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Abstracts: Coordination & Regulatory Compliance
Streamlining ESA Section 7 Consultations: Bedell Street Bridge Project, Del Rio, Texas
- Allison Arnold, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Section 7 Lead, Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Phone: 512-490-0057.
- Clarence Rumancik, Environmental and Transportation Planning Engineer, FHWA.
- Charlotte Kucera, Fishery Biologist, NOAA-Fisheries, ODOT, Phone: 503-231-6848.
Pursuant to the 2005 transportation bill, Texas and four other states developed strategies to streamline transportation consultations with environmental regulatory agencies. In 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed and utilized a stepwise expedited timeline for the Bedell Street Bridge Replacement project where the Federal Highway Administration and the Texas Department of Transportation (FHWA/TxDOT) would develop appropriate Section 7 documents through collaboration and through a series of checks and balances with the Service along the way. The intent was to significantly expedite the Section 7 consultation essentially placing the control of the consultation schedule and most of the workload with FHWA / TxDOT. This partnership-based approach was designed to streamline the consultation process.
ODOT’s OTIA III Bridge Program: Three Years of Environmental Stewardship
- Shelley D. Richards, P.E., Environmental Manager, HDR Engineering, Phone: 503-587-3611.
- Bill Ryan, Program Support Manager, Geo-Environmental Section, ODOT, Phone: 503-986-3478
The purpose of the environmental stewardship framework is to deliver projects that are sensitive to their communities and landscape while streamlining the permitting process. After three years of implementation, we have successfully maintained the collaborative approach with regulatory partners. This has been critical to our success in avoidance and minimization of project impacts.
The OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program (the Program) is part of the Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) 10-year, $3 billion Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) program. OTIA funds will repair or replace hundreds of bridges, pave and maintain city and county roads, improve and expand interchanges, add new capacity to Oregon's highway system, and remove freight bottlenecks statewide.
Oregon Bridge Delivery Partners (OBDP), a joint venture formed by HDR Engineering Inc. and Fluor Enterprises Inc., is a private-sector firm that has contracted with the ODOT to manage the $1.3 billion state bridge program. OBDP has developed a framework to integrate the myriad of tools developed for the Program, including environmental performance standards, a joint batched-programmatic biological opinion, environmental and engineering baseline reports, and a web-based GIS. The purpose of this framework is to identify environmental concerns early in the project development process and communicate these concerns to design teams and regulatory agencies to promote environmental stewardship through impact avoidance and minimization.
Innovative and creative use of technology has been a keystone to the framework. Environmental professionals input the relevant environmental data for a project in a comprehensive, on-line Pre-Construction Assessment (PCA) form. The data are used to identify project challenges (e.g., archaeological sites or wetlands within the project footprint) and compile electronic reports to the regulatory agencies. Environmental metrics, such as exempted T&E species "take" and wetland fill quantities are tracked using the GIS database. One framework meets the needs of many stakeholders.
Now, after almost three years of execution, OBDP and ODOT have some great successes and lessons learned to share. OBDP have continued to adapt and develop tools to be successful – as well as shift the Program operating structure. The focus of this presentation will be on the framework that has been utilized to maintain compliance and strive for environmental excellence.
Geyserville: 1,000 Feet in 110 Days
- Chuck Morton, Senior Environmental Planner, California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS)/UC Davis, Phone: 510-286-5016.
- Charlotte Cashin, Sr. Transportation Engineer, CALTRANS, Phone: 501-286-4879.
Bridge replacement project minimized sensitive resource impacts and constructed a bridge designed to last 75 years.
As a result of the New Year's Eve Day storm of 2006, the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) had to close to all traffic the Russian River Bridge, a two-lane conventional highway east of Geyserville due to significant structural damage. This Bridge, constructed in 1932, is a 973.5 foot long steel pony truss bridge located on State Highway 128 and connects the Counties of Sonoma and Napa. Pier 2 of the Bridge was damaged during Russian River storm flows approaching 60,000 cubic feet per second (CFS). This damage consisted of the through and through cracking of the pier cap and web wall of Pier 2, the rotation of the pier in the downstream direction, and the dropping of the pony trusses approximately 9 inches.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), at the request of Caltrans, through its Damage Assessment procedures, determined that this Bridge could be rebuilt under the Emergency Opening provisions of 23CFR771.117 (c)(9). This designation allows for a greatly reduced emphasis on NEPA, ESA, and other federal environmental rules and regulations that would be normally applied to a bridge replacement project.
