Municipal and plant officials continue to look for the cause of the May 16 collapse of a 100-ft wall at the wastewater treatment plant serving Binghamton and Johnson City, N.Y. The event triggered a 580,000-gal spill of partially treated wastewater into a local creek and the nearby Susquehanna River. Four of the plants 20 filtration cells were destroyed when the 15-ft tall, 18-in thick wall fell.A post-construction quality audit of the plant, issued in February by LMK Engineers LLC of Pottstown, Pa., found more than 150 deficiencies that it blamed on inadequate construction management.Design and configuration control during construction and
Prospects for carbon-free power is getting a double boost in Europe. France is about to procure an estimated $14-billion of offshore wind farms. And the U.K. is setting itself tough greenhouse gas targets, increasing its reliance on renewable and nuclear energy. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR A lack of federal legislation for renewable energy is holding back the market for wind power and green jobs, supporters say. Related Links: Offshore Support for Onshore Wind Booms, Busts Stunt Growth of Wind Power Three of France’s biggest engineering companies have formed an alliance to bid this month or next for a
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using a variety of measures, including opening three massive river diversion features—the Bonnet Carré, Birds Point-New Madrid and Morganza floodways—to relieve pressure on the Mississippi River watershed. Graphic courtesy USACE Water spewed skyward at the rate of 10,000 cu ft per second on May 14 as the first vertical-lift gate was opened on the Morganza Floodway. It was the Corps' third big control measure in the flood fight and marked the first time that three main control structures on the lower Mississippi were opened at the same time.The Corps' first move was blasting
Engineers and emergency planners from northern California to British Columbia say the massive undersea quake and tsunami that recently assaulted Japan gives clear warning about the danger that lurks just off the Pacific coast like a mad dog sleeping by the bed: A 630-mile-long geologic feature that was identified in 1984 is believed to be very similar to the one that broke with such violence off the coast of Japan in March. Evidence of violent breaks in the featurecalled the Cascadia Subduction Zone, or CSZhas been found in sediment layers left by prehistoric tsunami. On April 25, 1992, a 7.2-Mw
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is using a variety of measures, including opening three massive river diversion features—the Bonnet Carré, Birds Point-New Madrid and Morganza floodways—to relieve pressure on the Mississippi River watershed. Graphic: Courtesy USACE Water spewed skyward at the rate of 10,000 cu ft per second on May 14 as the first vertical-lift gate was opened on the Morganza Floodway. It was the Corps’ third big control measure in the flood fight and marked the first time that three main control structures on the lower Mississippi were opened at the same time. The Corps’ first move was
With work finished in April on a major support facility, the $12.2-billion waste vitrification complex at the U.S. Energy Dept.’s Hanford nuclear waste site in Washington state is nearly 60% complete and on track to meet its mandated 2019 operating deadline, officials say. Photo: Courtesy Of Bechtel Group Equipment is lifted into a vitrification plant at a DOE nuclear waste site. The Hanford Waste Treatment Plant is intended to turn the site’s 56 million gallons of liquid radioactive and chemical wastes left from past decades of nuclear weapon production into vitrified glass logs. The wastes now are stored in aging
“Engineers should become more involved in research and fundamental knowledge,” says Ian Robertson, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In April, he was on the first of seven teams sent by the American Society of Civil Engineers to Japan to analyze the March 11 quake and tsunami. “There is a tendency to just do what’s in the code,” says Robertson, “but in this case the code has been idling. It’s time to bring it up to speed.” Photo by Tom Sawyer The row of bent flagpoles in Sendai (above) and pressure-shattered walls of a
A general contractor is installing two 550-ton sector-gate leaves in a $1.3-billion barrier designed to reduce the risk of a hurricane’s storm surge on New Orleans’ exposed eastern side. The leaves will plug a big hole in the city’s armor for the 2011 hurricane season. Photo: Courtesy of USACE Ring wall shields two 550-ton sector-gate leaves when open and braces them against storm loads when closed. Massman Construction Co., Kansas City, Mo., is installing the two 75-ft-wide, 42-ft-tall sector-gate leaves to form an armored door for a 150-ft-wide navigable passage through the 1.8-mile-long, 26-ft-plus-elevation barrier, known as the Inner Harbor
Engineers and emergency planners from northern California to British Columbia say the massive undersea quake and tsunami that recently assaulted Japan gives clear warning about the danger that lurks just off the Pacific coast like a mad dog sleeping by the bed: A 630-mile-long geologic feature that was identified in 1984 is believed to be very similar to the one that broke with such violence off the coast of Japan in March. Evidence of violent breaks in the feature—called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, or CSZ—has been found in sediment layers left by prehistoric tsunami. On April 25, 1992, a 7.2-Mw
A presidential panel has recommended the U.S. “expeditiously” establish a permanent repository for nuclear waste similar to the now-abandoned site at Yucca Mountain. The waste-disposal subcommittee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future said on May 13 that the underground site is “the most promising and technically [acceptable] option available” for safely isolating high-level nuclear waste. The panel also suggests creation of a new federal agency dedicated to implementing a program to transport, store and dispose of U.S. nuclear waste. The subcommittee will make interim recommendations in July, with a final report set for January.
RSS
