Joint Venture to Work on Route 9A Project

The New York State Department of Transportation has selected a joint venture of STV Incorporated, Parsons and DMJM + HARRIS to provide program management services for the Route 9A Reconstruction Project.

A major component of the Lower Manhattan redevelopment program, this project will reconstruct Route 9A - also known as West Street - in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site. The joint-venture team will be responsible for project management and controls, construction contract coordination, constructability reviews, graphics, visualizations, and community outreach programs.

The state is considering three alternatives for Route 9A: no action, an at-grade and a short bypass alternative. All approaches are compatible with an underground pedestrian concourse providing access between the World Financial Center, the permanent World Trade Center Transportation Hub and the Fulton Street Transit Center. The total estimated cost of the effort, depending on the alternative chosen, is between $175 million and $860 million.

PA Official to Assist Iraq Rebuilding Effort

Thomas H. Wakeman III, who currently oversees the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey $2 billion port dredging program, has been appointed by the U.S. Department of Defense to assist Iraq in rebuilding its national port system.

Wakeman, a White Plains, N.Y. resident, will serve as the principal maritime advisor to the Iraq Ministry of Transportation for up to 18 months beginning on March 1. While in Iraq, Wakeman will be on a leave of absence from his Port Authority job as general manager of waterways development in the Port Commerce Department. He will report to Ambassador Darrell Trent, the Coalition Provisional Authority's senior advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation.

When he arrives in Iraq, Wakeman will be responsible for working with the Ministry of Transportation's Iraqi Port Authority to rebuild the country's maritime transportation system, including related port and waterway infrastructure and freight handling terminals.

New Institute Formed

Industry leaders have joined forces in establishing the GPR Institute, launched in November 2003, to provide a complete resource for engineering professionals to learn more about using GPR technology for solving transportation infrastructure problems.

Sponsors of the institute include representatives from academia, GPR manufacturing, service firms, state departments of transportation and Federal Highway Administration.

GPRI, which is headquartered at the Institute for Infrastructure Asset Management in Troy, N.Y., will be developing and providing courses, conferences, symposia and GPR technology workshops in the United States, Europe and in the Asia Pacific regions. It will offer GPR operator certification and accreditation procedures and will establish industry standards and guidelines for use on national and international levels.