Infrastructure construction is poised for another strong year, thanks in part to large infusions of federal money. The sector has propped up the building industry in recent months amid interest rate hikes and declines in backlog.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is ramping up in its third year and funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act are flowing. The impacts of those investments are increasingly visible as they fuel thousands of projects around the country, many of them massive.
Here are nine key megaprojects that will advance this year:
Plant Vogtle nuclear plant
$30 billion
Waynesboro, Georgia
Courtesy of Georgia Power
A $30 billion nuclear power plant in Georgia, constructed in part by Reston, Virginia-based Bechtel, will likely cross a major threshold in the first months of 2024.
Unit 4 of Plant Vogtle, located near Waynesboro, Georgia, is on schedule to begin generating power early this year, according to Southern Co. spokesperson Alicia Brown. Plant Vogtle’s Unit 3, also built by Bechtel, went online at the end of July.
Bechtel partnered with North America’s Building Trades Unions to build the two units, with 9,000 workers combined on the site at the peak of construction.
The startup of the reactors has been hailed as a major milestone in U.S. nuclear power construction, but the project took more than seven years longer than originally planned and at a cost of more than double the preliminary projected price, according to Reuters.
When finished, Unit 4 — operated by Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power — will become the largest generator of clean energy in the U.S., Brown said.
Able to power an estimated 500,000 homes and businesses, Unit 3 was the country’s first newly constructed nuclear unit in over three decades.
JFK Airport expansion
$19 billion
New York City
Courtesy of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
John F. Kennedy Airport will continue its ambitious multibillion-dollar transformation this year.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey expects the topping out of steel to occur in 2024 for the airport’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 6 projects. These cutting-edge international terminals, with a combined investment of $9.5 billion for Terminal 1 and $4.2 billion for Terminal 6, are currently simultaneously under construction. AECOM Tishman and Gensler serve as Terminal 1’s design-build team, while AECOM Hunt is leading construction on the Terminal 6 project.
The phased completion of Terminal 1 remains on track, with the opening of the arrivals and departures hall and 14 gates scheduled for 2026. The final nine gates will be ready for passengers by 2030. Meanwhile, Terminal 6 also is progressing steadily, according to the Port Authority. The first phase is set to conclude in 2026, consisting of a new arrivals and departures hall, while the final phase is targeting completion in 2028.
Terminal 8’s $125 million concessions redevelopment is also currently underway inside the terminal. The project includes new dining, retail, duty-free shopping, performance space and new digitally enabled experiences for customers, according to the release.
Meanwhile, the $1.5 billion expansion of Terminal 4 by JFK International Air Terminal and Delta Airlines, will also mark a significant milestone in 2024. Already operational with 10 new gates that opened in 2021, the terminal will see additional enhancements this year, according to the Port Authority. These enhancements include renovation of existing concourses, roadway upgrades to improve vehicle access, an updated check-in hall, new gate finishes, added curbside dropoff space and restroom modernizations, according to Delta.
Lastly, operation of a construction support facility to manufacture concrete on site, recycle concrete debris for reuse in new airport construction and to barge new materials began operations in 2023, with the concrete batch plant expected to open early this year.
Gateway Project
$16.1 billion
New York and New Jersey
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Courtesy of Gateway Program
President Joe Biden called the Gateway Program “one of the biggest, most consequential projects in the country,” but it has nonetheless experienced years of delays and political fights. With a funding boost from the IIJA, work started moving last year on both sides of the Hudson River, and there will be many more opportunities for contractors in 2024.
Amtrak’s storm-battered, century-old tunnels under the Hudson River pose a serious bottleneck for passengers. The Gateway Program is a $16.1 billion group of projects that aim to address this problem, doubling capacity for the Northeast Corridor rail segment between New Jersey and New York City. The work includes rehabilitation of the old tunnels and construction of another pair, as well as new bridges, tracks and platforms.
Several portions of Gateway are now in procurement — including the Manhattan Tunnel, the Palisades Tunnel, the Hudson River Ground Stabilization and Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and Utility Relocation Project — and contractors may be finalized this year. The Gateway Development Commission in January released an animation depicting how the work will unfold. Tunnel digging is expected to begin in 2025, and the overall project is slated for completion in 2035.
Amtrak is improving many other parts of its system as well, including the new $6 billion Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore, which will largely replace the existing 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel.
Brightline West
$12 billion
Southern California and Las Vegas
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Courtesy of Brightline
This high-speed rail project to connect Southern California and Las Vegas is now $3 billion closer to reality.
Brightline West, a 218-mile rail link between Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Sin City received a $3 billion grant from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program last month. That accounts for about 25% of the project’s $12 billion estimated cost.
Beyond money, however, the project also has a leg up on cutting through the red tape and politics that have weighed down progress on California’s high-speed rail project between San Francisco and Southern California.
Brightline West now has all the necessary right-of-way, environmental approvals and labor agreements it needs to break ground along the Interstate 15 corridor, according to U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). With speeds of 200 miles per hour and no grade crossings, the rail line would cut travel times in half compared to driving, to about two hours.
