Photo Courtesy of Copyright@2DEFINE Architecture Related Links: Sheer Innovation - Shanghai Tower New 632-Meter Shanghai Tower Will Be World's Second TallestThe frame of Shanghai Tower, on deck to be the second-tallest building in the world after the 828-meter Burj Khalifa in Dubai, topped out recently.The tower—developed by Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co. and designed by architect Gensler, with Thornton-Tomasetti as structural designer—is slated for completion in 2014 and, when completed, will rank as China's tallest. Adding to Shanghai's already impressive skyline, the tower is flanked by the 432-m-tall Jin Mao building and the 492-m-tall World Financial Center. Construction's UnemploymentRate
Photo Courtesy of the Panama Canal Authority Italians Start Delivery of Gates for Panama Canal ExpansionThe $5-billion Panama Canal expansion reached a major milestone on Aug. 19, when the first four of 16 rolling gates arrived on-site from Italy. The third set of locks comprises 16 gates, which weigh about 3,300 tons each. Constructed by subcontractor Cimolai SpA, the locks are unloaded at the Atlantic side of the canal and rolled off the ship onto a special reception dock. Each gate, 10 meters wide, 30 m high and 58 m long, will take about two to three months to install.Duke
Photo Courtesy Colorado DOT Photos Courtesy of Colorado DOT Colarodo's DOT Prefabs Bridge Replacement and Rolls It Into Place Over the WeekendThe Colorado Dept. of Transportation placed a new bridge over Interstate 70 in Denver on the weekend of July 20 in the state's first-ever rolling bridge-replacement project.CDOT closed I-70 in both directions on July 19, and a crew of more than 100 workers from contractor Kiewit Infrastructure, Denver, demolished the aging Pecos Street bridge. Built in 1965, it was in poor condition. Netherlands-based heavy-cargo transportation specialist Mammoet started moving the 4.8-million-lb replacement bridge onto I-70 at noon on Saturday,
Related Links: Immigration Bill Focus Shifts to House After Senate Vote Target vs. Walmart -- Which One Is a Better Place to Work? With worker pay and benefits under pressure—according to one analysis, the average earnings of a construction worker relative to other occupations has slipped significantly since 1990—it's understandable that the building trades unions would drive a hard bargain before giving their blessing to an immigration reform bill. The process is far from over, but Senate Democrats almost certainly consulted this important constituency while drafting the version of the immigration reform bill the Senate adopted. The House of Representatives
Employment Picture Improves Construction's unemployment rate dropped under 10%—hitting 9.8% in June—for the first time in more than four years as the industry added 13,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction's jobless rate was an improvement over May's 10.8% and down sharply from June 2012's level of 12.8%.The last time construction's rate was below 10% was in September 2008. All construction sectors gained jobs in June, led by specialty trades, which added 7,200. Heavy and civil engineering construction picked up 5,600. The residential building segment, however, gained just 100 jobs last month, BLS says. Discovery of Burial
Total construction starts through the first five months of this year were $187.6 billion, down 3% from the same period of 2012, according to the latest data published by the Dodge division of McGraw Hill Construction Analytics. The May data shows a 29% year-to-date decline in non-building construction coupled with an 8% decline in non-residential building construction outweighing a 32% increase in the dollar value of new home construction.The year-to-date decline in Dodge starts reflects a steep decline in the dollar amount for new electric-utility projects relative to a strong first half of 2012, says Robert Murray, chief economist for
Photo Courtesy of Atlantic City Electric Wired Up: Atlantic City Electric plans to spend $934 million on its distribution system and operations during the next five years. Related Links: Tristate Industry News ENR New York Atlantic City Electric has received approval for a base rate increase aimed at helping it with ongoing investments for Superstorm Sandy repairs as well as for new infrastructure and upgrades. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) authorized the utility late last month to increase its electric distribution rates by 28%, or $25.5 million, beginning July 1.The rate adjustment is 36% of the
Industry Unemployment Rate Falls for a Third Year in a RowConstruction's unemployment rate fell in May to 10.8%, the third consecutive annual decline for the May data. As the industry added a net 7,000 jobs last month, it was also the lowest monthly rate recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since October 2008.BLS says construction-job gains came in nearly all industry segments, paced by the residential specialty-trade-contractor sector, which added 4,600 jobs. The heavy-civil engineering-construction sector picked up 3,100 jobs. "Healthy job performance in this segment is considered a leading indicator for a number of other construction segments," says
Photo Courtesy of The University of Maine Related Links: Maine To Launch Offshore Floating-Turbine Prototype University of Maine VolturnUS 1:8 home page Wind-Tower Model Sets Sail Aiming to put its wind generator where the breeze blows the strongest, researchers at the University of Maine on May 31 launched VolturnUS 1:8, a scale-model wind turbine designed to convert to electricity offshore wind from the Gulf of Maine. The prototype, a 65-ft-tall tower supported by three hollow concrete tubes, is designed to a 1:8 scale and has 20 kilowatts of capacity; successful trials will lead to a 300-ft-tall full-scale turbine capable of
ENR presents the winners of our first-ever Global Best Projects competition. A panel of industry veterans chose the projects on the following pages as outstanding examples of the challenges, risks and rewards of designing and building internationally.
