American Transmission Co., Pewaukee, Wis., has proposed making $3.4 billion in Wisconsin-focused power-line upgrades—a portion of what could be a roughly $25-billion transmission build-out designed to deliver thousands of megawatts of renewable power from the Great Plains states across the Midwest. Map:Sue Pearsall For ENR Minnesota leads way in transmission line projects worth up to $26 billion. Source: American Transmission Co. The focus on expanded transmission capacity is driven by state renewable-energy requirements. A transmission assessment conducted in July by Houston-based Quanta Services estimated that 11 Midwest states would need roughly 47,000 MW of new wind generation to meet 80%
Bechtel Corp. moved into the renewable-energy sector in a big way on Sept. 14, announcing it would develop and own an offshore wind farm on Lake Erie with partners Cavallo Energy LLC and Great Lakes Wind Energy. The five-turbine, $100-million project, seven miles from Cleveland, could become the first offshore wind farm in the United States. “There is no question that renewables is a growth area … we are moving into,” says Sprague Cook, vice president and manager of renewable power for Bechtel. The San Francisco-based multinational engineering-construction firm is looking into both onshore and offshore wind development, he says.
On Sept. 15, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it is revising its rules to allow storage of spent nuclear fuel for at least 60 years after the licensed life of any reactor, doubling the time previously allowed. The fuel can be stored on-site or at independent spent-fuel storage installations without significant environmental impacts, says NRC. The change gives federal officials more time to find a permanent storage solution for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. Earlier this year, the Obama Administration stopped work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste depository in Nevada. An Obama-named commission is to recommend new options by
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which periodically inspects California’s Central Valley flood-protection network, released a report card on 10 of the state’s 26 levee systems, rating seven as “unacceptable” and warning some problems would “likely prevent performance in the next flood event.” Issues cited included encroachment, underseepage, vegetation and slope stability. The other three won “marginally acceptable” ratings; they retain eligibility for “active” status in a federal “rehabilitation and inspection” levee safety program and may receive federal aid to repair flood damage. The Corps is using $4.6 million in American Recovery and Investment Act funds to contract with GHT2—a
On the heels of two high-profile oil- pipeline leaks in Michigan and Illinois and a high-pressure gas-pipeline explosion that killed at least four people and destroyed a neighborhood in San Bruno, Calif., U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Sept. 15 sent to Congress proposed legislation to beef up federal regulatory oversight and increase penalties for violations of pipeline safety rules. Photo: Courtesy of U.S. Government Technicians in protective equipment prepare pipe section before cutting and removing it from the Enbridge pipeline oil-spill site near Marshall, Mich. The segment was shipped to federal lab for analysis. The legislation the proposed bill
With the 6,350th glass pane hoisted into place on Sept. 15, the only visible sign of anything having been awry at Atlanta’s 723-ft-tall Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel—the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere—is the exterior hoist, set to come down by mid-November. But for more than two years, there were pockmarks on the glass-clad facade, which was hit by flying debris during a freak tornado in March 2008. Photos Courtesy Of Skanska USA Tornado damage to the glass cladding of Atlanta’s Peachtree Plaza Hotel prompted a total face-lift. The 35-year-old hotel stayed open, minus damaged rooms, during the year-long, $22-million
A pedestrian bridge under construction collapsed Sept. 21 near Delhi, India's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium�the site of the Commonwealth Games scheduled to begin Oct 2. Twenty-seven workers with Chandigarh-based PNR Infra. were injured, some after jumping off the collapsing span. Some of the laborers were hurt jumping from the structure as it came down. The $2.3-million steel arch-supported footbridge was 90 meters long and about 1 m wide. The bridge was being constructed by the north Indian city. Government agency Rakesh Mishra, Public Works Dept. engineer-in-chief, says it appears the ramp seat was not capable of carrying the slab weight. “The
One of the largest distributed commercial solar retrofit projects in California required creative planning, design and logistics. In April, Sacramento-based HMH Builders completed the first of 15 1 MW photovoltaic additions to health provider Kaiser Permanente buildings up and down the state as part of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction agreement with San Francisco-based solar developer Recurrent Energy. Because the first application was on the 400,000-sq-ft rooftop of a regional distribution center in windy Livermore where gusts can reach 115 mph, HMH switched from a planned ballasted design that used weights to anchor photovoltaic trays to a connected system. Steel
Responding to federal concerns about potential cost overruns that could impact promised project funding, officials in charge of the $8.7-billion Hudson River rail link between New Jersey and Manhattan have halted project procurement and land acquisition for 30 days as they review costs. Officials appear confident that costs for the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project are set to stay on track in the current competitive construction market. In a Sept. 9 statement, James Weinstein, executive director of project leader New Jersey Transit, announced the month-long halt after completion of a five-month cost study by the Federal Transit Administration
Design firm HNTB, Kansas City, Mo., and contractor Walsh Construction, Chicago, have been awarded a design-build contract from the Ohio Dept. of Transportation to construct the first of two new spans that together will become Cleveland’s new Innerbelt Bridge. The twin-structure bridge will replace the existing 51-year-old, single-structure Innerbelt Bridge, which will be demolished. The firms’ work on the five-lane $278.4-million first span is expected to begin next spring and be completed by fall 2013. Construction of the eastbound section will be a separate contract awarded after the westbound span is completed.