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Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. [...]
Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the study by RMIT engineers is the first to prove that waste coffee grounds can be used to improve concrete.
— Science Daily
The study found that three different coffee ground samples each increased their concrete pour’s compressive strengths by up to 30% once their organic compounds were broken down through pyrolysis. The discovery could go a long way in combatting issues such as food waste and the carbon impact of... View full entry
MIT researchers have published details of a new open-source forced-air evaporative cooling chamber. Described as being less expensive than refrigerated cold rooms, the chamber is intended to offer accessible cold storage for smallholder farmers, as well as significantly reduce post-harvest... View full entry
For nearly 50 years, chemical engineer and inventor Mária Telkes applied her prodigious intellect to harnessing the power of the sun. She designed and built the world’s first successfully solar-heated modern residence and identified a promising new chemical that, for the first time, could store solar heat like a battery. And yet, along the way, she was undercut and thwarted by her boss and colleagues — all men — at MIT. — PBS
The Hungarian-born scientist developed more than 20 patents in her lifetime and aided Eleanor Raymond on the development of the Dover Sun House in 1948. View this post on Instagram A post shared by American Experience (@americanexperiencepbs) "[She] knew you can’t just wait for society to be... View full entry
Autodesk has shared a video of an extended reality (XR) walkthrough animation to coincide with their recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new Autodesk Technology Engagement Center at California State University, Northridge. The 32,000-square-foot facility will support research labs and other... View full entry
During the construction of the university’s new engineering building, Cabeza-Lainez found that calculating the area of a roof with straight lines resting on a semicircle was impossible just by using pi. After 30 years of research, [he] published a paper about his discovery in ScienceDirect [...] Both articles present his proposal of a number psi (Ψ), with a value of 3.140923, close to pi but which can be applied to a versatile geometric form that he calls an antisphere. — El Pais
According to El Pais, mathematician and architect Dr. Cabeza-Lainez had to develop his own proprietary calculation software in order to prove the equation. He has also published a book on solar light transfer and says the application of psi in various forms can lower costs associated with... View full entry
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.
— Construction Dive
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... View full entry
British engineering concern Atkins has been announced as a strategic Delivery Partner for The Line, Saudi Arabia’s complicated centerpiece for the NEOM megadevelopment that is set to be constructed in just under three years. As part of their five-year contract, Atkins will provide project and... View full entry
Results from the Leaning Tower of Pisa’s annual checkup are in, as of November 30. After a stabilization project, begun in 1990, reduced the quirky monument’s dangerous lean by a full 15 inches, the tower has straightened itself out by an additional 1.6 inches since 2001.
Some Italian officials are taking that optimism further, claiming the Tower could stand all the way straight on its own some day.
— Artnet News
This is the second update to the engineering project since 2018. The tower is expected to last at least another 300 years. In a statement to the press, the Italian heritage group Opera Primaziale Pisana said the nearly 850-year-old monument's overall health was "excellent." Repeated... View full entry
The School of Architecture at Georgia Tech University has announced the appointment of Ingeborg Rocker as its new Chair and William Harrison Professor of Architecture effective September 1st. Rocker joins Georgia Tech after working in the software industry and holding separate academic positions... View full entry
The New York State Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its 2022 Report Card for New York Infrastructure, issuing the state's infrastructure an overall grade of C. The rating is a slight improvement from its 2015 grade of C-. However, as detailed by the... View full entry
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
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge over the Dardanelles Strait on Friday (18 March). It has a central span of 2,023m, which means it usurps the title of world’s longest suspension bridge from the Akashi Kaikyo crossing in Kobe, Japan. — Global Construction Review
As reported by Global Construction Review, the new bridge cost €2.5 billion ($2.76 billion) to construct and is expected to generate €5.3 billion ($5.84 billion) in economic output, creating 118,000 jobs and €2.4 billion ($2.65 billion) in revenue. Named after an Ottoman naval victory... View full entry
Behind every facade design is a team of architects, engineers, fabricators, material specialists, and installers working together to produce successful building envelopes. From pre-construction to installation, the world of facade design has become a niche market for firms and individuals with... View full entry
A professor of architectural engineering at Penn State by the name of James Freihaut has been recognized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Sustainable Energy for his work in improving sustainability and safety in buildings. During the committee’s 30th... View full entry
The Champlain Towers South design violated building codes at the time of original construction. On the northern side, under the portion of the tower that collapsed, the columns were too narrow to accommodate all of the vertical and horizontal rebar called for in the plans while maintaining clearance required by the code. The pool deck had narrow columns and inadequate load bearing capacity, engineers consulted by the Herald found. Only columns beneath the surviving structure were fully compliant — Miami Herald
A team consisting of Sarah Blaskey, Aaron Leibowitz and Ben Conarck worked with four engineers and a general contractor to analyze the "Anatomy of Collapse" and explain the failure of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, FL. One key factor in the collapse appears to have been "punching shear"... View full entry
