Bridge Archives - Parsons Corporation

Jersey In Motion

Sasha DeVecchi — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:58:46 +0000

New Jersey In Motion

We have been a trusted partner in New Jersey for over 65 Years. Since 1960, Parsons has been a leader in delivering transformative services and solutions across New Jersey, addressing the state's most complex and critical infrastructure challenges.

Over the decades, we have delivered a variety of high-profile projects, including infrastructure development, transportation and transit systems, environmental sustainability initiatives, defense and security projects, and more. Our unwavering commitment to the Garden State's growth and development continues to drive our efforts to unlock a safer, smarter, more connected, and more sustainable New Jersey.

Our Core Values

Safety

Quality

We’re on a never-ending quest to improve our processes, services, and products. Our quality management systems ensure ISO 9001 compliance every time, and we offer robust testing and validation of our products and services, and comprehensive supplier management to meet stringent quality standards and provide our customers with unmatched results. Most of all, we listen. We listen to the ever-evolving industry and our customers to enhance understanding, capture key information, and deliver the level of quality that’s become our hallmark.

Integrity

Sustainability

Innovation

Parsons is an established innovation leader. Our creative work environment attracts the most sought-after employees, ensuring we deliver innovations that lead the industry and transform tomorrow for the better to our customers and the world. Through intensive research and development, partnerships, and rapid prototyping, we confidently provide inventive processes and unique solutions that offer unrivaled value to our customers.

Critical Infrastructure Key Services

From traditional to integrated project delivery methods, our expertise ranges from simple intersections to complex interchanges and integrated corridor management. As transportation departments face increased congestion and aging infrastructure, our experts are prepared with innovative strategies. We save time, maximize value, mitigate traffic impacts, and enhance safety as we work to improve community connections.

Bridges (Fixed and Moveable)
Civil
Construction Management
Constructability Review
Emergency Response
Environmental
Geotechnical
Highway

Hydrology & Hydraulics
ITS / ATMS
Program Management
Staff Augmentation
Transportation Planning
Traffic
Utility
Value Engineering

Bridges (Fixed and Moveable)
Civil
Construction Management
Constructability Review
Emergency Response
Environmental
Geotechnical
Highway
Hydrology & Hydraulics
ITS / ATMS
Program Management
Staff Augmentation
Transportation Planning
Traffic
Utility
Value Engineering

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Proven Expertise

Goethals Bridge Replacement P3

Elizabeth, NJ, and Staten Island, NY / $1B

Lead designer for new six-lane, cable-stayed bridge
Total crossing of roughly 7,300 feet
Includes roadway widening and reconstruction

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Newark Bay Bridge Replacement

Newark and Bayonne, NJ / $2B

Main span length of 802 feet
New 8,800-foot-long crossings
150-year service life with state-of-the-art infrastructure tech

Hunts Point Contract 3

The Bronx, NY / $446M

Lead designer for improvements to interstate access
Will improve accessibility and enhance pedestrian safety
Includes staged construction, maintaining traffic through heavily traveled corridor

EWR Terminal A Redevelopment

Newark, NJ / $1.55B

Lead designer for civil and structural scope
Frontage roads include two 12-foot-wide travel and drop-off lanes
Includes a new elevated pedestrian walkway bridge

Hunts Point Contract 3

The Bronx, NY / $446M

Lead designer for improvements to interstate access
Will improve accessibility and enhance pedestrian safety
Includes staged construction, maintaining traffic through heavily traveled corridor

Grand Central Parkway Bridges

Queens, NY / $161M

Lead designer for deck repair and replacement of bridge decks and shared use path
Includes additional civil work for mainline

Newark Airtrain Replacement Program

Newark, NJ / $1.2B

Lead designer for driverless, on-airport transit system
Includes a 2.5-mile-long elevated guideway and three new stations

NJDOT Statewide

Statewide, NJ / $5.6M (fee)

Providing iNET® solutions for administration, installation, and management of statewide traffic operations
Providing coordination with and training to NJDOT staff

I-81 Viaduct Project

Syracuse, NY / $2.25B

Addressing structural deficiencies and non-standard highway features of a 1.4-mile elevated structure
Prepared EIS and concept development, performed preliminary design/program management

Route 35 Emergency Superstorm Sandy Repairs

Mantoloking and Bay Head, NJ / $13.9M

Roadway Infrastructure Restoration
Emergency Management
Environmental Studies

I-90 Over Oriskany Blvd

Albany and Syracuse Divisions, NY / $633K

Safety Improvements
Infrastructure Replacement
Maintenance of Traffic

RF Bridge (RK-23C)

New York, NY / $48M

Eliminated one straddle bent and one span
Used link slabs to reduce maintenance at expansion joints
Complex maintenance of traffic for the HRD below the connector

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Innovative PMC Solutions For A Changing World

Recognized as the #1 Program Management Firm by Engineering News-Record, we deliver future-ready infrastructure and security solutions using cutting-edge technologies and advanced analytics, enabling smarter, faster, and more sustainable outcomes across the region.

