Coalfields Expressway
Brian January 18th, 2006
The recent developments regarding the “Coalfields Expressway” have been dominating the news the last couple of days.
The big change, that I have noticed so far, is that it looks like Halliburton’s subsidiary Kellogg, Brown, and Root will be stepping out of the project and two large coal companies joining the effort. KBR handled the engineering and planning of “Section A” of the project. Section A, according to the Dickenson Star, is about 8.3 miles. I have heard reports that KBR was paid an enormous amount of money to “engineer and plan” that small segment, but I can’t remember how much.
The two lucky coal companies that will be jumping into the project are Alpha Natural Resources and Pioneer Group.
Here is the key quote from the Star’s coverage:
The two companies will help prepare the road corridor for highway construction in the course of surface mining and reclaiming the land.
I am all for coal mining and building the expressway, but this “interesting” relationship that has been struck between VDOT and two mega coal companies will require all of us to be a little extra vigilant.
A good friend of mine recently described the project as “a series of mountaintop removals connected by bridges.” From the recent news, that description is starting to make a lot of sense.
In case anyone doubts the need for this project, please keep in mind that Dickenson County does not have a single four-lane highway and only a few three-lane highways.
Update:
Kilo thinks this is a great deal for everyone: VDOT, coal companies, and tax payers. He may be right, I am just bad to worry when it comes to these kind of deals.
In Wise A&G coal has provided this same service at least twice. On Lake Street and again out on Duncan Gap-Hurricane Road. The same type deal was used in West Virginia on the King Coal Highway. The bottom line is not only will the road be built cheaper, but faster as the coal companies will most likely work 24 hours a day to remove coal and prepare the road bed. As I emphasized on my post, it was not politicians but coal companies who put this together.
cheaper and faster is not always better. remember that old saying, “if you want it bad, you’ll get it bad?” road building is a science and an art to do well. proper drainage, preventing erosion and sinking of the roadbed, all that has to be planned for and managed through the entire process. the coal companies won’t give a da#* about the road’s condition after they get their coal. sort of like how they don’t seem to care about the conditions of the towns and creeks around their strip mines. without some really good and continuous oversight, this could be a big mess.
That is so not true kat.
The same plan and blueprint will be used by the coal company that any private contractor would use, following the same rules you can read in the VDOT bible. Every inch of the road will be inspected by the same VDOT inspectors that would inspect any road being built in the the state of Va. Lets add that MHSA will also be inspecting the job to ensure saftey of the workers.
They rules and standards of VDOT do not change because a coal company is building the road.
Maybe you did “Cheap and fast” research for your comment.
Kilo, you were the one who mentioned cheap & fast. How do you build using the “same plan & blueprint” but cheaper and faster? Perhaps by using less-costly labor, less costly materials? Certainly, there are minimums for VDOT, but how close will a coal company ride that line? I hope you are correct about the inspectors keeping the project up to quality, but realistically, inspectors can’t be everywhere, all the time, and their work is only as good as the govts commitment to enforcement behind them. Just ask those folks down in NC where they are having to rip up ten miles of brand new I-40 because of bad concreting. Or those miners in WV.
Not saying the road is a bad idea, or that finding another way to get it done is bad, just that some strong oversight seems in order. SWVA has seen its fair share of good looking boondoggles before.
I would submit that for all the talk about getting things done during the Warner administration, there are a number of issues that are just now being addressed in more detail. (Transportation ring a bell?)
Before you dismiss me as being pro-coal or pro-business(which I am) hear me out. No one wants to be seen as being against road building. Need reenforcement? Just take a peek at HB 1475, with a $299 million increase in the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s bond issues. Primary sponsors are all GOP with one exception. (And all from SWVA)
My point in this lengthy comment is that road building in the South is largely a ‘feather in the cap’ type of issue. The Coalfield Expressway will be no different(forgive me Kilo) but it is still needed nonetheless.
Fast= Coal companies will work 24/7
Cheap= That is a stated fact.
Bad concrete has nothing to do with this project. This only concerns the road bed(rough grade).
If VDOT is not qualified to oversee this project, who do you suggest perform inspections? I think your comment shows you need to do some research.
Will be interesting to see the final route. I’m not against the idea but will give coal companies possible leverage in negotiating with surrounding landowners.
I agree, Dcox, I am anxious to see the final route. One can only imagine they will be hopping from coal seam to coal seam.