Experts

Brief  Replacing manual with digital processes is one way that engineers can ensure that the world's built spaces use energy as efficiently as possible, writes Carl Coken, vice president of Atrius Engineering, Acuity Brands. This can involve the placement of sensors...

BRief  Mo Ehsani, president of QuakeWrap, outlines how fiber-reinforced polymers can enhance the axial and flexural capacity of concrete columns. Ehsani offers a look at the history of FRP as a concrete strengthener as well as design examples.   Insight   An...

Brief  Alexander Curth, a doctoral student at MIT, looks at the past, present and future of 3D-printed concrete, starting in 1939 with William Urschel's first 3D-printed building in Valparaiso, Ind. Curth offers a detailed look at the promise and advantages of 3D...

Brief  The Maldives recently greenlit the construction of a floating community and a similar development off the coast of South Korea by Bjarke Ingels Group is underway. Are the efforts a realistic bulwark against climate change or merely a sci-fi distraction?  ...

Brief  THE homes we live in will increasingly be constructed off-site as investors and developers seek to balance spiralling costs with environmental concerns, it is predicted.   Insight Poole-based property finance specialist MSP Capital foresees a growing role...

Brief  The British Columbia building industry and universities are embracing 3D printing, with Twente Additive Manufacturing co-founder Ian Comishin saying "3D printers will be as common on building sites as excavators" in the next decade. Hit by devastating floods in...

Brief  Ceramic waste used as aggregate in concrete can match or improve performance over concrete using other aggregates, writes Ben Pilkington. With as much as 10% of ceramic tile production ending up as waste, it can be an important source to relieve ongoing...

Brief  The iconic, 3,500-foot-long Sixth Street Viaduct in Los Angeles was deteriorating and vulnerable to seismic shocks when it was demolished in 2016. The bridge that will replace it will feature a low-shrinkage, 6,000 psi concrete mix and triple-pendulum isolation...

Brief  Improving construction equipment and technologies that enable productivity is often a focus of manufacturers, but interfaces and heads-up displays that provide operators information for safe and efficient work are often overlooked. Displays that monitor...