PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced that closed the Ten Mile River Bridges on Dec. 30, 2011. The bridges carry North Broadway over the Ten Mile River and over a nearby small stream in East Providence. The weight limit on the bridges was posted at 3 tons in July 2011, but the results of a recent inspection revealed deterioration significant enough to prompt RIDOT to close the spans.

   WASHINGTON, D.C. — From its vantage point as the voice of transportation, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) offered a look at the top 10 issues that will be talked, written, or tweeted about and legislated in the year ahead.

   WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a public meeting on the H Street/Benning Road Streetcar line, Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced that an interim connection to Union Station would be used. The mayor told the crowd of residents and business owners that the District will move forward with plans to link the streetcar to the train station via the Hopscotch Bridge that carries H Street over the Amtrak tracks.

   NORTH VANCOUVER, BC AND EDMONTON, AB — Alberta Transportation selected a team led by Buckland & Taylor Ltd. (B&T) with subconsultants EBA Engineering, Terrace Engineering, Turtle Island, Golder Associates, Docklands Specialists, and Partridge Hill Engineering to provide engineering services for the replacement of the Athabasca River Bridge on Highway 813 near Athabasca, Alberta.

   WASHINGTON, D.C. —No matter how you slice it, the outlook for the 2012 transportation construction market is mixed, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association's (ARTBA) senior economist said in releasing her annual economic forecast during a 90-minute webinar for Wall Street analysts and construction industry executives.