Front End

Archiving Architecture

For years, professors and industry practitioners have searched for an efficient way to document endangered architectural treasures. So Bechtel employee Mike Williams recentlytraveled to a conference in Salvador, Brazil, to demonstrate how a new imaging technology might help.

Bechtel uses laser scanning to create computer models of petrochemical projects. But it can also be used on other structures, at far less cost and less risk than the traditional, hands-on measuring techniques.

Along with a Brazilian scanning contractor and Italian experts in heritage mapping, Williams helped scan the baroque facade
of the Church of Saint Francisco, in Salvador’s colonial neighborhood of Pelourinho, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The scanner collected millions of data points as laser beams reflected off the surface. Then, after scanning from other positions and using special software, Williams and the team created a highly detailed, digital 3D image of the facade.

Bridge Reopens

A milestone in the reconstruction of Iraq’s vital infrastructure was reached in September with the reopening of the Tikrit Bridge—an important link over the Tigris River between the cities of Tikrit and Kirkuk.

The bridge was in danger of collapse following the conflict; two partial spans had already collapsed into the river. As part of its contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bechtel National began repairs to the bridge in August 2003. The Iraqi firm subcontracted by Bechtel removed damaged sections of the bridge, retrieved debris from the riverbed, and supported the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as it placed two temporary bridges to permit one-way traffic during ongoing reconstruction. Other work by Bechtel’s Iraqi subcontractor included repairs to damaged beams and piers, installation of the bridge deck, and replacing guard rails and lights.

Current Event

The Bechtel-managed Nevada Test Site is the new home of the National Nuclear Administration’s Atlas pulsed power machine. Atlas is a 590-tonne “power multiplier” used to gather data for computer models that validate the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons without a chain reaction.

To do its duty, the circular, 24-meter-diameter machine discharges 32 million amperes of current through a nonradioactive metal target about the size of a tuna can. The target implodes and generates shock waves and temperatures similar to those
of a nuclear weapon detonation. During the four to five microseconds it operates at full strength, Atlas’ electrical output is equal to four times the world’s total electric power production.

Atlas was relocated to the Nevada site from New Mexico so U.S. government scientists can have a centralized location to check the nation’s aging weapons stockpile. Two other platforms for testing the weapons materials are already on site.

Pollution Sleuthin’

Air pollution detectives find few fingerprints and many cold trails. Yet, a breakthrough approach, developed at the Bechtel-managed Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, offers a new way to connect downwind pollution to the polluters.

For years, authorities have measured emissions at the source—an industrial facility, for example—then used historical records of wind and turbulence to theorize how and where they’ll disperse. The technique is inaccurate because it doesn’t account for chemical interactions that can disguise contaminants.

The new method approaches the problem from the other direction. Scientists sample a community’s air and then analyze the unique chemical “fingerprints” of the pollutants they find. Comparing the results to profiles of known polluters upwind delivers a far more accurate picture of the amount of pollution being contributed by different sources. The information may help regulators enforce emissions standards.

Bechtel Buzz

“…on budget, on time, and only one millimeter wide of their final target…”
—UK Transport Minister Tony McNulty, referring to completion of tunnels for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project, managed by a consortium that includes Bechtel.

Game Theory

Mention safety at a construction company and most people think of hard hats. But with thousands of employees working in offices worldwide, Bechtel’s environmental, safety, and health team also has to think of the ergonomic and safety challenges posed by desk chairs, file cabinets, and computers. In recent years, as the rate of accidents and injuries in the field has declined at Bechtel, accidents in offices have become more common.

With the challenge of providing safety training to employees worldwide, Bechtel’s safety and training teams theorized that computers could be as much a part of the solution as they are of the problem.

So a new computer game has debuted on Bechtel University, the company’s online training center. Using examples based on actual accidents in Bechtel offices, the “Office Safety Challenge” combines animated office scenes and computer game technology to teach users to recognize, prevent, and correct potential hazards and ergonomic problems. It’s all part of a global effort to bring the company’s effective Zero Accidents philosophy in from the field.

Roots on Rooftops

In China’s Guangdong Province, a massive petrochemicals complex is stimulating new growth—literally. Although new construction in the area has supplanted some farm fields, vegetables grow in abundance—in rooftop gardens planted by residents. It’s part of a novel program at the CSPC Nanhai Petrochemicals Complex designed to ensure that growth in the province is not limited to the economy.

In keeping with the project’s sustainability goals, Bechtel and its joint-venture partners led a series of meetings to help residents find ways to blend their agricultural heritage into their new lifestyles. A pilot program evolved to provide 13 households with free containers, supplies, and handbooks to plan and plant rooftop gardens. The idea took root and spread quickly. Within months, more than 650 households were harvesting staples atop their homes.

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