U Canyon—a huge, windowless concrete monolith that housed secret Cold War-era plutonium and uranium processing work at the U.S. Energy Dept.'s Hanford site, the former nuclear-weapons production facility in eastern Washington—has sat empty and inert for more than four decades. Now, however, the cavernous structure will become a beehive of activity as a technology test site, featuring a first-time DOE process in which 20,000 cu yd of specially formulated, cement-like grout is pumped beneath the edifice to stabilize its radioactivity before final demolition. U.S. Dept. of Energy Crews are filling underground cells with grout at the former nuclear weapons plant
Binghamton and Johnson City, N.Y., officials are waiting for a state report that could shut down their jointly owned and operated wastewater treatment plant for safety issues after a treatment cell wall collapsed last month, dumping 580,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Susquehanna River.Only seven non-union employees are entering the area after 41 union workers complained about the safety of the plant's biological aerated filtration (BAF) treatment system section and a leaking roof in the facility's control room. The BAF system was installed as part of an upgrade in 2004-2006.The New York State Dept. of Labor conducted an
Eight pumps with a capacity totaling 13,920 cu ft per second were put through their paces on June 3, demonstrating that the $1-billion Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex near Harvey, La., is ready for operation this hurricane season.
The staff of Tampa Bay Water, Clearwater, Fla., is recommending awarding a $162.4-million contract to Kiewit Infrastructure Group, Omaha, Neb., to repair and expand the utility’s six-year-old, 15.5-billion-gallon, cracking reservoir.
Eight pumps with a capacity totaling 13,920 cu ft per second were put through their paces on June 3, demonstrating that the $1-billion Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex near Harvey, La., is ready for operation this hurricane season. Photo By Angelle Bergeron Eight 5,400-hp diesels drive the pumps to remove stormwater when the gates must be closed to defend against a storm surge. Photo By Angelle Bergeron The 1,740-cfs pumps got a “wet test” June 3, running two at a time for 10 minutes each. The complex consists of operating gates, t-walls and levees that are designed to close
Photo: Strukton Groep N.V. / G. Dubbelman A joint venture of Dutch contractors Strukton Groep N.V., Utrecht and Van Oord N.V., Rotterdam, on 31 May lowered and inserted a 136-meter-long, 20,000-tonne sunken-tube tunnel element into a predredged trench under Amsterdam’s historic Central Station. Thousands of timber piles were replaced by new concrete foundations to make way for the new tunnel under the adjacent IJ River and through the station. The tunnel is part of the city’s new north-south metro, scheduled to open in 2017.
Alaska’s 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest will again be roadless, a U.S. district court in Anchorage has ruled. Environmental groups that filed suit say the decision blocks new logging roads and timber clear-cuts in the southeastern Alaska forest but does not rule out “other economic development,” such as small hydropower, transmission-line, mining or tourism projects.
The Mississippi River flood fight is keeping inspectors on the job around the clock, even as the bulge of highest water slides south. Contractors are fighting boils and seepage. Approximately 25 miles north of Vicksburg, Miss., crews performed emergency repairs on some 400 linear ft of mainline levee that sustained two slides on the land-side. USACE Inspectors look for slides, sand boils and other indications of structural compromise within the Mississippi River levee system. Observers first spotted the slides on May 16, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A Corps spokesperson says more such damage can be expected
The High Line is getting longer. The second section of the innovative elevated park, which is built on the roadbed of an old freight railroad on Manhattan’s West Side, is scheduled to open in June. Related Links: Rail Trestle-Turned-Park Doubling in Length Landscape Architecture Puts a New Spin On Natural Systems The High Line was built in the 1930s to serve the meatpacking and other industries. It passed directly through several industrial buildings, allowing firms to load and unload freight directly.The High Line’s design team consists of landscape architecture and urban design firm James Corner Field Operations (the project lead);
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency plan move to forward with rule making procedures on a controversial new air quality standard, despite industry claims that the agency's data used to develop the rule is flawed. Related Links: Florida Pols Fight EPA Over Pending Water-Quality Rule EPA: New Rule Limits Mercury Emmissions From Cement Kilns Gina McCarthy, the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, says the issues raised about the EPA's data will not cause any delays in moving forward with the Mercury and Air Toxic standards rule.In a May 18 letter to the Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG), McCarthy
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