In the wake of the stunning devastation left by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tohoku Tsunami, there were teetering remains of scattered mangled structures interspersed with standing, unscathed structures.Japanese and American forensic engineers still are combing the debris and data from the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami to study the forces and suss out how the wounded and surviving structures differ from those that are gone. Now one group, a tsunami loads-and-effects subcommittee sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, is preparing to publish early next year approximately 350 pages filled with engineering analysis and case studies
Next year, the American Institute of Architects plans to release “green” model contract forms designed to help limit legal exposure on sustainable projects. The forms are based on the institute's model agreements between owner and architect and between owner and contractor. They will incorporate concepts from AIA's free Guide for Sustainable Projects, published in the spring.AIA previewed the forms at the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, which drew 23,000 registrants to Toronto on Oct. 4-7. The objective of the agreements is to “make sure that roles and responsibilities are correctly defined” and to “allocate risk
Related Links: Joplin, Mo., Devastated by May 22 Tornado, Learning Lessons From Rubble Atlanta's Downtown Corridor Hammered by a Twister The EF-4 tornado that destroyed more than 3,041 homes and 400 businesses when it ripped through Tuscaloosa, Ala., in April changed the look and possibly the life of the city as it moves into recovery.The high winds also damaged more than 8,800 homes and almost 1,000 businesses and other structures.The city and county are starting to rebuild schools and public buildings after removing almost 800,000 cu yd of debris—including 2,879 stumps—replacing traffic lights and signs and restoring services.The six-mile-long, 1.5-mile-wide
Courtesy of Moatti-Rivire The 324-m-tall Paris icon is getting a glass floor for its first-level platform, 57 m above grade. A new restaurant, conference center and "green" features are also in the mix. A $34-million project will replace facilities on the first level of Paris’ landmark Eiffel Tower, last upgraded in the 1980s. A glass floor measuring over 30 sq meters will fill the now open central section of the 5,240-sq-m platform, 57 m above grade. A new restaurant and conference space are also in the works, along with improved disabled access, various forms of renewable energy, stormwater harvesting and
Photo courtesy of DOE Highly radioactive buildings are among many in Hanford's former atomic-bomb fuel-production area that are scheduled to be demolished. Photo courtesy of DOE Workers seal a waste disposal container, while excavators take apart the so-called 327 production building last year. In the last substantial cleanup of highly radioactive waste in an area of the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Hanford nuclear-waste site that was once the core of nuclear-reactor fuel production for atomic bombs, crews will use a gantry crane and grout to move and seal a vault and tank weighing 1,700 tons. The pick, part of the
Related Links: D.C. Water's Blue Plains Undertakes Three Major Environmental Projects The Chesapeake Bay remains at risk, largely because of pollution from stormwater runoff, farms and wastewater treatment plants. Excess nitrogen and phosphorous from these sources deplete oxygen and create large “dead zones” in which algae blooms cut off sunlight vital to the survival of marine life and underwater grasses. In December 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed a bay-wide “pollution diet” that sets numeric limits on the total maximum daily load of nutrients each state in the watershed can contribute to the bay. Blue Plains already is meeting
LONG-AWAITED LINK Plans to link Italy and Sicily have been considered for decades. Courtesy of Stretto di Messina S.p.A. MASSIVE MESSINA Construction on a new Italy-Sicily crossing that would easily break the world record for main suspension span length could begin next year, but only if Italys economy cooperates. Italian government officials are reviewing final designs for an estimated $11.7-billion suspension bridge that, with a 3,330-meter-long main span, would break the current world-record length by 66%. Construction of the Messina Strait road-and-rail crossing between the mainland and Sicily could start next year, the owner's director general said at a London
Related Links: Solyndra Bankruptcy Puts DOE on Hot Seat Melbourne, Fla.-based National Solar announced on Sept. 26 that it will build a $1.5-billion, 400-MW solar farm in northern Florida, the largest in the Southeast announced to date.The company is still securing financing for the project, says spokesman Ryan Banfill, but the company expects to begin construction in the first quarter of 2012. Over the course of five years, it will build at least 20 20-MW photovoltaic solar farms in Gadsden County, Fla. Each is expected to cost about $70 million and cover 200 acres.Greeley, Colo.-based Hensel Phelps will design, build
Related Links: Chesapeake Bay Remains at Risk The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority's wastewater treatment plant is going green in a big way. The authority, known as DC Water, is in the early stages of projects that will help meet stringent regulatory requirements for nitrogen as well as make improvements primarily aimed at improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.One of the projects is to reduce total nitrogen in the plant system to under 4 milligrams per liter (mg/l) from current levels of about 5 mg/l. The second approach will build a system of tunnels to accommodate and
Photo courtesy of Vermont Agency of Transportation Hoping to restore roads before winter snow arrives, National Guard troops help fix three miles of state road in Cavendish, Vermont. Related Links: Hurricane Irene Provides a Laboratory For Testing Bridge Innovations Before winter arrives, crews are working hard in the Northeast to assess and repair infrastructure damaged from tropical storms Irene and Lee in August and September, respectively.Vermont was hit hard by Irene. The storm killed five, closed roads, bridges and rail lines, shut down the state office complex in Waterbury and left more than 50,000 people without power.Dept. of Transportation officials
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