A switch to steel and six weeks of swift redesign saved a city’s dream of a signature pedestrian crossing with a 325-ft main span over 10 lanes of Interstate 280 in Silicon Valley. The first cable-stayed crossing over a freeway in California, the city of Cupertino’s Mary Avenue Bridge seemed doomed in 2007 after a concrete design received two bids double the $6 million budget. But thanks to the city calling on key industry contacts, it is slated to open next month. Photo: The City Of Cupertino Six weeks of redesign and two nights for tower erection mark a fast-track

Rehabilitation of a 368-ft-long,70-year-old Warren through-truss bridge in Westfield, Mass., is now a major urban revitalization project that includes three bridges and a half-acre of parkland, as crews deal with live trains, endangered mussels and sub-zero temperatures. “Originally, in 1994, we were just studying the old bridge,” says Mark Ennis, project manager for STV Inc., New York City, the principal architectural and engineering firm for the $70-million project. “We found it could be rehabbed. The work would involve replacing the deck system and some strengthening of truss members, repainting and updating of the bearing systems.” Graphic: STV Inc. Warren truss

Electric heavyweights GE Energy, Fairfield, Conn., and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have agreed to work together to develop what they are calling the next generation of steam-turbines for gas-fired combined-cycle plants. In January, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to pool their knowledge in order to make the steam turbine technology more efficient. "There are potentials to push the boundaries beyond where we are in terms of efficiencies in operating parameters and start-up capabilities," says Trevor Bailey, general manager of steam products for GE Energy. The memorandum provides "a significant benefit over what we could achieve individually." Bailey

Building transmission lines from remote, renewable-energy-rich areas may have become simpler in late February after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that a transmission company may negotiate capacity rights on two proposed lines with a single buyer. Before the decision, FERC required power transmission companies to offer the entire capacity at the same price and for the same length of time in an open-bidding period called “open season.” In its decision, FERC admitted the open-season rule has become “unduly rigid and inflexible,” and is not conducive to developing renewable transmission projects. FERC will evaluate similar applications on a case-by-case basis.

Officials suspect work on a new 3.9-km metro line as the most likely cause of the early afternoon collapse of the city’s historical archive building in Cologne, Germany, on March 3. Buildings adjacent to the six-floor archive structure, which was erected in 1971, were demolished. By the morning of March 4, two people were thought missing, though no injuries had been reported. A Cologne city hall spokesman says the collapse occurred over a few minutes as ground beneath the archive caved in. The buildings were some 20 meters above new twin tunnels of Cologne Transport Company’s (KVB) North-South line, due

The Texas Transportation Commission Thursday conditionally awarded the LBJ Development Partners, a private-public partnership, a contract to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the $4-billion, 13-mile LBJ-635 corridor in Dallas. The PPP’s main partner is Spanish toll road developer Cintra, which will lead the design and construction team. The 55-year contract is expected to be finalized in two months. The project could begin as early as mid-2010 with completion expected in four to five years. The design will enable the new highway to be constructed while minimizing the need for additional right of way, according to the Texas Dept. of

When Florida pioneer and rail baron Henry Flagler pushed his Florida East Coast Railway south to Key West in the early 1900s, his engineers and laborers gave little thought to the environmental impact of their dredging and filling. That wasn’t the approach taken by the engineers and contractors now punch-listing a seven-mile-long reconstruction of a stretch of what became the Overseas Highway. They went out of their way to protect many species of aquatic life, taking care, among other things, not to rock the world of the crocodiles that inhabit the waters. Slide Show Photo: Granite Construction The new roadway

Federal funding for surface transportation projects should migrate from the traditional petroleum fuel-based tax to a mileage-based user fee by 2020, according to a 15-member commission appointed by Congress two years ago. The bipartisan group released its final report Feb. 25 with recommendations for overhauling the highway trust fund, which is due for reauthorization later this year. The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission includes financial experts, lawyers, politicians and transportation industry leaders such as Elliot Sander, chief executive officer of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Jeffrey C. Crowe, chairman of Landstar System, Inc. “We were charged with

A water pipeline that serves the city of Folsom, Calif., as well as Folsom Prison collapsed Feb. 13 at a Folsom Dam construction site, but officials were able to install a temporary bypass line with no loss or reduction of service. Photo: Kiewit $1.6-billion spillway replacement is joint venture among U.S. Burueau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, Valley Flood Protection Board and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. The incident involved the permanent 42-in line that was being moved to make way for the second phase of a new spillway project. A temporary 24-in line was placed into service

Engineers from the International Commission on Large Dams will meet with Chinese engineers in China beginning on March 29 to discuss whether a new reservoir might have had a role in triggering last May’s Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province. Reservoir-induced seismicity is a known phenomenon, but Chinese authorities dispute its role in the Wenchuan quake. The ICOLD team of a dozen people will include the organization’s chairs and members of its seismic committee.