Photo courtesy Marcio Vieira / Tocantins Government The north-south railway line in Tocantins (pictured) is among 11,000 km of Brazil rail scheduled for improvement under the proposed concession program. Related Links: Letter From Brazil: New Subways, Highways Can't Arrive Fast Enough Brazil Privatizes Three Major Airports, Nets $14.3 Billion in Concessions Two years after the Brazilian government announced a huge package of concessions to stimulate investments in infrastructure, construction projects for the railway industry remain on the shelf. The delays have resulted from regulatory risks, which were identified by investors, and failed projects.Officials hope for a break in the impasse
Related Links: Project to Provide Woodland and Davis with More Sustainable Water Supply Roller-Compacted Concrete Dam Raise Project Will Store Water New Desal Project in Central Texas will Be Largest Inland Plant in U.S. U.S. Drought Monitor Desalination Advocates are Pinning Hopes on New Plant in Carlsbad The signs are hard to miss. Along freeways throughout California, digital billboards caution drivers: "Serious drought underway. Conserve water." Beyond the highways, a closer look at the landscape reveals record-low reservoir levels, smaller amounts of snowpack on mountaintops and large swaths of barren earth.California is in the midst of its third consecutive year
Related Links: Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions In Central Texas, a new brackish-groundwater desalination project is under construction. When complete, the project will be the largest inland desalination plant in the country, project officials say.The San Antonio Water System will diversify the city's water supplies with this new facility. The total cost for the three-phase project is estimated at $411.4 million. Valued at $119.3 million, phase one is now under construction.Zachry–Parsons is acting as construction manager-at-risk on the first phase of the brackish-groundwater desalination program, which consists of a new water treatment facility
Photo Courtesy of MWH The existing intake (above) will be replaced by the new, state-of-the-art intake and fish screen (below) which will be built along the Sacramento River. Photo Courtesy of MWH Related Links: Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions A new project for the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency to replace deteriorating groundwater supplies with more-reliable surface water from the Sacramento River in California broke ground in April.CH2M Hill won a $141-million contract to design, build and operate a new treatment plant; raw-water pipelines, connecting a new intake on the Sacramento River to the
Photo Courtesy of San Diego County Water Authority The roller-compacted concrete, placed in layers, used less time and water than conventional concrete to produce. Related Links: Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions Construction on the world's largest dam-raise project of its kind wrapped up this summer, providing the San Diego County Water Authority with an additional 152,000 acre-ft of water, more than doubling the capacity of the St. Vincente reservoir.The project involved removing two inches from the surface of the original St. Vincente dam, then using roller-compacted concrete to add—in layers, one on top
Related Links: Clearing Out Superstorm's Soggy Mess Amtrak 2012 Construction Plan Has a Northeast Focus Two New York City rail tunnels along the congested Northeast Corridor will require an estimated $689 million in repairs after Superstorm Sandy-related inundation, states a report conducted by HNTB Corp. for the commuter railroad Amtrak.Amtrak officials used the report, released on Oct. 2, to re-emphasize their call for the so-called Gateway program (ENR 1/23/12 p. 16). The scheme envisions two new trans-Hudson River tunnels, but, so far, no source of funding has been identified.The report notes that a two-tube tunnel underneath the Hudson River and
Related Links: FERC fact sheet on its Sept. 29 approval of LNG proposal A proposed liquefied-natural-gas export project in Maryland has advanced with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of Dominion Energy's estimated $3.4-billion to $3.8-billion plan to build the complex.But Dominion's Cove Point project, located in Lusby, Md., on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay, may face a court challenge from environmental groups that strongly oppose the plan.FERC's action, announced on Sept. 29, is its fourth LNG-export-facility approval. The other three are in the Gulf of Mexico; one was approved in 2012, and the other two were approved earlier
Photo Courtesy Georgia Power Company Vogtle Progress A CA20 module (above), featuring components built at the Louisiana plant, is pictured next to the Unit 3 nuclear island (below). Photo Courtesy Georgia Power Company Related Links: NRC, Georgia Power Eye CB&I Plant for Workforce, QC Issues Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures Workers at a problem-plagued prefabrication facility that supplies components to nuclear expansion projects in Georgia and South Carolina conspired to cheat on a welder qualification test, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.As a result of the violations, the NRC announced on Sept. 26 that, after mediation,
Phtoto Courtesy of Lend Lease Studies show daylighting and high indoor air quality boost productivity. Related Links: Singapore Evolves into Sustainability Superpower of Asia WGBC Report on Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices A report released by the World Green Building Council (WGBC) aims to establish a quantifiable monetary link between sustainable office buildings and occupant wellness and productivity. The report also offers a tool kit for building owners to realize financial benefits in their sustainability efforts."There can be no doubt that buildings have an impact on human health, well-being and productivity in the workplace," says Jane Henley, WGBC chief
Photo Courtesy of Hafencity by Eichental CC BY-ND 2.0 Hafencity master plan in Hamburg, Germany, is a successful example of how to accommodate chronic flooding while creating or redeveloping a new neighborhood. Photo by Mark G. Benz for Burnham Hall Burnham Hall in Lincoln, Vt., is an example of an historic building that keeps floodwater out using removable window and door panels. Related Links: Designing with Water Preparing for the Rising Tide Boston is taking preemptive action against chronic, widespread flooding that is expected by the end of the century. On Oct. 29, as part of climate-change preparations, 100 designers
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