Infra Insight Blog

Insurance on a project is a vital tool with which to manage project risk. In a warming world with ever larger and more complex projects, insurance becomes that much more important to ensure that projects can stay on track after an accident or other insurable event.

Join Jim Vorhis and me on May 30th for the next webinar in our Infra Insight webinar series focused on navigating risks and adapting insurance to align with evolving methods of project delivery. We are excited to welcome our guest panelists, Michael Earp and Tariq Taherbhai from Aon Construction & Infrastructure. … 

Yesterday, the Senate released legislative text for its highly anticipated bipartisan infrastructure package, titled the ­­­­­­­­Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Negotiations have been ongoing for months, and while several political and policy hurdles remain before this proposal can arrive on the President’s desk for his signature, agreement on this bipartisan package is a hugely positive development. Project sponsors and practitioners have closely tracked the development of this package not only with respect to overall funding levels and policies but ...

The long-awaited Presidio Parkway opened for the first time to Bay Area motorists on July 12th, ahead of schedule and to local and national praises.

The $1.1 billion Presidio Parkway replaces Doyle Drive – an outdated and seismically deficient viaduct – as San Francisco’s main connection to the Golden Gate Bridge.  The new 1.6-mile, six-lane roadway tucks elegantly into the natural contours of the historic Presidio of San Francisco, and enhances transit, pedestrian and bicycle access within the national park area.  The Presidio Parkway has received numerous honors ...

On August 3, 2014, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Port of Miami achieved an important milestone when the est. $1 billion Port of Miami Tunnel opened for traffic.  The project consists of twin tunnels under Biscayne Bay linking Port facilities on Dodge Island with a widened MacArthur Causeway and I-395.  One of the first public-private partnerships in the United States to use an availability payment contracting structure, the tunnel improves access for freight trucks and cruise passengers, reducing traffic congestion in downtown Miami and improving air ...

The 141-year-old Baltimore and Potomac (B&P) Tunnel is a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, but Amtrak, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) are conducting a study to examine alternatives to improve or replace the tunnel. 

The two-track B&P Tunnel is used by Amtrak, Maryland's MARC Commuter Rail trains and Norfolk Southern freight trains. The track geometry of the outdated tunnel creates a low-speed bottleneck impacting approximately 85 Amtrak trains, 57 MARC commuter trains and one to two freight trains each day.

Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman is warning that one or both of the Hudson River rail tunnels will need to be shut down within the next 20 years.  Boardman also noted that it would take seven to nine years to build and deliver new rail tunnels and that Amtrak’s plan for new tunnels is still unfunded. CEO Boardman made these remarks at the Regional Plan Association’s conference on April 25th in New York City.  

Readers will recall that Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) was a passenger rail infrastructure project that would have significantly expand transportation access between Midtown ...

The Virginia Department of Transportation and Elizabeth River Crossings Opco LLC (ERC) reached financial close on a toll concession public-private partnership ("PPP") for the $2.1 billion Midtown Tunnel Project.  It is the first United States transportation PPP to reach financial close in 2012 and will include construction of a new Midtown Tunnel, rehabilitating the existing Midtown and Downtown Tunnels, extending Martin Luther King Boulevard and will provide much needed transportation improvements and congestion relief to motorists in the Hampton Roads region.  ...

During a July 20, 2011 presentation before the Commonwealth Transportation Board, the Virginia Department of Transportation reported that VDOT reached agreement on major business terms with Elizabeth River Crossings LLC for the design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance of the Midtown Tunnel Project in the Portsmouth and Norfolk area.  As a result of this major milestone, VDOT is targeting to reach financial close on the Midtown Tunnel Project by the end of 2011.  

The Midtown Tunnel Project will involve the construction of a new two-lane tunnel under the ...