While a start date hasn’t been announced, the private-public partnership also has the benefit of Florida-based Brightline’s experience building its existing high-speed rail line between Orlando and Miami, which was completed last year. Rosen said it’s feasible Brightline West could serve passengers by 2028, when Los Angeles is set to host the Summer Olympics.
North Houston Highway Improvement Project
$9.7 billion
Houston, Texas
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Texas is investing billions into its roads and highways over the next decade, and the $9.7 billion I-45 project in Houston is one of the state’s biggest such efforts. The heavily congested highway has the dubious distinction of being among the most dangerous in the country.
The project will widen and reroute I-45 near and north of downtown and widen the freeway between downtown and Beltway 8. Construction on the downtown-area segment is expected to start this year, starting with drainage work and new connections to the east of downtown.
Planning for the project began more than a decade ago, but faced several delays when the Federal Highway Administration and Harris County forced Texas DOT to address environmental and civil rights complaints. Those issues were resolved in late 2022 and early 2023, allowing Texas DOT to move forward with its plans with some modifications, including bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.
Work will be executed in three phases made up of a series of smaller projects that ultimately will connect, but no contractors have been selected yet, according to Texas DOT spokesperson Danny Perez. The overall project is expected to be complete by 2042.
Interstate Bridge Replacement
More than $7.5 billion
Oregon and Washington
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The push to replace the century-old I-5 bridge over the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington got a $600 million boost in December, a year before construction could start in 2025. The Interstate Bridge Replacement project’s goal is to provide a safe, earthquake-resilient multimodal corridor on the West Coast.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported at the beginning of the year that Greg Johnson, the program leader for the project, said a new cost estimate would be forthcoming this year. In 2022, planners had said the project would cost between $5 billion and $7.5 billion, with an aim at hitting a $6 billion midpoint. But that was already an increase of the original cost estimate, which came in between $3.2 billion and $4.8 billion in 2020.
The Interstate Bridge Replacement program received the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega Program. That pool of money was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support large, complex projects that are likely to generate national or regional economic, mobility or safety benefits.
The scale of the price increase, and where additional funds will come from, are still unknown.
West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee system
$3.7 billion
Southeast Louisiana
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Over 60,000 Louisianans in the southeast section of the state have little or no hurricane protection. During Hurricane Isaac in 2012, a storm surge flooded 7,000 homes, submerging I-10 — the main evacuation route for New Orleans — and slowed emergency response around the region.
The West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project aims to fix that. The 18.5-mile levee system will consist of flood walls, urban levees and pumps. It received $760 million in funding from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. As of the summer, the full project cost had reached $3.7 billion, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The USACE awarded the first levee contracts in December 2022 for a $9.3 million section set for completion this year. Those awards followed at least four more levee contracts worth $22 million to $39 million, for stretches set for completion within the next two years.
In preparation for the work, the USACE has constructed nine roads totaling 14 miles through marsh and swamp. Crews also have begun to move tons of material, such as sand and clay, to construct walls as high as 12 feet to better protect the region from storm surges.
Construction Dive reached out to USACE for more information on the contractors selected for these contracts but did not hear back by time of publication.
Brent Spence Bridge
$3.6 billion
Kentucky/Ohio border
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Courtesy of Walsh Construction
A joint venture of Chicago-based Walsh Construction and Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Construction was selected last year to overhaul the aging Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati with interstates 71 and 75. The project will break ground later this year, according to the project website, and officials expect work to substantially finish in 2029.
The $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project will rehabilitate the existing double-deck bridge and build a new span to the west. The project will improve approximately 8 miles of both interstates through Kentucky and Ohio.
The project will receive $1.4 billion in funding from the federal government’s Bridge Investment Program, a part of the $1.2 trillion IIJA.
Soo Lock Project
$3.2 billion
St. Mary’s River, Michigan
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Phases 2 and 3 will continue this year on the $3.22 billion Soo Lock project on St. Mary’s River in Michigan. Officials are overhauling the locks to create new passageways and maintain the critical trade route, which handles about 7,000 ships annually.
The goal of the project, spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is to build a second lock, the size of the original Poe Lock, in the footprint of the decommissioned Sabin Lock.
For phase 2, a joint venture of Fredericktown, Ohio-based Kokosing Industrial and Overland, Missouri-based Alberici Constructors will rehabilitate the upstream approach walls, which will allow modern vessels to tie up and wait in line to pass through the new lock. Work on this phase of the project is expected to wrap up in the summer.
Phase 3, from a joint venture of Kokosing Industrial, Alberici Constructors and Evansville, Indiana-based Traylor Bros., encompasses a variety of tasks including the demolition of the existing Sabin Lock, bedrock excavation and the construction of a new lock. The JV recently picked up a $213.8 million option for additional work, such as the addition of a new power plant bridge ramp and upstream wide wall monoliths.