The US Department of Labor (DOL) conducted Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP) certification as they launched 16 of their megaprojects on April 25, 2024. The US DOL is a large focus in 2024 for America with lots of infrastructure planning.
These infrastructure with back up will be done by the U. S. Biden administration’s US$2 trillion Investing in America initiative, which has a permanent source of funding from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act.
The projects are in turn called the Megaproject Programme under the Office of the Federal Our Department of Contract Compliance (OFCCP). The Megaproject Program was officially launched in March 2023 under the DOL’s aim to extend equal opportunity in the construction trades’ workforce and to increase the access to the millions of good jobs being created by large federal or federally assisted construction projects.
While some of the projects that are added to the list are specifically larger in magnitude, programme’s concept of “megaprojects” is a wide one. Qualifying Criteria are that construction has to be worth $35 million or more and a project being constructed should last for more than a year.
A list of six most recent US ‘megaprojects’
The six teams of projects providing the biggest and most recently designated megaprojects include: project name, project owner, location, cost and, included in the scope when applicable.
1) Gateway Program: Hudson Tunnel Project System – New York and New Jersey
The total cost of the Hudson Tunnel Project rail project is expected to be more than $16 billion, but the project has already received $12 billion in federal funding for a scheme that will be funded 70-30 by federal-local partners, respectively.
The next construction segment will focus on the completion of final arrangements and then the building of a new Hudson River Tunnel, which includes the modernization of the existing 113-year-old North River Tunnel. Therefore by the end of the project, the next 7. 5 km of the rail will be in place, and the signaling, power, ventilation, fire and security systems will be also completed as well.
Additionally the program is receiving a grant of $3 for the installation and fit out of the system from the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT). 8 billion dollars from Federal-State Partnership which Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program (FSP). The commission that represents Gateway Development is the project owner.
The grand project is to be completed by 2035.
2) High-speed intercountry passenger rail system- California and Nevada – Brightline West
The most watchable rail project in the country is Brightline West that will connect Rancho Cucamonga in Los Angeles to Las Vegas, this is the first ‘true’ high speed passenger rail system.
The rail scheme is an owned by private company Brightline West in partnership with Nevada Department of Transportation.
The project is a recipient of an estimated $3 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and FSP for the Intercity passenger rail programs and with its additional $3 as well. By far, the issued worth of private activity bonds offered by the US DOT was 5 billion.
The money will be used to finalize the design, to acquire the right of way and to construct 218 miles (350km) of tracks, four stations, facilities, signal systems, rolling stock, and to modify the roadway, nevertheless the service is targeted towards the launch in 2028.
3) Development of the Penn Station’s access in New York City.
The New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority is getting more than $1 billion from the US DOT’s FSP for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program for the Northeast corridor.
The £3 billion rehabilitation of a nineteen mile-long entity owned by the Amtrak that links the Penn station of New York City and nearby New Rochelle, New York, will be reconditioned through this project.
The scheme will modernize the signalling systems, and also will rehabilitate four bridges, build four new interlockings and five new power substations, the upgrades of two existing substations, and overall track rehabilitation. It was in March that extensive railway projects, including comprehensive renovation plans for Penn Station, were first announced by Amtrak, the commuter operator.
Layout of four stations is anticipated this year, leading the project to the end schedule in 2027.
4) Upper Ohio River Navigation is a Pennsylvania project.
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is funding the IIJA as the owners – through the UIIA – for the construction work of the Montgomery Loch and Dorn near the city of Pittsburgh in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The initiative involves the rehabilitation and construction of new facilities for the infrastructure of the Montgomery Lock and Dam, having the purpose addressing “poor structural condition and low capacity of the locks for fully loaded towboats. ”
Preparatory contracts were awarded in 2020 and another round is expected in 2023, while general construction contracts are expected to be awarded in 2024.
Overall, the project which the restore of two additional lock and dam sections in the region, will cost $2. 1 billion. The Montgomery Creek Dam and the Lock portion of the project are evaluated at a cost of about $1 billion.
The Montgomery Lock and Dam segment is expected to be completed by now, but no specific completion date was given. The work for the entire scheme (which includes three lock and dam systems) is expected to be finished by 2050.
5) Innovative Rail Connecting Raleigh to Richmond Carolina
While the local rail connection from Raleigh to Virginia is yet to be completed (refer below), the state has kicked off the project with the help of the FSP for the Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program. The latter is a program of the US DOT that offers assistance to the North Carolina Department of Transportation in upgrading and creating new rails to Raleigh and Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Included in the $1. With the $1 billion funding allocation, out of 11 grade separations and by means of closing down multiple at-grade crossings.
The planning of this 261 kilometer long track is thought to take during the period of five to ten years.
6) The 2nd Phase of the transformation of the rail in Virginia and Washington DC.
Existing funding from the US DOT will be used to finish the building of the lines, bridges and stations being developed by the VRPA which will serve the multi-state region.
A big part of the project contains a new Long Bridge across the River Potomac connecting Washington DC with the Commonwealth of Virginia.
After the construction is finished, the entire mega-project will be able to decrease the bottlenecks and can be extended for travellers in Virginia, Washington DC, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Phase 2’s funding figure was $729 million, coming from the federal government on the $2 billion-level project, which estimated that it will be finished by 2030.
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