Restoration work for a rail-to-trail with a lift—elevated 18 ft to 20 ft on an abandoned trestle—is called “an engineer’s dream,” even though parts of the 71-year-old steel structure, not used for commerce since 1980, were in “terrible condition,” says the structural engineer charged with preserving the section of the trestle that slices through, between and above 10 blocks of buildings and streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is a dream because the elevated rail line, renamed the High Line in its reincarnation as a linear urban park, was designed for a 10,000-psf live load during its active years, when

An ambitious 2,500-kilometer-long “power highway” that will stretch across the breadth of Brazil has taken an important step forward with the awarding of a major subcontract to provide equipment and initial construction of the power line. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder / ENR Madeira River site is ideal for run-of-river hydro project. In late July, Zurich-based ABB snagged the $540-million contract to build a 600-kV portion of a power line that will connect two massive hydroelectric projects under construction on the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon Basin to the urban center of São Paulo. The job was awarded to two ABB

The U.S. General Services Administration on Aug. 14 let its largest stimulus-funded project so far, a $435.4-million design-build contract for the new U.S. Coast Guard headquarters building in Washington, D.C. Clark Construction Group of Bethesda, Md., led the winning team, joined by St. Louis-based HOK, which will provide interior designs, landscape architecture, construction documents and administration. The Washington office of WDG Architecture is architect-of-record. Chicago-based Perkins+Will created preliminary designs and bridging documents for the 1.2 million-sq-ft building, which will aim for a LEED Silver rating. The headquarters, along with a 1,000-car parking garage, will be built on the new 4.5

German architect Ole Scheeren, a partner with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rotterdam, has unveiled his plan for MahaNakhon, Bangkok’s tallest skyscraper. The 310-m luxury mixed-use tower appears to be carved, with portions set back in seemingly random fashion. It will be primarily residential but also will include a Marriott hotel. The tower is located near a major transportation hub and is the central feature of a $515-million, 37-acre development that will contain public gardens and retail spaces. Construction is slated to begin in late 2009 and be completed in 2012.

Construction is under way at Camp Ederle, a U.S. Army base in Vicenza. The post is the headquarters of the Southern European Task Force as well as the 173rd Airborne Brigade combat team. A 100-acre portion of a former civilian airfield, Dal Molin, will be the site of barracks for 1,200 soldiers and office space for four brigade battalions being transferred from Germany. A joint venture of two Italian contractors, C.M.C. Di Ravenna and Consorzio Cooperative Construzioni, Bologna, have already driven 800 concrete piles, which eventually will be topped with 25 multistory buildings and car parks. Simultaneously, Italian teams are

A new urban center is rapidly taking shape in Incheon, a port city 30 miles west of Seoul. Work is under way on 100 buildings across 1,500 acres reclaimed from the sea. The so-called First World apartment complex is currently home to Songdo’s first 7,800 residents. The development’s population is expected to reach 65,000 upon completion in 2014. A convention center, hotel, international school and 100-acre central park have been completed. The construction workforce currently numbers 15,000 and is expected to peak in late 2010 at 25,000. The developer is New Songdo International City Development LLC, a 70/30 partnership of

Construction crews working the One World Trade Center site reached a milestone on Aug. 12 by placing the largest steel column to date for the $3.1-billion tower in Lower Manhattan. The 60-ft, 70-ton beam will serve as one of 24 perimeter columns that surround the building’s core. Once placed, the columns will allow the initial floors of the tower––including the lobby––to be built out. Tishman Construction is managing construction on the 2.6-million-sq-ft, 102-story structure for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Construction began in April 2006 on the steel-frame tower designed by the New York office of

Contractors building two segments of a 13-mile-long sewage conveyance tunnel near Seattle have devised plans to fix in place two stalled tunnel-boring machines that had been working in poor soils and high groundwater pressure. Related Links: Outfall Pipe Floated and Stuck for Washington State Plant Seattle's Brightwater System Moving Toward Construction The tunnel is a key portion of King County, Wash.’s $1.8-billion Brightwater wastewater treatment project. The rims of the cutter heads on the 17.5-ft-dia Herrenknecht slurry machines were damaged, allowing rock and boulders to get stuck, says Gunars Sreibers, King County project manager. The general contractor, the joint venture

An Aug. 13 agreement between state and Federal authorities resolves long-standing issues and promises to remove bureaucratic obstacles to the restoration of the Everglades in South Florida under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The �master agreement� establishes uniform terms and conditions for the project partnership agreements under which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District will cooperate and share costs for the CERP projects. Photo: South Florida Water Management District Master Agreement will release $65 million for Picayune Strand construction, where canals were plugged and streets demolished a few years ago to restore

Doubling up in Las Vegas usually means doubling the size of your bet. At the new terminal at McCarran International Airport, the steel erector’s detailing subcontractors doubled the number of staff working on the project. That and other measures other measures paid off big. Slide Show Photo: SME Steel Contractors/Michael Moore Terminal 3 is expected to open in mid-2012 and will cost approximately $2.4 billion. It will span 1.9 million square feet, and include 14 gates and a multistory parking garage. The Terminal’s frame, 300 ft wide and a half mile long, rose from the desert floor this summer. General