Oil prices are rising as President Bush and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein see who can rattle their sabers the loudest. As the war rhetoric builds, paving contractors have to deal with the resulting price increases for liquid paving asphalt. Since last March, ENR's 20-city average price for paving asphalt has increased 14% to $162 per ton. War jitters are adding an average $4 premium on the price of a barrel of oil, says Bruce Cavella, oil analyst for the forecasting firm DRI-WEFA, Lexington, Mass. Since the beginning of the year, the price of the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil
Oil prices are rising as President Bush and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein see who can rattle their sabers the loudest. As the war rhetoric builds, paving contractors have to deal with the resulting price increases for liquid paving asphalt. Since last March, ENR's 20-city average price for paving asphalt has increased 14% to $162 per ton. War jitters are adding an average $4 premium on the price of a barrel of oil, says Bruce Cavella, oil analyst for the forecasting firm DRI-WEFA, Lexington, Mass. Since the beginning of the year, the price of the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil
By the third quarter of this year, the full impact on prices of new U.S. tariffs on imported steel became clear. President Bush placed a 30% tariff on most flat products, such as plate and sheet, last March 5. Most of the so-called long products, which include construction materials such as structural steel and reinforcing bar, were excluded from the tariffs. The pricing trends for the two basic types of steel products could not have been more different. Prices for flat products increased 41% from the time the tariffs were put in place to last August, according to the composite
A well-designed exterior lighting scheme is a crucial part of any facility's security system. In addition to helping people see better at night, the right kinds of fixtures, properly placed, can discourage criminal activity. The differences between systems that work well and those that don't are quite subtle. Some lighting systems that produce industry-recommended light levels will not work well when put into use. It is important that building designers as well as those who maintain existing structures understand where to place luminaires and what kinds to specify. The conventional wisdom about outdoor security lighting is simple: Make an area
One hot afternoon this June, standing in New York City's Battery Park, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told assembled reporters and onlookers that "it is impossible to overstate the importance of national maritime security." Flanked by members of the U.S. Coast Guard, city police and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials, he then announced $92.3 million in grants to be distributed to 77 U.S. ports. It was a start, but the ports had filed grant applications for $750 million worth of work, eight times the total Mineta promised. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, ports
Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, engineering and development work on security devices often bogged down in the testing and commercialization process. The journey from concept to market could span 20 years or more. The attacks stimulated a sense of immediacy. "What Sept. 11 has done is accelerate development and deployment for projects with security applications," says Duane Lindner, deputy director of chemical and biological programs for Sandia National Laboratories, Sandia, N.M. Because the attacks broadened the list of possible threats to Americans, Sandia Lab is pushing security projects from the development stage to actual use more rapidly, Lindner
One hot afternoon this June, standing in New York City's Battery Park, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told assembled reporters and onlookers that "it is impossible to overstate the importance of national maritime security." Flanked by members of the U.S. Coast Guard, city police and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials, he then announced $92.3 million in grants to be distributed to 77 U.S. ports. It was a start, but the ports had filed grant applications for $750 million worth of work, eight times the total Mineta promised. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, ports
Visibility has always played a role in locating and designing U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions throughout the world. But openness and accessibility, two traits of a democratic system that the U.S. government tries to convey through its missions, are becoming increasingly difficult to design for and build as government buildings become targets for terrorists. In Croatia, the State Dept. is solving the problem by relocating its aged, cramped and outdated mission from the center of Zagreb to the capital's outskirts. The coming move has not pleased many of the embassy's staff and workers who are loath to abandon a convenient
While protecting public infrastructure systems from potential disasters is not a new concept, owners and consultants have felt an urgent calling to this task since 9/11. Government agencies at all levels are assessing water, wastewater and power systems from top to bottom, looking for chinks in the armor and ways to upgrade security within budget constraints. Some owners initiated assessments long before 9/11, while others are now scrambling to meet federal deadlines. The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act requires drinking water systems serving 100,000 people or more to complete vulnerability assessments and submit them to the U.S. Environmental
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