Archinect - News

Brightline West breaks ground on $12 billion Vegas to California high-speed rail project

2024-04-23T17:28:00-04:00

The $12 billion high-speed rail infrastructure project that will connect Las Vegas with various hubs in the Southern California region is off and running. Brightline West’s 218-mile loop is now under construction with a $3 billion push from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the 2028 finish line in sight to coincide with LA's turn as host of that year's Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Las Vegas Station aerial view. Image courtesy Brightline West

Las Vegas Station interior view. Image courtesy Brightline West

The trains will be operated at a maximal speed of 200 miles per hour, setting the North American record. (Another project between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, will commence soon.) Wes Edens, Brightline's founder, said: “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”

Rancho Cucamonga Station exterior view. Image courtesy Brightline West...

NYT survey finds 309 bridges across the U.S. vulnerable to ship strikes following Baltimore disaster

2024-04-09T12:19:00-04:00

In the wake of last month’s fatal collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, the New York Times has published an assessment of other vulnerable spans across the country in danger of similar catastrophic failures due to the precarity of critical elements and various structural deficiencies.

According to the report, a total of 309 bridges are at risk of collapsing from a direct hit by an errant ship as was the case in Baltimore and nearly repeated in an incident last week at the Verrazzano Bridge in New York City.

Of those 309 surveyed, 193 bridges that service a significant number of motor vehicle traffic (10,000 or more cars per day) face dangers stemming from a lack of protective barriers at their pier supports and caissons. Among the largest are the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Washington state and the Crescent City Connection in New Orleans.

Recently on Archinect: Transportation Secretary Buttigieg admits ‘we don't fully know’ scope or extent of Francis Scott K...

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg admits ‘we don't fully know’ scope or extent of Francis Scott Key Bridge repairs in Baltimore

2024-04-01T13:02:00-04:00

"A lot goes into how that reconstruction will be designed, how the process is going to work," Buttigieg said on "Face the Nation" on Sunday. He noted that he didn't have an estimate on the rebuilding timeline, but the bridge itself took five years to initially construct. "Right now we don't fully know everything we need to know about the condition of the portions of the bridge that did not collapse."

Engineering News-Record reported that debris removal has already begun in haste at Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse site, where six people lost their lives last Tuesday, courtesy of the U.S. Navy, Army Corps of Engineers, and Coast Guard. The surviving portions of the bridge will first have to be removed piecemeal, although that work has no timeline.

Previously on Archinect: Major Baltimore bridge collapses after being struck by container ship

Speaking on CBS 'Face the Nation' on Sunday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said, “It’s a very complex process,” adding, “This is not going to happen overnight.” Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore told ENR, “To see this up close, you realize how daunting a task this is. You realize how difficult the work is ahead of us.”

The most recent reported costs for the bridge’s replacement are around $400 million.

The United States currently needs about $319 billion worth of repairs to bridges, according to an analysis that was released...

Major Baltimore bridge collapses after being struck by container ship

2024-03-26T11:04:00-04:00

A major bridge in Baltimore, MD has collapsed after being crashed into by a container ship. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spans 1.6 miles over the Patapsco River, was hit by the 1000-foot-long ship just before 01:30 ET.

Rescue efforts are ongoing for as many as seven people believed to be missing, while two people have already been pulled from the water alive. As the bridge was struck, contractors were working on the bridge to repair a concrete deck.

According to early reports, the container ship ‘Dali’ was leaving the port of Baltimore en route to Sri Lanka. On approach to the bridge, the ship deviated from its charted route, colliding with one of the bridge’s main concrete pillars. Upon impact, the bridge quickly crumbled into the river.

The bridge opened in 1977, designed as a steel arch continuous through truss bridge. At the time of its completion, the bridge’s main 1.6-mile span was the third longest of any continuous truss bridge in the world.

To maintain its structura...

For World Engineering Day, these six bridges stand as examples of the complexities underneath every design

2024-03-04T20:06:00-05:00

Today is World Engineering Day, and to celebrate it, Archinect has curated a few outstanding bridge projects we’ve included in our recent news coverage to highlight critical pieces of infrastructure at an important time for civil and structural engineering in the Americas and abroad.

The six highlighted bridges provide examples of remarkable design standards and engineering practices while, in some instances, setting records and starting off new precedents for incorporating alternative materials, the conditions of a circular economy, aesthetic variance, building science, low-carbon construction methods, and more.

