Feds focus on new products, not aging pipelines

The only government research program dedicated to improving the safety of U.S. natural-gas pipelines has no plans to study whether key federal investigative recommendations made in the wake of the San Bruno disaster might save lives, officials say. In drawing lessons from the September 2010 explosion of a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pipeline in [...]

House pipeline bill would delay new safety measures

As the President considers whether to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would prohibit regulators from implementing safety rules recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency charged with regulating the nations 2.5 million miles of pipelines, the Department of Transportation’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety [...]

Iowa bridges third-worst in the nation

At first glance, the two-lane bridge over Wapsinonoc Creek seems up-to-date. But a closer inspection reveals rusted bolts, graffiti, and crooked beams. More than 4,000 cars travel across it each day, and it has not been renovated since 1956. The bridge, located in Muscatine County, is one of 5,000 bridges in Iowa classified as structurally [...]

San Diego utilities step up scrutiny of pipelines & pipeline integrity

San Diego’s two gas utilities will be stepping up their safety inspections of natural gas distribution lines and making upgrades to a transmission line, a utility executive said Wednesday. The safety of natural gas pipelines received intense scrutiny after a pipeline explosion in September killed 8 people and destroyed 37 homes in the San Francisco suburb of [...]

Pipeline bill may be easier sell than oil policies

WASHINGTON: “The tragic spill in the Kalamazoo River and recent leak in Stockbridge underscores the importance of strengthening pipeline safety and cracking down on violators,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The Lansing area’s federal lawmakers split along party lines — as did most of Congress — over recent measures to expand oil drilling and to [...]

Senate pipeline safety bill includes some measures sought by watchdogs

As the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation takes up pipeline safety legislation today, watchdog groups say that the measure contains good elements to address recent pipeline disasters — such as the San Bruno, Calif., gas explosion and the Marshall, Mich., oil spill –but could still use some improvement. The Pipeline Transportation Safety Improvement Act [...]

Hoan Bridge report says falling concrete could hurt festival patrons

A report on the condition of the Hoan Bridge warns of concrete possibly falling from the parapets onto Summerfest workers and patrons and the continuing deterioration of the support structures because of corrosion. The paint on the decades-old bridge has failed, girders and joints have rusted, the downspouts are clogged, and the concrete road surface [...]

Safety concerns halt work on part of new Sakonnet River Bridge

PROVIDENCE — The state stopped work months ago on key structural elements of the new Sakonnet River Bridge because of fear that thousands of tons of concrete might slide toward the river bottom, injuring workers and damaging the project. Frank Corrao III, the state Department of Transportation’s deputy chief engineer for construction management, said that [...]