Lock-Block Ltd. of Richmond, B.C. has developed the Arch-Lock, a pre-cast piece of concrete in a wedge shape that can be used to build arches and vaults without steel reinforcement. Read more.
A significant finding resulting from the work of two University of BC Okanagan campus research engineers who controlled alkali-silica reaction (ASR) when using glass in a mortar mix is the potential for reducing fly-ash content as Canada’s supply of fly-ash is predicted to diminish. Read more.
Windsor, Ont.’s $1.4 billion Herb Gray Parkway that opened a year ago and is scheduled to connect to a new bridge to the United States in 2020, was precedent-setting because of how the construction preserved endangered wildlife. Read more.
A 3-D printer is simply a type of industrial robot. The relationship between robotics and 3-D printing had been there all along. Most of us simply never noticed it. Now, though, that relationship is what’s behind a project that would let flying robots —drones — fly into disaster areas and build shelters for survivors using 3-D printing technology. Read more.
The construction industry is going back to school. At this year’s Canadian Apprenticeship Forum conference in Vancouver, speakers from Alberta and Nova Scotia shared a variety of methods to reach teens in high school and expose them to a career in the trades. Read more.
EllisDon, in partnership with six other companies, have developed an industry-led action plan in support of Canada’s international climate change commitments. Read more.
The world today invests some $2.5 trillion a year on transportation, power, water, and telecommunications systems. Yet it’s not enough—and needs are only growing steeper. In a follow-up to its comprehensive 2013 report Infrastructure productivity: How to save $1 trillion a year, the McKinsey Global Institute finds that the world needs to invest an average of $3.3 trillion annually just to support currently expected rates of growth. Read more.
The Fort McMurray Construction Association (FMCA) is urging its members to contact a property appraisal consultant called SPECS Ltd. to bid for subcontract work on the post-wildfire cleanup contract, after an emotional meeting revealed the company is looking for a prime contractor. Read more.
A group of scientists at MIT are taking cues from nature to develop a new type of concrete that may be stronger and more durable than traditional cement. In a recent paper published in the journal Construction and Building Materials, researchers compared cement paste with the structure of natural materials like bones, shells, and sea sponges. Researchers noted that naturally occurring structures like shells are exceptionally strong because of the way they are arranged at both the microscopic level as well as the ‘macro’ (visual) level. Read more.
Surrounded by 300 deserted man-made islands, Dubai’s newest real-estate wonder has all the amenities of a luxury hotel — plus views of the bottom of the sea. Read more.