Related Links: Maine Approves Offshore Projects, But Cost Concerns Persist Maine Surges Forward With Offshore Turbine Plans In early June, the University of Maine will launch a small-scale offshore demonstrator of a floating wind turbine, fabricated in its lab with a lightweight concrete foundation and composite tower. If successfully connected to the grid from off the coast of Castine, Maine, it will be the first of its kind in North America.The approximately 65-ft-tall turbine prototype is built to one-eighth the scale of a 6-MW turbine with a 423-ft-dia rotor. “Each blade [of the full-scale design] is larger than the wingspan of
Related Links: Sarah Long Bridge Replacement Cost Estimate Drops $12 Million The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge Replacement (Maine DOT) Engineers are expediting repairs on the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, which sustained $2.5 million in damages in April when an oil tanker broke loose from a state pier and smashed into the structure's center lift span.Covered by insurance, this temporary repair will last until work on a $160-million bridge replacement begins in 2015, says Bill Boynton, New Hampshire Dept. of Transportation spokesman.The 2,000-ft-long, lift-span structure, co-owned by the New Hampshire and Maine DOTs, crosses the Piscataqua River on U.S. Route 1.
Installing a perimeter diaphragm wall to waterproof a shared deep basement of three 50-story office towers has been, so far, the biggest challenge for crews working on part of a nearly $6.1-billion waterfront redevelopment in Sydney. Laying the foundation for the ambitious Barangaroo South project, sited on 7.5 hectares of public land, is part of a scheme to create a replicable model for cradle-to-grave, grand-scale carbon-neutral development, starting from the moment construction begins to the end of the useful life of the buildings.Barangaroo South, on the site of a former container wharf, aims to be carbon-neutral in operation, including energy,
Related Links: Senior Moments: Are Older Workers at Greater Risk of Injury? Fred Dryden operates an excavator for the heavy division of Barletta Cos.' reconstruction of the 97-year-old Larz Anderson Bridge near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. At 60, there is a good chance he's older than some of Boston's infrastructure. As an operating engineer, he has managed to avoid many of the physical hazards to which other construction crafts are prone and plans to stay on the job until age 65."I like my work because I'm always doing something different," he says with a smile. "I've got wheels, so
Image Courtesy of MassDOT A historic station will receive a major expansion, but not before planners using modern simulation tools attempt to identify every possible construction scenario. Image Courtesy of MassDOT Related Links: Massachusetts Presents Ambitious Transportation Vision Boston South Station A historic Boston transit hub is undergoing a high-tech examination in preparation for its future. Early-stage work on Boston's $850-million South Station expansion proposal is deploying a robust level of construction-sequence modeling in hopes of minimizing major construction conflicts within a rail hub that sees more than 100,000 daily commuters.South Station, a 110-year-old architectural icon, is Boston's busiest multimodal
Related Links: Muddy River Restoration website After more than a decade of planning and vigorous public debate, the $76-million Muddy River Flood Damage Reduction and Environmental Restoration project is now under way in metropolitan Boston’s historic Emerald Necklace parks and waterways.The project broke ground in October 2012 and is scheduled for completion by 2015, says Mike Keegan, project manager for the New England Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps will manage the project with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the city of Boston, and the town of Brookline serving as non-federal sponsors.The project is a response to
Courtesy VDOT rolling down the river The new 2600-ton Gilmerton Bridge lift span floated seven nautical miles from its assembly yard to its final site, passing several movable bridges on the Elizabeth River during the trip. Related Links: http://www.virginiadot.org/projects/hamptonroads/gilmerton_bridge_replacement_project.asp From a joint project risk-management program to extremely large drilled shafts using an oscillator, the $134-million replacement of the Henry G. Gilmerton Bridge in Chesapeake, Va., features many innovations, including erecting components of a new 1,908-ft-long vertical-lift bridge beneath and above a 75-year-old twin bascule bridge.The Gilmerton Bridge carries an average of 35,000 vehicles daily and lifts its bascule 7,500 times
Photo Courtesy of Cianbro Corp. Facility built by Cianbro Corp. at the University of Maine, Orono, will test full-length offshore turbine blades. The 87,000-sq-ft building includes a pool in which blade stability will be analyzed in April. Related Links: Maine Surges Forward With Offshore Turbine Plans In Maine, Tidal Power Shows More Promise Maine regulators have approved construction of a 12-MW offshore wind farm, one of two offshore projects developing separate technologies to harness, by 2016, deepwater wind energy from the Gulf of Maine and link it to the state's power network.Despite earlier concerns about the cost impact on ratepayers,
Related Links: Boston Building Uses a Little Of Everything to Gain Foothold CEO John Fish Has 'Big, Audacious' Goals For Suffolk Construction Construction of two high-rises is expected to revitalize the 14.5-acre Christian Science Plaza, Boston's largest privately owned public space.The First Church of Christ, Scientist announced on Jan. 23 that it has chosen Carpenter and Co., Cambridge, Mass., as master developer of a 20-story and a 50-story tower. Upon topping out, the taller tower would be one of the tallest structures in Boston.The two project sites are situated on Belvidere and Dalton streets in Back Bay, south of the
Related Links: New MassDOT Chief Plans Outreach Bridge Work Garners $7 Million Incentive The Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation hopes to spend $5.2 billion over 10 years on roads and bridges, including $1.17 billion on an accelerated bridge program.MassDOT released its plan on Jan. 14, stating the need for $1.02 billion in average annual new revenue to operate and expand. MassDOT Secretary Richard Davey says the plan involves eliminating bad practices in operating deficits in the highway and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operations."We paid for almost $250 million in highway operations off the state credit card—that would end [under the plan],"
