The specific date in December for the implosion of the faulty, 376-ft-tall condominium tower on South Padre Island in Texas has not been set. But the demolition contractor says it has solved almost all the quandaries of one of its most challenging razings using explosives. If all goes according to plan, when the dust settles, Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) will have broken the height record, which it set in 1975, for imploding a reinforced-concrete tower. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Aluminum alloy shores around failed columns have to be factored into implosion plan. Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Walls were

An article titled the “Fireless Furnace” appeared in the Oct. 25, 1948, issue of LIFE magazine. There, postwar America witnessed the emergence of a futuristic technology that Lord Kelvin, the king of cold, only dreamed about a century earlier. The fireless furnace avoided burning fossil fuels by piping water through coils in the ground and then through a heat pump. But the technology was too expensive—about $3,000 installed—and too new to gain acceptance. “However, as the efficiency of getting heat from the earth improves, it is almost certain that eventually the heat pump will be able to compete successfully with

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is to blame for massive flooding in two areas New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and is liable for damages sought by five plaintiffs living there, a federal court judge in New Orleans ruled Nov. 18. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Corps’ negligence led to breach in flood protection during Hurricane Katrina, court ruled. Related Links: Text of the Ruling The court ruled earlier that while the Corps was exempt by law from claims for damages caused by failures of flood control structures, it was not exempt from claims for damages caused

The land rolls like waves as it liquefies beneath the viaduct. As spliced timber piles underpinning the columns lose lateral support, the piles buckle and some viaduct columns drop swiftly out of sight. Utilities rupture, fires break out and roadway decks collapse with shocking speed. Related Links: Simulated Quake Rattles Populace Is it a scene from a new disaster movie? No. It’s a simulation of an engineering model-driven video showing what would happen to the Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct in the case of a serious earthquake. A political storm set off by the Washington State Dept. of Transportation’s release of

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has urged top U.S. Dept. of Transportation officials to weigh in to help end what she termed a "standoff" with the House over the length of a surface transportation bill. Photo: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) With a current seven-week stopgap highway and transit authorization set to expire Dec. 18, Boxer and leaders of other key Senate committees have lined up behind a further six-month extension. But Boxer said House leaders support much shorter extensions. At a Nov. 18 briefing of her committee on highway funding

The government of Ecuador last month signed a contract with Chinese contractor Sinohydro to build a hydroelectric project. The Coca Codo Sinclaire Dam will be located on the upper Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon, about 75 miles east of Quito. It will generate 1,500 MW and is expected to cost $2 billion. Fifteen percent of the financing will be provided by the Ecuadorean government, and the remaining 85% will be a loan from China’s Export-Import Bank. When completed, the project will be the largest dam built outside China by a Chinese firm. Construction is expected to take five

Construction is about to start on a 433-m-long bridge with a 117-m-long rising main span for shipping in France’s Garonne River, Bordeaux. Units of Vinci Construction, Paris, will design and build the $187-million bridge over 33 months for the city council. The 3,500-tonne central span will be able to be lifted up 80-m-tall towers. Photo: EGIS-JMI - Virlogeux -Lavigne Et Cheron Architectes - Hardesty & Hanover

Transportation industry executives and lobbyists clearly are frustrated at not being able to gain Washington’s attention to enact long-term funding legislation they claim is critical to improving the sector’s dire outlook, as reflected in new market statistics released on Nov. 13. Related Links: States’ Fiscal Crunch Could Stretch to 2012 The results were released by the Transportation Construction Coalition, a group of 28 contractor and supplier associations and unions in the transportation construction sector. They show that even with this year’s $27-billion federal stimulus infusion for transportation, 63% of 527 sector-company respondents say they have laid off permanent staff this

The cause of a massive electrical blackout that darkened large portions of Brazil in early November is still being investigated despite initial reports from the national grid operator that lightning and strong winds affected the transmission grid in southern Brazil. Photo: Germano Luders Itaipu hydro plant, on the border of Paraguay and Brazil, stayed in operation following Nov. 10 storms, officials say. Transmission lines serving the Brazilian grid did not fare as well. At 10:13 p.m. on Nov. 10, the lights went out in Brazil. For almost three hours a massive swath of the South American country, including 18 of

Europe’s largest energy project, Nord Stream, this month received vital approvals from Sweden and Finland when they gave their OKs for the twin underwater pipelines to pass through their exclusive economic zones in the Baltic Sea. + Image Image: Nord Stream AG The natural gas pipeline across the Baltic sea Nord Stream will carry natural gas 1,220 km, from Vyborg, Russia, near St. Petersburg, to Greifsburg, Germany. It will cross the territories of four other nations: Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Poland. Only Russia and Germany still have to approve the project, but that is considered a formality. The 1,220-km offshore