Hundreds of sustainability experts converged on Long Beach, Calif., to discuss engineering resilient infrastructure in a world challenged by sea-level rise and climate change.
Related Links: Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Skyscraper Center The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is strengthening its focus on habitat. The new emphasis is part of CTBUH's plan to help "save the planet" by, in part, mobilizing the global membership to action, said David Malott, CTBUH's chairman.The group's reach is growing. Of the thousand 200-meter-plus high-rise construction starts in the past 10 years, 50% involved CTBUH members, said Malott, a principal of architect Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, at the group's 13th annual Best Tall Building Symposium, held on Nov. 6 in Chicago.At the end
Related Links: American Concrete Institute Concrete Standard Reworked to be More Designer-Friendly Structural engineers are welcoming the 2014 update of the 519-page "American Concrete Institute's Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14)," released late last month. The reorganized and reformatted standard, designed to be simpler and more intuitive for users, represents the first major overhaul since 1969."It was a Herculean effort on the part of the ACI 318 committee to do this," says Randall W. Poston, an Austin, Texas-based structural consultant and the committee chairman. "We think [the new code] is a huge improvement," he adds.Over the six years
photo courtesy of RTD Crews demolish a new transit bridge in Denver shortly after its completion. Related Links: RTD is Colorado Owner of the Year New Concrete Bridge Bent System Crews from Denver Transit Constructors (DTC) demolished a major rail bridge in north Denver last month—just as the structure was nearing completion.The 555-ft-long Jersey Cutoff Bridge, which began construction in August 2012, was torn down due to "design deficiencies," says Kevin Flynn, spokesman for the FasTracks Eagle P3 segment of Denver's Regional Transportation District, the project owner.The Jersey Cutoff is one of 35 bridges DTC is building along the $1.3-billion
Image Courtesy of Exconw New Vltata River crossing features pedestrian, bike and vehicular lanes and light-rail lines. Related Links: Troja Bridge description New Troja Bridge renderings and construction photos Traffic is now flowing on Prague's new Troja Bridge following its much-delayed recent opening. Straddling the Vltata River, the steel-arch structure incorporates crisscrossing steel-rod hangers, giving it one of Europe's most slender bridge profiles.Despite the lower-than-normal arch height, the structure is "very stable concerning the dynamic response," says Vladimír Janata, chief technical officer and chairman of the bridge's steelwork design subcontractor Excon A.S.Opened in early October, the bridge was delayed by
Photo Courtesy of Cheniere Energy Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass project will generate more than 3,000 jobs during peak construction. Initial shipments are expected by 2016. Photo Courtesy of Freeport LNG Gulf Coast liquefaction plant, originally conceived as an LNG import complex, is undergoing an overhaul and upgrade to convert Freeport's facility into an LNG export terminal. Related Links: Batteries Set To Put Big Charge Into Energy Storage Clean Coal: Is Carbon Capture and Storage Fossil Fuels' Best Hope? Fluor JV Wins Giant Canada LNG Project CB&I and Chiyoda Win $6 Billion EPC Award for Louisiana LNG Shale-gas Project Boom Drives
Photo by AP Wideworld Improved lighting, such as the LED lamps in Houston's NRG stadium (above), is an easily achieved EE goal that pays off quickly. Related Links: Fulfill the Promise of Building Energy Performance IEA 2014 Energy Efficiency Market Report Energy efficiency "represents the most important plank in efforts to decarbonize the global energy system and achieve the world's climate objectives," said International Energy Agency officials in the body's second annual report on the energy- efficiency market, released in October.One measure of energy efficiency (EE) is energy intensity, or the ratio of energy consumption to another metric, such as
Photo Courtesy of Boston Living with Water Boston's design competition focuses on three sites: a waterfront building, a waterfront district and a roadway that already floods. Photo Courtesy of Boston Living with Water Related Links: Greenovate Boston Boston Living with Water In kicking off an international design competition to attract ideas for saving vulnerable areas from the rising tides, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh (D) nailed home the importance of taking a regional approach to climate-change preparations by also announcing a multi-city living-with-water summit, set for next spring."When Hurricane Sandy hit, we weren't any more prepared than New York or
Related Links: Governor's Office of Storm Recovery HUD In June 2013, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) established the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery to aid communities—outside New York City—affected by 2012's Superstorm Sandy and 2011's Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Since then, GOSR has guided the rebuilding of nearly 10,000 houses, provided $20.8 million in small-business grants and facilitated the proposal of 600 resilience projects through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program, according to a recent GOSR report, called "New York Rising: 2012-2014.""There is a pipeline of projects coming out of planning and going into design and
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