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Ranked #1 In Program Management By ENR

We are a long-term strategic partner providing a full spectrum of program and construction management services and solutions. Whether providing planning and design, construction and operations, owner’s engineer, or integrated PMO services — we work closely with architects, engineers, contractors, and various stakeholders to ensure our program management solutions are tailored to meet expectations.

Our Program Management Excellence

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How AI Is Reshaping Bridge Design And Infrastructure Delivery

Emily Espinosa — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:24:28 +0000

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in infrastructure. It is already changing how we design, analyze, inspect, and manage bridges. Additionally, it is doing so in ways that directly improve safety, efficiency, and decision-making across the project life cycle.

Our focus is not on adopting technology for its own sake. Instead, our focus is on using AI where it delivers measurable value. This reduces manual effort, improves data quality, and enables engineers to spend more time solving complex problems and less time managing information.

From my perspective as chief technology officer, the most meaningful impact of AI in bridge engineering today falls into three categories: digital design automation, intelligent site intelligence, and enterprise-scale knowledge systems.

From Reality Capture To Intelligent Digital Twins

One AI application where we are advancing is the conversion of reality capture into intelligent digital models. Traditionally, developing a 3D model of an existing bridge has required extensive surveying and modeling from field measurements and legacy drawings. Many of these legacy drawings simply do not exist for older structures.

A strong example of this is our work on the Bridge of the Gods in Oregon, a major historic truss bridge where our team generated a BIM model from LiDAR scans and point cloud data. Working with Autodesk tools and internal automation scripts, the team developed a semi-automated workflow. This workflow converts the point cloud into a full structural model.

AI is now being trained to identify structural nodes directly from point clouds, eliminating one of the most time-consuming manual steps in the process. As a result, this enables engineers to rapidly build analysis-ready digital twins that can be used for structural assessment, rehabilitation planning, load modeling, and long-term asset management.

In practical terms, this approach allows agencies to make data-driven decisions about retrofitting infrastructure built decades ago, often with no original drawings. Importantly, it allows them to do so with a level of accuracy that was previously unattainable.

The long-term implication is significant. AI-driven scan-to-BIM workflows, first proven on projects like the Bridge of the Gods, will increasingly form the foundation for digital bridge inventories. These inventories support everything from inspection programs to predictive maintenance strategies.

AI-Enabled Site Intelligence At Scale

Another area where we are seeing immediate value is in AI-powered site intelligence. Using 3D camera systems and cloud-based inspection platforms, our teams can now capture geolocated visual records of bridge conditions and construction sites. These records are automatically indexed and linked to drawings and models.

This technology has already been deployed at scale on major international programs, including the Abu Dhabi Bridge Inspection Program. In that program, Parsons inspected more than 700 bridges across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The scope included vehicular bridges, pedestrian bridges, and culverts. Many were built decades ago with limited construction and maintenance records.

Instead of relying solely on written field reports, project managers and clients can virtually walk each site from their devices. Consequently, they can review conditions, compare changes over time and validate findings without having to physically visit the site.

AI plays a critical role in this workflow by aligning visual data with spatial models, enabling integrated virtual inspection and creating a searchable historical record of asset conditions. For large bridge portfolios like Abu Dhabi’s, this fundamentally changes how agencies approach condition assessment and capital planning.

It also improves safety. Inspectors spend less time in high-risk environments and engineering leaders can review site conditions remotely, reducing the need for repeated field visits.

Enterprise AI For Engineering Knowledge

Beyond field and design applications, AI is also transforming how we manage engineering knowledge across large organizations.

We operate an internal, secure AI platform that allows teams to analyze documents, drawings, specifications, and datasets while maintaining strict data governance. Engineers are using it to review plans, extract insights from technical reports, summarize design standards, and perform preliminary quality checks against established engineering criteria.

In one example, AI is now being used to automate portions of design compliance reviews, a task traditionally assigned to junior engineers. Instead of manually checking drawings against long technical checklists, AI performs an initial scan and flags potential gaps. This allows engineers to focus their expertise where it matters most.

This does not replace professional judgment. Instead, it augments it. The value lies in scale. AI can process thousands of pages of technical information in minutes, enabling teams to identify risks and inconsistencies far earlier in the delivery process.

What This Means For The Industry

The common thread across all of these applications, from the Bridge of the Gods, to the Abu Dhabi bridge network, to broader AI empowered design activities, is not automation for efficiency alone. More importantly, it is intelligence at scale.

AI allows us to integrate data sources that were previously disconnected, including point clouds, images, drawings, inspection reports, and asset inventories, into unified digital ecosystems. That integration enables better decisions, earlier insights, and more resilient infrastructure systems.

For agencies, this means improved transparency, stronger asset management, and better return on infrastructure investments. For engineers, it means shifting focus from repetitive manual tasks and towards higher-value analytical and strategic activities. Furthermore, for the next generation of infrastructure professionals, it means working in an environment where data, design, and delivery are fully connected.

