Officials at Husky Energy are still trying to determine the precise cause of an explosion and flash fire that ripped through a natural-gas well approximately 60 miles west of Edmonton, Alberta, British Columbia, on Monday, March 7. The exploratory well was being used to prospect for gas reserves through a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in which fluids under pressure are injected into natural fissures within a gas formation to increase the rate of recovery. Thirteen contract workers suffered mostly burns; four workers remain hospitalized, one in serious condition. Husky spokeswoman Carla Yuill said the fire at the well
One of the world’s largest run-of-the-river hydroelectric projects under construction is about to begin, installing unique bulb turbines that eventually will contribute 3,150 MW to Brazil’s energy grid. The $9-billion San Antonio hydroelectric project will require 44 massive bulb turbines seven meters in diameter, considered the largest ever built. Each turbine has 7-m-dia rotors and is capable of producing 71.6 MW of power. The turbine parts are being manufactured by France’s Alstom and the Austrian-German Voith Hydro in São Paulo, then shipped to the jobsite by boat to be re-assembled. The project on the Madiera River in the Brazilian Amazon
Asia’s first large tidal energy farm will be deployed off the Indian state of Gujarat next year, under an agreement signed in January between state-owned Gujarat Power Corp. Ltd. and marine energy developer Atlantis Resources Corp., based in the U.K. and Singapore. Rendering Courtesy Of Atlantis Resources Marine energy developer Atlantis Resources will use its AK1000 turbine design in the Gulf of Kutch, off the coast of Gujarat state in India. Rendering Courtesy Of Atlantis Resources The offshore project, a joint venture of Atlantis and a local power utility, will involve installation of 50 bottom-mounted turbines, each generating 1 MW
Gas supplies to Israel are set to resume this month from a field in Egypt’s northern Sinai desert after a Feb. 5 pipeline explosion that was believed to be terrorist-generated. But Israel’s national infrastructure ministry has decided to fast-track a proposed $300-million liquified-natural-gas project off the country’s central Mediterranean coast as part of an effort to diversify its sources of supply. Photo: AP Worldwide Feb.5 Explosion Of Egyptian Gas Pipeline, Allegedly By Saboteurs, Has Cut Off Exports To Israel. Israel Natural Gas Lines, a state-owned utility, has issued a request for information for the project’s infrastructure. Egypt supplies 40% of
The six companies planning the Nabucco pipeline to bring Caspian gas to Europe—RWE AG of Germany, OMV of Austria, Mol Nyrt of Hungary, Bulgargaz EAD of Bulgaria, Transgaz SA of Romania and Boru Hatlari ile Petrol Tasima AS of Turkey—will each need to arrange $2.3 billion in pre-completion guarantees for the project in addition to $559 million in equity, according to recent news reports. Related Links: Europe Moves, Russia Counters on Gas Lines The Nabucco pipeline will transport 31 billion cubic meters of gas from the Caspian basin to Austria. Bulgaria announced on Jan. 21 that it will borrow $1.7
Structural engineers inspecting Christchurch’s six steel structures designed with eccentric bracing to resist seismic loads found that five performed well in the shallow Canterbury earthquake that devastated the city on Feb. 22. But the engineers are curious about why two eccentric-braced bays of a three-story parking garage did not fare well—one fractured and the other deformed. The garage did not collapse, thanks to redundancy in the overall structure. “This is the first time the level of excitation of an earthquake was at least as large as or has exceeded the design basis in an area where steel, eccentrically braced frames
Numerous structures are on course for completion in time for the London 2012 Summer Olympics, including a few that are uniquely shaped. Perhaps the strangest is a steelwork monument that will rise 114.5 meters, serving as an icon for the Olympic Park. Image: Arup The ArcelorMittal Orbit will be ready to greet crowds at London’s 2012 Summer Olympics. Image: Arup Related Links: Olympic Orbit Takes Off The red steelwork being built just outside the main stadium’s entrance, so far around 40 m tall, is the diagrid stem of the fantastic 15,000-tonne sculpture known as the Orbit. The structure is the
In a move that will provide some stability for transportation construction, the Senate has approved a bill to extend federal highway and transit programs through Sept. 30, the last day of the 2011 fiscal year. Senate passage of the bill, which came on a March 3 voice vote, marks final congressional action on the measure, which provides an authorization of about seven months. The House had approved the bill one day earlier. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation on March 4. The bill would be the seventh stopgap highway-transit authorization since Sept. 30, 2009, when the last multi-year
In a move that will provide some stability for transportation construction, President Obama has signed legislation to extend federal highway and transit programs through Sept. 30, the last day of the 2011 fiscal year. Obama signed the measure on March 4, the date on which a previous short stopgap was slated to expire. Final congressional approval of the bill came on March 3, when the Senate passed it on a voice vote. The House had approved the measure one day earlier. The bill is the seventh stopgap highway-transit authorization since Sept. 30, 2009, when the last multi-year statute, the 2005
With the start of the prime road-building season drawing near, the House has approved legislation that would extend federal highway and transit programs through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The next step is action by the Senate, which is expected to pass the roughly seven-month-long measure soon. The bill would be the seventh stopgap highway-transit authorization since Sept. 30, 2009, when the last multi-year statute expired. The current extension is scheduled to lapse on March 4. Construction and state transportation officials would have strongly preferred to see Congress approve a new long-term bill, but the seven-month
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