Steven Tipping is developing and engineering what is likely the world's smallest seismically isolated structure. The 7,500-sq-ft building in Berkeley about a half-mile from California's Hayward fault is an investment property as well as an office expansion.
In September, the American Concrete Institute plans to publish a guide to help engineers meet the requirements of ACI's first model code for the repair of existing structural-concrete buildings.
A new standard for design guidance on legionellosis is currently available from ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 188-2015, Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems, sets minimum legionellosis-risk-management requirements for water systems.ASHRAE developed the standard in response to the 8,000 to 10,000 cases of Legionnaires’ disease reported each year in the U.S. More than 10% of those cases are fatal, says Tom Watson, chair of the ASHRAE committee that wrote the standard. Legionella can also cause a less-severe influenza-like illness known as Pontiac Fever.The standard is targeted for use by
Image Courtesy Silverstein Properties Architect Bjarke Ingels asserts that from one vantage point 2 World Trade Center "will appear like a vertical village of singular buildings stacked on top of each other." Related Links: Progress Slow but Steady at World Trade Center Development Architect BIG Gets Museum Commission From Swiss Watchmaker Ground Zero’s makeover is entering its final phase. New York City-based architect Bjarke Ingels Group recently unveiled design concepts for 2 World Trade Center, the 80-plus-story office building being developed by Silverstein Properties as the site’s final tower. BIG’s 2 WTC design scheme involves stacking seven separate building volumes
Photo Courtesy Benjamin Johnson/Shawmut Design and Construction The gossamer-like net appears airy, but the sculpture is actually a highly engineered network of ropes weighing 2,000 pounds and hanging from nearby high-rise buildings at just four attachment points. Photo Courtesy Benjamin Johnson/Shawmut Design and Construction Related Links: The Crest at Galvez Plaza Boston Begins Reaping Benefits Of Big Dig Construction workers on May 3 engaged in a carefully choreographed dance of machine and muscle to erect a 2,000-lb net sculpture 365 ft over Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway, a 1.5-mile stretch of park created after the city's Big Dig.Designed by artist Janet
Photo Courtesy of RWDI Wind-tunnel tests revealed high wind loads and motion at the supertower's top, so the design team added horizontal wind slots. Related Links: Team Building 1,397-ft 432 Park Avenue Tower Went to Extremes to Make It White RWDI WSP USA Building Structures The structural engineer for Manhattan's 1,397-ft-tall 432 Park Avenue is pleased with the modifications to Rafael Viñoly Architects' design. The spaghetti-box shape performed poorly in wind-tunnel tests, especially regarding high wind loads and motion at the tower's top.The design solution was to remove windows and create five horizontal slots in the building at the double-height
Rendering Courtesy of ThyssenKrupp The Multi elevator system would allow for both horizontal and vertical travel. Video Courtesy ThyssenKrupp Looking to expand versatility in building designs, Essen, Germany-based ThyssenKrupp Elevator AG has announced Multi, a cable-less elevator system propelled by magnetic induction. Multi will allow multiple elevator cabs in a single shaft and be able to travel horizontally as well as vertically within a building.According to ThyssenKrupp, the system will reduce the overall footprint of elevator shafts, increasing the usable space in high-rise buildings. "As the nature of building construction evolves, it is also necessary to adapt elevator systems to
Photo by Pat Cashin / MTA A Signature Station Debuts After 12 years of planning and construction, one of New York City's megaprojects is officially open. The Arup-led design features a 53-ft-dia glass oculus that rises 108 ft over an atrium and a stainless-steel "sky net." Measuring 144 ft x 140 ft at street level, the three-floor complex required nine construction contracts with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction division, with Parsons Brinckerhoff and Bovis Lend Lease LLC also managing.Chemical Maker Picks Illinois To Build $1.4B Fertilizer Plant Cronus Chemicals has selected a 235-acre site in Tuscola, Ill., over a
Related Links: American Concrete Institute Concrete Standard Reworked to be More Designer-Friendly Structural engineers are welcoming the 2014 update of the 519-page "American Concrete Institute's Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14)," released late last month. The reorganized and reformatted standard, designed to be simpler and more intuitive for users, represents the first major overhaul since 1969."It was a Herculean effort on the part of the ACI 318 committee to do this," says Randall W. Poston, an Austin, Texas-based structural consultant and the committee chairman. "We think [the new code] is a huge improvement," he adds.Over the six years