California Dept. of Transportation delayed opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge until federal inspectors sign off on the second bridge repair since Labor Day. The transportation corridor, which carries an estimated 280,000 cars per day, closed Tuesday evening after a steel bar cracked during a windy afternoon commute, dropping a 5,000-lb crossbeam and steel connectors into traffic. The incident caused a non-injury accident and an enormous traffic jam. Caltrans officials said they were doing all they could to open before the Monday morning commute, but were putting safety first. Photo: Caltrans Related Links: Update: Fix Of Bay Bridge May
The timely creation of a new, environmentally-educational 67,000 sq ft “living room” for the young city of Shoreline was the result of a public-partnership that welcomed citizens in the process. Photo: LMN, Seattle The city of Shoreline as a new city hall because of a public private partnership. The timely creation of a new, environmentally - educational 67,000 sq ft “living room” for the young city of Shoreline was the result of a public-partnership that welcomed citizens in the process. The city saved its tax pennies since incorporating a dozen years ago to buy land and put a $10 million
As California transportation officials vow to increase frequency of inspections on the troubled San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, they had no firm estimate of when federal inspectors would okay its reopening to traffic. For the second time in two months, crews have worked non-stop to install an emergency eyebar repair on the critical crossing, which usually carries 280,000 daily vehicles. The original fix made over Labor Day weekend consisted of a steel saddle brace wrapping around a broken beam of the steel truss. That brace snapped during the windy Oct. 27 evening commute, dropping a 5,000-lb crossbeam and steel connectors into
For the second time in two months, crews are scrambling to install an emergency eyebar repair on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The original fix made over Labor Day weekend consisted of a steel saddle brace wrapping around a broken beam of the steel truss. That brace snapped during the windy Oct. 27 evening commute, dropping a 5,000-lb crossbeam and steel connectors into traffic and closing the bridge down indefinitely. Photo: Caltrans Photo: Caltrans Related Links: Unexpected Bay Bridge Crack Slightly Delays Reopening As of Oct. 28, crews with North Highlands, Calif.-based MCM Construction Inc. were dealing with high wind
An infusion of $16 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will enable the rural California city of Live Oak’s wastewater treatment plant to avoid tens of thousands of dollars in fines and meet state wastewater quality standards by 2011. Live Oak, Calif. Photo: ECO:LOGIC Site prep begins under a construction contract that came in $1 million below earlier bids. Related Links: Stimulus: A Snapshot of Top Shovel-, Wrench- and Pencil-Ready Projects A 2007 California Water Resources Control Board order mandated upgrading the 1.4-million-gallon-per-day plant to meet standards for disinfection and metals, including aluminum and copper. “We were facing
California water agencies could be required to spend millions of dollars to remove hexavalent chromium if the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment draft health goal of 0.06 parts per billion is adopted. A study by the California Dept. of Health Services survey of 7,000 drinking water sources showed a third contained levels of at least 1 microgram per liter of chromium 6, a possible carcinogen made famous by a lawsuit successfully argued by environmental activist attorney Erin Brockovich. According to James Borchard, vice president and water technology expert for the Southern California office of MWH Americas, Inc., an
Applications are in for the first batch of federal high-speed-rail grants financed largely by $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. An unofficial round-one tally shows states are seeking about $6.6 billion. That is far below the $102.5 billion in “pre-applications” states filed in July, but it reflects the first round’s emphasis on individual projects that are ready to start. Moreover, with the construction industry struggling, the new applications represent a substantial amount of potential infrastructure work, including bright possibilities for engineering firms. The dollars are expected to be even larger in the next round of applications, which
The Department of Energy plans to invest up to $6 million in an engineered geothermal demonstration project in Geysers Geothermal Field in Lake County, Calif. The project has been controversial because of concerns that the rock-drilling involved would trigger earthquakes. The project’s developer, AltaRock Energy Inc., would create a fractured reservoir by drilling an injection well into 500 F felsite rock at depths of up to 12,500 ft and then circulating water through it to harvest steam to run a turbine. The cooled water would then be returned to the hot rock. Electricity generated by the steam will be sold
High-speed rail is red-hot. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has been flooded with proposals seeking a piece of the $8 billion it received for high-speed rail grants in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, the potential plans far outstrip DOT’s ARRA rail bank account. DOT’s Federal Rail-road Administration reported on July 16 it had received 278 rail-grant “pre-applications” totaling $102.5 billion. Some applicants may not win grants, but more money may be on the way. A House committee has recommended an additional $4 billion for high-speed rail in regular 2010 appropriations. Photo: California high speed rail authority California’s $40-billion
A new $308-million Dept. of Energy stimulus grant will advance a California clean coal full-scale demonstration project. The $2-billion Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) will feature Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) technology in Kern County. HECA will convert coal and petroleum coke (a byproduct of the refining process in the Los Angeles basin) and non-potable water into hydrogen and CO2. A methanol-based process will then separate the CO2 from the hydrogen. The hydrogen will be used to fuel a 390 MW power station. The CO2 will be piped to the Elk Hills Field oil reservoir where it will be injected for