Strait of Messina Bridge from the Stretto di Messina SpA and Webuild (Sicily, Italy)

Rendering courtesy Webuild

What will become the world’s longest suspension bridge design when completed has been stalled in the project pipeline since 2003. Now, with the constant stop-and-start cycle behind it, the seven-year project will advance toward a likely construction start later th...

Revised design published for Foster + Partners’ Midtown Bus Terminal in New York City

2024-02-15T11:27:00-05:00

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has published revised plans for the new Midtown Bus Terminal. The scheme, designed by Foster + Partners, will replace the existing terminal that opened in 1950.

The $10 billion facility will include a 2.1 million square foot terminal with a separate storage and staging building and new ramps leading directly in and out of the Lincoln Tunnel. The revised plans will also include the permanent closure of a portion of 41st Street between Eight and Ninth avenues, as well as a central main entrance, more street-level retail, and a multi-story indoor atrium and new public open space.

Interior view of the proposed facility to replace the main terminal. Image credit: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The project is to be delivered through a phased construction approach over four years, with a projected completion in 2032. The new staging and bus storage facility will be delivered first, so as to serve as a temporary terminal while the exis...

The Motorist Won: Envisioning a vehicle-centric UK with Archinect Generative Futures finalist Kyle Branchesi

2024-02-13T19:32:00-05:00

Designer Kyle Branchesi has shared images from his latest creative experimentation with generative AI tools, a visual commentary touching on the debate over pedestrianism and motor vehicles happening currently within the UK.

For 'The Motorist Won,' Branchesi imagined a far-off dystopia plagued by vehicle traffic where historic streets and all visible landmarks are besieged by the hum of engines and blur of lights, making cities like London or Edinburgh the all-too-unfortunate casualties of what PM Rishi Sunak says is a "war" against cars.

The Motorist Won by Kyle Branchesi

Branchesi describes: "Amidst a political landscape where the 'war on motorists' is wielded as a populist tool, this series captures a future where this rhetoric has prevailed. The transformation of UK landmarks like Stonehenge into vast vehicular realms underscores the absurdity and danger of prioritizing short-term political gains over sustainable urban planning. These images mirror the contentious debates in the ...

MAD Architects completes ‘train station in the forest’ in China

2024-02-07T13:38:00-05:00

MAD Architects has completed their overhaul of the Jiaxing Train Station in China, described by the firm as a “train station in the forest.” Located in the city of Jiaxing, 60 miles southwest of Shanghai, the project included the replacement of an outdated train station that occupied the site from 1995 to 2019.

Image credit: Lu Bing

Image credit: AC

MAD’s approach saw the full-scale recreation of an original 1907 station that stood on the site alongside a “floating” metal roof above an expanded site. In order to reconstruct the old station, the firm collaborated with architectural experts and scholars to analyze a large amount of historical data, with the 210,000 red and green bricks used to construct the station made of mud sourced from the nearby South Lake.

Image credit: CreatAR Images

Image credit: AC

Surrounding the reconstructed station, MAD sought to create a complex “more humane and efficient than its predecessor.” The interior of the new hub maintains a dialogue with the recrea...

High-speed rail line between Vegas and SoCal receives additional $2.5 billion funding

2024-01-26T11:04:00-05:00

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved $2.5 billion for the Brightline West High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail project. As we have previously reported, the 218-mile line will connect Las Vegas to Southern California, running primarily along the I-15 median.

Electric trains on the line will be capable of reaching 186 miles per hour, fulfilling the journey in half the time to travel by car. The cost of the project currently stands at $12 billion, funded partly by an additional $3 billion allocation last month under the Infrastructure Act, and a $25 million to to the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority that will be used to construct stations on the line in Hesperia and Victor Valley, California.

Related on Archinect: U.S. Department of Transportation awards $6.1 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects in the American West. Image courtesy Brightline West

“As the first true high-speed rail system in America, Brightline West will serve as the blueprint for c...

Gordie Howe International Bridge construction: Opening delayed to September 2025

2024-01-09T17:04:00-05:00

The completion date for the delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge has been pushed back to September 2025, according to the Detroit Free Press.

A public announcement put out by the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority detailed the progress that’s been made since the project commenced in late 2018.

