Major Buildings Show Little Damage After New Zealand's Magnitude 7.1 Temblor
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:33:11 GMT
Enforcement of seismic provisions in the nation's building codes is credited with dramatically reducing the impact of the most damaging earthquake to hit New Zealand for nearly 70 years.
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Labor Panel Okays Union Banner Protests
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:42:42 GMT
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that the posting of stationary banners by members of a construction union at a secondary employer’s workplace does not violate the nation’s labor relations laws.
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Construction Jobless Rate Improves Slightly in August
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:42:42 GMT
Construction's unemployment rate moved down slightly in August but remains highest among all industries.
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Surge Busters Delivering in New Orleans
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:31:19 GMT
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ $14.6-billion drive to bring New Orleans’ hurricane defenses to 100-year levels of protection by June 2011 could fundamentally change the way U.S. civil-works projects are funded and delivered, project leaders say.
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Construction Methods of the Ancient Inca Offer Sustainable Lessons
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:31:19 GMT
Civil engineers and other researchers working under a $90,000 National Science Foundation grant are studying the Great Inca Road of South America for clues to help modern society build roads, bridges and other infrastructure that last longer and have a less harmful impact on the environment.
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Qatar Building Urban Center With Doha Development Plan
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:30:30 GMT
One of the world’s most ambitious urban development initiatives is taking place in Doha, the capital of the Gulf kingdom of Qatar.
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New Seismic System May Debut in Turkey
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:30:30 GMT
A new isolated bearing system designed to preserve the alignment of critical bridge structures while saving millions in construction costs may make its debut on a high-speed-rail project in Turkey.
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Investors Sought for African Rail and Port
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:30:29 GMT
The state-owned rail companies of Botswana and Mozambique are preparing to build an estimated $7-billion transport project that would include one of Africa’s longest railways and a deepwater port on the Indian Ocean, south of Maputo.
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In Maine, Tidal Power Shows More Promise
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:30:29 GMT
Tidal power in the U.S. moved toward commercial viability this summer when Portland, Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. successfully produced electric power from a tidal turbine it installed in Cobscoo Bay in Eastport, Maine.
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At Shanghai Expo, Finnish Pavilion Provides a Stunning Green Model
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:29:56 GMT
Many pavilion designers at Expo 2010 Shanghai, the World’s Fair currently under way in China, interpret its “Better City, Better Life” theme as a call for sustainable buildings.
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India Games Construction Mired in Problems
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:14 GMT
With little time remaining before the Oct. 4 start of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, the sporting event’s already-escalated $1.6-billion construction project is straining to reach the finish line.
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Port of Miami Expansion Includes New Rail Link
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:13 GMT
Hoping to attract cargo traffic from an expanded Panama Canal in 2014, the Port of Miami is taking steps to refurbish a dormant 4.4-mile rail corridor linking the port with the Hialeah Intermodal Railyard, operated by the Florida East Coast Railroad.
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OSHA: We Won’t Delay Crane-Safety Rules
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:13 GMT
One day after a contractors’ trade group requested more time to comply with new federal crane-safety regulations, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration nevertheless plans to begin enforcing the standard on Nov. 8, as scheduled.
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Houston Firm Floats Power to Venezuela
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:13 GMT
A Houston company has completed construction of a pair of power-generation barges that, when installed later this year in Venezuela, will become the world’s largest floating power-generation facility.
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Consultant CEOs Cite Energy Independence and Transportation as Key Engineering Challenges
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:28:13 GMT
Making the U.S. energy-independent and overhauling outmoded transportation infrastructure are the two key engineering challenges to be faced in the next decade, say nearly 60% of 323 design-firm CEOs in a survey released on Aug. 30.
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Washington State Contract To Remove Dams on Elwha River Awarded for $26.9 Million
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:26:29 GMT
Barnard Construction Co. , Bozeman, Mont., won a $26.9-million contract from the National Park Service to remove the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River in Washington State’s Olympic National Park.
