A few examples of innovation, acceleration, and preparation
For this week’s blog I am going to speak to two infrastructure topics. Both involve an innovative approach, although only one of which is transportation-related.
A bridge to the future – While I have spent the majority of my life in North Carolina, I am a native of western Pennsylvania, which is another place with great people, and this week I mention a transportation innovation in the City of Pittsburgh. On Monday, July 27, Pennsylvania DOT (“PennDOT”) and its contracting team completed an accelerated bridge replacement that saved years off of the traffic impacts associated with a traditional timeline, by building the replacement for an active Interstate bridge (I-376) adjacent to the existing structure, and then literally sliding the new one in place.
This is apparently both the longest lateral (sideways) slide distance of any major bridge replacement in the nation, and also the one that carries the most daily traffic (over 100,000 vehicles per day) in the United States. Of course, while the slide-in replacement and associated freeway was closed for only 17 days, there was an extensive amount of preparation over many years to get to this point. It is an impressive feat, and given the inevitable traffic challenges associated with a mountainous urban area, a very welcome one. It is also a reminder to look for solutions that both save time now, and also those that save time, hassle, and cost later — ideally all of the above.
An overnight success, decades in the making – For the second infrastructure project, let’s switch to economic development for a moment. While life science capital investment projects are not directly transportation-related, they certainly require companion transportation investments to be in place for a host of success metrics and objectives, ranging from talent recruitment, to employee retention and satisfaction, to supply chain management. The accelerated existence of the 540 turnpike freeway is an obvious regional example of this.
For this blog, I actually want to briefly speak of a different sort of foundational infrastructure investment — water and wastewater — that has catapulted Holly Springs into the stratosphere of life science economic development. My colleague Michael Haley with Wake County Economic Development wrote about exactly this earlier this year, and Jon Keener with RTA Leadership Team member Helix Ventures spoke to this again earlier this week (scroll down to “Life Sciences”), when they noted that Holly Springs began the planning and execution of the needed wet utility infrastructure investments that would allow recent and ongoing economic success in life science.
Several RTA Leadership Team members, including CSL Seqirus (the site of the first major life sciences investment in Holly Springs), FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, Amgen, Helix Ventures, and the Town of Holly Springs itself, are the investors, catalysts, and beneficiaries of the proactive infrastructure foresight in southern Wake County that has turned Holly Springs into a “20 year overnight success” in life science, employment, capital investment, and quality of life.
While RTA is not getting into water and wastewater advocacy, we can certainly highlight the importance of effective investments in essential infrastructure whenever we see it. And we can also note that purpose and scalable intentionality on the front end are more likely to lead to success in the back end — particularly if you can maintain momentum and hasten those investments.
Let’s get moving — together. Kudos to all those who are investing in the future, with intention, foresight, and a service mindset for their company, community, and region.
Let’s get moving,
Joe
Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA executive director
