Bascule Span View looking north at the construction of the Bascule (drawspan) Contract. The outer loop bridge (foreground) will be operational in mid-2006. The new bridge will be 20 feet higher than the existing bridge which will reduce the bridge openings from a current 250 times a year to 65 times a year. The contractor is in the process of testing the drawspans. There are four drawspans for each bridge. (Photo Credit: PCC)
The two sides to the debate about what the economy needs- more spending or less spending- will no doubt go on until political fortunes are secured. But in the meantime, it’s instructive to reflect on the success of public works projects, both in terms of the improvements to infrastructure, and their short term benefits to the economy.
One way to divide them up is of course by their costs. Boston, San Francisco, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland host the top 10 most expensive projects according to this article at Construction Management Schools.
Just the bridge work on the Woodrow Wilson bridge between Maryland and Virginia totals almost a half billion dollars with more than 10 million man hours of work invested so far.
Even as far back as the 1800s, public works projects have often moved communities to new heights of innovation. According to the Census Bureau it was July 1891 that the town of Bellfontaine, Ohio became the first to use concrete for a roadway.
The residents of Bellfontaine, Ohio, had a lot to talk about this week in 1891 — an eight-foot wide section of Main Street, where horses were hitched, had just been paved with concrete by engineer George Bartholomew, who supplied his own materials. This was the first use of concrete as a road surface in North America. This experimental section not only proved to be sturdy, it still exists.
