By Peter Reina Plaster ceiling failure in auditorium of historic Apollo Theatre in London called an isolated incident. Nearly 80 audience members at the 113-year-old Apollo Theatre in London's West End were injured, seven seriously, when part of the ornate plaster ceiling became detached from its supports on the evening of Dec. 19.On first inspection, city officials said the ceiling supporting structure appeared to be sound though detailed investigations had yet to start. The section of falling plaster, reportedly about 2 meters square, demolished parts of the balconies, according to the London Fire Brigade.The ceiling failure was "an isolated incident,"
Photo courtesy of JSW Severfield Structures Ltd The tower's splayed legs help reduce vibrations caused by the wind. At a height of 274.9 ft, a new air traffic control tower for Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai is India's tallest control tower. The high-tech structure, intended as an architectural icon and symbol of India's advancement, currently ranks as the fourth tallest control tower in the world.Next year, when a 446-ft-tall tower under construction in Jeddah opens, the $16-million Mumbai tower will fall to fifth place in the ranking. The current tallest is the 361-ft tower at Cairo's airport, according to
ENR/Dodge Residential building shows strong uptick. ENR/Dodge November shows positive momentum. Related Links: Engineering News-Record Architectural Record Economics Construction starts are ending the year with a strong upturn, according to McGraw Hill Construction's Dodge.The seasonally adjusted rate for the Dodge starts last October was up 5% from the previous month.On a year-to-date basis, the dollar value of total construction starts through October was $433 billion, up 4% from the same period a year ago.Most of the increase came from a 26% year-to-year jump in residential construction, which totaled $174 billion during the first 10 months of the year. But non-residential
Photo by AP Wideworld Collapse Kills 54 in Latvia The city council of Riga, Latvia, has announced the names of the 54 people killed on Nov. 21 by the roof collapse at the Maxima supermarket in the city's Zolitude district. Investigations are focusing on the construction of a garden on the store's 4,000-sq-meter roof, according to the store's locally based main contractor, S.I.A. Re Re.Since opening two years ago, the roof had supported snow loads "substantially" greater than the soil being placed, according to the contractor. The roof was inspected by independent engineers two days before the collapse, the company
Photo by Nelson Barkerman Multi-trade teams work together in the assembly plant for a 32-story modular tower. Related Links: Developer Bruce C. Ratner Digs Into Difficult Deals to Alter the Urban Lanscape Forest City Ratner Skanska USA Building Modular Construction in Multi-trade Environment Set to Grow, Says FMI Study Things are beginning to stack up nicely at the 100,000-sq-ft assembly plant for the latest far-out adventure of developer Forest City Ratner Cos.—modular high-rise residential construction. On Nov. 1, the first 27 of 930 modules moved off the line for FCRC's 32-story B2 Bklyn tower at the nearby Atlantic Yards development.Last
Related Links: India Prepares for Population Explosion The 147-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which has built Mumbai's high-end buildings like that of RBI, is now planning to expand its affordable housing arena across India, apart from Kolkata.The firm's real estate company Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (SPRE) has ventured into its first affordable housing project in Rajarhat, Kolkata, with SP Shukobrishti, and plans to extend this drive to other cities. The firm says that there is a huge market in the affordable segment and are looking at it seriously.Shapoorji entered the affordable housing segment in 2007 to cater to the highly under-serviced
Photo Courtesy of HKS Group Developer is considering trimming height of pivoting doors from 95 to 80 ft. Related Links: Minnesota Vikings Stadium Thanks mostly to a stronger market, bids are coming in over budget for the estimated $975-million Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis. Work is scheduled to begin next month and be completed in 2016.The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority—the public developer—says negotiations between subcontractors and construction manager Mortenson Construction are ongoing. The design by HKS Group will not change, but some specifications may be altered, says MSFA.For instance, the height of pivoting doors may go from 95 ft
Related Links: Tensioning Eases Stress on a 13-Story Sustainability Showcase TMG Partners Tipping Mar Plant Construction Co. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Earthquake Protection Systems In a back-to-the-future scenario, the structural engineer for the seismic retrofit of a 1962 steel moment-resisting frame in earthquake-prone San Francisco fashioned the office building's high-tech lateral system after an ancient Japanese pagoda. The building's 14-story pivoting spine—equivalent to a pagoda's wooden "shinbashira"—turned into a $4-million-plus silver lining to a recession-related hiatus for the $110-million gut renovation and expansion of 680 Folsom Street.Instead of a tree trunk pivoting in a well in the ground, the ultra-modern
Rendering Courtesy of SOM Plan for brownfield site along Lake Michigan calls for 700 buildings. Related Links: Chicago Lakeside Development Argonne National Laboratory Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Computer scientists are teaming up with planners, developers and big data tools to inform decisions about megadevelopments. The goal of one fledgling effort is to develop a prototype computational framework that would be instrumental in planning the infrastructure for the future 600-acre Chicago Lakeside Development, a minicity sited on a former U.S. Steel complex on Lake Michigan, 10 miles south of downtown."Planners don't want to rely on intuition or hope. They want to
Rendering Courtesy of Millennium Partners; A Los Angeles group is trying to stop a city-approved $650-million high-rise development, claiming the site is dangerously close toor possibly on top ofthe active Hollywood fault. Photo Courtesy of Benchmark Contractors BLVD 6200 is already under construction on or near active splays of the Hollywood fault. Related Links: Millennium Hollywood Official Website Stop the Millennium Hollywood Project Organization Website Los Angeles city planners are so eager to redevelop the iconic Hollywood district that, according to a recent lawsuit, they approved a $650-million development that sits dangerously close to—or possibly on top of—the active Hollywood
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