Spring is in the air for two firms selected to construct a new spring training and western headquarters facility for the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team in Mesa, Ariz. Populous, Kansas City, Mo., beat out nine competing firms to win the design contract, while Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., bested eight others for the general contractor job. Photo: Baseball Image Courtesy City Of Mesa Conceptual drawings show possible layouts for the Cubs’ new spring home. Photo: Baseball Image Courtesy City Of Mesa The project will be built as a construction manager-at-risk project. “It’s a complex project, and we want
Image: Courtesy SFOMA Norwegian architect Sn�hetta released its preliminary design for the 225,000-sq-ft expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. General contractor Webcor Builders will face the challenge of a compact urban site, currently a maze of alleyways, that is 335 ft long but only 98 ft wide. The project includes a public promenade with an entrance to the wing, which will sit behind the Mario Botta-designed original that opened in 1995. A more detailed design, executed in partnership with the local EHDD Architecture, is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Construction completion is set
The Mississippi River flood fight is keeping inspectors on the job around the clock, even as the bulge of highest water slides south. Contractors are fighting boils and seepage. Approximately 25 miles north of Vicksburg, Miss., crews performed emergency repairs on some 400 linear ft of mainline levee that sustained two slides on the land-side. USACE Inspectors look for slides, sand boils and other indications of structural compromise within the Mississippi River levee system. Observers first spotted the slides on May 16, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Corps spokesperson says more such damage can be expected
Construction started this week in southern Colorado on a $2.3-billion, 62-mile pipeline that will transport water north from the Pueblo Reservoir for use by Colorado Springs and several Denver suburbs. Engineers from CH2M Hill, Denver, will rechannel up to 100 million gal. a day of water from the Arkansas River, which fills the reservoir, and pump it uphill more than 1,600 ft in elevation to two new reservoirs that will be located east of Colorado Springs. The 66-in.-diameter pipeline will be built under farms, ranches, suburbs, railroad tracks and four highways, including Interstate 25, which runs along Colorado’s Front Range.
Brazil plans to open two megaports in the State of Rio de Janeiro in 2012, as EBX Group, owned by Brazilian mining billionaire Eike Batista, makes rapid progress on the Deepwater Sudeste and Acu Superports. The projects are an effort to speed trade in natural resources and new investment by other nations, particularly China, say published reports. LLX Logistica SA Inland from the port, a 90-sq-km industrial complex is under development. The new ports are designed to accommodate the new Chinamax line of vessels, which are 380 meters long. Claimed to be the largest investment in port infrastructure in the
This month in the Pacific Northwest, when runoff from a heavy snowpack coincided with extremely windy conditions, the federal Bonneville Power Administration system suddenly had an abundance of alternative energy feeding its system. BPA chose to limit wind-driven power in favor of hydroelectrity during peak water and wind events. The operational policy is likely to chill construction of new wind farms in the Pacific Northwest, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Iberdrola Renewables Iberdrola's Big Horn wind farm, in Washington state, is subject to shutdown when the Columbia River is running high through federal hydro dams. Related Links: Old
Two U.S. steel fabricators and a German pipe manufacturer have announced the formation of a joint venture to produce components for the 130-turbine Cape Wind farm in development off Nantucket Sound and other offshore wind farms emerging along the East Coast. EEW Group Monopile foundations at at EEW's Rostock, Germany facility, similar to the facility that will be built in Massachusetts to serve nascent offshore wind industry off the U.S. Atlantic coast. Related Links: Building Cape Wind Wont Be a Breeze Offshore Support for Onshore Wind “The announcement signals the beginning of a domestic supply chain that will create new
Without solid commitments from potential customers and the emergence of North American shale gas as a price-competitive energy source, the proposed $35-billion Denali pipeline in Alaska, owned by subsidiaries of BP and ConocoPhillips, has called it quits. Backers abandoned Denali, but TransCanada line's backers say they'll push forward. “As far as Denali is concerned, we are finished,” says Scott Jepsen, vice president of business services for Denali – The Alaska Gas Pipeline LLC. “The focus of Denali has always been to move natural gas from the North Slope. Our work here is over."Denali will also withdraw its Federal Energy Regulatory
Carbon-free power is getting a double boost in Europe. France is about to procure an estimated $14 billion of offshore wind farms. Across the Channel, the U.K. is setting itself tough greenhouse gas targets, increasing its reliance on renewable and nuclear energy. Installations planned off north coast of France would lead toward goal of 6,000 MW from offshore power by 2020. Three of France’s biggest engineering companies formed an alliance to bid this month or in June for a slice of 3,000 MW of offshore wind power the government plans to have in operation by 2015. Another 3,000 MW is
Regulators are putting the design of nuclear reactors slated to be built in the U.S. under additional scrutiny following the March disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Related Links: Searching for Clues in Quake-Maddened Seas Japan's Tsunami Debris Offers Wealth of Data Nuclear Rebirth On May 20, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a statement that Westinghouse must resolve design issues around the shield building of the AP1000, as well as the peak accident pressures expected within containment. The NRC is expected to conduct additional review of the design at the end of May, and that Westinghouse would submit additional
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