May 6, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Bridge Maintenance Importance

A chunk of concrete decking roughly two by three feet broke out of an Interstate 30 bridge just east of downtown Dallas late Sunday night, punctuating the importance and the need for highway maintenance funding. The bridge, which is about 60 years old, carries about 200,000 vehicles per day, according to TxDOT spokesman Randy Black. TxDOT inspected this I-30 bridge just a few weeks ago and no problems were discovered. It is in an area that crosses over the Trinity River and Beckley Avenue. The spot that failed was over Beckley Avenue.

“The concrete decking broke loose under the asphalt overlay and then that fell also,” said Black. “The ste...Read More

April 23, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

        I usually confine my blogs to Texas specific topics, but there are times when something tweaks me. The most recent occasion was when Sen. John McCain urged Congress to institute a “gas-tax holiday” by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I thought he was more logical than that.

        My first response upon hearing Sen. McCain’s idea was, “Instead of the government offering a gas tax holiday, why don’t the corporate refineries, who have been raking in exorbitant profits the past few years, take a hog trough holiday.”

April 15, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

I’ve been traveling Texas quite a bit the past two weeks, enjoying seeing completed projects that I featured in the pages of Texas Contractor over the past few years, spotting new projects and marveling at the speed of others.

North Texas

On my way up to visit friends near Durant, (yes, Oklahoma) I left Dallas between the towering columns of the High Five Interchange of Hwy. 75 and Loop 635, completed two years ahead of schedule by Zachry Construction Co. In the Allen/ McKinney area, I spotted Mario Sinacola and Rodman Excavating crews leveling sites on the east side of the highway for yet more shopping centers. Approaching Sherman, I recognized the surprisingly still bright stretch of Hwy. 75 rebuilt and ...Read More

March 27, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Today’s U.S. Census news was no surprise here, just a reaffirmation that the tower crane has once again returned to roost as the state bird of Texas. With four of Texas’ metropolitan areas listed in the Census Bureau’s Top 10 for highest numerical population growth from July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007, one only has to look outside to see that construction is trying to keep up with the population.

U.S. Census Statistics

Dallas-Fort Worth had the largest numeric gain of any metro area between 2006 and 2007, increasing by 162,250, according to July 1, 2007 estimates released today by the U.S. Census B...Read More

March 20, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

      Over the past few months, fear has been mounting in relation to the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) fiscal year 2008 highway letting budget. Our interview with Amadeo Saenz published in the January 7, 2008 issue of Texas Contractor warned of lean times ahead. Amadeo Saenz, executive director of TxDOT, who took over the top post at TxDOT last October, blamed the shortfall on a complexity of factors, including stagnating revenue from the gasoline tax, escalating costs of construction materials, and cuts in expected federal aid as resources.

      Then during an unusual joi...Read More