Photo Courtesy Sprague Theobald Russian trawler near Greenland finds ample open water in a formerly ice-bound channel. Video by Sprague Theobald Related Links: Foss Maritime The Port of Seattle this winter has been locked in a discussion about oil drilling in the Arctic after approving a short-term lease with Foss Maritime, whose clients include Royal Dutch Shell PLC, to use part of Terminal 5 to stage marine vessels.The agreement with Foss opens up the port to housing ships planned for Arctic oil-drilling exploration, environmental groups say.THEOBALDSprague Theobald, a two-time Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert sailor, has voyaged through the
Photo Courtesy of National Corvette Museum Geologist observes micro pile at Corvette Museum site, revealing vertical dimension of sinkhole that swallowed eight sports cars a year ago. Related Links: Sinkhole Fix Proceeds at Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky. Foundation Flaws Make Kentucky's Wolf Creek Dam a High-Risk Priority Void Safe Sinkholes are common in karst areas, but karst got more attention last year after the destruction of eight specimen sports cars at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.All 50 states have karst, but it is concentrated in Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Pennsylvania, where water-soluble rock such as
Related Links: Karst-borne Sinkholes Add Element of Structural Risk for Owners and Builders Repairs Under Way at Corvette Museum After Sinkhole Swallows Cars Drones Inspect Sinkhole at National Corvette Museum That sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum is no longer a gaping hole in the ground.It's been filled with about 4,000 tons of manufactured sand, and engineers started Feb. 9 to drill the second round of micro piles for additional support of the circular Skydome building above the hole in Bowling Green, Ky.Scott, Murphy & Daniel, the Bowling Green contractor, started the fill work in November, and Hayward Baker, the
Related Links: Feds Step Up Quest for Private Infrastructure Financing | International Consortium Selected to Build Mersey River Bridge Serving just 125,000 people, the U.K.'s Halton Borough Council (HBC) might seem an unlikely sponsor for a $900-million privately financed highway bridge. But construction is underway, with barge-mounted rigs installing cofferdams in the mudflats of the River Mersey for the cable-stayed Mersey Gateway crossing.To get here, the authority, 20 kilometers upstream of Liverpool, overcame government reluctance and the banking crisis. It deployed innovative financing tools and a novel tolling strategy to reduce revenue risk to itself and the public- private partnership
image Courtesy of I-4 Mobility Partners The Orlando P3 project includes complete reconstruction of 21 miles of I-4. Related Links: Skanska-Led P3 Team Wins Florida I-4 Job FDOT Officially Names Shortlisted Firms for I-4 Ultimate Project The Florida Dept. of Transportation last month approved the construction start of the $2.3-billion I-4 Ultimate project in Orlando, moving forward on its largest-ever public-private partnership and a surge of construction activity. During 2015 alone, the Skanska-led construction joint venture—known as SGL Constructors—will implement an estimated $500 million worth of engineering and construction work throughout the 21-mile-long project, says the contractor.The project's scope includes
Related Links: Dept. of Energy Suspends Work on FutureGen 2.0 U.S. Energy Policy Shaped by Natural Gas, Renewables Development in 2014 Live Oak LNG Live Oak LNG, a fully owned subsidiary of Parallax Energy, plans to build a $2-billion natural-gas liquefaction and export project near Lake Charles, La. Project teams are completing initial study work, which will be followed by federal and state permitting processes."We anticipate completing the initial definition phase and applying for FERC permits within the next few weeks," says Martin Houston, chairman of Parallax Energy and Live Oak."In addition, we believe we will receive notice to proceed
Beverly A. Scott, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, announced her resignation on Feb. 11 following criticism by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) of “T” transit performance that left thousands stranded during two system-wide shutdowns in a string of epic snow storms.Gov. Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito (R) said in a statement the same day, they were “surprised” to learn of Scott's resignation. She will stay on until April 11 while a search for a successor is conducted. ScottFrustrated by the second system-wide shutdown on Feb. 10 and with another storm brewing, Baker reportedly said that whatever
McDonald's Corp. is encouraged by the results of a Rocky Mountain Institute-led study of the technical and financial feasibility of building stand-alone restaurants that produce as much energy annually as they use.
Related Links: Clean Coal: Is CCS Fossil Fuels' Best Hope? (ENR, 2014) Clean Coal Viable, DOE panel says (ENR, 2010) The U.S. Dept. of Energy has pulled out of the $1.65-billion FutureGen carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) demonstration project in Meredosia, Ill. striking a perhaps fatal blow to the project just as it was gearing up to begin construction.A DOE official said on Feb. 4 that the project had not achieved sufficient progress in securing additional financing to supplement the $1 billion allocated by DOE through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Those unused funds have been
Photo by AP Wideworld Engineers had stamped the demolition plans for the Ohio overpass that collapsed Jan. 19 onto Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, says contractor Kokosing. Related Links: CEO Statement Engineering Oversight Might Have Prevented Ohio Overpass Collapse, Says Bridge Inspector The Ohio Dept. of Transportation had required an engineered demolition plan for the Hopple St. Ramp bridge that collapsed Jan. 19 onto Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, killing a worker, according to the contractor Kokosing.Kokosing released Feb. 6 documents detailing its engineer-stamped demolition plan, noting that it chose an alternative approach that reduced the weight of equipment and machinery loads
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