Since that time, the bridge’s road deck construction, stay cable installation, and Port of Entry facilities have progressed successfully. Completion of the road deck, stay cable installations, and ancillary Port of Entry outbuildings will follow in the coming year. The finalization of the operations process is then anticipated for the year after.

"After a three-year pandemic and considering the size and complexity of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project, our project team is pleased that the impact to the construction schedule is limited to only 10 months beyond the original contracted com...

Foster + Partners begins construction on Cambodia airport under canopy roof

2024-01-09T10:59:00-05:00

Construction is underway at Foster + Partners’ Techo International Airport in Cambodia. Located 16 miles south of central Phnom Penh, the project seeks to embody “a strong sense of place, drawing inspiration from one of the oldest civilizations on earth, inspired by its vernacular forms, and responsive to the tropical climate.”

The terminal comprises a central mass flanked by two aerofoil-shaped piers on either side. The central mass contains all passenger processing, security and immigration, and retail elements under an overarching roof canopy that stretches from the drop-off to the airside. The roof canopy itself is comprised of a lightweight steel grid shell with a screen to filter daylight into the terminal space.

Image credit: Foster + Partners

Inside, the scheme’s material palette is designed to be “warm and welcoming, evoking the Cambodian vernacular in a contemporary manner.” The interior is further softened by mature trees rising in a central void surrounded by edge planti...

Feds dole out $1 billion to get the Inglewood Transit Connector moving in LA's South Bay

2024-01-08T19:15:00-05:00

The planned Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC) in the Los Angeles area is moving forward thanks to a recent $1.09 billion investment by the federal government that will help deliver the 1.6-mile automated people mover to the rapidly changing South Bay district.

Once in place, the ITC will connect the neighborhood’s most important recent economic cogs, including SoFi Stadium and the soon-to-open Intuit Dome, with the Metro line while serving a maximum of 11,000 riders per hour. The design contractor for the project's implementation will be selected later in the year.

"This action delivers on the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support communities whose transit infrastructure has been neglected for too long and who have been impacted negatively by the construction of major freeways like the I-405 in Inglewood," Senator Alex Padilla said at the announcement.

Image courtesy City of Inglewood

"For the federal government to make a $1 billion investment in a city of 9 square...

Largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history begins construction

2024-01-02T15:55:00-05:00

Construction has begun on the largest clean energy infrastructure in U.S. history. The joint SunZia Transmission and SunZia Wind projects will span New Mexico and Arizona, bringing power to 3 million people.

The project is being delivered by Pattern Energy, which has secured $11 billion in financing to begin construction on the project. SunZia Transmission will comprise a 550-mile transmission line between central New Mexico and south-central Arizona, with the capacity to transport 3,000 MW of electricity. The SunZia Wind facility, meanwhile, will be the largest wind project in the Western Hemisphere, spanning Torrance, Lincoln, and San Miguel Counties in New Mexico.

“Our hope is this successful financing of the largest clean energy infrastructure project in American history serves as an example for other ambitious renewable infrastructure initiatives that are needed to accelerate our trans...

Copper thieves keep unplugging LA's 'Ribbon of Light' on the Sixth Street Bridge

2023-12-23T12:00:00-05:00

A large swath of the 6th Street Bridge, known as the “Ribbon of Light” because of its illuminated arches of color across the Los Angeles River, has gone dark. Copper wire thieves are to blame, city officials said, and it’s unclear when the lights for the Instagram-popular bridge will be fixed.

Other notable incidents include a deadly fall and several social media-driven impromptu street takeovers that caused damages to its road surface just weeks after the Michael Maltzan design opened in July of 2022. The damage extends over a third of the bridge.

Councilmember Kevin de León's office personally phoned in the report and says it adds to a total of $500,000 worth of stolen copper within his 14th District. As the LA Times reported, there were no less than 1,200 active copper capers across the city in the past year alone.

Meanwhile, underneath the bridge, an $82 million public space regeneration is underway from Hargreaves Jones.

Over $1 billion allocated to California’s transportation infrastructure

2023-12-19T12:11:00-05:00

The California Transportation Commission has announced the allocation of $1.1 billion for projects aimed at repairing and improving the state’s transportation infrastructure. The funding will be deployed to projects in areas including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego.

In Los Angeles, $12 million will be used to upgrade bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure on an 18-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway between Redondo Beach and the Orange County line. Upgrades include Class II bike lanes, bus pads, crosswalk visibility enhancements, a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, and pedestrian push buttons, among others. Meanwhile, $6 million will be allocated to San Francisco BART expansion.

