History keeps disproving predictions that the supertall skyscraper, as a developer’s building type, was destroyed when the two 110-story towers of New York City’s World Trade Center went down. Last year alone, 66 towers taller than 200 meters opened their doors, breaking the 2007 record of 48. Of these, eight are taller than 300 m, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which is the keeper of the tall-building flame. CTBUH predicts 97 more 200-m-plus high-rises will have ribbon-cuttings next year, including more than 20 taller than 300 m, which the group dubs “supertalls.” “Immediately following the
After delays attributed to the global economic recession, construction has begun on two of Abu Dhabi’s five planned cultural buildings—the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museums. The five facilities will form an emerging cultural district on Saadiyat Island, located 500 meters from the city of Abu Dhabi, which serves as the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Officials at Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Co. (TDIC), which is developing the island, say they are using the recession to take advantage of reduced prices in construction materials and equipment. TDIC officials decline to give a value on
A draft California Public Health Goal could lead to a requirement for California water agencies to reduce hexavent chromium to the ultra-low level of 0.02 parts per billion. The naturally occurring suspected carcinogen is present in as much as a third of the state’s groundwater supply. The federal government currently only regulates total chromium levels at 100 parts per billion. The draft goal, released in December 2010, was reduced from a previously suggested 0.06 parts per billion “to account for increased sensitivity associated with early-in-life exposures,” according to a state study. The California Dept. of Public Health could set drinking-water
By April, the power will go on in the $1.4-billion, 2-billion-gallon-per-day Catskill/Delaware Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility, the world�s largest. The plant is being built by the New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection in a county to the north to deliver safe drinking water to the city�s nine million residents. By April, the power will go on in the $1.4-billion, 2-billion-gallon-per-day Catskill/Delaware Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility, the world’s largest. The plant is being built by the New York City Dept. of Environ-mental Protection in a county to the north to deliver safe drinking water to the city’s nine million residents. “We are
Union Pacific Railroad, the largest rail network in the U.S., is expected to break ground later this year on a new transportation hub that will expand its existing operations in the Southwest. The $400-million project will be constructed in Santa Teresa, N.M., not far from the Omaha-based rail company’s existing El Paso, Texas, facility. Originally proposed in 2006, the project has been on hold in part because the railroad was waiting for the New Mexico Legislature to pass a locomotive fuel tax exemption. At a press conference in Santa Teresa on Jan. 8, newly elected Gov. Susana Martinez (R) said
E-Power S.A., the first private-sector power generation project in Haiti delivered on the basis of international tendering, started operations in Port-au-Prince Jan. 13, a year and a day after the devastating 2010 earthquake. The $56.7-million, 30-Mw, heavy fuel-oil-fired power plant will boost capacity in Port-au-Prince by 40%. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group that focuses on the private sector in developing countries, provided long-term $17-million financing, and syndicated an additional $12 million from the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). The utility is 60%-owned by local investors with Korea East-West Power Co. Ltd, a Korean electricity utility, also holding
Just as much of the country is deeply divided over political issues, a chasm is emerging between supporters of the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas regulations and an array of opponents. Photo: Courtsey Of Fluor Corp. Wet flue gas desulfurization handles sulfur dioxide, but regulations for greenhouse gas emissions would likely require another level of technology development. Photo: Courtsey Of The Shaw Group Scrubber technology may help prolong life for besieged coal-burning plants. Critics say the regulations are an example of overreach by the federal agency, which will both cost jobs and stall major construction projects. Many utilities in the
Structural engineers in earthquake zones, long struggling to push the needle forward on seismic design of tall buildings, are celebrating the availability of a new design methodology. They are hailing the tool, in the form of an 84-page guide for performance-based seismic design of high-rises, as a great step forward in developing better-performing buildings that are more economical and constructible. In addition, engineers expect the guide to take some of the agita Photo: Mark Defeo Guide will ease approvals, which were difficult and lengthy for One Rincon Hill (right) and two Infinity towers (left). Guidelines for Performance-Based Seismic Design of
An extensive program to survey and monitor the structural behavior and dynamic responses of the world’s tallest structure—the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai—has done more than validate the structural engineer’s design concepts. It could help improve future supertowers, says the keeper of the program. The monitoring system, which includes myriad sensors, will become a model for assessing critical and essential facilities, predicts Ahmad Abdelrazaq, an executive vice president of Samsung C&T Corp., Seoul, the burj’s lead builder. Photo: Courtesy Of Emaar Properties Monitoring shows performance of the 828-m-tall Burj Khalifa is better than expected. The program “has given us information
Pursuing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill case will be the leading 2011 enforcement priority for the Dept. of Justice's environmental division, says Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno, the unit's chief. Photo: U.S. Dept. of Justice Moreno, shown here with Attorney General Eric Holder, will focus heavily on Gulf oil spill Moreno, who heads the environment and natural resources division, said in a Jan. 13 speech that other construction-related areas of emphasis will include cases involving municipal sewage-treatment problems and defending against challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency's new greenhouse-gas regulations. Moreno told a District of Columbia Bar Association
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