China Firm Plans To Erect World's Tallest Building in Seven Months

On July 20, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Changsha, China, for Sky City, an 838-meter-tall, 202-floor mixed-use tower that, if completed, would be the tallest building in the world. The $1.47-billion project is the brainchild of Changsha-based Broad Group, which plans to use its own modular fabrication and construction techniques to erect the supertall building in only seven months. The ambitious plan has drawn worldwide attention as well as the ire of Chinese government authorities, who say the Broad Group lacks the proper permits to begin construction.

Plans for Sky City are ambitious, even for a supertall building that aims to outdo the Burj Khalifa's height by 10 m. With 1.05 million sq m of build area, Broad Group hopes the tower will someday serve as a self-contained city: a home for more than 30,000 residents who will live and work entirely within the building.

The aggressive construction schedule calls for seven months of work once the foundation is built. This work would include four months of modular-component fabrication by 20,000 Broad Group workers in the nearby Broad Group factories and three months of on-site installation by a team of 3,000 workers.

Broad Group's main business is manufacturing air-conditioning and related HVAC systems. But their Broad Sustainable Building division has been turning heads in recent years with high-profile demonstration projects such as the modular T30 Hotel, a 30-story building that was erected in about 15 days. A time-lapse video of the construction drew millions of views on YouTube.

On June 12, Zhang Yue, chairman of Broad Group, spoke to the London conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (see video). "You have seen our 30-story building built in two weeks, and that applies to [Sky City] as well," he said, through a translator. "People have seen our video on YouTube, and this kind of building we're building almost every day right now."

During his presentation, Zhang repeatedly emphasized the importance of energy use and conservation in the design of Sky City. "This building, as compared to a conventional buildings in the local area, can decrease energy consumption by 50%. We are building this 202-story building, [and] our main hope is to draw people's attention to see that, within a building, there is such a big area for energy-consumption [savings]."

Zhang and the Broad Group have been promoting Sky City for some time, but the design community is skeptical. "It seems impossible what they're trying to do. But Zhang Yue is very serious, and has not wavered from what he is going to do," said Antony Wood, executive director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). "We at the council see almost every week a world's-tallest-building proposal. Most never get past the Frank Lloyd Wright Mile-High Building' render stage."

Wood and several members of the council visited the Broad Group manufacturing facility in Changsha in late 2012 and toured Broad Group's modular-fabrication factories. "I went there with great skepticism and came away massively impressed with what they were doing as evidenced by their whole process of prototyping buildings," Wood told ENR. "I am still not 100% convinced of the leap from 30 to 200 stories with the prefabrication system, but am I massively more convinced than before I went there."

But Wood did take issue with the proposal's emphasis on speed. "The No. 1 criteria for this project is: if it is achievable, to build the world's tallest building, prefabricated," he said. "I don't care if it takes four times as long, four years or eight years—is it achievable to build a prefabricated supertall building safely and occupy it?"

Broad Group's Zhang claims Sky City could handle a magnitude-9 earthquake, but Wood says the company needs to be more open about how it will meet this goal from an engineering standpoint. "There is the issue of technical feasibility. The concern raised most is structural stability, especially in an earthquake zone."

Producing steel strips in an endless process

Existing Arvedi ESP plant at Acciaieria Arvedi SpA, Cremona, Italy.

An especially energy-efficient production process for sheet steel is now being used in China. Siemens is providing a Chinese steel manufacturer with two plants that work according to the Arvedi-ESP (Endless Strip Production) process. They produce high-quality ultrathin hot-rolled strips with widths of up to 1.6 meters and minimal thicknesses as small as 0.8 millimeters. The Arvedi-ESP process requires up to 45 percent less energy than the conventional process, which consists of separate casting and rolling steps. It therefore generates significantly smaller amounts of CO2.

The production of steel strips normally requires a great deal of energy and space. Liquid steel is cast in slabs; these are steel plates that are a few centimeters thick, about one to two meters wide, and more than ten meters long. These slab ingots cool off and are processed in the rolling mill into steel strips that in some cases are less than one millimeter thick. Before this can happen, the slabs must be newly loaded and heated up once again. Finally, the steel strips are rolled onto large reels called coils. In total, such a production line is several hundred meters long. The steel strips are processed for use in automobiles,household appliances or construction materials, for example.

