Source: https://www.enr.com, October 22,2 2019 by: Scott Judy and Tom Ichniowski Multiple design errors by FIGG Bridge Engineers and its engineer-of-record were the primary probable cause of last year’s Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse, the National Transportation Safety Board announced Oct. 22. In a more than three-hour presentation of its findings, the three-member board pointed to […]

Source: https://www.elpasotimes.com, October 17, 2019 By: Vic Kolenc The most expensive U.S. military hospital project currently under construction is nearing the finish line — three years late and more than $629 million over the original contract awards. After six, troubled years of construction, the new, mammoth William Beaumont Army Medical Center complex in East El Paso is expected to be […]

Source: https://www.theoaklandpress.com, October 20, 2019 By: Tammy Webber and Martha Irvine At first, teachers at Sky Valley Education Center simply evacuated students and used fans to clear the air when the fluorescent lights caught fire or smoked with noxious fumes. When black oil dripped onto desks and floors, they caught leaks with a bucket and […]

Source: https://www.inquirer.com, October 18, 2019 By: Wendy Ruderman and Kristen A. Graham A few weeks into the school year, Benjamin Franklin High and Science Leadership Academy parents received an urgent note: Damaged asbestos had been discovered inside ducts in the boiler room and first-floor SLA commons. The Philadelphia School District shut the building to students on […]

Source: https://www.natlawreview.com, October 18, 2019 Many contracts include a choice-of-law provision in which the parties agree to use a particular jurisdiction’s set of laws to govern the contract. These provisions promote predictability. No matter where a dispute may arise under the contract, the contract will always be interpreted under the laws of the chosen jurisdiction. […]

Source: https://www.usatoday.com, October 18, 2019 By: Kristin Lam Washington state investigators on Thursday fined three companies involved in a crane collapse that killed four people in Seattle in April, determining workers failed to follow manufacturer instructions. Workers disassembling the construction crane removed pins holding together sections too quickly, officials said, and wind gust toppled the unsteady tower onto traffic below.  Read more.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com, October 20, 2019 By: Doha Madani A fourth person has died in a Legionnaires’ outbreak that’s been linked to a hot tub display at a North Carolina state fair last month. Nearly 150 people who attended the N.C. Mountain State Fair were sickened in addition to the four fatalities, according to an update Friday from […]

Source: https://www.enr.com, October 16, 2019 By: Richard Kor,man and Scott Judy In their competing accounts of what went wrong before last year’s Florida pedestrian bridge collapse, both the contractor and designer agree on one point: The concrete was never “roughened” at locations where it was required. The process involves altering the material to promote mechanical […]

Source: https://www.environmentalleader.com, October 16, 2019 By: Jennifer Nastu In the largest ever settlement of a Clean Water Act suit brought by private individuals, petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Corp. has agreed to pay $50 million to fund environmental mitigation in the region around its Point Comfort facility in Calhoun County, Texas. The company – whose Point Comfort, […]

Source: https://www.chicoer.com, October 17, 2019 By: Camille Von Kaenel At least 17 wells in Chico and Oroville have traces of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, according to new state testing released Monday. The testing is part of a multi-year effort by California to regulate the class of chemicals, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and perfluorooctanoic acids — […]

Source: Associated Press, October 16, 2019 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com At first, teachers at Sky Valley Education Center simply evacuated students and used fans to clear the air when the fluorescent lights caught fire or smoked with noxious fumes. When black oil dripped onto desks and floors, they caught leaks with a bucket and duct-taped oil-stained […]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, October 16, 2019 Posted on: https://www.advisen.com Philadelphia dodged several potential catastrophes during a dramatic June 21 refinery blast, which released about 5,239 pounds of a deadly chemical and launched pieces of shrapnel as large as a truck hurtling across the 1,300-acre refinery complex, according to federal findings released Wednesday. Read more.