Disputes between Bechtel Corp., San Francisco, and Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C., have become a focus of those questioning cost overruns at Duke’s integrated gas combined-cycle (IGCC) plant in Edwardsport, Ind. Photo: Courtesy of Duke Energy Indiana The 630-MW integrated gas combined-cycle powerplant, the biggest facility of its type, is being built by Bechtel for Duke Energy. As the price of the facility—which is 60% complete—has risen to $2.9 billion now from $1.6 billion in 2006, the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana and others are calling on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to probe whether fraud, concealment and gross mismanagement are
Carter & Burgess Inc., a unit of Jacobs Engineering Group, will be back in a California court on Feb. 28, seeking dismissal of a December ruling ordering the company to pay the city of Victorville $52.1 million over a failed powerplant project. The project’s price tag had more than quintupled before it was scrapped for parts in 2006. Photo: Courtesy of Gibbs, Giden, Locher, Turner & Senet LLP Powerplant, now defunct, is focus of fight between city and Jacobs Engineering unit. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Ronald Taylor ruled on Dec. 17 against the Fort Worth-based engineer, which was acquired
National interest electric transmission corridors, laid out by the Dept. of Energy to help facilitate development of larger transmission lines in mid-Atlantic and southwestern states, are in question following a Feb. 1 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the DOE failed to consult the affected states before designating the two areas for fast-track development of high-voltage lines. DOE designated the corridors in 2007 as Congress directed it to do under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in an effort to reduce transmission congestion. The court said that the DOE also didn’t consider the
For the first time in more than a half- century, crews on various projects are using a larger, stronger iteration of steel H-shaped piles recently approved by industry groups. The piles, typically used to construct deep foundations for buildings and bridges, also can save money on column applications, according to contractors and engineers. Photo: Frank Coluccio Construction New breed of H-pile braces excavation shaft on Hawaii sewer job. For years, H-pile cross sections have measured as large as 14 in. The new piles, designated HP16 and HP18, “go up to 18-inch cross sections, so now you’ve got bigger loads you
Code crafters are lauding a significant process change in reference-standard development that provides markers for progress along the way, directional signals for reaching goals and validation of the standard’s potential impact on energy use and cost. The process, based on energy modeling and analysis, helped the developers of the 2010 edition of the commercial-building energy standard reach their goal of providing a standard that, if followed, could result in a whopping 30% reduction in both energy use and costs compared with use of the standard’s 2004 edition. Crafters of the next edition of the energy standard already are using the
Hoping for a bigger Super Bowl attendance at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the owner arranged for temporary sections to increase seating capacity. But some of those seats were not ready at game time. Eric Grubman, NFL executive vice president, said the problem was officials “just ran out of time” to complete infrastructure such as railings and steps, and to tighten risers. The stadium owner says that the $1.3-billion stadium was designed to fully accommodate the additional seats. Seating Solutions, the Commack, N.Y.-based contractor charged with installing the temporary seats, had no comment.
In an attempt to prevent a Las Vegas-style resort/casino from being built near Glendale, Ariz., Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed a bill into law allowing Glendale to annex the 54-acre site. Casinos can be built only on tribal land, according to the state’s Indian Gaming Compact. However, as the law takes effect in 90 days, the window is open for legal maneuverings by the project’s developer, the Tohono O’odham Nation. Despite a scaled-back design, West Valley Resort still faces opposition. The bill, HB 2534, was pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature last month but failed to reach a two-thirds majority that
After years of snafus, political battles, and funding fits and starts, New York City’s next major transit extensions are taking shape.Newly bored caverns deep below city streets and railyards provide hidden testimony to the construction team’s accomplishments, all while the nation’s busiest subway and commuter rail network strains to carry millions of passengers to and from the city. The next tunnels are a study of firsts, many side by side. Two giant tunnel-boring machines, crawling along like worms underneath the Big Apple, made transit history. Below neighborhoods on Manhattan’s West Side, they both achieved a difficult 90° turn, helped by
The plan to build a second subway line serving Manhattan’s congested East Side has been on the city’s drawing board for eight decades. Now, having withstood financial crises and opposition by residents near the construction zone, the $4.45-billion first phase of the Second Avenue subway project is under way, with 7,200 ft of tunneling almost completed out of a total of 15,000 ft planned. And as crews begin freezing a 150-ft stretch of earth for the second tunnel, they also are trying to thaw the hearts and minds of opposition groups. With the help of Rockaway, N.J.-based subcontractor Moretrench, a
Taking its cue from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED building certification program, a new Illinois initiative seeks to incorporate sustainable design and construction practices into state road and transportation projects. Like LEED, the Illinois-Livable and Sustainable Transportation (I-LAST) Guide establishes a scoring system for planning, design and construction to “preserve natural resources and encourage low-impact forms of transportation,” says Doug Knuth, project chair with the American Council of Engineering Cos. of Illinois, which developed I-LAST in association with the Illinois Dept. of Transportation and the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association. The program is the latest in a growing
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