Snakeskin Inspires Safer Buildings
New research shows that it might be a good idea to look for inspiration in nature when designing load-bearing foundations for buildings. Despite human inventiveness…
Construction News
Electrifying Cement With Nanocarbon Black: Cement That Conducts Electricity and Generates Heat
A collaboration between MIT and CNRS has yielded a cement that conducts electricity and generates heat. Since its invention several millennia ago, concrete has become…
Researchers Discover the Secret of Italian Renaissance Domes: Double Helix of Masonry
In a collaborative study in this month’s issue of Engineering Structures, researchers at Princeton University and the University of Bergamo revealed the engineering techniques behind…
World’s Hardest Concrete With Improved Impact Resistance for Disaster Prevention
A research team including Kanazawa University tests the impact response of the world’s hardest concrete. Concrete is the most widely used building material in the…
New Mass-Timber Sustainable Building Takes Shape in Boston
A five-story mixed-use structure in Roxbury represents a new kind of net-zero-energy building, made from wood. A new building about to take shape in Boston’s…
18 Reasons Why Megaprojects Fail and 54 Preventative Solutions
Academics at University College London have identified 18 reasons why megaprojects such as HS2 and Crossrail often fail, as well as 54 preventative solutions. For…
Change in Construction Materials Could Transform Buildings Into a Global CO2 Sink
A material revolution replacing cement and steel in urban construction with wood can have double benefits for climate stabilization, a new study shows. First, it…
Researchers Designing Autonomous Robots for Skyscraper Repairs
Researchers at Cornell University are designing robots that can autonomously traverse and manipulate a 3-D truss structure by using specially designed gears and joints to…
Limestone Based Cement Reduces Energy Consumption and CO2 Production by 97%
A team of engineers at Drexel University have developed a “green” version of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). By using a form of alkali-activated cement that…