Seeking to keep an endangered $8.7-billion trans-Hudson River rail tunnel plan alive, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has bought the project a little more time. Proposed route was downriver from existing Amtrak tunnel. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie [R] had announced Oct. 7 that he was killing the project. But after meeting with LaHood the following day in Trenton, Christie agreed to a two-week study of unspecified project "options". Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the results of that study will convince Christie to do an about-face and give the plan a green light. Supporters of the Access to

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Oct. 7 killed the $8.7-billion Trans-Hudson River passenger rail tunnel project that was expected to double commuter train capacity between New Jersey and Manhattan. + Image Proposed route was downriver from existing Amtrak tunnel. Christie said he feared cost overruns on the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project could cost the state between $2 billion and $5 billion, despite commitments of $3 billion each from the Federal Transit Administration and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. CHRISTIE “I will not allow taxpayers to fund projects that run over budget

The Associated General Contractors of America and the California Air Resources Board have reached an official agreement to postpone the beginning of compliance of the state’s off-road diesel emission rules until 2014. NICHOLS In a joint announcement, Mary Nichols, CARB chairman, and Michael Kennedy, AGC’s general counsel, agreed that they would continue to work together to resolve the technical details attached with a complex set of regulations that CARB put into motion in 2007. “Stretching out the timelines and reporting requirements will make the path to compliance a lot easier while the construction industry recovers from severe financial hardships,” says

Large dam upgrades in North America are squeezing every megawatt out of the grid as efficiently as possible by converting century-old powerhouses and replacing decades-old turbines. Construction is under way at several sites, from Pennsylvania to British Columbia. Earlier this month, PPL Montana began upgrading its Rainbow Dam, a 36-megawatt dam on the Missouri River, six miles northeast of Great Falls, Mont., where 200 workers are under the direction of Chicago’s Walsh Construction. Photo: Courtesy BC Hydro British Columbian utility will boost generating capacity at W.A.C. Bennett Dam by phasing in five replacement turbine units by 2017. PPL Montana says

King County, Wash., will begin removal of a stuck tunnel-boring machine inside the Brightwater Treatment Plant conveyance system, near Seattle, later this month. Replacement joint-venture contractor Jay Dee/Coluccio will spend $4 million to freeze the ground around the TBM’s cutter head, then cut apart and remove the machine by spring 2011.

Leaders of U.S. airports are calling on the federal government to reauthorize a multiyear Federal Aviation Administration funding program, raise the cap on passenger facility charges and play a smaller role in the construction and management of airport facilities. “We’re extremely disappointed in Congress’s failure to act on FAA reauthorization,” said Hardy Acree, director of airports for the Sacramento City Airport System. Acree is the 2010 chairman of Airports Council International-North America, which held its 19th annual conference in Pittsburgh on Sept. 26-29. Congress last month approved the 14th stopgap measure in lieu of a multi-year FAA reauthorization bill, while

Work resumed on Oct. 5 on $1.7 billion of road and transit work in New Jersey, shut down three days prior by Gov. Christopher Christie (R) after state legislators agreed to approve $1.25 billion in bond financing through next March. Lawmakers had balked because Christie would not commit to the state’s $2.7-billion share of an $8.7-billion Hudson River rail tunnel, a move that could kill the project, called Access to the Region’s Core (ARC). A 30-day project cost review is set to end on Oct. 9. Published reports say Christie is concerned about ARC cost overruns and wants the state’s

Canadian government officials expect to complete negotiations by year-end with potential buyers of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the national corporation that manages the country’s nuclear-energy research program, including its CANDU reactor technology. Controlling costs and positioning Canada’s nuclear industry to “seize domestic and global opportunities” are factors driving the sale, says a government spokesperson. Officials decline to disclose names of potential purchasers, but Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin confirms it is one of the bidders. A spokeswoman said a successful bid would allow the firm to expand its sector work from refurbishing facilities, but she declined to elaborate. Despite laudatory reviews, AECL

Several contracting and engineering companies involved in the current build-out of a new generation of nuclear plants have received $30-million contracts from the Dept. of Energy to study and make recommendations on the design of future facilities. The companies will report on new techniques for the design and construction of nuclear plants, provide analytical assessments and conceptual designs, and give advice on policy creation and research and development requirements. This program is about looking “10 to 20 to 50 years down the line,” says Craig Grochmal, Shaw Group’s vice president of business development. Shaw was awarded one of six group

The behavior of engineered structures in the magnitude-8.8 Maule earthquake that struck Chile on Feb. 27 is unlikely to lead to big changes in U.S. practice or codes, agree engineers. Photo: Ramon Gilsanz In Chile, apartment-unit doors jammed, trapping occupants, thanks to lightly reinforced link beams over openings. “The performance of modern engineered construction in the quake was quite good, and most instances of poor performance are associated with differences in Chilean and U.S. design practice,” said Ronald O. Hamburger at the 2010 National Council of Structural Engineers Associations conference, held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Jersey City,