Related Links: Contractor Seeks 10-Year Construction Extension for MOX Project The full cost to build the much delayed Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MOX) project at the Savannah River site in South Carolina eventually could triple its original estimate, the Dept. of Energy acknowledged in a Jan. 15 project-management report. "Estimates for the capital work range from $8 billion [to] $12 billion, depending on the funding profiles," stated DOE's report. The agency also said capital expenditures so far have totaled $4 billion—the contract's original cost estimate—with construction only 50% complete, more than seven years after work first began.Project critics used DOE's
Buoyed by recent project successes, industry advocates for increased application of virtual design and construction are becoming more convinced—and convincing—about VDC’s transformative potential. But hurdles persist—notably the U.S. construction industry’s lagging adoption of digital collaboration tools, as well as a looming generational workforce shift.Industry experts and technologists spoke on the topic and presented project examples at an ENR FutureTech Conference, Dec. 11, in Atlanta. While the use of building information modeling in the U.S. is becoming more commonplace, Steve Jones of Dodge Data & Analytics, the parent company of ENR, showed survey data demonstrating that the United Kingdom—which has mandated
Photo by AP Wideworld One worker died in the first bridge collapse, while the second occurred more than 12 hours later. The fatal collapse of an under-construction pedestrian bridge and—more than 12 hours later— the overnight crash of another nearby span at a $49-million community-college project in Raleigh, N.C., have contractors, engineers and state safety officials stumped for a cause of the two failures at the Wake Technical Community College Building F project.On Nov. 13, around 10:30 a.m., workers with Skanska USA Building's subcontractor, Central Concrete of North Carolina, were placing concrete on the deck of a bridge, connecting Building
When fully open and upright, the 94 operable louver arms atop Florida Polytechnic University's $60-million Innovation Science and Technology building seem to salute in unison the birth of the nation's newest engineering school.
For this year's Best Projects contest, ENR Southeast's panel of judges nominated two entries for the top award, the Southeast Project of the Year. In October, after ENR Southeast blogged the nominees—the Florida Polytechnic University's Innovation, Science and Technology Building and the PortMiami Tunnel—we heard from one project representative that the two were being viewed as "beauty and the beast."
Workers at a problem-plagued production facility in Louisiana that supplies components to nuclear expansion projects in Georgia and South Carolina conspired to cheat on a welder qualification test, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Photo courtesy Georgia Power Company A view of the Plant Vogtle Unit 3 nuclear island, as of September 2014. Photo courtesy Georgia Power Company One of the CA20 modules included as part of the Unit 3 nuclear island. The Lake Charles, La., prefabrication plant is the facility producing the CA20 modules. Related Links: CB&I Plant That Feeds Vogtle Project Faces NRC Scrutiny Builders of Vogtle
Photo Courtesy Georgia Power Company Vogtle Progress A CA20 module (above), featuring components built at the Louisiana plant, is pictured next to the Unit 3 nuclear island (below). Photo Courtesy Georgia Power Company Related Links: NRC, Georgia Power Eye CB&I Plant for Workforce, QC Issues Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures Workers at a problem-plagued prefabrication facility that supplies components to nuclear expansion projects in Georgia and South Carolina conspired to cheat on a welder qualification test, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.As a result of the violations, the NRC announced on Sept. 26 that, after mediation,
A watchdog group focused on federal spending at the Savannah River site, a nuclear complex in Aiken, S.C., is raising new concerns about the delayed, $7.7-billion Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project after the contractor filed a "routine" request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 10-year construction extension. Photo courtesy Savannah River Site Watch The contractor leading the $7.7-billion Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project at the Savannah River Site has requested a 10-year extension for construction authorization from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Related Links: DOE: Nuclear Agency's Initial OK of MOX Project Violated Standards Construction, Operational Challenges Endanger $7.7B
Photo Courtesy of SRS Watch Despite the Obama administration's attempts to halt the project, Congress appears poised to keep construction moving forward. Related Links: DOE: Nuclear Agency's Initial OK of MOX Project's Construction Violated Standards Senate Appropriators Question Pause in MOX Project A watchdog group eyeing federal spending at the Savannah River site, a nuclear complex in Aiken, S.C., is again raising concerns about the long-delayed, $7.7-billion Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project after the contractor filed a "routine" request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 10-year construction extension."The request to extend the construction license of the MOX plant is
