In southeast Louisiana, crews are laboring hard to build miles of new fortifications to defend the region against another Hurricane Katrina-like disaster. But as local flood-protection officials learned last month, understanding and applying the evolving science of storm-surge and flood risk modeling is an even tougher race. Photo: Angelle Bergeron Mathijs Van Ledden, president of Haskoning Inc., a New Orleans-based division of Dutch engineering firm Royal Haskoning and flood protection adviser to the Corps of Engineers, describes storm-surge studies in Louisiana dating from 2005. Related Links: Corps Expects July Start at Seabrook “What we know about storm surge is changing
A project under way to build a $250-million renewable-fuel plant in Park Falls, Wis., will eventually draw on about 1,000 tons of forestry waste daily and convert it into sulfur-free diesel. Chart: Flambeau River Biofuels Patented process turns forestry waste into diesel fuel and other renewable products. “We will take bark, sawdust, wood chips and forest residue that wouldn’t be used for anything else and turn it into biofuel, wax, green electrical power, steam and heat that are useful,” says Bob Byrne, president of Flambeau River Biofuels. The contractor expects to begin late this year, and the plant is expected
In its final report on the collapse of the Dallas Cowboy’s practice facility, the National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends owners of other fabric-covered, tubular-steel-framed structures have their buildings evaluated. Some universities already have; of these, at least two have found the structures fail to meet established codes. Photo: Courtesy of the University of New Mexico Engineer’s report found flaws in the Summit Structures practice facility at the University of New Mexico. NIST concluded the Cowboy’s building designed and built by Summit Structures of Allentown, Pa., failed to withstand wind loads that were substantially less than required by design
In April, the Simon Wiesenthal Center plans to announce the name of its replacement architect for the redesign of its planned Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. The group and its first architect, Gehry Partners, recently parted company after six years. The center cited “today’s economic realities” as a rationale behind the redesign. Frank Gehry issued a statement saying he will not be able to participate in the redesign effort because his staff and resources are committed to other projects around the globe.
An independent engineering report prepared for the University of New Mexico about its Albuquerque indoor practice facility found that wind pressure could enter the building through openings in the structure and not escape, putting the training facility at risk of collapse. The investigation by Chavez-Grieves Consulting Engineers in Albuquerque found the school’s steel-and-fabric facility had been designed by Summit Structures, Allentown, Pa., as an enclosed building. However, the independent engineers concluded that louvers, roll-up doors and other openings created a partially enclosed building. Currently, the university uses the facility only when the louvers and doors are closed and the wind
A bell tower in St. Mark’s Square dating back to 12th-Century Venice is getting a new lease on life through a two-year project to stabilize the ill-fated monument standing on tricky soil. In January, workers began drilling cement-reinforced micro-piles to provide watertight enclosures around seven chambers so a girdle of titanium rods can be threaded through the ground around the tower’s faulty foundation block. Photo: Peter Reina / ENR The most prominent monument in St. Mark’s Square in Venice is a 20th-Century reconstruction Related Links: Stabilizing Venice Monument During most of this year, subcontractor Trevi SpA, Cesena, will drill about
Transit projects in Denver, San Francisco, Hartford, Honolulu and Minneapolis will get a first-time boost from the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program for fiscal year 2011. But FTA administrator Peter Rogoff conceded that the consistency of annual levels of funding will be uncertain as long as the six-year transportation reauthorization bill is delayed. At a Feb. 2 press conference, Rogoff announced $1.82 billion for 27 major transit projects for FY 2011. That includes $835 million for 19 new construction projects, including $80 million for two rail lines in Denver, $45 million for a busway to connect Hartford and New
Plans for a Southern Nevada national nuclear waste repository are all but kaput. The U.S. Energy Dept. said Feb. 1 it will withdraw its Nuclear Regulatory Commission application within 30 days. The move comes after DOE spent nearly three decades and $38 billion on waste repository tests and studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The agency planned to store up to 77,000 tons of radioactive waste there from 80 sites in 35 states. Spent utility fuel and high-level defense waste would be placed in specially engineered containers housed inside a network of tunnels built deep within
The White House announced on Jan. 29 that the federal government will reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 28% by 2020. The announcement comes on the heels of President’s Obama’s pledge on Jan. 28 that the United States would reduce GHG emissions by 17% by 2020 as part of an international climate agreement. The Jan. 29 announcement follows up on an executive order signed by the president this fall, which required federal agencies to set sustainability goals by Jan. 4. The 28% reduction target is the aggregate of 35 federal agency self-reported targets required by the executive order. Among
California is the top winner but Midwest states and Florida also scored big in states' fierce competition for $8 billion in federal grants to build high-speed-rail lines around the country. Related Links: High Speel Rail Awards Summary High Speed Rail Map Round Two of ARRA Rail Grants Draws Huge Crowd States Vying for First ARRA Rail Grants States Clamor For High-Speed Funding The White House released a list of awards on Jan. 28, [see full list pdf attached] shortly before President Obama and Vice-President Biden were scheduled to make a formal announcement in Tampa. The funding is part of the