The first phase of the I-19 Relocation Project (the Iway) in Providence, R.I., was officially completed recently with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by R.I. Governor Donald Carcieri and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Administrator Richard Capka. Billed as the largest and most complex single project that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has ever undertaken, the massive construction effort moves the busy intersection of I-195 and I-95 south of its original location, encompassing some 2-1/2 miles of interstate highway construction. Designed to improve safety and relieve traffic bottlenecks in the downtown Providence area, the project provides more lanes and shoulders for vehicles. Consisting of 16 construction contracts expected to total about $550-million, the Iway is also expected to open up about 35 acres of real estate in Providence for future development and parks.

Iway construction began in 2003, with Cardi Corporation of Warwick, R.I., winning the lion's share of the Rhode Island DOT's contracts — more than $240-million worth of construction on five contracts, including Contract 7 involving one of the most congested sections of interstate in the Ocean State. Worth about $85 million, this contract incorporates the seven-span Providence River Bridge, a structure unique not only in design but in the way it was built. About a quarter-mile long, the bridge features three distinct structural types: a 400-foot main span that utilizes a network arch, two west spans totaling 500 feet with steel box girders 8 feet deep, and four east spans over land totaling 350 feet that use prestressed concrete box beams. The substructure of the arched main span consists of shafts drilled to bedrock and filled with concrete, and cast-in-place concrete abutments and piers.

The 400-foot main span of the Providence River Bridge, excluding the concrete decks, was fabricated in Plainville, Conn., by National Eastern Corp. and delivered by trucks to the former naval base at Quonset Point in Rhode Island, where workers of Northeast Steel Co. assembled the parts. Then the Mammoet Co., a firm that specializes in heavy lifting and transporting equipment, put the assembled bridge on a barge and towed it to the job site in Providence. There, barge crews guided the bridge into position at high tide and allowed the receding tide to lower the span to its final position on the piers and abutment. A week before the October 26 ribbon-cutting ceremony, more than 10,000 visitors walked the new Iway, which is slated to open shortly to eastbound traffic. According to Governor Carcieri, the project is about five years ahead of schedule.

A $32-million public high school being built on the campus of Connecticut's largest community college reflects a growing national trend to establish high schools at existing college sites. Great Path Academy, under construction at Manchester Community College (MCC) by North Haven-based Banton Construction Company, is a 75,000-square-foot, two-story facility designed by architect Tai Soo Kim Partners to resemble other structures on the MCC campus. Providing advanced technology, the school will house flexible learning spaces, an internet café, a gymnasium and a community room. It is situated to promote easy access to the college and facilitate collaboration between Great Path Academy and MCC. Gar-San Corporation of Watertown is the instruction administrator for the facility, designed to accommodate approximately 325 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. MCC is the largest of the state's 12 community colleges, serving some 12,000 students a year. One of the purposes for constructing a high school on the college campus is to immerse students in the college community and encourage them to accelerate their post-secondary studies by taking college as well as high school courses.

The largest residential construction project underway in Cambridge, Mass., recently topped out. Extell Development, Equity Residential, Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc., and the project team for 303 Third Street celebrated the raising of the final beams for two structures comprising the 841,000-square-foot, $165-million facility. Two 8-story residential towers — a North Building containing rental units and a South Building housing condominiums — and 220,000 square feet of underground parking are included in the project. Topping out took place in the future courtyard of the project, located in Kendall Square, with over 300 people witnessing the hoisting of two beams, one for each building being constructed on the site. Cetra/Rudy of New York is the architect for the project, and the structural steel engineer is McNamara-Salvia of Boston. JF Stearns erected some 8,000 pieces of structural steel that was fabricated by Isaacson Structural Steel.