A proposal by a North Carolina artist is laying the foundation for what may become the largest in-situ residential soil-lead remediation project in the country. Artist Mel Chin’s work often brings site-specific art to unlikely places, including destroyed homes and landfills. He has worked with scientists in the past to create gardens of hyperaccumulators—plants that draw heavy metals from soil. Now he is attracting academic, engineering and social resources to ask Congress for $300 million to address soil-lead contamination in New Orleans. Photo: Pam Radtke Russell Chin’s Operation Paydirt would be the largest urban soil cleanup in the U.S. Although

States must now certify that their building codes meet tougher energy-efficiency requirements under a new determination by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. DOE says it has established the latest standard from the American National Standards Institute/American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Standard 90.1-2004, as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes.

Workers were scheduled to finish jacking the steel-pipe pinnacle atop the world’s tallest buildng on Jan. 10, marking the Burj Dubai’s topping out. The skyscraper’s curtain wall is 90% complete. But because of interior design changes, tower construction is not likely to be done until September, says Kyung-Jun Kim, project director for Samsung Corp. Crews jacked the pinnacle from within the structural steel spire that tops the reinforced concrete frame. The owner, Emaar Properties PJSC, still will not reveal the tower’s final height. However, project sources confirm the building is taller than 800 meters.

The Texas Department of Transportation today announced that it has effectively pulled the plug on its ambitious and widely publicized Trans-Texas Corridor, a comprehensive transportation plan introduced by TxDOT and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) in 2002. What was once envisioned as 4,000 miles of existing and new highways, railways and utility rights-of-way now will be attempted in smaller segments. Photo: TxDOT The vision that was: A rendering of the project formerly known as the Trans-Texas Corridor. Photo: TxDOT Amadeo Saenz, Jr., executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation. Major contracting consortiums had lined up to build the first

Authorities are investigating the break of a 66-in. prestressed concrete-cylinder water pipe that flooded busy State Route 190 in Bethesda, Md., on Dec. 23. The pipe, which carries 150,000 gallons per minute, sent water rushing down a nearly half-mile section of the road, stranding more than a dozen vehicles. At least 15 people were plucked from their cars by rescue workers in boats and helicopters. Photo: AP/Wideworld Motorist stranded by water main break in Washington, D.C., suburbs Dec. 23. Ross Contracting Inc., Mount Airy, Md., was awarded a $1.3-million contract by Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission for emergency repairs to the

As the highlight of a $1.8-million, four-year federally funded research program, academic and industry researchers have begun testing multiple types of bridge-cable sensors in a chamber generating real-world-based corrosive conditions at Columbia University in New York City. The six-month test, launched on Dec. 23, has the world’s only cable mockup tested under 1.2-million lb of tension, say Columbia officials. Photo: Parsons Betti (left) and Khazem handle prefabricated parallel wire strands built for the mock suspension cable that will be subjected to real-life corrosion factors. The 20-ft-long mock suspension-bridge cable has a diameter of 20 in. and is made of nearly

Following a dramatic accident—the second in two months on the $803-million Interstate 10 Twin Spans bridges project—lead contractor Boh Bros. Construction Co. is reviewing safety procedures and employee training and actively seeking out “any additional steps we can implement to improve safety,” says Robert Boh, company president. Photo: La. DOT New Orleans Twin Spans project suffered a second accident in two months on Dec. 23. The Dec. 23 accident occurred when a 20-year-veteran crane operator, working a mobile hydraulic crane, apparently made a lift “beyond the safe working radius of the crane, causing the machine to tip over against the

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has reinstated the Bush administration’s Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) until the Environmental Protection Agency develops a new clean-air program for powerplants. The court struck down the rule, which had been touted as the centerpiece of the administration’s air quality program, on July 11, saying it had “fundamental flaws.” But the court decided to revisit the issue after EPA, Environmental Defense Fund and several states asked for the rule to be reinstated. In its Dec. 24 ruling, the court concluded that despite “relative flaws” of CAIR, allowing the rule to remain

Cleanup of the worst spill of its kind in the history of the U.S. is continuing in east Tennessee, where an earthen retention wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal plant failed on Dec. 22. The failure sent 5.4 million cu yd of toxic sludge composed of fly ash and water flowing over 300 acres. Photo: AP/Wideworld Impoundment pond retention wall failure on Dec. 22 covered 300 acres with 5.4 million cu yd of coal-combustion waste from TVA’s Kingston powerplant. Photo: United Mountain Defense Water-quality samples in affected area show elevated levels of arsenic. The sludge, a byproduct of

Losing bidders of a U.S. Energy Dept.’s $3-billion cleanup contract at the agency’s Hanford site in Washington state may get a chance to rebid after the agency agreed on Dec. 29 to reevaluate the “mission support” contract award made in September. The decision comes at the urging of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which reviewed a protest of the award by a losing bidder that claimed problems with DOE’s solicitation. GAO dismissed the protest but only after DOE agreed to take “corrective action” in its cost evaluation. A limited-liability company led by Lockheed Martin won the contract, but another led