Quality is a somewhat subjective term, but in certain fields and industries, quality is not only essential, but it is also a vital requirement. And this is especially true in the transportation industry. And as the Maryland Quality Initiative, or MdQI, puts it in its Mission Statement, the goal is, “To provide the Maryland transportation […]
Working on under bridge projects is one of the more challenging aspects of highway bridge and road work. While some bridges can be accessed from underneath with the use of smaller aerial work platforms such as bucket trucks or bucket vans, many highway bridges have span heights that put them beyond the reach of ground-based […]
Most people never notice, but they always happen: highway bridge inspections. Of course, traffic flow might be interrupted with lane shifts on large bridges requiring especially large overhead or under-bridge access equipment. And that’s when drivers notice the workers and the equipment used for these under-bridge inspections. Yet, the vast majority of these regular or […]
Almost everyone living in the United States is aware of the massive networks of roads, highways, and Interstates crisscrossing the nation. In fact, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), there are more than 3,950,000 miles of roads in the United States. However, not so many of us are familiar with the extent of our […]
When it comes to inspecting highway bridges, there is a wide variety of equipment available to facilitate the inspection process. However, when the region alongside and underneath a highway bridge deck must be accessed, safely reaching and working in the areas can be a challenge. Because bridges can have spans hundreds of feet above the […]
Construction is, by its very nature, an inherently dangerous industry. The presence of large equipment, power tools, and multiple personnel on an active jobsite can all combine to create a dangerous work environment. That being said, the vast number of construction projects carried every year are completed successfully with few, if any, major incidents. Unfortunately, […]
The term “bucket truck” is one that is often applied to a wide variety of vehicles that are technically known as aerial work platforms, or AWPs. These specialized work vehicles are also called by several other names and nicknames including cherry pickers, boom lifts, or even elevated work platforms. Broadly speaking, they are simply a […]
Every industry has its share of challenging issues and demands. While many of these are faced and overcome from behind desks and in front of computer screens, many other industry challanges are confronted in the field. The highway bridge construction, maintenance, and inspection industry – a significant segment of the nation’s broader infrastructure industries – […]
The United States is home to over 618,400 highway bridges, according to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 2022 Bridge Report. Along with regular cleaning, maintenance, and repair – in addition to periodic rehabilitation – these publicly owned bridges must be inspected routinely. How often highway bridge inspections occur, however, hinges on several […]
The United States is certainly not the oldest nation in the world and there are few structures still standing here that are more than 400 years old, which is incredibly recent by European standards and those of other parts of the globe. A bridge in Greece, for example, is purported to be the oldest bridge […]
