Work on the 26-km-long Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) is well under way, with the last contract to be awarded in 2011. The Legislative Council recently approved $8.6 billion in funds for construction—a controversial increase from the original $5.1 billion. Related Links: Brazil Plans High-Speed Rail for Olympics London’s Massive Rail Project Gains Favor Already $486 million worth of civil-works contracts have been awarded, with the largest being a $216-million contract to Japanese firm Penta-Ocean Construction Co., Ltd. for construction of the Mai Po to Ngau Tam Mei tunnels at the north end of the line. The other contracts

The Michigan Dept. of Transportation will find out on March 17 how many developers, investors, lenders, design-build contractors and operators are interested in building a new $2.26-billion international bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. That’s the final day for interested private-sector companies and teams to respond to a request for proposal of interest (RFPOI) sent out in late January. + Image Map: MDOT Proposed new crossing would provide an alternative to the Ambassador Bridge + Image Image: MDOT Contractors will be asked to choose between cable-stayed or suspension designs. MDOT will use the non-binding responses in its May 1

Kenya, east Africa’s largest economy, has begun the $960-million process of constructing and upgrading two key roads in the capital of Nairobi through public/private partnerships as part of the multinational Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project (NCTIP). On Feb. 24, the country signed an agreement with G8 member-country Japan for partial funding of the construction of the Nairobi Western Ring Road. Japan gave Kenya an initial $420,000 grant for the project. NCTIP is a multibillion-dollar road and air-transport program that aims to link the Great Lakes countries, with an estimated combined population of 120 million, to Kenya ’s seaport of Mombasa.

Thanks to bipartisan support, London’s $24-billion government-sponsored Crossrail project seems to have a secure future even as public spending cuts loom. Having already signed up all the design teams, Transport for London’s project company, Crossrail Ltd., is now procuring the last tunneling contract. Photo: Crossrail Ltd. Wide-scale demolition at Tottenham Court Road for one of Crossrail’s largest underground hubs. Related Links: Brazil Plans High-Speed Rail for Olympics China-Hong Kong Rail Line Costs Deepen The project includes 21 kilometers of twin tunnels under central London. Crossrail Ltd. set a March 24 deadline for firms to lodge prequalification bids for a contract

The Louisville, Ky., district of the Army Corps of Engineers allowed resumption of Ohio River traffic through the 1,200-ft Markland Lock chamber on March 1 after an expedited 155-day, $6-million emergency repair operation. Corps crews worked two 12-hour shifts each day through “wretched weather conditions to get this lock back in operation,” says Col. Keith Landry, district commander. A malfunctioning control-valve solenoid is blamed for allowing excessive water flow that wrenched one of the chamber’s 450-ton leaves from its mountings and damaging its partner during a locking operation on Sept. 27. Corps employees Sean Bennett (front) and Charles Smith endured

Federal highway and transit programs are back in business, but only through March 28, thanks to enactment late on March 2 of a delayed stopgap funding measure. But state and industry officials noted that the respite is brief. They are hoping that Congress soon will pass a further highway-transit extension, through Dec. 31. The newly enacted stopgap bill, which also extends unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefits for several weeks, gained final congressional approval with Senate passage on a strong 78-19 vote. President Obama signed the bill later on March 2. The action marks an end to a two-day shutdown

Brazilian-backed proposal to build a 2,000-megawatt hydroelectric plant in the Peruvian Amazon has gained momentum in recent weeks as the government of the Andean nation has thrown its weight behind the effort. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder Inambari River project would supply 2,000 MW of power, but displace 3,300 people. + Image Image: C.J. Schexnayder. The Brazilian consortium behind the $4-billion project, Empresa de Generación Eléctrica Amazonas Sur S.A.C. (EGASUR), is expected to present feasibility studies for constructing the hydroelectric plant on the Inambari River to Peru’s Ministry of Mines and Energy early this month. EGASUR is composed of Brazilian construction firm

In mid-February, Glendale Water & Power awarded a $4.2-million contract to Greenville, S.C.-based Utility Partners of America Inc., as the Southern California city joined a nationwide move to so-called smart water and electric networks. The advanced metering infrastructure will act as a two-way communication network to connect the meter to the utility and to the customer. Utility Partners is the same company that won a $7.5-million contract for similar work in Sacramento, Calif., in November. It has installed an estimated 6 million meters across the country. The 33,400 new water and 84,500 electric meters UPA will install in Glendale will

Developers of a major offshore wind farm in Massachusetts Bay failed to reach agreement by March 1 with local Native American tribes who say the $1-billion Cape Wind project would destroy ancestral burial sites. The continuing impasse over the 135-turbine project means U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar will make a final ruling on its fate by the end of April. Salazar had acted as arbiter between the tribes and project developer Cape Wind Associates, with a self-imposed March 1 deadline. The lengthy permitting process now goes to a Dept. of the Interior agency, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, for

In a strongly worded response that was not a surprise to the U.S. military, a San Francisco-based official of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has raised concerns about the potentially major environmental and infrastructure damage from the planned relocation of thousands of Marines and others to the tiny Pacific island of Guam. EPA is concerned the movement of thousand of U.S. Marines, construction workers and others to Guam will harm its sensitive ecology and overstress infrastructure. In a Feb. 17 letter to Roger Natsuhara, acting assistant U.S. Navy secretary for installations and environment, EPA regional administrator Jared Blumenfeld says the