The construction start of a $100-million bridge to link three countries in southern Africa to a major road and rail transport corridor connecting with northern Africa, a project that was set to commence in January, now is rescheduled for the end of 2011 after one sponsoring country pulled out of the plan. + Image Map: Walter Konefal Site for planned bridge between Zambia and Botswana is near the disputed border with Zimbabwe. The bridge would link regions in the north to a north-south transportation corridor that connects to the port of Durban, South Africa. The Kazungula Bridge was planned by
The complex fabrication of a $24.5-million tubular, webbed helix of red steel has set back the completion date for the Santiago Calatrava-designed footbridge in Calgary from fall 2010 to mid-June 2011. Billed as Calgary’s longest single-span structure at 126 meters—twice as long as the next longest—the Peace Bridge’s helical design keeps supports out of the water, using buried abutments on either side of the riverbank. The 6.2-m-wide bridge, double the width of other pedestrian bridges in the area, will serve 5,000 residents daily by connecting two growing neighborhoods to the city center and light rail. The city of Calgary wanted
Kuwait’s public-works ministry in February signed an $870-million design-bid-build contract with a European-led consortium to upgrade more than 15 kilometers of Jamal Abdul Nasser Street. Photo: Courtesy of Louis Berger and PACE Upgraded Kuwaiti road will bypass local streets with viaducts. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Nasser Street links to a $950-million Jahra Road project that started last September. The two highways will relieve a congested corridor linking Kuwait City with its western suburbs and provide access to major government facilities and other centers, says an official with Louis Berger Group Inc., Morristown, N.J., which is handling design and
Since its inception in 2006, the most visible aspect of the Panama Canal’s $5.2-billion Third Lane Expansion project has been the excavation of the 6.7-kilometer-long Pacific Access Channel. With the completion of a $42.3-million, 1.8-km-long cofferdam this spring, that excavation is continuing as planned. The backfilled cellular cofferdam will hold back Miraflores Lake, the man-made body of water between the Miraflores locks and Pedro Miguel locks. Once the cofferdam is finished, excavation of 26 million cubic meters of material in the access-channel route can proceed as well as the construction of a permanent, $70-million, clay-core, basalt-rock-filled dam. The Pacific Access
A 1.24-mile-long aerial cable-car system could be operational in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games if Mayor Boris Johnson signs off on the plan. The $65-million project would be the U.K.’s first urban cable car and would cross the River Thames. Last month, councils for the two boroughs affected—Greenwich and Newham—approved the plan that links Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks. + Image Image: TFL A map shows the cable-car system that has been approved by London’s Greenwich and Newham boroughs. The system would cross the River Thames. Photo: TFL Cables Will Run Between 295-ft-tall Towers. The system, designed
The 130-turbine Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts has spurred more support for offshore wind generation, including a $199-million terminal construction at the Port of Paulsboro, N.J., and a $35-million project on the waterfront in New Bedford, Mass. That new port infrastructure as well as recently announced federal programs to support offshore wind infrastructure may finally help launch the U.S. offshore wind industry, which has lagged behind countries such as the United Kingdom and Denmark where the offshore supply chain was developed years ago. New Bedford is Cape Wind’s designated hub for offshore wind staging and assembly. Kristin
China, which has surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy, signaled its intent to invest in North America as Calgary-based natural-gas producer Encana Corp. on Feb. 13 announced the largest Chinese investment in Canada to date. Under terms of a $5.4-billion cooperation agreement, PetroChina, an arm of China’s state-owned National Petroleum Co., will acquire a 50% share in Encana’s Cutbank Ridge gas production facilities, representing 255 million cubic feet per day of proved reserves of approximately one trillion cu ft on 250,000 hectares straddling the Alberta-British Columbia border. Photo: Courtesy Encana Infusion of Chinese capital aimed at priming Cutbank Ridge-area
As European offshore wind power development accelerates, a series of costly failures has undermined confidence in turbine tower foundations. Now, a leading risk management company has produced new design guidance in a bid to prevent tower settlement that can cause potentially costly stresses in support structures. Photo: courtesy of Scira Sheringham farm designers had time to alter the monopiles while they were still in fabrication. + Image Image: courtesy of DNV Norway’s Det Norske Veritas A/S, H�vik, began reviewing its seemingly faulty design guidance in the fall of 2009 following reports of support failures in some completed turbine installations. DNV
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sources (MNRE) is working on a master plan for establishing 60 “solar cities.” The MNRE says the plan will help reduce fossil fuel use by 10% by 2018. The objective of the program is to promote renewable energy in urban areas and enable local governments to use public-private partnerships to meet sustainable energy challenges at the municipal level, explains Arun Tripathi, MNRE director. “This is the first time a plan is being structured in a consolidated manner,” Tripathi says. Currently, 45 cities have been given the green light, and a consultant will be
Five European energy companies this month announced a joint-venture agreement to develop and build an electricity link under the North Sea between the U.K. and Norway. The NorthConnect joint venture aims to have the 1,200-MW to 2,000-MW power cable operational by 2020. The total length of the high-voltage, direct-current interconnector could measure from 350 miles to more than 400 miles, depending on the choice of the landing points. For the shortest link, Scotland is likely to be the preferred U.K. landfall, though other options will be studied during the next 12 to 18 months. The non-profit Scottish European Green Energy
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