A new permit by rule recently approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality could lead more commercial and industrial facilities to use combined heat and power (CHP) technologies for their power needs. Photo courtesy The Methodist Hospital The Methodist Hospital in Houston is host to a rooftop 4.5 MW combined heat and power unit, shown here. Existing permitting regulations state that a CHP system – regardless of building site or its megawatt capacity – falls under the strict rules for electric generating units, requiring a permit that critics say is very restrictive on emissions.“So even if you were putting
In light of recent drought, calls for construction of additional desalination plants are gaining traction. Earlier this month, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson’s office announced that the Texas General Land Office (GLO) is exploring the potential of a desalination project that would turn some of Texas’ abundant brackish groundwater into finished drinking water on a 2,000-acre tract of land along Interstate 35, between Austin and San Antonio. North Cameron Regional Water Authority North Cameron Regional Water Authoritys brackish water desalination facility in Harlingen, Texas. The plant was built in 2007 and has a capacity of 2.25 million gallons per day.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the cause of a fatal tower crane collapse at the University of Texas at Dallas campus in Richardson on July 7, but experts familiar with the accident are already pointing to problems with the dismantling process. Related Links: PHOTO: Dallas Morning News Coverage of Collapse VIDEO: WFAA Coverage of Collapse Crews at the site of the new $60-million Arts and Technology Building being built on the campus were disassembling the crane when it collapsed, killing two workers. The workers were Thomas Fairbrother Jr., 58, of Austin and Terry Weaver, 50, of
Continued expansion at the Tower 55 site in Fort Worth and other improvement projects are part of BNSF Railway Company’s $199-million maintenance and expansion plan in Texas this year. BNSF announced its 2012 capacity enhancement projects May 23. The planned capital investments in Texas are part of BNSF's total 2012 capital commitment of $3.9 billion. The plan includes expansion of rail capacity at Tower 55, the realignment of its mainline for the extension of the Alliance Airport runway just north of Fort Worth, replacement of the Galveston Causeway Bridge, installation of wheel detectors in Galveston, improvements to BNSF's Amarillo car
The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas awarded a contract to Skanska to construct a hotel and expand and renovate its existing casino in Eagle Pass, Texas. The $46.5-million project includes the addition of about 183,000-sq-ft, 250-room hotel facility with restaurants, retail space, meeting rooms and a fitness center. The project also includes an 80,000-sq-ft renovation and expansion of the existing casino facility. Construction will begin in June and is expected to complete by August 2013.
A consortium of Baton Rouge-based Petroplex International, Macquarie Group and Harley Franco, CEO and founder of Harley Marine Services, announced May 9 that it has raised capital to move ahead with development of a $600-million multi-modal bulk liquid terminal in St. James Parish. The facility has a projected initial storage capacity of 4-million to 6-million barrels. Construction is expected to commence during the first half of 2013, and the facility is expected to begin commercial operations during 2014. Petroplex will build a storage and distribution terminal for crude oil, refined petroleum products, fuel oil, chemicals, agrichemicals, renewable fuels, and other commercial liquid
BASF plans to build a production plant for formic acid at its integrated “Verbund” site in Geismar, La. The new plant will have an annual capacity of more than 50,000 tons. Start-up of the new plant is expected in the second quarter 2014. When completed, the project would be the only formic acid production plant in North America. BASF currently operates two formic acid production plants located in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Nanjing, China, with a total annual capacity of more than 255,000 tons. Both formic acid and potassium formate are used in the oil field industry as part of the drilling
Hatch Mott MacDonald expanded its footprint in Lousiana with the aquisition of New Orleans-based Lambert Engineers, May 14. The deal enables Hatch Mott MacDonald to bolster it suite of engineering services, covering the transportation, environmental, coastal, oil & gas, and water sectors. Company executives noted that the acquisition also adds experienced staff, who are members of the local community and understand its needs. “Joining Hatch Mott MacDonald offers our local staff the expertise and resources that we need to undertake significant engineering and environmental projects in southern Louisiana,” said Dennis Lambert, a principal owner of Lambert Engineers, in a statement.
Bill Steele was promoted to vice president of Sundt Construction's Texas district. He previously served as manager of preconstruction services in the district's San Antonio headquarters. In his new role, Steele will oversee preconstruction efforts and estimating for local and state projects in the state. During his tenure at Sundt, Steele held the positions of senior estimator and preconstruction project manager at the company's Tempe, Ariz., headquarters. Kurt Knebel was hired as vice president of civil operations for the Texas division of McCarthy Building Cos. He will focus on project management, oversight and executive leadership of the division's transportation business
Are capital-intensive subcontractors with substantial fabricating operations the most likely not to make it through to the end of the construction recession?That’s a question prime contractors could ask in light of the latest major subcontractor default.Austin Industries, the big commercial and industrial contactor, says of its four projects on which Trainor Glass Co. was serving as a subcontractor, three were nearly completed and are running on schedule and the fourth is in a very early stage and is unlikely to be affected.Based in Farmers Branch, Texas, Trainor Glass shut its doors at nine locations where it had operations Feb. 22
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