TIMED program advances project designs

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and the Louisiana TIMED Managers (LTM) have issued an additional 22 consultant contracts to finalize design along the major TIMED corridors.

"With these additional design contracts underway, the accelerated TIMED Program continues on a fast-track to completion," said Buddy Porta, DOTD TIMED program spokesperson. "The TIMED Program is on schedule to be complete by 2012, 20 years earlier than the original estimate."

The contracts include final design of segments on U. S. Hwy. 165, U. S. Hwy. 167, U. S. Hwy. 425 and the environmental assessment of the new Florida Avenue Bridge over the Industrial Canal (IHNC) in New Orleans.

These 22 contracts represent $16.8 million in engineering fees and are all expected to be complete within the next two years.

"With these consultant contracts underway all of the TIMED Program projects are either complete, in pre-construction phases (environmental evaluation, design, right-of-way acquisition) or under construction," Porta said.

Additional TIMED Program information can be found online by going to www.timedla.com. The Web site contains a program overview, detailed project descriptions, traffic conditions, information on how to get involved, news and resources and links to other transportation related web-sites.

The TIMED Program is the single largest transportation program in state history. The $3.5 billion program includes 16 specific transportation projects that include four-laning 500 miles of state highways, widening and /or new construction on three major bridges and improvements to both the Port of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong International Airport.

The program is designed to enhance economic development in Louisiana through an investment in transportation projects.

Barriere wins AEMP Fleet Masters Award

New Orleans-based Barriere Construction Co. was recently presented the 2004 Fleet Masters Award during the Association of Equipment Management Professionals awards banquet at the New Orleans Airport Hilton.

The national award recognizes equipment professionals "who excel in meeting unique challenges inherent to delivering cost-effective mixed fleets of on-road and off-road equipment."

The event was held in conjunction with the AEMP Annual Management Conference.

Nick Matich, vice president of GM, International Truck and Engine Corp., presented the award to Barriere on behalf of the AEMP.

The panel of judges based their selection on the quality of each company's fleet management strategies and goals, innovation applied to implement those strategies and the degree of success in meeting their goals.

By tracking the time between failures of parts, preventive maintenance and corrective maintenance on the equipment, Barriere has been able to extend the life of their equipment and lower costs.

According to the AEMP, nearly 100,000 companies and government agencies in North America rely on construction equipment for productivity and profit, yet few people recognize the value of top-notch fleet management and their contribution to the bottom line.

Barriere Construction Co. is a civil heavy highway contractor specializing in highway heavy construction projects.

Project starts end on positive note in 2003

McGraw-Hill Construction recently reported on year-end contracts for future construction in Louisiana, revealing an overall increase of 23 percent for 2003.

Broken down by market, residential construction posted the biggest improvement over 2002, rising from $2.24 billion to $2.86 billion. Nonbuilding construction followed closely, rising from $1.24 billion to $1.56 billion.

Nonresidential building construction also improved, rising from $1.78 billion to $2.08 billion.

Nonbuilding construction includes streets and highways, bridges, dams and reservoirs, river and harbor developments, sewage and water supply systems, missle and space facilities, airports, utilities and communication systems.

Nonresidential buildings include commercial, manufacturing, educational, religious, administrative, recreational, hotel, dormitory and other buidlings.

Weekly container-on-barge service runs between Baton Rouge and New Orleans

The Port of Greater Baton Rouge recently announced a new weekly short-sea shipping service for containers via barge to the Port of New Orleans. The service is scheduled weekly to facilitate demand from local industry.

Osprey Line operates the container terminal at the Baton Rouge port's Inland Rivers Marine Terminal and launched the first weekly shipment in January to the Napoleon Street wharf container terminal in New Orleans.

Rick Couch, Osprey Line president, said, "With this weekly container-on-barge shipping schedule, local companies that import and export product to and from the Port of New Orleans can take advantage of lower transportation costs. Most products can be moved by container-on-barge. Our service now represents a viable, competitive transportation option for companies shipping containers in the Baton Rouge area."