By - Tim Rosado
The United States is, arguably, on the cusp of an infrastructure revolution, that will bring about rapid change over a relatively short time frame (10-20 years).
This revolution is about more than just a mere newly modernized road, a strengthened levee system, or a new bridge here, and there. It also includes, among other things, completely new infrastructure to support a US clean energy transformation, substantial new manufacturing facilities for semiconductor technologies, and investment in long-neglected water systems.
Financed through a combination of massive private investment, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Great American Outdoors Act and other measures, the infrastructure revolution is being defined literally by thousands of small, medium, and large projects in or near every US community.
While there is no set of projects that can adequately characterize how US infrastructure is being transformed, here is a list encompassing many of the largest projects planned, or underway, across the US that can provide a sense of coming change. For the most part, this list does not include projects that were recently completed or are very near completion. _______________
BRIDGES & ROADS
Portal North Bridge [New Jersey]
Replacement of the existing 111-year-old Portal Bridge carrying which carries about 450 daily Amtrak/NJ TRANSIT trains and 200K daily passengers over the Hackensack River – between Newark, New Jersey and Penn Station, New York. A new bridge is expected to cost nearly $1.9 billion, and should take nearly 6 years to complete (about the end of 2027).
Newark Bay Bridge [New Jersey]
Replacement of an existing bridge built in 1956 as part of a larger, $4.7 billion capital project that also expands and upgrades roads and related bridge structures in the vicinity. The entire project is expected to take 10-15 years to complete. The project is in the planning stage with no specific target dates for completion.
Brent-Spence Bridge Corridor [Ohio & Kentucky]
A new bridge between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, that also includes related widening of I-71/I-75. The estimated cost is $2.8 billion. Construction will begin in 2023 with an unspecified completion date.
ORX-69 Ohio River Crossing [Ohio & Indiana]
A new four lane bridge between Indiana and Kentucky, including a related 11 miles of new interstate. The estimated cost is nearly $1.3 billion. Preliminary work began in 2022, and actual bridge construction is not expected to start until 2027, with completion in 2031.
Calcasieu River Bridge [Louisiana]
Replacement of a bridge put into service in 1952 connecting the cities of Lake Charles and Westlake, and upgrade about 9 miles of related interstate roadways, bridge approaches, I-10 frontage roads, and several interchanges. The project cost is an estimated $1.5 billion. An estimated completion date has not yet been determined, though it could take to the end of the current decade.
Gordie Howe International Bridge [Michigan]
A new bridge crossing between the City of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario Canada. When completed, the bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America and fifth-longest in the world. Construction began in 2018 and completion is expected by the end of 2024. The total estimated cost is $4.4 billion.
Interstate Bridge Project [Oregon & Washington]
Replacement of the existing I-5 bridge structures over the Columbia River connecting Oregon and Washington with a modern, seismically resilient, multimodal structure. The project is in the very early planning stages, which are expected to take the next four years. The cost estimate range for the new bridge is $3.2 billion to $4.8 billion.
Mobile Bay River Bridge & Bayway Project [Alabama]
Construct a new 215-foot bridge carrying three lanes of traffic in either direction over the Mobile River and connected to a six-lane Bayway rising higher than the existing structure. The cost will be $2.7 billion and is estimated to be completed in 2028.
Replace the existing Harbor Bridge and reconstruct parts of US-181, I-37, and the Crosstown Expressway, covering a total of 6.44 miles of bridge and connecting roadway. The project is expected to cost more than $800 million. Completion is not currently expected until 2024, at the earliest, and the project was temporarily halted in the summer of 2022 over design and contractor concerns.
Columbia Carolina Crossroads [South Carolina]
A $2.8 billion project to improve roads within the I-20/I-26/I-126 interstate corridor in South Carolina. All phases are estimated to be completed by 2029.
A project to complete the final section of a $4 billion Interstate 69 connection between Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana. The road is expected to be open for traffic by the end of 2024.
