Bush visits Cajun jobsite to discuss Gulf Coast rebuilding

In March, Cajun Constructors Inc. of Baton Rouge, La., welcomed President George W. Bush to its jobsite in New Orleans' Ninth Ward on his 10th visit to the Gulf States to view the progress in cleanup and reconstruction six months after the city was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Cajun Constructors, a member of ABC's Pelican, New Orleans/Bayou, North Texas and Greater Houston chapters, is working to replace the Industrial Canal levee. The project is expected to be completed by the end of June.

While visiting the jobsite, the president discussed his strategy to help foster the rebuilding of Louisiana, calling on Congress to provide $1.5 billion for the levee rebuilding effort in New Orleans.

"Congress heard our message about improving the levees, but they short-changed the process by about $1.5 billion," Bush said. "In order to help fulfill our promise on the levees, Congress needs to restore $1.5 billion to make this a real commitment and to inspire the good folks down here that they'll have a levee system that will encourage development and reconstruction."

Joined by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Bush praised the dedication of the craftworkers rebuilding the city.

"I appreciate the determination of the folks down here to rebuild," Bush said.

Bush said he has been working with state and local authorities to determine how much money would be needed for rebuilding purposes. He has also asked Congress to provide $4.2 billion to the state of Louisiana to help residents rebuild.

Design-Build team proposes record-breaking Mississippi River bridge

Audubon Bridge Constructors Joint Venture has proposed the longest cable-suspension bridge in North America to serve as the new Mississippi River Bridge connecting New Roads and St. Francisville, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Secretary Johnny Bradberry announced recently.

Audubon Bridge Constructors' price proposal was recently made public when the group was identified as the apparent successful proposer for the design and construction of the bridge, which will formally be known as the John James Audubon Bridge.

"Beginning work on this bridge demonstrates that DOTD is committed to continuing our pre-hurricane construction projects," Bradberry said. "It is important that we not let the tragedies of Katrina and Rita slow down the work that the public demands."

Audubon Bridge Constructors submitted the lowest price of $334.7 million. The post-hurricane estimate was $346.6 million.

"I am especially pleased that the lowest price was within our cost estimates," Bradberry said. "Construction costs have increased sharply since the hurricanes and we hope the proposed prices on this project are an indication that costs are stabilizing."

The apparent successful proposer was determined using an adjusted technical and price-scoring system. The technical review was completed in early February and the price proposals were opened March 2.

Audubon Bridge Constructors is a joint venture of Flatiron Construction, Granite Construction and Parsons Transportation Group. The group submitted the lowest price on the project and also had the highest technical scores.

Local firms that the group plans to utilize in the designing and building of the bridge include Boh Bros. Construction of New Orleans, Evans-Graves Engineers of Baton Rouge, Burk-Kleinpeter of New Orleans, GOTECH of Baton Rouge and Rahman & Associates of Kenner.

Audubon Bridge Constructors proposes a cable-stayed bridge that would become the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America, surpassing the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in South Carolina, which has a 1,546-ft. main span. The proposed bridge design is similar to the Mississippi River Bridge in Luling.

The new bridge will replace the current ferry used to cross the Mississippi River in the area. The project includes about 12 mi. of roadway approaches and a 2.44-mi.-long cable stayed bridge structure across the river. The roadway will connect to U.S. 61 in West Feliciana Parish, south of S.R. 964 (south of St. Francisville) and then connect to Highway 1 in Pointe Coupee Parish east of Hospital Road.

Scott Powerline adds articulating cranes

Scott Powerline & Utility Equipment of Monroe, La., recently announced the addition of Effer articulating cranes to its product offering.

Scott Powerline will be responsible for sales, marketing and support for Effer products, manufactured in Italy, in the trade areas of Arkansas, East Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. In addition to the aforementioned areas, Scott Powerline will also have dealer responsibilities in Alabama, Georgia and northern Florida with exception of investor owned utilities.

Effer cranes offer a full line of articulating crane models with more than 200 variations and configurations. Models and capacities range from the Model 42 with 15 ft. of hydraulic outreach able to pick 1,800 lbs. to the Model 2200 with 159 ft. maximum outreach able to pick more than 1,000 lbs. Many attachments are available to meet different and specialty applications.

H&E Equipment Services celebrates grand opening of Sulphur facility

H&E Equipment Services celebrated the grand opening of its new full-service facility in Sulphur, La. On hand to take part in the March event were more than 500 customers, manufacturers, employees and neighboring businesses.

The event kicked off with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, after which attendees enjoyed a self-guided tour of the facility, exhibits, equipment demonstrations and a crawfish boil.

Glenn Willis, H&E Sulphur branch manager, said, "This new facility is a major improvement over our old one. From the ground >> up it was designed and built with the customer in mind.

"We are now better able to provide comprehensive rental, sales, parts and service to equipment customers in the future."

Located on more than four acres at 2200 Louis Alleman Parkway in Sulphur, the new facility is nearly 21,000 sq. ft. In addition to general maintenance and repair, the shop is equipped to handle large repair jobs with two 10-ton overhead cranes and a brand new track press - one of only two in the entire Southwest Louisiana area.

The Sulphur location is the authorized dealer for Komatsu, Grove, Manitex, Ingersoll-Rand, Sennebogen, Gomaco, Waldon, Pemberton, TrailKing, Okada, CP and more, with capability to service and provide parts for nearly all brands of construction and industrial equipment in the market today.

Construction begins on U.S. 61 widening project

The project to widen U.S. 61, or Airline Highway, between Cedarcrest and Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge, La., began recently, according to the Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD).

Barber Brothers of Baton Rouge is contractor for the $11.6 million project, which will add a third lane on each side of the highway for 3.7 mi. and a $1.7 million contract to expand the Intelligent Transportation System, or ITS, by installing backbone fiber-optic cable to communicate with cameras and electronic signage in the area.

The work should take 260 calendar days to complete, or through the end of November, said Phil Graves, project engineer.

The project will start with removal of vegetation near the shoulder, including nine live oak trees, said Herb Piller, DOTD landscape architect. Piller said a total of 36 trees deemed "significant" according to DOTD's tree policy are in the construction area, which means that the majority, or another 27 trees considered to be significant, will remain untouched.

In an effort to mitigate the tree loss, DOTD will enhance landscaping at the entrance of Broadmoor subdivision, he added.

Excel Group acquires Bronco Construction

The Excel Group of Baton Rouge has entered into an agreement to purchase Bronco Construction Corp. of Denham Springs.

Bronco Construction is a privately owned company founded in 1984 by Gerald Pruitt. They currently have projects in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. Bronco provides civil, structural, piping and other mechanical services to industrial clients. Bronco also provides pre-fabricated pipe systems to customers across North America.

Excel Group provides engineering, construction and maintenance services for its customers in the manufacturing, refining, chemical, power generation, pulp and paper, environmental and aero-space industry throughout the United States and the Caribbean.

Excel Group has offices in Prairieville, La.; Houston, Texas; Freeport, Texas; Paducah, Ky; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; and St. Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands.

"The acquisition of Bronco Construction will accelerate Excel's mechanical construction and pipe fabrication capabilities to achieve long-term growth initiatives," said David Roberts, president/CEO of Excel Group.

Diamond B, Soil Stabilizers win NAPA awards for hot mix paving

The National Asphalt Paving Association (NAPA) recently announced the winners of its 2005 Quality in Construction Award for excellence in construction of an asphalt pavement. The presentations to the winners were made at a special ceremony at the association's 51st Annual Convention, "Ride the Pavement," in Hollywood, Fla.

In the south central region, Diamond B Construction Co. LLC of Alexandria, La., and Soil Stabilizers Inc. of Ruston, La., were presented with awards.

Diamond B Construction Co. was recognized for the overlay of LA Hwy. 43 from its junction with Highway 10 to its junction with Highway 38. The company cold planed the road, corrected its slope and then applied two layers of HMA. The completed road is notable for its smoothness, its overall aesthetics and the high quality of the HMA used on it.

Diamond B was also recognized for its work on 10.38 mi. of I-49 from its junction with Louisiana 181 to its junction with Louisiana 106. The company milled the road and then overlaid it with 2 in. of binder course and 2 in. of Superpave HMA mix.

Soil Stabilizers was recognized for its reconstruction of 8.5 mi. of LA Hwy. 566 starting at the intersection of U.S. 84. The company laid 3.5 in. of Superpave HMA on a base of cement-treated soil and lime-treated soil. It earned 100 percent pay on the job, which far exceeded all smoothness requirements.

The Quality in Construction Awards recognize hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements of excellence.

"NAPA selects the award recipients using a known set of standards that have been shown to give good results," said Richard F. Moore Jr., chairman of the NAPA Board of Directors.

First 'continuous-flow' intersection in Louisiana opens in Baton Rouge

The first "continuous-flow" intersection, or CFI, in Louisiana and only the second one in the nation opened in Baton Rouge recently on Airline Highway at its intersection with Sherwood Forest Boulevard and Siegen Lane. The intersection opened following a formal ribbon cutting ceremony.

"We're thrilled to have Louisiana become a trend-setter with this cutting-edge traffic design," said DOTD Deputy Secretary Cedric Grant.

"The increased traffic problems in our parish call for innovative solutions that take us beyond the 'status quo' thought process," said Mayor-President Melvin "Kip" Holden. "This design positions us as leaders on the state, national and international levels in highway technology."

DOTD project engineer Phil Graves said drivers on Airline can expect a significant improvement in the time it takes to cross the intersection with the completion of the $4.4 million project, designed by ABMB Engineers and built by Coastal Bridge of Baton Rouge.

Mike Bruce, a principal at ABMB, said the average delay for each car crossing the intersection during pre-Hurricane Katrina evening rush-hour traffic was 225 seconds, or about 4 minutes. With the opening of the CFI turn lanes, the time elapsed is estimated to be 30 seconds per car - an improvement of almost 90 percent, Bruce said.

The CFI relieves congestion at the intersection by removing the left-turn conflict from the intersection. Instead, motorists making left-hand turns from Airline are routed to a left-turn bay.

The CFI in Baton Rouge is only the second such intersection in the United States - with the other one outside of Washington, D.C., in Maryland. More than 40 such intersections have been built in Mexico, Bruce said.