Port of Long Beach Issues RFQ for Gerald Desmond Bridge Project

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Patrick Harder

On Wednesday, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) approved the $950 million Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project for one of 10 state project slots available under California’s Design-Build Demonstration Program. 

The CTC’s approval authorizes the Port of Long Beach and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to deliver the project using the best-value design-build method contemplated under the program.  The Port of Long Beach and Caltrans released the request for qualifications (RFQ) for the project’s design-build contract on November 5, 2010.   

"The new bridge will be an iconic structure for Long Beach that modernizes the Port and puts thousands of people to work over the 5-year building period," said Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster.  “It is precisely the right project at the right time for California.”

The Port of Long Beach is one of the largest and busiest Ports in the world and functions as a major inter-modal center for cargo movement throughout the Western United States and beyond.  As the first cable-stayed bridge ever built in California, the new Gerald Desmond Bridge will be landmark for the Port and its surrounding communities.

As a top-tier project at one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking port facilities in the world, the Port of Long Beach expects a high level of interest in this project among the major national and global construction and engineering firms.

Points of Interest:

  • $950 million project
  • Complex construction of the first cable-stayed highway bridge in California
  • Final EIR/EA issued in July 2010
  • CEQA certified on August 9, 2010
  • Project cleared the environmental process on September 23, 2010
  • Received design-build authority from the California Transportation Commission on November 3, 2010
Tags: , , , , ,

AASHTO Proposes a National Motor Fuels Sales Tax to Replace the Gas Tax

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Geoffrey Yarema

AASHTO recently sponsored a Congressional Forum on funding and financing surface transportation in the coming decade.  Academic co-sponsors were America 2050 at the Regional Plan Association; Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania; Georgia Institute of Technology; Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota; Keston Institute of Infrastructure and Public; Finance at the University of Southern California.

Over 25 staff members of Senate and House committees participated.  John Horsley, Executive Director of AASHTO, made one of the presentations.  He explained in stark terms the short term funding crisis the Highway Trust Fund currently faces and offered a new solution – to replace the current excise tax on gas and diesel with a national sales tax on motor fuels.

Tags: , ,