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- A look at 5 of the most talked-about smart-city projects
This piece lists five projects that are using the power of technology to build the "cities of the future now." It includes the $35 billion Songdo city in South Korea; Abu Dhabi's Masdar City; Rio de Janeiro's city-wide operations center; smart street lights and other technologically advanced projects in Barcelona, Spain; and London's various projects including sensors to monitor air quality, traffic flow and water supply. BBC
(2/21)     
| Infrastructure Watch | | |
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- $1B, 73-story tower will become L.A.'s tallest by 2016
The Wilshire Grand will become the tallest building in Los Angeles once it is completed in 2016. The $1 billion, 73-story skyscraper will stand 1,100 feet tall. It won't need a flat roof, something normally required by the city's fire code, because of its "improved building-core design." The structure will employ "a lateral system with a concrete-core shear wall" and be protected against building drift by "a series of outrigger columns and braces." Engineering News-Record
(2/20)
- TVA, B&W forge small-reactor development deal
The Tennessee Valley Authority and Babcock & Wilcox have forged a deal to jointly study small modular reactor development. TVA plans to construct at least one unit at its Clinch River Site in Tennessee. "With strong support from [the Department of Energy], we look forward to the successful development, demonstration, and analysis of SMR technology as a potential option to help TVA and the nation meet our clean-energy goals for the future," said Joe Hoagland, senior vice president for policy and oversight at TVA. The Washington Post/The Associated Press
(2/20), Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tenn.)
(2/20)
- $664M proposal would build 2 skyscrapers in Hollywood
A zoning change approved by the planning board in Los Angeles last year paved the way for taller buildings -- and that's what the Millennium Hollywood project would bring. The $664 million Millennium proposal includes two skyscrapers with office, retail and residential spaces that could occupy more than 1 million square feet. The city's Planning Commission will consider the proposal next month. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model)
(2/19)
| Trends & Technology | | |
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- Engineers discuss quakes, low-damage steel solutions
Implementation of low-damage solutions to the design and construction of buildings would allow Christchurch, New Zealand, to rebuild to a higher level of resilience, according to University of Canterbury structural engineers and associate professors Stefano Pampanin and Greg MacRae. "Low-damage, post-tensioned rocking and dissipating systems will be ideal for the rebuild, regardless of the material adopted -- be that concrete, steel or timber," said Pampanin. Stuff (New Zealand)
(2/21)
- Advanced machine learning system to help predict water pipe failures
Australia will use "advanced machine learning techniques" to help find which pipes are at risk of breaking to detect and avoid potential failures in the water system. "All water utilities with buried water pipes are faced with the issue of finding pipes that are at high risk of failure before they fail and result in significant disruptions to the community. To do this we need accurate models to identify high-risk pipes which can cope with the differences in age, pipe material, environmental conditions and urbanization," said Kevin Young, Sydney Water's managing director. DesignBuildSource.com.au (Australia)
(2/22)
- L.A. installs "earthquake-resistant pipes"
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is conducting a test installation of earthquake-resistant ductile iron pipe from Japan. "It's good stuff -- never failed in Japan, in any earthquake in 40 years," said Satoshi Suenaga, a Kubota engineer. The pipes are designed to flex and bend when they're under pressure, thus reducing the chance of breaks or leaks. Daily News (Los Angeles)
(2/21)
| Sustainable Development | | |
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- Blue coating material can help reduce heat on roofs
Cool roofs don't have to be white. Researchers are at work discovering new pigments with "cooling" capacities, according to this article. A case in point is the brilliant blue coating from Oregon State University researcher Mas Subramanian, which was made from manganese cooked with a combination of yttrium and indium oxides. "Given the right chemical properties, even dark pigments, ... turn away much of the sun’s heat," writes Michael Coren. FastCoExist
(2/21)
| Advancing the Profession | | |
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- Use tough love to keep your team on schedule
If your team keeps blowing deadlines, it doesn't help to keep quiet, writes Patty Azzarello. Public accountability and tracking show that being late is unacceptable, and they usually result in more projects being on time, she writes. "It's not about coming down hard on someone or being disrespectful or nasty. It's about moving the business forward," Azzarello writes. Fast Company online
(2/20)
| News from ASCE | | |
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Future City team from California wins special ASCE award
For their clever vision of urban infrastructure in the years ahead, a 10-member Girl Scout troop from northern California has won a special award from ASCE for its entry in the national Future City engineering contest. Troop 2225 of Modesto, Calif., was honored for "Vintage Grove," its vision of a city demonstrating the most innovative design of an infrastructure system. Their model displayed a city using clean energy, integrated agriculture and stormwater recycling. Read about their trek to the national finals in Washington, D.C., in a feature in The Modesto Bee.
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Newsletter positions students to "Fast Forward" to transportation careers
"Fast Forward" is off and running to middle school, high school and community college students, a new national newsletter designed to pique students' interest in transportation-related careers, including civil engineering. Leading figures in transportation and engineering are interviewed in the inaugural newsletter's first part, including ASCE Executive Director Pat Natale, P.E., CAE, F.ASCE, who talked about how engineers are "unsung heroes." Part two will profile five students who are great examples of the next generation of transportation professionals. "Fast Forward" is produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with funding from the Federal Highway Administration. See the Web page for "Fast Forward."
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 | You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences."
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