German investigations into faulty underground construction suspected to be linked with last year�s collapse of a building in Cologne were extended today to a section of elevated rail over 400 km away, completed nearly four years ago by the same contractor. Related Links: Prosecutors Search for Fraud in Rail Project �We want to make sure that works have been carried out correctly at all projects where similar technologies were used,� says Herbert Bodner, Chairman of Bilfinger Berger A.G., Mannheim. Suspicions by the investigators of the Cologne collapse prompted the new probe of work on the high-speed line. In parallel, diaphragm
German prosecutor officials are investigating possible criminal falsification of construction survey data on Cologne’s roughly $550 million North-South urban rail project, scene of a building collapse last March. In parallel, diaphragm walls being used in construction of one the line’s underground stations have been found to be about 80% short of specified dowel bars. These, as yet unconnected, findings recently emerged from investigations into the March 3, 2009 collapse of the city’s historical archive building. The building was undermined when a section of railroad tunnel under construction in nearby Waidmarkt collapsed. No official cause for the tunnel failure has yet
A bell tower in St. Mark’s Square dating back to 12th-Century Venice is getting a new lease on life through a two-year project to stabilize the ill-fated monument standing on tricky soil. In January, workers began drilling cement-reinforced micro-piles to provide watertight enclosures around seven chambers so a girdle of titanium rods can be threaded through the ground around the tower’s faulty foundation block. Photo: Peter Reina / ENR The most prominent monument in St. Mark’s Square in Venice is a 20th-Century reconstruction Related Links: Stabilizing Venice Monument During most of this year, subcontractor Trevi SpA, Cesena, will drill about
British engineer Alex Cartwright had just three months to convert paper designs of a new-generation, column-plunging frame into a working tool for the foundations of London’s 310-meter-tall Shard, which will be Europe’s tallest building.
The British government this month awarded exclusive development rights for nine offshore wind farms. The combined potential 32,000-MW capacity of the awarded zones would increase the country’s wind-energy generation by nearly 47 times today’s installed capacity of 688 MW, although development is expected to play out over two decades. + Image Map: Crown Estate Offshore Wind Zones Industry appetite for offshore wind led The Crown Estate, which is responsible for coastal waters, to raise the scope of the nine sites from the 25,000 MW originally proposed, says a spokesman. East Anglia Offshore Wind Ltd., a Spanish-Swedish joint venture, won the
Spanish construction logos are among the first to be seen by visitors to the Irish Republic as they drive into Dublin from the city’s airport. A blend of funding, design and construction expertise has secured for the Spanish a large and growing slice of Ireland’s infrastructure market. Photo: W.S. Atkins PLC. A major redesign eases construction at Dublin’s N3-M50 interchange. Related Links: Dublin Beltway's PPP Upgrade Crossing the airport road is a roughly $360-million project to upgrade the M50 toll road, sweeping around the west of Dublin. Spanish firms control 85% of the consortium that is widening 23 kilometers of
Environmentalists were disappointed by the two-week United Nations-sponsored Copenhagen climate- change summit, which failed to set binding emissions targets. But the Danish conference, attended by 119 government heads, has helped stimulate engineers to promote themselves as low-carbon champions. Indonesian floods are thought to be tied to climate change. Global summit in Copenhagen produced only an outline of how countries may address the issue, but engineering firms see clients who believe “decarbonizing” is going to happen. Related Links: Head Sees Climate Change Chances: Arup Group Gears up to Low Carbon 'Suffering and Economic Collapse' Atkin's Keith Clarke on Global Warming Regardless
The construction industry has entered a recession that has affected virtually every region and market. The downturn has had its most immediate impact on the design professionals on the front end of projects. For the world’s largest engineers and architects, this means now is a good time to reexamine their services and strategies. Related Links: View more industry sectors from ENR's 2009 Global Sourcebook View complete Global Sourcebook with market data and analysis Only a short time ago, the world market was one of the hottest most large design firms had ever seen. Many firms worried market sectors were close
The global economic recession undercut construction costs worldwide, according to London-based international project and cost-management firm Gardiner & Theobald Inc. in its eighteenth annual survey of international costs conducted exclusively for ENR. G&T’s survey covered 50 countries. Related Links: Forecast: Inflation Stalls As Recession Undercuts Nonresidential Building Markets Markets: Major Firms Are Pessimistic About A Fast Industry Recovery China: The New Driver Of International Costs Has Troubles Of Its Own Thailand: Construction Costs Bounce Up As The Recession Bottoms Out Canada: Cool Forecast Keeps Costs In The Deep Freeze Complete 4th Quarterly Cost Report with Data and Analysis In Europe,
Facing unpredictably tough ground conditions, tunneling crews have worked all out this year to get Belfast’s $195-million, 9.4-kilometer-long stormwater storage tunnel system operational before Christmas. With work largely done, Northern Ireland Water (NIW) aims to recruit soon a design firm to handle its second deep-tunnel sewer project, likely to be just as tough to implement. Slide Show Photo: Northern Ireland Water Belfast CSO system has 19 shafts up to 10 m in diameter. The shafts and tunnels will be able to hold 85,000 cu m of wastewater. Photo: Northern Ireland Water Five heavy-duty pumps can lift 16 cu m of
