As Haiti rebuilds after its cataclysmic earthquake, the government there has launched a first-of-its-kind design competition to help replace the country's decimated housing stock.

A 528 ft-wide, 2,650-ton steel truss span, supported by a U-shaped stability frame, is being readied for lift and placement on June 19 as part of a $1.2 billion widening project for the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, La. Video Photo: Angelle Bergeron A 2,650-ton steel truss span, part of a $1.2 billion widening project for the Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, is prepared for lift and placement on June 19. Related Links: New Scheme Prepared For Bridge-Truss Installation (VIDEO) Span Readied To Receive Steel: A Bridge Grows in New Orleans (VIDEO) Time-Lapse of Huey Long

Construction on Ecuador’s 1,500-MW Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project is slated to begin by the end of the month after a months-long stalemate between the country and the Chinese groups financing 85% of the effort. Ecuador broke off discussions with Sinohydro in March over the terms of the $1.7-billion financing agreement but resumed talks after overtures from the Chinese government. The dam is on the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon, about 75 miles east of Quito. Coca Codo is expected to supply up to 70% of Ecuador’s electricity needs, reducing its dependence on imported power.

The Chinese government is considering building a 38-GW hydroelectric project on the Brahmaputra River in the Himalayas. The dam at the Motuo bend of the river would produce 1½ times the power of China’s Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest hydroelectric-generating station. The dam is part of the Chinese government’s plan to more than double the country’s hydropower generation to 250,000 MW by 2020. A total of 28 potential dams along the Yarlung Tsangpo, as the Tibetans call the river, were identified by Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan academic based at the University of British Columbia, Canada, who studies environmental

The effort to build the longest bridge in Peru began in 1978, and, if all goes as planned, the 722-meter-long span over the Madre de Dios River in the Peruvian Amazon will be completed in December. Constructing the Guillermo Billinghurst Bridge—a task spanning more than three decades—will cap the effort to build a paved road in South America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean: the Interoceanic Highway. The $2.37-billion project to build the road across southern Peru was expanded last year to include the long-awaited span. When completed, the $25.71-million bridge will link the city of Puerto Maldonado

Michigan Legislature watchers say the state’s Senate could vote within the next few weeks on a bill that would let the state enter into public-private partnerships for the first time in history. If it passes the Senate, the legislation will almost certainly be signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D), who has come out in favor of the legislation. The corresponding bill passed the Michigan House on May 26. Backers say allowing the state to enter into public-private partnerships would open the door to about $5 billion in private investment in more than a half- dozen highway, bridge and

Construction is set to begin this month on a 1,045-meter-long bridge over the Mackenzie River near Fort Providence in Canada’s Northwest Territories—a project that required a substantial redesign, adding $18 million to the total cost. The new superstructure design had to be integrated with the original approved substructure design. Photo: Rendering: Infinity Engineering A redesign of a new Canadian crossing reduced the amounts of concrete and steel needed. An independent design review team of San Francisco-based T.Y. Lin International and Edmonton, Alberta-based BP Tech Engineering found to be substandard the design by Calgary-based Spronken JR and Associates Ltd. The territories’

A green transportation policy combined with years of underinvestment is spurring a boom in Denmark's railroad infrastructure. Among projects steaming ahead is a $3-billion installation of new signaling technology across the Scandinavian nation's 2,300-kilometer network. Photo: Peter Reina Major rail projects, including on Copenhagen’s system, are under way. Denmark early last year launched its so-called Green Transportation Policy through 2020. With the government shifting investments from roads to rail, "2009 was a historic year for us," says Palle Beck Thomsen, managing director for Atkins Danmark A/S, the country's largest railroad design firm. Intensifying emphasis on rail is doubling the sector's

Hong Kong’s construction industry is gearing itself up for a boom as work on some of the “10 Major Infrastructure Projects,” announced by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Donald Tsang in the 2007 Policy Address, finally begins. Construction Build-Up A number of the projects — such as the Airport Co-operation, Lok Ma Chau Loop, West Kowloon Cultural District and the development areas in the Northeast New Territories—are in various stages of study and “public engagement.” Other projects are under design or beginning construction. Detailed artwork has commenced on the 7-km-long SIL for Hong Kong’s MTR metro

The first phase of the $90-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), a collaboration between India and Japan, is expected to begin late this year and be completed in 2018, say officials. The project to build a 150-kilometer corridor on either side of the 1,483-km freight rail line planned between Delhi and Mumbai was to have started in 2008. The project incorporates nine mega-industrial zones of about 200 to 250 sq. km, a high- speed freight line, three ports, six airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway and a 4,000-megawatt powerplant. It will develop 24 locations into high-tech residential and industrial hubs, according to