Fourteen months after a 110-lb light fixture fell from the ceiling of Boston's O'Brien tunnel, Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation highway officials have announced a $54-million plan to replace all of the tunnel's 25,000 lighting units with new light-emitting diode fixtures to assure long-term safety in the Central Artery system.The fixture recommended by the Boston-based office of engineering consultant HNTB is an 8-ft-long sealed unit that has a fiberglass housing, an acrylic lens cover and a three-row LED array board.
Wagner Ohio's energy plans may be more focused on coal and shale than on renewable energy these days, but that's not stopping Cleveland-based nonprofit LEEDco.
Virginia Tech Univ. Holly Matusovich Potential gaps between how faculty teach and how students learn engineering concepts is the subject of a new study by a Virginia Tech University assistant professor. Holly Matusovich will focus her five-year research on thermal dynamics classes in chemical and mechanical engineering, but the results "will unlock secrets to conceptual learning that will apply across all fields," she says.On the faculty of the Blacksburg, Va.-based school's engineering education department, Matusovich will use a $438,000 National Science Foundation grant to study the gap between what faculty think they are teaching and what students say they are
Rendering Courtesy Elkus Manfredi Proposed New Balance headquarters building (left) will anchor a 14-acre complex that will include a 175-room hotel (center). Athletic shoe manufacturer New Balance plans to build a 14-acre world headquarters complex featuring LEED-certified buildings in Boston's blighted Allston-Brighton area, located along the Massachusetts Turnpike. The proposed complex includes at least four office buildings, restaurants, a 175-room hotel and a sports complex with a 200-meter track-and-field facility, according to a master plan filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority on March 21. The new 250,000-sq-ft headquarters building, designed in the shape of a running shoe, will not exceed 130
Courtesy of Nitsch Engineers Engineer Christine Breen boosts industry's prospects to students, ages 10 to 18. Avery Elementary School, an $18-million project in Dedham, Mass., was the site on March 14 for a hands-on classroom in which 150 middle- and high school girls learned how engineering directly affects their world and about the potential for a career in the industry. In the annual program sponsored by Nitsch Engineering, female professionals shared their passion for the work and the challenges of doing technical jobs that involve teamwork.This year's event—co-sponsored by Consigli Construction, WSP Flack + Kurtz, GEI Consultants and the Engineers
Dana Lowe, a 53-year-old subcontractor for steel erector CSE Inc., based in Williston, Vt., died on March 14 in a crane-related accident at a Hanover Inn hotel construction site in Hanover, N.H.Lowe was injured on the afternoon of March 13 when a crane hook hit the aerial lift he was working on, causing it to topple over, according to a statement by Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone. "Lowe landed on the concrete deck of a portion of new construction," he stated.The New Hampshire Medical Examiner's Office listed the cause of death as blunt-force trauma to the head. The case is
Photo courtesy of columbia university SENSING GREATNESS Cable mock-up under tension is encased within a custom-made corrosion chamber. Positive results from field tests of a corrosion detection and remote monitoring technology for suspension bridge cables have raised researchers' hopes the tools could be used for testing the health of bridges worldwide.The test confirmed that "we have the tools to reliably assess and quantify the level of corrosion on a suspension bridge for damage assessments," says Raimondo Betti, a civil engineering professor at Columbia University and lead project engineer on the $1.8-million collaborative research study. Before, the process involved subjective judgment
One year after Japan's Fukushima Daichi nuclear powerplant suffered devastation and meltdowns after a powerful offshore earthquake and tsunami, the island nation is embracing more renewable power sources to offset its electricity mix.
Star and Northeast Utilities have agreed to purchase 129 MW from the Cape Wind offshore wind farm as a condition of the utilities' pending merger, according to a deal announced on Feb. 15 by Massachusetts officials.
HNTB New Portsmouth Bridge design evokes history of predecessor www.portsmouth-nh.patch.com Old Memorial bridge main span floated out Feb. 8-9. After three days of delays, a visit from the Federal Highway Administrator and spirited public input, demolition began Feb. 8-9 on a key crossing between New Hampshire and Maine.
