Archinect - News

Your next role could be designing for increasing water demands with the US Bureau of Reclamation

2024-03-13T11:24:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Staff Architect at Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Architect at the US Bureau of Reclamation.

The role, based in Denver, CO, calls for an individual to “make a difference in the West by assisting in meeting increasing water demands while protecting the environment.” Among the responsibilities for the position, which requires a degree in architecture or a related field, will be developing designs for typologies such as hydroelectric powerplants, pump stations, and water and wastewater and treatment facilities.

Why the role interests us

The open role at the US Bureau of Reclamation offers us the opportunity to explore the role of a federal body responsible for the development of water infrastructure in the United States. Established in 1902, the bureau has constructed over 600 dams and reservoirs in the western United States,...

Webuild wins $4.7 billion contract to deliver NEOM's Trojena artificial lake

2024-01-19T14:41:00-05:00

Italian contractor Webuild has won a $4.7 billion bid to deliver the central manmade water feature included in the Trojena mountainside resort concept that forms a vital part of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM megadevelopment for 2030.

The contract calls for the construction of three dams and an artificial lake feature plus a new structure called the Bow that will house its 3,600-guest hotel and residences, complimenting a ski resort and network of experiential nature areas and wildlife reserves.

The roughly 1.7-mile-long lake itself will become the largest manmade body of water in Saudia Arabia, the firm says. Elevations at the site range from 4,920 to 8,530 feet. Bechtel had been previously contracted as the project manager. NEOM says they aim to have things completed in time for Trojena to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

Philip Gullett, the Executive Director – Region Head at Trojena, said in an update: “We have already completed around three million cubic meters of excavation at the la...

The U.S. is about to begin the largest dam removal project in history

2023-03-16T09:00:00-04:00

Preconstruction work is underway on the largest dam removal and river restoration project in U.S. history. The $450 million project will take out four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon and California to restore habitat and passage for migrating fish. Removal work will begin this summer, starting with Copco 2, which should be gone by this fall, according to ABC 12. The other three dams — Copco 1, the Iron Gate Dam and the JC Boyle Dam — will be removed by the end of 2024.

The projects were approved late last fall in the interest of protecting the local salmon population and other wildlife in the region. Local tribes will plant 19 billion seeds in the wake of the removals in order to boost the region's ecosystems, according to local public radio.

The removals are among the $3 billion worth of dam projects being funded under the new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, though experts still say it isn’t enough to address the 15,600 dams across the country that are currently classified as “high-hazard potential structures” by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2021.

Beavers: Nature's landscape architects

2019-07-12T15:54:00-04:00

In California and Oregon, beavers are enhancing wetlands that are critical breeding habitat for salmonids, amphibians, and waterfowl. In Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico, environmental groups have partnered with ranchers and farmers to encourage beaver activity on small streams. Watershed advocates in California are leading a campaign to have beavers removed from the state’s non-native species list, so that they can be managed as a keystone species rather than a nuisance.

Writing in Places Journal, landscape designer Stacy Passmore explores the amazing landscapes beavers create when they are allowed to fulfill their natural role as environmental engineers.

More and more, beavers and humans have become partners in reshaping the landscapes of the American west, where, Passmore reports, the aquatic mammals have been deployed to remediate defunct mines, re-wild marginal lands, and boost biodiversity as they restore wetlands and other riparian landscapes.

The beavers, according to Passmore, are "subversive animals are rewriting the landscape, changing its topography, without hardly anybody registering the change."

It's likely that in the future, humans and beavers will work together more and more, as climate change reshapes the world's natural environments. But dont count on them to fix climate change. Passmore writes: "As beavers are 'reintroduced' to more areas, we should remember that we cannot restore historic conditions. We must conceptualize a mes...

The scientists trying to harness the power of waves

2016-03-24T19:09:00-04:00

For four decades, the problem of how to create an economically viable business producing power from waves has fascinated a specialized group of engineers, many of whom are concentrated around the sea-beaten coast of Scotland. Inventors have created all sorts of strange and wonderful devices to coax energy out of the water; investors have poured millions of pounds into the effort.

"The problem is arguably one of the most perplexing in energy production. And maybe, just maybe, the answer is getting closer."

Interested in other articles on the renewable energy? Take a look at these links:

China may dam its only free-flowing river left

2016-02-04T13:07:00-05:00

...the Nu [River is] the last remaining major watershed in China without a dam. For years, though, the local government has planned to build a series dams along the Nu, too. Entire villages have already been relocated to make way. If the dams are built, China’s last free-flowing river will turn into a series of cascading lakes.

“It’s a uniquely Chinese phenomenon,” smiled Fan. “A local government sets up an investment company, attracts investors, approves and builds its own projects with developers. All of them make enormous profits. They claim this helps alleviate poverty, but it only causes common people more problems.”

Related:

A return to Mexico City's lacustrine origins

2015-11-16T11:27:00-05:00

Basically, instead of allowing this anarchic development to continue growing over the bed of the lake – which is very expensive, because the quality of the soil is very bad – we wanted to conduct the growth of the city around the lake area, and to recover a huge natural feature that belongs to everyone, which will change the climate of the city.

Shumi Bose learns from Alberto Kalach (of Taller de Arquitectura X), why the solution to the capital’s future growth may be found in embracing a pre-Hispanic, lacustrine form of urbanism.

To learn more about the "The hydrological balance of the city", read this weeklong report (also from the Guardian) which reveals "the triumphs of the past, the current battles, and the crisis looming in the future".

A plan to clean up the River Spree around Museum Island in Berlin

2015-10-13T17:31:00-04:00

A proposal under consideration here called the Flussbad (“river pool”) would clean up a filthy canal, part of the River Spree, that flows around the tourist-mobbed Museum Island. The plan would add new wetlands and some place the public can literally dive into. Despite detractors who picture Berlin’s cultural center being upstaged by the equivalent of one long, riotous water-filled bouncy castle, the idea, which has been around for a while, is gaining momentum.

Over the past few decades and across the globe, cities have been increasingly reimagining their waterways and -fronts. Hydrologic infrastructure projects, from Cheonggyecheon in Seoul to the LA River Revitalization Project (to be helmed by Frank Gehry), have the potential to inspire renewed relationships between urbanites and their city.

But they also run the risk of becoming subsumed in preexisting, local political conflicts – sometimes draining the city's coffers in the process.

The Flussbad plan for Berlin proposes cleaning up a section of the canal that runs around Museum Island and connects into the River Spree.

Imagined by the design firm realities:united, the plan could include a sandy bottom and new plantings to filter the polluted water, making it safe enough for swimming at a beach in front of the landmark museums.

Notably, the plan is backed by a diverse coalition of figures spanning the political spectrum, alongside architects, planners, and environmentalists, which could si...