"The Dynamic Tower"
     Imagine a new kind of building that physically embraces the forces of nature and, much like a wind chime, accepts the wind as its artist’s final design element. David Fisher is the visionary architect behind the Dynamic Tower. His design creates a building facade that is constantly changing.
A snapshot in time will never catch the dynamics of this building where each floor rotates independently at a different speed.
 
"A New Construction Paradigm"
Magazine Cover Story
     A new paradigm for the building of a new home on a teardown lot has recently been introduced by a company called LivingHomes. This company brings prefabricated parts of the new home to the construction site and fits them together as if they were large Lego blocks.
    As the modules near completion the preparation of the construction site begins.  The house in the illustration was basically erected on April 13, 2006.
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"The Falkirk Wheel"
When boats enter a caisson they automatically displace their own weight of water. The physical size of the boats that enter the caisson determines how many boats can be carried at one time.
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"Polymeric Polyurethane Bridges"
Have you driven across a polymeric polyurethane bridge lately?
 
"Insulated Concrete construction"
A new construction technology that creates insulated concrete walls might have a major influence on future construction.
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"Gateshead Millennium Bridge"
When it is in motion (see photos) this contemporary steel structure looks like a modern work of art that reminds many of a winking eye.
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The modern elevator story began in 1852 with Elisha Otis’s invention of a safety mechanism that stopped elevators from falling. To take passengers on a half mile- high elevator ride in the Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the Otis Elevator Company had to build a lift system with a 100-ton capacity.

Without a major breakthrough, elevators have reached their height limits because longer cables will break under their own weight. At this time, the construction industry is evaluating KONE Ultra-Rope™ which is a carbon fiber replacement for the steel elevator skyscraper cables.
A Vertical Transportation Breakthrough
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A Vertical Transportation
Breakthrough
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New Glue Could Soon Replace Nails
in Future Construction


     Today, the wood elements of a structure are generally held together by metal nails and staples. Gluing as a method of holding any part of the structure together is minimal because it takes too long for glues to dry and form a strong bond.
     A new bonding material has recently been developed for use in the construction of prefabricated housing. It is an adhesive that, in 60 seconds, goes from a solid to a liquid and then on to form a full bond when it is activated by an electrical current.
Woodframe Construction without Nails?
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Just like the ancient Greeks and Romans did centuries ago modern architects are now pushing beyond what seems possible. In Dubai, an Emirate of the United Arab Emirates, the Water Discus Hotel will have guest rooms located 33 feet below the surface of the water.  In Shanghai China the Shimao Wonderland Intercontinental Hotel will also have rooms underwater. Even more extraordinary this amazing construction project shows that it is possible to turn an old abandoned rock quarry into a tourist paradise. The full  story is only one click away.
Turning Architectural Dreams into Reality
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Hotels Beyond the Imagination
The New Tappan Zee Bridge
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     This new Tappan Zee Bridge is just beginning to rise from the water of the Hudson River. This column describes the engineering and construction technologies being used to build this new bridge. These bridges will withstand the forces of nature that are now slowly ripping apart the 60 year old Tappan Zee bridge that it will soon replace.
     To build a structurally sound bridge, this time, engineers needed to reach the bedrock which is 300 feet below the water and covered by hundreds of feet of silt. The new twin Bridges will have a  dampening system that will allow them to withstand the motion of an earthquake if, perhaps when, the Ramapo seismic zone decides to give them a major shake. The full story is fascinating.
The New Tappan Zee Bridge
Sky-High Elevators Without Cables
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     Modern elevators are pulled up and lowered down by very strong cables. To design and build a mile high building  you need to eliminate the current cable system because cables that long are too heavy.
     ThyssenKrupp engineers decided to get rid of the cable that lifts and lowers an elevator in its shaft. To accomplish this task they adapted the magnetic levitation system that they had designed to levitate their Transrapid high speed Maglev monorail trains. They repurposed this maglev system so it could work in an elevator shaft. For the complete story click the link below.
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     Walabot is a new product that works with your smartphone and lets  you see the plumbing and wiring that is hidden inside your walls. It works with a Walabot free app.
     Wallabot emits radio waves into your concrete or dry wall. It has multiple antennas to receive the information that bounces back from the objects that it finds in your wall. The technology behind this device is already being used by the military, homeland security, and in new medical devices. This column describes it all.
Walabot Can See Into Walls
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Elon Musk’s Boring Company


Hyperloop Link
     Some of Elon Musk’s projects seemed impossible when he first proposed them, but none of his ideas have ever been boring. His Boring Company is a play on words where the name of the company sums up what this company will do; that is bore tunnels to move new transportation systems underground.
     It is no accident that Godit, the new boring machine that his engineering teams have created (see photo 3 and 4), actually bore tunnels that are the exact size needed for the hyperloop’s giant tubes. You need more information on Hyperloop just click the crowd in a tube photo which appeared as photo 3 in the Hyperloop story..
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Boring Company Link
Godit Can Dig it!!!
New NYC Interactive Art Landmark
Climb 2,500 Steps to Breathtaking Views
Staircases Only Go Up and Down
The Only Destination is the View
     Hudson Yards is a 20 billion mega construction project that is now under construction in NYC. At the center of this 21st century mini city, in an open to the public 5 acre park like setting, they are now building the structure shown in photo 2.
     It is not a building and has no stores. It is an observation tower that will become a NYC landmark for tourists and New Yorkers to visit. Vessel is designed as interactive art for people to climb. Since Vessel has no floors to anchor its staircases, it is a unique construction project. 
     Vessel has been designed so it will look like it defies gravity. It will have a relatively small footprint at its foundation. From this base diameter each level spirals a little further out as its staircases and landings climb 16 stories into the air. For the full story with video links just click below for the TechDirections PDF.
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Constructing Tall Buildings Using SpeedCore
SpeedCore Construction
     The current method of building tall office buildings combines a steel frame with a traditional reinforced concrete core. SpeedCore does away with the wood forms and also the custom bending and placement of the rebar. Under laboratory conditions, SpeedCore has proven itself to be a superior earthquake proof method of construction. This new construction method has proven its ability to stand up to everything that nature might throw at it including the lateral loads of extremely high winds as well as the ground shaking and moving of earthquakes.  
     The first building to use the SpeedCore construction method to create a Composite Plate Shear Wall Core superstructure is now under construction in Seattle Washington.  See photos. When it is completed, at 850 feet, it will be the second tallest tower in Seattle; an area that is known for its earthquakes.
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Toyota’s Woven City of the Future
No one will be allowed to drive cars!
For the full story with 7 photos and 2 video links
At CES 2020 I attended the Toyota press conference and I expected a presentation that would focus on automobiles. The company’s President and CEO, Akio Toyoda, see photo 1, told us how Toyota is ready to break ground on building an entirely new smart city of the future. In this city no one will be allowed to drive cars. They are ready to break ground now and the city is being built in the shadow of Mt Fuji.
·Completely out of sight below all of these structures and courtyards an underground city will also exist where…
·For Toyota this city will be a human occupied laboratory where…
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Flood Proofing Homes Using Amphibious Construction
Flood Proofing Homes Using Amphibious Construction
     Since the start of this century the number of people worldwide that are now living in a flood zone has increased by 24 percent. There is a need to engineer flood adaptation construction strategies that could allow people to comfortably build or rebuild their homes so that they can safely live in dry homes even in areas that tend to frequently flood.
     In this column we will look at two solutions that allow a home to move vertically out of the way of rising flood waters. This amazing house can stay horizontally in the same place while it moves eight feet + vertically to stay above flooding waters.

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Alan J. Pierce EdD
          
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