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Nanjing Jiangxinzhou Yangtze River Bridge is located at Nanjing, People's Republic of China. The main bridge spans Yangtze River in the form of a cable-stayed bridge with three towers and two main spans, with a total length of 1796 m and a main span of 600 m. The towers and main beams of the bridge are all steel–concrete composite structures, which is the first all-steel–concrete composite structure cable-stayed bridge in the world. The bridge innovatively develops a steel shell–concrete composite structure tower, deploys coarse aggregate reactive powder concrete (CA-RPC), and applies it to the main girder of the bridge to form a lightweight and high-performance steel–concrete composite beam. Numerous innovative technologies have been achieved with new materials, new structures, new processes, and many other aspects. The unique structural concept has significantly increased the factory manufacturing speed of bridge components, which not only reduces the work and labour cost at the bridge site above the bearing platform to less than 25% but also effectively reduces the amount and loss of engineering materials during bridge construction, all of which have made outstanding contributions to the development of cable-stayed bridges. At the same time, it has also contributed a bridge of stunning appearance and unique structure to China and world bridge engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency to identify and achieve identity in architecture is a significant trend in contemporary architecture. The trend of contemporary architectural projects occurred during the 1980s by the architects in Saudi Arabia. During that period, the Saudi institutes drove the transition from traditional to contemporary architecture to express their conservative view and the importance of the local cultural identities in architecture. This study aims to examine this experiment led by the Saudi government to understand how the architects could express their concept of regional identity in their work was expressed. The research examines five components shaping the architectural identity in two aspects. First is the concept of identity in the architects' work and how it was expressed. The second is how the public sees and understands the design product of the architects. According to the theoretical research framework, contemporary architectural works can be understood through five main areas: design concept, shape and form, construction technology, the materials used, and relationship with the surrounding. The case study approach was chosen as a viable tool for gathering the qualitative and quantitative data necessary for this study. Furthermore, the researcher chooses stadiums as a type of building because they challenge the designer to deliver cultural identities in architectural works. Therefore, King Fahd International Stadium (KFIS) in Riyadh and King Abdullah Sports City Stadium (KASCS) in Jeddah were chosen as case studies for this research. These two projects are similar and separated by more than two decades and will be analyzed according to the main parameters. In addition, the degree of correlation between the two groups' opinions (the designer's opinion and the experts' perception of the design) will be elaborated. KFIS is found to be better in architectural identity based on these five different aspects. Various architects are successful in creating structures while integrating modern and local architecture. The traditional materials make it easy to adapt to the region's climatic conditions. In addition, the study recommends that emphasizing harmony with context and environment will increase their success in achieving identity-oriented and context-oriented work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the use of glass-reinforced polyester (GRP) in Preston Bus Station in Lancashire, England, designed by Building Design Partnership (BDP) and completed in 1969. GRP was used both for concrete moulds that play a key role in enabling the construction of the building’s distinctive elevation, and for kiosks, signage and smaller fittings. A survey of articles shows that the use of GRP for concrete moulds enabled innovative and efficient construction and this practice continues to date. Some smaller fittings in GRP which were expected to be durable and maintenance-free have been modified, damaged, or removed, yet, others survive and are in a good condition. The legacy of the car park pay kiosks was to last as a prototype for a prefabricated sectional building system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific association is an organization of students working in a higher education institution, whose purpose is the scientific and self-education of its members. Scientific circles can function as informal groups and as registered structures. The official condition of the existence of a circle at many universities is its enrollment in the special register of student organizations. Some circles gain a lot of independence by registering in court - but then they should be treated as non-governmental organizations. At the Poznan University of Technology there are currently 87 officially registered scientific circles, of which 7 are in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. One of the circles that focuses on innovative technologies in building management is the Construction Innovations academic association. The paper presents a brief description and main interests of the ConInno scientific group, including the most important from the perspective of construction technology and the management of undertaken activities aimed at broadening the knowledge of students enrolled in the circle. In addition, the article explores interest in participating in the research circle by analyzing historical data on the number of people enrolled in the scientific field, including students of the third degree studies, to draw conclusions about future interest in participating in the mentioned student organization. Association activity has a very positive impact on raising the awareness and knowledge of members of the organization in the field of construction technology and management not only related to Polish local technological and technical solutions, but also to the world because of the number of foreigners who are in the circle. What is more, there is a positive impact on the promotional work of students from the ConInno circle, which is a direct result of the close cooperation and a good atmosphere in the organization between students and tutors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European climate strategy foresees measures to increase energy efficiency, competitiveness and the energy security of Europe by decreasing energy consumption. As buildings are responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive sets energy consumption reduction targets for the member states. The rapidly increasing market for energy efficient buildings favours External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) usage in Europe. From the consumers’ perspective the use of this façade system provides high thermal resistance and can be applied externally relatively fast with simple work methods. The façade system and each component of it need to meet specific technical performance criteria. The on-site construction process has the ability to modify technical performances with minor actions like mixing time, kneading water, insulation fixation, weather conditions, material moisture level and curing time. Minor deviations during construction can cause a variety of adverse consequences which lead to deterioration and reduced energy efficiency. The current paper proposes a methodology to rank the on-site degradation factors and provide a risk priority number. Based on the technical requirements set for building products, the significance of the collected degradation factors can be ranked by experts and the results ranked using a modified form of Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA). The methodology provides a significance assessment tool to identify degradation factors in the construction phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, three-dimensional design and computerized numeric control shaping technology have been applied to most free-form buildings, and materials like iron, timber, expanded polystyrene, and textiles have been used in formwork. However, these techniques have been found to incur costs at least 10 times the budgeted amounts, in most cases because the forms or moulds used to produce free-form concrete segments were used only once and could not be recycled, and it took a lot of time and workers to produce them, resulting in reduced productivity and increased construction cost and time. To solve these problems, this study investigates the status of free-form concrete buildings and suggests directions for future technology development. Following these suggestions would enable manageable construction cost and time in the future design of free-form buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The passing of the Building Amendment Act 2012 into law in March 2012 completes the long-term proposal by the Government to license New Zealand (NZ) building practitioners. The Licensed Building Practitioners Scheme (LBPS) is a Government response to a critical review of the NZ building industry by the 2002 Report of the Overview Group on Weathertightness of Buildings. Its implementation restricts certain aspects of the design and construction of residential buildings to licensed personnel. This paper will examine the role the LBPS will play within the building industry. Submissions on the merits of the scheme are examined, evaluated and compared to an industry survey completed six months after the scheme's introduction in March 2012. It supports the view that the transfer of responsibility to the private sector, of which the LBPS is a part, runs the risk of failure unless legislative and educational systems supporting the intended role have had time to coalesce and prove their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The intelligent asphalt compaction analyzer (IACA) is a device based on neural network technology that can measure the density of an asphalt pavement continuously in real time during its construction. It was shown during limited field trials that the IACA could, in real time, measure the density of an asphalt pavement during its construction with accuracy comparable to existing point-wise measurement technologies. In this paper, the procedure to calibrate the IACA and the validation of the performance, i.e., accuracy of density measurements, are addressed. The results demonstrate that the IACA can be used to determine the density of the asphalt mat during compaction with an accuracy needed for quality control operations in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]