The single largest project to receive funding will be a $108 million development along Interstate 80 near the State Route 20 connector that will replace an...

LIN architecture designs a pumping station in rural China as a ‘paintbrush in the field’

2023-12-12T14:28:00-05:00

Chinese practice LIN architecture has completed a pumping house in the Yunnan Province village of Botou. Named the 'Concrete Pavilion,' the structure seeks to both meet the needs of locals’ water and electricity needs and give an architectural “breath of new life” to the rural landscape.

Photo credit: zhuo hongduo

Photo credit: chen zhitong

The pavilion is defined by sloping roofs, high and low windows, multiple external platforms, and a series of skylights. The elements incorporated into the scheme take their inspiration from those of the nearby village in a process the team calls “the extreme abstraction of cultural elements.” While incorporating the many viewing elements, the team sought to create different observation experiences, whether inside the pavilion, observing the countryside, or looking at the pavilion from different surrounding angles.

Photo credit: zhuo hongduo

“Although the constituent elements are common to architecture, they are organized in...

U.S. Department of Transportation awards $6.1 billion in funding for high-speed rail projects in the American West

2023-12-06T14:36:00-05:00

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $6.1 billion in funding for two high-speed rail projects in Nevada and California that will make history upon their respective completions at the end of the decade.

Both the $8 billion Brightline West plan connecting Southern California to Las Vegas and the California High-Speed Rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco will receive a total of $3 billion and $3.07 billion each.

The funding will help propel the former towards a formal project announcement that is expected by Friday, according to Reuters. The latter will aid in the development of a pared-down version of the larger California project that has been plagued by funding challenges for several years.

Brightline’s chairman Wes Edens told Reuters the funding marks a “historic moment that will serve as a foundation for a new industry and a remarkable project that will serve a...

AECOM and luis vidal + architects complete shining new Terminal E expansion at Boston Logan International Airport

2023-11-15T18:17:00-05:00

Work on the new Terminal E at Boston Logan International Airport has been completed by AECOM, luis vidal + architects, and Suffolk following a five-year and almost $640 million construction effort.

Standing out thanks to its prismatic red-colored aluminum roof panels, the 390,000-square foot expansion adds four new gates to the 49-year-old international terminal while modernizing its existing interior spaces and adding a security checkpoint, HVAC system, restaurants, and new 21,000-square-foot Delta Sky Club.

Luis Vidal, the president and founding partner of luis vidal + architects, says the result is “a bold, striking building designed with sustainable principles and focused on providing a unique, comfortable, and healthy environment for passengers and workers alike.” He has also described it as the first example of a "Fourth generation" of airport design in America.

Photo: Ema Peter

The new terminal serves as the centerpiece of the larger capital plan for Logan begun by Massport be...

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's $400M C Concourse Expansion gets cleared for takeoff

2023-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

A previously-announced plan from Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership is moving forward in Washington State after officials with the Port of Seattle Commission finally approved the $399 million C Concourse Expansion for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The expansion will add 145,530 square feet in total, including a 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines passenger lounge, multifaith prayer room, meditation center, nursery room, amphitheater, and a retail/dining area called The Grand Stairs, to an existing structure from 1966. The firms say their proposal “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness.” Turner has been contracted to lead the construction.

Rendering courtesy of The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot.

SEA planning officials are optimistic its realization will add to its claims of being the most energy-efficient port in the country as the first major construction to be undertaken in ...

New York City MTA releases 20-Year Needs Assessment plan... sans price tag

2023-10-13T12:06:00-04:00

Some 400 miles of subway tracks, half of Metro-North’s Hudson Line and several Long Island Rail Road stations are in dire need of upgrades to stave off flooding and other extreme weather exacerbated by climate change, the MTA wrote in a report published on Wednesday. The report, called the 20-year needs assessment, is a breakdown of the agency’s $1.5 trillion worth of transit infrastructure, and details which equipment planners believe most urgently needs fixing over the next two decades.

The system, which is now (finally) on a more stable financial track, needs a litany of upgrades over the next two decades, according to the breakdown. A total of 350 of the 493 elevators operated by the MTA will need to be replaced in that timeframe. Another 6,300 rail cars and 100% of all 6,000 city buses will also need to be replaced. (The full assessment can be found here.)

