As the construction industry evolves, so too must the tools with which engineers and contractors do business. Plenty of companies have developed their own apps that do everything from managing project data to calculating cost-per-square-foot of concrete. Texas-based SpawGlass has joined the mix after seeing the need for an app with a broader scope. Related Links: Some Companies Hungry for Custom Business Apps Decide to Build Their Own Earlier this year, SpawGlass launched its Targeted Estimating Database iPad app, which helps with the development of a realistic budget for commercial construction projects by offering real-time, cost-per-square-foot pricing using the average
An idled methanol plant currently located in Chile will soon be relocated to Geismar, La. Related Links: Methanex Corp. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Methanex Corp., the plant owner, has hired Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to complete EPC services for the project. The companies estimate that the construction value will total $550 million.Methanex made the final decision to relocate the plant on July 25. Relocation, compared to a new-build, will offer some capital savings and a reduced project time frame.The facility is being moved for several reasons, according to Methanex, including the North American shale gas boom, which has created a
A slurry-filled sinkhole in the Bayou Corne area of Louisiana’s Assumption Parish that first developed earlier this month now reaches 476 feet (NE to SW) by 640 feet (NW to SE), stretching 300 feet at its deepest as of August 15. Photo courtesy of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources An aerial view of the slurry-filled Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, from August 3. Related Links: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Assumption Parish While the sinkhole continues to expand, its exact cause remains unknown, a representative from the Department of Environmental Quality tells
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
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