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Related Links: $5.25-Billion Panama Canal Expansion Program Moves Into the Final Leg The $5.25-billion expansion of the Panama Canal entered its latest phase in June, as the recently completed Atlantic and Pacific locks of the new third lane were flooded for the first time. The installation of the gates on the locks, which will allow the Canal to pass ships carrying 13,000 to 14,000 TEUs (20-ft-equivalent units), has been considered the most complex and difficult portion of the expansion project. With the new gates in place, operational testing can begin."We started flooding the Atlantic locks on June 11, then we

Image courtesy of Club of Mozambique Conceptual design of planned $8 billion to $10 billion Mozambique natural-gas-liquefaction facility. Related Links: First LNG Projects Under Way in Mozambique Africa Poised for LNG Boom Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and its partners hope to make a final decision by the end of 2015 on whether to proceed with a major onshore liquefied-natural-gas project in northern Mozambique.The project, valued at $8 billion to $10 billion, has taken a step forward with the May 18 construction contract award to a joint venture of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V., the Hague; Chiyoda Corp., Yokohama; and Saipem,

Related Links: Record-Size Swimming Pools Come to the U.S. for the First Time A Closer Look at Record-Sized Pools That Resemble Oases The aquarium business "is dependent on the engineering challenges of containing water and resisting corrosion of materials; longevity; and low maintenance,” says Peter Chermayeff, an architect who has been designing major aquariums around the world for over 50 years.Aquariums—for which ENR has compiled a list at left of the world's largest—are typically built by general contractors with experience in the water and wastewater sectors. One example is Brasfield & Gorrie. The contractor's first fish habitat was Atlanta's Georgia

Enlarge Related Links: Senate Panel's Highway Bill Wins Praise (ENR 6/29/2015 issue) [subscription] ARTBA analysis of DRIVE Act With another surface-transportation extension likely this month, construction officials continue to push for a longer-lasting measure to end the dribs-and-drabs funding they have endured for several years. They welcome the six-year, $277-billion highway bill that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee cleared unanimously on June 24. But they are acutely aware that the Highway Trust Fund is about $90 billion short of the money to fund the bill fully. Where to find the dollars remains a mystery.As they look at the

Two 17.6-meter-dia tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are now driving a 4.2-kilometer-long highway link between Hong Kong's Lantau Island, site of the territory's international airport, and the New Territories.The second TBM set off on June 15, two months behind the first, on twin drives of Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok road tunnel.The Dragages-Bouygues joint venture of France is building the tunnel under a contract valued at nearly $2.4 billion. According to Bouygues, the TBMs, supplied by Germany's Herrenknecht A.G., are the world's largest and can map the rock face in real time plus remotely detect cutterhead damage, reducing manual inspections under compressed

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Three towers reaching over 20 ft will support cable-stayed structures. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton / ENR Improvements to the 'Spaghetti Junction' interchange will facilitate the flow of 125,000 daily vehicles in and out of Louisville. Related Links: Dynamic Duo: Ohio River Bridges Rise In And Around Louisville $2.6-Billion Ohio River Bridges Project Ramps Up In Louisville Scope, Schedule Pose Challenges On Ohio River Bridges Project Jeremiah Littleton, section engineer with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), recalls a public meeting held early on in the process of getting the $1.2-billion Downtown Crossing underway.

Photo Courtesy of California DOT Caltrans crew, pictured in 2013, penetrates cap beam in preparation for an earlier bolt fix. Related Links: Bay Bridge Errors Put Caltrans Under Fire Plan Enlists Custom Steel Saddles to Repair Broken Bay Bridge Bolts Seismic anchor rods used for the $6.4-billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are once again under scrutiny. Inspectors' discovery last month of stripped threads, loss of protective coatings and micro-indicators in three galvanized-steel units—installed in 2007 at the base of the bridge's 525-ft-tall east self-anchored suspension span (SAS) tower—have triggered a new probe.Although the investigation is ongoing, Caltrans believes the presence

Enlarge Related Links: LeedCo, Facing Headwinds, Looks for Help From Feds LeedCo Vision and Timeline An economic development corporation based in Cleveland has selected a Danish mono-bucket foundation design that will resist extreme ice loads and require no pile-driving for an 18-MW Icebreaker offshore wind turbine demo project in Lake Erie.Developed by Denmark-based Universal Foundation, the foundation support is an all-in-one steel structure consisting of a monopile shaft attached to a 52-ft-dia bucket, according to Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LeedCo)."Universal Foundation's mono bucket recently emerged as one of the most promising technology developments in the European offshore wind industry,"

FAA Issues Houston License To Convert Ellington to Spaceport Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D) announced June 30 that the Federal Aviation Administration had approved Ellington Airport as a launch site for reusable launch vehicles. Parker hopes to make the Houston Spaceport a hub for manufacturing spacecraft and training astronauts.DOE Finalizes Last of Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Project The U.S. Dept. of Energy has finalized the last remaining portion of $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees previously allotted for the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Ga. Last month, the agency issued $1.8 billion in guarantees to three subsidiaries of