High Schoolers Are Engineering Early Birds- ENR | McGraw-Hill Construction

With an ever-growing demand for new engineers, future employers are revving up career interest for students just clearing middle school. In a high-profile effort that will launch this week, three nonprofit educational groups and well-heeled corporate supporters are forming and funding engineering “academies” at 13 U.S. high schools

Hotel Skylight Collapse Cause Remains a ‘Head-Scratcher’ - ENR | McGraw-Hill Construction

Investigators are hoping to shed light on an atrium roof collapse at an Embassy Suites hotel in Hunt Valley, Md. A 60-ft x 29-ft glass skylight broke loose and fell eight stories on Oct. 10, crashing onto the floor of the 223-room hotel’s atrium. One person was reportedly injured while fleeing the collapse, but there were no fatalities.

Cross-London System Draws From

From under faithfully restored ironwork arches of a 140-year-old London terminal, the U.K.’s inaugural high-speed rail service to the Channel Tunnel will push off on Nov. 14. By being delivered within budget and on schedule, the $11.6-billion “High Speed 1” sets a tough target for London’s even bigger Crossrail project, now heading off on its 10-year journey.
Having successfully delivered HS1, along with over one million completion documents, design and management team Rail Link Engineering has largely disbanded. But much of RLE’s experience, earned over nine years of construction, has migrated to Crossrail.
“We looked at HS1 quite a lot,” says Douglas Oakervee, executive chairman of Cross London Rail Links Ltd. (CLRL), Crossrail’s owner. As RLE wound down over the last 18 months, key staff have crossed town to join his team in Victoria, he adds.
Cross-fertilization between the projects has intensified through firms working on both projects. London-based Arup Group and Halcrow Group, RLE’s lead civil engineering designers and part owners, are now working on Crossrail. RLE’s controlling partner and HS1’s project manager, Bechtel Inc., San Francisco, is CLRL’s development manager.
In terms of tunneling and complexity, HS1 and Crossrail are alike. HS1’s second phase, now ending, comprises just one-third of the 109-kilometer-long line to the coast, but it accounts for two-thirds of its cost. Bringing trains into St. Pancras International terminal from just south of the Thames River required 22 km of twin bored tunnels.
Crossrail, involving 118.5 km of railroad, will link networks on either side of London, with about 21 km of twin tunnels and 38 stations.
Initially, CLRL planned to procure the project in design-construct contracts. Instead, like RLE, it will complete design itself and award construction-only packages. Having consulted with the industry “it was quite clear the appetite for design-construct was not very strong,” says Oakervee

Construction-Starts Slide To Continue in 2008

An overall decline in construction starts in the United States has proven more dire than once predicted. McGraw-Hill Construction, corporate affiliate of Engineering News-Record and enr.com, estimates that the industry will experience an 8% decline in construction starts in 2007 and another 2% drop is forecast for 2008.
The forecast was released today during McGraw-Hill Construction's 2008 Construction Outlook in Washington, D.C.
After reaching a record $668.9 billion in total construction starts in 2006, values are expected to hit $626.7 billion for 2007 and $614.1 billion in 2008. Last year, McGraw-Hill Construction predicted that starts in 2007 would drop 1%, as the single family home market weakened and other sectors, such as institutional work, remained strong.

