Causes and solutions prove elusive on an Oregon bridge project where two bents moved out of plumb during construction. The troubled was noticed in the winter on the $215 million U.S. 20: Pioneer Mountain-Eddyville highway near the Oregon coast. Joe Squire, project manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, says that a lateral load from adjacent fill and sub-surface ground pressure may have caused the shifts in two of the 20 bents on the 10-bridge project. The project consists of a six-and-a-half mile section of new road that bypasses a 10-mile stretch of substandard highway. Six of the 10 bridges

In its latest hotly contested competition for federal aid, the Dept. of Transportation has awarded $293 million for 53 streetcar and bus projects around the country. Some of the funds will go for construction. Related Links: Complete list of winners The grants were in two categories: Six projects, including five streetcar lines, shared $130 million in Urban Circulator funds; and 47 projects divided $163 million in Bus and Bus Livability aid. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, announcing the winners on July 8, said the grants are part of the Obama administration's community "livability" initiative, which links transportation planning and funding with

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a regulation that aims to cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions that are carried downwind from powerplants in 31 eastern states and the District of Columbia, posing harm in other parts of the country. EPA says that the proposed rule, which EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson signed on July 6, would cut SO2 emissions by 2014 by 71% from 2005 levels and trim NOx emissions by 52%. McCarthy says the first phase of the reductions would take place in 2012, assuming that the rule becomes final in 2011. Gina McCarthy, EPA's assistant administrator for

Brazil is finalizing construction at its Foz do Chapec� hydroelectric plant. The last phase, a rockfill dam, was completed last April. The project used asphalt instead of clay as the main component of the sealing nucleus—a first in Brazil. The choice of this technique resulted from a number of advantages the contractors and owners of the project researched in Europe. Images Courtesy Of Volta Grande Consortium Contractor used an asphalt nucleus, instead of clay, for first time ever in Brazil. Images Courtesy Of Volta Grande Consortium Dam on Uruguay River will provide alternative route between the states of Santa Catarina

Marking the beginning of what India hopes will be an ongoing stream of public-private partnership deals, a consortium of Australia’s Leighton, the U.K.’s Balfour Beatty, France’s Vinci and the Hindustan Construction Co. submitted bids this month for the $1.2-billion concessionaire contract to build a 570-kilometer highway from Rajasthan to Gujarat. This road is the first of nine megaprojects conceived by the National Highways Authority of India. India has set a target for constructing 35,000 km of highways in the next five years under the National Highways Development Program. Out of the $60-billion investment, $40 billion is to come from the

When built, Brazil’s first high-speed railroad will speed commuters across the 530 kilometers between Rio de Janeiro and S�o Paulo in just one hour and 30 minutes. But the bidding process has been slowed due to a dispute over procurement rules between the government’s Agency of Land Transportation (ANTT) and the national Audit Court of Brazil (TCU), testing the patience of potential bidders. + Image Map: Brazilian Government Planned high-speed rail route might not be done in time for next World Cup. Aware of the increasing disillusionment among bidders for the line’s 40-year design-build-maintain-operate contact, the government and court appear

Construction has begun on a novel bascule road bridge that has a 19-meter-long, diagonally split opening span at Poole Harbour, England. Hochtief U.K. Ltd., Swindon, has some 20 months to complete the 140-m Twin Sails bridge under a $28-million contract. Rendering: Poole Council Unique design features overlapping box girders in lieu of a conventional bascule. The roughly 30-m-long opposing tapering steel-box-girder spans will pivot upward to allow boats to enter the harbor. When closed, the tip of each 1.5-m-deep span will cantilever over the opposite support by about 10 m. This arrangement overcomes the need for pins to connect a

Construction has begun on India’s strategic 8.8-kilometer-long, $363-million Rohtang Tunnel. Built at an altitude higher than 3,000 meters in the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas, it will provide an all-weather road link across the snow-capped Rohtang Pass. The tunnel will provide year-round road access to the remote regions of Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi Valley in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Conceived in 1983 and faced with many procedural delays, it is now being constructed by the Border Roads Organization under the Ministry of Defense. BRO awarded the project to a joint venture led by Austria’s Strabag A.G., Vienna, with

The planned construction of a $780-million wind power project in Kenya is about to get under way. The consortium heading the project announced it is close to selecting contractors for the construction of transmission lines, roads and bridges to and from the project site, located in the remote district of Marsabit. The completion of the 300-MW Lake Turkana Wind Power Limited (LTWP) project, Africa’s biggest, would increase the capacity of Africa’s installed wind turbines to more than 1,000 MW, or approximately 0.7% of the total worldwide capacity. The consortium, LTWP, led by Aldwych International (51%) and Industrial Development Corp. of

Sweden’s parliament narrowly voted on June 17 to end its long moratorium on new nuclear plants. The move follows last month’s separate decision by Finland to approve in principle proposals for two new plants. Rendering Courtesy Of TVO. Site in Finland envisioned for new boiling-water or pressurized-water reactors. With 174 votes in favor and 172 against, the Swedish parliament reversed a 1980 decision to close two reactors and halt all new nuclear construction. Concerned about carbon dioxide emissions and reliance on imported fossil fuels, the government initiated new legislation allowing more nuclear power last year. Thirty years ago, public opinion