A new report offers a harsh assessment of BP, its service contractors and the U.S. Minerals Management Service in their role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The preliminary report from a National Academy of Engineering/National Research Council committee, released on Nov. 17, suggests that BP and its service contractors “lacked a suitable approach for managing the inherent risks” at the Macondo well and learning from “near misses.” “Important decisions made to proceed toward well abandonment despite several indications of potential hazard suggest an insufficient consideration of risks,” says Donald Winter, former secretary of the

Collaborative city greening is gaining international momentum, most recently with the signing of the Global Cities Covenant on Climate by more than 135 mayors attending the World Mayors Summit on Climate, held on Nov. 21 in Mexico City. Also at the summit, the World Mayors Council on Climate Change launched a web-based city climate registry, a mechanism for municipalities to ensure “transparency and accountability of local climate action,” according to the WMC. Related Links: Green Building Thrives in Shaky Economy Airports Push the Green Envelope The actions in Mexico City come on the heels of a Low-Carbon Cities for High-Quality

Like a runaway recycling truck, green building’s momentum hasn’t been stopped by the economic recession and will keep speeding through the recovery, according to a report released just prior to the construction industry’s annual green-building conference. At the same time, experts say building owners are looking to go green more for economic reasons than environmental ones. “Green building is the silver lining creating opportunity in the down economy,” says Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president of McGraw-Hill Construction (ENR is a unit of McGraw-Hill Construction). “And with this growth comes increasing attention on the value and performance of these buildings.” Green

Cutting a 55-in.-dia. opening into concrete is hardly rocket science. But when it’s the concrete shell of a huge underground tank that’s been storing highly-radioactive plutonium waste for more than 60 years, the cutaway could be a doorway to the unknown. Photo: Courtesy of WRPS Matt Landon, a contractor engineer at Hanford, measures the progress of a concrete cutting tool during a test on a simulated underground waste tank dome. Related Links: Video: Closing the Radioactive Spent Fuel K Basins at Hanford At month’s end, however, a U.S. Dept. of Energy contractor’s crew at the Hanford nuclear waste cleanup site

Concrete crashed onto a Washington, D.C., train station platform during the evening rush hour Nov. 17, but no one was injured. Investigators are checking why the chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling of the Farragut North Metro station in downtown Washington, D.C., an underground Metrorail station. The largest chunk was the “size of a human head,” says a Washington, D.C,. fire department spokesperson. The concrete fell approximately 25 ft to the platform, creating a debris field that was 20 ft across, he said. No one was injured. Investigators are homing in on the possibility that construction crews doing roadwork

The lead engineer examining the feasibility of a 900-MW dam in northeastern British Columbia says the proposal holds enormous promise for additional power generation for the province. The Site C Dam would be the third dam along the Peace River. + Image Source: BC Hydro The third impoundment on northeastern British Columbia’s Peace River would provide 900 MW of electricity, but cause a significant loss of habitat, opponents claim. According to John Nunn, technical project director of Vancouver-based engineering consultant Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd., the provincial government is not putting pressure on his company to validate the government’s decision to

The anticipated Nov. 30 opening of Israel’s longest tunnel marks the end of four years of construction and more than a decade of controversy. But completion of the 6.5-kilometer-long Carmel Tunnels, a $300-million build-operate-transfer highway project, will vastly improve traffic flow in the port city of Haifa and is the first major project in Israel for a Chinese contractor. Photo: Courtesy Of Carmelton Group Ltd. Photo: Courtesy Of Carmelton Group Ltd. Carmel Tunnels near Haifa during early construction will speed traffic flow in Israel’s third-largest city and was the country’s first major infrastructure collaboration with China. The project, involving major

Owner Brookfield Properties says the worst of several leaks during construction of a tunnel—under Route 9A linking the World Financial Center and the future World Trade Center development—is well under control and the site is secure. The Nov. 4 leak, 30 ft below existing grade in a section under Brookfield’s WFC, itself built on a relieving platform over the Hudson River, was a “minor issue,” says a spokesman for Brookfield. The tunnel’s contractor, Turner Construction Co., referred inquiries to the the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. The Port Authority attributes the leak, which flooded part of the

The lines on the developing U.S. high-speed-rail map have been barely penciled in, and now, after the Nov. 2 elections, at least two lines probably will have to be erased. Republican governors-elect in Wisconsin and Ohio vow to halt work on rail projects in their states, even though they won U.S Dept. of Transportation funds. Florida’s incoming GOP governor has promised to kill a proposed Orlando-Tampa line if state funding is required. Rendering: Courtesy of FDOT Florida's planned 84-mile-long line would run from Tampa to Orlando Rendering: Courtesy of FDOT Florida have four other stations, including one at the University

A Denver jury decided Nov. 16 that The Shaw Group, Baton Rouge, La., will have to pay Xcel Energy, Minneapolis, Minn. $40 million for delays and construction costs on the Comanche Unit 3 coal-fired powerplant in Pueblo, Colo. But in a split verdict, the jury also awarded Shaw an undisclosed amount of damages. Photo: Xcel Energy Comanche 3 coal-fired unit is located in Pueblo, Colo. The verdict in district court for city and county of Denver relates to a dispute between Shaw and Xcel Energy regarding a contract entered into in February 2006 to build Xcel’s Comanche Unit 3, which