President Obama Tours Port of Miami Tunnel Project

President Obama toured the construction site for the new Port of Miami tunnel on March 29 as part of an outreach program to encourage greater spending on infrastructure improvements. The $1 billion tunnel project will link the Port of Miami with the interstate highway system (I-395 and I-95).

All port traffic, particularly heavy truck traffic, currently travels over city streets to and from I-95 or I-395. When completed in August 2014, the tunnel will provide improved access for trucks and cruise passengers destined for the Port of Miami, taking heavy traffic off the streets of downtown Miami, eliminating a source of congestion and improving air quality.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has been involved with the Port of Miami tunnel since 2003 as owner’s representative to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Parsons Brinckerhoff’s responsibilities included project management, civil and structural concept design, tunnel engineering, cost estimating and scheduling, and preparation of public-private partnership procurement documents. The firm is also providing construction engineering and inspection services to FDOT.

The tunnel is being constructed by the Miami Access Tunnel consortium under a 35-year design-build-finance-operate-maintain contract on behalf of FDOT, the city of Miami, and Miami-Dade County. In addition to twin-bore tunnels between Watson and Dodge islands, project components also include port roadway connections and widening the MacArthur Causeway to accommodate the anticipated growth in traffic.

Source: Parsons Brinckerhoff