The forecast called for snow, the first storm of the season even though it was mid-January. Construction crews rebuilding the Pentagon had been working 20-hour days, six days a week and were making remarkable progress toward their goal: rebuilding and reoccupying the damaged portion of the Dept. of Defense headquarters on Sept. 11, 2002, the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack. A snowstorm was not going to stop them. Unusual sequence (top) and formwork (below) are schedule-driven. Pentagon Renovation Program A concrete pour of a major deck, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 19—the day several inches of snow was expected—was bumped
The three-lane Lion's Gate Bridge spanning 1,517 m across the scenic Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, looks slender and elegant, even serene. But the experience of the all-star assembly of bridge engineering firms that gathered to replace its deck, seismically upgrade an approach and keep it sturdy for 70,000 daily commuters was anything but serene. (Photo courtesy of American Bridge) "We had some of the best engineering firms in the world working on this bridge, knowing it would be challenging," says Geoff Freer, project director for owner British Columbia Transportation Financing Authority. "But even with that, challenges came that nobody anticipated."
Mary E. Lee likes quick thinkers. And she needs one to keep the trust of voters who last year approved a $1.2-billion bond measure to expand facilities for the 120,000-student Los Angeles Community College District, one of the nation's largest. Lee, the district's executive director of planning and development, is among a growing array of public and private owners whose larger construction missions and tighter schedules are pushing them toward outside "program managers" to deliver the goods. (Photo coutesy of Gilbane) "The most important person whom I was looking for was the program director," says Lee, in interviewing E&C firm
A major artery in the heart of Chicago is undergoing double-deck surgery, bolstered by a special concrete mix designed to keep Wacker Drive from crumbling for the next generation. HISTORICAL Once supported on timber and steel (above), Wacker Drive will be reborn as high-performance concrete showcase. (Photo courtesy of Chicago Dept. of Transportation) The two-mile-long, double-deck viaduct section being rebuilt carries about 60,000 vehicles a day. Eight bascule bridges intersect with the upper roadway, as do two elevated transit lines–and 60,000 pedestrians on the Loop. Hammered by Chicago's brutal weather, the original road "was falling apart" from freeze-thaw cycles, road
While a deepening recession and the war on terrorism grabbed the headlines in 2001, there was plenty of news on the back pages for contractors concerned with costs. One of the most interesting was the widespread trend of deflation in the building materials market. Structural steel, reinforcing bar, lumber, plywood, gypsum wallboard, plastic pipe and stainless steel sheet were only some of the products experiencing declining price levels this year. Energy prices also fell sharply during the fourth quarter. Oil prices fell from $30 per bbl at the beginning of the year to just $18.50 as the Organization of Petroleum
A Special Report by Engineering News-Record and Power Magazines Since 1998, the U.S. has experienced an unprecedented and largely unexpected boom in new powerplant construction. Between 1999 and 2001, about 83,000 Mw of new capacity has come on line, adding nearly 10% to the generation base. Another 300,000 Mw to 400,000 Mw of new capacity is in the pipeline, virtually all proposed by independent "merchant" developers who have replaced traditional utilities as the industry's driving force. But almost no one believes that all of the projected capacity will actually be built. Market forces, constraints on available fuel, transmission capacity and
A Special Report by Engineering News-Record and Power Magazines In response to the abrupt halt to nearly all construction in the microelectronics market, a contractor long successful in that industry recently polled professional staffers about prior work experience. He found a substantial number had done powerplant engineering or construction. The contractor now is considering how to crack the power market. Success in power hinges on good estimating, proper attention to risk allocation, qualified people and cost and schedule controls, says Bob Milhiser. But the power division vice president of engineer-constructor Burns & Roe Enterprises Inc., Oradell, N.J., says new players
A Special Report by Engineering News-Record and Power Magazines NEW U.S. POWERPLANTS OVER 50 MW Recently Completed, Under Construction and Planned LOCATION PLANT NAME RATING(MW) PLANT OWNER YEAR OF START-UP TYPE FUEL ALABAMA Smith Goat Rock 1,120 Southern Power 2003-2004 CC Gas Not yet located Tenaska Central Alabama 885 Tenaska Energy 2003 CC Gas Decatur Morgan Energy 790 Calpine Corp. 2002 CC Gas Bynum Calhoun Energy 624 FPL Energy 2003 GT Gas Gantt Vann 590 Alabama Electric Co-op Inc. 2001 CC Gas Bucks Barry 525 Alabama Power Co. 2001 CC Gas Billingsley Tenaska Lindsay Hill 510 Tenaska Energy 2002 CC
As hardware vendors continue to cram more computing power into smaller packages, design and construction firms are beginning to realize tangible benefits. Once novelties, handheld devices are becoming more common at jobsites and in briefcases of industry executives on the go. Mobile devices are making inroads in such areas as design, data collection, project management and inspection, offering new avenues to capture information digitally and communicate ideas in real time. But how far the devices can reach into industry niches might depend on how computer manufacturers address such limitations as screen displays, environmental durability and connectivity. PLUGGED IN Caltrans employees
As hardware vendors continue to cram more computing power into smaller packages, design and construction firms are beginning to realize tangible benefits. Once novelties, handheld devices are becoming more common at jobsites and in briefcases of industry executives on the go. Mobile devices are making inroads in such areas as design, data collection, project management and inspection, offering new avenues to capture information digitally and communicate ideas in real time. But how far the devices can reach into industry niches might depend on how computer manufacturers address such limitations as screen displays, environmental durability and connectivity. PLUGGED IN Caltrans employees
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