We see AI not as a tool that replaces engineering, but as a platform that elevates it. Our responsibility is to deploy it thoughtfully, govern it rigorously, and continuously train our teams to use it effectively.

The future of bridge engineering will not be defined by algorithms alone. Instead, it will be defined by how well we combine human expertise with intelligent systems to design, maintain, and modernize the infrastructure which connect our communities together.

And that future is already here.

About The Author

James Birdsall, Chief Technology Officer INF NA, Dr. James (Jim) Birdsall is a Parsons Fellow and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Infrastructure North America (INA). As INA-CTO, Jim focuses on empowering the broader INA colleagues and projects with the technology capabilities to successfully deliver for our clients. In parallel, Jim leads Parsons Digital Delivery Working Group and drives forward technology and AI enabled collaborative efforts within Parsons and amongst our technology providers. With his 21 years with Parsons including 5 years working in Abu Dhabi, Jim has amassed a wealth of experience in developing, structuring, and delivering technology empowered solutions and programs within bridge, rail, and large development programs across our North America and Middle East markets.

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Three Lessons For Multi-Jurisdictional Public-Private Partnership (P3) Bridge Programs

Debra Frey — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:39:10 +0000

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Public infrastructure is becoming more complex. Major bridge projects today go far beyond structural engineering. They must account for tolling systems, digital platforms, long-term maintenance, stakeholder engagement, and coordination across multiple agencies or borders. These demands have transformed how infrastructure is delivered and how success is measured.

We bring deep experience supporting owners through this complexity. As a Delivery Partner, we provide program-level guidance that keeps major infrastructure projects aligned with public goals from concept to operations.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is a powerful example. This landmark project offers practical insight into what it takes to deliver large, multi-jurisdictional bridge programs under a public-private partnership (P3) model.

Setting A New Standard For Bridge Delivery

Spanning the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, the Gordie Howe International Bridge is one of the most complex bi-national infrastructure programs ever undertaken in North America. The project includes six lanes of traffic across the border, commercial and passenger vehicle inspection facilities, modern border crossing technology, advanced tolling infrastructure, and a comprehensive strategy for long-term operations and maintenance.

We served as General Engineering Consultant to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority. In this role, we acted as a trusted Delivery Partner, providing oversight, technical assurance, program controls, and multi-jurisdictional coordination during the development and procurement phases of the project. Our involvement helped ensure the project met the highest standards of performance, safety, and value while maintaining alignment with the owner’s long-term goals.

Three Lessons For Complex P3 Bridge Programs

1. Governance and Oversight Must Be Clear and Collaborative

Bridge programs that span jurisdictions, regulatory bodies, or even international borders require governance structures that are well-defined and flexible. At Gordie Howe, the success of the program depended on early collaboration between transportation agencies, Federal border agencies, private partners, and multiple levels of government.

Parsons supported the creation and operation of a governance model that allowed the owner to retain control while ensuring timely and coordinated decision-making across stakeholders.

What Worked:

Defining clear roles and responsibilities from the outset
Establishing efficient review and escalation processes
Maintaining transparency between public and private partners

2. Tolling Systems Should Be Fully Integrated from the Start

Tolling is no longer an afterthought. It plays a central role in corridor performance, financial modeling, and user experience. At Gordie Howe, tolling systems were designed alongside traffic management strategies and long-term operations planning.

Parsons supported the selection and integration of toll technologies that allow for dynamic pricing, interoperability, and future adaptability. We helped ensure the systems would meet both current and evolving needs.

What Worked:

Planning tolling systems as part of the full life cycle of the corridor
Incorporating tolling data into real-time operational dashboards
Ensuring systems support commercial traffic, passenger vehicles, and policy changes

3. Community and Environmental Outcomes Build Public Trust

P3 projects must balance private delivery with public benefit. At Gordie Howe, community and environmental commitments were built directly into the contract and delivery model. This included Indigenous engagement, workforce development, environmental mitigation, and local economic support.

We helped track these commitments and provided reporting tools that gave the owner visibility into progress and compliance. These measures contributed to stronger community relationships and broader support for the project.

What Worked:

Embedding community benefit programs into the P3 structure
Providing tools for transparent tracking and communication
Centering long-term value in how project success is measured

Planning For Performance That Lasts

The Gordie Howe project was not just designed for opening day. It was built for multi-decade performance.

We worked closely with the owner to define operations and maintenance standards that ensure availability, durability, adaptability, and resilience over the life of the concession.

This included materials selection, asset management frameworks, digital system integration, and protocols for upgrades and futureproofing. We helped the owner define success across the entire life cycle, not just construction.

Parsons’ Approach To Owner-Side Delivery

Parsons supports owners at every stage of major bridge programs. As a Delivery Partner, we provide the expertise, structure, and systems needed to manage risk and deliver outcomes. Our experience with P3s allows us to navigate technical and commercial complexity without losing sight of public priorities.

From procurement support and contract oversight to quality verification and long-term asset planning, we help owners retain control while delivering efficiently. Our role is not to replace internal resources, but to extend and enhance them with the scale and insight required for large, multi-agency infrastructure programs.

