february 2009 issue
World Watch
Stadium Scores Big With Stunning Design
BY GAIL HELGASON
Freelance Writer
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AS THEY SEE IT |
The sweeping, undulating lines of the 50,000-seat Landsdowne Road Stadium in Dublin promise an eye-stopping addition to the city’s urban scene, reports Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.). A smaller stadium was demolished to make room for the Landsdowne Road project, which is now under construction and will take over a site traditionally used for Irish rugby for more than a century.
A key feature is an 18-metre-deep horseshoe truss system that results in unique, elevated U-shaped roof lines at either end of the stadium. Other features include a transparent, two-layer wall system, four tiers of seating and up to eight levels of concourse and facilities.
Structural engineering is by Buro Happold, an international consulting company, with design by HOK Sport, an international architectural firm. Estimated cost is $575 million US.
More Traffic Equals Less Noise?
The widening of one of the most congested stretches of highway in the U.K. is expected to aid traffic volumes while decreasing noise pollution.
The Highways Agency project, tagged at $537 million US, involves widening three lanes to four in each direction along a 17.5-km stretch of the M1, says Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.). Also part of the project is the rebuilding or extending of all overpasses, underpasses, junctions and drainage ponds along the route.
Special surfacing will protect neighbouring hamlets and towns from the noise generated by the extra lanes. The project is also using soil displaced in construction to build grass-covered berms alongside the highway. Fencing will be added to the top of the berms.
The result is that noise levels should be reduced for “almost every property” after the widening is completed, the Highways Agency says.
The M1, a major motorway north of London, carries about 160,000 vehicles a day. But that number is expected to increase to 200,000 by 2023.
Tiny Trains Make Big Impression On College Town
The college town of Ithaca, N.Y., has set its sights on becoming America’s first podcar community, reports Associated Press. Podcars — also known as PRTs, for personal rapid transit — carry two to 10 passengers while reducing the use of fossil fuels, explains a group called Connect Ithaca.
Podcars generally run on elevated rails, are electric and are driverless. Early versions of the technology exist in a few U.S. cities.
Made up of students, activists, and planning and building professionals, Connect Ithaca aims to lead the U.S. in pioneering the widespread use of this miniature mode of transportation.
Chemicals Get Some Respect
A recent concoction from the Chemical Heritage Foundation is “not your typical science museum,” reports Chemical & Engineering News (Washington, D.C.)
The first exhibit at the museum, Molecules That Matter, explored the consequences in 20th century society of 10 organic compounds. Starting with aspirin and ending with carbon nanotubes, the exhibit told the story of molecules through artwork, consumer products, archival material and molecular models.
The museum will feature both permanent and travelling exhibits in its location, a renovated Civil War-era bank building in Philadelphia.
Mothballing a Mega-Resort
Is No Simple Task
Don’t bet on mothballing a major resort project being easy. Just ask Boyd Gaming Corp.
Engineering News-Record (New York) reports that putting the brakes on development of the Echelon Las Vegas mega-resort for a year is tremendously complex. A year’s work had already gone into the eight-building project when financial concerns convinced proponents to halt work last summer.
Tasks to be completed before parking the project included negotiating “with every contractor on the site,” securing the site itself, storing expensive equipment and returning smaller mobile pieces of equipment.
The silver lining? Boyd personnel note that most contractors went to other jobs, and that some were even glad that the project — worth a whopping $4.8 billion US, by the way — had been suspended.
Bring on the Bagels
Always Bagels Inc. in Bohemia, N.Y., can keep living up to its name, thanks to a new floor that resists extreme temperatures and reduces bacteria build-up.
Food Engineering (Troy, Mo.) reports that the company’s concrete floor in its production, oven and freezer area was badly damaged and needed repairs. Sound simple enough? Not really — bakeries present formidable flooring challenges because of radical temperature changes during normal operations.
Enter Garon Products Inc. It came up with a system of urethane mortar floor resurfacing that “breathes” and is compatible with concrete.