The I-35 Corridor Program encompasses 42 projects costing an estimated $25.6 billion (2016), with projects undertaken as funding becomes available. SH 99 “Grand Parkway” [Texas]
The Grand Parkway will be a 180-mile highway surrounding the Greater Houston area. Divided into 11 segments, some parts are completed, others are under construction, and some remain to be planned/funded/constructed. Its first segment opened in 1994. If/when completed, the Parkway would likely constitute the largest beltway in the nation and one of the world’s largest metropolitan ring roads.
TRANSIT AND RAIL
Project Connect Austin [Texas]
A transit expansion project for the City of Austin that adds two light rail and one commuter rail lines, as well as three bus rapid transit lines. The estimated cost is more than $7 billion. The project is in its initial planning stages after financing was approved by local voters. The entire project could take at least 13 years to complete.
Metro-North Penn Station Access [New York]
An extension of Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line to reach Penn Station in New York City, adding four new accessible stations and improving existing tracks and bridges. The extension is expected to cut travel times from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. The project is currently in a pre-construction start phase. The cost estimate of the project is $2.9 billion with completion by 2027.
Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 - [New York]
The Second Avenue Subway runs under Second Avenue on the east side of Manhattan in Harlem. Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2017. Phase 2 will cost an estimated $6.4 billion and will be completed in the 2027-2029 timeframe. The full Second Avenue Subway project is will cover 8.5 miles, include 16 subway stations, and cost an estimated $17 billion.
Amtrak Gateway Project [New York & New Jersey]
The core element of the plan is to build a new tunnel, and renovate the existing tunnel, to create a future-state 4 track tunnel system under the Hudson river between New York and New Jersey. Also included are related bridge, road, track, and station improvements mostly in New Jersey. The estimated cost is $16 billion. While the project has started, a completion timeline has not yet been determined.
Baltimore-Potomac Tunnel Replacement [Maryland]
Replace and upgrade a 150-year old tunnel serving Amtrak and Maryland commuter rail between Baltimore and southern points (e.g., Washington, D.C., and Virginia). Among other things, the new tunnel will include two tubes along an alignment with softer curves; ventilation and emergency egress facilities; new signaling systems; five new roadway and railroad bridges in the area surrounding the tunnel; and an ADA-accessible commuter-rail station in West Baltimore. The estimated cost is upwards of $4-$6 billion, with a completion by no earlier than 2032.
Honolulu Rail Project [Hawaii]
Build a high-capacity, 20-mile rapid transit line covering 21 stations for the highly congested east-west transportation corridor between Kapolei and Ala Moana Center of the Honolulu area. This transit line is intended to be fully automated and driverless. The cost is estimated to be nearly $10 billion with an estimated operational year of 2031.
Seattle Sound Transit 3 Project [Washington]
Among other things, the Sound Transit 3 project will add 62 new miles of light rail with stations serving 37 additional areas in and near Seattle. The project also includes a commuter rail extension, as well as new bus rapid transit lines. The total cost is $54 billion, with completion of all projects as early as 2041.
Purple Line Project [Maryland]
A 16-mile light rail line extending from Bethesda to New Carrollton, both in Maryland. The line will link the Metrorail Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton, all towns in Maryland in the Washington, D.C. region. The estimated cost is $9.3 billion and the Purple Line is expected to be operational during 2026.
Los Angeles to San Francisco High Speed Rail
A high-speed rail line that was that is intended to run from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in under three hours at speeds capable of over 200 miles per hour. The system is also intended to eventually extend to Sacramento and San Diego, totaling 800 miles with up to 24 stations. The estimated cost of the entire project has exploded–now upwards of $133 billion–and the full project may no longer ever be built given its cost. The original cost estimate was about $33 billion. The completion of Phase I–encompassing a rail line from Anaheim, through California’s Central Valley, and ending in San Francisco–could take until at least 2033 to complete, assuming adequate funding is secured.