View of the Gordie Howe International Bridge at night

Building The Bridges Of The Future

The Gordie Howe International Bridge shows what is possible when modern project delivery is matched with strong public leadership. For agencies considering P3s, tolling strategies, or multi-jurisdictional governance models, this project offers proven lessons and a model worth adapting.

Parsons brings that experience forward. We continue to support complex bridge programs across North America, helping agencies plan, deliver, and operate infrastructure that works for generations to come.

About The Author

Bruce L. Campbell, Principal Project Manager at Parsons Corporation, has over three decades of experience in both the public sector as well as consulting. Diverse experience as a bridge engineer and project manager put Bruce in a position to lead large complex critical infrastructure projects. Currently a Principal Project Manager in the Critical Infrastructure Unit, Bruce is responsible for the management of the Owner’s Engineer team for the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project. His involvement on the project began in 2005 during the environmental approval phase and since 2015 in the development, procurement, and then the final design and construction phase beginning in 2018. Bruce takes great pride in working with a diverse team to deliver complex and challenging projects.

Bruce’s responsibilities have ranged from management of international border infrastructure through complex environmental studies, bridge design and construction, as well as complex bridge replacement and rehabilitation design. Bruce is experienced in coordinating the complex interaction of subject matter experts across multiple disciplines across multiple offices. He is experienced in the preparation of final contract documents, cost estimates, and specifications. His project experience includes the Second Blue Water Bridge design and construction (1994-1997), Original Blue Water Bridge reconstruction (1997-1999), the management of the Blue Water Bridge International Crossing (Michigan side), multiple accelerated bridge construction projects, CMGC, design/build and public-private partnership projects, including the Ohio River Bridges Project, on both the public and private side.

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Parsons Family Legacies: A Legacy Continued

Debra Frey — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:05:32 +0000

If you happen to run into Parsons Fellow-at-Large and recently appointed Infrastructure North America CTO Jim Birdsall either at an office or on a jobsite, watch where he steps. You might not notice anything out of the ordinary, but he happens to be walking in the footsteps of one of the bridge engineering industry’s most storied figures, Blair Birdsall.

Blair Birdsall with his father, 1915

Blair Birdsall attended Princeton University for undergrad and graduate school before taking a job with J.A. Roebling’s Sons’ Company as a lead engineer, where the first major bridge he worked on was the Golden Gate Bridge. From there, Blair jumped from bridge to bridge and wire rope structure to wire rope structure, focusing both on fabrication and on-site delivery, which took him all over the world, including Canada, Alaska, El Salvador, Japan, and Europe.

In 1965, Blair joined Steinman, which had been founded in 1920 by David B. Steinman, a prominent civil engineer known for his work on many significant bridge projects. At the time, the company employed 80 to 100 employees, who Blair lovingly referred to as “the Gang.” By 1989, the year it merged with Ralph M. Parsons Group, Steinman had become Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist, and Birdsall.

Firsthand Knowledge Of Blair’s Impact

Blair Birdsall as a field engineer on the Golden Gate Bridge, 1935–1936

Tom Spoth, senior vice president of our Infrastructure North America business unit, Fellow Emeritus, and former Steinman employee, has firsthand knowledge of Blair’s contributions both to the engineering field and to Parsons’ current bridge practice. Tom met Blair in 1984 when he traveled to New York from Virginia for an interview. “I recall thinking he was an important guy, maybe because he was sitting behind a large mahogany desk in a very tidy office. Over the years, I came to learn he was an important guy. He was key to saving the Williamsburg Bridge from demolition, and the methods he and his team developed for cable investigation and preservation at the Golden Gate and Mount Hope Bridges have become standard practice today. Aside from being such a pioneer in bridge engineering, he was also very personable and willing to help us youngsters when in need, which was often.”

Tom says Blair was very outgoing, both socially and when it came to sharing technical knowledge. For example, he would come out on the floor where all the engineers sat and pick a handful of them and say, “Join me at Captain’s Ketch for lunch.” Captain’s Ketch was Blair’s favorite local restaurant in Manhattan. In fact, Steinman held its Christmas party there several times, and, according to Tom, Blair’s speeches at those parties were memorable. Tom says, “One year, [Blair] stood on the table, as an 80-something-year-old man, so everyone could see and hear his vibrant and encouraging speech.”

Tom also was witness to Blair’s generous spirit. He shares, “I remember hearing from the TIBA executive director that he and Blair had gone out to lunch. They each wanted to pay the bill, so Blair flipped a coin and won the privilege to pay. The executive director later learned it was Blair’s one-sided coin. That’s just the way Blair was—generous and always prepared.”

Tom says that one day he was in Blair’s office in Hoboken, New Jersey, and noticed that on the wall behind his desk, Blair had hung a portrait of Charles Sunderland—an engineer at Roebling’s for 50 years, known for developing several advancements in the engineering of steel wires and ropes, as well as prestressed concrete. “He told me to find somebody you really respect and try to follow in his footsteps and that the portrait was a reminder to him to do just that.” Years later, Tom continues, “I was at the current Roebling Museum and there was the portrait, and a similar one of Blair, hanging next to each other on display. I looked at those two great men for a while and pondered the contributions they made to the world of bridge engineering.”

