The construction season is upon us. As the month of June nears its end and families begin their vacation plans for the Fourth of July, many travelers realize that it is essential to make sure that they allow extra travel time for delays caused by road construction. Travelers who sit in the long lines of cars and wait for the construction worker to give them the signal to move ahead find themselves looking at any number of construction projects. From new bridges to on ramps and from resurfaced highways to new road construction, the business of summer construction includes a lot of work that we all see, but also a lot of preparation that generally goes unnoticed by the general public.
The fact of the matter is though that many construction projects take as long as they do because of the careful consideration to many safety measures that must be put in place long before the construction itself begins. The installation of portable bridges, access road construction routes, and trench shoring boxes, for instance, are important preparations that must be though out and installed months before projects can begin. Paying exact attention to Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, entire teams of engineers make sure that the work areas are properly prepared for projects can begin.
Portable Bridges and Other Preparations Make Summer Construction Projects More Safe
Whether they serve as safe access for workers walking to a worksite or for heavy pieces of equipment, portable bridges are an important part of many construction sites. Following the specific safety directives requires close attention to detail for worksites of any size. Given the number of current and future projects, the engineers that keep everyone safe will be more and more needed in the coming years.
- More than 200 million trips are taken daily across deficient bridges in the 102 largest metropolitan regions in the nation.
- 80% of drivers indicated that they prefer road maintenance being performed during off-peak hours, according to a survey conducted by the Asphalt Pavement Alliance. This is one of the reasons most road building contractors work at night.
- The public sector spent almost $90 billion on highway construction in the year 2015. Highway and road construction by the year 2020, however, is projected to grow to over $99.4 billion by the year 2020.
- One of every nine of the nation?s 607,380 bridges is rated as structurally deficient. This is not surprising when you know that the average age of the nation?s bridges is currently 42 years.
- To eliminate the nation?s bridge deficient backlog by the year 2028, the country would need to invest $20.5 billion annually, according to Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates. Currently, only $12.8 billion is being spent a year.