Related Links: Huge Swimming Pool, Possibly World's Largest, Takes Shape in Egypt A Closer Look at Record-Sized Pools That Resemble Oases The manufacturer of the world's largest artificial swimming pools, Santiago, Chile-based Crystal Lagoons, has announced plans to build its massive recreational lagoons in the United States.In a deal announced on June 25, Tampa, Fla.-based Metro Development Group will oversee construction of four artificial lagoons in Florida using Crystal Lagoons' technology. "In terms of final size, we're trying to make them each a minimum of 5.5 acres, maybe over eight acres in size on some sites," says Greg Singleton, Metro
Related Links: Record-Size Swimming Pools Come to the U.S. for the First Time Since 2006, pools designed by Crystal Lagoons Corp. have held records for the world's largest pools. Today, 300 are operating or in the process of development in 60 countries, the company reports. Typically, the pools anchor resort communities. Click to begin the slide show.
Related Links: Red River Flood-Control Scheme Moves One Step Closer to Implementation Army Corps Plan Would Tame Red River, Prevent 100-Year Flood The Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Board Authority wasted no time starting work after President Obama signed the Water Reform and Resources Development Act on June 10. The authority is using the federal approval to proceed with construction on a controversial segment of its proposed $2-billion flood-mitigation project.Opponents say a levee downstream of the Fargo, N.D.-Moorhead, Minn., metro area would sacrifice the natural floodplain around the cities for commercial development. They sued in federal and state courts to stop the project.In
Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Two ancient landslides were discovered during excavation for the new Calaveras Dam, requiring an additional 3.5 million cu yd of excavation and adding significantly to the project's budget. Related Links: Water Pipeline Designed to Surf Seismic Waves Seismic Upgrade of San Francisco's Water System a Race Against Time Huge Gates Take 600-mile Trek to California Dam Site With a budget of $718 million, the Calaveras Dam Replacement dwarfs other projects in SFPUC's Water System Improvement Program. Located in the Sunol Valley southeast of Fremont, the project replaces the original dam, built in
Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Water Design-builders overhauled the eight-year-old reservoir's embankment structure. Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Water According to Tampa Bay Water, the reservoir continued to experience significant cracking, which had been a focus of a lengthy legal battle. Related Links: 'Robust' Rebuild Designed to Deliver Reservoir 2.0 Concerns Over Sinkholes Scuttle Tampa Bay's Reservoir Expansion Two years after a federal jury denied Tampa Bay Water (TBW) damages for cracks at its then-six-year-old, Lithia, Fla., reservoir, the regional water supplier is eyeing better days as a $129-million renovation nears completion.While Kiewit Infrastructure Group is targeting a November completion,
By any measure, San Francisco's effort to seismically upgrade its water supply is big. The $4.765-billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) includes 83 separate projects spread throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Photo Coutesy Grant County Public Utility district Crew bores pilot hole in preparation for steel-strand tendons that will be anchored in bedrock. Related Links: Varied Approaches Wring New Power from Waters Feds OK Redesign To Boost Migrating Salmon Survival Early this year, workers at the Wanapum Dam in central Washington state discovered that a 50-year-old mathematical error, made during dam design, had caused a 65-ft-long fracture.The 8,367-ft-long Wanapum Dam, six miles downstream of Vantage, Wash., generates 1,092 MW of power.On Feb. 24, a hydroelectric mechanic walking the small road on the dam's spillway deck noticed a bowed curb, says Thomas
Related Links: Bidding for $1.6B Miami-Dade Sewer-Repairs Contract Gets Messy In Miami-Dade Sewers Dispute, CH2M Hill's Claims Didn't Add Up for Inspector General After months of delay from protests by both bidders and subsequent investigations into the numerous claims, Miami-Dade County on May 20 awarded the program and construction-management contract for a $1.6-billion, federally mandated sewer-system repair project to AECOM Technical Services. The award came nearly 11 months after AECOM and sole competitor CH2M Hill submitted their proposals—and more than eight months after the county first moved to hire CH2M Hill.The claims and counterclaims started when AECOM alleged CH2M Hill
Blue Plains Eyes Plan to Further Green its CSO Program The first major section of a 13.2-mile network of tunnels designed to help manage Washington, D.C.’s combined sewer overflows (CSOs) is taking shape
Related Links: D.C. Water Undertakes Three Major Environmental Projects DC Water Fact Sheet on Biosolids Project The District of Columbia's water and sewer authority is coming close to finalizing work on its $470-million biosolids project. George Hawkins, DC Water's general manager, says the 90%-complete project should be up and running by late summer or early fall.The system will convert wastewater sludge from the Blue Plains advanced wastewater treatment facility, which currently treats approximately 370 million gallons a day of wastewater, into a Class-A biosolid using thermal hydrolysis. The process is a proven technology in Europe but has never been used