Related Links: Link to USGS Feb. 24 report The U.S. Geological Survey detected changes in groundwater salinity near Florida's Lake Okeechobee following construction of a seepage barrier along the southeastern quarter of the lake. Contractors working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a cutoff wall to divert the path of water seepage discovered after hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. The flow damaged the 143-mile-long Herbert Hoover Dike, built in the 1930s around the lake for flood control.Seepage of this sort is responsible for about 20% of dam failures in the U.S., according to the Association of State Dam
Related Links: Spate of Lawsuits Flows from Nashville Inundation of 2010 Information on West Riverfront Park Plan The city of Nashville, still recovering from a devastating flood in 2010 that caused more than $2 billion in damages to Davidson County, Tenn., is planning to build a $100-million flood protection system over the next three years.City officials announced the plan on Feb. 25. The centerpiece of the program, originally unveiled in 2013, is a 2,100-ft floodwall intended to help protect the city from major floods."Like other river cities, Nashville can be protected by a floodwall system," said Metro Services director Scott
Photo Courtesy of McCarthy Related Links: Best of the Best 2014 The Tarrant Regional Water District Richland Chambers Wetlands project, near Fort Worth, is now the second-largest constructed wetlands in the U.S. Completed in October 2013, the $43-million project exemplifies a trend in water treatment in which natural systems are used to assist in filtering and improving water quality.In this case, water is diverted from the Trinity River, which is sometimes dominated by highly treated flows from a nearby wastewater treatment plant, into the Richland-Chambers Reservoir to provide additional raw-water supply. The 1,880-acre wetland system acts as a "living" filter
Photo courtesy AP Wide World A water system station pumps water from the Atibainha reservoir, part of the Cantareira System that provides water to the Sao Paulo metropolitan area. Related Links: Digging Deeper To Assure Las Vegas Water Supply Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions The state government of São Paulo has launched the bidding documents for a $290-million project to build a water-transmission system linking the Paraíba do Sul River to the Cantareira system, which supplies most of the São Paulo metropolitan area, with a population of 22 million people.The Cantareira system’s water
Related Links: Antwerp Freight Tunnel Has Twin Bore Beneath the River Schelde $5.25-Billion Panama Canal Expansion Program Moves Into the Final Leg Ship access capacity to the Antwerp’s Waasland Canal complex in Belgium will be more than doubled by construction of the world’s largest ship lock at the Deurganck dock. With a construction cost of some $290 million, the lock on the tidal River Scheldt’s left bank—500 meters long, 68 m wide and 17.8 m deep—is due to start operations in spring 2016.The new lock will be more than 4 m deeper than the current world-record holder, Antwerp’s 25-year-old Berendrecht
Panama Canal Owner and Contractors Agree to Final Cost, Schedule Terms Panama Canal Expansion official website Panama City Dancing to the Beat of Projects Exclusive Interview With Owner: Panama Canal Project Won't Be Held Hostage By Contractor Shutdown Global Cast Complicates Panama Canal Expansion Project After a tumultuous year that included a challenging negotiation to get the lock contractor back to work, the Panama
Photo Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency Former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao holds a megaphone at a disaster site after a 2008 earthquake that killed 80,000 people. A dam in Wenchuan Country was near the epicenter. Related Links: Concerns Linger Over Risks of Mega-Dams in India's Far Northeast Chinese Data Hint at Trigger for Fatal Quake Two earthquakes this year that struck China’s southwest Yunnan province, dotted with major Himalayan rivers and dams, are stirring up concerns that the seismic zone may be becoming more active.This year’s Ludian earthquake, which killed 617 people and injured 2,400 in August, has shaken up
Related Links: Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions Project to Provide Woodland and Davis with More Sustainable Water Supply Although the drought in the West is being called historic, utilities and engineering firms are developing solutions to ensure water supplies continue to meet demand in the future, even as populations swell and climate change intensifies.That was one of the recurring themes at ENR's first Western Water Summit, held in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Nov. 13.According to Roger Pulwarty, director of the national integrated drought information system and senior adviser for climate at the National
Photo by AP Wideworld Since August, a number of contracts have been signed for infrastructure and dredging work. Related Links: Egypt Moves Forward on $6-Billion Petrochemical Project Expansion in Natural Gas Production Spurs Big U.S. Export Plans In an attempt to rekindle national pride and demonstrate his administration’s ability to move the country beyond a turbulent political period, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last August announced that the Suez Canal would be expanded to enable more vessels to transit the waterway and boost the country’s revenues.Now in the early stages of construction, the expansion project is estimated to cost $4
Rendering Courtesy of Bend Park and Recreation District The project in Oregon will construct a safe-passage channel (top), white-water channel (center) and habitat channel (bottom). Related Links: Creative Dam Removal Based On Site's Unique Topography Elwha River Restoration Project Involves Largest Dam Removal Effort in U.S. History A dam upgrade in Bend, Ore., will provide three distinct river channels, all engineered to match differing—and often competing—needs.As part of an upgrade to the Deschutes River at the Colorado Dam, the Bend Park & Recreation District hired engineer Otak and contractor Hamilton Construction to turn some 500 ft of in-city river into
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