The Christchurh Art Gallery, New Zealand

Earthquakes can cause liquefaction of soil. As a resultant, excessive settlement of soil can occur. An example is given in the image.

Now an art gallery in New Zealand which had similar issues in the 2011 earthquake has recently been rehabilitated in an interesting and challenging way. For more details, visit:

http://www.newcivilengineer.com/features/video-computer-grouting-technique-lifts-6500-sq-m-new-zealand-art-gallery/8691419.article

[P.S: Img Src: http://mail.colonial.net/~hkaiter/earthquakes.html]

A Building just got printed in 3D!!

3D printing had been revolutionising the age of complex designs and manufacture from the late 1980s. It started at the very basic level and slowly paced upon on its quality, speed and reliability on size of the design. But guess what's on store? Someone just thought whether he could scale up the machine to the Civil engineering level... And he sort of achieved something that's new in our field. Voila! 3D printed building in China developed by a company named Winsun. Find some more details here:

http://inhabitat.com/12000-square-foot-3d-printed-mansion-pops-up-in-china/

SOME TYPES OF PILES

Image Courtesy : Sefindia & other sources

POOF!!! VANISHED!!

Can you believe a Harry Potter inspiration in Civil Engineering ??? :D It's not yet done... But just a thought..An idea which may spark some great research developments.

Here's earthquake resistance by "Cloaking" the building just like the invisibility cloak in J.K.Rowling's ever lasting masterpiece. It's literally letting the earthquake not see the building and pass around it.

See the following article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120214100817.htm

BIGGEST INDOOR THEME PARK

Ferrari is on its way to astonish their fans with a more breath taking experience to have at their new proposed building - Ferrari theme park,Abu Dhabi. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, opens to you a pack of tons of fun with more than 20 rides and attractions including a spaceshot tower that launches riders 62m (203 ft) into the air and the world’s fastest roller coaster that propels thrill-seekers to speeds of 240 km/h (149mph) in just five seconds and many more.

Anyways, the construction's just fanta-bulous as you can see it..:)

For more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_World

MAKE WAY..FOR THE PLANE'S COMIN'..

GIBRALTAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT is an unusual airport. Do you know why?

This is the only airport where the runway actually intersects the express highway between Spain and Island. When a plane has to take off or Land, traffic is shut down. More interesting  is that the British Airways has daily flights here.

Well… That’s a WEIRD feat of construction I guess… :D

For more information,follow this link:

en.wikipidea.org/wiki/Gibraltar_International_Airport

HOW LONG WILL THE EIFFEL TOWER STAY?

Check out this interesting column from Yale Magazine.
http://www.yalescientific.org/2011/05/secrets-of-the-eiffel-tower/

Can we ever visit the centre of the Earth????

                            There's a famous book 'Journey to the centre of the Earth' written by French author Jules Verne.The story is about a professor who leads his nephew and a hired guide down a volcano in Iceland to the 'centre of the earth'.They encounter many adventures,including prehistoric animals and natural hazards,eventually coming to the surface again in Southern Italy.

                          Jules Verne's classic makes for exciting reading,but it is pure fiction.The centre of the earth is not a place to visit,unless you like hanging out in a blast furnace.The outer core of the earth,about two thirds of the way to the centre,is molten iron.Deeper yet.at the inner core,the pressure is so great - 3.5 million times surface pressure that iron solidifies even though the temperature is hotter than the surface of the sun.

                               For these very reasons,it can be safely said that it is unlikely that you can visit the centre of the earth anytime in the near future...   

"AROUND THE BUILDING IN 15 DAYS..."

This Hotel has an unlikely story - as all its 30 floors were built in just 15 days...

Not a single worker was injured in construction of the Ark Hotel in the inland city of Changsha, China. Despite being built so quickly, the 183,000 square foot monster can withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, according to construction firm Broad Group.

                          The five-star, prefabricated, T30 Hotel at Dongting Lake, was constructed by 200 builders over 15 days and opens on January 18. Zhang Yue, the Chinese air-conditioning tycoon behind the engineering feat, now intends to duplicate the model across the vast and heavily polluted nation.He said the speed with which his buildings go up reduces waste of materials and energy.The buildings, which feature quadruple-glazed windows and only use energy-saving lighting, are predicted to become his biggest business in 2013.

"We need to speed up our environmental thinking. We need buildings like this all over China," Mr Zhang said of the pre-fabs, which he claims are six times greener than most European buildings.

"In 2013 we will build 20 buildings a month and by 2014, we'll be up to 50 buildings a month. And that's just from one factory," he explained."China is 20-40 times more polluted than Europe and that's hurting our health and will offset the economic benefits of our growth," added Zhang, who won a UN Environment Programme Champions of the Earth award last year.
China's cities are among the world's most polluted, after three decades of rapid urbanisation.Mr Zhang founded Broad in 1988 with his brother, Zhang Jian, who studied thermo dynamics. Together they revived an old energy-saving technology for non-electric air conditioning, which they have now sold in 75 countries around the world.

The hotel's prefabricated parts were made at a factory owned by the Broad Group in Hunan that employs 10,000 people, using steel, glass and insulation sourced inside China, Mr Zhang said. The group has three such factories in China, and plans to expand that number to 40 to promote its patented Broad Sustainable Building model at home and abroad.

courtesy:www.news.com