Photo for ENR by C.J. Schexnayder Concrete terms? Contractors and canal officials differ over responsibility for quality of aggregate used for the project's concrete. Related Links: Arrival of Gates Marks Milestone in Panama Canal Expansion Panama Canal Contractor Files $573-Million Claim In an effort to avoid a threatened shutdown of work on the $5.2-billion expansion of the Panama Canal, the authority that oversees the historic waterway proposed a joint financing scheme to its construction team on Jan. 7 to cover cost overruns. But it is not clear whether a short-term deal will keep building progress on track.Officials of the Panama
Related Links: Infrastructure Investors Are Willing To Pound the Pavement LBJ Work Progress To Excavation Phase The population of the Lone Star State passed the 26-million mark this year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The 3.6% year-over-year growth rate shows no sign of slowing. While new arrivals are welcomed, the problem, as Texas officials wryly note, is that they "don't bring new roads with them."(click here for slide show)The Texas A&M Texas Transportation Institute estimates the state faces a $4-billion funding gap to meet the transportation needs of the growing populace. To make ends meet, the Texas Dept. of
Work is fully underway on an ambitious $798 million project that will transform interstate traffic through downtown Dallas. When completed in 2017, the Horseshoe Project will revitalize the I-30 and I-35 corridors through the city while replacing the series of bridges that carry traffic across the Trinity River. Courtesy of the Texas Dept. of Transportation An aerial view of the $798 million Horseshoe Project in Dallas. Related Links: Project Overview: Dallas Horseshoe Texas Dept. of Transportation The project is dubbed the “Horseshoe” due to its U-shaped configuration around the city's central downtown, a section currently referred to as the “Mixmaster.”Pegasus
Upon completion earlier this year, the BBVA Compass Plaza became one of the first new high-rise structures built in Houston's uptown section near the Galleria in more than 30 years.
Work has resumed on the site of a Brazilian soccer stadium where a crane fatally collapsed on Nov. 27, but a ban on crane operations is in place while the incident continues to be investigated.
AP Wideworld Two people died in a Nov. 27 accident that toppled a crawler crane and part of the Itaquerao stadium, future site of the opening of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Related Links: Two Years to World Cup Kickoff for Brazilian Stadiums Report: 40% of World Cup Projects Behind Schedule A leading expert on crane collapses describes a Nov. 27 accident at a World Cup soccer stadium under construction in Brazil as "highly unusual" after an initial assessment of damage photos."It is unusual because the boom snapped off the car body," says Jim Wiethorn, a forensic specialist at