Related Links: In a Test of Technology, the Largest-Ever Fusion Reactor Rises in France International Program Aims To Develop Energy Supply Without Limit A radial array of heavy rebar now marks the circular footprint of a vast experimental nuclear machine that is the centerpiece of a research program into atomic fusion, potentially a limitless energy source. Fusion research at the site will be challenging enough, but just getting the $16-billion facility up and running is no easy task.Weighing over three times more than the Eiffel Tower but far more complicated, the 23,000-tonne Tokamak reactor, located in southern France, is being
Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Buckling columns in the days after installation on a bridge in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo Courtesy of EarthCam Within days, bracing and cranes hooked to the girders helped eliminate the deformation in the deep bridge girders. Related Links: Watch the buckled girders straight on the Edmonton Bridge via Earthcam Edmonton city officials are overseeing a review by a structural consultant on what caused four deep steel girders on a new bridge being built over a busy thoroughfare to buckle soon after their placement March 16.The structure has been stabilized but the project delays are costly, at more
Related Links: Protests Push the Public Procurement Process In a change endorsed by the Federal Highway Administration, the New Mexico Dept. of Transportation will take contractors' past performances into account when they bid on highway projects over $5 million.NMDOT believes the procedure will result in lower costs and delays. The Associated Contractors of New Mexico (ACNM) thinks the new rule will result in less competition and higher bid prices.CHURCH"Our goal is to change New Mexico contracting from 'low bid' to 'quality bid,' " says NMDOT Cabinet Secretary Tom Church. "This process will encourage the good contractors to continue with excellent
Related Links: Private Investment Drives Wind, Solar Projects in California House-Passed Tax 'Extenders' Bill Aids Multiemployer Pension Plans, Renewable Energy Thanks to soon-to-expire tax incentives and the increasing cost-competitiveness of renewable sources of energy, 2015 is shaping up as perhaps the best year ever for wind-farm construction and new, utility-scale solar projects.Also, the variable nature of wind- and solar-energy output is spurring development of battery-storage projects designed to make renewables a more reliable element of the nation's electricity system."The wind-power market continues to grow and is on target to become the leading source of new energy in the country—[expected] to
Related Links: DOE Fact Sheet on March 24 Directive Press Release on Senate Legislation Issued by Office of Sen. Murkowski Industry observers are hopeful that recent initiatives by the Obama administration and Congress could help to break the long-running impasse over the storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste.On March 24, President Obama signed a directive to enable federal officials to identify a site to store high-level defense-related waste, and a group of senior senators introduced a bill to establish a policy for addressing the long-term storage of nuclear and defense-related radioactive waste. And, on March 27, Sen. Harry Reid
Photo Courtesy of Tar Sands Blockade Testing protocols would aim to prevent pipeline spills, such as in Arkansas in 2013 (above). Related Links: Association of Oil Pipelines Letter Tar Sands Blockade How safe are all the old oil and gas pipelines that crisscross the U.S., and does it make sense to pressure-test most of them? The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration is developing a verification process that may subject to hydrostatic pressure testing as much as 95%, or 182,000 miles, of the U.S. pipelines that transport crude oil, gasoline and other liquids. Up-to-date records also would be required.Evan
The architect for the world's most sustainable speculative office building—Seattle's 52,000-sq-ft Bullitt Center—says the most challenging aspect of the design was staying within budget while still meeting the Living Building Challenge's rigorous certification requirements.
Rendering Courtesy of Jerusalem Municipality Officials say cable car system will relieve traffic congestion in the Old City, but project has opponents. Jerusalem city officials are moving ahead with plans to build a controversial cable-car project despite a decision by a French consulting firm to back out of the project for apparent political reasons.The 2.3-kilometer long cable-car system, a $32-million project, is designed to carry thousands of passengers daily between the city's downtown and the Old City, to reduce traffic in the area of sites holy to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.Part of the system route crosses Jerusalem's eastern section, which
After nearly two years of operation to prove its worthiness, the 52,000-sq-ft Bullitt Center in Seattle—the first speculative office building to attempt full certification under the rigorous Living Building Challenge sustainability program—has been named a "living building."
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