Florida Office of the Public Counsel Kelly says utility apparently mismanaged steam generator replacement project. Courtesy Progress Energy's Florida Public Service Commisssion public filing Root-cause analysis report by Performance Improvement International identified seven factors contributing to delamination, including tendon stresses and detensioning sequence. Related Links: Florida Utility: No Way To Predict Nuke Plant Cracking Japanese Disaster Puts Focus On U.S. Powerplant Problems Florida’s Public Counsel J.R. Kelly calls the separation of a concrete wall at Progress Energy Florida’s Crystal River-3 nuclear unit “a huge construction negligence case,” and says that Progress does not appear to have been very prudent in
Photo courtesy of Destination Rotorua Marketing Current geothermal resources come from depth of 3 km, with a temperature up to 330 C. Current research is aimed at 4 km and 400 C. A large research and development effort is under way in New Zealand, aimed at harnessing a natural geothermal energy source of more than 10,000 MW that sits beneath the country’s Taupo Volcanic Zone.The program’s overall objectives include analyzing how the fluid and rock interact below four kilometers; discovering what factors cause permeability; examining what issues might affect well productivity; and estimating the potential for sustainable, deep geothermal resource
Following bid protests by losers of a $675-million flood control project in New Orleans that were upheld by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Army Corps of Engineers is seeking new bids from the contract’s original five short-listed teams. Some observers termed the move to re-procure the project as highly unusual and bidders are not saying how they will proceed.The move to re-bid will now push contract award for the Permanent Canal Closures and Pump stations (PCCP) to April 2012 and final project completion to October 2015, almost a year later than originally anticipated.The design-build contract was awarded in April
Related Links: Interior Dept. fact sheet on proposal The Interior Dept. has proposed 15 lease sales for offshore oil and gas drilling over the 2012-17 period, including 12 potential leases at locations in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.Expanded energy exploration could provide opportunities for engineering and construction companies, both at offshore sites and at nearby, on-shore locations.The proposal, which Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Nov. 8, drew criticism from advocates and opponents of expanded oil and gas development.Drilling advocates, such as House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), faulted the Interior for
Photo Courtesy HNTB/Trey Cambern Crews used a computer-controlled heavy-strand jack system to pick the main span's 405-ft-long, 85-ft-tall, 45-ft-wide prefabricated steel arch into place. Photo Courtesy HNTB/Trey Cambern The new steel arch marks the impending opening of a New York-Vermont crossing that is crucial to communities in both states. Crews are working on the finishing touches on a vital link between New York and Vermont over Lake Champlain. While the originally planned October reopening day has passed, no rescheduled date has been announced.A routine inspection of the Crown Point Bridge in October 2009 found unexpectedly high levels of pier deterioration,
PHOTO COURTESY OF San Diego County Regional Airport Authority eco vision San Diego Airports $1-billion Green Build program had its genesis prior to the recession. Related Links: Main Top 425 Owners Story ENR Top Owners sourcebook: Overview, Rankings and Market Sector Reports The economic and political uncertainty endemic in other sectors of the construction economy has now reached the airport design and construction market, which has enjoyed a relatively robust decade due in part to the momentum of extended project planning and implementation schedules.“We're at the tail end of the pre-recession construction/project implementation cycle,” explains Christopher Oswald, vice president of
PHOTO COURTESY VDOT / Trevor Wrayton Innovative financing Virginia DOT plans to expand use of PPP on projects in the suburbs of D.C. Related Links: ENR's Top Owners List and Top Owners Sourcebook Features After years of steady gains fueled by record funding levels, departments of transportation across the U.S. face lean times ahead. With funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act largely spent and most states grappling with declines in revenue, the impact of the economic downturn is hitting the transportation sector hard.Highway and bridge construction starts nationwide could drop to $50.2 billion in 2012 from a
What is a bad day for Michael Horodniceanu?Is it getting “blasted” at meetings by business owners complaining over a drop in sales as a result of the $4.45-billion Second Avenue Subway (SAS) in New York City?No, he says. That's routine. “A bad day is when I get an e-mail about the Corbin Building underpinning—that the building had begun to move. A bad day is when I [recently] learned we would have more East Side Access delays. We still don't know how much the delay will be, but that was a bad day.”A common project feature is the frustration of Manhattan
Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. The Vogtle nuclear plant already is employing 1,700 workers on site, with the first 1,154-MW unit due to start in 2016. The future of new nuclear plant construction in the United States hinges upon the performance of The Shaw Group and partner Westinghouse Electric as they build the first new U.S. nuclear reactors in more than 20 years, speakers at the Nuclear Energy Insider Nuclear Construction Summit agreed at the event on Oct. 26 in Charlotte, N.C.“Clarence and his team are make-or- break. If the team at Vogtle stumbles and falls, it is all over
Rhode Island wind developer Deepwater Wind plans to develop two, $1-billion offshore underwater transmission networks for moving up to 2,000 MW of offshore wind energy to southern New England and New York.“A merchant transmission network would reduce the cost of servicing the wind farm by providing multiple points of interconnection,” says Bill Moore, CEO of Deepwater Wind, Providence, R.I. “By combining a utility-scale offshore wind farm with a regional transmission network, we can deliver firm power to address the area's electricity demand.”The submarine transmission lines are part of Deepwater's overall plan to develop four wind farms in the northeast, including
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