Courtesy Dragados USA The Portugues Dam is the first roller compacted concrete, thick-arch dam attempted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Related Links: The 10 Largest-Capacity Hydropower Plants When the heavy rains come as they do every year, the steep mountain slopes on the southern side of Puerto Rico can become deadly. The Portugués and Bucana rivers often overflow with a rapidity that threatens the municipality of Ponce downstream.The formal completion ceremony for the $386-million Portugués Dam on Feb. 5 marks the end of a long odyssey to solve the flood-control issues that imperil the Caribbean island's second-largest urban
Related Links: Report Shows Improved Water Quality in Chesapeake Bay CH2M Hill Now Will Run Troubled Port of Anchorage Expansion Job Two firms competing for a program and construction-management contract under Miami-Dade County's federally mandated sewer-repairs project are at odds. AECOM Technical Services and CH2M Hill are accusing each other of improprieties during bidding for the $1.6-billion project.AECOM fired the first shot, asserting that CH2M Hill violated Miami-Dade's ethics rules and standard procurement practices by sending hundreds of pages of proposal documentation directly to county officials prior to a Tier 2 presentation before a committee assembled on Aug. 28, 2013,
Image Courtesy of Nalcor Energy The $7.8-billion Muskrat Falls project would ensure a reliable power supply to the province, backers say. Opponents see it as a dubious scheme with little benefit. Related Links: Risks Pile Up At Canada's Muskrat Falls Hydro Provincial Fact Sheet: Muskrat Falls Rolling blackouts and power outages throughout Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador province in January have prompted the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities (PUB) to launch a probe into Nalcor Energy and its management of power generation and transmission infrastructure.PUB's announcement of the investigation comes after a number of public complaints claimed that utility corporations
Related Links: Environmental Integrity Report Efforts to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus discharges in the Chesapeake Bay's watershed states have made a noticeable impact, according to a recent report, and more improvements are expected in the coming years. Citing Environmental Protection Agency data, the Environmental Integrity Project reports that discharges of nitrogen from industrial facilities and sewage treatment plants declined about 3 million tons, or about 6.5%, in 2012 compared to the previous year."There's been a lot of money spent, and nitrogen discharges have gone down pretty significantly," says Eric Schaeffer, executive director of EIP.Discharges in Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of
Related Links: New Post-Construction Stormwater Rule Could be Delayed NRDC Report A new report evaluates some of green infrastructure's benefits—green roofs, rain gardens, tree plantings, permeable pavements—to commercial property owners and their tenants.The December 2013 report, produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), looked at a range of benefits: energy savings, higher rents and property values, reductions in water bills and local financial incentives, such as tax credits and stormwater fee credits.The report found that the benefit value over 40 years could range from $2 million to $24 million for individual buildings.Larry Levine, senior attorney for NRDC's water program,
Hydropower produces 16% of the world’s electricity and plays a strong role in satisfying the national energy needs of certain countries. Paraguay produces all of its electricity from hydropower, while exporting most of its excess supply to neighboring Brazil and Argentina. Albania, Bhutan and Lesotho also depend exclusively on hydroelectricity. Norway produces more than 98% of its electricity from hydropower, Brazil draws upon it for 85%, Iceland for 80%, Venezuela for 69%, Colombia for 65% and Canada for 61%. Austria (60%), Switzerland (56%) and New Zealand (53%) are other countries that generate the majority of their electricity from hydro sources.
Related Links: India Blackout Affects 600 Million People India Blackout Highlights Gap Between Power Supply and Demand Hindustan Construction Co. home page National Hydroelectric Power Corp. home page Construction World To bolster India’s northern power grid, Hindustan Construction Co. (HCC) is constructing the 240-MW Uri-II hydro development power project. The project is a run-of-the-river scheme for the National Hydroelectric Power Corp. (NHPC) on the Jhelum River in the Uri area of the Baramullah district in northern Kashmir. Generating electricity from four 60-MW turbines, Uri-II will not only make the state independent in terms of power but also lend power to
Related Links: Desalination Advocates Are Pinning Hopes on Carlsbad Project Poseidon Water's Huntington Beach Project Details on Huntington Beach Project Backers of a proposed 50 million-gallon-a day (mgd), $900-million desalination plant on the Pacific Coast in Huntington Beach, Calif., suffered a setback on Nov. 13 when the California Coastal Commission delayed a vote to approve the project.The project is the second major desalination plant being planned in the state by Poseidon Water, Boston. The first, in Carlsbad, is a 54 mgd plant that is currently under construction (ENR Oct. 21 p.32) and expected to be completed in 2015.The coastal commissioners
Photos Courtesy of Nalcor Energy Sitework at Canada's Muskrat Falls hydropower project got off the ground before investors were lined up to finance the project. Related Links: Red River Flood-Control Scheme Moves One Step Closer to Implementation Old Dams, New Power: Powerplant Owners Swap Turbines, Upgrade Powerhouses British Columbia's $6-Billion Hydropower Fix Will Address Capacity and Seismic Issues Big questions loom now that Nalcor Energy has named Astaldi Canada, a subsidiary of one of Italy's largest construction firms, as contractor for the $1-billion civil-works construction at the Muskrat Falls hydropower development on Canada's Lower Churchill River in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Related Links: Israel Firm Awarded Contract at Record-Size Desal Plant in California Tampa Bay is Ready to Test Whether Fixed Plant is Worth its Salt Many hopes are riding on the new $1-billion, 54-million-gallon-a-day seawater desalination plant and pipeline in Carlsbad, Calif. If successful, the project, made possible through one of the first public-private partnerships of its kind in the U.S., could serve as a model for other projects around the country.If the project falters, however, the growing momentum for similar U.S. seawater desalination projects could face a reversal, industry observers say."It is being watched closely right now," says Peter
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