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.

Transmission projects to deliver renewable power in the Northwest and Southwest are surging forward thanks to recent federal and state action. The Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Ore., plans to build a $246-million, 500-kV transmission line to deliver 870 MW of electricity, including more than 700 MW of wind power, in the Northwest. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act granted BPA and the Western Area Power Administration each an additional $3.25 billion in borrowing authority to develop new transmission lines. Lakewood, Colo.-based WAPA says it is still deciding on projects. Photo: Burns & McDonnell Power line projects to start soon. In

Funds to modify a coal-fired powerplant to capture and sequester carbon dioxide are coming from an unusual source. The Dept. of Agriculture has approved a $300-million loan through its Rural Utilities Program to Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a North Dakota wholesale power power cooperative, for what is billed as the first project of its type in the country to operate on a commercial scale. A 120-MW slipstream of Antelope Valley Station Unit 1, fueled by lignite, will be processed to capture 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide per day at the plant near Beulah, N.D. The carbon dioxide will be piped

The North American unit of U.K.-based BP will spend more than $161 million to resolve clean-air violations at its Texas City, Texas, refinery. It is the same plant for which BP was fined $50 million following a 2005 explosion that killed 15 contractor employees and injured 170 others. Under a new Feb. 19 settlement, BP agreed to invest most of the funds on pollution controls, maintenance and "improved internal management" at the plant. The pact with federal regulators, which also includes a $12-million civil penalty and $6 million to reduce air pollution from diesel vehicles, resolves BP’s noncompliance with a