Texas Central Railway - High Speed Rail
A high-speed rail line that was to be built by a private railroad company between Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston, Texas, costing an estimated $20-$30 billion. It seems unlikely, however, that the project will move forward anytime soon.There is speculation that the company has been unable to raise the required private financing necessary for the project. So far, an environmental impact statement was completed, the Federal Railroad Administration officially approved construction, and an Italy-based company–Webuild SpA–was selected to undertake the project.
AIRPORTS
San Diego International Airport Terminal 1
Replace San Diego’s current Terminal 1 with a new terminal costing $3.4 billion. The new terminal will include 13 security lanes and space for a future transit line. The terminal is expected to be completed by 2028.
A comprehensive modernization plan that includes building a new “global terminal” that doubles space of the current terminal (Terminal 2) including, among other things, an expansion/improvement of terminal space, added baggage screening capacity, and the co-location of international and domestic arrival gates. The plan also expands/improves Terminal 5, and adds two satellite concourses. This $8.5 billion project is expected to be completed by 2028.
Bush Intercontinental Houston Terminal Complex [Texas]
A new terminal that includes a 17-lane security checkpoint, among the largest in the United States, a new concourse, a renovated Terminal D, and an expanded number of airplane gates. The project cost is estimated to be $1.4 billion and could be completed by the end of 2024.
LAX People Mover Project [California]
A 2.25-mile Automated People Mover railway connecting three Los Angeles International Airport-area Metro Rail and transit stations. The project’s cost is $4.9 billion, and is expected to be operational during 2023.
WATER, DAMS, LEVEES
Upper Ohio Navigation Facility
An Upper Ohio River navigation system project encompassing the replacement of three locational locks and dams downstream from the Point of Pittsburgh. All three were built prior to 1936. The estimated cost is $2.1 billion. Preliminary work preparatory work has begun on the first location: Montgomery Locks and Dam.
Upper Mississippi River System Navigation-Ecosystem Sustainability Program
A multi-project plan (covering about 1,000 projects) to increase the capacity, and improve the reliability, of the inland navigation system while restoring, protecting, and enhancing the environment. The first two “focus projects” include a $732 million replacement of Lock & Dam 25 and a $97 million Lock & Dam 22 Fish Passage project, the first or five approved fish passage projects. The total cost of all currently-envisioned projects is an estimated $8 billion that will take an estimated 50 years to complete.
Modernize and double the capacity of the current lock and dam. The current project phase is underway to design and construct a larger navigational chamber. The total project cost is $1.3 billion, and is expected to be largely completed by 2030.
Replace an existing Soo Lock with a larger, modern lock system that includes channel deepening. The total estimated cost is $3.2 billion with the entire project completion around 2030. The start of the largest phase–a new lock chamber and rehabilitation of the downstream approach walls–began in the summer of 2022.
B.F. Sisk Dam Safety Project [California]
Add stability berms and other dam safety features to the existing 3.5-mile-long earthen dam to increase its height, reducing downstream public safety concerns by reducing the likelihood of overtopping if slumping were to occur during a seismic event. The estimated cost is $1.1 billion, and could take 8 years to complete (2030). Work started in 2022.
Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Project [North Dakota]
Build: a 30-mile diversion channel, a diversion outlet, and aqueducts on the Maple and Sheyenne Rivers, and related infrastructure; a 20-mile southern embankment and three gated control structures; an upstream flood mitigation flow area; and, in- and outside-town levees. The total cost is an estimated $2.2 billion with completion by 2027.
Lower San Joaquin River [California]
The project covers 23 miles of levee improvements and two closure structures–one at Fourteen Mile Slough and the other at Smith Canal. Levee improvements include cutoff walls, deep soil seismic mixing, a new levee, levee geometry improvements and erosion protection. The project’s estimated cost is $1.3 billion with completion by 2032.
Demolish/remove four hydroelectric dams between a portion of the Klamath River that crosses between Oregon and California. Built between 1903 and 1962, PacifiCorp’s Klamath Hydroelectric Project consists of seven dams. The lower four lower dams (Iron Gate, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle) are to be decommissioned. The project is estimated to cost $500 million and should be completed by the end of 2024.
