The New England Chapter of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) recently honored the MBTA Six Bridge Rail Replacement Project with a Project Achievement Award, which recognizes excellence and innovation in construction management.
National Structures Service Leader Andrew Burkholder, Highway & Structures Managing Director Nick Scenna, and Alternative Delivery National Director Chris Fronheiser accepted the award on behalf of the VHB and Barletta Heavy Division joint project team.
The MBTA bundled six bridge replacements along the Framingham/Worcester, Lowell, Haverhill, and Newburyport/Rockport lines into a single Design-Build (DB) contract. This method enabled overlapping design and construction, rapid decision making, and integrated planning for highly constrained rail outages.
Partnered with Barletta Heavy Division as the General Contractor, VHB served as the lead designer, providing bridge, traffic, highway, track, and utility design, as well as environmental permitting, railroad operations, and quality control and assessment.
Delivering innovative, modern, and cost-effective solutions, the project team replaced these bridges using the latest in Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques, including the use of precast concrete structural components and self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs). These innovations helped reduce risk, shorten construction, and minimize impacts to abutters and the traveling public.
This award recognized the project team for overcoming several complex challenges, including coordinating across six distinct bridge sites on multiple commuter rail lines, each with distinct operational, geotechnical, and community constraints. Through disciplined scheduling, outage-specific plans, and innovative, practical construction techniques, the team delivered fully restored bridges within the allotted schedule and budget.
“We‘re proud to be part of this incredible design-build team that met every unique challenge this project presented,“ said Andrew. ”These future-ready bridges will benefit Massachusetts’ traveling public for years to come.”
Learn about VHB’s extensive DB portfolio, including high-profile roadway, bridge, transit, and rail improvement projects along the East Coast.