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Nevada Geothermal Project Moves Forward
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:26:29 GMT
Boise, Idaho-based U.S. Geothermal Inc. announced on Aug. 30 that it has signed a contract with Science Applications International Corp.
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At 330 Meters, New High-Rise Is Beijing’s Tallest Building
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:26:29 GMT
The China World Trade Tower in Beijing’s Central Business District, which opened on Aug. 30, has become the city’s tallest structure at 330 meters.
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Some ARRA Categories Near 100% Obligation
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:26:29 GMT
As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act moves past the 18-month point, some of its key construction programs have nearly all their funds awarded or under contract.
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Newly Approved Funds Will Go for Border Security
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:26:29 GMT
The Dept. of Homeland Security reports that it soon will begin putting $600 million in recently appropriated funds to use along the Southwest border.
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ARRA Highway Project Volume Edged Higher in July
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:16:24 GMT
The amount of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-financed projects under contract in highways and other infrastructure sectors is slowly rising closer to the 100% mark, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's latest update on the economic-stimulus measure shows.
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Making 1 + 1 = 3
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:22:05 GMT
Newly linked contractor Balfour Beatty and professional services firm Parsons Brinckerhoff are seeking their sweet spot as a global infrastructure firm.
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The Top 225 International Contractors
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:22:04 GMT
The overall global construction market continues to be soft as investment capital is hard to come by, but there are bright spots both geographically and in market sectors.
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Crackdown Adds To Contractor Perils
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:22:04 GMT
A surge in audits and criminal investigations mostly involves U.S. citizens and firms, report says.
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Chicago Plans $4B Urban Village
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:20:20 GMT
planned two-mile relocation of Chicago’s South Shore Drive, about 10 miles south of the city’s downtown, is spurring a $4-billion megaproject to turn the vacant 530-acre site of a former U.S. Steel mill on Lake Michigan into a new community with nearly 14,000 housing units.
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Fatalities Down, But Rate Stays Flat
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:20:20 GMT
Construction workplace deaths continued to decline in 2009, but the fatality rate held even with the previous year’s mark, and industry safety specialists see little sign that conditions are improving on project sites nationwide.
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Fluor, United Rentals Form Jobsite Logistics Partnership
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:20:19 GMT
United Rentals Inc. and Fluor Corp. are teaming up to offer equipment, tools and logistics services for oil-and-gas owners along the Gulf Coast. Executives say the venture may later expand beyond the region.
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Divers Go Deep To Fix Controls At Denver’s Cheesman Dam
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:20:19 GMT
Divers installing new control gates 150 ft below the surface of Cheesman Dam continue to blast, chop and saw-cut through granite to bring water-control systems on the 105-year-old dam up to modern standards.
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Nature Takes Over Demolition of Outdated Oregon Dam
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:20:19 GMT
During the dismantling of Gold Ray Dam, a 106-year-old timber cofferdam and 70-year-old concrete dam near Medford, Ore., the Rogue River blew through a sand spit, changed course and ran freely for the first time in more than a century.
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Upstate New York Project Will Harness Flywheel Power
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:19:01 GMT
When finished in 2011, a flat 3½ -acre piece of land with 20 shipping containers on concrete pads in upstate New York won’t hint at the complexity underneath: 200 flywheel storage devices spinning at Mach 2 to retain and release up to 20 MW of energy on a second-to-second basis.
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Miami Airport Builders Brace For Smooth 2011 Landing
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:19:01 GMT
Behind the art-decorated walls along Miami-Dade International Airport’s mile-long north terminal, construction workers are building at a feverish pace the last major piece of an overall $6.2-billion capital improvement program.
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Oklahoma Worker Crushed by Scraper
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:19:00 GMT
A construction worker was killed at the Gilcrease Expressway expansion site in Tulsa, Okla., on August 16 when a piece of heavy equipment rolled down a steep hill and crushed him.
