In an otherwise troubled time for new coal-fired projects, the Mississippi Public Service Commission has approved Gulfport, Miss.-based Mississippi Power�s plans to build a new 582-MW integrated gasification/combined-cycle plant in Kemper County�but with a $2.88-billion cost cap. Photo: Southern Cos. Regulators set a $2.88-billion construction cap�after an initial $2.4-billion limit�on Mississippi Power�s planned 582-MW plant. The utility owner had asked for $3.2 billion. Mississippi Power plans to complete the Kemper project as soon as 2014, said utility spokeswoman Cindy Duvall. The prime construction contractor will be selected soon, with project construction to be managed by Southern Co. Engineering and Construction

As contractors mobilized to berm Louisiana’s shoreline to protect its wetlands from oil gushing out of a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation focused on the plan’s chances for success, the disaster’s economic and environmental consequences, and the future of the region’s offshore oil industry. A computer modeling study released on June 3 suggests the oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico may extend up the Atlantic coast and into open ocean as early as this summer. Crews mobilize heavy equipment to build oil-blocking berms on Dauphin Island, Ala. var so = new FlashObject("http://natalie.feedroom.com/construction/natoneclip/Player.swf","Player", "300",

The Washington Monument in Baltimore has been closed to the public in light of a recent engineering study that found its parapet to be unsafe. CVM Engineering of Philadelphia studied the 178-ft-tall marble monument, which predates the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., as part of a $200,000 master plan to restore the monument and its surrounding squares. CVM reported that, on the parapet, mortar between slabs was missing and metal support brackets were rust- ed and should be replaced. Engineers recommended $1 million in total repairs, including $300,000 for work on the parapet. The monument, which was completed in 1829,

The U.S. Green Building Council is defending its decision to uphold the highest certification to be granted a public high school under its green-building rating system, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The engineers who filed the challenge to the LEED-New Construction Gold certification on behalf of a group of taxpayers in Eagle River, Wis., say the decision to uphold the certification damages the credibility of USGBC. The consulting engineers were pro bono technical experts for the five people who filed the 125-page appeal on Dec. 23, 2008, when Northland Pines High School was two years old. Consulting engineers

A new process that measures the value of the social and environmental benefits of projects is generating buzz among academics, the private sector, public entities and government agencies. Developed by Omaha, Neb.-based engineering consultant HDR, the Sustainable Return on Investment (SROI) process allows decision-makers to evaluate a potential project’s overall sustainability benefits by assigning monetary values to environmental, social and economic impacts. Image Photo: Diagram Courtesy Of HDR The values on the vertical axis show the probability that the corresponding return on investment values, described on the horizontal axis, will not be exceeded by the actual ROI outcome. “Communities want

Prefabricated segmental bridge designs that have helped speed construction and save money in many parts of the country may also have a place in seismically active regions, according to recent tests conducted by the University of Buffalo’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, and its Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER). As part of a Federal Highway Administration-funded project exploring seismic response of Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) systems, the research team erected a half-scale 60-ft-long, eight-segment post-tensioned superstructure supported by 10 ft, 5 in. tall hollow piers on 10 x 10 ft concrete foundation blocks. The blocks were

Louisiana’s Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration awarded The Shaw Group Inc. the job as project manager on a $360-million project to construct berms along coastal barrier islands to stop the invasion of oil from the BP spill on delicate marshes. Related Links: Map of the project area on the west side of the Mississippi Delta Within 24 hours of signing the contract, Baton Rouge-based Shaw had two bucket dredges on their way to begin moving sand. The state signed emergency permits for the work late June 2, after it was announced that BP would fund the project as a

In a controversial emergency measure, BP will pay $360 million so Louisiana can build sand berms along six reaches of barrier islands in an effort to protect oil from invading the state’s delicate marshes and buffer against hurricane storm surge. Related Links: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to offer permits for emergency berming of six reaches of barrier islands around the Mississippi River Delta to prevent oil from entering marshes and bolster protections against storm surge. Map of the project area on the east side of the Mississippi Delta Map of the project area on the west side

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) wielded his veto on May 28, returning $160 million in funds to the state Transportation Trust Fund and $19 million to the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. “It’s awesome,” says Bob Burleson, president of the Florida Transportation Builders’ Association (FTBA) in Tallahassee. “He sent a strong message to the Legislature and future legislatures to keep their hands off the trust fund.” Dick Kane, communications director for the Florida Dept. of Transportation in Tallahassee, issued a statement responding to the governor’s veto, saying, “We appreciate that the Governor recognizes the value and job opportunities the Florida Dept.

Advocates for a 269-mile magnetically levitated rail line between Las Vegas and Anaheim, Calif., are pressing the Federal Railroad Administration for $45 million originally appropriated in the six-year federal transportation bill in 2005. In an April 7 letter to FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto described a scenario in which Nevada Dept. of Transportation repeatedly submitted scope of work plans since 2008, without receiving any response. “[We] steadfastly insist that the FRA comply with the Congressional mandate that the USDOT and the FRA take the steps necessary to allocate funding...for the maglev project,” she wrote. “We're