Photo by AP Wideworld The Chicago hospital's design pioneered complex curvilinear structure. Related Links: Prentice Women's Hospital on the Betrand Goldberg Official Website Paul Goldberger on the Fight to Save Chicago's Prentice Hospital In the early 1970s, Bertrand Goldberg Associates, my father's architectural and engineering practice in downtown Chicago, was a whirlwind of activity that created many memorable structures. Now, one of his practice's most important creations is threatened by the wrecking ball and Northwestern University. The city of Chicago, where architecture is revered, should preserve it.During those years, Bertrand Goldberg Associates designed projects at Harvard, Stanford and Northwestern. After
Related Links: Also by Rakesh Tripathi: Casual Insults Sap Engineers' Prestige Toll roads—just those two words bring out extreme reactions. Either you hate them or you think they're the panacea for all that ails transportation. The conflict dates from the birth of the nation, and since then, the proper roles of government and private enterprise have been debated ad nauseam. Through prudent historical compromises,we have created a transportation system that is the envy of the world. In the new political world where compromise is a dirty word, I'm reminded of George Santayana's admonition that those who cannot remember the past
U.S. businesses are expanding their presence into China to take advantage of the country's growing consumer base, improving infrastructure, trading centers and special economic zones. However, understanding the country's cultural, legal and regulatory differences can be extremely daunting. It takes vision, commitment and—in many cases—a guide.By 2003 I had spent several years working for Mortenson Construction in the United States. As a Chinese national, I was struck by the differences between Mortenson and typical Chinese construction firms. The extraordinary capital spending in China resulted in an industry where many firms were driven by short-term gains without a long-term strategy for
Related Links: Float May Be Sinking the Project Website of PKR Consulting Inc. I was recently asked to participate in a debate on scheduling specifications at Stanford University. A representative from the contractor sponsoring the conference would take the position that most scheduling specifications were onerous or unnecessary. My role, if I agreed to partake, would be to defend them before an audience filled with contractors.This would not be an impromptu discussion—I was the owner's scheduling consultant on a project with the person I would be debating. "You won't be personally attacked," I was assured.After much deliberation, I reluctantly agreed.
Related Links: News story on Kids-for-Cash scandal Juvenile Law Center and Kids for Cash Is it your liability insurer’s job to defend you in a civil lawsuit over an admitted felony? To Pennsylvania contractor and felon Robert K. Mericle, it is.Thankfully, a federal appeals court last month ruled against Mericle, saying that his crimes didn’t constitute an occurrence under his commercial general liability policy with Travelers Property Casualty Co. of America. Occurrences under liability policies are a controversial matter in other states where insurers have declined to provide coverage to honest contractors, sometimes based on legal hairsplitting. But if ever
Shale-gas drilling and its alleged impacts are very much in the news, particularly linked to water quality. Environmental activist groups claim that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, poses a dangerous risk to drinking-water sources. But pre-existing conditions may be a bigger threat, one that simple home baseline tests may detect.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is undertaking a national study to understand the potential impacts of fracking on drinking water. Environmental best practices are necessary to responsibly manage resources and inspire public and regulatory confidence in the industry's ability to conduct safe and clean life-cycle operations in the shale-gas arena. KOHLHAASBaseline water
Our long history and experience is that, in general, the failure rate for construction projects has remained high. Why haven't advances in project-management science, computer technology and communications been more effectively brought to bear in our business? What about the advertised beneficial impacts of 3D computer-aideddesign, computerized critical-path method schedules and building information modeling? Are today's engineers not as good as those who built yesterday's megaprojects—the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building or the Hoover Dam?Owners, architects, engineers and contractors have been challenged to deliver capital projects on time and on budget because of their complexity and because of the
All 50 states in the U.S. require registration of all professionals practicing engineering. The basic reason is to protect the public by enforcing standards that restrict practice to qualified individuals.
Related Links: Recycling Asphalt Rescues Roads The rate of evolution in highway products is very slow compared to electronic, medical or communication products. If you think back to the 1960s, roads today still have the same asphalt, concrete and signs.In fact, we are still designing pavements based on the American Association of State Highwa and Transportation Officials' road tests of the early 1960s. On the other hand, if you compare cars, computers, household products and medical facilities to those of the 1960s, you see a much greater change.I have always felt amazement at nature's brilliant selection process that advances the
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