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In Load Test, Mississippi River Bridge Breaks World Record
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:19:00 GMT
Firms working on the $670-million Mississippi River Bridge in St. Louis have shattered geotechnical records related to one of the bridge’s drilled-shaft concrete foundations while verifying a time-saving, alternate pier plan.
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Rapetti Speaks: ‘They Made Me Out To Be a Murderer’
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:19:00 GMT
Rapetti, the master rigger recently acquitted on manslaughter charges stemming from the deadly 2008 collapse of a Manhattan tower crane, was called “reckless” by the prosecution and vilified as the “killer crane rigger” in the tabloids.
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EPA Delays Until October New Powerplant Smog Rules
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:17:26 GMT
Possibly bowing to congressional pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Aug. 23 that it will delay until October its implementation of tougher ground-level ozone rules for powerplants.
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DOE Seeks New Sites To Store FutureGen 2.0 Emissions
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:17:26 GMT
The U.S. Energy Dept. now is seeking alternate locations for captured gas from its planned FutureGen 2.0 coal-fired powerplant project.
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Texas OKs First $250 Million Of $2 Billion in Road Contracts
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:17:26 GMT
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved the first $250 million of about $2 billion in highway project contracts funded last year by Proposition 12 bond proceeds.
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Israel Halts Light-Rail Franchise Over Gaps in Financial Terms
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:17:26 GMT
Israeli officials have terminated a franchise agreement awarded in 2006 to an international Engineering-construction consortium to build a $2-billion, 23-kilometer light-rail network in metropolitan Tel Aviv because the owner and its contractors cannot agree on financial terms.
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Texas School’s Historic Stadium Gets $105-Million Rehab in Fall
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:17:26 GMT
Texas Christian University, Forth Worth, said on Aug. 16 that a $105-million renovation of the 80-year-old Amon G. Carter football stadium.
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No Liability in URS $52-Million Payoff in I-35 Collapse Suits
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:09:19 GMT
URS Corp., San Francisco, agreed on Aug. 23 to pay $52.4 million to settle claims filed against it on behalf of victims in the August 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis.
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PBGC Says Multi-employer Plans’ Deficit Likely To Rise
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:09:19 GMT
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. says if current regulations for its multi-employer-plan program do not change, there is “about a 65% chance” the program’s deficit will climb in 10 years.
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FRA Pushes To Spend High-Speed-Rail Funds
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:09:19 GMT
The Federal Railroad Administration is aiming to pick up the pace in dispersing to states more of its initial $8-billion round of high-speed-rail funds.
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Baucus Seeks U.S.-Canada Talks On Lumber Pricing
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:09:18 GMT
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to open “consultations” with Canada over lumber pricing.
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Penn State Selected To Lead Green-Buildings ‘Hub’
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:09:18 GMT
The Dept. of Energy has chosen Pennsylvania State University to head a new research center to find ways to design buildings to be more energy-efficient.
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Sacramento Campus Warms to Green Central Plant
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:54:56 GMT
Starting next month, California’s state capital campus, a complex of 23 buildings encompassing 5.5 million sq ft, will be cooled by water chilled in a 4.25-million-gal thermal-energy storage tank.
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Soaring Span Will Receive Seismic Upgrade
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:54:55 GMT
One of the tallest bridges in the U.S. is about to receive an extensive seismic upgrade, including 2.2 million lb of structural steel.
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Bipartisan Transport Experts Want Change
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:54:55 GMT
Cutting through the din of rancorous partisanship in American politics isn’t easy, but the two-year-old National Transportation Policy Project has gathered high-level veteran public figures to state clearly and advance the cause of transportation programming.
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Oklahoma Approves Record Road Budget
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:53:47 GMT
Oklahoma is on a mission to ensure it never again wins the dubious honor of having the nation’s highest percentage of substandard bridges.
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Probe Leads to Wolff’s Likely Exit From Berger
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:53:46 GMT
A three-year-long federal investigation of alleged overbilling on reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan by engineer Louis Berger Group appears likely to force Derish M. Wolff, chairman of the firm’s holding company, from his job, according to court documents filed last week.
