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The New York State Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its 2022 Report Card for New York Infrastructure, issuing the state's infrastructure an overall grade of C. The rating is a slight improvement from its 2015 grade of C-. However, as detailed by the... View full entry
China is using artificial intelligence to effectively turn a dam project on the Tibetan Plateau into the world’s largest 3D printer, according to scientists involved in the project.
The 180 metre (590 feet) high Yangqu hydropower plant will be built slice by slice – using unmanned excavators, trucks, bulldozers, pavers and rollers, all controlled by AI – in the same additive manufacturing process used in 3D printing.
— The South China Morning Post
The Yangqu dam project is set to finish in two years and is being overseen by Tsinghua University’s Liu Tianyun, who recently argued that developments in 3D printing have made the technology “identical to nature.” Its purported future annual output of nearly 5 billion kilowatt hours of... View full entry
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles Strait on Friday (18 March). It has a central span of 2,023m, which means it usurps the title of world’s longest suspension bridge from the Akashi Kaikyo crossing in Kobe, Japan. — Global Construction Review
As reported by Global Construction Review, the new bridge cost €2.5 billion ($2.76 billion) to construct and is expected to generate €5.3 billion ($5.84 billion) in economic output, creating 118,000 jobs and €2.4 billion ($2.65 billion) in revenue. Named after an Ottoman naval victory... View full entry
Behind every facade design is a team of architects, engineers, fabricators, material specialists, and installers working together to produce successful building envelopes. From pre-construction to installation, the world of facade design has become a niche market for firms and individuals with... View full entry
A professor of architectural engineering at Penn State by the name of James Freihaut has been recognized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Sustainable Energy for his work in improving sustainability and safety in buildings. During the committee’s 30th... View full entry
The Champlain Towers South design violated building codes at the time of original construction. On the northern side, under the portion of the tower that collapsed, the columns were too narrow to accommodate all of the vertical and horizontal rebar called for in the plans while maintaining clearance required by the code. The pool deck had narrow columns and inadequate load bearing capacity, engineers consulted by the Herald found. Only columns beneath the surviving structure were fully compliant — Miami Herald
A team consisting of Sarah Blaskey, Aaron Leibowitz and Ben Conarck worked with four engineers and a general contractor to analyze the "Anatomy of Collapse" and explain the failure of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, FL. One key factor in the collapse appears to have been "punching shear"... View full entry
A new study by researchers out of The Ohio State University investigates a different kind of design for absorbing vibrations that could better soundproof materials. Ryan Harne, senior author of the paper and former associate professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State, along with... View full entry
Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) have developed a system that uses curved supports to transform flat objects into elaborate and customizable 3D structures. Called Kiriform, the... View full entry
Results of a new five-year study of recycled concrete show that it performs as well, and in several cases even better, than conventional concrete. Researchers conducted side-by-side comparisons of recycled and conventional concrete within two common applications -- a building foundation and a municipal sidewalk. They found that the recycled concrete had comparable strength and durability after five years of being in service. — Science Daily
Find the complete study Recycled aggregate concrete from large-scale production to sustainable field application by University of British Columbia Okanagan researchers here. View full entry
American engineering firm Bechtel has inked a contract with Neom, a forthcoming $500 billion "smart city-region" that is slated for what is currently mostly open mountain and desert landscape along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. According to a press release issued by Bechtel, the firm was... View full entry
The Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California has launched a new master’s program in Advanced Design and Construction Technology (ADCT). The program, according to a school website, will explore an "integrative approach to design, engineering and... View full entry
The United States Coast Guard is warning that a concrete bridge in Stuart, Florida is "at risk of imminent collapse." CNN reports that the Roosevelt Bridge is currently closed for repairs after large structural cracks were discovered along the causeway's southbound span. The bridge, according to... View full entry
Engineering News-Record (ENR), a leader reporting news and projects in the construction industry, has recently announced its 2020 ENR Awards of Excellence. Judges have selected 20 winners for this year's "Best of the Best Projects" competition. Among those 20 honorees, Zaha Hadid Architects'... View full entry
Canada’s WSP Global Inc. has approached rival engineering services firm Aecom about a possible deal, according to people familiar with the matter. [...]
Aecom shares opened up 4% Tuesday, valuing the company at about $7.7 billion. WSP fell 0.4% to C$93.22 apiece in Toronto, giving the company a market value of about C$9.9 billion ($7.6 billion).
— Bloomberg
"Meanwhile, WSP's acquisitions of U.S.-based construction and engineering firms go back several years," reported Construction Dive, detailing the Canadian company's strategic shopping spree that included notable acquisitions of companies like Berger Group Holdings Inc., Parsons Brinckerhoff, and... View full entry
The National Transportation Safety Board members that have been investigating a March 15, 2018 bridge collapse at Florida International University have concluded that the design firm FIGG Bridge Engineers, Inc. responsible for the project underestimated the loads created by the bridge's concrete... View full entry