The special feature of the Arvedi-ESP process is that the casting and rolling processes are performed in a single step. The hot strand of metal is directly rolled in an endless process without having to cut slab ingots beforehand. The steel is processed into a strip in a single run and rolled into coils weighing up to 32 tons each. The entire production line is only 190 meters long. The loading and reheating of the cold slab ingots is no longer necessary, and this saves a great deal of time and energy. The process, which requires only seven minutes to transform liquid steel into a finished coil, is much shorter than conventional processes, which last several hours. What's more, it does not create any scrap material, which is normally generated in the loading process. Thanks to its precise temperature management, the plant produces steel of high and homogeneous quality.

The new units have been designed to produce 5.2 million tons of steel annually. In the startup and operation phases, the steel producer will be supported by Siemens partner Acciaieria Arvedi SpA, the company that invented the process.

Japanese group invests €100m in Mainstream Renewable Energy

 Global wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power on Monday announced a €100-million equity investment deal with Marubeni Corporation, which would see the Japanese group take a 25% stake in the company.

Ireland-based Mainstream, which has plans to build wind and solar projects in South Africa, said the deal represented the largest single equity investment in its five-and-a-half year history.

Bikaner govt colleges appoint M Tech students as faculty, violate AICTE norms

 Two government engineering colleges in Bikaner have engaged MTech pursuing students as guest faculty in a gross violation of the AICTEnorms.

These two colleges are College of Engineering and Technology, Bikaner and Govt. Engineering College Bikaner.

The AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) norms clearly state that the minimum criterion to be eligible for teaching in an engineering college is an MTech degree.

The web portals of both the colleges display the status of guest faculty, Sandesh Goswami and Rohit Vyas (civil engineering department), as pursuing MTech. Similarly, Deepak Sharma was shown as a guest faculty pursuing MTech in the mechanical engineering department.

The website of one of the colleges shows Govind Singh Tanwar, Rahul Acharya, Gaurav Sharma and Kailash Kumar as guest faculty in the computer science department, with all of them pursuing MTech. Furthermore, the Govt. Engineering College of Bikaner has several of its MTech pursuing students also teaching.

MTech being a full-time degree, the question of these faculty members not being regular in pursuing their degrees arises. The AICTE in 2009 had stated that MTech is a full-fledged programme and degrees imparted on a distance learning module shall not be recognized.

TOI tried contacting the principal of both the engineering colleges Professor Ranjit Singh but he remained unavailable.

Most of these faculty members have passed out from the respective colleges which again question the selection procedure for appointing them. Some of them reportedly didn't fare well in their bachelor's programme.

"If it's true than it's a gross violation of the AICTE norms. RTU will send an inspection team to verify the claims," said RP Yadav, vice chancellor, RTU. Both the colleges are affiliated with RTU.

Sandeep Kumar, an RTI activist, said, "If this is the situation in government colleges, one can imagine the way private engineering colleges function."

Kumar added that department of technical education should convene an inquiry into the case and punish the defaulters.

IIT-Madras to host workshop on recycling of construction waste

 IIT-Madras will host a workshop on 'Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling' in collaboration with the Indian Concrete Institute and the Central Public Works Department next week.

According to the organizers, increasing construction, maintenance, retrofitting and demolition activities across the country generate a considerable quantity of construction and demolition waste that is just dumped in landfills. 

Experts estimate that the construction industry in India generates about 15 million tonnes of waste annually. Waste generation in Delhi is estimated to be around 5,000 tonnes a day. Experts say this creates huge challenges in terms of space for disposal and unauthorized dumping. There is potential for large-scale recycling of this waste material. 

"We are conducting the workshop to sensitize engineers, policy makers, regulatory authorities and other stakeholders of the construction industry on recycling of construction and demolition wastes and management of the waste stream," said KN Satynarayana, professor of civil engineering at IIT-Madras. 

"We have invited experts from Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea to talk about solutions developed in their countries," Satyanarayana said. Senior government representatives, including the commissioners of Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai corporations are taking part in the workshop. 

Participants will be exposed to the reuse potential of construction and demolition waste, technical aspects in the use of recycled concrete aggregates and best international practices in implementation and enforcement. 

Regulatory mechanism, demolition techniques, transportation methods, classification and processing, codes, standards and specifications and equipment used in the recycling of construction and demolition waste will also be discussed in the workshop. 

EIEL bags Rs 357 crore order from Nabinagar Power Generating Company

NEW DELHI: Era Infra Engineering LtdBSE -0.24 % (EIEL) today said it has bagged Rs 357 crore project from Nabinagar Power Generating Company, a joint venture ofNTPCBSE 3.81 % and Bihar State Electricity Board. 

The contract is for offsite civil package for 1800 MW Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project in Aurangabad district of Bihar, the company said in a statement. 

