Frank Gehry’s first Florida building, a big bleached box in Miami Beach, looks more like a high-end department store than an eye-catching piece of “sculpitecture” by the architect of “swoopy.” But contained in the $160-million New World Symphony music academy and performance center—on schedule to open on Jan. 25 despite some last-minute hiccups—Gehry’s signature free-form rooms stand as tall as 80 ft, visible through a 180 x 80-ft picture window. Other than to say “we put all the juice inside,” the architect is mum on whether the music-box shape was selected for context, economy or constructibility. But Benton Delinger, director

The typical winter rains fueled unusually strong El Ni�o weather pattern have lashed Colombia’ Caribbean coast over the past month leaving hundreds dead, thousands homeless and left the much of the South American country’s infrastructure crippled. + Large Image Graphic: C.J. Schexnayder Breach led to widespread flooding on coastal plain. The Colombian branch of the Red Cross set the death toll at 281 and estimate that a total of 2.2 million people in the country have so far been affected by the rains, floods and landslides. The Colombian government puts the damage estimate at more than $5.2 billion to date.

Congress has approved a three-month extension of airport construction grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs. The bill, which would authorize FAA programs through March 31, next goes to the White House for President Obama's expected signature. Final congressional action came on Dec. 18 when the Senate approved the measure by unanimous consent. The House had passed the bill on Dec. 2. The new stopgap is the 17th FAA extension since Sept. 30, 2007, when the last multi-year aviation authorization expired. The current extension�stopgap number 16�expires Dec. 31.

In Lower Manhattan, the steel on the World Trade Center’s Tower 1, formerly know as Freedom Tower, on Dec. 16 reached its halfway point—the 52nd floor—Tower 4 is at the 9th floor, and the north memorial pool had a successful water test in late November. The steel for the atrium that will lead to the below-grade memorial museum was also put in place in mid-December. “It’s a fantastic time in the project,” said Quentin Brathwaite, assistant director of program logistics for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s WTC construction program, at the start of a talk hosted

As expected, the Dept. of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against BP and eight other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Dec. 15 in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans. A ruling against the companies could mean billions of dollars for environmental cleanup and restoration work for contractors. In the complaint, the U.S. government alleges violations of federal safety and operational regulations that caused or contributed to the oil spill. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties against eight of the firms under the Clean Water Act and damages “without limitation” under the Oil Pollution act for all

Thousands of piles dot the Middle Eastern desert, spreading out in a T-shaped formation. They are the foundations of what will become a 700,000- square-meter airport terminal—and one of the foundations of Abu Dhabi’s ambitious 21st-Century infrastructure plan. The emirate’s long-term goal, to become a top destination for world trade and a cultural crossroads for the East and West—is getting an upgrade. The project now includes green-building and sustainability goals, as well as a growing number of western engineers and consultants brought in to help manage the $2.5-billion Abu Dhabi International Airport expansion and a slew of other projects. “There

With most of the world’s economies still searching for a way out of their economic woes, global transportation design and construction firms are finding solace in markets that largely have escaped the downturn’s most devastating effects. Photo: Courtesy of Aecom Hong Kong’s XRL costs $8.6 billion. Photo: Courtesy of Parsons Brinckerhoff The list of Asian projects includes the expansion and modernization of the Indira Gandhi Airport. Related Links: Overview: Finding Work in Tough Times View Complete Global Sourcebook with Rankings General Building: Firms Say World Market Is Thawing, Albeit Slowly Power: Growing Demand Fuels Worldwide Boom Environment: Global Expansions Yield

Akey reconstruction of a major route in Kansas City is wrapping up this month, featuring a dramatic cable-stayed bridge. The Missouri Dept. of Transportation credits design-build, which it rarely has used, with slashing years off the $245-million “Interstate Connections” (kcICON) project. It was originally slated to finish next July and will be within its $245-million budget. Photo: Courtesy of MODOT New cable-stayed bridge rises over the Missouri River. Construction began in April 2008 on the project to widen and reconstruct the 4.7-mile-long Paseo Corridor that carries Interstate 29/35 from North Kansas City into the northeastern corner of Kansas City’s downtown

Getting supersized prefabricated steel modules to the Kearl oil-sands project in Alberta is proving to be the toughest part of the job for Canada’s Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil Canada. The evidence is in Lewiston, Idaho. Photo: Courtesy Imperial Oil Photo: Courtesy Imperial Oil Equipment modules, right, shipped from South Korea are parked in Idaho, more than 1,300 miles from their destination in northern Alberta’s oil fields. As part of the companies’ $8-billion construction project to produce as much as 345,000 barrels per day of oil roughly 45 miles north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Imperial Oil sourced 207 prefabricated specialized bitumen

There was no shortage of takers for the $1.2 billion in federal passenger-rail funds that newly elected Republican governors in Wisconsin and Ohio said they don’t want. U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Dec. 9 that 14 states may divide the $1.2 billion that earlier had been awarded to Wisconsin and Ohio. California will get the largest share of the turned-back funds, $624 million. Many observers will be watching Florida to see whether the $342.3 million the Sunshine State gets in the redistribution will be enough to keep alive a proposed Tampa-Orlando rail line. Governor-elect Rick Scott