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First rotating skyscraper to be self-powered and completely prefabricated

Visionary Italian architect Dr David Fisher has announced the launch of the Dynamic Tower, the world's first building in motion, to be constructed in Dubai and Moscow with other locations planned worldwide. Rotating Tower Dubai Development Ltd, headed by the Dynamic Group, recently revealed the design and floor plans of the rotating building which will have 80 floors and be 420m tall. Each floor rotates independently to create a building that constantly changes shape, resulting in a unique and ever-evolving architectural structure. “The Dynamic Tower is environmentally-friendly, with the ability to generate its own electricity, as well as for other nearby buildings. It achieves this feat with wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor,” Dr Fisher stated. The Dynamic Tower is also the first skyscraper to be built entirely from prefabricated parts that are custom-made in a workshop, requiring far fewer workers on the construction site, thereby dramatically lowering construction costs.

Immediate federal action urged to ease construction industry crisis

Rapid government action to stabilise financial markets, stimulate the economy, and lower energy and transportation costs remains an urgent priority, according to a statement issued by the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA). According to the NRMCA statement, energy accounts for 41% of the cost of producing a tonne of cement; 22% of the total cost structure of the ready-mix concrete industry is driven by the cost of energy. Almost a quarter of the cost of producing and delivering a truck of ready-mix concrete has increased by more than 80% due to the sharp hike in diesel fuel costs.

New agreement between two foundations

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) has announced the recent partnership between its ACI Foundation and the Charles Pankow Foundation with the purpose of delivering innovative, commercially viable applications for the design and construction of concrete buildings. Under the terms, the ACI Foundation’s Concrete Research Council, with input from its Strategic Development Council, will help identify the research needs of the industry and will recommend qualified research projects to the Charles Pankow Foundation for possible selection, funding, and management of the chosen projects.

Flowcrete’s towering achievement in Dubai

Specialist flooring company Flowcrete has secured its largest ever deal – an £8 million contract at one of the world’s most exclusive skyscraper developments, being built in the United Arab Emirates. The company is to install more than one million square metres of its Deckshield car park decking system at the Jumeirah Lakes Towers, in Dubai. Flowcrete-approved contractor Pegasus will be installing the decking system in the podium car parks of the 26 tri-clusters – representing 78 of the development’s 82 towers. The Jumeirah Lakes Towers Development is a waterfront community comprising office and residential towers set alongside hotels and retail units. The towers are being built in clusters of three around four man-made lakes and among landscaped gardens. Deckshield will be used in car parks, which are located at the bottom of each of the towers.

Perini to build Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport

Perini Building Company has been awarded a US$1.2 billion construction contract to build Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada. The project, which was expected to commence in August 2008, includes a new terminal building with an elevated roadway structure fronting the facility, over roadway pedestrian bridges, underground automated transit system infrastructure, and an aircraft ramp. The steel-framed terminal is approximately 176,500m2 and will have a basement, three upper levels and roof-level penthouses. The elevated roadway will extend the length of the terminal – approximately 27m wide and 610m long. Construction of the elevated roadway will include a concrete box girder with cast concrete columns. The contract also includes pedestrian bridges leading to parking. The project is due for completion in 2012.

US Concrete adds to West Texas operations

US Concrete has completed the acquisition of nine ready-mixed concrete plants in its west Texas market from another ready-mixed concrete producer. The plants produced approximately 187,000m3 of ready-mixed concrete during 2007, and will be integrated with the company’s existing Ingram Concrete operations. The company used cash-on-hand and its existing line of credit to fund the purchase price.

Lafarge acquires 35% stake in Meftah cement plant, Algeria

Lafarge has announced the acquisition of a 35% stake in the Meftah cement plant, which is very well positioned in the Algiers market, together with a 10-year management contract. The cost of the investment amounts to €43.5 million. An investment programme will be put into place to modernise the plant, increase its capacity from 0.8 million to 1.2 million tonnes by 2010 and improve the plant’s environmental performance. This project will be accompanied by a major training programme for the plant’s employees. This development will allow the group to participate in the presidential housing and infrastructure programme and to meet the very strong demand for cement arising from the country’s development requirements.

Construction expenditures in China to increase

Construction expenditures in China are expected to rise 9.2% per annum in real terms until 2012. A rapidly expanding domestic economy, continuing efforts to upgrade physical infrastructure, sustained strength in foreign investment funding, healthy demand for Chinese manufactured goods, ongoing urbanisation, and further population and household growth will all boost construction spending in China. Non-building construction will be the fastest growing sector, advancing 10.2% annually in real terms until 2012, fuelled by Government initiatives to expand and upgrade the country’s physical infrastructure, especially its highways, railways and subway systems. These and other trends are presented in Construction Outlook in China, a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industry research firm.

Hydraulic breakers help shopping centre project in Mexico

The old Plaza Isauro Alfaro Otero in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, is being rebuilt. An underground shopping centre with two car park levels and four movie rooms as well as an open-air theatre above ground will be built in appropriate attractive surroundings. Hydraulic breakers from Atlas Copco are helping the constructors Constructora Villa de Aguayo to carry out the excavation work for the project. An 80 × 80m and 14m-deep foundation pit was excavated; some 16,000m3 of earth was conventionally removed by means of excavators. Then 75,000m3 of sandstone with a compressive strength of 85 metric tonnes per square metre was crushed with the help of the hydraulic breakers. The whole project is due for completion in December 2008.

PTI announces 2008 award winners

The Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) has announced the recipients of its 2008 awards competition. PTI’s annual awards programme honours superior post-tensioning projects in the construction industry. The judges evaluate the submittals based on creativity, innovation, ingenuity, cost-effectiveness, functionality, constructability and aesthetics. The Project of the Year, Award of Excellence for 2008 was awarded to the New Guthrie Theater Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Submitted by post-tensioning supplier AMSYSCO, the project was entered in the mixed-use building category and includes three theatres and a 1000-space car park. The unusual design required a high degree of technical expertise in post-tensioning to accommodate the heavy live loads and large, column-free areas. Other project team members include Jean Nouvel and Architectural Alliance (architects), Erickson Roed & Associates (engineer) and McGough Construction Company (contractor).