Students interested in studying nuclear-energy science or engineering have until April 26 to apply for $5 million in scholarships and fellowships the U.S. Energy Dept. is offering to boost the sector’s workforce. Awards will average $5,000 each for undergraduates, with three valued at $25,000. Grad students could receive up to $50,000 per year for three years. Disciplines eligible for funding include nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, health physics, nuclear-materials science, radiochemistry, applied nuclear physics and nuclear policy. DOE says it expects to make the awards by June.

The International Code Council and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. have merged their efforts, rather than compete, to develop the nation’s first “green” model code for commercial buildings. The model code, released on March 15, is open for public comment through May 14 but now is available to jurisdictions. Version 2.0, based on public input, will be released by Nov. 3. The goal is to develop an adoptable and enforceable model code. “Bringing together the code expertise of ICC with the technical expertise of ASHRAE to create a comprehensive green building code will accelerate our

The hospital that served as the model for television’s long-running medical drama “ER” will soon get a new lease on life. Chicago’s 96-year-old Cook County Hospital, vacant since 2002, is about to receive a $108-million renovation that will turn the historic building into administrative offices for the local health-care sector. Photo: Cook County Renovation will turn century-old hospital into administrative offices for medical staff. The two-block-long building has been idle since 2002, when it was replaced by the new John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, located nearby on the same grounds. After the planned renovation, the old building will house administrative

Plans for $45 billion investment in a 540 km core network of high-speed railroads were launched by the U.K. government on March 11. Work on an initial 206 km line between London and the Birmingham area, estimated to cost up $26 billion, could start around 2017, forecasts the Department for Transport. “Building this network would not only revolutionize Britain’s transport, but would also present significant new opportunities for the U.K.’s design, engineering, construction and manufacturing sectors,” says transportation secretary Andrew Adonis. At this stage, the government expects the project to be publicly funded. The core Y-shaped network, for 400 km

A rock slide on Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs, Colo., punched holes in a bridge and dumped boulders the size of semitrucks on the highway, closing a 17-mile stretch of the road on the morning of March 8. There were no injuries. The slide occurred at midnight, just west of the Hanging Lake Tunnel in Glenwood Canyon, scattering approximately 20 boulders ranging in size from 3 ft to 10 ft in diameter. The largest is estimated to weigh about 66 tons. Colorado Dept. of Transportation geologists attributed the slide to a freeze-thaw effect caused by warm spring weather. CDOT implemented

Private investors will be interested in high-speed-rail projects—if the federal funding stream remains consistent, experts say. In particular, advocates are hoping the $2.5-billion Tampa-Orlando line will prove the mode’s viability. However, it still needs about $1.2 billion more to be completed. Photo: Scott Judy / ENR High-speed-rail line in Florida could be potential national showcase. The assurance of future federal funding is a key first step in attracting necessary private-sector investment, said Michael Cant, vice president of financial advisory services, SMI International Financial Advisory Group, Montreal. He led a session on private-sector financing this month at a conference in Orlando

An Indiana bill that paves the way for a public-private partnership to design, build and operate the $1.1-billion Illiana Expressway through Indiana and Illinois unanimously passed the Indiana Senate on March 2. The 25-mile expressway would provide an east-west bypass for truck traffic and commuters south of Chicago by linking I-65 in Indiana with either I-57 or I-55 in Illinois. The bill authorizes the Indiana Finance Authority to search for a private investor to finance the design and construction of the roadway, as well as operate the road as a tollway. Construction is expected to begin in 2017.

After weathering a two-day funding cutoff, federal highway and transit programs are back in operation, thanks to a stopgap bill signed on March 2. But the extension only runs until March 28 and funds the programs at a rate much lower than last year’s. Transportation officials are hoping for quick Senate approval of a further extension through December that also will bolster the shaky Highway Trust Fund and restore road funding to 2009’s level. Further, the Senate is working on a tax bill that includes provisions to benefit construction. The immediate focus for construction at ENR press time was an

Ten major energy, engineering and construction companies have formed Friends of the “Supergrid” to promote a multibillion-dollar grid linking offshore European wind farms. Unlike conventional transmission lies, Supergrid would have nodes collecting, integrating and routing energy to the best available markets. Energy ministers of France, Germany, the U.K. and six other European nations this December signed a plan for coordinating offshore infrastructure development.

Despite the gloomy construction employment climate, one New Orleans contractor has established a new safety and craft training facility and will hire several hundred people to bring its workforce to 1,000 by summer. Photo: Angelle bergeron Pump house Forming has begun on the walls of the structure that will house the largest capacity pump station in the country. Related Links: Video: Blowin’ and Goin’: GIWW West Closure Complex Gulf IntraCoastal Constructors, a joint venture of Kiewit Corp, Omaha, Neb., and Traylor Bros. Inc., Evansville, Ind., is gearing up to deliver the $854.8-million Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex, designed by