The Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat is vigorously advancing its mission—to help upgrade skyscraper production by offering better design tools and standardizing practice worldwide. In a fundamental shift, the 42-year-old CTBUH is engaging in research, including a $2-million fire study that will culminate in a real building burn.Next year, CTBUH plans to publish five design guidelines on wind-tunnel testing, structural outriggers, performance-based seismic design, column shortening, foundations and natural ventilation. “There is a need for better tall buildings around the world,” said Antony Wood, CTBUH's executive director, at the CTBUH 2011 World Conference in Seoul. The Oct. 10-12
If you want an early briefing of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ new, National Levee Database, register soon because there are only 120 spaces available for each of three webinars that have been scheduled to introduce it, starting Oct. 27.The Corps is announcing public access to the NLD, a dynamic information source that provides, for the first time, map-based visualization and search capabilities for the location and condition of levee systems nationwide. Developed by engineers and scientists, it is said to have a "distinctly technical feel." There will be at least two levels of access, one, will make available
AP/Wide World Ercis, a town of 75,000 near the Iranian border, was the hardest hit. Related Links: A History of Turkish Earthquakes Turkish government agencies say the damage is widespread and severe from the 7.2 earthquake that rocked eastern Turkey on October 23.The quake destroyed 2,262 buildings, killing 366 people and injuring 1,301, according to AFAD, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management agency.Kockopru Dam, a 75-meter-high, clay core rock fill dam and hydro-electric powerplant on the Zilan River in the Lake Van Basin, withstood the earthquake with no damage. So did the other dams in the area, according to the State
Now that the floodwaters of spring and summer have receded, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified 93 critical areas of damage in the Mississippi River and tributaries (MR&T) system that won’t survive another flood without great risk to life. But the Corps only has the money to fix the top 10.The top 10 projects on the Corps' list would cost $75.8 million. The agency released those and an additional $704 million worth of critical projects to a meeting of the Interagency Recovery Task Force in New Orleans October 20. The Corps formed the IRTF to work with federal
Photo courtesy Indiana Dept. of Transportation Cracks discovered during a routine September inspection of the double-deck structure, which spans the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana, forced an immediate shutdown and set of a $13.9-million repair job. Repairs to cracks on the Interstate 64 Sherman Minton Bridge, a double-deck structure spanning the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana, will cost 30% less than initially estimated and require only four-and-a-half months to execute rather than the six months anticipated by the Indiana Dept. of Transportation, INDOT officials say. The contract, awarded Oct. 18 to Louisville-based Hall Contracting of Kentucky, indicates repairs to
Photo courtesy of SHA Inspectors found 40 to 50 cracks in 13 concrete pier caps. Related Links: Toll Road Treads Lightly Officials Begin To Ask Themselves Just How Green Could My Highway Be? After Five Decades, Maryland Connector May Move Forward Concrete pier caps supporting three bridges on the new Intercounty Connector (ICC) in Maryland may have to be rebuilt following the discovery of cracks by Maryland State Highway Administration (MSHA) inspectors.According to a project spokesman, 40 to 50 cracks ranging from .005 to .035 in wide, and 7 in to 3 ft 8 in long, were found in 13
Photo courtesy ORNL TVA relieved Bechtel from construction management at Watts Bar nuclear plant, after construction schedule slipped from 2012 to 2013 completion date. Related Links: Florida Utility: No Way To Predict Nuke Plant Cracking The Tennessee Valley Authority is taking over the management of the construction of the second unit at the Watts Bar nuclear plant after the construction schedule slipped under the current contractor, the federal power producer said Wednesday.TVA renegotiated its engineering, procurement and construction contract with Bechtel Power, Terry Johnson, a TVA spokesman, said. TVA will take over as project manager while Bechtel retains the technical
Related Links: Audit: Deficiencies in N.Y. Wastewater Treatment Plant Before Collapse Binghamton-Johnson City, N.Y., Sewer Board Files Collapse Suit Safety Report on Upstate New York Treatment Plant Due in June The owners of the Binghamton-Johnson City Joint Sewage Treatment Plant, site of a 100-ft wall collapse in May, are eager to begin repairs but they first must determine if Hurricane Irene-related flooding undermined the structure's foundation.The two south-central New York state cities, which own and operate the plant, are also dealing with a pair of engineering reports that blame construction errors and changes for the wall failure and that limit
Photo courtesy of Barnard Construction Crews working from a barge began removing portions from the middle section of Glines Canyon dam on Sept. 15 Contractors have started chipping away on the Glines Canyon Dam in Port Angeles, Wash., one of two dams on the Elwha River that are scheduled for removal as part of the largest project of its kind in the U.S. The 210-ft-high Glines Canyon dam and the 108-ft-high Elwha Dam are the two highest dams ever to be removed in the U.S. The project includes the removal of 24 million cu yd of sediment and debris and
Image courtesy Tampa Bay Water Just six years after opening its 15.5-billion-gallon reservoir, Tampa Bay Water recently awarded a $162-million contract to Kiewit Infrastructure Group South to repair and expand the cracking facility. Related Links: Settlement Between HDR and Tampa Bay Water Hits Snag Tampa Bay Water Opts for Kiewit's $162M Fix for Cracking Reservoir A month after an invalid vote that provided "conditional approval" of a $30-million settlement with HDR Engineering over cracks in its six-year-old reservoir, on Oct. 17 the board of directors of Tampa Bay Water voted unanimously to reject the deal and proceed with its pending
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