Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Dept. of Public Works Treatment plant is set for completion next year; deep tunnel is set for a 2017 completion. One month after awarding a $25-million sewerage-tunnel construction inspection contract amid a packed field of proposals, Indianapolis utility Citizens Energy Group will select a firm to build the $275-million project, with the low bidder 33% below the estimate.On Sept. 29, AECOM Technology Corp. was awarded the inspection contract for the Deep Rock sewage overflow project. The Los Angeles-based firm bested competitors that included Parsons Brinckerhoff's Water Group, locally based American Structurepoint, Burgess & Niple and a
PHOTO COURTESY OF Indiana Dept. of Transportation Discovery of a long-term crack in an Ohio River crossing prompted a federal advisory to inspect similar bridges using a certain type of steel that was common decades ago. The Federal Highway Administration is advising state transportation departments that oversee fracture-critical bridges constructed of T1 steel to inspect butt welds, just in case they have cracks similar to those recently discovered on the Interstate 64 Sherman Minton Bridge between Kentucky and Indiana. On Sept. 9, the Indiana Dept. of Transportation closed the 49-year-old bridge—a double-deck structure spanning the Ohio River with two 800-ft
Thanks to an executive order from New York's governor, the New York State Dept. of Transportation is using design-build on emergency reconstruction of six miles of state Route 42. The Catskills-area stretch suffered flooding during Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.Restoring Route 42 for Ulster and Greene counties by February is a top priority, says NYSDOT Commissioner Joan McDonald. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) issued Executive Order 19, allowing NYSDOT to use design-build.Halmar International and McLaren Engineering Group won the best-value contract of $14.1 million, beating out four other teams. The work includes replacement of two bridges, 150 ft and 100
Federal officials are urging the public transportation industry to back President Obama's proposed jobs bill, saying it will mean $9 billion for transit projects. But frustration over partisan bickering in Congress regarding the re-authorization of a long-term transportation funding bill lent a charged air to exchanges at the conference and exposition, held in New Orleans early this month.Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff and his staff were the marquee draw for American Public Transportation Association (APTA) members. “We are working with a president who cares about what we do,” he said. “We are at the center of his recovery
Photo courtesy of Poet Poet Design and Construction crews construct a new weigh station at Poet's Liberty Project in Iowa. As the U.S. Depts. of Energy and Agriculture pony up grants and loans to help fund new research and refineries to turn woody waste into cellulosic ethanol, private-sector companies are building the first commercial-scale cellulosic refineries in the nation and promoting their chemical processes for easy conversion from waste to sugar to fuel.With more than a half-dozen cellulosic plants in development in the U.S., federal officials and private companies hope to prove wrong a recent report from the National Research
The separation of a concrete wall at Progress Energy Inc.'s Crystal River nuclear powerplant in northwest Florida has “fundamentally changed the way the [nuclear power] industry analyzes post-tensioned, pre-stressed concrete structures,” according to the utility’s Oct. 10 filing with the Florida Public Service Commission. The PSC is probing the incident and must approve the North Carolina-based utility's request to have ratepayers cover repair costs.Raleigh-based Progress Energy is seeking to recover expenses related to the delamination of a wall at Crystal River’s nuclear unit No. 3, a problem first identified in October 2009 and again in March 2010 as the company
Image courtesy of Common Ground Alliance Call before you dig. It's that simple. If an excavator dials 811 or a local one-call center before digging, damage to underground utility lines and the people who dig near them occurs less than 1% of the time, according to the 2010 Damage Information Reporting Tool Report released on Oct.12 by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA).“A call to the one-call center or 811 is the simplest and most effective way to reduce or eliminate excavation-related underground-utility damages,” says Robert Kipp, CGA president.The 2010 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report also estimates that the total
With plans for 18 million sq ft of commercial space and 37,000 homes, Albuquerque's master-planned sustainable community, Mesa del Sol, was selected as an ideal test site for a collaborative U.S.-Japanese demonstration project to examine emerging technologies that digitally control and balance power generated by various energy sources, including renewables.Upon completion of Mesa del Sol's $6-million retrofit in spring 2012, the community's centerpiece, the Antoine Predock-designed Aperture Center, will be home to the three-year commercial smart-grid technology test.“The smart-grid project has created a unique research opportunity to develop a building energy management system that will use real-time data on available
A new federal initiative designed to speed permitting of transmission lines may not expedite their construction, according to two utilities that have transmission projects included in a new Obama administration initiative, the Rapid Response Team for Transmission.The initiative, announced on Oct. 5, brings together nine federal agencies to streamline the process for new lines. The group focused its efforts on seven projects in various stages of development.The group will oversee and coordinate various federal agencies' actions—environmental impact statements, for example—and update the status of projects every week or two on a public website.Construction on the first line could begin next
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