After weathering a two-day funding cutoff, federal highway and transit programs are back in operation, thanks to a stopgap bill signed on March 2. But the extension only runs until March 28 and funds the programs at a rate much lower than last year’s. Transportation officials are hoping for quick Senate approval of a further extension through December that also will bolster the shaky Highway Trust Fund and restore road funding to 2009’s level. Further, the Senate is working on a tax bill that includes provisions to benefit construction. The immediate focus for construction at ENR press time was an

Ten major energy, engineering and construction companies have formed Friends of the “Supergrid” to promote a multibillion-dollar grid linking offshore European wind farms. Unlike conventional transmission lies, Supergrid would have nodes collecting, integrating and routing energy to the best available markets. Energy ministers of France, Germany, the U.K. and six other European nations this December signed a plan for coordinating offshore infrastructure development.

Despite the gloomy construction employment climate, one New Orleans contractor has established a new safety and craft training facility and will hire several hundred people to bring its workforce to 1,000 by summer. Photo: Angelle bergeron Pump house Forming has begun on the walls of the structure that will house the largest capacity pump station in the country. Related Links: Video: Blowin’ and Goin’: GIWW West Closure Complex Gulf IntraCoastal Constructors, a joint venture of Kiewit Corp, Omaha, Neb., and Traylor Bros. Inc., Evansville, Ind., is gearing up to deliver the $854.8-million Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex, designed by

Milwaukee is spending $100 million on a metropolitan flood-control project, hoping to avoid future flood damages that have cost that much since 1997. The centerpiece of the plan ­is a 17-ft-diameter, half-mile-long tunnel that will drain up to 3,405 cu ft per second of water from a flood-prone creek into a 315-million-gallon detention basin. Slide Show Photo: Mike Larson Tunnel diameter is more than 17 ft, designed to quickly channel stormwater to detention basin. When heavy rain causes nearby Underwood Creek to overflow, the new tunnel will drain the excess water to a 65-acre engineered detention basin that will slowly

On March 3, the U.S. Energy Dept. formally withdrew its application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make southern Nevada the site of national nuclear-waste repository. The move comes after 23 years and $38 billion in studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, where it had planned to store up to 77,000 tons of radioactive waste from 80 sites in 35 states. The construction price tag was estimated at about $100 billion. It leaves the waste problem unresolved and the federal government exposed to utility lawsuits. Since 1983, ratepayers have paid over $33 billion into the Nuclear

Engineers inspecting Chile’s structures after the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that struck the nation’s midsection on Feb. 27 say Chile’s modern buildings are more robust than many equivalent buildings on the West Coast of the U.S. Even concrete frames under construction fared well in the second-strongest temblor on record, say seismic experts. Photo: Miyamoto International Inc. Tower in Concepción appears to lack vertical reinforcing and horizontal confinement. + Image “It’s amazing how little structural damage there is on new buildings,” says Scott Nyseth, a principal in the Vancouver, Wash., office of Miyamoto International Inc. The amount of shear wall per sq ft

Enbridge Inc. is itching to get going on its proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline stretching from outside Edmonton, Alberta, to Kitimat, B.C. Initially introduced in 2005, the 727-mile pipeline project is headed to Canada's National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for joint review "very soon," according to Jennifer Varey, spokesperson. If approved, construction could start in 2012. Calgary, Alberta,-based Enbridge plans to transport 525,000 barrels per day of petroleum in the 36-inch west-moving pipeline and 193,000 barrels per day of condensate—a product used to thin petroleum products for pipeline transport—in the 20-inch east-moving line. The project, estimated at

The House has approved a $15-billion jobs package that includes an extension for highway and transit programs through December and a financial infusion to strengthen the Highway Trust Fund. The measure, which the House passed on March 4 by a 217-201 vote, next goes back to the Senate because it differs from the version that the Senate approved on Feb. 24. Besides extending surface-transportation programs through Dec. 31, the House-passed bill bolsters the Highway Trust Fund through an approximately $20-billion transfer from the general fund. It also would restore $8.7 billion in highway obligation authority that was rescinded on Sept.

Within weeks of Ethiopia’s inauguration of the 420-megawatt Gilgel Gibe II hydro plant by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in January, a 15-meter section of its head-race tunnel collapsed. Italian engineers have begun reinstalling lights and ventilation to prepare for months of work to get water flowing again. Photo: Salini Costruttori S.p.A. One 15-meter section of the concrete-lined tunnel collapsed. The remainder of 26-km-long head-race channel is in “perfect” condition, the contractor says. According to the project’s main contractor, Rome-based Salini Costruttori S.p.A., the rest of the 26-km head-race tunnel is in “perfect” condition. The collapse site, about 10 km upstream

Rio de Janeiro is pushing for high-speed-rail service in time for the 2014 Olympic Games. The Brazilian government plans to issue a concessionaire contract in May for a 510.7-kilometer-long high-speed-rail system to link the cities of Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Construction costs are estimated at $19.3 billion, and the term of the concession is 40 years. + Image Image: Brazilian Government Related Links: China-Hong Kong Rail Line Costs Deepen London�s Massive Rail Project Gains Favor The Trem de Alta Velocidade (TAV) line will include nine stations, 90.9 km of tunnels and 107.8 km of bridges. Public consultations