Photo Courtesy of Ameren FutureGen seeks to retrofit a unit at an existing plant in Meredosia, Ill. Legal challenges may force the owner to return $1 billion in ARRA funding, obtained in 2010. Related Links: FutureGen 2.0 Clean Coal: Is Carbon Capture and Storage Fossil Fuels' Best Hope? Foundation work for a new chimney at a 65-year-old powerplant in Meredosia, Ill., is under way for a $1.65-billion retrofit designed to create a prototypical commercial-scale coal-fired facility equipped with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), says Lawrence Pacheco, spokesman for FutureGen Industrial Alliance Inc.This is the first construction work to be performed
Photo Courtesy of SRS Watch Despite the Obama administration's attempts to halt the project, Congress appears poised to keep construction moving forward. Related Links: DOE: Nuclear Agency's Initial OK of MOX Project's Construction Violated Standards Senate Appropriators Question Pause in MOX Project A watchdog group eyeing federal spending at the Savannah River site, a nuclear complex in Aiken, S.C., is again raising concerns about the long-delayed, $7.7-billion Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project after the contractor filed a "routine" request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 10-year construction extension."The request to extend the construction license of the MOX plant is
Related Links: Pennsylvania Utility Proposes 725-Mile Transmission Line for Shale-Gas Power New Phase for Alaska's Massive LNG Pipeline Project The ongoing shale-gas-induced transformation of U.S. energy production will continue to drive increasing levels of capital expenditures (capex) for the foreseeable future, said industry officials speaking at the Engineering and Construction Contracting Association's (ECCA) annual convention, held on Sept. 3-6 in Orlando. The ECCA comprises owners, contractors and engineers involved in the energy production sector.But the growth in capex is definitely slowing, according to Jorge Leis, an oil-and-gas industry consultant who moderated a panel discussion, "Perspectives on the Market From the
Related Links: Bored of the Rings: Alice Goes Underground in New Zealand SubTropolis Website General contractor Mark Meyer's clients have been keeping him in the dark quite a bit recently— working underground, that is—and he couldn't be happier.Over the past 12 months, his firm, Meyer Brothers Building Co., has been working on two unusual projects as part of an ongoing expansion of SubTropolis, a roughly 6-million-sq-ft facility in Kansas City, Mo., that bills itself as the world's largest underground business complex.While working 150 ft below the surface in low-lighting conditions has its challenges, Meyer says there are upsides to building
The Data Centers LLC Data center that was set to be built at Delaware university campus included a 279-MW power plant that residents opposed. Related Links: University of Delaware Scraps Plans for Data Center and Powerplant UD terminates Data Centers project for STAR Campus The Data Centers website Newark Residents Against the Power Plant Website A Pennsylvania firm that aims to build large data centers, powered by off-grid powerplants from 212 MW to 310 MW in size, hopes to site one soon, despite the University of Delaware's decision this summer to scrap plans for a 900,000-sq-ft data center and an
photo courtesy of Port of anchorage Upgrade of city's port, key to state imports, is mired in a battle over its sheet-pile design. Related Links: CH2M Hill Now Will Run Troubled Port of Anchorage Expansion Job Anchorage Port Expansion Problems Spark Dissension on Project Team Even as it remains enmeshed in lawsuits against former contractors and even a federal agency over its problem-plagued port upgrade, the city of Anchorage—and its new project manager, CH2M Hill—are changing its design and scope to resume work on a project stalled since 2010 and at least $300 million in the hole.Work started in 2003,
Image Courtesy University of California Berkeley Seismological Laboratory UC Berkeley's early-warning system detects more benign fast-moving shock waves (yellow) in advance of slower vibrations, which cause more damage (red). Related Links: Northern California Earthquake Causes an Estimated $1 Billion in Damage Earthquake Warning System Makes Every Second Count An earthquake-detection system under development by the University of California's Berkeley Seismological Laboratory proved its mettle on Aug. 24 by issuing a warning 10 seconds before a magnitude-6 temblor struck south of Napa, Calif. The alert could have gone out 2.5 seconds sooner if the ShakeAlert system, based on Japan's primary-wave detection
ABC's 'Construction Backlog Indicator' Hits Record High The Associated Builders and Contractors measure of its members' backlogs for new work reached a record high during the second quarter of this year, when its Construction Backlog Indicator (CBI) hit 8.5. That was up 5.6% from the previous quarter and 3.6% above a year ago. "The long-awaited, brisk non-residential building recovery may be upon us," says Anirban Basu, ABC chief economist. "Backlog gains were nearly ubiquitous during the second quarter, with gains registered in every industry segment in nearly all geographies and for firms of virtually all sizes," he says. Further increases
Courtesy Foster and Partners Dubbed Boris Island, for leading booster London Mayor Boris Johnson, the Thames Estuary Scheme would require and investment of $200 billion by 2030, according to the airports commission. Related Links: New U.K. Airport Proposal Fuels Debate A Third Runway and New Terminal Are Approved for Heathrow An influential U.K. government commission on Sept. 2 excluded a vast scheme for a new four-runway hub airport in the Thames Estuary east of London from a shortlist of options to raise aviation capacity in southeast England.London Mayor Boris Johnson, the estuary airport’s biggest cheerleader, has vowed to continue championing
Related Links: New Hampshire Town Signs Deal for Landfill Solar Power Stafford Hill Solar Farm Project Fact Sheet Green Mountain Power has begun constructing a 2-MW solar microgrid on a city landfill in Vermont. The unit is designed to store power during storms for an emergency shelter at Rutland High School.The $10-million Stafford Hill Solar Farm, which broke ground on Aug. 10, is the first project in the nation to establish a micro-grid powered solely by solar and battery backup, with no other fuel source, the U.S. Dept. of Energy says.Stafford Hill includes 7,700 325-watt solar panels on a ballasted
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