One of the biggest differences between how the US and Europe approach infrastructure funding is that in many European countries, projects have a national scope and purpose supported by a national consensus, writes Robert E. Paaswell, Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at City College of New York. European projects don't suffer from stops and starts, local interference or funding redirection, he adds.

Maryland and CSX Transportation have secured the extra $103 million needed for a $466 million expansion of the Howard Street Tunnel, which serves the Port of Baltimore, state Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn says. The project lets trains carry double-stacked freight through the tunnel and at 22 bridges between Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Officials have broken ground on a $118 million project to develop 14 acres of national parkland atop highway tunnels in San Francisco. The engineering team includes WOOD, MKA, PAE and Holmes.

Sound Transit has finished clearing and grading for a $2.9 billion light-rail extension between Seattle and Lynnwood, Wash., and aims to complete utility relocation. The project is running roughly $500 million more than estimated because of increased construction costs, but Sound Transit hopes to counteract that through the design process.

West Virginia generated more than $746.5 million for bridge, highway and secondary road construction projects by selling $600 million in bonds. Voters approved the sale two years ago as part of the state's Roads To Prosperity program, which has funded more than 500 projects.

An infrastructure monitoring system that employs IBM's artificial intelligence-based Maximo software platform will be launched in Italy by the end of the year on a trial basis by Italian road operator Autostrade per l'Italia. The technology will produce a digital database with real-time information on approximately 4,300 structures in the ASPI highway network.

A proposal for a high-speed magnetic levitation train linking Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has won the endorsement of the chambers of commerce in Baltimore, Baltimore County, northern Anne Arundel County and Prince George's County. The $10 billion line would run 36 miles with a travel time of 15 minutes.

Engineers working on the second phase of a Metro project in India will replace CAD drawings with building information modeling. BIM will facilitate coordination between CMRL and its contractors while reducing errors and delays on the project.

Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark are developing a self-powered patch that uses ultrasonic waves to continuously monitor corrosion inside steel-reinforced concrete structures. The plaster sensor is placed on the steel reinforcement and molded into the concrete construction.

According to an analysis of 40 years of data from the National Flood Insurance Program, flooding in western states led to nearly $51 billion in damages, more than 84% of which were caused by atmospheric rivers. In certain parts of Oregon and Northern California, these rivers accounted for almost all flood damages, the study said.

After a near-death cancer experience, a civil engineer decided he needed to channel his abilities into aiding distressed communities. Over the last 20 years, his efforts have lifted up impoverished peoples on five continents. He shares his experiences in a new series for ASCE News, Engineering With Heart.

This year, ASCE expanded one of our members' most popular benefits - what had been 5 free PDHs is now 10! What's more, the on-demand webinars to choose from also doubled. The offer resets on Jan. 1, so to get all 10 free PDHs, members must earn them before the end of the year. Review the courses and register.