David Kligman for Pacific Gas and Electric Company PG&E's custom Ford Escape hybrids use a new gas-detection tech that allows them to identify gas-pipe leaks while driving on the highway. Related Links: Picarro Survey Device Boston University's Study In early August, a specially equipped sports-utility vehicle detected four potential gas-pipe leaks while motoring along a California highway. The improved detection capacity is due to a recently developed, highly sensitive gas-leak detection technology.The technology, developed by Picarro, Santa Clara, Calif., uses a patented form of cavity-ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) to detect gas leaks even while driving. CRDS measures the near-infrared absorption

Photo Courtesy of MaineDOT The Maine Dept. of Transportation has erected a number of bridges using composite inflatable arches. The technology is gradually catching on in other states and overseas. Related Links: Bridge-in-a-Backpack Tech 'Blows Up' Next-Gen Bridges Dozens Of Test Projects Later, Advocates Still Have Durable Dreams Four years after the first lightweight bridge-in-a-backpack, or BIAB, composite bridge was erected in Pittsfield, Maine, the technology is gaining traction in the U.S. and abroad, despite some learning-curve challenges.So far, BIAB has been deployed for 13 bridges in four states and, completed in May, a 26-ft span for the Trinidad Ministry

Rendering Courtesy of Street-Works Public-private redevelopment will combine hotels, apartments, retail and office space. Related Links: Developers Shift to Mixed-Use, Office Projects in Wake of Housing Dive Best of the Best Projects: Square 54 Quincy, Mass., has broken ground on Merchants Row, the first mixed-use block of the $1.6-billion Quincy Center redevelopment project, one of the Bay State's largest construction projects, eight miles south of Boston.The historic public-private downtown redevelopment project, managed in partnership with the city of Quincy, will include 1.1 million sq ft of new green office space designed by locally based Sheskey Architects. Comprising a 20-sq-block urban

Photo Courtesy of MassDOT Callahan Tunnel, showing wear and tear after 52 years, will close for extensive repairs. Related Links: Forensic Review Calls for More Repairs to Central Artery/Tunnel Callahan Tunnel to close for three months, beginning in January (Boston Globe) Boston's Callahan Tunnel, which connects the city's North End to Logan International Airport and state Route 1A in East Boston, will close for three months for rehabilitation beginning in December, the Massachusetts Dept. Transportation announced last month.The $34.9-million project, out for bid on June 29, includes the rehabilitation of the 52-year-old tunnel's deck, curb line and gutters and replacement

Related Links: Maine To Launch Offshore Floating-Turbine Prototype HNTB, Purdue Lab Push the Speed Limit of Highway Surveys Two East Coast deepwater offshore wind developers have deployed floating lidar systems to provide critical data about wind conditions high above the ocean’s surface that will help with blade and other equipment design.On June 2, the University of Maine, Orono, launched a floating lidar system beside the VolturnUS 1:8 floating offshore wind turbine, which was connected to the grid on June 13 at Castine. It is the first grid-connected floating wind turbine in North America. The lidar system detects wind conditions up

PensionDanmark is investing $200 million in Cape Wind’s planned 468-MW offshore wind farm, which is sited off the coast of Nantucket Sound. The project has drawn sustained opposition during its 12 years of development.The Danish investment, announced on June 16, will help secure project financing, says the owner. “This important investment is a milestone in the Cape Wind project,” says Jim Gordon, Cape Wind president.The goal is to finalize construction of North America’s first offshore wind farm, which is also one of the largest planned, with 130 3.6-megawatt turbines, the statement noted. The investment, in the form of a mezzanine

Related Links: Maine Approves Offshore Projects, But Cost Concerns Persist Maine Surges Forward With Offshore Turbine Plans In early June, the University of Maine will launch a small-scale offshore demonstrator of a floating wind turbine, fabricated in its lab with a lightweight concrete foundation and composite tower. If successfully connected to the grid from off the coast of Castine, Maine, it will be the first of its kind in North America.The approximately 65-ft-tall turbine prototype is built to one-eighth the scale of a 6-MW turbine with a 423-ft-dia rotor. “Each blade [of the full-scale design] is larger than the wingspan of

Related Links: Sarah Long Bridge Replacement Cost Estimate Drops $12 Million The Sarah Mildred Long Bridge Replacement (Maine DOT) Engineers are expediting repairs on the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, which sustained $2.5 million in damages in April when an oil tanker broke loose from a state pier and smashed into the structure's center lift span.Covered by insurance, this temporary repair will last until work on a $160-million bridge replacement begins in 2015, says Bill Boynton, New Hampshire Dept. of Transportation spokesman.The 2,000-ft-long, lift-span structure, co-owned by the New Hampshire and Maine DOTs, crosses the Piscataqua River on U.S. Route 1.

Installing a perimeter diaphragm wall to waterproof a shared deep basement of three 50-story office towers has been, so far, the biggest challenge for crews working on part of a nearly $6.1-billion waterfront redevelopment in Sydney. Laying the foundation for the ambitious Barangaroo South project, sited on 7.5 hectares of public land, is part of a scheme to create a replicable model for cradle-to-grave, grand-scale carbon-neutral development, starting from the moment construction begins to the end of the useful life of the buildings.Barangaroo South, on the site of a former container wharf, aims to be carbon-neutral in operation, including energy,

Related Links: Senior Moments: Are Older Workers at Greater Risk of Injury? Fred Dryden operates an excavator for the heavy division of Barletta Cos.' reconstruction of the 97-year-old Larz Anderson Bridge near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass. At 60, there is a good chance he's older than some of Boston's infrastructure. As an operating engineer, he has managed to avoid many of the physical hazards to which other construction crafts are prone and plans to stay on the job until age 65."I like my work because I'm always doing something different," he says with a smile. "I've got wheels, so