ENERGY
Sanborn Solar Facility & Battery Storage Project - Mojave, California
A privately-funded project in leased land on Edwards Air Force Base which the project claims will develop enough capacity to produce nearly a gigawatt of solar energy, and also store energy using 2,400 MWh of lithium-ion batteries. The location began operation at the end of 2021, with capacity to produce 800 megawatts of solar-generated power. Another $1 billion in financing was secured this summer to complete its next phase, potentially during 2023.
Gemini Solar Project, Clark County, Nevada
This privately-funded project (Primergy) is being built on Federal lands in the Mojave Desert in Nevada that includes 690 MW integrated solar photovoltaic power generation and 1,400 MWh of battery energy storage. This $1.2 billion project broke ground in 2021 and could begin operations in late 2023. The company claims that energy from the project will be able to provide power to 400K homes during “super peak periods.”
Vogtle Nuclear Energy New Reactors - Georgia
Georgia Power is completing its construction and deployment of two new traditional nuclear power reactors near Waynesborough, Georgia. These reactors will be the first new commercial nuclear reactors built in the U.S. in more than three decades. The first of the two reactors is expected to be operational sometime during the first quarter of 2023, with the second operational as soon as the end of 2023. The cost of the reactors is an estimated $30 billion, with a service life of 60-80 years. The company claims that the reactors can power 500,000 homes and businesses.
X-energy Reactor Demonstration [Washington]
An advanced nuclear reactor demonstration facility with half the financing of this $2.5 billion project provided by the U.S. government. The project is considered to be “advanced” because the company’s system is smaller, more affordable, and more scalable/adaptable to existing power systems. The company also claims that the reactors will be “meltdown proof.”
TerraPower Kemmerer Reactor Demonstration [Wyoming]
An advanced nuclear reactor demonstration facility with half the financing of this $4 billion project provided by the U.S. government. The project is considered to be “advanced” because of its technology using liquid sodium as a cooling agent instead of water. Heat will also be stored in molten salt in tanks to be used later to produce energy, much like a battery stores energy. The system is also intended to be smaller and less expensive than traditional nuclear reactors. The project is already delayed for a couple of years (until ~2030), however, because its intended special fuel source is only produced by a Russia-located facility and such fuel is not available given the current Ukraine conflict.
Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Project
The first U.S. utility-scale offshore wind energy project, being built off of the coast of Massachusetts. The cost of the project could total $2.8 billion and could go into service during 2023, powering over 400,000 homes and businesses in Massachusetts.
South Fork Offshore Wind Project A utility-scale offshore wind energy project off the coast of New York, costing an estimated $2.0 billion that could go into service during 2023, powering an estimated 70,000 homes and businesses.
A utility-scale offshore wind energy project off the coast of New York, about 14 miles south of Jones Beach. The energy generated is estimated to power about 500K homes. The estimated cost is about $3 billion, and currently is expected to be completed by late 2026.
Kittyhawk Offshore Wind Project
A utility-scale offshore wind energy project off the coast of North Carolina which could end up being the largest offshore project so far, producing as much as 3.5 gigawatts of power once all phases of the project are complete. Construction is not expected to begin before 2024, and the project cost could total $6 billion. Power from the project could be provided to North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia.
Wind Prime Renewable Energy Project
A renewable energy project that combines 2,042 megawatts of wind generation and 50 megawatts of solar generation in Iowa. The estimated cost is $3.9 billion. Assuming the project is approved soon, construction should be completed by the end of 2025.
Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Project
All 50 U.S. States are participating in a $5 billion, five-year program to upgrade and/or expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with a focus on building capacity along highways including the interstate highway system. The Department of Transportation estimates that the deployed infrastructure will cover 75K miles of highways. The timing, coverage, and locations of deployments depend on the specifics of each state plan.
Advanced Clean Energy Storage Hub
The world’s largest renewable energy storage facility in Delta, Utah that will enable utility- and industrial-scale green hydrogen production from renewable energy sources, where the produced hydrogen will be stored in underground salt dome caverns to provide a reservoir of renewable fuel for power generation. Estimated storage capacity will be 300 GWh. The estimated cost of the facility is about $1 billion.
