A $575-million management contract on London’s $22-billion Crossrail project has gone to a team of San Francisco-based Bechtel Ltd., London, Halcrow Group, London, and Paris-based SYSTRA. The team will oversee design and construction of the system’s tunnels under the city for owner Crossrail Ltd., including a 21-km-long twin-bore tunnel under the center of London and six new stations. The award follows last month’s $146-million program management contract win by a team of AECOM, Los Angeles, CH2M Hill Cos., Englewood, Colo., and the U.K.’s Nichols Group.

Brazil’s Odebrecht has won a $2.1-billion concession for the upgrade and new construction of the Dom Pedro Highway in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 30-year concessionaire will be responsible for the upgrade and maintenance of a total of almost 185 miles of tolled roadway traversing 17 cities between Mogi Guaçu and Jacarei the northeast of Sao Paulo’s urban center. The project is part of an ongoing effort to alleviate traffic problems in the country’s largest metro area. “We will invest ... 1.4 billion in the first six years,” says Leonardo Mala, an Odebrecht spokesman. “We will start the

Peter M. Rogoff, a veteran Senate transportation aide, is President Obama's choice to lead the Federal Transit Administration, the White House announced on April 8. Rogoff has been a staffer on the Senate Appropriations Committee for 22 years, including 14 years as the top Democratic aide on the panel's transportation subcommittee, where he worked under Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.). His nomination as FTA administrator is subject to Senate confirmation. Besides working on annual spending bills for the Dept. of Transportation, Rogoff also has played a role in the last three multi-year surface transportation reauthorization measures, beginning

The $49.3 billion in federal stimulus funding set aside for transportation work generated none of the rancorous clamor raised by the banking and financial-sector bailout. Instead, politicians and officials in cash-strapped state highway departments are joining nervous contractors and engineers in nearly universal praise for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Slide Show Photo: Arizona DOT Emphasis on speed and jobs moves repaving work to the top of the list. Any criticism has been muted. The public perceived the American International Group executive bonuses as tax dollars profiting those who were culpable for financial excesses and bad

Engineers, contractors and owners are boarding the Energy Dept.’s $32.7- billion gravy train, augmented by $12.5 billion in loan programs, as it leaves Washington, D.C. Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s last job was as director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His familiarity with the condition of lab facilities may be why DOE is pouncing on the $1.6 billion in funds appropriated by ARRA, with half earmarked for construction, infrastructure, equipment acquisition and research at nine national laboratories in seven states (see table below). The largest share for a single project is $150 million to accelerate construction on the National Synchrotron Light

As American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars begin to roll out from the Environmental Protection Agency, states are scrambling to develop and implement their plans to distribute the funds to local communities and utilities. In some cases, money has already been distributed; in others, the agencies responsible for distribution are waiting for EPA to work out the details of how the money will be allocated. Photo: AP/ Wideworld The big boost in DOE nuclear work could overwhelm current DOE staff. Photo: WASA Typical projects include drinking-water rehab work. But while funding may be merely a trickle now, agency and

The 5.8-magnitude quake that hit L’Aquila on April 6 and aftershocks killed over 200, ruined cathedrals and left thousands homeless. Photo: AP / Wideworld

Sparks are flying over a proposed addition to the 2010 edition of the steel sector’s code of standard practice. The addition would recognize the practice, in use for years, of the structural engineer of record designating connection design to a licensed professional engineer working for the steel fabricator. Tests will likely confirm that welded double-angle connections (below) and seated connections (above) need modification to meet new model code requirements. “The fundamentals of this proposal are accepted,” says Charles J. Carter, vice president and chief structural engineer for the Chicago-based American Institute of Steel Construction Inc., at its North American Steel

With billions of dollars of state and federal funds anticipated, California can now pay some 80 engineering consultants on its planned 800-mile, $46-billion high-speed rail line. Already $5 million in debt for scoping and design work that occurred on the north-south express connector since the financially-strapped state froze infrastructure financing in December, the Pooled Money Investment Board approved a $29.1-million loan at its April 6 meeting after State Treasurer Bill Lockyer successfully sold $6.54 billion in bonds at the end of March. Photo: CA High-Speed Rail Authority Engineers have worked on planned line without pay The High Speed Rail Authority

When fans sip their first beer at Atlanta’s new minor league ballpark on April 17, few of those on hand will appreciate the feat of design and construction that led to the opening day event. Slide Show Photo: Courtesy Barton Malow New stadium for the Gwinnet Braves takes shape near Atlanta. Photo: Steve Setzer Doug Steljes, project executive for Barton Malow, looks out over the new stadium near Atlanta for the Gwinnett Braves. The new $59-million facility on 12 acres in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta, was designed and built in just over one year. The secret to the fast