’s 42nd annual meeting will be held May 30 – June 2 in the Twin Cities. Included this year is the 23rd Historic Bridge Symposium focusing on bridge engineering and rehabilitation issues. Two of my colleagues here at Mead & Hunt – Amy Squitieri and Katie Haun – are presenting as part of the bridge symposium. Continue reading
Solar panels provide renewable energy generation at the Outagamie County Regional Airport.
Federal agencies just released their 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans. The Sustainability Plans respond to targets set by the Administration for reducing waste and pollution in federal operations by 2020 and outline how agencies are saving energy and money, reducing carbon emissions and cutting waste. With more than 1.8 million civilian employees, 500,000 buildings and $500 billion in annual purchasing power, the federal government has broad influence over, and strong responsibility for, sustainable environmental, energy and economic outcomes. Continue reading
The Simpson Avenue Bridge is the subject of a new WSDOT video.
WSDOT has developed creative mitigation strategies to promote its efforts to address effects to historic properties. These efforts are part of WSDOT’s compliance with federal preservation regulations. A 12-minute video documentary on the Simpson Avenue Bridge maintenance project is the latest example. You can find it on Youtube here. Continue reading
Caption: Spend $50 million to replace a bridge, or $1 million to get 5 more years out of it?
(Sample of a powerful message as noted in new study; Mead & Hunt photo)
Due to limited budgets, accelerated infrastructure deterioration, and continued public demand for transportation facilities and services, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are under increased pressure to “do more with less.” In response, DOTs are shifting activities to maintain and preserve existing transportation facilities, including highways and bridges. To make this shift, DOTs are placing new emphasis on asset management, performance measures, and maintenance and preservation efforts. Continue reading
Past & present
Program Comment implementation guidance
Well over 100 attendees listened on Jan. 24 as MaryAnn Naber, FHWA Federal Preservation Officer, presented implementation guidance for the Program Comment for Post-1945 Concrete and Steel Bridges.
States without current inventories are determining how to efficiently identify their exceptional beam and girder bridges. An estimated ten states have not inventoried any bridges built after World War II, and about 30 states have studied bridges up to 1955 (based on 2008 study by Mead & Hunt in cooperation with the Historic Bridge Alliance). During the webinar, states with existing inventories of historic bridges were advised to meet to discuss which bridges should go on the Part 4C list. Continue reading →