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- Who's spending what on infrastructure?
India plans a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure over the next five years, but it may need to rely on engineer-procure-construct cash contracts rather than public-private partnerships to fund the work. Meanwhile, Russia needs to spend about $310 billion to enhance its infrastructure, according to one of the country's newspapers, while China will need to invest about $158 billion, according to Nomura Holdings estimates. Meanwhile, Mexico's annual investment in infrastructure is expected to rise 56% to about $70 billion. Engineering News-Record
(9/17), Bloomberg Businessweek
(9/18), Bloomberg Businessweek
(9/17), Bloomberg Businessweek
(9/17)     
| Infrastructure Watch | | |
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- Fla. county needs $12B to fix water, sewer system over next 15 years
The 13,000 miles of deteriorating water and sewer pipes and the treatment plants they link to in Florida's Miami-Dade County need $12 billion or more in repairs and upgrades over the next 15 years, according to John Renfrow, the county's water and sewer director. "It’s going to take time and it’s going to take money," Renfrow said. "That’s the bad news. The good news is the shot in the arm the economy will get." The Miami Herald (free registration)
(9/17)
- $1.2B stadium plan wins approval from Los Angeles panel
A proposed $1.2 billion, 72,000-seat football stadium in Los Angeles won unanimous approval from the city's Planning Commission, and now the plan moves on to the City Council. However, the stadium project still faces a lawsuit mounted by a coalition that wants developer Anschutz Entertainment Group to commit $2 million a year for 30 years to help build affordable housing. AEG says it's already given about $50 million in concessions for other projects. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)
(9/14)
- Expert: Flawed construction led to La. levee failure during Katrina
The construction of a shipping project at the Industrial Canal in New Orleans is to blame for the floodwalls' failure to protect the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish from storm surge during Hurricane Katrina, Robert Bea of the University of California said in court testimony. The construction included excavations that enabled underground water to push the floodwalls upward and weaken the structures, Bea said. "Both breaches occurred crucially because of these uplift pressures," he said. The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
(9/17)
| Trends & Technology | | |
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- Nuclear reactors near dams pose a risk to public safety, expert says
Richard Perkins of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said that reactor sites downstream of dams face flooding risk, but that the agency blocked the release of documents detailing any public-safety risk. The NRC "may be motivated to prevent the disclosure of this safety information to the public because it will embarrass the agency," Perkins wrote in a letter to the NRC Office of Inspector General. The Hill/E2Wire
(9/17)
| Sustainable Development | | |
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- Building facade uses live algae to generate energy, provide shading
A building in Germany will incorporate a "bio-reactor facade and shading system" that uses live micro-algae to generate energy. "We have put a lot of work into meeting the technical challenges and we now have a commercial-scale, effective solution that uses live algae as a smart material to deliver renewable energy," said Simon O’Hea, director of Colt International, which commercialized the technology. "You can’t get greener than that." DesignBuildSource.com.au (Australia)
(9/18)
| Advancing the Profession | | |
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- Ignore your employees' development at your own peril
Best-in-class managers -- the ones who consistently develop the most capable, flexible and engaged teams able to drive exceptional business results -- all share one quality: They make career development a priority. Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni outline and debunk five myths that often stop managers from working on their team members' development. Sales & Marketing Management
(9/16)
| News from ASCE | | |
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Are you registered to vote?
Time is running out in many states to register to vote in November's elections. Registering is your first step toward influencing choices made by your elected officials, especially when it comes to issues important to civil engineering. Deadlines vary from state to state, so be sure to check deadlines and get registered. Visit www.engineeringthevote.org to find deadline and registration details.
| SmartQuote | | |
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 | The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided."
--Casey Stengel,
American baseball player and manager
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