China Central Television’s multipurpose station and headquarters is part of a new generation of cutting-edge structures whose innovative architecture comes to life with the help of advanced modeling and measuring tools. The looping first-of-its-kind structure on the east side of Beijing’s central business district has a dramatic overhang suspended 36 stories in the air and a diagonally braced continuous-tube frame expressing the forces of its structural system onthe facade. Engineers precisely predicted preset positions for the inclined steel, and the contractor, using more than 600 monitoring stations, made sure the structure moved into the correct final position. Foundation work included
SILBERMAN Self-anointed professional dreamer Cyril J. Silberman and grounded structural engineer Lawrence G. Griffis prove opposites can attract. They have become a duo of dynamic roofs—and walls and playing fields—in sports construction. In a decade, they have collaborated on a half-dozen projects in the U.S. and chased several dozen in places as far flung as China. In doing so, they have helped thrust kinetic stadium architecture forward. “We started with simple horizontal motion, then got brave going with mild slopes and now the slopes are getting steeper,” says Griffis, senior principal in the Austin office of Walter P Moore. Related
Daryl Shields / HKS Roofers are getting swelled ankles from working on steep slopes. Never mind the whopping 2.7-million-sq-ft area, 1,225-ft-long steel arches, 25,000-sq-ft center-hung video board, 120-ft-tall movable end-zone walls and nearly $1.1-billion cost. The wildest statistic for builders of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington, Texas, is a mere 23.9°. That’s the maximum curved slope for the design’s biparting roof panels and the genesis of the job’s myriad hill-climbs. The steep curves inspired a first-of-a-kind rack-and-pinion gear-drive system to move the retractable panels. “Now we can do steeper slopes with confidence,” says Lawrence G. Griffis, senior principal in
Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority Lucas Oil Stadium, opening next month in Indianapolis, will reign for only a year as the sports venue with the steepest rolling roof and the tallest retractable end-zone wall. Next August, both titles will pass to football’s Dallas Cowboys stadium, under construction in Arlington, Texas. Indianapolis and football’s Colts might be upset about the upset, but the firms responsible for the fleeting bragging points aren’t: Working on both jobs, they are breaking their own records. There are some distinctions that might lastfor Lucas Oil Stadium. The building has the largest roof opening of any
Odebrecht Construtora Norberto Odebrecht is the largest engineering and construction company in Latin America and a major player internationally. The Brazilian firm, founded by Norberto Odebrecht in 1944, is now present in 20 countries across four continents. The construction firm saw $5 billion in gross revenue last year, a 42% increase over 2006. The company’s international divisions accounted for almost 70% of its revenue, much of which came from other Latin American countries. “Everyone’s backlog is growing at an incredible rate.” — Marcelo Odebrecht, construction head at Construtora Norberto Odebrecht Marcelo Odebrecht, the 39-year-old grandson of the founder, has run
Odebrecht The construction firm saw $5 billion in gross revenues last year — a 42 percent increase over 2006. (The parent holding company, Odebrecht SA, which includes the petrochemical firm Braskem recorded $17.7 billion in gross revenues in 2007) Although the company continues to have a strong presence in Brazil, its international divisions accounted for almost 70 percent of its revenues and a large portion of that is in other Latin American countries. Marcelo Odebrecht, the 39-year-old grandson of the company’s founder, has run the construction arm since 2002. Before then, he was part of the team responsible for the
+ click to enlarge C.J. Schexnayder / ENR Last month, Brazil shed its status as a developing nation. On June 16, financial rating services elevated the country’s long-term risk level to investment grade. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking at the country’s BOVESPA stock exchange, said, “Brazil is no longer a colony. It is a developed nation.” There is considerable evidence to back his boast. After decades of boom and bust, Brazil has witnessed phenomenal growth since 2000. The primary force is surging commodity prices. The currency is strong, employment is robust, and, after a five-year period of listless
The motto of the Brazilian city of São Paulo translates as “I am not led, I lead,” but on the streets of the sprawling metropolis it has become increasingly hard to get anywhere at all. The population of greater São Paulo is nearing 20 million residents, making it the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the world. The increasing population and boom in business has overloaded the city’s transportation infrastructure, making relatively short jaunts into nightmares of endurance. More than 6 million vehicles clogged the city’s streets last year, making movement through major routes and popular side streets almost impossible at peak
+ click to enlarge C.J. Schexnayder / ENR C.J. Schexnayder / ENR San Antonio Dam’s site favors run-of-river design. The Madeira River is a wide, shallow, muddy waterway wending through Brazil’s far western state of Rondônia. It is here, on the largest tributary of the mighty Amazon River not far from the border with Bolivia, where Brazil has staked its electrical future. Large-scale hydroelectric work stalled in Brazil in the early 1990s, but now a pair of dam projects in the initial stages of construction and valued at $10.5 billion mark the first step toward meeting the country’s 21st-century energy
On June 1, 2001, apagão, the Portuguese word for “blackout,” became part of the vernacular in Brazil. In order to avoid a collapse of the national electricity grid, the government issued an order to slash the country’s energy consumption by a fifth. Related Links: Explosive Growth Sparks Brazil’s Booming Infrastructure Boom Bursting at the Seams, São Paulo Overhauls Undeveloped Interior Is Focus of Brazil’s Hydro Plans Brazil’s Largest Contractor Looks at the Region Q&A with Marcelo Odebrecht, President of Construtora Norberto Odebrecht SA There was no other option due to the severe lack of capacity and the subsequent effect on
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