State departments of transportation have met their first "use it or lose it" deadline under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, obligating half of their stimulus funds for highway projects. The number of ARRA highway and transit project starts has risen sharply in recent weeks, but actual outlays remain small, according to reports from a key House committee. Emphasizing the ARRA progress, the White House and U.S. DOT said on June 25 that $19 billion has been obligated for more than 5,300 highway and other transportation projects. ARRA requires states to obligate--commit to specifid projects--at least 50% of their highway
A design-build contract for a $6.8-million solar project to help power a wastewater treatment plant in Bakersfield, Calif., could see the light of day because of a proposed $3-million federal stimulus grant. Photo: Bakersfield Public Works Funding will come from federal stimulus grant and utility, municipal sources. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds will cover 44% of the cost of a 1-MW single axis photovoltaic tracking system on a 5-acre site adjacent to Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3, with room to expand. “The stimulus funds were a significant factor in making the numbers pencil out,” said Art Chianello,
Of the $1.3 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds scheduled for delivery to Amtrak projects, almost $50 million will go to California projects – half for a new LA Maintenance Facility and most of the balance to meet accessibility requirements. The maintenance facility is planned as a pre-engineered metal building 820 ft long by 70 ft wide, semi-enclosed with a pit running the length of the building. It will include equipment to remove, clean and service train cars. The project will go to bid in October with construction starting in January, 2010. It could take 12 to 16
The joint tenders committee of Israel’s National Infrastructure and Finance Ministries has issued an international prequalifiying tender for an offshore liquefied-natural-gas receiving terminal. The build-own-transfer tender is one of the largest issued in recent years by the by the State of Israel. The target date set for the operation of the terminal is October 2013. The decision to proceed with the terminal is part of the government’s policy to guarantee natural gas supplies to the local economy which has been rapidly switching to gas in recent years. “The tender is for the construction, operation and maintenance of the LNG terminal
A combination of factors, including a previously unknown layer of "slime," led to the Dec. 22, 2008, layer of coal ash sludge that overflowed its aging storage facility at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant near Knoxville and contaminated hundreds of acres, according to a 1,400-page, three-foot-thick "root cause" analysis released June 25. Photo: TVA Cleanup of stricken site is well under way The analysis, conducted by Los Angeles-based AECOM Technology Corp., found that the angled geometry of the site, along with increased loads due to higher fill and the wet-placed loose ash, along with the weak slime foundation, all
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 22 that mine wastewater slurry can be pumped into an Alaskan lake under the Clean Water Act. The 6-3 decision in Coeur Alaska Inc. vs. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council reverses a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the mining company’s permit violated the Clean Water Act. The case centered on the question of whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Environmental Protection Agency had authority over activity in the Lower Slate Lake in the Tongass National Forest. Following the enactment of a Bush administration rule in 2002, the Corps
Airports across the nation are cutting back on their capital programs, and the industry is anxious for a full reauthorization of a Federal Aviation Administration funding bill rather than settling for topgap extensions. Perhaps the most pressing issues of all are implementing a modern air-traffic control system (NextGen) and finding alternatives to crude-oil-based jet fuels. Catherine Lang, FAA’s acting associate administrator, told attendees of the American Association of Airport Executives that the Senate is the “wild card” in reauthorizing a four-year bill. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 5 approved a bill that would authorize $70 billion for
The eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge opened on June 3, eight days ahead of a schedule that was revised after a 15-month delay in 2005. Crews finished installing 17 pontoons for the 1.5-mile state Route 104 crossing. The world’s longest floating bridge over salt water links Washington state’s Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas about 60 miles north of Seattle. Photo: Kiewit-General Trusses are designed to withstand rough winds. Kiewit-General Construction Co., Poulsbo, Wash., earned a $600,000 bonus for the early opening. The $490-million project took six years, due in part to a 15-month delay after an ancient Native American
Federal investigators are examing the performance of signals and automatic operations equipment as well as railcar age and maintenance in the fatal June 22 crash of two Washington, D.C., Metrorail trains in Maryland. The accident killed one operator and eight passengers and injured 76. Photo: AP/Wideworld
With the current highway and transit authorization law set to expire on Sept. 30 and the Highway Trust Fund in deep, immediate trouble, a two-way tussle has arisen over what Congress should do next. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the White House want an 18-month highway and transit extension with a trust-fund fix. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and other leaders on the panel reject an extension and have proposed a $500-billion, six-year reauthorization. They want to see the trust fund repaired, but their bill is silent on that point. Missing so far from both LaHood’s
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