And that’s part of Blair’s legacy—a businessman, an exceedingly experienced engineer, and a true gentleman who was always willing to share his experiences with younger engineers and provide guidance.

Blair Birdsall as a field engineer on the Golden Gate Bridge, 1935–1936

Through this approach, Blair was instrumental in supporting the Gang in their careers going forward. The work they did had a massive impact through the structures they designed, but also in building the repository of technical knowledge that carried over into Parsons and continues to grow today. And while his coworkers certainly recognized Blair’s importance, they weren’t the only ones—the City of New York named him “Mr. Bridges” and designated May 24, 1984, as “Blair Birdsall Day.”

A Shared Passion

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that, like his grandfather, Jim Birdsall developed a passion for engineering. When Jim was 13, Blair, who was by then walking with a cane, called the deputy director of New York City Bridges to take Jim on-site at the Brooklyn Bridge, where they climbed down into the anchorage. On that visit, Jim was able to get down into parts of the bridge that aren’t public, where the main cable splayed apart into individual strands or individual bundles. This field trip served to fuel Jim’s infatuation with engineering and established the field as one of his true joys in life.

Blair and team inspecting the cable on the Williamsburg Bridge, New York, 1987

Jim would go on to graduate from Lehigh University, which holds a collection of Blair Birdsall documents (approximately 180 boxes), and earn his PhD from EPFL, in Switzerland. He joined Parsons 24 years ago, working as an associate bridge engineer in what had been the old Steinman office, and his grandfather’s proteges became his mentors. Now as the CTO of Parsons Infrastructure North America and a Parsons Fellow, Jim reinvests in the company and carries on in his grandfather’s spirit by sharing his technical knowledge, perspective, and joy for the practice with colleagues and collaborators.

Bridging Generations Globally

Like it did for Blair, Jim’s love for engineering has led him all over the States and abroad, including to Abu Dhabi, where he lived with his family and worked for five years, and to Saudi Arabia, where he worked with the Public Investment Fund and a number of development companies. Also, like his grandfather, Jim has made an indelible impact on many young engineers, has introduced many best practices to Parsons, and has led with a generous spirit. Jim has and will work on some amazing bridges, but when all is said and done, perhaps the greatest bridge he will ever extend is the one between his grandfather, Blair, and the next generation of engineers at Parsons.

Jim Birdsall on a tour of the Brooklyn Bridge with his grandfather, Blair, 1992

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Hitting Milestones On The Gordie Howe International Bridge

Theresa Wederman — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Construction is progressing upward and onwards on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, and our team, as Owner’s Engineer, is diligently overseeing every step along the way.

Let’s have a look at the remarkable series of milestones that were achieved these past couple of years. Foundations for the bridge were completed and emerged from the ground in the spring of 2020 when both sides of the USA-Canada border were locking down and the teams were learning how to continue operations during a global pandemic. Then began the work on the giant towers, 220m tall, made of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Much of the design and construction of the towers is driven by a key technical requirement defined by our subject matter experts: 125 years of service life, the longest service life required in comparable bridge procurements. With topics such as climate change, sustainability, and circular economy being top of mind in our industry, maximizing service life appears imperative, and the durability study conducted by our experts revealed that providing a service life of 125 years instead of 75 years had little impact on cost.

Canada Day – July 1, 2020, marked the first footing concrete placement, 1000 cubic meters, to form the first lift of the giant tower footings. Exactly 6 months later, right before the crews went home for the Holidays, the last bit of the footings’ concrete was placed, totaling 7600 cubic meters for both towers.

The year 2021 kicked off with the teams’ focus shifted to the tower leg construction. With repetitive operations like tower leg lifts, construction started to accelerate. Geometry control was one of the most challenging aspects of building the legs. The design-builder worked against gravity by different means such as building the legs with a camber and using temporary cross beams. In July 2021, just after the project celebrated 1000 days since the start of construction, another important milestone was reached: Tie-beam construction was completed. This is one of the most critical structural elements for this bridge, balancing the horizontal reaction forces coming from the inclined tower legs. The designer elected to position the tie-beam at grade level, connecting the footings, and to post-tension the element.

So what does it mean for the Owner’s Engineer team when an activity performed by the design-builder is of higher complexity or is more critical? It means risk is higher and therefore our team performs a more detailed oversight exercise. For example, for the high-risk tie-beam post-tensioning work, our team performed a mirrored QC. And for tower geometry control, our survey sub-consultant independently checked tower leg geometry at every lift. The P3 partners focused on decreasing cycle times of the tower leg erection, and by spring 2022, when the legs reached their full height of 135m above ground, the cycle time was as low as one lift per week. Our oversight role was key to promote continuous improvement of the works, helping to ensure that optimizing the tower erection cycle times was not sacrificing quality.

