Related Links: ProtoHouse Project Follows Bone-Growth Logic to Design Structure Construction has always been a three-dimensional activity. While the representation of the intent of construction has been liberated "virtually" into 3D digital models and rotatable 3D representations, accurate physical representations of design intent have been achieved, until only recently, either through the artistry and skill of a scale model-builder or by building full-scale mock-ups of the ideas captured by the design documentation.But now 3D digital printing offers a third way to go from intent to reality. Like ink-jet printers, 3D printers deposit fine particles on a surface but then keep
Image Courtesy ICC For the first time in ICC history, anyone can submit a proposal to change the building code from anywhere with Internet access. A new web app from the International Code Council makes voting on changes to the building code available to anyone, for the first time.Since its inception, the International Code Council (ICC) held hearings twice a year where members submit, argue and finalize changes to the coming year’s building code. Only a fraction of the council’s 58,000 members are able to attend the meetings—some of which last 10 days—says Dominic Sims, CEO of ICC.“The app is
Courtesy UC3M ROBINSPECT is an automated version of TunConstruct [pictured]. The latter was a manually controlled robotic scanning method for mapping the interiors of tunnel walls. A newly funded intelligent robotic system for tunnel inspection is slated for testing on several large European jobs as early as next December—well before a working prototype is built. Funders’ confidence is based on a successful manual prototype developed by the same researchers.ROBINSPECT (Robotic System with Intelligent Vision and Control for Tunnel Structural Inspection and Evaluation), is a robot developed by a European consortium of schools, led by Madrid’s Universidad Carlos III (UC3M) and
ENR’s editors are always on the lookout for new and useful electronics that have the potential to improve the construction workflow. Over the course of 2013, we’ve run across or experimented with a few devices that show promise. Some of them might make it a bit easier to stay connected on the road, while others will be more at home in the office or on the jobsite.Click here to begin the slideshow.
I have just returned from the compact, intensely urbanized city of Hong Kong. The construction industry there is a cauldron of activity simmering on the fires of competition, political change, shifting economics and demographics, and further heated by the rapidly growing soft and hard linkages to the industries and population of mainland China.These drivers are leading construction firms in Hong Kong to battle for advantage by leveraging process and technological innovation in a way that promises to set up the former British colony, with its history of internationalism as a crossroads of the Asian and Western worlds, as the hub
At Facebook Inc.’s sprawling 57-acre campus in Menlo Park, Calif., construction professionals met with Silicon Valley technologists in mid-November to discover ways to improve the AEC industry, all in one weekend.
Related Links: Imagining Construction's Future: ENR's Science Fiction Collection FutureTech Event Program The theme may have been "Imagining Construction's Future" at ENR's Nov. 7 FutureTech conference in New York City, but, for many panelists and attendees, what once seemed like tomorrow's technology is used on many projects today—and driving innovation."It's a fascinating time to be in our industry," said Matt Harris, a senior vice president with Viewpoint Software. "It's astonishing how cheap and scalable things are becoming, from a cloud [computing] environment." Although it's early in the era of mobility in construction, many firms are looking at real-time sensing data
Illustration Courtesy of Bentley Systems Approach connects engineering with geospatially defined 3D construction packages. Illustration Courtesy of Bentley Systems Approach offers dashboards to track progress. Related Links: Bentley's Lean CM and Workface Planning Product Construction Industry Institute Report on Advanced Work Packaging A s project size grows in complexity, so does the need for advanced tools for work-face planning. At its "Year in Infrastructure" conference in London, Bentley Systems Inc. in late October announced that its ProjectWise Construction Work Package Server (WPS), a system for managing the life cycle of work packages, is now being validated by industry firms and
Editor's Note:Robert E. McFarlane is a principal at Shen Milsom & Wilke, an international firm that provides consulting and technology design on large and small projects, including information technology data center planning. McFarlane’s expertise is in the design of data center infrastructure. ENR approached McFarlane with a series of questions about the reports of electrical problems at the National Security Administration’s data center in Utah, seeking to better understand the kinds of issues that may be involved. Several other experts ENR approached were eager to respond as well, but prevented from doing so by non-disclosure agreements they had signed with
Related Links: Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM A summary of E.M. Rogers "Diffusion of Innovation" theory A publication jointly developed by three national mechanical, electrical and plumbing associations and released on Nov. 7 aims to elevate the playing field for specialty contractors foraying into spatial coordination through building information modeling. It promises to advance the state of practice by sharing practical, hard-won insights and implementation lessons from leading companies in the trades."Achieving Spatial Coordination Through BIM: A Guide for Specialty Contractors" claims to be the first guide for specialty contractors seeking to embrace BIM practices and technologies in their firms.
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