The findings were published in advance of a five-year construction phase that begins in 2025, though an exact price tag for the slate of fixes has yet to be established by the agency.

Another audit from the state comptroller’s office released last week indicated that the MTA has not sufficiently used money from capital improvement projects to mitigate against the effects of climate change, as was made apparent by the September 29 catastrophic rain event.

NYC's broken flood mitigation strategy comes into focus at a critical time

2023-10-03T17:56:00-04:00

The fallout from last week’s record-breaking rainstorm in New York City is shining a light on local climate mitigation efforts and water infrastructure as the increased threat from flooding becomes a major issue for Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and key city agencies.

A total of seven inches of rain fell throughout the New York metropolitan region in 24 hours Friday, inflicting particular damage to areas built over or adjacent to wetlands and other bodies of water as it overwhelmed the mass transit system and many roadways in every borough.

Beyond the torrent of viral storm footage that spread across social media, Friday’s storm provided a look at the precariousness of different resiliency projects aimed at combatting climate change, including the new Cloudburst Management plan, sewer system upgrades, and greening campaigns. Experts warn this effort could be too disjointed and expensive to make a difference before so-called "once in a hundred year" storms become regular occurrenc...

The looming Federal Government shutdown could impinge on infrastructure projects for years

2023-09-27T12:00:00-04:00

Concerns over the possible Federal Government shutdown next month are causing headaches for contractors of much-needed infrastructure projects across the country who fear a chain reaction in the construction industry could leave lasting setbacks that would take years to overcome.

A stop-work on October 1st would exacerbate the industry's sustained backlog of infrastructure builds and threatens to imperil important areas in the now two-year-old Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that are, in many cases, tethered to a multilayered compendium of different funding sources.

“Most projects these days have lots of different funding sources, they maybe have local and state and federal, maybe a private component, maybe an authority,” the President of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Maria Lehman, explained to Construction Dive this week. “So a shutdown has a much bigger impact than it might have been in the past as far as the number of projects potentially that could g...

California's high-speed rail project receives $202 million in federal funding for critical juncture

2023-09-26T13:28:00-04:00

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has been awarded more than $200 million from the Biden Administration in what is one of the largest pieces of federal funding awarded to the project in its history. The $202 million grant was made by the U.S. Department of Transportation through the 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program — part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.

The latest funding reduces some of the $128 billion burden incurred by the project, which had been teetering on the edge before the state allocated enough funding to complete a critical 171-mile stretch in California’s Central Valley. The federal money will be put specifically towards six grade separations needed to create a clear path for motor vehicles in Kern County.

The High-Speed Rail Authority’s Northern California Director Boris Lipkin said recently that the project can only be completed faster than is currently projected with the help of increased federal support given its engineering complexities.

The state, which finally began the two-step procurement process for the “first-in-the-nation” 220 mph electrified high-speed trainsets last month, said its full realization is on track for 2033 in their latest Project Update Report from March of this year.

36% of all U.S. bridges are structurally deficient, study finds

2023-08-29T13:49:00-04:00

A study of every bridge in the U.S. Department of Transportation database has discovered a need for $319 billion worth of major repairs or replacement work on a total of 222,000 spans across the country.

The findings published in the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s 2023 analysis also showed an overall decline of 560 bridges in need of repair versus last year. The news comes a little less than two years removed from the belabored passage of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a piece of legislation that included no less than $40 billion for bridge projects through the end of 2027.

Construction Dive has more analysis of the new report, which showed an increase in the overall share of bridges that are in "fair" condition simultaneous to a decline of those in both "poor" and "good" categories.

Previously on Archinect: A new infrastructure approach could save millions per year, say researchers

West Virginia leads all states, with 20% of all its br...

$82 million park space beneath LA's new Sixth Street Viaduct has broken ground

2023-08-09T08:00:00-04:00

Just over one year after the Sixth Street Viaduct replacement made its debut, Los Angeles city officials have commenced work on 12 acres of new park spaces at the foot of the $588-million bridge.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on August 5th for the $82 million project, also known as the Sixth Street Park, Arts, and River Connectivity project (PARC). Landscape architecture firm Hargreaves Jones led the design.

