Keeping contamination at bay was nearly as crucial during the construction of this Saudi Arabian superabsorbent-polymers (SAP) plant as it is now during production of the plant's end product: material used to make diapers and disposable hygiene products.

In time for New York City’s April 22 Earth Day celebrations, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced two initiatives related to environmental issues—one focusing on sustainability and resiliency efforts and another concerning air pollution. Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York Division Cleaning Up: The Army Corps of Engineers headed up beach restoration work on the Rockaway peninsula last fall. The mayor issued a progress report on the city’s PlaNYC guidelines, saying that the Office of Recovery and Resiliency—which he launched last month—will continue the push begun under the Bloomberg Administration for major climate resiliency efforts.Among the

Related Links: Transportation's Next Chapter: Maintenance, Mobility, Money DOTs Are Gaining "Complete Streets" Smarts Massachusetts industry executives were awaiting word at ENR press time on whether a state House and Senate conference committee could hash out differences over their respective versions of a five-year, $13-billion transportation bond bill. Both versions of the bill are similar, and Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has indicated his support. As a result, many expect it to pass and authorize capital spending on a host of long-awaited projects to improve heavily used roads, rails and other infrastructure.Anthony Puntin, executive director of the Boston Society of Civil

Related Links: N.J. Bill Would Replace 3 PANYNJ Officials With 'Public Interest' Members Public-Private Partnerships Will Be Key in Bridge, Airport Projects: Port Authority Chief Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Chairman David Samson has resigned in the wake of a report that partly blames the agency's handling of the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal that has come to be known as "Bridgegate."New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) announced the resignation at a March 28 press briefing that focused on the results of a $1-million, governor-sponsored report on the scandal. The nearly 350-page report exonerates the governor of

A Democratic New Jersey lawmaker has introduced legislation to replace three of Republican Gov. Chris Christie's nominees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) board, including board Chairman David Samson. The bill seeks to replace those members with "public interest" members nominated by the nonprofit and advocacy organizations New Jersey Future, Trenton, and Tri-State Transportation Campaign, New York; as well as research and advocacy group Regional Plan Association, Princeton. The move comes amid questions raised over whether the governor played a role in the September closure of two entrance lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge

Gas leak explosions, like the March 12 blast that leveled two five-story buildings in New York City's East Harlem, are commonplace nationwide and are not always due to aging infrastructure. In fact, experts in and out of industry say significant incidents in U.S. gas distribution pipelines occur on average every four to six days, and excavation work is often to blame for pipeline damage, according to the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Photo By Jeffrey Cox/ENR Investigators are still combing the blast site, where two five-story buildings once stood, for clues. Photo By Jeffrey Cox/ENR Side streets off

Some call it an indication of an all-out recovery while others describe it as just a gradual upswing, but most agree that the dramatic increase in the number of construction cranes in and around metro New York last year is, indeed, a good sign. While many of the megaprojects, especially in transportation, have been a long time in the making, they started up along with numerous high-end residential and mixed-use towers—helping to bolster the region's construction activity and make industry executives more optimistic than they have been in the last few years. Related Links: 2013 Top Starts Ranking Top Starts

Photo by Mike Verzella, Courtesy of L.F. Driscoll/Structure Tone Penn Medicine has allocated $1 billion in improvements to meet demand projections. Related Links: After Sandy, Hospitals Rethink Where to Put IT and Other Systems After Sandy: Rethinking, Recovering, Rebuilding Two separate conferences held in Manhattan recently emphasized two major themes in hospital and health-care construction: Project teams must be flexible as client demand evolves with changes in the marketplace, and hospitals themselves must be made more resilient to major weather events, such as Superstorm Sandy."The future is in ambulatory care," Gary Acord, executive director of planning, design and construction at

The ongoing shift to bring health care services to the masses wherever they live has helped to ignite demand for new construction of ambulatory care centers nationwide. Even old, established institutions including the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS)—which includes the 263-year-old Pennsylvania Hospital—are heavily investing in outpatient satellite centers. The trend, one of several affecting the hospital and health care sector, calls for project teams that can remain as flexible with demand, schedules and costs as their clients, said speakers at ENR New York’s The Future of Healthcare Construction conference, held Feb. 26, in New York.While institutions remain committed

It took several months after Superstorm Sandy's devastating blow for the hardest-hit New York and New Jersey shorelines to become usable by the public again as tons of debris were removed and emergency repairs were made. The October 2012 storm robbed significant amounts of sand from beaches, destroyed or severely compromised berms and dunes and increased flood risks to local communities. But a new phase of post-Sandy work to make the shores more resilient to storms will begin as early as this fall and focus on roughly $2.77 billion worth of projects in the region that were federally authorized before