Airports across the nation are cutting back on their capital programs, and the industry is anxious for a full reauthorization of a Federal Aviation Administration funding bill rather than settling for topgap extensions. Perhaps the most pressing issues of all are implementing a modern air-traffic control system (NextGen) and finding alternatives to crude-oil-based jet fuels. Catherine Lang, FAA’s acting associate administrator, told attendees of the American Association of Airport Executives that the Senate is the “wild card” in reauthorizing a four-year bill. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 5 approved a bill that would authorize $70 billion for

The eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge opened on June 3, eight days ahead of a schedule that was revised after a 15-month delay in 2005. Crews finished installing 17 pontoons for the 1.5-mile state Route 104 crossing. The world’s longest floating bridge over salt water links Washington state’s Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas about 60 miles north of Seattle. Photo: Kiewit-General Trusses are designed to withstand rough winds. Kiewit-General Construction Co., Poulsbo, Wash., earned a $600,000 bonus for the early opening. The $490-million project took six years, due in part to a 15-month delay after an ancient Native American

Federal investigators are examing the performance of signals and automatic operations equipment as well as railcar age and maintenance in the fatal June 22 crash of two Washington, D.C., Metrorail trains in Maryland. The accident killed one operator and eight passengers and injured 76. Photo: AP/Wideworld

With the current highway and transit authorization law set to expire on Sept. 30 and the Highway Trust Fund in deep, immediate trouble, a two-way tussle has arisen over what Congress should do next. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the White House want an 18-month highway and transit extension with a trust-fund fix. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and other leaders on the panel reject an extension and have proposed a $500-billion, six-year reauthorization. They want to see the trust fund repaired, but their bill is silent on that point. Missing so far from both LaHood’s

A sprawling reservation in southern Ohio long associated with the nuclear industry has been selected as the site for construction of Ohio’s third nuclear powerplant. If the project goes forward, it will be one of only a few nuclear plants in the U.S. proposed for a greenfield site. Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C.; AREVA and USEC Inc., both of Bethesda, Md.; UniStar Nuclear Energy, Baltimore; and the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative, Piketon, Ohio, have formed an alliance to develop the country’s first so-called Clean Energy Park on the site in Piketon where USEC’s Portsmouth Gaseous-Diffusion Plant enriched uranium for powerplant fuel

Smart-grid development advanced on June 18 with the release of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies’ June 18 on standards for the smart grid. The report, prepared by the Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Cal-if., is the first of three phases in NIST’s plan to expedite development of the smart grid. NIST will accept public comments for 30 days after publication of a notice in the Federal Register announcing the report’s availability, then establish priorities, standards and action plans by early fall.

Twenty years after Congress mandated improved water flow in the Everglades, a federal judge has removed a major obstacle to accomplishing that goal: Judge Ursula Ungaro of the Florida Southern District Court in Miami lifted her injunction on elevating one mile of U.S. Rte. 41, the Tamiami Trail. Construction of the highway in the early 1920s blocked the sheetflow of water across the ecosystem, precipitating a long-term decline of the Everglades. The Interior Dept. last year made the project a top priority. But in November, the Miccosukee Tribe won the injunction, claiming that Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to perform

Members of the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee are challenging the limits of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' mission for building natural hazard defenses. During a June 16 hearing on hurricane and flood protection work in Southeast Louisiana the narrow issue was the Corps' recommendation for an $800 million project to build permanent pumps and storm surge barriers at mouths of three New Orleans outfall canals. The committee chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the Louisiana delegation and witnesses backed a $3.5-billion "Option 2," instead, which would improve city storm drainage as well as perimeter defenses. Although the

In the face of opposition from the Obama administration, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders have unveiled major elements of a $500-billion surface transportation bill that would carry highway, transit and rail programs through the next six years and restructure Dept. of Transportation programs. Related Links: DOT's LaHood Seeks SAFETEA-LU Extension Other ENR SAFETEA-LU Coverage The proposal would represent about a 50% boost over funding for the past six years, but it doesn't specify where the additional money would come from. It also must contend with a radically different counter-proposal from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has called for an

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has proposed an "immediate" 18-month reauthorization of the federal highway program that also would infuse the faltering Highway Trust Fund with enough money to avoid a shortfall in August. LaHood said in a June 17 statement that he had briefed congressional lawmakers on the trust fund's problems and said that if money isn't added to the fund, "the trust fund will run out of money as soon as late August and states will be in danger of losing the vital transportation funding they need and expect." LaHood did not disclose details of his plan to fix