Related Links: Bids Solicited for Tunneling in India's Treacherous Himalayas India Blackout Affects 600 Million People Chicago-based design firm dbHMS is finalizing a master plan with the goal of making India’s $260-million Nalanda University campus a net-zero energy user. The 370,000-sq-meter project in Rajgir, in the eastern state of Bihar, is expected to start construction by the end of 2013.dbHMS is working with architects Vastu Shilpa Consultant of India, which won the project via the university’s international design competition.According to the firm, the plan for the Nalanda project is to install the world’s first application of a non-experimental desiccant-assisted evaporative
Photo courtesy of WSDOT Graphic courtesy of WSDOT Related Links: Fast Track Replacement Planned For Collapsed Skagit River Bridge US DOT Provides $156 Million More For Skagit River Bridge Repairs The new permanent below-deck girder bridge span to replace the 160-ft-long section that toppled into the Skagit River in May won’t have any vertical height clearance concerns. And soon the remainder of the 1,112-ft new Skagit River Bridge will have a more worry-free uniform vertical clearance to help reduce potential collisions.Washington State Dept. of Transportation officials announced this week a plan to eliminate the curves in the bridge’s current support
Related Links: Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh describes rail link project as the dream of the nation As part of a national project to link the harsh, mountainous Himalayan terrain of the northern Jammu region with the Kashmir Valley by a 293-kilometer-long, broad-gauge railway line—the J&K Rail Link Project—government-owned Indian Railway Construction Co. Ltd has released an invitation for bids for two packages with a combined expected cost of about $140 million.The packages, called T49A and T49B, are for the construction of tunnels, embankments and bridges for a 14.8-km-long link to be completed in 48 months. The last date
Photo courtesy of Tanzania Presidential Library President Obama discusses new 'Power Africa' initiative at the Symbion powerplant in Tanzania Related Links: White House Fact Sheet A new technical and financial support program announced by President Obama during a recent trip to South Africa will enable six sub-Saharan countries to generate an additional 10,000 megawatts of renewable power.The $7-billion Power Africa initiative will support, in its first phase over the next five years, renewable-energy projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Liberia, Ethiopia and Nigeria.In addition, private renewable-energy developers will invest $9 billion for generation of another 8,000 MW over the same period
Samsung C&T Corp. has started construction of a multi-use tower that is slated to become the tallest building in Singapore, at 290 meters, when completed in 2016.The South Korea-based contractor won the design-build contract in March for GuocoLand Ltd.’s Tanjong Pagar Center. By late July, secant piling work was complete and preparations for first-floor construction had begun. The project is using top-down construction methods to speed the work.The center is located in the city’s commercial business district, above the Tanjong Pagar MRT station. When completed, the complex will feature 158,000 sq m of space and three basement levels.The center comprises
Rendering Courtesy of Broad Group At 838 meters, Sky City would be the world's tallest building. Photo Copyright tobyphillipsphotography Broad Group Chairman Zhang Yue (right) gave a presentation on Sky City at the 2013 London conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Video by Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Full video of Zhang Yue's presentation to CTBUH's London conference in June 2013. Related Links: CTBUH's Antony Wood's Report on His Visit to Broad Group World's Tallest Building Halted Over Missing Permit (Global Times, 7-26-13) Broad Sustainable Building Website (english version) On July 20, a groundbreaking
Photo courtesy of Toronto Transit Commission Seven months after almost simultaneously completing one tunneling segment, twin TBMs break through headwalls within a day of each other in mid-June. Related Links: Spanish Firms Will Help Build Toronto Subway Extension Toronto Subway Wins Some Funds Yorkie beat Torkie, but only by a day. After 945 meters of digging southward, the first 6.4-m-dia tunnel-boring machine broke through the headwall of the extraction shaft at what will be Black Creek Pioneer Village Station on June 13. The next day, its twin TBM, nicknamed Torkie, followed. The earth-pressure-balance TBMs did not match the unusual feat
Photo by AP/Wideworld Regulators were sharply critical of the California utility PG&E after a 2010 gas-pipeline explosion Related Links: Natural Gas Boom Drives Pipeline Upgrades NTSB's San Bruno Blast Study Focuses on Pipe Weld Seams California utility regulators have proposed a $2.25-billion fine against PG&E for a 2010 natural-gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, but the San Francisco-based utility claims the true cost to its shareholders would approach $4 billion, including money already spent on safety upgrades.The 30-in.-dia pipeline rupture killed eight people, injured 58 and decimated a residential neighborhood in the Bay Area suburb.Earlier this year, the California Public
Related Links: Big Africa Projects Face Legal Battles, Community Protests Italian construction firm Salini SpA received a major blow to its Africa expansion plans when, late in June, Namibia's high court overturned its $280-million construction contract for the Neckartal Dam.The court ordered the contract to be rebid after a successful challenge by one losing bidder, CSC Neckartal Dam, a consortium made up of South African, Italian and Lebanese firms.The rebid will be the project's third attempt at contract award since 2011, says a published report in Africa.Namibia is constructing the dam on the Fish River, 40 kilometers west of Keetmanshoop,
Photo: Lloyd Mulvey Related Links: P3s Will Mark Future Work In Tristate Area Innovative project delivery and methods are set to ramp up in New York and New Jersey, along with billions of dollars in reconstruction of road and rail assets over the next five to ten years. Officials with major transportation agencies said they are striving to streamline contract delivery processes and improve outreach to minority- and women- owned firms as they launch massive capital programs over the next 5 to 10 years.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is launching an aggressive 10-year capital improvement program
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