In seismic territory, something as simple as adding two floors to an existing building, even if it was designed to accept more load, can be complicated.
At a time when utilities around the world are searching for “greener” energy solutions, one new waste-to-energy plant is using cutting-edge technology to convert biosolids from nearby wastewater treatment plants into a renewable fuel that will be used to partially power local cement kilns.
Samsung Engineering and Construction Corp.’s Kyung-Jun Kim, vice president and project director for the tallest building in the world—the 800-meter-plus Burj Dubai—cut his teeth on supertall skyscraper construction, building one of the twin, 452-meter Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
When Birchard Ohlinger supervised Maysoon Ishtar Tawfik in Iraq in 2004, he saw her both as someone who “let me see inside the Iraqi mind” and as an embodiment of the American “can-do” spirit, he recalls.
Warren Schlatter, county engineer for Defiance County, Ohio, recalls his staff’s initial reaction when Michael Adams, Federal Highways Administration research geotechnical engineer, told them about using geosynthetic-reinforced soil technology to replace bridge abutments faster and cheaper.
The sea in every step along a west Scottish beach stores enough energy for over 70 homes, estimates Richard Yemm, who has taken wave power closer to reality than anybody so far.
Ron Klemencic, who at 6 ft, 6 in., towers over most people, may be afraid of heights but he certainly goes to great lengths to reach new ones, especially when it involves performance-based seismic design of tall buildings.