In order to demolish the existing bridge a construction trestle, capable of supporting a 250 ton crane, had to be constructed across the Russian River. This crane would be utilized to construct the trestle from land, demolish the damaged pony truss bridge, and construct the new bridge. The 50’ wide trestle was supported on 24” steel pipe piles averaging 80’ in length. The construction trestle, being constructed from both the east and west sides of the river, totaled 465 feet in length, and was completed in 70 days. Piles were primarily driven with a vibratory hammer or within an isolation casing, to reduce the impact on salmonids [Central California Coastal Steelhead (CCCS) (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and California Coastal Chinook salmon (CCCO) (O. tshawytscha)] which are known to inhabit this reach of the Russian River.
During the time that the trestle was being constructed, Caltrans bridge engineers, designers, and environmental personnel completed the Plans Specifications & Estimate (PS&E) for the new bridge in approximately 4 weeks.
Once construction of the trestle was completed, demolition of the existing bridge began. Demolition commenced with the removal of the concrete deck, lifting of the pony trusses, and the toppling of the old piers. These piers were founded on 12” diameter 25’ long Douglas fir piles and there were 18 piles per pier. Once the piers were toppled, the Douglas fir piles were either extracted from the river bed or cut off approximately 3’ below the grade of the gravel bar. To the greatest extent possible, all demolition debris was prevented from falling into the river or onto the dry river bed.
Hydroacoustic monitoring was conducted during pile driving activities within the wetted channel or within 30’ of the wetted channel. Recordings of the 24” trestle piles driven with the vibratory hammer could not be distinguished from the ambient river noise which ranged up to 170 dB (re 1 µPa) RMS. Diesel hammer driving of the 24” piles resulted in readings ranging up to 190 dB peak. Driving of the 48” steel shell production pipe piles to depths of up to 140’ resulted, in some cases, of readings up to 210 dB peak, even though the piles were being driven in a dewatered isolation casing.
Construction of the new bridge, on the same alignment of the damaged and demolished bridge, began on May 1, 2006. The bridge was opened to all traffic on August 18th 2006, a total of 110 days.
Extensive coordination with the resource agencies (Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Department of Fish and Game, and the National Marine Fisheries Service) was continuous throughout the entire construction period. A full time biological monitor was on site beginning in the middle of May. Caltrans personnel relocated to the main river channel trapped fish from the pools that remained after the demolition of the piers.
Deconstruction of the trestle, including the extraction of the 24” piles, was completed in 15 days.
Total construction costs were $26 million broken down as follows: $10.5 M for the trestle, old bridge demolition, and pipe piles; $14 M for the new bridge; and $1.5 M for contract change orders and landscaping.
Caltrans, as compensation for impacts to Russian River fisheries due to this project, established a $2,500,000 fund to enhance and restore appropriate salmonid fisheries habitat within the Russian River watershed.
Regulatory Compliance on Multistate and Multimodal Projects:
Bridging the Gaps Between States and Among NEPA Co-leads
- Heather Gundersen, Environmental Manager, Columbia River Crossing Project, ODOT, Phone: 360-816-2199.
- Jeff Heilman, Director of Environmental Planning, Parametrix, Inc., Phone: 503-736-4806.
The I-5 Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project is a highway and transit project located on Interstate 5 (I-5) along a five mile corridor between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Spanning two states, cities and counties, the CRC project has many different jurisdictional boundaries that can include different ideologies, requirements, and established practices. Two Metropolitan Planning Organizations and transit organizations also play a primary role for the transit side. In total, the project has eight project sponsors, including the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation.
The project includes both major highway and major transit elements, and therefore two federal lead agencies – the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) – jointly oversee the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The federal co-lead status for developing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) often presents challenges that will be discussed. On the regulatory side there are obvious complications from the bi-state nature of the project because each state has its own regulations and policies that can be inconsistent and sometimes contradictory to the other. The purpose of this paper is to explain the CRC approach to environmental streamlining for the NEPA process and the lessons learned that could apply to complex or even smaller transportation projects.
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