Mobilization has begun in Southern California for excavation of the foundation of what authorities are calling the largest raise of a concrete dam in the U.S. and the largest using roller-compacted concrete in the world. A groundbreaking ceremony on July 9 will kick off the project to raise San Vicente Dam, Lakeside, Calif., in the final phase of the San Diego County Water Authority’s Emergency Storage Project. “It will more than double the capacity of the reservoir,” says Kelly Rodgers, authority project manager. “San Diego relies primarily on imported water.” Water supplies from the Colorado River and from northern California
If finished by 2011 as planned and supported by an effective stormwater pumping system, the $14.3-billion hurricane and storm-damage risk-reduction system of levees, gates and floodwalls going up around New Orleans will “dramatically reduce” vulnerability to flooding and potential loss of lives and property during extreme storms events, according to a new report that explains the extraordinary risk-analysis tools developed to study the system since Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005. “If it’s constructed and performs equal to what we assume it will in the model, it’s going to be a hell of a system,” says Lewis “Ed” Link, the director
If a hurricane hits southern Louisiana this year, a critical portion of the roadway that carries almost 20% of the nation’s total oil supply from the Gulf of Mexico should remain high and dry. The Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development on July 7 plans to open the first 4.4 miles of the new Louisiana Highway 1. The eventual 18-mile, 26-ft-high, four-lane elevated route between Golden Meadow and Port Fourchon will replace the existing, flood-prone La. 1 that is slowly sinking. Photo: James Construction Group Temporary piles support a trestle that serves as a work platform over marshes. Related Links:
A turnkey contractor for Scotland’s estimated $2-billion Forth Road cable-stayed bridge is being sought. Transport Scotland plans to invite bids from selected teams this year, aiming to award the contract in spring 2011. For additional stiffening, the bridge will have unusually overlapping cable fans reaching down from two, centrally placed pylons 145 m above deck level. Its two 650-m main spans will be the longest for a multispan cable-stayed crossing, says TS. The bridge is the centerpiece of a 2.7-km-long motorway, of which the onshore sections are included in the contract. Design work was done by Arup Group, London, with
After a 12-month experience rivaling the most hairraising theme-park thrill ride, transportation design firms are finally enjoying a sense of stability, coupled with some optimism about the future. The industry’s biggest influence in recent months has been $40 billion in transportation infrastructure funding from President Obama’s economic stimulus program. Though directed primarily to shovel-ready projects, the stimulus funding is also finding its way to design firms, according to Jim Lyman, chief operating officer for David Evans & Associates, Portland, Ore. Photo: Vince Streano Photography Bridge programs remain strong as a direct result of the I-35 collapse. Related Links: The Top
Unable to find a buyer and facing expiration in 2010 of their operating permit, the owners of a controversial coal-fueled powerplant shuttered in 2005 will dismantle it starting late this year. The Mohave Generating Station near Laughlin, Nev., had operated since 1999 under a consent decree requiring air-pollution-control retrofits to improve visibility in the Grand Canyon. Photo: Babcock & Wilcox Co Decommissioning costs less than retrofitting to comply with consent decree. Decommissioning, to start in the fourth quarter, will be complete in two years at a net cost of $300 million after the sale of equipment, says Southern California Edison
After nearly four years of high-octane growth, the petroleum industry has abruptly reversed course as the collapse of the global financial crisis has driven down crude-oil prices and consumer demand, causing oil producers to hit the brakes on a bevy of pipeline, refinery, exploration and storage-facility projects. Photo:Fluor Fluor is executing a $2.2-billion heavy-oil upgrade and expansion project for Marathon Oil Corp. to add considerable processing capacity at its Detroit refinery. Photo: CB&I CB&I is fabricating more than 120 modules for an Illinois refinery expansion that will double the refinery’s capacity to 240,000 bpd. The modules will be shipped and
Although the power market has taken a hit over the past year, not all the news is bad. The Obama administration’s stimulus plan encourages the development of renewable resources and the rebuilding, expansion and modernization of the nation’s power-delivery network. Photo:AEP Wind and other renewable-energy projects gain traction. Photo: SHAW Coal-fired plants face permit obstacles. Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms: How Long Will the Recession Last? The Top 500 Design Firms Rankings Optimism in Transportation Sector As Stimulus Provides Stability Design Firms Brace as Bottom Falls Out of Building Market Telecommunications Picks Up While Manufacturing Flounders Global Financial
An unstable and weak slime-like foundation was the primary factor behind the Dec. 22, 2008, catastrophic failure of a coal-ash pond at Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant near Knoxville, Tenn., says a root-cause analysis released last week by AECOM Technology Corp. TVA hired the firm after the accident to determine why dikes holding coal-waste slurry failed, flooding 300 acres around the plant and the Emory River with 5.4 million cu yd of coal ash. Photo: TVA Spill cleanup could cost $1 billion. Los Angeles-based AECOM’s analysis determined the dikes’ angle and setbacks, increased loads because of recent high fill and
Despite sagging revenue at state and local levels, numerous environmental projects in the U.S. are moving ahead, driven by continued regulatory demands and a growing interest in sustainability. In the water and wastewater market, funding sources began to stabilize this spring as money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped prop up some plans and financing started to flow through the bond market again. Photo: CH2M Hill CH2M Hill has a $110-million contract for Superfund work in the western U.S., which includes the Iron Mountain site in Redding, Calif. Related Links: The Top 500 Design Firms: How Long Will
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