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- CTBUH: Qatar's Doha Tower is world's "best tall building"
The Doha Tower in Qatar has been named the "Best Tall Building Worldwide" by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The structure, built using reinforced concrete diagrid columns, is an "excellent example of an efficient modern tower that is inspired by its local culture and setting," said Antony Wood, CTBUH's executive director. "In an age of homogenized slick towers globally, Doha Tower is rooted to its place. This is not a non-specific icon which you could drop into any city of the world." DesignBuildSource.com.au (Australia)
(10/23)     
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| Infrastructure Watch | | |
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- N.Y. will invest as much as $5.7B to bolster energy transmission
The New York Energy Highway Task Force launched a plan that calls for as much as $5.7 billion in private investment to increase electricity generation and transmission capacity. New transmission lines, smart-grid projects, and transmission and distribution improvement are all part of the plan. "As we work to grow New York's economy, we need reliable, affordable, and clean power to leverage significant private sector investments, to allow businesses to grow, and to create jobs," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release. Platts
(10/22), Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) (subscription required)
(10/22), TransportationNation.org
(10/22)
| Trends & Technology | | |
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- BIM streamlines construction of $5.25B Panama Canal expansion
The use of building information modeling helped advance several aspects of the $5.25 billion Panama Canal expansion, including work on the third set of locks, writes John Duque, MWH Global vice president and CICP lead civil/structural designer. BIM made it possible for various engineering teams to cooperate in a seamless manner, which led to better communication that yielded cost and time savings, according to Duque. Structural Engineer magazine
(10/2012)
| Sustainable Development | | |
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- Creating resilient and sustainable cities
Cities of the future can be both more resilient and more sustainable, writes David Biello. While often at odds, sustainability and resilience can be promoted through strategies that include solar power and green roofs, programs that minimize demand for energy, rain gardens and permeable pavement. "In the end, any enduring city must be resilient to a whole host of challenges -- from floods and fire to economic collapse -- in order to last for the long term," Biello writes. Slate/Future Tense
(10/22)
| Election 2012 | | |
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- Obama, Romney fail to "grasp the importance" of sound infrastructure
 The platforms of both President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney address the aging transportation infrastructure in the U.S. but "[n]either party seems to have a firm plan for funding the improvements," writes Clifford Lynch, principal at C.F. Lynch & Associates. "What no one seems to grasp is the importance of a seamless, well-functioning national transportation infrastructure," he asserts. "[G]iven Congress's apparent inability to make sense out of this issue, whoever our new president is, I'm a little pessimistic about this problem being resolved any time soon." DC Velocity online
(10/23)
| Advancing the Profession | | |
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- Why bosses need to get themselves connected
We're in a global era, and the biggest prizes will go to those companies and individuals who are best able to forge useful connections on a planetary scale, write Pankaj Ghemawat and Steven A. Altman. The key is to take early action to build international networks, even before the rewards for doing so become obvious. "Most of us need to adjust our world view to see the headroom for gains, and we need to reach out first to form new connections before specific opportunities come into view," Ghemawat and Altman write. Strategy+Business online (free registration)
(10/22)
| News from ASCE | | |
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