As deficit worries press the U.S. federal government to cut its infrastructure funding, states and localities are filling some of the gap by getting more active in advancing public-works projects, says a new report on infrastructure trends.The study, released on May 9 by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and consulting firm Ernst & Young LLP, points to a variety of U.S. state and local infrastructure initiatives, such as a Los Angeles ballot measure that voters approved in 2008 that aims to provide $40 billion for transportation projects.
A rare 'turbine' configuration features sweeping ramps that should be easier to build and maintain than those in standard stacked interchanges. Related Links: More ENR Transportation News The upgrade of the existing Interstate 85/485 interchange near Charlotte, N.C., is proof that a bigger design can actually mean bigger savings.Part of the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation's (NCDOT) program to fill the last six-mile gap in the 65-mile I-485 outer loop around Charlotte, the interchange uses a two-level "turbine" configuration rarely found in the U.S.
The expiration of grants for renewable energy under the federal stimulus act and weak support in Congress for further support are limiting the prospects for biomass powerplants.
+ Image Sierra Club Proposals for six coal export terminals in the Northwest are concerning environmentalists and some regulators. Related Links: Activists Rally Against Proposed Coal Export Terminals Coal Facilities Face Challenges Environmental resistance is mounting against six coal export terminals proposed for sites in Oregon and Washington. The terminals would receive shipments from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming that would go to Asian markets where coal-fired energy is in high demand.State officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are asking the Army Corps of Engineers for a "cumulative" review of all the facilities' environmental and traffic-congestion
Environmental groups that are monitoring the migration of Asian carp to the Great Lakes region are hopeful that a recent plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will accelerate the timetable for keeping the aggressive species out of the lakes.
Related Links: The EIA Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics is working on the latest version of a national survey of commercial buildings' energy consumption and expects to begin releasing its first sets of data in April 2014, says the office's director, Tom Leckey.The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a national sample survey that collects baseline information on U.S. commercial-building stock, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures. The survey data underpin much of the work that has been done in the energy benchmarking
Related Links: Global Skyscraper Group Ventures into Research for the First Time Megaprojects: Songdo International Business District Unusual double-helix external bracing will stabilize a 620-meter-tall tower at the center of the 20-building Yongsan International Business District, planned for a 3,000-hectare site next to the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. The conical skyscraper is among the first of the major buildings scheduled to start construction soon, now that conceptual designs for the 3.4-million-square-meter brownfield development have been completed.Teams of local and international architects and engineers announced their concepts for each of Yongsan's planned buildings earlier this month, marking the start
A federal judge has issued a ruling in a lawsuit that sought to halt the Army Corps of Engineers' rebid of a disputed flood control project contract in New Orleans, according to involved parties who have seen the still unreleased decision.
Work could begin as early as next summer on a newly approved, $2-billion plan to build a system that would divert floods on the Red River around Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., if Congress authorizes funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposal.
With thousands of acres of land to spare, Denver International Airport is setting its sights on becoming what officials dub an "airport city"—an aerotropolis featuring logistics and trade facilities, hotels, retail, museums, schools and intermodal connections. The concept of an airport-oriented "city" is not new, but recently it has become a hot topic.
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