Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. Fukushima response Per NRC mandate, U.S. nuclear sites are installing disaster-resistant domes. Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. Related Links: TVA Moves Ahead to Make Fukushima Upgrades at Nuclear Power Plants Offshore Wind-Power Prototype Advancing at Fukushima Southern Nuclear and Georgia Power were the latest nuclear energy providers to install a federally mandated disaster-resistant, concrete-dome equipment-storage facility designed to mitigate the loss of power in the event of an "extreme" natural phenomena. Unveiled at the utilities' Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, near Waynesboro, Ga., the so-called FLEX Dome was designed to withstand 360-mph winds—sufficient for
As continuing construction delays cause financing and related costs to mount, time is starting to put "significant" strain upon the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project's economics, according to recent testimony presented to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Georgia Power, state monitors and others.
As part of a streamlining announced last December, Houston-based engineer-contractor KBR is selling its building construction unit to Illinois construction firm Pernix Group Inc. for $28 million, including $6 million in working capital, the firms said June 10. R
Photo Courtesy of Southern Co. Contractors have made notable progress, officials noted, but construction completion was below as of April. Related Links: Construction Monitor Will Jacobs Provides Key Insights on Critical Vogtle Project Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures With construction delays, financing and related costs continuing to mount, time is starting to put "significant" strain upon the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project's economics, according to recent testimony presented to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Georgia Power, state monitors and others. As a result, considerable discussion at the June hearings focused on whether completing the nuclear project
Related Links: Buyout Ends Era at Privately Held BE&K, Giving KBR More Market Presence Challenges Are Ahead for KBR's New CEO on Board in June KBR Transforms its Business ENR Southeast: Top Regional Contractors 2011 As part of a streamlining announced last December, Houston-based engineer-contractor KBR is selling its building construction unit to Illinois construction firm Pernix Group Inc. for $28 million, including $6 million in working capital, the firms said June 10.Under the deal, set to close by June 30, Lombard-based Pernix is buying the operation as the BE&K Building Group, reverting to its origin as part of independent open-shop
Image Courtesy Silverstein Properties Architect Bjarke Ingels asserts that from one vantage point 2 World Trade Center "will appear like a vertical village of singular buildings stacked on top of each other." Related Links: Progress Slow but Steady at World Trade Center Development Architect BIG Gets Museum Commission From Swiss Watchmaker Ground Zero’s makeover is entering its final phase. New York City-based architect Bjarke Ingels Group recently unveiled design concepts for 2 World Trade Center, the 80-plus-story office building being developed by Silverstein Properties as the site’s final tower. BIG’s 2 WTC design scheme involves stacking seven separate building volumes
Photo courtesy Miami Dade College The main dispute during the mediation process was whether or not the 520,000-sq-ft structure could be repaired, as the builders favored, or if a complete replacement was warranted, as the school wanted, and ultimately won. Related Links: Miami Dade College Sues Builders of Collapsed Garage OSHA Cites Five Firms for Miami Parking Garage Collapse Contractors and insurers involved with a $22.5-million Miami Dade College parking-garage project that partially collapsed during construction in October 2012 agreed to finance a complete rebuild by paying the school roughly $26.5 million via a settlement. Additionally, the contractors forgave an
A complex, groundbreaking automated car elevator system, situated in the center of the $560-million, 60-story Porsche Design Tower project in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., is raising the bar on "sky garage" technology, and taking its builders on a memorable journey as contractors and engineers make accommodations for the massive system.
Southeast design firms are for the most part making gains in business activity as the region's construction economy continues to improve. But while most of the engineering and architectural firms that participated in ENR Southeast's annual Top Design Firms survey reported increased revenue for 2014, gains were often modest. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record For instance, the group's collective 2014 revenue total of $3.3 billion marked a 10% improvement over last year's survey total of $3 billion. However, much of that increase can be attributed to AECOM's inclusion of new revenue resulting from its 2014 acquisition of URS
Related Links: With Coal-Ash Leak Plugged, Focus Turns to Remediation Duke Energy Fights North Carolina's $25.1M Coal-Ash Fine Duke Energy pleaded guilty to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act and agreed to $102 million in fines and penalties related to a February 2014 coal-ash spill in North Carolina, according to a settlement announced by the U.S. Dept. of Justice on May 14. As part of the agreement, the Charlotte, N.C.-based utility will pay fines totaling more than $68 million, and will fund $34 million in environmental projects and land conservation efforts in North Carolina and Virginia. Covered by
