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
Photo Courtesy of Boston Living with Water Boston's design competition focuses on three sites: a waterfront building, a waterfront district and a roadway that already floods. Photo Courtesy of Boston Living with Water Related Links: Greenovate Boston Boston Living with Water In kicking off an international design competition to attract ideas for saving vulnerable areas from the rising tides, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh (D) nailed home the importance of taking a regional approach to climate-change preparations by also announcing a multi-city living-with-water summit, set for next spring."When Hurricane Sandy hit, we weren't any more prepared than New York or
Related Links: Governor's Office of Storm Recovery HUD In June 2013, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) established the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery to aid communities—outside New York City—affected by 2012's Superstorm Sandy and 2011's Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. Since then, GOSR has guided the rebuilding of nearly 10,000 houses, provided $20.8 million in small-business grants and facilitated the proposal of 600 resilience projects through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program, according to a recent GOSR report, called "New York Rising: 2012-2014.""There is a pipeline of projects coming out of planning and going into design and
Related Links: Charles Pankow Foundation Applied Technology Council High-Strength Rebar Market Is Heating Up High-Strength Rebar Called Revolutionary The Charles Pankow Foundation is about to begin a nearly $27- million fund-raising campaign to support unprecedented research in high-strength reinforcing steel. The goal of the five-year research program is to simplify and speed reinforced-concrete construction by easing rebar congestion. The program would provide the scientific basis for the first major overhaul of the concrete building standard in 50 years."This project has the potential to change engineering practice in a significant way," says Jon A. Heintz, director of projects for the Applied
+ Image Related Links: 2013 DIRT Report One-Call Centers Avoid Disasters, But Only If Excavator Dials 811, Study Says Incidents of damage to buried utility lines during excavation work dropped by about 5% last year compared to 2012, according to the 2013 Damage Implementation Reporting Tool Report, released this month by the Common Ground Alliance. There were 335,000 excavation-damage incidents last year compared to 675,000 in 2004, estimates CGA's tenth annual DIRT Report.In addition, while construction spending increased by 7.4% from 2012 to 2013, there were 15,000 fewer incidents. "Locate utilities requests" made via toll-free 811 calls, which are directed
As promised earlier this year, the International WELL Building Institute has released the world’s first standard aimed at improving the fitness of building occupants through better-tuned indoor environments.The performance-based WELL Building Standard Version 1.0 is a system for measuring, certifying and monitoring commercial and institutional building features that have an impact on human health and well-being. Beyond the features targeted, which include air, water, nourishment, light, fitness and comfort, the standard even addresses the human mind, according to IWBI.“The public release of the WELL Building Standard v1.0 marks a momentous step forward in our efforts to bring health and wellness
Related Links: Homes That Float Quake-Resistant House Passes Shake Tests With Flying Colors A small but significant house in the U.K. is substantially complete and set to be occupied next month.The 225-sq-meter cottage, located on a flood-prone island 10 m from the edge of the River Thames in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, is the U.K.'s first amphibious house—but likely not its last. Called Formosa, the house, which sits on the ground, has a concrete tub-like basement foundation that floats during floods.The house is designed by BACA Architects with structural engineer Techniker and hydrological engineer HR Wallingfords, to handle up to 2.5 m
Photo Courtesy of Hafencity by Eichental CC BY-ND 2.0 Hafencity master plan in Hamburg, Germany, is a successful example of how to accommodate chronic flooding while creating or redeveloping a new neighborhood. Photo by Mark G. Benz for Burnham Hall Burnham Hall in Lincoln, Vt., is an example of an historic building that keeps floodwater out using removable window and door panels. Related Links: Designing with Water Preparing for the Rising Tide Boston is taking preemptive action against chronic, widespread flooding that is expected by the end of the century. On Oct. 29, as part of climate-change preparations, 100 designers
Recent shake-table tests on a wood-framed house with a newly developed low-cost structural system for seismic resistance confirmed researchers' predictions of drastically reduced earthquake damage. The goal of the study, considered a big step toward more quake-resilient single-family housing, is
Related Links: Structural Engineer Daniel A. Cuoco Remembered Thornton Tomasetti Structural engineer Daniel A. Cuoco, former president and CEO of Thornton-Tomasetti, died of cancer on Sept. 21. He was 68 years old.He joined the New York City-based firm in 1971, when it was named Lev Zetlin Associates. He became president in 2002 and president and CEO in 2008. He retired in 2011.CUOCOIn the mid-1980s, Cuoco formed LZA Technology, the firm's structural forensics arm. After the World Trade Center attacks, he identified this work as his most important job, say his colleagues. Beginning on Sept. 11, 2001, Cuoco led a team
