Experts
Autonomous Machines Gain Acceptance in Construction
Brief Autonomous equipment from original equipment manufacturers and retrofits of existing machines are gaining acceptance from contractors. Joe Bousquin explores what users want in this equipment: safety, efficiency and control. Insight Construction Dive’s...
Best Practices for Mass Concrete Work in Hot Weather
Brief Contractors that need to place mass concrete in hot weather should prioritize nighttime placements and add ice, cooling water or liquid nitrogen to the concrete mix, write Sarah De Carufel and Keya Shirali from Giatec Scientific. They note that the maximum...
MIT Team gets a Detailed Look at Cement Hydration
Brief Scientists at MIT have used Raman microspectroscopy to examine the chemical reactions that occur when water and ordinary portland cement mix in a real-world setting. "[T]his allowed us to observe all the changes almost continuously and improved the resolution of...
How Robots Figure Into Search and Rescue Missions
Brief Robots play a vital mapping and imaging role in search and rescue missions, but they have size constraints that limit usefulness in unstructured rubble, Texas A&M University professor Robin Murphy says. In an interview, Murphy explores robots' capabilities...
Q&A: How a 3D-printed Concrete Cabin in N.Y. came to be
Brief In this interview, Hannah Office shares the design philosophy behind a cabin in upstate New York that was built by robots with 3D-printed concrete. The cabin also uses ash wood that would otherwise be unusable due to infestation by Emerald Ash Borers. ...
Advantages of Precast Concrete Manholes for Sewer Systems
Brief Manholes made from precast concrete offer several advantages for sewer systems, including the ability to place the manholes at depths of 500 feet or greater, RJ Frometa writes. Concrete also resists corrosion and offers watertight construction when coated with...
Q&A: A Better Choice than Wi-Fi for Construction
Brief The frequencies used in ordinary Wi-Fi face difficulty penetrating concrete on large construction sites, but there is a more viable alternative. In an interview, Insight Enterprises' Rob Parsons explores the promise and challenges of Citizens Broadband Radio...
Team Turns to Waste Materials for Greener Concrete
Brief Researchers from South Africa, Turkey and Cameroon are collaborating to create concrete using industrial waste and alkali solutions instead of conventional cement. The ultimate goal is a green concrete powder that can be used in construction. Insight ...
Q&A: Construction Robots are Your Friend, not Competition
Brief Construction robots are not sophisticated enough to displace human workers anytime soon because of humans' invaluable ability to improvise during complex and uncertain situations, says Reza Akhavian, a San Diego State University researcher studying how robotics...