Go Green at Home Without Going Broke

NEW YORK -- Over 90% of registered voters would be willing to pay $5,000 more for a home that's easier on the environment, according to a new poll by the American Institute of Architects. But they may not have to.
In fact, making your home more energy efficient can actually save you money, says Jane Bennett Clark, an editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Clark suggests 10 simple ways to go green without going broke:
Insulate your water heater. If it was built before 2004, you can save as much as 10% on your annual water-heating bill by wrapping the tank in an insulating fireproof blanket.
Tune up your furnace. Getting your furnace serviced every two years not only reduces the amount of carbon dioxide it emits, it also cuts your heating bills by up to 10%.
Lower the temperature. The Alliance to Save Energy estimates that you can take 5% off your heating bill for every degree you lower your home's temperature during the cold season.
Pad those pipes. You can cut heating costs just by insulating exposed hot water pipes in your home.
Weatherstrip your doors. Putting weatherstripping around your front and back doors will net you around $30 a year in energy savings.
Wash your clothes in cold. That uses 50 % less energy than washing them in hot water.
Don't use permanent press. Employing the regular setting instead of the permanent press setting on you washing machine will conserve five gallons of water per load.
Watch your water flow. Save a gallon of water per minute when you're doing the dishes by restricting the water flow to a stream the width of a straw. Save another two gallons by turning off the water when you brush your teeth for two minutes.
Fix that leaking faucet. That constant drip, drip, drip isn't just grating, it's also wasting water -- 2,700 gallons a year to be exact.
Check your toilet tank. If you put a drop of food coloring into your toilet bowl and it doesn't disappear, your tank is leaking, says Clark. Get it fixed and you can salvage 200 gallons of water a day.

New online marketing course for construction firms

The Construction Marketing Centre of Excellence (CMCOE) has developed a workshop masterclass in online construction marketing and search engine optimisation.
The CMCOE is a commercial organisation offering customers in the broad construction market a wide range of marketing services. Its latest event has been specifically prepared to provide marketeers in the construction industry with the tools they need to develop effective on-line marketing.
Held at Reed Business Information’s AV Theatre in Sutton, Surrey on Thursday 22nd November, the 3 hour workshop is presented by Phil Robinson, MD of Clickthrough Marketing and Roger Moggs, founder of CMCOE.
Phil Robinson said: “If you would like to understand how to maximise your website performance, improve your pay-per-click effectiveness and develop a successful search engine optimisation strategy, then this is the workshop for you.”
The concept of the CMCOE is to use experienced professionals in the appropriate discipline to meet a clients needs. A CMCOE client can use as few or as many of the specialist services offered as needed. These include: strategic marketing planning, research, advertising, PR, direct marketing, creative design, exhibitions, web strategy, sports sponsorship, corporate hospitality, conferences and merchandising.

Taipei 101

Taipei 101 (Traditional Chinese: 臺北101 or 台北101; Simplified Chinese: 台北101; Hanyu Pinyin: Táiběi Yīlíngyī; Wade-Giles: T'ai-pei I-ling-i) is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper located in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The building, designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, is the world's tallest completed skyscraper. Taipei 101 received the Emporis Skyscraper Award in 2004. It has been hailed as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World (Newsweek magazine, 2006) and Seven Wonders of Engineering (Discovery Channel, 2005). Taipei 101 is managed by the International division of Chicago based Urban Retail Properties Co.
The name of the landmark reflects its home city and floor count, of course, but also its location in Taipei's 101 postal district, a rapidly developing hub of international activity in Taiwan. The number is pronounced in English simply as One Oh One. (See also Exterior symbolism below.) The original name planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, derived from that of its owner, Taipei Financial Center Corporation and the formal name of the structure in Chinese: literally, Taipei International Financial Center (Traditional Chinese: 臺北國際金融中心; pinyin: Táiběi Guójì Jīnróng Zhōngxīn).
On 2007-07-21 Taipei 101 was overtaken in height by the Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE, upon the completion of that building's 141st floor. Taipei 101 retains its title until the Burj Dubai is completed, though, as international architectural standards define a "building" as a structure that can be occupied.

Burj Dubai

The Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is currently the tallest free standing structure in the world according to its developers, surpassing the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada which previously held the record for 31 years. When it is completed in late 2008, it is predicted to be the tallest man-made structure in the world , as well as the tallest building by any measure. Scheduled for occupancy in September 2009, the building is part of a 2 km² (0.8 sq mi) development called 'Downtown Dubai' and is located at the "First Interchange" (aka "Defence Roundabout") along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street. The building is being built by the South Korean Company Samsung, and was designed by Adrian Smith before he left Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) of Chicago to start his own independent practice, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in October 2006.However, SOM continues to lead the architectural, structural engineering and mechanical engineering of the Burj Dubai. The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about $4.1 billion US dollars and for the entire new 'Downtown Dubai', $20 billion US Dollars.