Hoping to speed up the viability of carbon capture and sequestration, the U.S. Dept. of Energy on Sept. 7 awarded more than $575 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 22 different CCS research projects. The DOE gave funds in four areas: three projects will receive $312 million for large-scale testing of advanced gasification technologies; four projects will get $123 million to research advanced turbo-machinery to lower emissions from industrial sources; five projects will share $90 million to research how to increase the efficiency and cut costs of post-combustion carbon capture; and 10 projects that already have received
As BP begins to secure the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil and gas industry is preparing to enter a new era of regulation, likely giving birth to an oil-spill-response industry and the eventual re-engineering of rigs, platforms and wells. Photo: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard Recent reports advocate stricter regulations and better response plans. Reports released this month by a joint task force and BP all point to the need for a fresh look at the way the industry operates in the Gulf of Mexico and responds to oil spills. In addition, a Sept. 8 report from
With the failed blowout preventer atop BP’s Macondo well removed and BP moving toward a final plugging and abandonment of the well, the industry is beginning to focus more on the causes and eventual outcomes of the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon that led to the deaths of 11 men and months-long oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Blowout preventer that failed to operate in April was brought to the surface on Sept. 4. It is now undergoing forensic investigation onshore in Louisiana. BP, a joint industry task force and a team of
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors are setting a record for achieving the fastest gain in consolidation and strength on earthen levees—a mere 60 to 90 days, compared with 10 to 11 years—by using an intricate design that layers a sand blanket, geotextile fabrics, rock and wick drains to evacuate moisture from marshy soils. “Something of this major import, of this scope, is rare, and we are using unique and unusual means to achieve those goals,” says Al Naomi, program manager, URS Corp., San Francisco. URS performed geotechnical design and developed plans and specifications for the levee
America’s aging infrastructure—which, in 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimated would require $2.2 trillion over a five-year period—continues to provide work for environmental contractors through American Recovery and Reinvestment funding. Photo:Courtesey of PCL Utilities are still retrofitting aging facilities, like the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. Related Links: General Building: Firms Find Little Respite From Weak Economy Manufacturing/Telecommunications: Tough Market Requires Top-Notch Players Petroleum: Projects Cancelled in Uncertain Climate Power: Federal Policy Drives New Power Projects Transportation: Dearth of Funds Keeps Sector in Doldrums The Top 400 Contractors List Specifically, contractors are finding work in assuring the safety
BP’s Macondo well is no longer a threat to the Gulf of Mexico, retired-U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Sept. 4 after the blowout preventer was removed from the top of the well without the release of any additional oil. The BOP was shipped to a government facility in Louisiana for analysis. BP says it will still finish a relief well as an extra measure of safety later this month. Meanwhile, BP announced it would provide results of its investigation into the April 20 accident on the Deepwater Horizon on Sept. 8. An oil industry response task force Sept.
Photo: AP/WideWorld Seismic experts credit the development and enforcement of seismic provisions of national building codes with dramatically reducing the impact of the most damaging earthquake to hit New Zealand in nearly 70 years. The magnitude-7.1 temblor that struck Christchurch, the second- largest city, at 4:36 a.m. on Sept. 4 caused no significant damage to major buildings. Low-rise unreinforced masonry buildings, not engineered to resist quakes, sustained the most extensive damage. Water and sewer lines bedded in soft alluvium were stressed and pipe-joint displacement occurred, disrupting service. By nightfall, two-thirds of the city had water.
Enforcement of seismic provisions in the nation's building codes is credited with dramatically reducing the impact of the most damaging earthquake to hit New Zealand for nearly 70 years. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, at 4.36 a.m. on Sept. 4, causing extensive damage to unreinforced masonry buildings, not engineered to resist sesimic loads, but no significant damage to major buildings. Investment in seismic retrofits appears to have saved some of Christchurch's most important historic buildings, including the Anglican Cathedral in the city's center and the Catholic Basilica. The major message from the earthquake is
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ $14.6-billion drive to bring New Orleans’ hurricane defenses to 100-year levels of protection by June 2011 could fundamentally change the way U.S. civil-works projects are funded and delivered, project leaders say. + Image + Image The Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System, or HSDRRS, is the largest civil-works construction program in Corps history. It was launched in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Already, on the fifth anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster and with a year’s construction yet to go, the works now in place provide
Possibly bowing to congressional pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Aug. 23 that it will delay until October its implementation of tougher ground-level ozone rules for powerplants. “We are continuing to carefully consider the proposed options” and public comment received since the rules were proposed in January, EPA said in a statement. The rules had been set to take effect on September 1. But several U.S. senators, citing economic hardships, opposed the new emissions standards in an Aug. 6 letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. The new rules would further tighten limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide