DENVER — Pueblo’s 4th Street Bridge Project was presented with the Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Environmental Excellence Project Award at the monthly meeting of the Colorado Transportation Commission. The new 4th Street Bridge, which crosses over 28 active railroad tracks, the Arkansas River, a pedestrian and bike path, and city street, was constructed adjacent to the 1958 structure it replaced. The construction team used a cast-in-place cantilever method, wetland pad, river barrier, bridge removal decking over the river, onsite dewatering, and other innovative methods to avoid or minimize impacts to the surrounding environment, including wetlands, water quality, historic resources, and migratory birds.

   COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florence & Hutcheson (F&H), a Columbia, S.C.-based engineering firm focused on designing and strengthening America’s civil infrastructure, received an Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of South Carolina (ACEC/SC) for the US 378 Bridge over Great Pee Dee River Bridge Replacement Project.

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $77 million in grants to 22 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) to advance research and education programs that address critical transportation challenges facing our nation. The UTCs, which are located throughout the United States, conduct research that directly supports the priorities of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

   RICHMOND, VA. — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the Dominion Boulevard project, a significant transportation improvement to ease congestion and improve safety in Chesapeake, Va., will move forward as a result of financing provided by the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (VTIB).

  URBANA, ILL. — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded a grant of $3.5 million to a multi-university consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to establish a rail transportation and engineering research center. Headquartered within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Illinois, the National University Rail (NURail) Center will focus on rail education and research to improve railroad safety, efficiency, and reliability. Particular focus will be on challenges associated with rail corridors in which higher-speed passenger trains share infrastructure with freight trains.

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and CEO Michael Melaniphy examined the needs and trends facing the public transportation industry in his “2012: State of the Public Transportation Industry” article published in the Jan. 16, 2012 Passenger Transport issue. Melaniphy pointed out that more and more people are pro-transit, as evidenced by the overwhelming support for public transportation ballot initiatives since 2000.

  COLUMBIA, S.C. — The LPA Group Inc. (LPA), a unit of Michael Baker Corporation, was awarded a $5.1 million contract by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to develop final construction plans for a new 5.7-mile section of Interstate 73 between I-95 and U.S. Route 501 in Dillon County, S.C., near the town of Latta.

   AUSTIN, TEXAS — The city of Austin awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for the development of a transportation corridor plan along an 11.5-mile portion of I-35 in central Austin. The intent of the project is to achieve better performance, efficiency, and connectivity through greater Austin while minimizing impacts to right-of-way and adjacent development.