Device Blocks Cell Phone
Use For Drivers
Don’t tell the kids but engineers may have accomplished what most parents find impossible — stopping teenagers from texting or speaking on the phone while driving. According to the New York Times, the new device fits over a car key and disables the driver’s phone whenever the key is in the ignition. It was developed by civil and engineering professors at the University of Utah.
Stalagmites Prove Useful In Determining Earthquakes’ Ages
Geologists now have a new way of dating ancient earthquakes by using stalagmites, reports Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.). Stalagmites are produced by trickling water laden with calcium carbonate that seeps through a cave’s ceiling and deposits minerals on the floor.
A study at the Illinois State Geological Survey found that many stalagmites in the U.S. Midwest occurred around the time of an 1811 earthquake in Missouri. This and other research revealed that earthquakes lead to new generations of stalagmites, because they form new crevices in cave ceilings.
A Really Long Elevator Ride
You’ve heard of long elevator rides — but how about one that travels 36,000 kilometres?
That’s the length of the space elevator that Japanese engineering experts estimate would be needed to connect Earth with an object in orbit. An article in The Times of London says that Japanese companies and universities are focusing on how to achieve this engineering feat.
Once the elevator is developed, only one per cent of the energy required by the space shuttle would be needed to break free of the Earth’s gravity, scientists believe. The cost of building the space elevator is estimated at $10 billion US.
Smart Fertilizer Takes Root
A Russian company named Uralchem has begun producing a smart fertilizer that can supply plants with nitrogen through an entire growing period, reports Chemical Engineering (New York). Uralchem says the fertilizer, called ASN 32:0:0:5, uses a combination of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate. Sulphur is believed to produce grain with better baking abilities and to increase oil content in oil-producing crops.
Robotic Weapons Increasing
Did you know that the United States Armed Forces uses more than 6,000 robots in Iraq and Afghanistan? Astronomical amounts are being spent on research into further development of military applications, says Howard Smith, an American biomedical engineer who founded Optimal Robotics, the company that developed supermarket self-checkouts.
Countries such as Russia, China and Israel are also reported to be developing robotic weapons. Many experts wonder if an in international agreement will be created to draft an ethics code for development of robotics weapons, says Dr. Smith.
He is also, by the way, in touch with the fictional side of robotics. Dr. Smith is the author of I, robot, a novel that should not be confused with its more famous predecessor, I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov.
Who Needs a Dam?
The installation of the first commercial hydrokinetic turbine in the United States could be the start of an important trend in green energy, according to the Wired Science blog. The turbine, on the Mississippi River near Hastings, Minn., will increase plant capacity by five per cent. The turbine is reported to capture the mechanical energy of the water’s flow without the need for a dam.
Germany Faces
Powerful Challenges
Immense challenges must be met as power from renewable sources such as wind and solar begin to play a more important role in many parts of the world, notes the Technological Review (Cambridge, Mass).
Germany leads the world in using wind energy, and its northeastern power grid is seen as a critical proving ground. Engineers at Vattenfall Europe Transmission, which controls that grid, have few options in maintaining stable power from an erratic source such as wind, the article states.
If such grids are not upgraded, new non-renewable-power projects could be stalled because of the stress they place on existing electrical systems.
Let’s Call Them Snowbots
Could snowmobile robots soon be on the landscape to help scientists in remote, glaciated environments? That possibility is coming closer to reality, says Aerospace America (Reston, Va.).
Ayanna Howard of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech is working to create snowmobile robots that would traverse terrain too dangerous for scientists. Called the SnoMote, the small, lightweight machine would take temperature, humidity and barometric pressure measurements to assist scientists with climate models.
Dr. Howard, who previously worked with NASA’s Mars technology program, believes the use of such robotics could be just as useful on Earth as on Mars.
Bullet Trains Speed Up
China is on track to develop the world’s fastest train, Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.) reports. The train will link Beijing and Shanghai and run at speeds reaching 380 km/h. Much faster than today’s bullet trains, this one would cut travel between the two cities to under four hours from the current 10 to 12 hours.