Phoenix International Raceway will undergo a  $178-million renovation that will include improvements to fan experience and race track modernizations, including a repositioned start/finish line.

 

Following the renovation, the start/finish will be located in Turn 2 near the track’s dog leg, according to PIR press release.

 

“When our project is completed, we will have a venue that delivers amazing fan experiences to go along with our reputation for great racing action,” said Phoenix Raceway President Bryan R. Sperber in the press release. “By shifting the start/finish line to Phoenix Raceway’s famed dog leg, fans will be perfectly positioned to watch one of the most exciting turns in motorsports.”

 

The project will also include new seating areas with wi-fi accessibility and a new pedestrian bridge. New and upgraded seating, along with hospitality areas, will be added near Turn 2 along with a grandstand and infrastructure to support the additions, such as escalators and elevators, restrooms and concessions. The renovation will also feature a redesigned midway near the seating areas.

 

Fan improvements include a new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Garage Fan Zone located in the redesigned infield that will allow fans to interact with drivers.

 

The renovation is officially dubbed the Phoenix Raceway Project Powered by DC Solar. DC Solar is serving as the title sponsor of the project and is also an entitlement partner DC Solar 200 race at PIR.

 

A new agreement between Goodyear, Ariz. and the Salt River Project will, if approved, give the Goodyear access to Central Arizona Project waters allocated to the city as well as supplies the city leases from the Gila River Indian Community, according to a joint Goodyear and SRP press release.

 

The agreement calls for SRP to receive Goodyear’s CAP water at an SRP-CAP Interconnect Facility before transporting the water through SRP canals and delivering to a future yet-to-be-constructed water treatment facility in Goodyear. The city will construct a pipeline to connect the facility to SRP’s system.

 

Goodyear currently has no infrastructure in place to receive its CAP allocations and instead relies on groundwater pumping. Goodyear will pay SRP for use of the interconnect facility and its conveyance system.  

 

Phase 1 of the agreement will see Goodyear receive about 8 million gallons of water a day in three to five years. In 15 to 20 years after that, the agreement will move into phase 2 and see Goodyear receiving about 16 million gallons of water a day.

 

The Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District in Tucson, Ariz. recently approved the contracting of architectural firm SmithGroupJJR and Sundt Construction to build the new 150,000 sq ft Caterpillar Surface Mining & Technology Division facility.

 

SmithGroupJJR will design the project and selected Tucson-based WSM Architects as its local liaison. Tucson-based Sundt will serve as general contractor.

 

After Caterpillar announced plans to build the new facility that will house roughly 600 engineers and ancillary staff, Rio Nuevo offered to construct the building and lease it back to the company. Caterpillar accepted the offer. Rio Nuevo is a body created by Tucson voters in 1999 that is charged with investing state tax dollars in public and public/private partnership projects, according to a Rio Nuevo press release.

 

The Arizona State University Sustainability Solutions Festival will take place throughout the month of February in Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz. and feature conferences, community gatherings and film screenings focused on increasing knowledge and awareness about sustainability.

 

The festival kicked off on Feb. 2 with the conference “Designing with Nature: How Biophilic Design Improves Lives” at the ASU Tempe Campus Joe Zazzera, certified biomimicry professional and LEED AP ID+C, and Sonja Bochart, principal at sonja bochart wellbeing+design and IIDA, LEED AP BD&C, WELL AP.

 

Other conferences include World Business Council for Sustainable Development gathering (tickets cost $200-$300) at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix and Global Reporting Initiative Reporters’ Summit North America (tickets cost $150-$750) at ASU Skysong in Scottsdale, both on Feb 13.

 

Films on display during the month include Rooted in Peace, Home and Starfish Throwers.

 

For a full list of events, visit https://sustainability.asu.edu/sustainabilitysolutions/programs/solutionsfestival/#schedule2017.

 

Dr. Sherry Towers of the ASU Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center has found that the ancient Southwestern Pueblo people utilized complicated geometrical shapes in the construction of the Sun Temple in Colorado, despite having no recorded language or number system.

 

In studying the Sun Temple archaeological site, Towers found the repeated use of several common geographical shapes, including equilateral triangles, squares, 45-degree right triangles, Pythagorean triangles, and the ‘Golden rectangle,’” according to an ASU press release. The measurements were made with exacting precision despite having no numbering system. She found evidence of similar building techniques at Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Historic Park

 

"This is what I find especially amazing," Towers says in the release. "The genius of the site's architects cannot be underestimated. If you asked someone today to try to reconstruct this site and achieve the same precision that they had using just a stick and a piece of cord, it's highly unlikely they'd be able to do it, especially if they couldn't write anything down as they were working."

 

Towers discovered that the site was constructed using a common unit of measurement that is roughly equal to 30 centimeters or one foot.

Towers first began studying Sun Temple to look into whether the Pueblo people used it for studying stars in addition to religious ceremonies.