JOURNALISM
Dredging company hired for Savannah Harbor wins complex project along Gulf coast
- The dredging company retained to deepen the Savannah harbor has won a major contract in Louisiana, which illustrates the company’s depth of experience in handling major earth-moving projects. Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Corp. won a $76 million contract to restore Shell Island, off the Louisiana coast. The project involves creating 2.8 miles of beach and dune habitat, and 281 acres of marsh. Funds from the BP settlement of the 2010 oil spill are paying for the work. The project is anticipated ...more
New park in Buckhead to provide access to PATH400, visioning now underway
- The visioning process has started for a new park in Buckhead that’s adjacent to PATH 400, the multiuse trail being built along the Ga. 400 corridor that is to link with the Atlanta BeltLine, Livable Buckhead, Inc. announced Friday. A park planned for a site adjacent to PATH400, on Old Ivy Road, provides this view of the Buckhead skyline. Credit: Livable Buckhead The park is to be established at 519 Old Ivy Road. The parcel measures 0.65 acres and is located ...more
Atlanta plans recycling facility at airport to handle up 200,000 tons a year of trash, yard trimmings
- Atlanta’s airport plans to hire a company to build and operate a recycling facility that ultimately is to handle 200,000 tons a year of airport waste and yard clippings collected around town, refuse that otherwise would end up in a landfill, according to a bid released Monday. The project is part of the airport’s move toward a zero waste program. The Green Acres ATL Energy Park is to be built on at least 30 acres on the airport’s grounds that the vendor ...more
Atlanta provides funds for ongoing efforts to revitalize West End
- The Atlanta City Council has provided $48,000 to the ongoing effort to improve the area around West End and Morehouse College, an area that a Georgia Tech plan suggests is on the brink of revitalization. This effort is in addition to the city’s plans to develop a complete streets project along a major corridor just to the north of Morehouse College. The city plans to install bike lanes, sidewalks and a linear park along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, all the ...more
Tim Keane: Atlanta’s new planning commissioner has a conversation with residents
- For any number of reasons, Charleston tugs on Atlanta’s heartstrings. Atlanta’s new planning commissioner seems comfortable with this relation, and has devised a deft response to questions about why he left his job as planning commissioner with the Holy City. Atlanta Planning Commissioner Tim Keane said he and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed have a “good relation,” and “care about the same things.” Credit: David Pendered “I love coming to Atlanta because it’s the capitol of the South,” Tim Keane said. “Atlanta ...more
Environmental challenges around metro Atlanta date to early settlers: State report
- Georgia’s population boom of the past 35 years is just the latest contributor to environmental challenges facing metro Atlanta and much of the Piedmont region. Past activities to farm trees, crops and animals set the stage for today’s conditions, according to a state report. Arabia Mountain is home to diamorpha, which is found mainly in shallow basins on rocky outcrops in Georgia and which Georgia wants to protect. Species have been found in five other southern states. The Tennesseee Department ...more
Plans to promote walking, cycling, transit help Chattanooga win federal award
- A plan to double spending on bicycle and pedestrian amenities by 2040, and add transit capacity, has earned a federal award for the transportation planning organization for Chattanooga, and its suburbs in Georgia. Chattanooga’s plans to double spending on bike lanes and walking paths, such as the Riverwalk, helped the region win a federal award for its transportation planning. Credit: iamfriday.me “Building a world-class transportation system doesn’t happen overnight, and never by accident,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a ...more
Atlanta slated to begin $125,000 study on improving area near Falcons stadium
- Atlanta is poised to embark on a study costing up to $125,000 on how to involve residents of the Westside communities, near the Falcons stadium, in code enforcement and flooding issues. Construction continues at the Falcons stadium, as shown in this photo from June. Credit: newstadium.atlantafalcons.com The study is to be funded with a grant from a program named City Accelerator, which is a project of Living Cities Foundation. The foundation is an initiative of Living Cities and Citi Foundation, and ...more
“CSI for sea turtles” uses DNA collected from eggs in effort to protect loggerheads
- Researchers call it “CSI for sea turtles,” and the process uses DNA collected from eggs to answer questions about nesting habits of loggerhead sea turtles. Female loggerhead sea turtles are now monitored via their DNA by researchers at the University of Georgia. Credit: Sandi Martin/UGA The University of Georgia commenced genetic tagging on a limited basis in 2005. The program has become so acclaimed that it’s featured in the 2015 edition of, “State of the World’s Sea Turtles,” a report produced ...more
South Carolina joins Georgia in ruling against use of condemnation to build Palmetto Pipeline
- A legal opinion issued by the office of South Carolina’s attorney general presents a new obstacle for a proposed pipeline for petroleum and ethanol to be built along the Savannah River and down the Georgia coast, to Jacksonville, Fla. Savannah-area residents joined a protest rally against the Palmetto Pipeline in April. Credit: richmondhillsreflectionslive.com The opinion contends that Kinder Morgan, Inc. does not have the power to condemn land for the purpose of installing the Palmetto Pipeline. If the pipe were to ...more