Photo: Courtesy of ALP Transit The first of two record-breaking tunnels on Switzerland’s twin-bore, 57-kilometer-long Gotthard Alpine rail crossing broke through on Oct. 15. The breakthrough finishes the east drive of the Gotthard twin tunnels, which are among several being built through the Alps. The west tunnel’s breakthrough is scheduled for next spring. The joint-venture Tunnel AlpTransit Ticino (TAT) made the breakthrough at the tunnel’s midpoint, connecting to the awaiting “Sedrun” stretch. The tunnel is expected to start rail operations in late 2017 at an estimated cost of $10.3 billion.

Foreclosure lawsuits mounting atop the $2-billion Chicago Spire project come at a time when the Windy City’s glut of condominium inventory has forced developers to make other deals. Rendering: Courtesy of Shelbourne Development Chicago Spire’s foreclosure lawsuits heat up as condo market remains frozen. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In the near term, “I think any high-rise residential developments will be rentals,” says Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors, Chicago. A dozen rental high-rises are planned downtown, she says, including a 49-story tower that is being floated by luxury apartment developer AMLI Residential, Chicago. As for condos,

Fluor Corp.’s built many complex structures but its first offshore wind farm project isn’t going well. Greater Gabbard project has faced weather and equipment problems. Related Links: Britain’s Huge Offshore Wind Farm Faces An Array of Challenges The Irving, Texas-based contractor will report quarterly earnings Nov. 4 and will take a $163-million write-off in its third-quarter earnings because of unexpected complications in building the 504-MW Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of England. The loss on the $1.8-billion, fixed-price contract with Scottish and Southern Energy plc means that the project will be unprofitable, says Avram Fisher, an analyst who

The Obama administration has filed a lawsuit against 10 companies and two municipalities to ensure the continued cleanup of Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund site. The lawsuit, filed jointly by the U.S. government and the state of Wisconsin on Oct. 14, also seeks payment of associated government costs and natural resources damages. All told, the total cleanup costs and damages are expected to exceed $1 billion. Related Links: Veteran Waste-Cleanup Expert Applies Just-In-Time Methods to World’s Largest PCB Project to Date Work continues at the Lower Fox River/Green Bay Site,, which was contaminated with approximately 250,000 lbs

Aurora, Colo., took a big step to avoid becoming a dry city with the fall completion of Prairie Waters, a $653-million pump, pipeline and purification project. Photo: Courtesy of Aurora Water Crews install four-ft-long UV lamps, specially designed quartz sleeves and electrical components into the generators. UV disinfection is a key component of the multiple-step water purification process. During the drought of 2002, Aurora, a suburb at the eastern edge of Denver, saw its reservoirs plummet to 26% of capacity, a critically low level the city is unlikely to suffer again, even in future dry spells, thanks to the $1.1-billion,

As accelerated bridge construction (ABC) catches on quickly in the United States—particularly in Utah—a former Federal Highway Administration engineer now at the Oregon Dept. of Transportation wants to create national standards for the practice. Rapid bridge replacement method may get standards. Benjamin Tang, ODOT’s bridge preservation managing engineer, says readily available criteria adaptable nationwide can help bridge owners establish when ABC construction makes sense. “We are trying to create something that addresses some of the criteria used by the owners to make choices that will result in the best selection,” he says. “Putting quantifiable data, when available, into the model

The tenuous fate of an estimated $8.7-billion trans-Hudson River rail tunnel exemplifies a dilemma faced by the American transportation industry as a whole: how to fund crucial megaprojects at a time when raising fuel taxes is political suicide and passing a multiyear transportation bill remains a pipe dream. + Image Photo: NYNJ Port Authority New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie (R) announced on Oct. 7 that he was killing the project, called Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) and in development for almost 20 years. But after a quickly arranged meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator

Google and investment firms Good Energies and Marubeni Corp. announced on Oct. 12 that they would back the early stages of developing a 350-mile DC transmission line from northern New Jersey to Norfolk, Va. The line, being developed by Chevy Chase, Md.–based Trans-Elect, would provide a transmission backbone linking several different wind farms off the Atlantic Coast and add up to 6,000 MW to the Atlantic grid. Construction of the first phase of the line, from northern New Jersey to Rehoboth Beach, Del., could begin in 2013, cost $1.8 billion and be complete by 2016. The total project is expected

The construction of a new $10-billion nuclear reactor in Maryland seem to be dead after Constellation Energy told the Dept. of Energy it is no longer interested in negotiating a federal loan guarantee to support the project. In a letter to DOE, Constellation said it was unable to continue negotiations after it was presented with a “shockingly high estimate” of the fee it would have to pay to obtain the $880-million loan. “Such a sum would clearly destroy the project’s economics or the economics of any nuclear project, for that matter, says Constellation Vice Chairman Michael Wallace.

One of the world’s largest wind developers and the largest U.S. shipbuilder will work together to engineer and build wind turbines specifically designed to withstand harsh marine environments. The Oct. 6 announcement from Madrid, Spain-based Gamesa and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. was one of many significant announcements made earlier this month at the American Wind Energy Association’s first-ever offshore wind conference. Photo: Courtesy Gamesa Gamesa’s venture with Northrup will push the Spanish firm to develop new turbine blades suitable for marine use. Gamesa and Northrop say they will develop and test two 5-MW wind turbines by the end of