Photo Courtesy Panda Power Funds Panda Power Funds' Temple gas unit is one of three planned by developer. A tightening power supply in Texas is spurring a multibillion-dollar boom in the construction of new natural gas-fired power plants and other projects.According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the electric grid covering 85% of the state, the power reserve margin in the ERCOT region will fall below the reliability council's 13.75% target this summer and for the foreseeable future unless more generating capacity is built.More specifically, ERCOT said the reserve margin is expected to be only 13.2% this
Image Courtesy of Stanford University Passive rooftop nanostructure would be only tens of microns thick and could eliminate active cooling, say Stanford University researchers. Related Links: Stanford University School of Engineering Stanford University researchers are counting on prototype testing of a nanotechnology-based passive solar cooler to demonstrate that their analytical computer model is more than just smoke and mirrors. If brought to market, the rooftop daytime cooler, which would keep temperatures down in buildings and single-family homes bathed in full sunlight, might eventually make chiller-based air-conditioning systems a thing of the past."It is hard to say when [the cooler] will
Photo Courtesy of U.S. DOE Construction shown here in 2011 of the waste pretreatment component of a $12.3-billion vitrification plant at the U.S. nuclear site in Washington has halted as officials tackle a redesign of the troubled unit. Related Links: Installation of Massive Doors Is Key to Hanford Waste Plant DOE: Senate Panel Voices Concerns Over Hanford Funding Facing increased pressure over aged, leaking tanks of nuclear waste at its Hanford, Wash., cleanup site and design and construction issues on a multi-billion-dollar on-site treatment plant, the U.S. Energy Dept. aims to move some waste to the underground Waste Isolation Pilot
Israel Ports Development Co. The Mediterranean port of Ashdod is one of two key Israeli ports set for a $2.2-billion expansion and upgrade. Related Links: Israel To Spend More For Ports and Roads Israel's planned $2.2-billion project to build new container terminals at the Haifa and Ashdod ports is attracting interest from global contenders.The Israel Ports Development Co. said earlier this month that six foreign companies from Europe, China and South Africa have submitted bids to prequalify for the terminal construction at the two Mediterranean coast ports. Two Israeli firms are among the contenders.According to Israeli business publication Globes, the
Related Links: FCC Infrastructure official website High Point Rendel official website Ingerop website One of the largest bridges ever built over the Danube River will officially open between Bulgaria and Romania early next month after decades of planning and lengthy construction delays.The 1,391-meter-long road-rail bridge project survived not only tough physical conditions but also the sometimes chaotic transition of the host countries from communism to membership in the European Union.From near Calafat, Romania, the so-called Danube Bridge 2's cable-supported deck crosses three 180-m-wide navigations channels, with 115-m-long and 124-m-long side spans.Seven 80-m-long and one 52-m-long concrete box girder spans complete
Related Links: Haiti Fires Up Oil-Fired Power Plant Italy Turns to Oil-Fired Power Plants as Russia Trims Supply While oil plays a commanding role in global energy markets, its position as a fuel source for electric powerplants ranges from dominant in certain countries to modest or non-existent in others.Oil is mostly used by countries who have abundant supplies of it, such as the Persian Gulf countries, Russia and Venezuela. “If you don’t have to use oil, you’re not going to build oil-fired plants unless you’re sitting on it,” says Chris Bergesen, editorial director for UDI Productsat Platts—like ENR, a unit
File photo courtesy U.S. Bureau of Reclamation New document covers more agencies than previous version. BuRec programs still covered. Related Links: New Principles and Guidelines (Via White House) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1983 Principles and Guidelines After years of discussion and drafting, the White House has issued revised standards for evaluating federally funded water projects. Announced by the Council on Environmental Quality on March 22, the new Principles and Guidelines, or P&G, are the first rewrite of this key planning document in 30 years.The new P&G give more prominence to environmental factors than did the 1983 version and add
Photo Courtesy Chicago Transit Authority The bridge's upper deck carries commuter rail; the lower deck carries pedestrians and vehicles. Related Links: Hybrid Design Will Replace Century-Old Bascule Bridge Workers Torch Old Wells Street Bridge The Chicago Dept. of Transportation will have just nine days in late April to replace a large section of a double-deck drawbridge spanning the Chicago River, mirroring an early March operation to avoid a lengthy disruption of rail operations atop the two-leaf structure.Beginning April 26, CDOT will suspend rail operations to replace a cantilevered leaf, or bridge arm, on the 91-year-old Wells Street Bridge, one of
Related Links: A Gigantic Turnaround for a Giant Tunneling Machine Ports Seek Rising Tide of Public, Private Funds Bouygues Starts $1-Billion Miami Tunnel When the 2,000-ton cutterhead of a tunnel-boring machine named Harriet made a U-turn last summer in Miami, the event marked a major turning point for the Port of Miami tunnel project.After Harriet broke through the end of one 4,200-ft-long, 42.3-ft-dia tunnel under Biscayne Bay last July, crews with the design-build team, led by Bouygues Civil Works Florida, used a giant Teflon turntable to rotate the TBM's cutterhead and shield in preparation for boring a twin tunnel in
Related Links: Pipeline Specialists Profit From Safety, Not Shale Boom Pipelines Scrutinized After Yellowstone Spill Investigation and cleanup crews remained on duty in Mayflower, Ark., following the March 29 ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline rupture, which spilled thousands of barrels of Canadian crude and triggered evacuation of nearby homes.As of April 2, on-site state, federal and corporate officials had not yet determined the cause of the spill and could not predict when it would be repaired or when residents of the 22 evacuated houses could return.An engineer from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) reported a
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