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China is using artificial intelligence to effectively turn a dam project on the Tibetan Plateau into the world’s largest 3D printer, according to scientists involved in the project.
The 180 metre (590 feet) high Yangqu hydropower plant will be built slice by slice – using unmanned excavators, trucks, bulldozers, pavers and rollers, all controlled by AI – in the same additive manufacturing process used in 3D printing.
— The South China Morning Post
The Yangqu dam project is set to finish in two years and is being overseen by Tsinghua University’s Liu Tianyun, who recently argued that developments in 3D printing have made the technology “identical to nature.” Its purported future annual output of nearly 5 billion kilowatt hours of... View full entry
The industry's shift towards more sustainable airport design is taking on another form in Washington State after Woods Bagot revealed their designs for an ecologically-sound C Concourse Expansion at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Part of a series of capital improvements, the scope... View full entry
The Biden administration on April 19 restored key regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires review of federal projects to assess their likely impacts on climate change and nearby communities. The changes to the NEPA rules will go into effect in late May, and could mean proposed infrastructure like highways, pipelines and railways take more time to get approved. — Construction Dive
This move reverses changes made by the Trump administration, which loosened the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 2020 in order to accelerate projects by shortening the time used to gather environmental information and community input. According to Construction Dive, construction... View full entry
A company is proposing to build what could be the West Coast’s biggest floating offshore wind farm, suggesting the expansion of a technology that has yet to find footing in the U.S. [...]
The proposal mirrors an earlier request made by Trident Winds in California several years ago, which jump-started a broader competition among deep-pocketed developers for the rights to generate offshore wind power there.
— Energywire
The project is called Olympic Wind and is the product of Washington-based offshore wind developer Trident Winds. The proposal aims to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity that could power approximately 800,000 homes. The wind farm would be located 43 miles off the coast of Grays Harbor County... View full entry
The cost of direct damage to Ukraine's infrastructure in the month since Russia invaded the country has reached $63 billion, according to an analysis from the Kyiv School of Economics. — Construction Dive
The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) also reports that between the start of the invasion on February 24th through March 24th, at least 4,431 residential buildings, 92 factories and warehouses, 378 schools, 138 healthcare institutions, 12 airports, and seven thermal power and hydroelectric power... View full entry
Once it opens, construction will start on public playing fields, gathering areas, green spaces and a dog park at the foot of the bridge on the Boyle Heights side, and a performance stage and green spaces on the Arts District side. And cyclists can gear up for the fall unveiling of a 10-foot-wide bicycle lane going both directions on the bridge, which they can access from the bike lane at the river via a steep spiraling ramp. It is a ride that will take some energy. — KCRW Los Angeles
LA architect Michael Maltzan spoke about his desire for the reborn cinematic landmark to be received as a public space that is suis generis within the available Downtown and Boyle Heights vistas, which are mostly blocked by hilly areas and typified by a lack of public space. “The bridge is... View full entry
An engineering marvel in the making, the world’s tallest railway bridge being constructed over Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district is likely to come up by December next year This railway bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Link Project, which is the most challenging project being undertaken post-independence by Indian Railways. — RFI
The viral bridge is slightly higher up than the Najiehe Railway Bridge in China, which stands a total of 305 meters (about 1000 feet) in height. Fears by some about a potential terrorist attack had to be engineered into the span with blast-proof steel and other military-grade components owing to... View full entry
Construction has begun on the largest cruise terminal in North America. Located in Port Miami, and designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the MSC Cruises Terminal will be capable of hosting three cruise ships simultaneously as well as 36,000 daily passengers, upon its completion at the end of... View full entry
14 years after voters approved a nearly $10 billion bond to start building the rail system that would whisk riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, many California residents have long since lost track of what is being built where, and when or if it will ever be completed.
“We’re teetering on the edge,” said Ashley Swearengin, a former mayor of Fresno who now leads the Central Valley Community Foundation. “We could get it right.”
— The New York Times
The budget for the California high-speed rail project has now swelled to more than double its originally proposed cost of $40 billion from fourteen years ago. Construction on a 31-mile segment of the project has already begun near Fresno in the Central Valley. The fight now is over... View full entry
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced plans to set aside $200 million for the new Focused Attraction of Shovel-Ready Tracts New York (FAST NY) grant program, which aims to attract and expand key growth industries to New York State. The money has been made available through Hochul’s... View full entry
Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced an agreement that will transform the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the country. This move will help establish New York as a leader in offshore wind and meet its climate goals of... View full entry
2022 is speeding along, and with March quickly approaching, this means another Dodge Construction Network report has been released. In January, total construction starts increased 4% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of $923.4 billion. Nonresidential building starts increased 4% and nonbuilding... View full entry
The cost to build California’s ambitious but long delayed high-speed rail line has once again risen, with rail officials now estimating it could take up to $105 billion to finish the line from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The project’s price tag has steadily risen since voters first approved nearly $10 billion in bond money for it in 2008, when the total cost was pegged at $40 billion.
— KOVR Sacramento
The additional need for money stems from necessary sound barrier upgrades and repositioning of the train away from the Central Valley’s Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, according to project officials. The state is confident it can raise the necessary funds from the new federal infrastructure... View full entry
A consortium in California has announced its ambition to construct a network of solar panels over a segment of the state’s canal system. The project, named Project Nexus, will build on research by a UC Merced environmental engineering graduate, which we originally reported on back in May... View full entry
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has included hefty spending on infrastructure projects in its annual budget, looking to spur growth and improve its popularity just ahead of key state elections. The budget also includes a proposed 30% tax on income from cryptocurrencies. — ABC News
India also introduced a new digital rupee (after previously attempting a ban on cryptocurrencies) and plans to declare data centers and large energy storage systems as infrastructure in an effort to increase access to institutional funding. Hopes are that the investment in building projects will... View full entry