Now is officially the season of steel on the Gordie Howe International Bridge! The very first deck element was lifted into place on March 29, 2022, on the Canadian side. Due to the Bridge site’s proximity to Zug island’s industrial area, the exposure condition of the exterior metallic surfaces is classified as a very high corrosivity environment (ISO 9223 C5). The visible white finish of the structural steel consists mainly of a 3-coat paint system, meant to last 40 years in this environment, as required by our subject matter experts. On July 27, 2022, the first steel anchor boxes, which are fabricated elements that will secure the cables at the tower, were placed on the US tower.

Overall completion of the bridge and opening is planned for the end of 2024. Once complete, the Gordie Howe cable-stayed bridge will have a clear span of 853 meters over the Detroit River, giving it the longest main span of any cable-stayed bridge in North America.

About The Author

Cassandra Dion P. Eng., M. A. Sc., is the Principal Bridge Engineer at Parsons Corporation. In her 7 years with Parsons, she has focused on complex bridge engineering such as design of the cable-stayed Lachine Canal Bridge and is on the Gordie Howe Bridge Owner’s Engineer team. Cassandra is also an associate member of the CSA CHBDC S6 Technical Committee and is part of the Bridge code’s Climate Change Working Group.

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Imagine Next: Championing Quality

Theresa Wederman — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 17:43:00 +0000

To celebrate the launch of our employer brand, we’re highlighting a few of the stories that epitomize what our employees love about working at Parsons (expressed in our recently released employee value proposition) as well as what they’re doing to imagine next.

Our employee value proposition begins with the following lines:

Imagine working someplace where you’re surrounded by intelligent, diverse people sharing a common quest. Imagine working someplace where those people take immense pride in the quality of their work and champion that same quality in the work of others.

An intelligent person who takes pride in the quality of his work and champions quality in the work of others? That sounds an awful lot like Tom Spoth.

Tom is a VP working out of our New York office, our bridge practice lead, a founding board member of the Parsons Fellows, and he’s responsible for leading our efforts as quality inspector of the Mackinac Bridge.

To get an idea of what he’s dealing with, the Mackinac Bridge is a 5-mile-long structure that connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan over the Straits of Mackinac. It was originally designed and built by Steinman, completed in 1957. Steinman was subsequently acquired by Parsons, in 1989, and became a big part of our New York office center of excellence, and we’ve been involved with the Mackinac Bridge ever since.

Tom himself, who came to us through the Steinman acquisition, has spent time on the Mackinac Bridge every year since 1985, so he’s intimately familiar with the structure, as well as the commitment to quality necessary to maintain such a crossing in good working order for such a long time.

“Quality as part of the job and quality as part of our culture go hand-in-hand,” Tom says. “Getting it right and having procedures is necessary, but it’s also necessary to take personal ownership of quality in whatever you do.”

When it comes to the Mackinac Bridge, there are certainly procedures to be followed, but there’s also something very personal about hands-on inspections. According to Tom, “These bridges are machines. People don’t realize how much they move.” He describes hearing the creaking and screeching of various components and feeling the bridge move, perceiving how the bridge is behaving, mechanically, compared to how it should or how it did in years prior. “Your first time out there, you might never realize it,” he says.

So each year, we send people out to the Mackinac Bridge for a few weeks for an end-to-end inspection, including the bearings, the cables, down deep into the anchorages for the cables, the approach span trusses, and everything else, and we provide guidance on maintenance and any major construction activities. For example, in recent years, Parsons performed a very in-depth bridge deck study to determine how long the deck could be made to last. This involved service-life modeling, analysis of alternatives, wind tunnel testing, and the development of a potential program to replace the bridge deck over a period of 20 years. While not every component lasts forever, Tom says that the bridge itself just might, if taken care of properly.

That kind of high standard is something everyone can aspire to, but to achieve it takes a certain level of experience. That’s why Tom does what he can to share his years of experience with younger professionals just starting out. “The code books are very prescriptive,” he says, “but you still have to have experience with the living mechanisms of these bridges to really understand them.” So Tom keeps his door open and is always willing to talk.

In addition to an open door, Tom keeps an open mind.

There’s some cookie-cutter stuff out there, I suppose, but I like the complicated stuff that requires creativity—the stuff that makes people ask things like, ‘How are we going to do this and still allow traffic on the bridge and not even let commuters know there’s anything going on?'”

It’s that kind of high-level problem solving—and the collaboration required to accomplish it—that keeps Tom motivated.

Whether maintaining an iconic crossing like the Mackinac Bridge, designing a new structure, or tinkering with a woodworking project at home, Tom believes the ability to think many steps ahead, to imagine what’s next, is vitally important to the success of the end result. “It’s about vision and being able to put all the pieces and parts together to make them become something that wasn’t there before.” What we can be sure of is that if Tom’s involved, whatever thing that is will only strengthen Parsons’ reputation for quality.

