Preliminary analysis of a ceiling light fixture that fell into moving traffic in early February at Boston's Big Dig tunnel system suggests the fixture shows signs of severe corrosion caused by salt from snow and ice treatment. Related Links: Corrosion's High Cost: Rust Never Sleeps Performed by West Boylston, Mass.-based Massachusetts Materials Research, the analysis indicates the fixture failed because of severe corrosion to the aluminum wire way at the locations where the light assembly was attached with stainless-steel clips, according to a Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation report released on April 13. The incident caused no injuries and no property
Even though corrosion causes substantial damage to U.S. infrastructure every year, “corrosion is not well understood,” says Ted Greene, professor of mechanical engineering at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston. Related Links: MassDOT Study Blames Salt For Big Dig's Fallen Light Fixture Receiving support from NACE International—originally known as the National Association of Corrosion Engineers—a Federal Highway Administration study on the direct costs associated with metallic corrosion in nearly every U.S. industry sector suggested the total annual estimated direct cost in the U.S. is $276 billion, about 3.1% of the nation's GDP. When indirect costs are included, that total is
Al Maktoum International Airport, located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, is the largest greenfield airport project currently under construction in the world. By 2013, it is expected to handle more freight—up to 12 million tonnes per year—than any other cargo airport in the world. The first of the airport's five 2.8-mile-long runways opened in June 2010, and the first of 16 cargo terminals has been completed. Expected to open next year, a passenger terminal capable of handling seven million passengers annually is now complete and undergoing testing. Two additional passenger terminals are in the design stage. Three cargo carriers are now
Al Maktoum International Airport, located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, is the largest greenfield airport project currently under construction in the world. By 2013, it is expected to handle more freight—up to 12 million tonnes per year—than any other cargo airport in the world. The first of the airport's five 2.8-mile-long runways opened in June 2010, and the first of 16 cargo terminals has been completed.Expected to open next year, a passenger terminal capable of handling seven million passengers annually is now complete and undergoing testing. Two additional passenger terminals are in the design stage.Three cargo carriers are now operating at
Construction of the first-ever railway line in the oil-producing African nation of Chad is set to start next year. The former French colony signed a $7-billion contract with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. in mid-March. The new, 1,344-kilometer-long railway will link landlocked Chad to its neighbor to the west, Cameroon, and its neighbor to the east, Sudan. The route is expected to facilitate access to the international markets.CCECC President Yuan Li told reporters in N'Djamena during the signing of the construction deal that the project will be undertaken in two phases.To be completed in four years, the first phase
Even though corrosion causes substantial damage to U.S. infrastructure every year, “corrosion is not well understood,” says Ted Greene, professor of mechanical engineering at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston. Receiving support from NACE International—originally known as the National Association of Corrosion Engineers—a Federal Highway Administration study on the direct costs associated with metallic corrosion in nearly every U.S. industry sector suggested the total annual estimated direct cost in the U.S. is $276 billion, about 3.1% of the nation's GDP. When indirect costs are included, that total is estimated to be as high as $552 billion.The corrosion of metals depends
Preliminary analysis of a ceiling light fixture that fell into moving traffic in early February at Boston's Big Dig tunnel system suggests the fixture shows signs of severe corrosion caused by salt from snow and ice treatment. Performed by West Boylston, Mass.-based Massachusetts Materials Research, the analysis indicates the fixture failed because of severe corrosion to the aluminum wire way at the locations where the light assembly was attached with stainless-steel clips, according to a Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation report released on April 13. The incident caused no injuries and no property damage.In a report released on April 6, MassDOT
The Spanish firm Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA, ranked 13th on ENR's list of the top global contractors, has won a $1.72-billion contract in partnership with Algeria's ETRHB Haddad to build a 66-kilometer rail line in Algeria. The line will connect the city of Tlemcen, the western terminus of the country's rail network, with the town of Akkid Abbas on the Moroccan border. The contract was awarded by the Algerian government through the Agence National d'Etudes et Suivi de Realisations des Investissements Ferroviaires, or ANESRIF, an agency created in 2005 to improve the country's railway system.The contract calls for
Debate over the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s decision to construct an underground station at Dulles Airport as part of its Metrorail extension project intensified this week, with local political leaders criticizing the choice as “irresponsible” and the agency defending the move as being in the best long-term interests of passengers and the community. The controversy stems from the MWAA’s April 6 approval of a plan to locate the subsurface station 500 ft from the main Dulles Terminal. Although the $600-million station and associated tunnel were part of the original 2005 design for the $3.5-billion second phase of the 23-mile light
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