Green Hydrogen Production Mega Facility
Air Products and The AES Corporation are collaborating to build what it claims will be the largest green hydrogen facility in the United States in Wilbarger County, Texas. The facility will generate 1.4 gigawatts of wind and solar power capable of producing more than 200 metric tons per day of hydrogen for energy purposes. A key challenge with hydrogen is that it takes energy to produce the fuel; in the past fossil fuel-powered energy. The companies claim that if all the green hydrogen to be produced were used solely for the heavy-duty truck market, it would eliminate more than 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually when compared to diesel use in heavy-duty trucks. Commercial operations are expected by 2027.
MANUFACTURING
Panasonic Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing Facility (Desoto, Kansas)
A battery factory that will focus on 2170 cylindrical Li-ion batteries, with mass production starting by March of 2025. The cost of the facility is estimated to be $4 billion.
Honda-LG Joint Venture Battery Facility (Jefferson, Ohio)
A battery factory that will produce an estimated 40GWh of annual production capacity of pouch-type lithium-ion batteries. The project is estimated to cost $4.4 billion and be completed in 2025.
Ascend Elements Sustainable Battery Materials Facility (Hopkinsville, Kentucky)
This factory will take “black mass” from recycled electric vehicle batteries and produce enough lithium-ion battery precursor and sustainable cathode active material to equip up to 250,000 electric vehicles per year. The initial facility cost is about $310 million, rising to more than $1 billion in later planned phases. Initial operations are expected in late 2023.
Ford/BlueOval City Battery Facility (Stanton, Tennessee)
A $5.6 billion battery and vehicle manufacturing campus in western Tennessee, northeast of Memphis. The facility is expected to be operational in 2025.
Hyundai Battery and Electric Vehicle Facility (Bryan County, Georgia)
A $5.5 billion battery and vehicle manufacturing facility estimated to be operational by the first half of 2025. The facility is expected to have capacity to produce 300K vehicles a year.
GM Battery and Electric Vehicle Facility (Lansing, Michigan)
A new Ultium Cells battery cell plant along with the conversion of an existing vehicle assembly plant in Orion Township for production of both a Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra EVs. The investment by GM is estimated to be $7 billion (what the company says is its largest single capacity investment in the company’s history). Both battery and vehicle production are expected to begin by late 2024.
TSMC Semiconductor Production Plant (Phoenix, Arizona)
A $12 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility north of Phoenix, Arizona, initially producing the company’s 5-nanometer chips. The company claims that production of 3-nanometer chips at this location will occur in a second phase of the project. Production is expected to start in 2024.
Intel Semiconductor Production Facilities in Arizona & Ohio
Two chip production facilities using a $20 billion investment on an existing Intel campus in Chandler, Arizona. Production at the new facilities is expected to begin in 2024. In Ohio, Intel will add two new production facilities near Columbus, Ohio with a separate $20 billion investment. The Columbus location could eventually be expanded to 8 production facilities. Production at the initial Ohio facilities could come online as soon as 2025.
Micron Memory Chip Production Facilities in Idaho & New York
A $15 billion semiconductor production facility in Boise, Idaho, making DRAM memory chips. Initial production is expected to come online in 2025. In New York, the company says it will invest $20 billion over the next ten years to design and build a memory chip “megafab” production facility. The investment could increase to $100 billion over twenty years. Construction of the initial megafab facility is expected to begin in 2024.
Texas Instruments Semiconductor Production Facilities (Sherman, Texas)
Invest $30 billion in as many as four semiconductor production facilities in Sherman, Texas, producing the company’s new 300-millimeter semiconductor wafer. The first facility is expected to come online in 2025.
Samsung Semiconductor Production Facility (Taylor, Texas)
Invest $17 billion in a new production facility for what Samsung says will be for the production of “advanced logic semiconductor solutions” including for mobile, 5G, high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). Initial production is expected by the second half of 2024.
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