The Qingzang Railway (also known as Qinghai-Tibet Railway) is the world’s highest railway and a culmination of the long-held Chinese dream of connecting China to Tibet. This railway line was built to ease the travel and to also provide a passageway for minerals from Tibet to the Chinese mainland. The …
Read More »Project Spotlight: The Durban Landfill Gas To Electricity Project
For several years, South Africa has battled with its high emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). The country has an abundance of coal reserves, which it relies on heavily for energy. Another major contributor of GHG is the industrial sector which is fundamental in the country’s economic activities.
Read More »Project Spotlight: Hangzhou Bay Bridge
The longest ocean-crossing bridge in the world, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is an S-shaped stayed-cable bridge with six lanes in both directions that shortens the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 kilometers. The 36 kilometer long bridge required a great number of new techniques, new materials, new equipment and new theories due to the large scale and design of the project. It took close to 600 experts and a total of nine years to design the bridge. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge is expected to boost the economic development of the Yangtze River Delta, also called the Golden Industrial Triangle. Work on the bridge began in June 2003 and was completed in June 2007. The bridge was opened to the public in May 2008 and carried about 50,000 vehicles per day in its first year of operation. The total project cost was approximately $1.5 billion.
Read More »Project Spotlight: International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
Burning fossil fuels is the number one cause of global warming and has been a major concern for engineers worldwide. Energy demand around the world is expected to double by 2050, and our reliance on fossil fuels – currently 85% – needs to drop dramatically if we are to reduce …
Read More »Project Spotlight: Taipei 101
Towering majestically on Taiwan’s skyline, the Taipei 101 was the first world's tallest building completed in the 21st century and remains the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. It was surpassed by Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010 though it remains a significant structure globally. Completed in 2004, the building stands at 508-meters and has 101 floors. A prominent icon in Taiwan, fireworks launched from the tower on New Year’s Eve has become an international broadcast and it is featured frequently in international media.
Read More »Millau Viaduct
Pushing engineering boundaries, the Millau Viaduct was built across one of the deepest valleys in France and is taller than the Eiffel Tower. The graceful bridge supported on needlelike piers is a result of rigor, precision and professionalism and received the 2006 International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Outstanding Structure Award.
Read More »About Brunel’s Epic Project, The Great Western
Many have argued that Isambard Kingdom Brunel is the greatest engineer that has ever lived. We certainly agree and appreciate his versatility and audacity in implementing grandiose projects. Even more impressive is that fact that Brunel is one of the few engineers who mastered and excelled in multiple areas of …
Read More »Project Spotlight: The History Of The London Underground
The History of the London Underground” is the definitive story of ‘the tube’, the world’s first underground railway system, an extraordinary and vast network that serves nearly a billion people each year.
Read More »Horrible Engineering: This is why you should involve Geotechnical Engineers in your next Project
There are some roads that are deliberately made dangerous either due to lack of alternate routes and then there is this road project in Yunnan province in China. Not only does it appear to have been implemented before any type of soil investigations had been performed, it also appears that the pavement structure …
Read More »Project Spotlight: Famous Bridges Of The World
I f you like bridges, you will certainly enjoy this great compilation by Bhim Upadhyaya showing some of the famous bridges of the World, built to benefit humanity in immense ways. Also, you might want to consider adding the following books to your existing collection: Famous Bridges Of The World …
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