The economy may have curbed passenger traffic at many U.S. airports, but its effects on aviation construction so far have been minimal. The reason is the extensive amount of time required for airport construction programs to evolve, says Jayne O’Donnell, vice president of Turner Construction Co., New York City, and general manager of Turner’s aviation practice. Related Links: Contractors Play Waiting Game As Funds Start to Trickle In “Work is on schedule because it’s been scheduled for years,” O’Donnell says. Despite continuing turmoil among air carriers, “Airports are pretty skilled in planning and building for what’s probable, not what’s possible,”

An unexpected crack found in a section of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge delayed the planned Sept. 8 reopening only by about 90 minutes, rather than a full day, thanks to fast delivery from a fabricator and non-stop work by the contractor. Although the $140-million removal of a 3,200-ton double-deck section went as planned, California Dept. of Transportation inspection crews then reported a crack in an eyebar—a 2-in.-thick, chainlike steel piece—located on another section of the east span. Photo: AP / Wideworld Despite unwelcome discovery, bridge detour opened on Sept. 8 as planned. Over the Labor Day weekend, general contractor

Nobody loved Interstate 64 where it cut through the heart of St. Louis. It was a transportation bottleneck, with outmoded interchanges and crumbling bridges. Built largely between the 1930s and 1960s as U.S. Highway 40, it was rechristened I-64 by federal fiat in 1988 despite its failure to comply with Interstate standards. But when the Missouri Dept. of Transportation proposed in 2000 to rebuild it, worriers came out of the woodwork. And when MoDOT announced in 2006 that it would completely demolish and rebuild 10 miles of the central artery, public opinion went ballistic. Photo: Gateway Constructors Inc. More than

Congress’s fast action on the $787.2-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in February brought some much-needed cheer to the nation’s transportation contractors. With state DOT budgets withered by the recession, gas prices and financial market upheaval, contractors expected the influx of more than $49.3 billion in immediate highway, transit, and airport funding to reenergize the market and, hopefully, keep them busy until the larger economy begins to rebound. But more than six months after President Obama signed ARRA into law, many in the industry are still waiting for those hoped-for effects to kick in. Photo: Flatiron Washington, N.C., bypass

Enbridge Inc. is “in full swing” on construction of its 326-mile-long Alberta Clipper pipeline in the U.S. and will not be deterred by a lawsuit filed Sept. 3 by two environmental groups and the Indigenous Environmental Network, says Denise Hamsher, Enbridge spokeswoman. The Sierra Club and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy joined IEN in suing the U.S. State Dept. on the grounds that the permit was issued without impact assessments required by the National Environmental Policy Act and in violation of the Constitution’s assignment of environmental responsibility to Congress. Enbridge Energy Partners LP, Houston, began construction on the 36-in. pipeline

AltaRock Energy Inc., the Sausalito, Calif.-based firm trying to tap into geothermal energy by creating rock fissures in Geysers Geothermal Field in Lake County, Calif., suspended operations on Sept. 2 because of “physical difficulties” encountered when drilling the first 12,000-ft well. The project, funded by $6 million in federal funding along with private money, was controversial because of the possibility that the rock-drilling would trigger earthquakes. The engineered fissures are created by using a hydraulic pressure of up to 4,000 psi to “hydroshear” existing fractures, causing them to open slightly and slip.

Florida Power & Light, the Sunshine State’s largest utility, is in the midst of building a staggering 110 MW of solar generating capacity, the largest amount of utility-scale solar capacity ever planned outside the desert Southwest. The projects, which are valued at a total of more than $600 million, include conventional solar-photovoltaic facilities that will generate 25 MW and 10 MW, plus a 75-MW concentrating solar plant [CSP] in Martin County being built by Lauren Engineers & Constructors Inc. Photo: FPL Solar plant will supplement Florida gas-fired station. Related Links: Climate Change, Weak Economy Combine to Stymie Market Utility officials

Conservation will meet almost 60% of added energy demand over the next five years in the Pacific Northwest if a draft plan released on Sept. 4 by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is adopted. Over the next 20 years, that figures jumps to 85%. The council devises a new plan every five years to guide power development in Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Each state’s governor appoints two members. Electricity demand will grow 2,058 MW between 2010 and 2014, says the plan. It suggests that 1,200 MW could come from conservation measures such as smart-grid energy management, power-storage improvements,

Uncertainty about the nation’s economic future and possible federal legislation on climate change and renewable energy is reshaping the market for building power-generation and transmission projects in the U.S., according to executives at some of the nation’s largest contractors. That uncertainty has led many coal-fired projects to be canceled or put on hold, several natural gas-fired projects to be delayed, and even some wind projects to be put on ice while utilities and independent power companies try to figure how long the recession will last and what Congress ultimately will agree to on a carbon cap-and-trade program and a renewable

Norway’s energy company, Statoil-Hydor, has launched a floating wind turbine, rated at 2.3 MW and claimed as the world’s first of its kind. In June, after assembly near Stavanger, the 65-meter-tall Hywind device with 80-m-dia blades was towed 10 km off Karmøy island for two years’ testing, beginning on Sept. 8. The 5,300-tonne unit, including a ballasted and anchored 100-m-deep supporting steel cylinder, is part of a $55-million research and development project. Photo: Statoil-Hydro