AS 3850.2:2015 Amd 1:2018 - Published11 Dec 2018

The objective of this part of the Standard is to provide requirements for the materials, components and equipment used in the manufacture of prefabricated concrete elements. 
 

Designing climate-friendly concrete, from the nanoscale up11 Dec 2018

Recognizing the critical need for concrete, Pellenq and his colleague Franz-Josef Ulm, professor of CEE and director of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), have been working to reduce its environmental footprint. Their goal: to find ways to do more with less. “If we can make concrete stronger, we’ll need to use less of it in our structures,” says Ulm. “And if we can make it more durable, it’ll last longer before it needs to be replaced.”...More

News bulletin-49: 11 Dec 2018

The concepts and aspirations behind the design of the North Queensland Stadium have been explained in a behind-the-scenes video featuring Concrete Institute of Australia Silver Member, ARUP.

Construction activity levels dropped at the fastest rate in nearly four years last month. The Australian Industry Group’s (Ai Group) Performance of Construction Index (PCI) fell to 44.5 points in November.

Expressions of Interest are invited by 14 December for the principal design consultant contract for a $150 million performing arts theatre in Brisbane.

A 22-storey residential building in Sydney's Waterloo, named Emblem and designed by BVN, has received an Award of Excellence for Best Tall Building 100 metres and Under from the Council on Tall Buildings  and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), putting it in the running for the Best Tall Building Worldwide in 2019. BVN also designed the new Sydney Fish Market area which will involve a substantial amount of concrete (pictured).

Central Darwin is set to become the home of a number of educational and civic institutions, including a new campus for Charles Darwin University, a fine arts gallery, and a major library.

Kane Constructions has been awarded a design and construct contract for the $64.6 million State Netball and Hockey Centre (SNHC) Redevelopment in Victoria.
 
Image: The proposed design of the new Sydney Fish Markets area. Source: BVN.
 

News bulletin-48: 4 Dec 2018

Rob Kilgour, WSP Principal Engineer for Materials Technology, explores the balancing act required in defining requirements for tunnel material durability performance to help extend the life of tunnel assets. And in other news, WSP has won the 2018 Global Road Achievement Award for Design for the Waterview Connection in NZ (pictured).

Belgian construction giant BESIX Group SA has acquired a controlling interest in Watpac of more than 50%, with the intent to grow Watpac's earnings and shareholder value.

Westkon Precast in Melbourne has installed a Universal Concrete Extruder with eight different tube and mould sets for the manufacture of hollow core slab 1.20 m in width and 15 to 50 cm in height.

Building contractor, Halikos, has been announced as the successful tenderer for the $12.6 million first stage Northern Territory public school at Zuccoli which will support 120 construction jobs over the coming year.

Austroads has published a report that outlines a framework to help assess the value of maintenance and renewal works, consistent with capital investments. The organisation has also released its 2017-18 annual report.

This concrete house has much more than meets the eye, according to CCAA, with the choice of concrete's chief characteristic that formed the choice for the building.

News bulletin-47: 27 Nov 2018

Industry groups, including cement producers, are lobbying against a new 2019 import tax, the Biosecurity Imports Levy, alleging the new tariff will increase costs by 3000 - 5000% on the inputs for cement, steel and aluminium production.

An Adelaide contractor has been named National Specialist Contractor of the Year at Master Builders Australia's national awards for the first of eight bridges over the Southern Expressway, part of the $620 million Darlington Upgrade Project. And Multiplex was awarded as National Commercial Builder of the Year for its construction of Perth’s Optus Stadium.

Arcadis has appointed a new CEO of its Australia Pacific business. The new chief takes over from Greg Steele who was recently made Group Executive APAC.

Fletcher Building has revealed its Golden Bay Cement plant in Auckland, NZ, was forced to stop its cement mill for four weeks in September which is likely to impact its financial year earnings by millions. It also says it is up against challenging conditions in Australia.

Developers are invited to submit expressions of interest for the construction of a unit complex containing 70 residential units by NT Health for Alice Springs Hospital staff accommodation.

An over-station development at Waterloo, Sydney, that includes three towers of 23, 25 and 29 storeys.
A concept DA has been submitted that includes 700 dwellings, along with almost 4000 m² of retail/entertainment space, 8700 m² of office space/recreational facilities, and at least 2000 m² for community use.

 

AS 3600:2018 Amd 1:2018 has been published - 21 Nov 2018

The following Standards Australia publication has been published. 
 

News bulletin-46: 20 Nov 2018

SMEC ANZ has appointed a new CEO following the appointment of CEO SMEC and CEO International earlier in the year. The company will also celebrate its 70th anniversary next year and has just completed a year-long feasibility study that includes the potential for a 2100GL dam in Queensland, which could lead to 12,000 jobs.

An international design competition for the controversial new Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta has been announced, ahead of its launch in December. A London-based competition organizer has been appointed to manage the two-stage competition process, with the winning design to be announced later in 2019.
 
A survey of 100 civil engineers in the UK has found, among other things, that a third of engineers who regularly design steel to concrete connections struggle because there is no software to design the different elements of a steel to concrete connection.
 
A NSW Roads and Maritime Services Director of Bridges and Structure has been awarded the NSW Premier’s Award for Infrastructure Delivery.

The inaugural 2018 NZ Bridges Summit and Awards Dinner has been held in Auckland, with delegates taking part in workshops, presentations and discussions in bridge design, asset management and recent engineering developments. Beca bridge engineers won the Large Structure Award for their work on the Great North Road Interchange Ramps.

Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institute in Germany, have replaced carbon/glass-fibre fabrics in textile reinforced concrete with eco-friendly natural fibres that rival conventional concrete performance, with a smaller carbon footprint.

Image: Steel and concrete connection. Source: via New Civil Engineer.
 

Final design for new Sydney Fish Market unveiled16 Nov 2018

Danish practice 3XN said that its approach to the project would be to create a major cultural facility that was more than just a fish market.
“This building will be many things when it is done: a working fish market, an amenity for the city, a cultural destination, an urban connector, and an inspiring icon along the world-renowned Sydney Harbour,” said 3XN founding partner Kim Herforth Nielsen. “The natural value of the water’s edge should not be underestimated and should be accessible to everyone.”... More

 

News bulletin-45: 13 Nov 2018

Concrete paving is underway on South Australia’s first major concrete road as part of the $885 million Northern Connector project.

Victoria University’s long-planned 32-storey vertical city campus will soon be built at 364-378 Little Lonsdale Street in the Melbourne CBD, with ISPT signing on as developer. Its DA was approved six years ago.
 
A number of sustainability related jobs have been featured by The Fifth Estate that may interest readers.

This residence in Lisbon, Portugal, features concrete throughout and features a parabolic roof.

The longest suspension bridge in Africa has just been completed, connecting three nations, and built for US$700 million. It was a joint construction and management project by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and the government of Mozambique.

You are welcome to read abstracts from Elsevier's latest concrete and cement research articles.

Huge concrete blocks are being used to harness potential energy via a 'skyscraper-sized battery' in the Energy Vault system, to be deployed in India for the first time in 2019.


Image: The Maputo-Catembe Bridge in Mozambique.

AS 5100.5:2017 Amd 1- 12 Nov 2018

AS 5100.5:2017 Amd 1 follows the release of AS5100:2017

AS(/NZS) 5100:2017 Series Bridge Design represents international best practise for design of new bridges, rehabilitation of existing bridges and the assessment of the structural capacity of older bridges for current traffic loads.

This Standard was prepared by the Australian members of Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee BD-090.
 

News bulletin-44: 6 Nov 2018

A development application for a 49-storey tower to rise out of Sydney's heritage-listed City Tattersall's Club on Pitt Street has been lodged with the City of Sydney. This is ICD Property's second proposal for the site, the first rejected by council and the court due to heritage concerns.

Master Builders Association of Victoria has announced it has a new CEO, replacing Radley de Silva who has retired after five years at the helm and 17 at the MBAV.

Tony Shepherd, a former managing director – construction for Lend Lease and chairman of the WestConnex board, has been appointed inaugural Chair of Infrastructure South Australia. The state government says its "approach to infrastructure planning is [being] overhauled to deliver better, more strategic outcomes and projects".

Researchers from the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) in Lithuania say they are developing methods of producing concrete without cement, with the final product as strong as traditional concrete and more resilient to acid, heat and cold.

CPB Contractors has been awarded a $170 million construct-only contract by NSW's RMS as part of the $1.6 billion Northern Road upgrade project in Western Sydney.

A double-curved concrete shelled pavilion, constructed using a 3D-knitted formwork, has gone on display in Mexico City. It is an homage to Spanish-Mexican engineer and architect, Félix Candela.


Image: the proposed 49-storey tower to emerge from the Tattersall's Club in Sydney. Source: FJMT.

News bulletin-43: 30 Oct 2018

A public review will be held into the collapse of two major construction companies in Queensland that the government says left hundreds of subcontractors and suppliers unpaid.

And a South Australian home builder will be liquidated by court order after losing its construction licence and failing to pay concrete and steel contractors.

Part of a concrete jetty on Rottnest Island collapsed late last week, injuring three people. The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, said Rottnest Island Authority will assess the jetty and other infrastructure on the island.

Over the next year, expect to see Smart Site Hubs that are set to redefine construction as on-site workplaces change to incorporate more off-site fabrication, according to David Chandler from the Centre for Smart Modern Construction (c4SMC) at WSU. C4SMC also says the Australian construction industry has among the lowest rates of investment in R&D in the economy.
 
When bridges, dam walls and concrete foundations form cracks, alkali-aggregate reaction is often the culprit, according to the Swiss National Science Foundation. SNSF is part-way through a four-year project with Empa to study the concrete disease, with first results already in.

Infrastructure Australia’s 2017-18 annual report has been published on its website.

Georgiou Group has been awarded the Bruce Highway – Cairns Southern Access Corridor Stage 4 project which involves upgrading 2.6 km from four to six lanes between Kate Street and Aumuller Street for Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Image: Rottnest Island jetty. Source: ABC News.

News bulletin-42: 23 Oct 2018

Perth-based concrete-maker Eden Innovations has had to answer queries from the ASX three times this month as the company’s shares continue to surge. The company also has a couple of jobs open: a concrete technician and an engineering technician.

AECOM, whose Queensland office is an Institute Member, has signed a contract with the Victorian Government as design partner for the Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project. The company is part of the Rail Infrastructure Alliance that also includes CPB Contractors and John Holland.

Researchers at Purdue University, Illinois, have 3D-printed cement paste that gets tougher under pressure like the shells of arthropods such as lobsters and beetles. The technique could eventually contribute to more resilient structures during natural disasters, the team says.

Contract employment in the engineering sector appears to be on the rise, according to two recruitment firms. Around a quarter of all engineering hires done under contract and half of all managers expect to grow their employee numbers on this basis.

Micron-sized calcium silicate spheres could help create stronger, more environmentally-friendly concrete, according to researchers at Rice University in Texas. The team formed the spheres in a solution around nanoscale seeds of a common detergent-like surfactant, with the spheres able to be prompted to self-assemble into strong solids.

The first world-wide, large-scale casting using recycled tyre polymer fibres has taken place at Sheffield University’s Civil Engineering Department to research the recycling of tyre steel and polymer fibres for use in the concrete construction industry. Special machines have been developed to ensure they are dispersed uniformly in concrete, which is now being tested for strength, durability and fire resistance.


Image: Packed, micron-scale calcium silicate spheres are a promising material that could lead to stronger and more environmentally-friendly concrete, according to researchers at Rice University. Source: RU Multiscale Materials Laboratory.

News bulletin-41: 16 Oct 2018

 
Wood & Grieve Engineers (WGE) has signed a letter of intent to integrate with global consustancy firm Stantec. WGE is a Bronze Member of the Concrete Institute of Australia in Western Australia.

Specialist contractor, Marine and Civil Maintenance, has appointed a new general manager, engineer Nick Critchley, and established an office in Melbourne to continue the business’ growth.

A team at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University has developed a technology, known as swarm printing, where two robots can work in unison to 3D-print a concrete structure. They say it paves the way for a group of mobile robots to print even larger structures in the future.

Australian architects Woods Bagot and Peddle Thorp NZ will design and build a NZ$200 million 180-metre-tall 50-level mixed-use tower adjacent to Auckland’s Sky Tower, which is currently the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Engineering School of Far Eastern Federal University in Russia has developed a new type of concrete designed for airport runways. The developers say its composition is 46% stronger than known types of concrete and has improved static compressive strength and high shock endurance.

Boston Dynamics’ construction robot, Spot, has been field-tested on real construction sites in Japan. The dog-like model autonomously navigated two sites in Tokyo and used a specialised payload for surveying work progress. With an additional camera in its limb, the robot is able to complete even more detailed onsite inspection work and will be ready for commercial applications next year.