The U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Building Certification Institute have released an improved version of the green-building rating system, which standardizes language across all categories and overhauls the LEED-accredited professional system, turning it into a tiered program. The current release includes LEED 2009, LEED Online Version 3 and a new certification process based on ISO standards. It also updates all the LEED categories at once, including those for new construction, schools, core and shell, commercial interiors and existing buildings. LEED Online V3, the implementation tool, has been retooled to be faster, more responsive and stable. USGBC has seen

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has started staged award of a $500-million-plus contract for construction of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex in southeast Louisiana. It is expected to be the largest and most complex piece of the Greater New Orleans Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. Included are extensive flood-wall systems, a 20,000-cu-ft-per-second pump station and two sector gates of about 225 ft and 75 ft in width, all built next to a federally designated “nationally significant” wetland, says Kevin Wagner, Corps senior project manager. On April 17 Gulf Intracoastal Constructors, New Orleans, a joint venture

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have released a draft plan for the restoration of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary that they hope will lead to a more coordinated effort to remediate the heavily polluted area. Released on April 14, the two-volume Comprehensive Restoration Plan (CRP) provides a framework for restoring the estuary. Corps officials say the plan represents a consensus view of how the estuary—roughly defined as the waters and wetlands within a 25-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty—should be restored. Sources say the plan, the result of a 1999

While sustainability advocates push the benefits of green construction, more designers, contractors, owners and insurers are now confronting the risks behind those claims. Potential risks associated with emerging green demands have represented a gray area but as more claims and lawsuits land in court, details are becoming clearer. Although risks are often project- and location-specific, owners, constructors and designers of green buildings are finding some consensus, says New York City-based insurance broker Marsh in a new report. The study, “Green Building: Assessing the Risks,” identifies and ranks 10 key areas of green-building risk, five of which could be the most

California’s first American Recovery and Reinvestment Act infrastructure project broke ground last week while the state confirms that $1 billion of act funding has been obligated to 80 total projects. Slide Show Photo: Sherman Chu, Courtesy of Caltrans Brian Gates, Top Grade’s COO, addresses the audience at the Fairfield I-80 project groundbreaking. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and representatives from Caltrans and Top Grade Construction of Livermore, the general contractor, were on hand April 30 to break ground on the $13.5-million pavement improvement project on a 50-year-old section of Interstate 80 in Fairfield between State Route 12 and Air Base Parkway,

An early congressional review of economic-stimulus activity in core infrastructure sectors gives generally good marks for federal and state agencies' progress so far. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 29 held the first of a planned series of hearings on the stimulus, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It focused only on programs under the panel's jurisdiction, but they include such key sectors as highways, rail and Environmental Protection Agency water programs. Office of Rep. James Oberstar Rep. James Oberstar Related Links: State-by-State Stimulus Breakdown By Category and Status Prepared Statements by Witnesses As of March 31, the

Aided partly by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), New York City-area transportation agencies are speeding work on multibilliondollar capital plans. The marquee project is the $9-billion rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, dubbed Access to the Region�s Core (ARC). ARRA provided a $130-million “down payment” for the tunnel, said Susan Bass Levin, deputy executive director for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, in addressing the Professional Women in Construction’s New York chapter at an April 23 forum. “Now we can break ground in the coming months.” The agency has committed $340 million to the tunnel

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on April 23 voted to fund the first phase of the $1.03-billion Interstate 405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project, adding a northbound 10-mile-long carpool lane, between I-10 and U.S. 101, to one of the region’s most congested freeways. The freeway connects the San Fernando Valley with the greater Los Angeles area. The project is a joint venture between Metro and Caltrans. Kiewet Pacific Co., Santa Fe Springs, Calif., was awarded a $712-million design-build contract. The project will be built in phases based upon funding availability. About $372 million already has been secured, including

A consortium led by Parsons Transportation Group Inc., Washington, D.C., has won a $1.46-billion, design-build-operate-maintain contract for 20 miles of light-rail lines in downtown Houston. It is the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) of Harris County’s largest contract. The Houston Rapid Transit JV also includes Granite Construction Co., Watsonville, Calif.; Kiewit Texas Construction, Fort Worth; and Stacy and Witbeck Inc., Alameda, Calif. The team will extend the north, east-end, southeast and uptown lines; build storage and inspection facilities; construct 32 stations; and renovate an existing operations center. METRO selected the runner-up Parsons team after breaking off talks with Boise-based Washington Group

Light-rail owners, planners and builders are enjoying unprecedented public support—and facing unprecedented challenges as a result. With more than 30 cities building light-rail systems, the need for workforce talent and funding is greater than ever. “There is no better time ever to be in transit,” said Leslie Rogers, a San Francisco-based regional administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, speaking to attendees of the Transportation Research Board/American Public Transportation Association Joint Light Rail Conference held April 19-21 in Los Angeles. “We have a great friend and partner in Washington. In thirty years we’ve never been as excited and re-energized.” But Rogers