-
InfrastructureElevated super bus to solve Beijing's traffic woes
Beijing and Mexico City vie for the title of the city with the worst traffic jams in the world; Beijing is now looking at an elevated "super bus" as a possible solution; the bus travels on rails and straddles two lanes of traffic, allowing cars to drive under its passenger compartment, which holds up to 1,400 people
-
InfrastructureChina's Three Gorges Dam's showing cracks
The Three Gorges Dam is China's largest construction project since the Great Wall; the dam was hailed as an engineering feat that could withstand the worst flood in 100 years, but this year's torrential rains have severely tested its capacity to control the surging Yangtze
-
Small bridge sensors will give early warnings of anomalies, weaknesses
University of Maryland researchers devised a lightweight, low-power, wireless, credit card-sized sensor that will detect weaknesses in bridges and other infrastructure before they can turn into calamities; the sensors would detect anomalies in the structure of even the most inaccessible parts of bridges and send alerts via cellular frequencies to its human masters. Among the things it would measure would be stress loads, vibration, temperature and the creation and growth of cracks
-
-
DisastersChina, Pakistan floods; Haiti earthquake: not merely "natural" disasters
The recent disasters in Pakistan, China, and Haiti have done more than kill thousands and displace millions: they have raised questions about whether the modifier "natural" -- as in "natural disaster" -- is accurate in describing the sources and scope of the catastrophes; these and other recent disasters, in other words, raise questions about how much of the damage caused comes from the forces of nature and how much is the result of human activity; experts say that a major contributing factor to the scope of these disasters are development decisions which are too often controlled by wealthy and corrupt elites who have no interest in protecting people who have been marginalized by poverty
-
Pennsylvania's bridge structural deficiency rate is nearly double the national average
There are 4,284 bridges in the 5-county Pittsburgh area, and 1,246 of them, or 29 percent, are rated structurally deficient; this means that at least one bridge element -- its superstructure, substructure, or deck -- was found by inspectors to be in poor or worse-than-poor condition; Pennsylvania's 22 percent bridge structural deficiency rate is nearly double the national average
-
South Asia infrastructureIndia tunnels under Himalayan peaks to keep up with China
In the past decade, as China has furiously built up its military and civilian infrastructure on its side of the Himalayan border, but the Rohtang Pass on the Indian side has stood as silent testimony to India's inability and unwillingness to master its far-flung and rugged outermost reaches; in June, India has began to change that by starting the ambitious project which will take five years and require boring five miles through the Pir Panjal range; several other tunnels, which would allow all-weather access to Ladakh, which abuts the Tibetan Plateau, are also in the works
-
-
It will cost $77 billion to shore up U.S. ground transportation infrastructure
It would cost $77.7 billion to bring the U.S. mass transit systems, bus and rail included, into a state of good repair; most of the $77.7 billion backlog can be attributed to rail, but more than 40 percent of the U.S. buses also are in poor to marginal condition; in addition, an annual average of $14.4 billion would be required to maintain the systems
-
150,000 U.S. bridges are rated "deficient"
About 25 percent of the U.S. bridges remain "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete"; the deterioration of bridges in the United States is the direct result of a confluence of three developments: the system is aging; the costs of maintaining bridges is high; and traffic on these bridges is steadily increasing
-
Transportation leaders warn of U.S. infrastructure woes
The U.S. transportation system that supports the movement of freight is facing a crisis: in ten years, an additional 1.8 million trucks will be on the road in the United States; in twenty years, one truck will be added for every two today; major highway bottlenecks already are adding to the cost of food and other goods for American consumers
-
Flipper bridge could sort out Hong Kong-China traffic switch
In Hong Kong, people drive on the left; in mainland China, they drive on the right; a Dutch architectural firm has proposed a solution for traffic between the two places: a flipper bridge
-
110-foot concrete bridge withstands 8.0 earthquake simulation
University of Nevada, Reno, researchers demonstrate a 110-foot long, 200-ton concrete bridge model that can withstand a powerful jolting, three times the acceleration of the disastrous 1994 magnitude 6.9 Northridge, California earthquake, and survive in good condition
-
Natural disastersOregon town plans first tsunami-resistant building on stilts
Geological findings in recent years suggest there is a one-in-three chance that in the next half century a mega-earthquake will tear the seafloor apart off the Oregon Coast; huge waves would surge onto coastal communities in as little as fifteen minutes; an Oregon city plans tsunami-resistant buildings on stilts
-
InfrastructureBerkeley quake demonstration shows bridge safety ideas
Researchers demonstrate new bridge design that can withstand powerful earthquakes; the design concept relies on building segmented bridges with seismic isolators between the segments; the design would be particularly useful for long stretches of elevated freeways and high-speed rail lines that often run on elevated tracks
-
InfrastructureCrack-proof concrete developed
Researchers develop crack-proof concrete; the construction industry has spent decades looking for materials that would not crack when they are used to repair and reinforce older materials, because even hairline cracks can let in pollutants and start disintegrating the concrete; BASF engineers offer a solution
-
InfrastructureU.S. to expand freight congestion tracking initiative
The worst traffic bottleneck in the United States is the I-290 interchange with I-90 and I-94 in Chicago, where the average speed at 5 p.m. drops to 15 mph; the average peak hour speed is 23 mph, and the average non-peak hour speed is only 33 mph; data gathered from trucks identifies bottlenecks, and could help steer infrastructure planning
The Long View
New CFIUS regulations
CFIUS issues final regulations governing national security reviews of foreign investment in the United States
