A presidential panel has recommended the U.S. “expeditiously” establish a permanent repository for nuclear waste similar to the now-abandoned site at Yucca Mountain. The waste-disposal subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future said on May 13 that the underground site is “the most promising and technically [acceptable] option available” for safely isolating high-level nuclear waste. The panel also suggests creation of a new federal agency dedicated to implementing a program to transport, store and dispose of U.S. nuclear waste. The subcommittee will make interim recommendations in July, with a final report set for January.
While the Corps of Engineers has started to open the Bonnet Carré Spillway above New Orleans, the agency has asked permission but has yet to decide whether to open the upriver Morganza Spillway to divert the floodwaters from the Mississippi's main channel. Photo by AP Worldwide/Lance Murphey BEALE STREET BLUES The landmark musical thoroughfare in Memphis, Tenn., is inundated on May 9 as the Mississippi River was reaching its highest level since the ruinous flood of 1937. Maj. Gen. Michael J. Walsh, president of the Mississippi River Commission and commander of the Corps' Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg, decided to
Rail projects on the Northeast Corridor were the major winners as the U.S. Dept. of Transportation redistributed $2 billion in aid Florida turned down earlier this year. The grants, announced on May 9, will fund about $1.7 billion in infrastructure. That will be good news for engineering and construction firms and ease the pain of Florida Gov. Rick Scott's move to cancel his state's rail plan.The Northeast got about $1 billion, mostly for the Washington-to-Boston corridor. Peter Gertler, chairman of transit and high-speed rail services for HNTB, says about 75% of previous DOT rail awards went to California, Florida and
There are many reasons why true dedicated high-speed rail is superior to slower, mixed-traffic rail. True HSR is oil-free because it is powered by electricity. True HSR also offers shorter trip times, which translates into higher ridership, reduces congestion across all other modes and delivers these benefits with higher profits and lower operating costs.Given the energy-constrained future we face, a hierarchy of rail must be built quickly to become the main form of transportation in America, with true HSR as the backbone of the national system. We can't afford not to build true HSR! Oil prices will continue to rise.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco sent the state of Alaska back to “looking at all its options” after a May 4 ruling halted a proposed 51-mile, $500-million highway from Juneau to a new ferry landing in Katzehin. The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court upholds a 2009 lower-court opinion that the project's final environmental impact statement (EIS) was not valid because it did not include an alternative that would improve transportation with existing assets, namely upgraded ferry service. The planned project—a major increase from the original 2006 estimate of $100 million—would have built the East Lynn Canal
Two, 550-ton sector gate leaves poised for installation next week in a $1.3-billion barrier being built to reduce risk of hurricane storm surge entering New Orleans’ vulnerable, eastern side, will plug a gaping hole in the city’s armor for the 2011 hurricane season. On May 17, Massman Construction Co., Kansas City, Mo., is scheduled to begin installing the two 75-ft-wide, 42-ft-tall sector gate leaves that will form the armored door to a 150-ft-wide navigable passage through the northern end of the 1.8-mile-long barrier, which is know as the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal-Lake Borgne Storm Surge Barrier. It is part of
Sometime this weekend, the Mississippi River’s flow at the Red River Landing in Louisiana is expected to reach 1.5 million cubic feet per second, the trigger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to open the Morganza Floodway, which has the capacity to divert 600,000 cfs. By Angelle Bergeron Soldiers of Louisiana National Guards 769th Engineer Battalion place HESCO baskets in Morgan City, Louisiana, which is expected to receive flooding when the Morganza Floodway is opened this weekend. Operating the floodway could send 5 to +25 ft of floodwater across 3 million acres of farmlands and residences. But the Corps
The State Dept.'s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) manages U.S. embassy construction around the world. Last year, OBO launched a Design Excellence initiative, modeled after the General Services Administration's long-established program. Over the past year, State Dept. working groups have studied OBO's programs and policies and came up with more than 60 recommendations for changes in how it does business. ENR's Washington bureau chief, Tom Ichniowski, spoke with OBO's acting director, Adam Namm, and its deputy director, Lydia Muniz, in late April during a meeting of the bureau's Industry Advisory Panel, and followed up with Muniz on May 4,
A series of earthquakes reaching magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale rocked the city of Lorca in southeastern Spanish on the evening of May 11, causing eight deaths and injuring nearly 300 people, according to municipal officials. Several buildings in the historic center collapsed, including at least one stonework church. The quake's epicenter was between Lorca and La Hoya, some 15 km away. With a population of some 80,000, Lorca is about 75 km southeast of Murcia.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco sent the state of Alaska back to “looking at all its options” after a May 4 ruling halted a proposed 51-mile, $500-million highway from Juneau to a new ferry landing in Katzehin. Map By Walter Konefal For ENR The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court upholds a 2009 lower-court opinion that the project’s final environmental impact statement (EIS) was not valid because it did not include an alternative that would improve transportation with existing assets, namely upgraded ferry service. The planned project—a major increase from the original 2006 estimate of $100 million—would
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