Photo by Bruce Buckley/ENR Crews at Sparrows Point, Md., are wrapping up six tunnel tubes that will create roughly half of the new Elizabeth River Tunnel. The immersed tube tunnel will link Norfolk, Va., and Portsmouth, Va. Crews for SKW Constructors built the tubes, which each consist of five reinforced concrete sections, in dry dock and installed temporary bulkheads for buoyancy. In June, with the aid of tub boats, the tubes will float 220 miles down the Chesapeake Bay to the construction site.
Photo by AP Wideworld Intensity of wind-whipped blaze, apparently started by a blowtorch cutting rebar, quickly flared out of control, destroying falsework and deforming steel and iron elements of bridge construction. Related Links: Pair of Big-City Blazes Sparks Review of Safe Welding Habits New Overpass Rises Swiftly From Ashes in Michigan Investigators had not determined at ENR press time whether the May 5 collapse of the $59-million Interstate 15 overpass project was caused by code violations or negligence: Before the collapse, a fire was ignited on that windy day as construction workers used blowtorches to cut excess rebar from falsework.The
Photo Courtesy of Principle Power Latest round of DOE funds earmarked for siting, construction and installation. Related Links: U.S. Offshore Wind Energy Purveyors Gaining Ground Offshore N.J. Wind-Farm Developer Will Challenge State Rejection Clemson Facility to Drive New Grid, Wind-Energy Research Three offshore wind-energy producers have received the nod from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to construct demonstration projects off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The projects, which will receive up to $47 million each in DOE funds, were among seven projects selected in December 2012 to receive $4 million each to demonstrate design, engineering and permitting for their
Related Links: Report: Global Market for Geothermal Heats Up Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam Prompts Safety Concerns Djibouti and Ethiopia are developing new geothermal power capacities that are intended to enable them meet increasing demand for electricity and enhance their sustainable-energy portfolio.The World Bank has provided details about its contractor prequalification procedure for the drilling of four full-size geothermal production wells in Djibouti, while Icelandic powerplant builder Reykjavik Geothermal says it hopes to commence its $2-billion Corbetti Geothermal Power Project in Ethiopia in July.The World Bank, one of the financiers of the $31-million Djibouti Geothermal Power Project, which is being developed
Related Links: New Study Says Infrastructure Already Feels Climate Change's Impact Wind Developers Active Across African Continent The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the creation of a fund to support the continent’s “transition to green growth.” The African Climate Change Fund (ACCF) will scale up to a multi-donor trust fund, which will be hosted and managed by the bank.Speaking to the bank’s directors at a meeting in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, Alex Rugamba, director of the bank’s energy, environment and climate-change department, said the fund “will help facilitate countries’ access to the financing they need to protect their economies
Related Links: Nigeria Infrastructure Boom Spurred by $1.1-Billion Chinese Investment China Railway Construction Corp. has, through its subsidiary China Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd., signed an agreement with Nigeria’s transport ministry to build a 1,385-kilometer-long, single-track high-speed railway line with an estimated $13.1 billion price tag.The project is expected to connect 10 Nigerian states with the capital of Lagos, but its exact route has not been disclosed because of concerns of sabotage by rebels, particularly in the oil-rich Niger delta.Also unclear is when construction will start and the mix of workers that will build the line.With at least 22 stations
Blue Plains Eyes Plan to Further Green its CSO Program The first major section of a 13.2-mile network of tunnels designed to help manage Washington, D.C.’s combined sewer overflows (CSOs) is taking shape
Images Courtesy Of Novarka With the vault's first half completed, the second section is taking shape within the lifting towers. Spanning 257 m, the structure (below) will cover the entire sarcophagus. Related Links: Radiation Threat Still Permeates Chernobyl's Entombment Work on Enclosure for Chernobyl Begins Twenty-eight years after devastating explosions and fire partially destroyed Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant, the first half of a vast safe confinement has been completed. As work continues on the 25,000-tonne steelwork vault—tall enough to cover the Statue of Liberty—the parties to the cleanup are about to agree to a new construction price of around $2
Related Links: D.C. Water Undertakes Three Major Environmental Projects DC Water Fact Sheet on Biosolids Project The District of Columbia's water and sewer authority is coming close to finalizing work on its $470-million biosolids project. George Hawkins, DC Water's general manager, says the 90%-complete project should be up and running by late summer or early fall.The system will convert wastewater sludge from the Blue Plains advanced wastewater treatment facility, which currently treats approximately 370 million gallons a day of wastewater, into a Class-A biosolid using thermal hydrolysis. The process is a proven technology in Europe but has never been used
Related Links: California Energy Commission AOE Winner Selkowitz Drives Nation Toward Better Performing Buildings Berkeley Lab's Demand Response Research Center Revisions to California's Building Energy Efficiency Standards take effect on July 1 and contain new rules for building controls and commissioning.Changed for the first time since 2008, the 2013 standard requires the design team to complete a commissioning plan before building begins. This mandate is meant to support the development of holistic, performance-based approaches to energy-efficient design, says Eric Soladay, managing principal for Integral Group.A focus on performance-based design means more widespread use of energy modeling. "For instance, lighting and
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