Related Links: Airports Peg Their Five-Year Capital Needs at $71 Billion Automation, Weather Will Influence Future Airport Designs In terms of NextGen air-traffic-control technology, U.S. airports are ready for takeoff, but the industry is still waiting on the tarmac for progress on a key goal: raising the per-ticket passenger facility charge (PFC) to $8.50 from $4.50, to fund infrastructure projects.Noting that, in the past five years, $5 billion has been invested in NextGen technologies nationwide, Edward Bolton Jr., the Federal Aviation Administration's NextGen assistant administrator, said, "This is a make or break time in the history of the program. The
Photo by Johanna Knapschaefer for ENR A mill fashions old-school rivets from hot-rolled steel for the century-old bridge. Photo Courtesy of MassDOT The Longfellow Bridge is nicknamed the Salt and Pepper Bridge for its shaker-like towers. Related Links: Salt and Pepper Bridge Slated For Major Rehab in Boston Boston's Callahan Tunnel Set for Three-Month Rehab Closure Restoration of the 106-year-old Longfellow Bridge, which spans the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, evokes Rosie the Riveter's World War II era, when hot metal pins connected structural steel on bridges, skyscrapers and ship hulls.A joint venture of J.F. White, Skanska and Consigli
A surge of energy is flowing into energy storage. Tesla Motors' Sept. 4 announcement that named Nevada the winner of a five-state competition to host its planned gigafactory added momentum to a market for which Lux Research LLC forecasts 8% compounded annual growth, to a global value of $50 billion, by 2020. Tesla's $4-billion plant outside Reno will produce batteries for the automotive market and the grid. According to market research firm IHS, the 2013 energy-storage installation of 340 MW will grow to 6,000 MW by 2017 and to more than 40,000 MW by 2022.Tesla aims to produce 50,000 megawatt-hours
Photo by AP Wideworld In Streets of New York City, Thousands Call Upon World Leaders To Take Action on Global Warming Two days before world leaders convened a United Nations summit, participants in the People's Climate March coursed through Manhattan on Sept. 21. More than 300,000 marched along the 2.1-mile midtown route. The next day, a smaller group without a permit blocked traffic in lower Manhattan in a "Flood Wall Street" protest. They targeted companies that, they claim, harm the Earth with poor environmental practices. About 100 were arrested. Meanwhile, New York and New Jersey received new federal funds for
Photo by AP/Wideworld The Pinedale Anticline in Wyoming is one of the highest-producing gas fields in the U.S. Related Links: National Academy of Sciences Report Food and Water Watch Report A definitive study published by the National Academy of Sciences has concluded that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas and oil do not, in themselves, cause contamination of drinking-water sources. However, faulty cementation and construction techniques, such as improperly cementing well casings and linings, can potentially trigger migration of methane into groundwater wells and aquifers, according to the report, published in the Sept. 12 issue of the
Related Links: Corvette Museum Will Make Sinkhole a Permanent Fixture Repairs Under Way at Corvette Museum After Sinkhole Swallows Cars That sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum that ate eight Corvettes in February, revving up whopping increases in visitors and sales at the venue, will be filled in this winter.The Bowling Green, Ky., museum’s board of directors had kept that option open in an earlier vote to leave the sinkhole open. But the extra cost and the possibility of harm from humidity from the gaping hole in the ground – caves run off two sides of it – changed their
Construction of the $3.6-billion double-track standard gauge railway (1,435mm) linking Kenya’s Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa to the capital Nairobi could pose a fresh challenge for railway operators in East Africa interested in connecting with the modern rail line.Railway transport experts say the 609-kilometre high speed railway line is being constructed in a region where existing railway gauges are predominantly meter-gauge (1000mm) and cape gauge (1067mm). Kenya and Uganda operates 2,351-kilometres of meter gauge rail network while Tanzania operates 2,600-kilometers of both meter gauge and Cape gauge. It may need additional investments to harmonize the gauges to enable a
Photo Courtesy of Ganga Action Parivar The Ganges River, India's holiest river, is also it's dirtiest. Officials vow to clean it up within three years. Related Links: Indian Water Resources Ministry webpage The 100-day-old government’s newly established minister for water resources, Uma Bharti, on Sept. 15 committed to cleaning up India’s largest and holiest river, the 2,500-kilometer-plus Ganges, within three years.The Ganga Action Plan was released by Bharti’s predecessors two decades ago but barely accomplished any of its goals.The pledge comes at an opportune time. The population of people and industrial units in India near the Ganges is ballooning, creating
Photo courtesy of BCA John Keung, CEO of Singapore's Building and Construction Authority, outlined the plan to certify 80% of the country's buildings in Green Mark by 2030. Photo courtesy of BCA Representitives from universities and labs, including Stephen Selkowitz (2nd from left) and Nilesh Jadhav (far right,) discuss Singapore's Flexlab and other industry partnerships. Related Links: Building and Construction Authority's 3rd Green Building Masterplan John Keung Steers Singapore to Lead Role in Sustainability Growing its crop of certified green buildings from just 17 in 2005 to over 2,100 this year, Singapore announced a multi-pronged approach to extend its ambitious green
Photo by Eduardo Miranda/Stanford A wood-framed house sitting on a system of new, low-cost base isolators survived two series of shake-table tests with no structural damage. Photo by Eduardo Miranda/Stanford Dish-shaped isolator made from galvanized plates and high-density plastic allows the house to recenter itself after an earthquake. Related Links: New Concrete Bridge Bent System May Minimize Seismic Damage Shaking Things Up to Improve Seismic Design Recent shake-table tests on a wood-framed house—equipped with newly developed low-cost seismic base isolators—confirmed predictions that the two-story house would come through structurally unscathed. The goal of the research, considered an important step toward
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