The Federal Transit Administration approved last month the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s revised testing plan for eleven 30-year-old foundations that will be used to support piers for the new Dulles Metrorail extension in northern Virginia to Dulles International Airport. Photo: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project Team Agency will begin tests on piers originally built in the 1970s to see if they can handle new light-rail system to Dulles Airport, after initial criticism. The concrete foundations, supported by concrete and steel caissons driven 50 to 60 ft deep, are among 13 that were installed by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation in the

Five teams comprising major U.S. and overseas soft-ground tunneling expertise are seeking approval to bid the third and final contract, estimated at $500 million, of an $8.7-billion rail link under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan. The contract, to be awarded next fall, will involve building 14,600 ft of soft-ground tunnels 110 ft under the river. Requesting prequalification for the contract are a joint venture of J.F. Shea, Schiavone and Kenny Construction; a team of S.A. Healy, China Construction America and Halmar; a JV of Spain’s FCC Construction, Austria’s Beton and Monierbau and U.S.-based Ferreira Construction; a team

Despite fears that it will take months to rebuild port facilities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that were wrecked by an earthquake on Jan. 12, construction and shipping industry representatives say the damage will not prevent them from pouring building materials and equipment into the country as soon as they are given the go-ahead by officials. Photo: USDOTMA The U.S. has mobilized six shallow-draft catamarans for immediate use. “The port being destroyed won’t be a hindrance...not if you have an experienced heavy-lift operator,” says Jerry Nagel, CEO of U.S. operations for Rickmers-Linie, Hamburg, Germany. “Most of the time we bring equipment to

Federal and contractor management failures are to blame for delays and cost overruns on a $300-million powerplant project in Afghanistan, says a new report by the U.S. Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction. The 105-megawatt, dual-fuel Tarakhil Power Plant near Kabul was supposed to be finished by last April. It is now expected to be completed by March 31, a year late and about $40 million over budget. The Jan. 20 report blames the U. S. Agency for International Development and lead contractor Black & Veatch Corp., Overland Park, Kansas. It notes that, “under pressure of political urgency,” the original

Samsung C&T, Korean Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and the province of Ontario announced on Jan. 21 a $6.6-billion deal—the largest of its kind, they claim—to build, own and operate facilities in the province to produce 500 MW of solar power and 2,000 MW of wind power by 2016. Samsung also will build four manufacturing plants for wind- and solar-energy parts by 2016 and oversee all facility and equipment engineering, construction, procurement and financing. KEPCO will design and connect facilities to the transmission and distribution systems and operate them. Ontario will help procure land. An Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure

A second phase of coal-ash cleanup at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston, Tenn., fossil-fuel powerplant could take at least four more years and up to $741 million to complete, says an engineering and cost analysis done for the utility and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the work. Released for comment on Jan. 18, the report covers new remediation options for what remains of more than 5.4 million cu yd of waste that leaked from a collapsed-site dredge cell in late 2008. Cleanup could total $1.2 billion. Knoxville, Tenn.-based TVA says the first phase of dredging in the

Even while survivors struggle through the grim process of removing bodies and debris left by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, relief organizations are mustering materials and skills to help Haitians rebuild their lives and economy. Photo: courtesy of GMI Prefabricated school unit is demonstration for proposed PET structural panels manufacturing plant in Haiti. Related Links: Haiti Quake Assessment is Small Step Toward Recovery Wrecked Port is No Barrier to Aid The World Economic Forum’s Disaster Relief Network is one group mobilizing aid to work on hospitals and orphanages in the villages of Duverger and Dandann,

After some bumps on the road to publication, the nation’s first code-intended commercial green building standard is available from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Use of Standard 189.1, which covers site location, energy use, recycling, water efficiency, indoor air quality, materials, resources and a building’s impact on the atmosphere, should result in a “greener” building than use of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA’s Standard 90.1-2007, says ASHRAE. ASHRAE, which developed 189.1 with the Illuminating Engineering Society and the U.S. Green Building Council, expects the new standard to be adopted into local building codes. Details about 189.1 are available at www.ashrae.org/greenstandard.

By the time they leave on Jan. 28, the 10 U.S. structural engineers sent to Haiti to assess the condition of buildings slightly damaged in the magnitude-7 earthquake will have done about 100 surveys. However, some 100,000 buildings still will need to be inspected so that the sound structures can be reoccupied, say local sources. Photo: Daniel O’neil, PADF High-end Oasis development, under construction, is undamaged, unlike an older completed building nearby (foreground). Photo: Eduardo Fierro, BFP Engineeers Inc. Light-metal roof of reinforcing-steel plant collapsed during the quake because it was not properly connected to the building’s reinforced-concrete columns. Related

Following a decade of study and debate, Nashville this month will begin clearing a 16-acre downtown site for the controversial $585-million Music City Convention Center. Photo: Music City Convention Center Authority Sweet song Music City Convention Center will inject more than $500 million into Nashville’s economy. A 1,000-room hotel to be located nearby would add another $300 million. The Nashville Metro Council voted 29-9 in January to approve the financing plan, despite questions about the city’s ability to pay off construction debt approaching $40 million a year. The 1.2-million-sq-ft convention center is scheduled to open in early 2013. The construction-management-at-risk