It was like an echo from the old TV series "Million Dollar Man." 'We have the technology to make it better, faster, stronger and cheaper.'
But the prognosis was not about a bionic human being. It was about road and bridge building. And it was not about the future. It was about today.
Assembled within the shadow of one of the most ambitious and costly highway endeavors in the nation, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project, was an assemblage of high tech methods and equipment that will change highway construction. And there to present it as well as learn about it was U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.
Last Thursday, at the edge of the Potomac River's Virginia shoreline, Mineta was introduced to a host of new technologies and behemoth equipment that "will enable us to build roads and bridges faster for less money."
Surrounded by a vast array of press and highway construction cadre, Mineta initiated the two hour event by saying, "This is the future. Many saw what happened in Connecticut a few weeks ago when a fuel truck accident burned a concrete bridge and threaten to close the primary north/south route on the East coast.
"Thanks to new technology we beat the odds and had traffic moving normally in a few days. Technology did that. The installation of a prefabricated steel bridge on I-95 is the most recent example. Bridges that lock together and concrete that dries in four hours."
Joining Mineta on his tour of not only the technologies and equipment assembled at the project's river headquarters at the base of Jones Point Road in Alexandria, but also on a 30-minute boat ride under the existing span and along the various construction sites of the new first span, were Robert Flanagan, Secretary, Maryland Department of Transportation and James Ruddell, construction manager, WWB Project.
"The Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project has already saved $20 million and nine months in time through the use of some of these techniques seen here toady," Flanagan saidd. "And, building some of these huge piece away from the river caused less pollution for the environment," Flanagan added.
Conducting the tour and explaining the various innovations to Mineta was Byron N. Lord, program coordinator, Highways for Life, Federal Highway Administration. "Because this is the future of road building we have only begun to scratch the surface in using these new technologies," Lord said.
As explained by Lord, "The "Highways for Life Program" has three main objectives. To build roads safer, faster and better as well as to have them last much longer."
He emphasized, "We are attempting to put the user first. To deliver highway construction designed to meet what the user needs. Hopefully, when the new reauthorization bill passes Congress it will speed this new technology."
AMONG THE EXHIBITS on display was "a powerful eight foot wide, rubber tracked asphalt paver designed to work in all types of subgrades and paving operations." Due to its narrow shipping width it can also be transported from location to location without special highway permits increasing its rapid deployment.
At another spot on the tour, two slabs of lock-together concrete were on display. Lord noted, "4,000 square feet of this can be laid in eight hours." It is strong enough to support large aircraft. "It was used at Dulles airport to replace the taxiway," he pointed out.
One of the most impressive demonstrations was that of driving an automobile onto a recently poured slab of specially mixed concrete.
"This slab was poured at 5:30 a.m. today," Lord stated. "It is now ready for travel at 11 a.m."
Known as rapid strength concrete, "The only difference between this and regular concrete is that chemicals have been added to increase the curing rapidity. It bonds and rides as smooth as regular cement," Lord said.
Attending the demonstration was Nick Nicholson, project manager, WWB Project. He praised the technological advances acknowledging, "We are able to address problems faced in this project [WWB] because of this new technology. We have relied on it in everything from noise reduction to pavement design."
He also revealed, "Project-wise, we are approximately nine months ahead of schedule. We've already started on the Telegraph Road interchange utility work."
FOLLOWING THE DISPLAY of technology and equipment, Mineta and others boarded the Miss Christy, supplied by the Potomac Riverboat Company, for a 30-minute tour of the new bridge construction as seen from the river. He was able to observe, firsthand, progress being made on both the Virginia and Maryland sides of the Potomac.
Just as the boat was beginning to return to the Virginia shore an American bald eagle swooped down close to the water. Nickolson noted that it had become the unofficial mascot of the project. "We've named him Woodrow," he said.