Related Links: Report Blames ExxonMobil's Arkansas Oil Spill on Bad Pipe Pipelines Scrutinized After Yellowstone Spill A flash flood shortly after a late May oil spill in a remote section of eastern Utah hampered cleanup and spill assessment. The accident apparently unleashed thousands of gallons of an oil and water mixed-fluid into a wash on land controlled by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.The fluid is a water and oil mixture at a 2-to-1 ratio, according to Beth Ransel, Moab field manager for the BLM.On May 21, the Bureau of Land Management says, its Moab, Utah, field office was notified
Photo by Alejandro Faribay Protective glass pane shattered, frightening sightseers, buy underlying structure remained intact. Related Links: Sears Tower To Lose Its Name But Add Breathtaking View Study Claims Correlation Between Supertower Construction and Economic Busts A group of tourists won't soon forget it, but a glass pane that shattered beneath them on a ledge atop Chicago's Willis Tower, the nation's second-tallest structure, posed no structural damage to the all-glass attraction, according to its fabricator and installer.Designed "to prevent structural glass beneath it from being scratched, [the pane] allows visitors to walk out on the ledge in shoes rather than
Renderings Courtesy of 360 Architecture The oculus design by 360 Architecture, with engineer Buro Happold, for the convertible roof of a $1.2-billion multipurpose stadium in Atlanta represents a radical departure from kinetic roofs of other sports facilities.The stadium design also calls for a novel 58-ft-tall "halo" scoreboard hung from the rim of the opening. Construction of the 1.8-million-sq-ft facility for football's Atlanta Falcons began last month, by the Holder Hunt Russell Moody Joint Venture. After the 71,000-seat stadium opens in 2017, the nearby Georgia Dome will be razed.
Graphic Courtesy of WindEEE Research Institute The above simulation of the velocity field in the core of a tornado was part of the conceptual design process for WindEEE. Photo Courtesy of the WindEEE Research Institute A scale model of a two-story house, under study for roof failure, has openings to simulate windows broken by a tornado. Related Links: Communities Ramp up Tornado Defenses A three-story, $30-million hexagonal wind tunnel in Canada can recreate tornadoes and capture data to serve as a basis for developing twister-resistant structural design. It is the first facility of its kind in the world, says its
Construction Recovery Picks Up Total construction starts in April rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $533.7 billion, according to McGraw Hill Construction Dodge. The April numbers were lifted by a 14%rise in non-residential work and a 4% hike in home building, which were both muted by a 14% decline in non-building work. On a year-to-date basis, total construction through the first four months of 2014 shows no gain over last year's level (see chart). Winners of Rebuild By Design Competition Announced On June 2, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan named six winners of a
Related Links: Bidding for $1.6B Miami-Dade Sewer-Repairs Contract Gets Messy In Miami-Dade Sewers Dispute, CH2M Hill's Claims Didn't Add Up for Inspector General After months of delay from protests by both bidders and subsequent investigations into the numerous claims, Miami-Dade County on May 20 awarded the program and construction-management contract for a $1.6-billion, federally mandated sewer-system repair project to AECOM Technical Services. The award came nearly 11 months after AECOM and sole competitor CH2M Hill submitted their proposals—and more than eight months after the county first moved to hire CH2M Hill.The claims and counterclaims started when AECOM alleged CH2M Hill
Photo Courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bill calls for hikes In Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund spending on port dredging. Related Links: Text of WRRDA House-Senate conference report Industry Officials Hail House-Senate Deal on New Water-Resources Bill (enr.com 5/13/2014) [subcription] The first major water-resources bill in more than six years is heading to President Obama's desk. The $12.3-billion Water Resources Reform and Development Act authorizes nearly three dozen new Army Corps of Engineers projects, directs the agency to speed up its feasibility studies and provides new revenue sources for dredging, flood control and other water projects.WRRDA focuses on the Corps,
Image Courtesy of Florida Power & Light Co. New Units Turkey Point 6 and 7, in the foreground of the rendering, would add 2200 MW of capacity by 2022 or 2023. Related Links: Pricetag for Florida Power & Light's Upgrades Rising 27 Percent Turkey Point spec sheet (FPL) With the unanimous approval of the state's Siting Board, a project to add two nuclear reactors to a South Florida powerplant has passed a major milestone. Since the project was proposed in 2006, it has survived the 2007-08 financial crisis, the flight from nukes after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, intense environmental scrutiny,
Related Links: International Living Future Institute WELL Building Standard Buoyed by the progress of its performance-based Living Building Challenge green-building certification program, the International Living Future Institute is casting a net beyond the LBC. ILFI, through the umbrella Living Future Challenge announced recently, says it is developing even more ways to rethink "the way humanity designs its systems, products, buildings and communities.""It's the Living Future Institute, not the Living Building Institute, because it's not just about buildings," said Jason McLennan, ILFI's CEO. "The Living Future Challenge is a framework for remaking everything."Toward that goal, ILFI introduced the third version of
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