The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 23 issued a court-ordered final rule that, for the first time, sets national monitoring requirements and numeric limits on construction-site stormwater runoff. Under the rule, builders on sites that disturb 10 or more acres at one time must comply with specific limits on discharge of soil and sediment into nearby water bodies. Owners and operators of sites that disturb one or more acres must use erosion- and sediment-control best-management practices to reduce stormwater discharge pollutants. EPA issued the rule in response to a 2004 lawsuit. It will phase in the rule over four
Hundreds of bridges across Cumbria County in England were under review following the Nov. 20 flooding resulting from the highest rainfall in a 24-hour period on record in the U.K. The flooding caused the collapse of six bridges and the death of one police officer. One of the larger bridges to fail was the 50-meter-long, two-span, brick-built road bridge over the Derwent River in Workington. Official says the bridge was inspected and declared sound in July 2008. The town’s second bridge, the Calva, was closed because of serious damage. Photo: AP/Wideworld/Peter Byrne
The specific date in December for the implosion of the faulty, 376-ft-tall condominium tower on South Padre Island in Texas has not been set. But the demolition contractor says it has solved almost all the quandaries of one of its most challenging razings using explosives. If all goes according to plan, when the dust settles, Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) will have broken the height record, which it set in 1975, for imploding a reinforced-concrete tower. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Aluminum alloy shores around failed columns have to be factored into implosion plan. Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Walls were
An article titled the “Fireless Furnace” appeared in the Oct. 25, 1948, issue of LIFE magazine. There, postwar America witnessed the emergence of a futuristic technology that Lord Kelvin, the king of cold, only dreamed about a century earlier. The fireless furnace avoided burning fossil fuels by piping water through coils in the ground and then through a heat pump. But the technology was too expensive—about $3,000 installed—and too new to gain acceptance. “However, as the efficiency of getting heat from the earth improves, it is almost certain that eventually the heat pump will be able to compete successfully with
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is to blame for massive flooding in two areas New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and is liable for damages sought by five plaintiffs living there, a federal court judge in New Orleans ruled Nov. 18. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Corps’ negligence led to breach in flood protection during Hurricane Katrina, court ruled. Related Links: Text of the Ruling The court ruled earlier that while the Corps was exempt by law from claims for damages caused by failures of flood control structures, it was not exempt from claims for damages caused
The land rolls like waves as it liquefies beneath the viaduct. As spliced timber piles underpinning the columns lose lateral support, the piles buckle and some viaduct columns drop swiftly out of sight. Utilities rupture, fires break out and roadway decks collapse with shocking speed. Related Links: Simulated Quake Rattles Populace Is it a scene from a new disaster movie? No. It’s a simulation of an engineering model-driven video showing what would happen to the Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct in the case of a serious earthquake. A political storm set off by the Washington State Dept. of Transportation’s release of
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has urged top U.S. Dept. of Transportation officials to weigh in to help end what she termed a "standoff" with the House over the length of a surface transportation bill. Photo: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) With a current seven-week stopgap highway and transit authorization set to expire Dec. 18, Boxer and leaders of other key Senate committees have lined up behind a further six-month extension. But Boxer said House leaders support much shorter extensions. At a Nov. 18 briefing of her committee on highway funding
The government of Ecuador last month signed a contract with Chinese contractor Sinohydro to build a hydroelectric project. The Coca Codo Sinclaire Dam will be located on the upper Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon, about 75 miles east of Quito. It will generate 1,500 MW and is expected to cost $2 billion. Fifteen percent of the financing will be provided by the Ecuadorean government, and the remaining 85% will be a loan from China’s Export-Import Bank. When completed, the project will be the largest dam built outside China by a Chinese firm. Construction is expected to take five
Construction is about to start on a 433-m-long bridge with a 117-m-long rising main span for shipping in France’s Garonne River, Bordeaux. Units of Vinci Construction, Paris, will design and build the $187-million bridge over 33 months for the city council. The 3,500-tonne central span will be able to be lifted up 80-m-tall towers. Photo: EGIS-JMI - Virlogeux -Lavigne Et Cheron Architectes - Hardesty & Hanover
Transportation industry executives and lobbyists clearly are frustrated at not being able to gain Washington’s attention to enact long-term funding legislation they claim is critical to improving the sector’s dire outlook, as reflected in new market statistics released on Nov. 13. Related Links: States’ Fiscal Crunch Could Stretch to 2012 The results were released by the Transportation Construction Coalition, a group of 28 contractor and supplier associations and unions in the transportation construction sector. They show that even with this year’s $27-billion federal stimulus infusion for transportation, 63% of 527 sector-company respondents say they have laid off permanent staff this
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