Congress has approved the latest in a series of extensions to allow Federal Aviation Administration programs, including its Airport Improvement Program (AIP) construction grants, to continue operating. The new stopgap runs through March 31. Final congressional action came on Dec. 10, with passage by the Senate. The House had approved the measure two days earlier. The bill next goes to the White House, for President Obama's expected signature. The measure would succeed the current stopgap, which expires Dec. 31. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) notes that the extension includes $2 billion in contract authority for AIP,

A joint venture of Barnard Construction Co. Inc., Bozeman, Mont., and Judlau Contracting Inc., College Point, N.Y., edged out two other prequalified teams to win a $583-million contract to bore a pair of 16,500-ft-long, 27-ft-dia., tunnels averaging 120-ft deep for the Manhattan portion of an $8.7-billion second mass-transit tunnel linking New York's Pennsylvania Station to New Jersey. Directors of project owner, New Jersey Transit, unanimously approved the contract on Dec. 9. Proposals for a related tunnel contract under New Jersey's Palisades rock formation, estimated at $250 million, will be due Dec. 15, says a New Jersey Transit spokesman They are

Facing unpredictably tough ground conditions, tunneling crews have worked all out this year to get Belfast’s $195-million, 9.4-kilometer-long stormwater storage tunnel system operational before Christmas. With work largely done, Northern Ireland Water (NIW) aims to recruit soon a design firm to handle its second deep-tunnel sewer project, likely to be just as tough to implement. Slide Show Photo: Northern Ireland Water Belfast CSO system has 19 shafts up to 10 m in diameter. The shafts and tunnels will be able to hold 85,000 cu m of wastewater. Photo: Northern Ireland Water Five heavy-duty pumps can lift 16 cu m of

A Pacific Northwest dam removal project, said by its owner, the National Park Service, to be the largest of its type in the U.S., is one step closer to beginning after the recent completion of a new water treatment plant in Port Angeles, Wash. NPS officials expect contractors to proceed with dismantling Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Olympic Peninsula in 2012. Photo: National Park Service. Demolition and removal is to start in 2012. Congress approved removal of both Elwha River impoundments in 1993. Demolition was scheduled for 2009, until rising costs for the $308-million project delayed the start

The anticipated costs to contractors to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule addressing stormwater runoff on construction sites outweigh any benefits to water quality, say industry representatives. Critics charge the new rule, published in the Dec. 1 issue of the Federal Register and which will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2010, imposes new costs and burdens on builders while doing little to address water quality. EPA and environmental advocates say the new rule, required under a 2006 court order, will help reduce pollution from construction sites into the nation’s rivers and streams. The final rule requires

A joint venture of Barnard Construction Co. Inc., Bozeman, Mont., and Judlau Contracting Inc., College Point, N.Y., edged out two other prequalified teams in winning a $583-million contract to bore a pair of 16,500-ft-long, 27-ft-dia. tunnels averaging 120-ft deep for the Manhattan portion of a second mass-transit tunnel linking New York’s Pennsylvania Station to New Jersey. It is the first of three major tunneling contracts for the $8.7-billion Mass Transit Tunnel project, overseen by New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Transit’s directors approved the contract on Dec. 9. Construction will begin

The government of Brazil has announced it is seeking bid proposals for a 317-mile high-speed rail line linking São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The project would be the first of its kind in South America, which currently has no high-speed rail lines. The project currently has an estimated budget of $19.44 billion and would serve a corridor that is home to 40 million people—20% of Brazil’s population. Under the current plan, 60% of the cost would be funded by Brazil’s development bank, and the remaining 40% would be provided by the winning bidder, which also would receive a concession

An unusual wave-power system that pumps high-pressure water to an onshore hydroelectric plant recently began feeding electricity into the U.K.’s national transmission system. The 315 kW “Oyster device” is the world’s only functioning hydroelectric wave-powered plant, claims its Edinburgh-based developer, Aquamarine Power Ltd. Slide Show Photo: Aquamarine Power Ltd. The 200-tonne 315-kW wave-power device was installed in Scotland for six months of full-scale demonstration trials. Related Links: Wave Power: Swells Drive Onshore Generator Finland’s WaveRoller Has Seabed Generator Oyster’s hydraulic pumping power is generated at the hinge of a seabed-mounted flap that moves with waves. The 10-m-long by 18-m-wide steel

The $15-billion Papua New Guinea liquefied natural-gas project has secured several new off-take commitments from energy companies across Asia, leading joint-venture senior partner ExxonMobil to announce it will press ahead with the 435-mile pipeline project. It would represent the largest foreign investment in Papua New Guinea to date and, when the project is completed, will deliver an estimated 6.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year to customers across east Asia. PNG LNG, as the project is known, is a joint venture led by Esso Highlands, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil; Oil Search, Santos; the government of Papua New Guinea;

A down economy could provide a positive boost to opponents of looming targets for construction- equipment emissions in California. A new study suggests formulas that were used by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to establish future emissions-reduction targets overestimated the levels of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter from off-road diesel equipment in the state. AGC says looming equipment emissions rules are based on projections now reduced by compliance and the recession. The findings are based on new data released from an inventory of construction equipment currently in use in the state conducted this year by the Sacramento-based board. The