Recent bid openings for subway projects in New York City and San Francisco revealed a range of prices and teaming partners. In New York City, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency opened bids on June 7 for a contract to furnish and install systems and finishes on the No. 7 subway line extension. A joint venture of Skanska Civil and Railworks was the low bidder at $513.7 million, followed by the joint venture SPP, at $539.8 million; Tutor Perini, at $542.2 million; a team of Judlau and Citnalta, at $563 million; CCA, at $598.5 million; and CHRE Construction LLC, at $758.5 million,
Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor crisis in Japan, the U.S. nuclear industry is more closely scrutinizing existing facilities, and long-standing problems are placing some plants under the microscope . Courtesy of Progress Energy Crystal River plant has cracks in walls. Courtesy of NextEra Energy Engineers note alkali silica reaction at Seabrook. “U.S. nuclear facilities are under constant inspection regimens, but since the earthquake we are going at it even stronger,” says Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based industry organization.In one example, Progress Energy's Crystal River plant in Florida—offline since September 2009 for a refueling
In the midyear update to the 2011 McGraw-Hill Construction Outlook, one of the few sectors holding onto any gain is the electric utility market, and two power producers who spoke in Atlanta last week reinforced that forecast in a discussion of major works under way. TVA Speaking at the ENR-CURT Construction Business Forum on June 14, Robert Murray, chief economist for MHC, said there is a “huge amount of electric powerplant construction taking place,” supporting his continued forecast for overall growth of 3% in the electric utility market this year. But for all markets, Murray is revising his forecast to
Binghamton and Johnson City, N.Y., officials are waiting for a state report that could shut down their jointly owned and operated wastewater treatment plant for safety issues after a treatment cell wall collapsed last month, dumping 580,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Susquehanna River.Only seven non-union employees are entering the area after 41 union workers complained about the safety of the plant's biological aerated filtration (BAF) treatment system section and a leaking roof in the facility's control room. The BAF system was installed as part of an upgrade in 2004-2006.The New York State Dept. of Labor conducted an
To build Mexico’s 750-MW La Yesca hydroelectric project, the construction consortium first had to divert the Santiago River through a pair of 14-meter-square tunnels, one 830 m long and the other and 870 m. The $767-million concrete-faced rock-fill dam, with a 220-m-high crest and a length of 628 m, is on schedule for completion in 2012, according to Mexico’s largest contractor, Ingenieros Civiles Asociados, which is leading the project’s construction consortium. Work on the project—located 105 km northeast of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco State in western Mexico—began in 2007. The workforce peaked at 5,000 in April 2011. Ingetec S.A.,
Teams of budding and seasoned architects faced off last week for the second annual Iron Designer Challenge, where they constructed freestanding “Portals”—structures that mediate two spaces—in less than three hours. Photo Laura Mirviss The Gensler team after winning the 2011 Iron Designer Challenge. Photo Laura Mirviss The Turner team assembles their Portal, which is primarily made out of bamboo. Related Links: Architects, Students Compete in Iron Designer Challenge Student Teams Strive to Build Best Emergency Shelter The Gensler team won the 2010 contest, in which participants built emergency shelters, and once again, it took home the grand prize. Inspired by
Humanitarian groups, led by Amnesty International, are protesting Ghana’s planned eviction of hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers occupying land along a 24-kilometer section of a planned, nearly $7-billion, 1,224-km railway line. Illustration by ENR The nearly $7-billion Ghana railway project, funded as part of a $10.4-billion, 20-year concessionary loan from China's Export/Import Bank, will include construction from the nation's capital in Accra to the northernmost terminal in Paga. The protests are further delaying the China-backed initiative, initially slated to commence this past April.“We urge the Government of Ghana to suspend the eviction of people from their homes until the
Ethiopia has awarded Italy’s Salini Costruttori a $4.8-billion contract for the construction of Africa’s biggest dam on the Nile, in Ethiopia, despite stiff opposition to the project from both Egypt and Sudan. Image courtesy Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation The Grand Millenium dam will be 145 meters high and 1,800 meters long, with powerhouses on either side of the spillway. Related Links: China Inks Deal for Kariba Dam Upgrade Opposition could make financing the project difficult, officials say.The 5,250-MW-capacity hydropower dam, the Grand Millennium, has raised tension between Ethiopia and Egypt, with Egypt claiming the project will have a negative impact
One month after announcing ambitious plans to dig a 50-km-long shipping canal 100 km west of the Bosphorus Strait, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s scheme is being dismissed by some as election grandstanding designed to gain leverage for Turkey in talks with Russia to secure commitments of crude for the languishing Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline project. The proposed 50-km-long canal to bypass Turkey's Bosphorus would be wide enough to accomodate two tankers in either direction. The canal is located 100 km west of the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey and would connect the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The grand canal scheme, which
Brazil’s long-delayed $3.21 billion Transnordestina rail project is nearing completion, with operations expected next year as the 1,728-kilometer freight line aims to boost logistics and exports across the country’s northeast region.
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