Photo by AP Wide World A proposed EPA rule calls for a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030. States would be responsible for implementing plans by June 2016. Related Links: EPA Sets Ambitious Goal to Cut Existing Powerplants' CO2 Emissions Text of EPA Proposal (June 2) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing powerplants, calling for a 30% reduction below 2005 levels by 2030. EPA says the proposed rule, which it released on June 2, could lead to upgrades at fossil-fuel-fired powerplants and has the potential to
Photo by Bruce Buckley/ENR Crews at Sparrows Point, Md., are wrapping up six tunnel tubes that will create roughly half of the new Elizabeth River Tunnel. The immersed tube tunnel will link Norfolk, Va., and Portsmouth, Va. Crews for SKW Constructors built the tubes, which each consist of five reinforced concrete sections, in dry dock and installed temporary bulkheads for buoyancy. In June, with the aid of tub boats, the tubes will float 220 miles down the Chesapeake Bay to the construction site.
In developing the Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh, the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens took aim at unprecedented levels of achievement in green building.
Related Links: Silver Spring Transit Center Still Under a Dark Cloud Report Details Litany of Problems with Silver Spring Transit Center Project The Silver Spring Transit Center project in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring, Md., could face another lengthy delay after a recent study recommended strengthening beams and girders and repairing concrete before opening the facility. If recommendations in the report are followed, the transit center, now more than two years behind schedule, could face another eight to 10 months of delay at an estimated cost of more than $7 million.The study—by a four-person, pro bono independent panel,
Related Links: View Recent GAO Bid Protest Decisions ENR Story History on Corps of Engineers- New Orleans PCCP Project Bid Protest, 2011-2013 No end in sight to $22Billion, Y-12/Pantex contract squabble (Knoxville News) GAO Bid Protests: No Small Business Size Challenges (Usually) Attorney Steven Koprince, April 15 post Dissecting GAO's Bid Protest 'Effectiveness Rate', by Daniel I. Gordon (2014) Bid Protests: The Costs are Real, but the Benefits Outweigh Them By Daniel I. Gordon (2013) GAO Bid Protest Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2013 Congressional Research Service GAO Bid Protests: Trends and Analysis (August 2013) In 1924, the
Related Links: Top Project Starts Of 2013 Major projects moved ahead throughout the mid-Atlantic states in 2013, thanks in large part to significant investment in heavy civil, power and industrial projects. The 20 Top Starts in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, ranked by total project value, tallied a combined $8.44 billion in work. Notably, projects related to natural gas led the way. With natural gas production expanding in the region, due to extraction from the Marcellus shale formation, energy companies are pushing ahead with significant projects. Dominion Virginia Power tops this year's list with
Photo Courtesy of City of Philadelphia Controller's Office Puddles on Taxiway S at Philadelphia International Airport show signs of rutted asphalt. Related Links: Boston First To Use Warm-Mix Asphalt on U.S. Runway Branson, Mo., Runway Collapse Triggers Lawsuit The Philadelphia city controller is at odds with a local contractor and the city's Division of Aviation over a 2009 taxiway repaving project at the Philadelphia International Airport.During an October 2011 closeout walk-through at the airport, the controller's office determined Taxiway S, which had been repaved two years earlier, was rutting. The controller claims the contractor, A.P. Construction, Philadelphia, did not use
Photo courtesy of Maryland State Highway Administration A Maryland interagency work group met monthly and as needed to avoid project delays and excessive paperwork on the $2.83-billion Intercounty Connector project, on target to complete this summer. Related Links: Support for Environmental Review Reforms Gains Momentum Perfectly Aligned Political Will Pushed New NY Bridge Process Western Transmission Project Slow to Advance New California Streamlining Law Gets Mixed Reviews ICC Project Page Purple Line Project Page Before construction of the $2.83-billion Intercounty Connector began in 2007, Maryland State Highway Administration officials recognized a critical need to forge better connections among its various
Bruce Buckley for ENR Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson sought union support for Keystone pipeline. Related Links: Pipeline Bursts Heat Up Safety Questions Over Keystone XL Shale-gas Project Boom Drives Solutions to Shortfalls in Craft, Tech and Management Jobs North America's Building Trades Unions Link to Tradeswomen' Annual Conference: Women Building California and the Nation, April 25-27 Chemical Producer Methanex Moves Plant from Chile to Louisiana Construction labor is locking arms with the petrochemical industry in hopes of clearing a political path for the Keystone XL pipeline and other stalled oil and gas projects.Union presidents joined with industry leaders at the