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An Exciting Career Opportunity: Williams 134th Street Pier Rehabilitation

Theresa Wederman — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 20:28:27 +0000

Article By: Vasilios Pantazis, PE

Exterior view of the structure showing newly encased piles with newly installed fence and support,

Since 2006, we’ve had an engineering services agreement with Williams, under which the New York City office completed many different bridge projects. Williams is one of the largest natural gas distributors in the country and operates in all 50 states. In 2019, Williams reached out to us regarding the rehabilitation of one of their gas metering and distribution stations, located right in our backyard, on a pier off Manhattan in the Hudson River.

View of the newly encased steel piles and replaced cross bracing below the pier.

The work included replacing all steel bracing between piles as well as encasing the existing piles with a new marine concrete form to protect them from further corrosion due to exposure to the Hudson River brackish waters. We were also required to design collars to hold a security fence around the perimeter of the structure, which prevents access by unauthorized personnel to the vicinity of the gas pipeline.

As a young engineer, this was an incredible project to work on—an opportunity to become more self-sufficient and to hone more than just my technical skills. This marked the first time I was able to see a project through from the beginning of the conceptual design, to the agency permitting process, to the end of construction. Working with a small team, I prepared calculations, contract plans, specifications, and as-builts for the entirety of the design, which included learning about flood and wave loading.

General view of the pier structure from the shore.

Once construction began, I was the main point of contact between Williams, the hired contractor, and others at Parsons. I attended weekly meetings as the project engineer, communicated our concerns and vision for implementing the design, and reviewed all incoming submittals to ensure the work adhered to the contract set.

Throughout the project, my ability to communicate effectively with outside clients grew exponentially. I’ve developed a new appreciation for all the additional skills needed to be a manager in our profession, as I was expected to keep the project on schedule and ensure that we continued to meet the client’s needs. As a result of this unforgettable opportunity, I plan to take everything I learned and continue my journey toward becoming a project manager.

The post An Exciting Career Opportunity: Williams 134th Street Pier Rehabilitation appeared first on Parsons Corporation.

It’s Suspenseful: Thousand Islands Bridge Canadian Crossing

Theresa Wederman — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 21:45:25 +0000

Crews prepare to unreel the new suspender cable by attaching the socket to the tail of the old suspender to be pulled up and over a nest of sheaves installed at the main cable level.

Left: At the main cable level, TIBA crews pull the old and new suspenders up and over a nest of temporary sheaves to get the new suspender cable into position.
Right: The last turn of the reel will deliver the leading and trailing cable sockets at deck level for permanent connection to the superstructure. The old suspender seen on the roadway deck has since been reeled and readied for transport for physical strength testing.

Every year since 1938—when the bridge opened to traffic—engineers from our Bridge Team travel to the Thousand Islands region of New York State and Ontario, Canada, to inspect the Thousand Islands Bridge. Our legacy Steinman team designed the entire international crossing, serving as the engineers for the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority (TIBA) ever since. One of a few intriguing span types, the crossing consists of two suspension bridges: one over the US Seaway channel and one over the Canadian channel.

This year was unique in two ways. First, to cross the international border, we were required to meet stringent Covid-19 protection protocol, including proof of inoculation, a negative Covid-19 test within the past 72 hours, and proof of essential services provided. Second, we supported TIBA staff in removing a fully loaded suspender cable and replacing it with a new one—while under traffic.

The operation consisted of installing the Parsons-designed jacking frames, removing the deck-level connections, pulling the old suspender down using a temporary upper nest of sheeves, and attaching the new suspender to the tail of the old one to unreal it and pull it up and over the main cable. Reconnection at the deck level completed the job. The work was well planned and was accomplished without the slightest deviation from the plan.

Congratulations to our team for the flawless execution of work. The old suspender is currently being sent for ultimate strength testing as part of an ongoing asset management program for these world-class suspension bridge spans.

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Ahead Of The Game: Delivering The RK-23C Project Four Months Ahead Of Schedule

Theresa Wederman — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 20:16:45 +0000

Small Infrastructure Investments Add Up To Make A Big Difference

The Interstate Highway System. High-speed rail projects. Expanding and improving airports across the United States. Mega infrastructure projects have the potential to positively impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals every day, while generating jobs and economic impact for years to come.

These may be the kinds of projects envisioned by the trillions in funding available from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), but they are not the only projects with the potential for positive change.

These big-ticket investments generate big headlines, but there are thousands of smaller undertakings that will also improve the lives and safety of everyday people around the U.S.

As the lead designer on the Judlau Design-Build Team for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, Parsons delivered design innovations for the RK-23C Design-Build Project that avoided high-risk buried oil-static lines, reduced the overall costs, improved community health, simplified the construction sequence and schedule, and allowed the project to be completed one month ahead of an aggressive schedule and four months earlier than the original project schedule estimated in the RFP.

The project included the design and construction of a new 13-span connector ramp to carry traffic from the Harlem River lift span of the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Bridge to northbound Harlem River Drive. While not a major new crossing, the new ramp provides a direct connection between these major arteries, allowing traffic from Queens to continue undisrupted to all points north of the RFK Bridge.

