Europe’s largest energy project, Nord Stream, this month received vital approvals from Sweden and Finland when they gave their OKs for the twin underwater pipelines to pass through their exclusive economic zones in the Baltic Sea. + Image Image: Nord Stream AG The natural gas pipeline across the Baltic sea Nord Stream will carry natural gas 1,220 km, from Vyborg, Russia, near St. Petersburg, to Greifsburg, Germany. It will cross the territories of four other nations: Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Poland. Only Russia and Germany still have to approve the project, but that is considered a formality. The 1,220-km offshore

As the U.K. begins to fast-track nuclear power permitting, its safety regulator and those of Finland and France have sent Europe’s main nuclear plant supplier back to the drawing board. Already grappling with construction delays at its first EPR pressurized water reactor project—Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 (OL3) plant—Areva Np., Paris, must now also rethink key safety systems. In an unusual joint move, nuclear safety regulators in the U.K., Finland and France recently revealed safety concerns about the EPR’s control and instrumentation (C&I) systems. Photo: TVO Delays Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant may be started much later than the June 2012 deadline.

Consulting engineers and construction contractors alike are looking forward to participating in the single-largest investment ever for modernizing the U.S. electric grid. The $3.4 billion of grant awards announced late last month by President Obama will be matched by utilities in 49 states for a total of $8.2 billion to install “Smart Grid” technologies. The Energy Dept. hopes that investment will put the country on a path to obtain 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and shave more than 1,400 MW off peak power demand. On the long-heralded Smart Grid, customers and electricity providers will be linked

Nearly nine years after passage of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $53-million construction contract for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project. The award, drawing on nearly $40 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, represents the first federal construction funds for what was supposed to be an equal partnership between the U.S. government and the state of Florida. To date, the state has invested about $2.5 billion, mostly for land acquisition, while the federal government has spent some $600 million on documentation, project implementation plans, regulation-writing and similar preparatory work. Harry

It costs on average $4.01 per sq ft to get a building certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system for green buildings, according to recent market research. That figure translates to $830 million in LEED-related construction spending from 2000 to 2008, says a study by USGBC and consultant Booz Allen Hamilton. The 52-page “Green Jobs Study” estimates $12.5 billion in LEED-certification-related spending will occur over the next five years, an amount that would sustain 230,000 jobs. In the same period, energy savings are expected to total $6 billion, with $4.8 billion directly

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat has decided to measure a building’s height from the level of the “lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance,” to accommodate multi-use skyscrapers with several main entrances at different levels. The group also has decided to eliminate its height-to-roof category—acknowledging that fewer tall buildings have easily measurable, distinct roof elevations. Under the new criteria, the 800-meter-plus Burj Dubai, currently set to open as the world’s tallest building in January, will now be measured from the lowest of its three main entrances. Also, under the new criteria, the recently completed Trump International Hotel & Towers

The California legislature last week approved a series of bills designed to address water issues facing the state, including an $11.4-billion bond that will leverage another $30 billion if passed by voters next November. The $40-billion plan targets the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta and its system of levees. It includes the creation of a new seven-member oversight body, the Delta Stewardship Council, to develop a comprehensive delta management plan by Jan. 1, 2012; the establishing of a groundwater monitoring program; reporting requirements for water diversions and imposition of civil liabilities and penalties for false statements; and a requirement for the state

Smarting from a second emergency closure of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge in two months, the California Dept. of Transportation is exploring long-term repairs for a cracked eyebeam until the crossing’s $6.3-billion modernization is completed in 2013. Caltrans engineers are considering replacing part or all of the truss system that has a cracked eyebeam, discovered by inspectors on the 73-year-old cantilevered eastern span during a Labor Day closure. Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based C.C. Myers Inc. was installing a 288-ft detour ramp as part of the reconstruction when inspectors found the 1½ in. crack in a 2-in.-thick, chain-like steel beam. The cracked

Emergency teams worked to retrieve the bodies of four of five workers who died after falling 15 meters in a bridge falsework collapse on Nov. 7 in the tiny Pyrenees principality of Andorra. Six more were injured. The accident occurred at the western portal of the recently completed Dos Valires tunnel. The men were working on falsework for a twin-deck, partially cable-stayed bridge being built as an access to the 2.9-kilometer-long tunnel from an existing highway. Workers reportedly had been pouring concrete for several hours when the falsework collapsed. No official cause has been given as investigations continue. The bridge’s

A joint venture to develop up to 100,000 MW of solar power in Middle Eastern and North African deserts by 2050 was formed on Oct. 30 in Munich. The group DII GmbH is owned by 12 major firms, most of them based in Germany, including Siemens A.G., Deutsche Bank A.G. and the DESERTEC Foundation. DII ultimately aims to supply as much as 15% of Europe’s electricity demand and a substantial part of local needs.