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S. Florida Water Management District Commits to Land Deal, Not Reservoir
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:53:46 GMT
Further reducing the scope of a land-purchase agreement originally proposed by Gov. Charlie Crist (I), the South Florida Water Management District agreed on Aug. 12 to purchase approximately 26,800 acres in the Everglades from the U.S. Sugar Corp. for $197 million.
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ConsensusDOCS Builds Momentum
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:53:46 GMT
Four more associations have joined the ConsensusDOCS coalition, bringing the total number of groups affiliated with the group to 28.
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Shaw Expands Nuclear Power Work in China
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:53:46 GMT
The Shaw Group Inc. will provide technical support services for at least two new nuclear power units in China under an agreement with the government signed on Aug. 17.
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BP Is Target of New Scrutiny for Refinery Safety
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:20:25 GMT
Even as U.K.-based oil giant BP remains in the U.S. government’s crosshairs for environmental damage resulting from the Deepwater Horizon drill-rig explosion that killed 11 workers April 20, it now faces record fines and new scrutiny over another fatal accident five years ago at a land-based company facility in Texas.
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Laborers Rejoin AFL-CIO, But Unity Not Total
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:20:25 GMT
Two years after making its first stab at rejoining organized labor, the Laborers International Union of North America is completing the reunion by returning to the AFL-CIO.
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Applications Pour In For New DOT Rail Grants
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:20:25 GMT
Twenty-five states have filed 77 applications totaling more than $8.5 billion for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's next round of high-speed-rail grants. Many applicants will be disappointed: DOT only has about $2.3 billion to distribute.
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Caterpillar Shifts Production Into Overdrive
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:20:25 GMT
Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest construction and mining equipment maker, is shifting its economic engine into overdrive with several new capital projects following a record-setting second quarter.
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United Rentals, Fluor AMECO Venture Targets Gulf Coast
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:20:24 GMT
Construction machinery juggernaut United Rentals Inc. and industrial contractor Fluor Corp.’s AMECO unit are teaming up to offer equipment, tool and logistics services for oil-and-gas owners along the Gulf Coast.
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California Budget Fiasco Endangers $3 Billion Worth of Construction Work
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:18:41 GMT
California Transportation Director Cindy McKim says that if the current budget impasse continues through the end of August, “transportation-fund cash balances may be depleted, resulting in potential suspension of ongoing construction projects.”
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Electrical Energy Consumption and Forecasting Information Model Effort for Facilities Gears Up
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:18:40 GMT
The American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association jointly are developing a standard that would provide a common basis for electrical-energy consumers to describe, manage and communicate information about electrical-energy consumption and forecasts.
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Long Beach, Calif., Approves $1-Billion Bridge Replacement Project
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:18:40 GMT
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners last week unanimously approved the Environmental Impact Report for the project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach with a new, nearly $1-billion span.
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Clean Coal Viable, Administration Says
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:18:40 GMT
A presidentially appointed multi-agency panel has sent a strong signal that clean coal, which is achieved through carbon capture and sequestration, should be a significant part of the nation’s future energy mix.
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EPA Seeks More Time To Fix ‘Flaw’ In 2009 Regulation
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:18:40 GMT
The Environmental Protection Agency has asked a federal appeals court to give the agency 18 months to address what it termed a “flaw” in a 2009 stormwater regulation. The rule sets a limit on sediment discharges from construction sites.
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Applications Pour In For New DOT Rail Grants
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:04:37 GMT
Twenty-five states have filed 77 applications totaling more than $8.5 billion for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's next round of high-speed-rail grants.
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The Prize Predicament
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:18:31 GMT
Federal regulators concerned about underreporting of injuries take a long hard look at incentive programs. Does 'paying' for safety help produce safer sites?
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Gutsy Builder Took A 'Quantum Leap'
Engineering News-Record Newsfeed
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:18:31 GMT
Federal mandate for crane operator certification nearly died during negotiations between regulators and the industry.
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