Duke Power Breaks Ground on $500 Million Emissions Scrubber

Duke Power recently broke ground on a $500 million project that it claimed will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately 95 percent at the utility's Belews Creek Steam Station in Stokes County, N.C.

The project is the second of a series of four sulfur dioxide "scrubbers" Duke Power is installing on its coal-fired power plants in North Carolina. The projects stem from the passage of the state's 2002 "Clean Smokestacks" legislation.

"We have made substantial progress with our first scrubber project at Marshall Steam Station that began in February 2004 and we are eager to move forward with our Belews Creek project," said Bill Hall, Duke Power's group vice president for fossil/hydro generation.

The scrubber removes sulfur dioxide by injecting a mixture of limestone and water into the emissions stream. The Belews Creek project will be completed in 2008 and the Marshall Steam Station scrubber will be completed in 2007.

Duke Power completed a $450 million selective catalytic reduction or project at Belews Creek in 2004 that reduced the plant's nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately 80 percent. The company's Allen and Cliffside steam stations scrubber projects, located in Eden, Salisbury and north of Charlotte, are having advanced technology installed to further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

On May 11, 2005, Duke Power filed preliminary information with the North Carolina Utilities Commission to invest up to $2 billion to modernize and expand its Cliffside Steam Station with new state-of-the-art coal units.

Contract Activity Declines by 4 Percent in N.C., S.C.

McGraw-Hill Construction reported that, compared to a year ago, the value of April contracts for future construction activity decreased by 4 percent in both North Carolina and South Carolina.

In North Carolina, April's 4-percent decline resulted in an approximately $1.9 billion cumulative value. The biggest sector, residential, remained the only positive one, increasing by 7 percent to tally approximately $1.4 billion. Meanwhile, the value of nonresidential contracts decreased by 25 percent in April, over the same period of a year ago, to total $360.6 million. The value of nonbuilding contracts declined by 23 percent to total approximately $146.1 million.

Year-to-date, North Carolina contract activity is still positive, having increased by 4 percent compared to the first four months of 2004 to total approximately $7.6 billion. Nonresidential is 18 percent behind last year's pace, however, with roughly $1.4 billion in contracts reported to date. Residential contract activity has climbed by 11 percent to total roughly $5.1 billion. The nonbuilding sector is estimated to be 12 percent ahead for the year, with approximately $1.1 billion in contracts reported.

The value of South Carolina contracts also decreased by 4 percent in April to total roughly $991 million. Residential was the only positive sector for the month, increasing by 6 percent to total roughly $629.8 million. The nonresidential category declined by 8 percent for a monthly total of roughly $230.9 million. Nonbuilding also declined, by 32 percent, to tally $130.2 million for the month.

Year-to-date, the value of new contracts in South Carolina is estimated at roughly $3.6 billion, or 16 percent behind last year's pace. Residential, estimated at $2.4 billion and with a 12-percent improvement so far, is the only positive sector. The nonbuilding category, with a $379.3 million total, is an estimated 68 percent behind the first four months of 2004, while nonresidential, with a value of $816.3 million, is 16 percent behind last year's pace.

Mile-Long Tunnel to Support UNC Enrollment Growth

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is expanding its steam plant's capacity 53 percent with funds from a 2001 bond issue to build up the south campus to accommodate growing enrollment. Contractors now are making progress on a mile-long utility tunnel and steam plant that by fall 2006 will deliver an additional 410,000 lb. of steam per hour for five new dormitories to house 1,000 students and a new information technology building.

Construction is proceeding in three phases, including one for the utility plant and two for separate tunnels connecting to the plant. Together, construction costs total $84 million. A joint venture of Whitaker Construction and Associated Brigham Contractors, both of Brigham City, Utah, expects to complete its lump-sum contract for 3,000 ft. of tunnel in September. Clancy and Theys Construction and Pipeline Utilities, both of Raleigh, N.C., are joint-venturing on a 1,300-ft-long tunnel.

Once finished, the tunnel will house seven pipes, including two 30-in. chilled water lines, five low-pressure and high-pressure steam pipes, a 2-in. trap line and two 10-in. pumped condensate lines.

Calling the tunnel-utility plant combination "a cost-effective way to deliver power and service the campus infrastructure," Cameron Smith, UNC Chapel Hill's construction manager, said maintenance crews will access utilities through the underground structure's 9 x 11-ft walkway. The top of the tunnel will be buried 8 to 10 ft. deep, to allow future utilities to be placed above, he added.

Completing the project is a utility plant constructed of cast-in-place concrete basement and topped off by a structural steel skeleton. When Frank Lill & Son, Rochester, N.Y., finishes it in the fall of 2006, the plant will house two water tube boilers that are connected to the tunnel system. Source: Engineering News-Record. By Bridget McCrea.

New South Supply Opens New Branch

New South Supply, headquartered in West Columbia, S.C., has opened its 8th branch in Hardeeville, S.C., to service the Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Bluffton, Savannah and surrounding markets. The Hardeeville branch will carry a full line of commercial and industrial construction products.

The sales manager for the branch will be Steve Melton. Operations Manager is Dave Davis.

New South Supply is a distributor of commercial and industrial construction products to general contractors and subcontractors across the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee.