Exterior of Fedeartion square
Structural joints within the southern area of Fed Square, characteristic use of steel and glass.
Interworking planes of steel members both structural and aesthetically pleasing.
Larger image showing structural membersTuesday, June 3, 2008
Federation Squaren - Peter Davidson and Donald Bates from Lab Architecture Studio in London
Exterior of Fedeartion square Structural joints within the southern area of Fed Square, characteristic use of steel and glass. Interworking planes of steel members both structural and aesthetically pleasing.Larger image showing structural members
Pressure grows in China for nationwide audit of major structures - The Australian - theaustralian.com.au
Pressure grows in China for nationwide audit of major structures
Rowan Callick, China correspondent May 21, 2008
THE Chinese Government is coming under unusual pressure from the public and construction experts to consider a massive nationwide reinforcement program in response to the collapse of so many schools and other public buildings in the Sichuan earthquake.
Architects and engineers throughout the country have begun to urge the central Government to order an unprecedented audit of major structures, as the confirmed death toll from the May 12 quake reached 39,577.
The call follows widespread condemnation of the "tofu buildings" - that may look fine but are inside as soft as tofu - that buried thousands of people in Sichuan.
Experts being quoted in strongly argued articles now spreading through the Chinese media point to Japan, where in 1995 a quake in Kobe not much less powerful killed only about a tenth of the likely final death tollin Sichuan, despite being located directly under a city of 1.5million people.
The chief difference is the quality of the buildings. Almost all the deaths in Sichuan have been within buildings whereas in Japan schools are the strongest buildings and are often used as earthquake shelters.
Jiang Weixin, the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, last week announced an inquiry into the collapse of structures in Sichuan and warned contractors and builders would be "severely punished" if found to have compromised quality.
Wu Hua, a senior architect at Beijing's Dada Architecture and Design Company, told The Australian that "school buildings in China are still being constructed according to the same standards as other commercial structures, so it's no wonder that many fell down this time".
She and fellow architects and other construction industry professionals are calling for an urgent review of the earthquake resistant capabilities of school buildings in China, and of other public buildings - followed by a massive reinforcement program, if proven necessary as they expect. Implementation of existing standards is a further concern, Ms Wu said.
"Most of the collapsed school buildings are in rural areas, where people are right to question the quality of supervision by relevant government departments."
Principals in China must usually find a large proportion of the costs of building, running and maintaining their schools from non-government sources, a task made tougher following the insistence of Beijing - in a popular move - that all Chinese children be given nine years' free, compulsory schooling.
One common answer to this challenge is to contract out the construction of new buildings to construction companies and permit them to collect revenues - for instance, from dormitory fees.
A leading Shanghai architect, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Without strict supervision, builders are very likely to use low-quality material, including steel reinforcing rods with poor strength, or they will reduce the numbers of rods in the cement, or even use iron bars instead.
"Even though China has a set of standards for examining buildings for earthquake resistance, very often this examination is just a surface-only procedure."
A government construction official in Changsha city, Hunan province, who writes a popular blog as Youke67, wrote yesterday: "Local government departments in charge of building quality supervision clearly failed in their job in Sichuan."
An architect wrote online that he was shocked to view on TV that "the collapsed building of Juyuan Middle School (where about 900 children perished) used prefabricated concrete board. In the current design standards, that's strictly forbidden."
Meanwhile, the population of Beichuan, the town in the mountains that has been the worst hit, yesterday climbed back up to 40,000 as lines of rescuers - khaki soldiers, orange firefighters, blue police - fanned out beneath their banners to listen for any final, faint signs of life, to recover bodies, and to start to make the ruins safe.
Heavy equipment - bulldozers, mobile cranes, diggers - clogs the single-lane road into town, dodging the vast boulders that remain as monuments to the quake's devastating force.
Yao Ying-quan, a public servant co-ordinating the aid effort, says all surviving inhabitants havebeen told to evacuate their homes, though they are permitted to watch rescue efforts, behind a safe line.
China's banking regulators yesterday ordered banks to ensure adequate loans and other support for companies and individuals in the quake zone. The Government has reported that companies suffered 67 billion yuan ($10 billion) in damage from the quake, with more than 14,200 companies damaged.
While oil and gas operations in the region are virtually back to normal, power plants have less than three days' supply in some areas, the Government said yesterday, adding to the country's logistical headaches.
This artical discusses the quality and structural stability of many of the strucutres that perished during the earth quakes recently. ANd as such most likely tripled the amount of deaths that occured.
Rowan Callick, China correspondent May 21, 2008
THE Chinese Government is coming under unusual pressure from the public and construction experts to consider a massive nationwide reinforcement program in response to the collapse of so many schools and other public buildings in the Sichuan earthquake.
Architects and engineers throughout the country have begun to urge the central Government to order an unprecedented audit of major structures, as the confirmed death toll from the May 12 quake reached 39,577.
The call follows widespread condemnation of the "tofu buildings" - that may look fine but are inside as soft as tofu - that buried thousands of people in Sichuan.
Experts being quoted in strongly argued articles now spreading through the Chinese media point to Japan, where in 1995 a quake in Kobe not much less powerful killed only about a tenth of the likely final death tollin Sichuan, despite being located directly under a city of 1.5million people.
The chief difference is the quality of the buildings. Almost all the deaths in Sichuan have been within buildings whereas in Japan schools are the strongest buildings and are often used as earthquake shelters.
Jiang Weixin, the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, last week announced an inquiry into the collapse of structures in Sichuan and warned contractors and builders would be "severely punished" if found to have compromised quality.
Wu Hua, a senior architect at Beijing's Dada Architecture and Design Company, told The Australian that "school buildings in China are still being constructed according to the same standards as other commercial structures, so it's no wonder that many fell down this time".
She and fellow architects and other construction industry professionals are calling for an urgent review of the earthquake resistant capabilities of school buildings in China, and of other public buildings - followed by a massive reinforcement program, if proven necessary as they expect. Implementation of existing standards is a further concern, Ms Wu said.
"Most of the collapsed school buildings are in rural areas, where people are right to question the quality of supervision by relevant government departments."
Principals in China must usually find a large proportion of the costs of building, running and maintaining their schools from non-government sources, a task made tougher following the insistence of Beijing - in a popular move - that all Chinese children be given nine years' free, compulsory schooling.
One common answer to this challenge is to contract out the construction of new buildings to construction companies and permit them to collect revenues - for instance, from dormitory fees.
A leading Shanghai architect, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Without strict supervision, builders are very likely to use low-quality material, including steel reinforcing rods with poor strength, or they will reduce the numbers of rods in the cement, or even use iron bars instead.
"Even though China has a set of standards for examining buildings for earthquake resistance, very often this examination is just a surface-only procedure."
A government construction official in Changsha city, Hunan province, who writes a popular blog as Youke67, wrote yesterday: "Local government departments in charge of building quality supervision clearly failed in their job in Sichuan."
An architect wrote online that he was shocked to view on TV that "the collapsed building of Juyuan Middle School (where about 900 children perished) used prefabricated concrete board. In the current design standards, that's strictly forbidden."
Meanwhile, the population of Beichuan, the town in the mountains that has been the worst hit, yesterday climbed back up to 40,000 as lines of rescuers - khaki soldiers, orange firefighters, blue police - fanned out beneath their banners to listen for any final, faint signs of life, to recover bodies, and to start to make the ruins safe.
Heavy equipment - bulldozers, mobile cranes, diggers - clogs the single-lane road into town, dodging the vast boulders that remain as monuments to the quake's devastating force.
Yao Ying-quan, a public servant co-ordinating the aid effort, says all surviving inhabitants havebeen told to evacuate their homes, though they are permitted to watch rescue efforts, behind a safe line.
China's banking regulators yesterday ordered banks to ensure adequate loans and other support for companies and individuals in the quake zone. The Government has reported that companies suffered 67 billion yuan ($10 billion) in damage from the quake, with more than 14,200 companies damaged.
While oil and gas operations in the region are virtually back to normal, power plants have less than three days' supply in some areas, the Government said yesterday, adding to the country's logistical headaches.
This artical discusses the quality and structural stability of many of the strucutres that perished during the earth quakes recently. ANd as such most likely tripled the amount of deaths that occured.
FKP Property Group Development
Exterior facade of the new development taking place south of the Geelong Waterfront Deakin campus.
Here a cherry picker elevates a welder to a system of structural members that rewquire welding, often difficult and time consuming welding is not longer used on sight much any more, often done off site.
The enterior is still unpartitioned, while the exterior is almost totally covered, this allows for the contractors to work in all weathers and protects what materials need to be protected.Federation Square installs water tanks The Age - theage.com.au
Federation Square installs water tanks
Peter Ker May 14, 2008
The tanks just keep on rolling in around Melbourne.
A bulk order of 63 rainwater tanks has been installed at Federation Square, improving the environmental credentials of Melbourne's major meeting place.
Original plans for tanks to be included at the Square were abandoned in 2002 to save $350,000 in construction costs. The decision was typical of attitudes at the time, with the Southern Cross Station redevelopment across town also overlooking water storage.
Years of severe drought have changed attitudes.
Federation Square's 63 new tanks - which complement the nine installed last year - are in a service trench underneath the Alfred Deakin building, near Flinders Street.
Federation Square chief executive Kate Brennan said the tanks had the capacity to hold 100,000 litres.
"We're hoping that it rains soon and they fill up," she said.
The water collected will flush toilets and Ms Brennan said she hoped the tanks would help reduce water use by more than 12 million litres each year.
Progress has been slower at Southern Cross Station, where planning for tanks is still under way.
Two tanks holding a total of 250,000 litres of rainwater have been planned, with additional run-off to be stored in the Bourke Street main drain.
Station Authority chief executive Jackie Barry said that despite a tender being offered 11 months ago, the $1.2 million water harvesting works were still months away.
Melbourne's new convention centre will also harvest rainwater from the roof into a blackwater (sewage) recycling unit.
Melbourne's water authorities are keen to encourage increased water harvesting into tanks, but insist it is not a viable way to solve Melbourne's overall water supply difficulties.
This artical discusses the new water saving craze and the use in many iconic locations such as Southern Cross station and Fed square, although stating this will not be that final do or die answer to water crisis.
Pisa's leaning tower 'safe for 300 years' The Age - theage.com.au
Pisa's leaning tower 'safe for 300 years'
May 29, 2008 - 10:10AM
The leaning tower of Pisa has been successfully stabilised and is out of danger for at least 300 years, said an engineer who has been monitoring the iconic Italian tourist attraction.
"All of our expectations have been confirmed," Professor Michele Jamiolkowski, an engineer and geologist, was quoted as telling Italy's leading newspaper, Corriere della Sera.
The tower's tilt of about four metres off the vertical has remained stable in recent years, after a big engineering project that ended in 2001 corrected its lean by about 40 centimetres from where it was in 1990 when the project began.
"Now we can say that the tower can rest easy for at least 300 years," Jamiolkowski told the paper in an article published today.
The tower was shut to visitors for almost 12 years from 1990 - when it was sinking about a millimetre a year - and reopened in December, 2001 at the end of the biggest phase of the consolidation and restoration project.
The 14,000-tonne free-standing bell tower, an internationally recognised architectural symbol of Italy along with Rome's Colosseum, was built in several stages between 1174 and 1370.
It began to tilt after completion of several storeys due to unstable ground. Builders at first used trapezoidal stones to return the structure to the vertical but the tower continued to lean.
During the stabilisation phase of the project which ended in 2001 the structure was anchored to cables while cement was injected to relieve pressure on the ground. The lean of the tower is now considered safe and is about what it was in 1700.
Restorers are now using a specially-designed, light-weight scaffolding made of an aluminium alloy as a base from which to clean the tower's white and grey marble.
Officials have said over the years that they have no intention of straightening the tower, which would detract from its unique status and tourist draw.
Astronomer Galileo, who was hauled before the Vatican's Inquisition for his view that the earth revolved around the sun, is said to have used the tower of his hometown for experiments on gravity.
This artical discusses the life of one of the worlds most iconic structurs, while not a new technoogy or discovery it is still relevant and interesting
Building industry 'goes gangbusters' The Age - theage.com.au
Building industry 'goes gangbusters'
May 29, 2008
THE nation's infrastructure binge helped fuel a record pace of construction for the March quarter.
Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show total construction rose 2.3% in real terms to $29.96 billion.
Activity was underpinned by engineering projects such as roads and bridges. The ABS said engineering work completed in the first three months of this year stood at $13.5 billion, up 5.2% on the previous quarter.
There was also good news for people locked out of the housing market. The volume of outstanding projects to build houses and units hit record levels in dollar and inflation-adjusted terms.
Economists said this could ease the rental crisis gripping most capital cities, including Melbourne, where a lack of housing is forcing up rents.
"Order books in the housing sector hit new highs in the March quarter, raising the hope that the extra supply of homes coming onto the market will put downward pressure on rents," CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said.
"Overall, order books are exceedingly healthy, with the value of both residential and commercial projects at new highs."
Research by Residex shows that Melbourne topped the nation for the steepest rise in rents for houses and units in the past year. For the year to April, the median weekly rent for a house in Melbourne increased by 22.95% to $375.
Mr James said while much of the focus was on the resources boom, it was clear from the ABS figures that the wider construction industry continued to "go gangbusters".
He said buoyant conditions should not feed into inflation. "While cost pressures are a concern for all industries, the good news is these pressures are still well contained in construction," Mr James said. "CommSec has estimated that construction costs were up just over 5% on a year ago in the March quarter, close to two-year lows."
Mr James said companies reliant on construction had plenty of work on hand.
"The gloom and doom reports on the housing sector are overplaying the situation," he said.
"Clearly, more homes and apartments need to be built, given our rising population, but it appears that we are slowly rising to the challenge."
The Federal Government has signalled its desire to boost the nation's infrastructure, announcing in the budget the $20 billion Building Australia Fund.
Robert Papaleo, director of strategic research at property group Charter Keck Cramer, said that while the ABS figures showed strong residential building levels, underlying demand in Victoria was racing ahead even faster.
"Also, there is a capacity constraint in Victoria," Mr Papaleo said.
"Capacity is being diverted to more lucrative types of work, particularly in mining and, perhaps to some degree, infrastructure."
He said the political focus on infrastructure meant more resources would be devoted to the sector, reducing the ability of the housing sector to deliver new stock.
This artical revists the concept of growth and points out how further growth is expected due the growing mineral boon.
May 29, 2008
THE nation's infrastructure binge helped fuel a record pace of construction for the March quarter.
Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show total construction rose 2.3% in real terms to $29.96 billion.
Activity was underpinned by engineering projects such as roads and bridges. The ABS said engineering work completed in the first three months of this year stood at $13.5 billion, up 5.2% on the previous quarter.
There was also good news for people locked out of the housing market. The volume of outstanding projects to build houses and units hit record levels in dollar and inflation-adjusted terms.
Economists said this could ease the rental crisis gripping most capital cities, including Melbourne, where a lack of housing is forcing up rents.
"Order books in the housing sector hit new highs in the March quarter, raising the hope that the extra supply of homes coming onto the market will put downward pressure on rents," CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said.
"Overall, order books are exceedingly healthy, with the value of both residential and commercial projects at new highs."
Research by Residex shows that Melbourne topped the nation for the steepest rise in rents for houses and units in the past year. For the year to April, the median weekly rent for a house in Melbourne increased by 22.95% to $375.
Mr James said while much of the focus was on the resources boom, it was clear from the ABS figures that the wider construction industry continued to "go gangbusters".
He said buoyant conditions should not feed into inflation. "While cost pressures are a concern for all industries, the good news is these pressures are still well contained in construction," Mr James said. "CommSec has estimated that construction costs were up just over 5% on a year ago in the March quarter, close to two-year lows."
Mr James said companies reliant on construction had plenty of work on hand.
"The gloom and doom reports on the housing sector are overplaying the situation," he said.
"Clearly, more homes and apartments need to be built, given our rising population, but it appears that we are slowly rising to the challenge."
The Federal Government has signalled its desire to boost the nation's infrastructure, announcing in the budget the $20 billion Building Australia Fund.
Robert Papaleo, director of strategic research at property group Charter Keck Cramer, said that while the ABS figures showed strong residential building levels, underlying demand in Victoria was racing ahead even faster.
"Also, there is a capacity constraint in Victoria," Mr Papaleo said.
"Capacity is being diverted to more lucrative types of work, particularly in mining and, perhaps to some degree, infrastructure."
He said the political focus on infrastructure meant more resources would be devoted to the sector, reducing the ability of the housing sector to deliver new stock.
This artical revists the concept of growth and points out how further growth is expected due the growing mineral boon.
Construction work done rises 2.3% The Age - theage.com.au
Construction work done rises 2.3%
May 28, 2008 - 11:32AM
Total construction work done in Australia rose 2.3 per cent in the March quarter in volume terms, seasonally adjusted.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said total construction work done was valued at $29.968 billion, compared with an upwardly revised $29.300 billion in the December quarter.
The median market forecast was for a rise of 2.0 per cent.
The ABS said total building work done in the March quarter fell to $16.445 billion, seasonally adjusted, from an upwardly revised $16.450 billion in the December quarter.
Engineering work done rose to $13.524 billion from $12.850 billion.
The artical paints a growing trend of continued construction, however how long the economy can support this is under question
Deakin University Waterfront Campus Barn(studo)
Enterior of the barn is portal frame construction. Shown here are the interlocking steel members supporting the cladding insulation and exterior.
The interlocking joints are held together via blots and stability plates.
The use of double brick Veneer is shown here. along with the insulation and steel members.Deakin University Geelong WaterFront - Western aspect
The new addition to Deakin Uni Waterfront campus constructed by Wycombe Group, Project Management mirrors that of the older sections of the Uni using primarily Brick Steel and Wood, however the use of reinforced conrete here is both for ease of assemblage, cost, and structural stability.
The use of timber supports as a mould for the concrete slab being laid is shown here.
The window frames are already being added just after the completion of all structural members.
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