Related Links: Rooftops Slowly, but Steadily, Start to Sprout Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Green roofs are gaining acceptance in dozens of countries, joining other forms of green infrastructure that are being used to mitigate environmental problems of urban centers.For example, vegetated roofs “are very good at managing stormwater. Most extensively planted green roofs will hold the first inch of rainfall and slow any additional rainfall, thus reducing peak flows and lowering the stress on combined sewer overflows,” says Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (CRHC).The group is a professional association with both corporate and
According to authors Chuck Thomsen and Sid Sanders, "organizations with continuous building programs produce most of America's buildings," and "the construction industry has quietly and without fanfare changed from a project industry to a program industry." Thomsen and Sanders believe similarities within this process "offer extraordinary opportunities for continuous improvement that will shorten schedules, save money and improve quality."By analyzing projects in a program to identify similarities and choosing similarities that offer the greatest possibilities for standardization, the authors say program managers can stimulate improvements. They discuss project teams, collaboration and improved contract terms to align the interests of key
Opportunities in the wastewater sector continue to grow, particularly in developing countries. Although large wastewater systems are being built around the globe, the market is changing, with new approaches to looking at wastewater and different mechanisms emerging for financing projects. According to Lux Research, a Boston-based research firm, the global wastewater market should reach $27.5 billion in 2012, with work divided roughly evenly between developed and developing countries. Glen Daigger, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Englewood, Colo.-based CH2M Hill, says that in 2010 the United Nations declared sanitation is a basic human right. Moreover, according to the
Expected to open in June, Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, a single new, robust air hub for Germany's capital, is nearing completion. Located 18 kilometers southeast of the city center, it will incorporate one runway from Schonefeld Airport, the smaller of Berlin’s two existing airports.
Mexico City’s wastewater system is undergoing major surgery, with work under way on a large tunnel and a wastewater treatment plant as well as several pumping stations.The Valley of Mexico, which contains 21.4 million residents across 2,020 sq kilometers, is an enclosed valley with no natural outlet for water to flow. It contains the lakebeds of five extinct lakes.Overextraction of groundwater has been causing the land on which the city rests to sink for decades. Currently, the rate of sinking is between five and 40 centimeters per year. The existing system of tunnels and pumps, which carry sewage and stormwater
The People-Profit Connection How Emotional Intelligence Can Maximize People Skills and Maximize Your Profits By G. Brent Darnell; BDI Publishers, Atlanta, 2011; third edition, 157 pages Design and construction firm managers can handle some of the toughest technical, logistical and physical demands on jobsites, but they also can be absolute wimps when it comes to managing their people challenges. In an industry driven by human interractions and networking, the “people-profit connection” has never been more important.In the latest edition of the “People-Profit” series, which began in 2004, Brent Darnell expands and refines his pioneering approach to how emotional intelligence plays
Click on each box below to view more about the project Interactive Image Map Since the dawn of the industrial age, railroads have been a vehicle for people, cargo and dreams of a better world. They remain a critical part of the transportation infrastructure of 2011. ENR has identified ten of the world’s most notable new railway construction projects based on geographic variety and cross-border economic impact. The projects include Angola’s Benguela Railway, China’s proposed line in Iran from Tehran west to Khosravi, China’s own Harbin-Dalian High-Speed Rail Line and China’s Lanzhou-Chongqing Rail Line. There are also reports on a
Map by ENR The North-South Transnational Corridor project aims to be the most direct link for freight shipments from Russia or Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. Related Links: The Ten Most Noteworthy Rail Projects: Overview and Related Stories Project: North South Transnational CorridorCost: $1.4 billionConstruction period: 2007-2012 Central Asian nations have been slow to establish rail links with their neighbors to the south for numerous reasons. During the era when the Central Asian nations were part of the Soviet Union, all their rail lines headed north to Russia, their major trading partner.Of the five Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan occupies