The work involved the design of new piles, columns, superstructure, drainage, roadway lighting, sign structures, and appurtenances. The new connector ramp incorporates bespoke architectural details, such as vertical flutes at the top of hammerhead piers, back-of-parapet geometric rustications, Art Deco–style lampposts, and stainless-steel New York State medallions.

Bridge-lighting features complement the new ramp elements, providing an inviting entrance from the adjacent neighborhood to the shoreline, where, in the future, a new park will be constructed by New York City.

The project was staged using intermittent day and night lane closures, and maintenance and protection-of-traffic plans that created a safe work zone along the Harlem River Drive median without reducing the parkway’s capacity in either direction during the day. The construction of the new pier foundations south of the Willis Avenue Bridge (also a Parsons project) required close communication with city agencies like the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, for the modification of the existing stormwater drainage system.

Working closely with Judlau and the Authority through the ATC process, we optimized the tender design, eliminated a pier and a span, and redesigned the structural layout to avoid potential conflicts with existing underground high-voltage lines present at the Harlem River Drive median. Our design also converted a straddle pier into a conventional hammerhead pier.

The Parsons team focused on delivering maximum project value while increasing the quality of living for all nearby communities. For New Yorkers and visitors to New York, this redesign and construction mean a savings of 150,000 hours of total travel time per year, a reduction of 2,500 tons of CO₂ equivalent per year, and a significant drop in air and noise pollution in the surrounding communities.

This milestone is particularly important because Central Harlem has some of the highest childhood asthma rates in the U.S. By reducing CO2, this improved air quality and the wellbeing of the community. Little changes to critical infrastructure can make a massive impact in the health, safety, and quality of life in the communities it supports.

This single, smaller project demonstrates the major impact we can create when the IIJA funds are invested wisely. Building or repairing with a renewed focus on enhancing sustainability, resilience and long service life in our projects provides an outsized and positive impact. For cities and states looking to invest federal funding, tackling projects that address environmental justice challenges should be a top of the list consideration.

Our success in Harlem is completely scalable and can be replicated across New York and across the country.

The economic viability, safety, and overall welfare of the U.S. will benefit for generations to come from infrastructure investments both large and small. Every investment in infrastructure, is an investment in our nation’s future and success.

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Connecting Communities In Calgary

Theresa Wederman — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 19:26:00 +0000

New Jaipur Bridge Rendering.

Built in 1968, the Jaipur Bridge, named after Calgary’s sister city of Jaipur, is one of the primary south connections between the Eau Claire area and Prince’s Island Park. After more than 50 years in service, the bridge reached the end of its service life and no longer met the current demands. As a prequalified firm under the “new bridge” category, the City of Calgary chose our team to provide engineering services to replace the pedestrian bridge.

This project scope includes options evaluation, design, tender preparation, and construction services in replacing the existing Jaipur Bridge. The new crossing will be flood resilient, enhance the natural environment, provide better hydraulic conductivity of the lagoon channel, and integrate with the vibrant upgrades planned for the neighborhood – detailed in the Eau Claire Public Realm Plan.

On the left is the Light Pattern on the bridge deck. On the right is the ledge-railing layout rendering.

Preliminary work involved environmental studies and permit applications, hydraulic and geotechnical studies, utility coordination, stormwater and drainage assessment, constructability of the structure, surveying of the area and existing structures, and class 3 cost estimate. The work required detailed coordination with other active and future projects adjacent to the proposed site to create an effective area-wide design to provide a continuous, safe, and accessible riverfront, promoting year-round activities. The preliminary phase for the Jaipur replacement bridge involved developing three working concepts, which are vetted with project stakeholders to form the recommended solution.

Demolition of existing bridge.

The aesthetic is one of the key design considerations for Jaipur Bridge as it is located in Downtown Calgary and is one of the landmarks in the area. The new Jaipur Bridge is a 6m wide, 60m long three-span bridge promoting the natural look of the park using various building materials such as weathering steel, stainless steel, wood, and textured concrete wearing surface. The unique bridge rail combined with a ledge provides spectacular light patterns to the bridge deck when night falls. Innovatively using LED light on the bridge is not the only sustainable design component. The functionality enhancement of the Eau Claire Lagoon drainage system also reflects the sustainability concept. Additionally, we provided constructability plans to minimize environmental and social impacts during construction, which will enhance social sustainability for the bridge construction.

New abutment and pier construction.

COVID-19 posed challenges to the construction industry to maintain the supply chain and maintain additional health and safety protocols during 2020, when we completed the Jaipur Bridge design started tendering and construction. Hence, structural steel and concrete material and qualified personnel may not be available, and it may also lead to higher material costs. To eliminate this uncertainty, during design and before tender, our team proactively reached out to industry representatives of steel and concrete suppliers, and internal project PMs for their experience with material availability and price during this time. The proactive outreach helped us find the available materials with reasonable costs and kept within the project construction budget.

After overcoming challenges via design and tendering phases, we delivered aesthetic, functional, and sustainable bridge design; now, the bridge has begun construction and is scheduled to open in June 2022, just before Canada Day.

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