Image Courtesy of ESA/Foster + Partners The European-designed lunar shelter is printed with rubble and binding agent. Related Links: Foster + Partners Space Shelter Design 3D Concrete Printing at Loughborough University in the U.K. Concrete printing in 3D has a future in the near term, with commercial applications coming in a couple of years, predict researchers in the U.K.Richard Buswell, senior lecturer in building-services engineering at Loughborough University, spent four years on a team developing a computer-controlled process for producing complicated concrete elements not possible by traditional means. The $2-million project, completed in 2011, produced a series of 1-meter-sq, curved
Photo Courtesy of Arup The particles are fused by a laser. Related Links: How To Print A 3-D Object With Laser Sintering 3D Printing Materials Survey Industries ranging from medical equipment manufacturers to aerospace are increasingly using 3D printing for the fabrication of intricate and costly objects. In Europe, designers are exploring the technology for use with construction-element production, as well.Dan Kirk, direct metals manager at 3D printing firm CRDM Ltd., High Wycombe, U.K., says printing is not going to replace traditional processes for steel work, but "it will give you the opportunity to create designs that you couldn't previously
Related Links: Video Backgrounder (YouTube) The Construction PDF Coalition is ramping up efforts to spread the word about adopting the file format as a standard for construction projects.The grassroots group, whose aim is to leverage digital information among design teams, constructors and every touchpoint group along the construction chain, is out with a new website to spread the word: CPCoalition.com."Though PDFs are the de facto format for digital construction documentation, national design standards haven’t yet been defined," the site explains. "This coalition aims to define standards to be implemented at project onset by the project team. Without standardization, professionals experience
Software firm Bentley Systems Inc. has acquired Blueridge Analytics Inc., the provider of SITEOPS, a cloud-based site development options analyzer. Subscribers upload digital terrain models and enter requirements in terms of square footage of finished floor space, parking needs, setbacks, roadway parameters and a host of other constraints, and then submit the project for analysis. The system weighs thousands of alternatives and “solves” for the most cost-efficient site design. The purchase comes four years after Bentley took an equity stake in the company. Says CEO Greg Bentley, “I’ve become convinced that site engineering should no longer be done any other
Related Links: Water Delivery System Analysis and Management Software Brings New Efficiencies to Utility Systems 2014 Black & Veatch Strategic Directions: U.S. Water Industry Report Bentley Systems Inc. has released enhanced versions of its information modeling software for water distribution systems that promise to improve visibility, forecasting and decision-making support for hydraulic modelers and system operators.The company says the SELECT Series 5 release of WaterCAD, WaterGEMS, and HAMMER V8i have improvements that extend the sharing of system performance data across the separate disciplines of water system planning, design, and operations. This should improve collaboration and decision making throughout the infrastructure
Related Links: Construction Industry Drones Fly in Rules Vacuum Some Firms Are Not Waiting For Regulations On Commercial Drone Operations Topcon Positioning Systems Showcases Unmanned Aerial Systems at ESRI User Conference JAVAD Triumph F-1 Promotional Video Consumer-level unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be purchased off the shelf and be up in the air as soon as the batteries are charged, but the data-driven world of construction surveying often demands something a bit more robust. In anticipation of up- coming regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration, surveying and mapping equipment firms are making big investments in UAVs. Many companies are already
The deaths of eight students at a school struck by a tornado in Enterprise, Alabama in 2007 and the deaths of seven others when a tornado struck a school in Moore, Oklahoma in 2013 have spurred building code writers to make the protection of students from tornadoes a priority in the 17 U.S. states commonly referred to as “tornado alley.” The International Building Code 2015 requires new schools in those states to be built with tornado shelters—which is a step in the right direction.But for the approximately 40,000 existing school buildings, averaging 40 years in age, it’s no step at all.
Related Links: Construction Industry Drones Fly in Rules Vacuum Survey Technology Firms Deploy Their Own Drones Some Firms Are Not Waiting For Regulations On Commercial Drone Operations Construction companies are putting unmanned aerial vehicles to work overseas, or they are quietly conducting "hobby" trials domestically, at least until commercial use is legalized in the U.S.John Myers, senior virtual design and construction engineer at Gilbane Building Co., Providence, says "We're back to the Wild Wild West," and also likens the regulatory atmosphere to the "Prohitibion era."Since Myers can't fly legally for commercial purposes, he takes his drone up in a park
Within a year or two, U.S. companies likely will replace many human workers now flying aerial survey and photo missions or inspecting structures from scaffolds and platforms with missions flown by unmanned aerial vehicles—drones.
When Greg Sherwin started tinkering with radio-controlled (RC) quadcopters three years ago, he wondered about using them for construction surveys and inspections.
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