Previously on Archinect: Take a look at new Iwan Baan photos of LA's Sixth Street Viaduct ahead of its grand opening

The park, which sits beneath the recently completed Sixth Street Viaduct, will include seven acres of open space on the east side of the Los Angeles River in Boyle Heights and five acres of space in the Arts District on the west side.

The Boyle Heights section will feature grass fields, picnic areas, a splash pad, event space, and sports fields and courts. The Arts District section will include a new arts plaza and river gateway, which will host spaces for performances, a café, and restrooms. Construction on PARC is expected to last around two-and-a-half years.

AECOM, Bechtel officially join reconstruction effort in Ukraine

2023-07-05T17:33:00-04:00

AECOM and Bechtel have both announced their involvement in the international effort to rebuild Ukraine following 15 months of a devastating war which had, by mid-spring, enacted more than $147.5 billion worth of damage to infrastructure across the country, according to estimates from the Kyiv School of Economics.

The moves were announced late last month in conjunction with the country’s Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development (AECOM) and the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure of Ukraine (AECOM and Bechtel), and will include the delivery of a “wide range” of reconstruction projects along with supportive technical expertise to the government and other private contractors.

Important cost estimation and other kinds of engineering consultations will also be provided as part of the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure memorandum as the country transitions to an international model for procurements.

Related ...

San Diego engineering firm seeks an architect to help its clean water initiatives

2023-05-24T12:38:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Manager of Climate Action & Design Excellence at the American Institute of Architects, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Staff Architect - Wastewater Division at Parsons Corp.

The role calls for an individual to lead the company’s design efforts supporting their San Diego pure water project for wastewater and water treatment systems. Among the responsibilities will be to coordinate and manage design efforts for the company’s overall San Diego Pure Water project, and to manage specific design efforts for wastewater and water treatment facilities in San Diego City and County.

Why the role interests us

The open position at Parsons Corp offers us the opportunity to review the many initiatives underway across California with regard to water management. In March, we r...

FAA selects PAU to deliver new air-traffic control tower prototypes

2023-04-20T17:42:00-04:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced its selection of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) for a new sustainable air-traffic control tower prototype that will initially deliver 31 highly-adaptable facilities at small regional and municipal airports throughout the United States.

The projects, funded in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, were selected against the agency’s strict requirements to minimize environmental impact while reducing operational costs and the price of construction.

Image courtesy PAU

Construction will vary in height between 63 and 119 feet and include elements such as all-electric building systems, thermal efficient facades, mass timber, and recycled steel and metal products. The new generation of towers will replace I.M. Pei’s iconic mid-century variation on the typology and will include interior spaces tailored to the well-being of air traffic control workers.

Image courtesy PAU

Geothermal heating and cooling techniques a...

Foster + Partners and Arup to deliver first four California High-Speed Rail stations

2023-04-05T17:45:00-04:00

A joint venture of Foster + Partners and Arup will design the first four California High-Speed Rail stations in the state’s Central Valley region, the firms announced this week.

The plans they are developing for the transit organization will eventually deliver stations in Fresno, Kings/Tulare, Merced, and Bakersfield, serving the ambitious but still heavily scrutinized project’s initial 171-mile segment in an area that’s home to roughly 6.5 million people.

The joint venture announced its intentions of working with local interests during the two-stage Notice to Proceed (NTP) design and development process following the delivery of a "system-wide vision plan" for the proposed 500-mile project that will become America's first-ever high-speed railway.

Image courtesy Foster + Partners

Stefan Behling, Head of Studio for Foster + Partners, said: "After delivering our systemwide vision plan, we are now delighted to be working with Arup on detailed designs for the network’s first four station...

Chicago releases updated designs of the 'Revive the Drive' lakefront project

2023-03-31T18:57:00-04:00

The groups behind Chicago’s planned overhaul of a key portion of the iconic Lakeshore Drive have revealed the latest renderings of a project that’s set to add much-needed protective barriers and green space along the city’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

The non-profit news platform Block Club Chicago has the latest details on the "Redefine the Drive" plan, which will take shape over the coming years through a series of community engagement meetings expected to reconvene in the fall.

Image courtesy Illinois Department of Transportation & Chicago Department of Transportation

While a final design plan hasn't been confirmed, renders shared by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) aim to "help Chicagoans 'better understand the characteristics' of park, lakefront, pedestrian, and bike space expansions that would be universal to any final plan," reports Mack Liederman of Block Club Chicago.

Image courtesy Illinois Department of Transpo...