EnvironmentalIt took three days, but workers at New York City's North River Wastewater Treatment Plant finally succeeded in stopping raw sewage from flowing into the Hudson River after a fire shuttered the plant on July 20. On average, the plant, located in Harlem west of the West Side Highway, treats 20 million gallons per day of wastewater. The plant has been in operation since 1986.The four-alarm blaze began in the engine room at about 11:45 a.m., shutting down pumps and causing millions of gallons of sewage to spill into the river. Dept. of Environmental Protection workers and contractors stopped the
EnvironmentThe meticulous cleanup of Montana's Yellowstone River continues following a July 1 ExxonMobil oil pipeline rupture that spewed 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the flooding river at the pipe's Silvertip crossing near Laurel, Mont.Bob Perciasepe, Environmental Protection Agency deputy administrator, told a U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on July 21 that 755 personnel on site included 610 people “currently in the field engaged in cleanup and sampling.”Exxon spokeswoman Rachel Moore says crews have deployed 57,000 ft of boom and about 277,000 absorbent pads to help sop up the oil. More than 60 private contractors—ranging from security to
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reducing releases from six dams on the Missouri River as the reservoirs behind them empty the runoff of record snowfall and record spring rains. Related Links: Blame Game As River Rises Near South Dakota Homes The reductions will slow the record flow that has sent the 2,341-mile river over its banks and strained levees in six states.At Fort Peck Dam in Montana, the Corps started cutting back releases July 20 to 35,000 cubic feet per second from 40,000 cfs. On Aug. 1 the release will be cut to 30,000 cfs. Similarly, the Corps
Workers on the Humpback Bridge replacement, located on the George Washington Memorial Parkway just north of Interstate 395 and immediately south of the Columbia Island Marina, are closing in on the final round of safety improvements. In the process, they are preserving the grace of the bridge's original stone arch structure, says Chris Scott, a general manager for Cianbro, Pittsfield, Maine, the construction firm working on the job. Courtesy of Cianbro OLD BRIDGE, NEW IMPROVEMENTS Workers are slated to complete the bridge improvements by the end of this month. Workers on the Humpback Bridge replacement, located on the George Washington
Industry sources say a new report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Japan Task Force recommending a sweeping overhaul of the regulations ensuring that the nation's 104 nuclear powerplants operate safely is a positive first step, but it is by no means a definitive response to the crisis at Fukushima. Photo by AP Wideworld GREGORY JACZKO, NRC Chairman Related Links: The NRC Near-Term Task Force Review of Insights from the Fukushim Dai-Ichi Accident “It's hard to make concrete recommendations based on a situation that is still evolving,” says Ralph Hunter, senior executive and vice president for the commercial nuclear division at
The future of the Las Vegas Strip's Harmon Hotel remains clouded by competing claims over the unfinished building's structural soundness. Image by Bill Hughes New charges swirl in controversy over the still unfinished Harmon Hotel. Released on July 11, an engineering report commissioned by owner MGM Resorts International says construction defects in the 28-story tower are “so pervasive and varied … that it is not possible to quickly implement a temporary or permanent repair” or determine “whether repairs are possible.”The findings contradict an earlier government report that said Harmon is “structurally stable under design loads from a maximum considered earthquake.”
Amid intense media attention, a design-build team on July 16 closed one of the most congested highway stretches in the country, demolished half an iconic bridge and reopened the 10-mile stretch to traffic 17 hours ahead of schedule—and earned a $300,000 bonus. Photo courtesy of L.A. Metro MIGHTY MULHOLLAND PARTIALLY FALLS Crews chipped away at the southern half of a historic bridge as part of a $1-billion freeway widening. The $1-billion Sepulveda Pass widening will add high-occupancy vehicle lanes to a stretch of Interstate 405 in Los Angeles. The last of three bridges to be demolished and rebuilt, the Mulholland
The widening of I-405 marks one of the few major design-build projects in Los Angeles to date. But thanks to an ambitious initiative to build 12 major transit projects by 2019, rather than over three decades, alternative project delivery methods are expected to be deployed on some of the county's biggest rail and highway projects.One of the highway projects that might benefit is the decades-old Interstate I-710 completion. “This project has the most promising P3 potential,” said Doug Failing, executive director of highway programs for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or L.A. Metro. His remarks came during a May
As outlines of new House and Senate transportation bills come into sharper focus, it is clear the construction industry will be hard-pressed to get even a small federal funding boost above current levels for highways and transit. That outcome would be another blow to construction firms bracing for the end of the federal stimulus program and enduring spending cuts by state and local transportation agencies.Two plans are on the table. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) on July 7 formally unveiled a $230-billion, six-year transportation framework. In the Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer
RSS
