Front End

Big Dig Nearly Done

The term “central artery” summons images of an essential and life-sustaining conduit. Yet even that understates the importance of the nearly completed, 14-year-long effort to relieve the traffic congestion that long plagued downtown Boston’s commuters and commerce.

Although the Boston Central Artery/ Tunnel project will probably always be known as the “Big Dig,” after the extensive excavations and tunneling that were project hallmarks, the name no longer fits the product. What started as an effort to replace a conspicuous elevated highway culminated in a system of tunnels and bridges so fully integrated into the city’s infrastructure that most drivers can’t tell the old from the new. They only know that it’s better. Much better.

Now the Bechtel-led joint venture that accomplished one of the largest engineering feats in history is putting the finishing touches on the $14.6 billion project. When the last street curbs and shade tree pits are in place this spring, the promise of the Big Dig will be fulfilled, leaving new city spaces for parks and planned development.

Back to BART

The devastation of recent natural disasters has alerted officials to the dangers of poorly maintained infrastructure. One long-time Bechtel customer, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, has stayed ahead of the curve. Following California’s Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, BART suspected there were vulnerabilities in the rail line’s elevated bridge structures and in the “tube” that carries passengers under San Francisco Bay. In 2000, BART hired Bechtel—one of the system’s original designers in the 1960s—as general engineering consultant for its Earthquake Safety project. Bechtel has since identified a number of system vulnerabilities and developed a plan to address them. Now in its fifth year, the program has new funding and new momentum. And Bechtel, having completed its preliminary studies, is vetting engineers and builders for a nine-year project to ensure the safety of this vital transit link.

Nuclear Accelerator

Last year, the Omaha Public Power District contracted with Bechtel to complete a condenser replacement at its Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, nuclear generating station during a scheduled 55-day refueling outage. Not an easy task. It involved keeping a maze of electrical and piping systems in service while removing 400 kilometers of old condenser tubes and 350 tonnes of scrap steel, then installing four new 75-tonne condensers through a congested area of the turbine building. To keep the costly outage as brief as possible, the customer asked Bechtel to perform this work in a 44-day accelerated work window. By meeting its foreshortened deadline, Bechtel helped clear the way for the earliest possible restart.

Nuclear Deterrent

Terrorists attempting to smuggle nuclear materials into the United States may soon encounter a new obstacle at the border. Working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bechtel Nevada is evaluating 10 industry-developed Advanced Spectroscopic Portal systems for detecting radioactive materials concealed in vehicles. The systems can differentiate between radiation from nonthreatening sources—such as nuclear materials for medical and industrial uses—and the real concern, fuel for a “dirty bomb” or other nuclear device. Designed to minimize disruption to international commerce, the portal system scans materials as they move rapidly through simulated border checkpoints. Although still in trials at the Nevada Test Site, the portals could be in place by late this year.

Bechtel Buzz

“There is no way we could have made it without Bechtel’s assistance.”
—Dorin Popa, mayor of Iara, Romania, commenting on flood relief efforts by a Bechtel-Enka joint venture.

The City in Focus

San Franciscans are used to seeing tourists posing for snapshots and home videos on their city’s streets. But last summer, Bechtel may have created the most comprehensive video tour yet of the City by the Bay. Driving a minivan with a roof-mounted camera, two Bechtel employees traversed more than 1,931 kilometers of streets and alleys, collecting stereo digital video and countless photos for a Bechtel Telecommunications customer scouting new cell site locations.

The images cataloged potential line-of-site obstacles and other barriers to consider when planning a network. The data, totaling 1.3 terabytes, has been uploaded into the Bechtel-developed Virtual Survey Tool, which integrates video, aerial photography, and terrain maps and will improve the customer’s network engineering.

Timeless SONGS

In 1964, when Bechtel broke ground on the first power unit at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), The Beatles introduced “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and the Rolling Stones launched their first U.S. tour. Like the music, Bechtel has survived the test of time, with many employees spending their entire careers at the oceanfront nuclear facility.

Over the past 41 years, Bechtel has built and started three nuclear units at San Onofre and updated them, and now the company is supporting the decommissioning of the original unit that started it all. Bechtel remains under contract through 2010 to support the customer through refueling outages.

With fossil fuel prices rekindling interest in nuclear energy, Bechtel’s power customers are seeing the value of experience gained through a long-term commitment.

Out of a Jam

As revenue shortages stalled new U.S. highway initiatives in recent years, state governments began to look for new ways to fund road systems. Help may be on the way, with the passage of a sweeping transportation bill by the U.S. Congress.

In addition to $287 billion of funding for new roads and bridges, the bill includes a bond plan that promotes public-private partnerships. Among several states already exploring such partnerships is Georgia, which is considering an innovative proposal from a Bechtel-led consortium to add 42 kilometers of “congestion-priced” toll lanes, truck-only lanes, and a bus rapid transit system to two interstate highways northwest of Atlanta. If the idea catches on, the project could mark a milestone in the history of American highways, allowing frustrated commuters to buy their way out of traffic jams and promoting new public transit options and traffic safety improvements.


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