Science-fiction writers have spun countless tales of malevolent, rampaging robots laying waste to helpless cities as panicked citizens flee in horror. Now, life is imitating this pulpy art—at least to some extent—with the emergence of a more benign but immensely versatile type of remote-controlled robot designed specifically for demolition work. Fitted with hydraulic breakers and other attachments, track-based, electrically powered demolition robots can venture into interiors, hazardous environments and confined spaces to dismantle floors, ceilings and wall slabs, keeping workers out of the way of falling concrete and other dangers. Demolition robots, which are free from the emissions issues associated
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set an ambitious agenda for the next six months. Many of its top priorities, identified in the semi-annual agenda released on Dec. 20, involve the construction industry. While some sources say that OSHA has been revitalized under Assistant Secretary David Michaels, they wonder if the agency might be taking on more than it can accommodate. “OSHA has a lot on its plate,” says Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs for the American Industrial Hygiene Association. “We’re concerned that they may not have the resources to fully address all the issues, such as silica.”
With most of the world’s economies still searching for a way out of their economic woes, global transportation design and construction firms are finding solace in markets that largely have escaped the downturn’s most devastating effects. Photo: Courtesy of Aecom Hong Kong’s XRL costs $8.6 billion. Photo: Courtesy of Parsons Brinckerhoff The list of Asian projects includes the expansion and modernization of the Indira Gandhi Airport. Related Links: Overview: Finding Work in Tough Times View Complete Global Sourcebook with Rankings General Building: Firms Say World Market Is Thawing, Albeit Slowly Power: Growing Demand Fuels Worldwide Boom Environment: Global Expansions Yield
Henderson General Contractors of Williamsburg, Va., will begin construction in December on a three-building, 146,800-sq-ft retail complex at the Williamsburg Pottery Factory in Lightfoot, Va.
In his testimony during a July hearing in Kenner, La., about the Gulf oil spill, BP’s well team leader, Alexander John Guide, was asked about his relevant work experience. In his 10 years at BP, Guide said he had led many well-drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico. He also had regularly refreshed his knowledge of well control in training sessions. Then the attorney asked Guide if he had an engineering license. The answer was a simple no. Lost in the chain of individual decisions that led to the Deepwater Horizon blowout explosion that killed 11 workers and the uncontrolled
The economy-induced disparity between needs and resources continues to plague most of the nation’s water and wastewater utility owners, leaving them little choice but to focus on maintaining the infrastructure they already have rather than investing in new and expanded facilities. “We are seeing a marketplace under extreme financial pressure,” observes Blair M. Lavoie, senior vice president and director of U.S. operations for MWH Constructors Inc., Broomfield, Colo. “Many cities have seen 30% to 40% of their revenue stream evaporate.” For example, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which serves Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California, is cutting
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority has selected the team of Delaware River Stevedores, Philadelphia, and Hyundai Merchant Marine Shipping Agency Inc. to develop a 119-acre site; the resulting Southport Marine Terminal will try to attract commercial container vessels that will be using the expanded Panama Canal to reach East Coast markets. + Image Photo: PRPA Before construction can begin on Philadelphia’s first new marine terminal in a half-century, however, the developers must put together a facilities design and financing plan for the project, estimated to cost $250 million. The developers also will ensure that the first phase of the dredging
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to construct a 1,100-ft long sheet pile wall to anchor the remediation strategy for a contaminated 48-acre former industrial site along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Va. To be constructed approximately 250 ft offshore from what was for 66 years a major wood treatment facility operated by Georgia-based Atlantic Wood Industries, the wall will serve as a containment barrier for several thousand tons of creosote- and PCB-contaminated sediment that will be dredged from the river. The entire remediation program, which also includes site work to address contaminated soils and groundwater,
With the 6,350th glass pane hoisted into place on Sept. 15, the only visible sign of anything having been awry at Atlanta’s 723-ft-tall Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel—the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere—is the exterior hoist, set to come down by mid-November. But for more than two years, there were pockmarks on the glass-clad facade, which was hit by flying debris during a freak tornado in March 2008. The 35-year-old hotel stayed open, minus damaged rooms, during the year-long, $22-million project. For several reasons, owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., White Plains, N.Y., elected to install all new tinted
