ENCLOSURE Tennessee Valley Authoritys remediation design details the alteration of the coal-ash containment ponds terrain profile.l A record-breaking 11-mile slurry wall in itself is unusual, but the relationship between contractor, engineer and owner is what makes the construction of the wall—at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston fossil plant—even more unusual, says Brian Jasperse, president and CEO of Geo-Con, Pittsburgh.“It's been a very interesting process,” Jasperse says. “It's a really good example of the engineer, contractor and owner trying to tweak the design. It's highly unusual, and as a result we're putting together a good product.”Knoxville, Tenn.-based TVA and its remediation
Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Water Tampa's 120-MGD water-treatment plant is one of the largest U.S. drinking-water projects delivered to date via a DBO mechanism. In Florida last year, one of the largest drinking-water projects in the U.S. was completed via a design-build-operate contract and is now operational. However, despite its success, the project apparently has failed to inspire a trend toward an increased use of DBO elsewhere. Nevertheless, an industry expert believes cash-strapped small utilities may soon be forced to privatize their water-facility production and operations.Veolia Water North America served as construction manager at-risk for a 50-million-gal-per-day expansion of
Photo Courtesy of Caldecott/ Tutor Perini Tutor Perini bores a $214.8-million two-lane Caldecott tunnel. The weak economy has squeezed transportation budgets to the limit. Still, firms that work in the transportation market are finding ways to push forward, diversifying their businesses by sector and region and looking to alternative delivery methods, such as public-private partnerships.Richard Cavallaro, president of Skanska USA Civil, Whitestone, N.Y., says it is hard to plan ahead not knowing when a federal transportation bill will be enacted and with states being financially strapped. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has helped sustain active projects, he says
The construction of a casting facility in Aberdeens harbor is a vital component of Seattles planned bridge replacement. Photos courtesy of Washington DOT Crews are nearing completion of the casting basin. A joint-venture team began reconstruction work this month of the longest floating bridge in the world, while two of its members also near completion on a key related facility to build massive pontoons.Omaha-based Kiewit Corp., General Construction Co. of Federal Way, Wash., and Manson Construction, Seattle, began work on Sept. 2 on its $586.5-million contract to rebuild Washington's state Route 520 floating bridge over Lake Washington—the longest in the
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNDT CONSTRUCTION INC. A 30-mile project is rapidly adding HOV lanes to a Phoenix-area freeway. Battling monsoons, heat, live traffic and subpar soils, a joint-venture team expects to complete 30 miles of a Phoenix-area freeway expansion in just eight months—adding another reason for the Arizona Dept. of Transportation to embrace design-build as it constructs projects to cope with growing traffic.A team of Kiewit Corp. and Sundt Construction holds the approximately $90-million contract to add 30 miles of high-occupancy vehicle lanes to Loop 101 between state Route 51 and Interstate 10.“To do this many miles in [nine] months
Photo courtesy chevron PRISTINE? Builders of the $45-billion Gorgon LNG plant in Australia face strict bio-security rules. Uncertainty and volatility will dominate development of large-scale projects in new markets and untapped locales, say attendees of the Engineering and Construction Contracting in Phoenix on Sept. 7-10.With uncertainty and volatility stifling large-scale capital investment in new global markets and pristine locales, project challenges attracted a record number of attendees to a key energy-industrial megaprojects conference in Phoenix on Sept. 7-10.As development encroaches on increasingly remote areas, jurisdictions are becoming more protective of threatened species and environmental risks, Chevron Corp. executive Johann Van
Photo Courtesy of Penn State University / Steven Rubin Firms say the transmission build-out across the U.S. will take years to design and build. The U.S. transmission-line construction business is in the early stages of what may well turn out to be a 10- or even 20-year boom, according to transmission designers, contractors, electric utilities and independent transmission companies.“We're looking at a decade or more of double-digit annual growth in power delivery services,” which includes work not only transmission lines but also on substations and lower-voltage distribution lines, says Don Mundy, senior vice president in Overland Park, Kan.-based Black &
PHOTO COURTESY OF MWH Ogden, Utah, wastewater treatment plant expansion is rare sector capital project. Related Links: ENR SOURCEBOOK: Top 400 Contractors So much to do, so little money with which to do it. That paraphrasing of the familiar adage sums up the mood of contractors regarding the water and wastewater infrastructure market. With expansion and upgrade projects in many parts of the country curbed by anemic economic growth and cutbacks in government spending, the market is now focused on helping clients keep their aging systems one step ahead of both time and tightening water-quality mandates.Pat McCann, CEO of Weston
Related Links: Highway, FAA Extensions Advance in House FAA Contractors Resume Work After Stopgap Extension Passes Aviation Bill Fight Shuts Down Airport Grants The path wasn't smooth, but Congress has approved a measure extending federal highway, transit and aviation programs--and the taxes that finance them. President Obama signed the measure on Sept. 16.Final congressional action came less than 24 hours earlier, when the Senate passed the measure by an overwhelming 92-6 vote.The bill had sailed through the House on Sept. 13, on a unanimous voice vote.The bill's enactment will continue a pattern of living by stopgaps for state transportation and
Photo courtesy of Zellcomp Despite hiccup, the nations largest FRP deck proceeds in Portland, Ore. The U.S.'s largest installation of a fiber-reinforced polymer bridge deck can now continue thanks to the resolution of disputes between the contractor and Multnomah County, Ore. Ridgefield, Wash.-based Conway Construction Co. expects to resume its $6.7-million contract in mid-September on the 55-year-old Morrison Bridge after a summer of delays.The new 17,000-sq-ft, 50-in.-thick deck was to be ready for 33,000 daily vehicles by December, but now completion is unlikely until next year. Over the summer, the county ordered two work stoppages. The owner was dissatisfied with
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