Roller-compacted concrete dams have steadily taken their place in the menu of possible dam types over the past four decades, with over 650 of them completed or under construction, according to HydroWorld magazine. China is far and away the leading RCC dam builder, with 165 as of 2012; of those, 40 are higher than 100 meters. Japan, the United States, Brazil and Spain are the other most prolific RCC dambuilders.Roller-compacted concrete dams evolved in the 1970s to satisfy a particular need by dambuilders and owners. The percentage of dams built with concrete dropped steadily between 1950 and the late 1970s,
Map by Jeffrey Cox/ENR Massive infrastructure plan aims to link Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia with the rest of Africa. Related Links: Rising Cement Demand in East Africa Draws European Manufacturers Africa Road Projects To Drive Demand for Asphalt After four years of negotiations with landowners, construction of the first phase of the $3.1-billion berths project in Kenya’s coastal town of Lamu is back on track. The new berths will be part of a $24.5-billion, seven-component Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopian Transport (Lapsset) corridor project, the largest ever in eastern Africa.The building of the 32 berths, which is now slated
Related Links: China To Build First New U.K. Nuke Plants in More Than 20 Years China has lifted the ban on constructing new nuclear powerplants as part of an ambitious plan to add 30,000 MW of nuclear energy by 2020, which will bring it closer to U.S. production capability. After the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, China banned capacity expansion as the country closely examined its safety standards in existing plans.The government plans to take the number of nuclear powerplants to 75 from 22 at present in about five years. There are 26 reactors under construction, and 27 more
India's government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is moving forward on plans to develop 100 Smart Cities, despite resistance from the opposition party, which has blocked some key land-acquisition legislation.
Photo by Shem Oirere Kenya has launched a $2.8-billion, 10,000-km road-paving program, to be completed in 2017. Related Links: Rising Cement Demand in East Africa Draws European Manufacturers Sub-Saharan Africa's Energy Sector on Growth Trajectory in 2015 With many countries in Africa planning or implementing major highway building programs, demand for asphalt is expected to rise. That has prompted an increase in asphalt imports and a French asphalt company’s acquisition of a large West African company.Imported asphalt’s price is much lower than locally produced material, especially in Nigeria, where marketers are lobbying for punitive import taxes. The low price of
Related Links: The Economics of High Speed 2 - Economic Affairs Committee report HS2 Chairman Higgins Pushes Rail Program Forward Legislation for UK's HS2 Rail Program Will Move, Government Official Tells Engineers The U.K. government has failed to justify its planned $74-billion investment in HS2, a new high-speed railroad that will link London to industrial centers in the north of England, according to a March 25 report from an influential committee of Parliament. The report calls on officials to make a better case for “one of the most expensive infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the U.K.”Clive Hollick, chair of the
Related Links: World Bank Studies Support $10B Water Project for Dead Sea Israel and Jordan have signed a final agreement to build a scaled-back version of the Red Sea-to-Dead Sea canal project, which would include a desalination plant. The nearly $1-billion project, approved by the two countries at the end of February and sponsored by the World Bank, will serve as a pilot for the planned pipeline, which will be 10 times larger and used to pump seawater and brine into the shrinking Dead Sea.“The desalination plant and pipeline are likely to be operational in 2020 or 2021,” predicts Avraham Tenne,
Photo by Nicholas Zeman / ENR Downtown Crossing will start cable work at a ramped-up pace. Related Links: $2.6-Billion Ohio River Bridges Project Ramps Up In Louisville $2.6-Billion Ohio River Spans Set for Award in December Crews are grappling with inclement weather and extra responsibilities on the design-build portion of the $2.6-billion Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP), linking Kentucky and Indiana. The main contractor hopes to ramp up work and stay on schedule.Walsh Group won the $860-million design-build Downtown Crossing contract in 2012, with a December 2016 slated completion. Walsh is also in a $763-million concessionaire contract to build ORBP's
Related Links: Leslie E. Robertson Associates Diller Scofidio + Renfro Sciame Construction Gensler Find the load paths. That could have been structural engineer Daniel A. Sesil's mantra while seeking support for the daring southern portion of Columbia University Medical Center's 15-story Medical and Graduate Education Building in Upper Manhattan.Though it encloses only about 100,000 sq ft, the $77-million base building, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, has a split personality. The northern section is conventional. In dramatic contrast, the southern side is brazenly asymmetrical. DS+R describes the mind-bending form as a glass-enclosed "cascade" of interconnected study and social spaces that
Photo by Greg Aragon / ENR Crews building a route extending the original Expo line from Culver City to Santa Monica dealt with a tight urban environment. Enlarge Click map to enlarge. Related Links: L.A. Expo Line To Open Late, Over Budget Snaking above, below and through busy streets, sound studios, artist colonies and freeways, the extension of the Exposition Line from Culver City to Santa Monica is nearing completion thanks in part to the flexibility imparted by design-build, project officials say.The 6.7-mile, $1.5-billion project includes seven bridges and seven stations squeezed into a busy urban setting. The light-rail system
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