Arturo Ressi di Cervia, one of the preeminent constructors of slurry walls in the world, died of cancer at age 72 in New York City on Aug. 23.Ressi worked on signature projects in many countries, but the most famous may be the Italian engineer's first job in the U.S.: construction of the slurry-wall perimeter of the World Trade Center basement."The quality of the work became evident on Sept. 11, 2001, when the walls were re-exposed after three decades. The walls withstood the Sept. 11 attack and helped prevent the Hudson River from flooding parts of lower Manhattan," says George J.

Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Dept. of Aviation O'Hare Airport, Spring 2004. To build major new runways at O'Hare, contractors had to move a cemetery, a railroad, cargo facilities and a huge retention pond. Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Dept. of Aviation O'Hare Airport, June 2013. Related Links: O'Hare Operations Literally Buzz With Activity Airports Push the Green Envelope Reconfiguring an airport the size of O'Hare, including building four new runways—without disrupting the 68 million passengers that use it annually—involves challenging staging and logistics. The construction team had to relocate a railroad, a cemetery, cargo facilities and a stormwater retention

Photo Courtesy of Arup Related Links: Global Best Projects Awards Looping, Leaning Tube in Beijing Is an Antidote to the Skyscraper China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters China Central Television's looping first-of-a-kind structure resulted from a close collaboration between OMA, three Arup offices and other consultants in Europe, Asia and America. The cooperation was essential in delivering the design (ENR 7/21/08 p. 30) for the building's external continuous tube system. Judges noted the difficulties of gaining approval for a design outside the prescriptive Chinese building code and also the challenge of connecting the two towers in the 13-story overhang suspended 36 stories

What do women do in construction? Just about everything.

Photo by Dan Sellers Leite talks with University of Texas grad students about a design coordination research project using building information models. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal Fernanda Leite's UT Web page Fernanda Leite has a passion for teaching and technology. A tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, she clearly delights in the research her graduate students are doing. Third-year Ph.D. student Li Wang, for example, is capturing decisions made by experts while resolving clashes detected in building information models to help train novice designers in the future."We developed

Reporter-videographer Tom Sawyer traveled by boat to the Inner Harbor Navigation Channel surge barrier wall to see the work of Traylor Bros. Project Manager Wayne Jones.

Nearly three weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut coastline with an unprecedented combination of wind and storm surge, public-private teams have largely dealt with power outages and flood emergencies and now are turning their attention to damage in infrastructure and to longer-term restoration, debris cleanup, structural assessments and housing for the thousands who were displaced.

Related Links: Construction Industry Institute CII Highlights Safety Studies,Broadens Outreach Efforts After analyzing the performance of 975 light and heavy industrial projects in its benchmarking database, the Construction Industry Institute found that only 5.4% met "best in class" predictability in terms of cost and schedule. While it is no surprise that over-budget and behind-schedule jobs pose problems for owners, the report also concludes that projects under budget and ahead of schedule create a missed opportunity for owners because money set aside for such projects cannot be invested in other ways.  DORANThis report is a way of showing the value of

Photo courtesy of Alistair Gibb Alistair Gibb, professor of complex project management at Loughborough University in England, talked about safety at the London Olympics at a Construction Industry Institute meeting in Baltimore. Photo courtesy of Alistair Gibb The mission statement of the London Olympics construction program included a commitment to safety. Related Links: London Olympic Committee Holds the Line on Costs 2012 Games Are Stepping Stones in Grand Scheme As the Olympic torch arrived to light the cauldron at Olympic Stadium on July 27, it was greeted by an honor guard of 500 hardhat-wearing construction workers, many of whom had

ENR interviewed California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales in his Sacramento office after the state Legislature approved the project. Highlights from the interview follow.