"EIEL, an integrated infrastructure company with pan India presence has been awarded a contract...for SG and offsite civil works package for Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Project in Aurangabad district of Bihar. 

"This has been awarded by Nabinagar Power Generating Co Ltd, a joint venture of NTPC and Bihar State Electricity Board," the statement added. 

EIEL had earlier bagged a construction order worth Rs 383.7 crore from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. 

The company is an integrated infrastructure firm with its presence across the country. 

EIEL had reported 26 per cent dip in consolidated net profit at Rs 109 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013. 

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Here's how you can support suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal

Durga Shakti Nagpal, the IAS officer who was allegedly suspended for taking on the sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh, has seen support in the form of at least two online petitions, both of which were filed on change.org. This is an online platform to file petitions which “empowers people everywhere to create the change they want to see,” according to its website.

Shipli Tewari's petition calls Nagpal a “brave, honest, young IAS officer”. It says that the stated reason for Nagpal's suspension – ordering the demolition of a mosque wall that could have led to riots – is not supported by reports of the local administration. The real reason behind the suspension is elsewhere: her work against illegal mining.

Tewari's petition, which has 542 supporter so far, adds to the efforts of Muslim groups who have written to the government in support of the IAS officer. It says honest officers like Nagpal need to be encouraged to strengthen the fight against corruption.

The second petition was filed by Sumaira Abdulali, founder of NGO Awaaz Foundation which has been working on illegal sand mining for more than ten years.

Her petition says that an upright officer like Durga Shakti Nagpal who risks her

life to uphold the law and cracks down against illegality should be rewarded, not suspended. Apart from reiterating support to Nagpal, it calls for a CBI enquiry into the links between politicians and the sand mafia.

The petition also calls for an enquiry into the murder of activist Pale Ram Chauhan, who was allegedly killed by the sand mafia right after Nagpal's suspension.

Addressed to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and the prime minister among others, the petition has been signed by 223 people so far.

Vishal Shah, who has signed Adulali's petition, says he did so because, “(It is) important for us to have such honest, young officers for the progress and development of our country.”

Vodafone may have to sell $1 billion Bharti Airtel stake under licence rules

Vodafone Group Plc may be forced to sell its 4.4 per cent stake in India's top telecom services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd - worth about $1 billion - after rules published on Friday outlawed crossholdings in rival telecom companies.

Under the rules, no carrier can own a direct or indirect equity stake in another operating in the same of any of India's 22 telecom service areas. Bharti and Vodafone provide services in all of them.

The telecoms ministry's new licensing rules also say that no stakeholder other than the government, banks and financial institutions, which owns 10 percent or more in a carrier will be allowed to own a stake in any other carrier.

Companies must comply with the rules within a year from the date of grant of new licences, the ministry said. Applications for the licences may take months to process.

Vodafone, which owns a majority stake in Vodafone India - India's No. 2 phone carrier, has owned its Bharti stake for years. At Bharti's stock price of about 345 rupees, the stake is worth roughly $1 billion.

Bharti declined to comment and Vodafone did not reply to an email seeking comment.

Princess of the United Kingdom, but you can call me mummy: Kate Middleton

Although she has never used the name, the Duchess is entitled to refer to herself as Princess William of Wales, as well as being Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus.

- AFP

With four official titles to choose from, the question of how to describe her occupation on her son's birth certificate was rather more taxing for the Duchess of Cambridge than it is for the rest of us.
In the end, she opted for "Princess of the United Kingdom" as her job description when the Duke of Cambridge formally registered Prince George's birth on Friday.
Although she has never used the name, the Duchess is entitled to refer to herself as Princess William of Wales, as well as being Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus.
The Duke, perhaps to show solidarity with his wife, described his own occupation as Prince of the United Kingdom, though he could have described himself as an RAF helicopter pilot, which is his day job.
The Duke, who signed the register as "William", was given a standard birth certificate, familiar to anyone born in the UK, but the manner in which he obtained it was anything but ordinary. Instead of going to his local register office, he was visited at Kensington Palace by Alison Cathcart, deputy registrar for Westminster, whose previous duties have included conducting the weddings of Joan Collins, Barbara Windsor and David Walliams.
She described the task as "a great pleasure", which cemented the borough's association with royal births, as Westminster also holds the birth records of the Queen, the Prince of Wales and Princes William and Harry, among others.
The royal baby was named as His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, with the "usual address" given as Kensington Palace. The Duchess was not present for the registration, instead staying at her parents' home in Berkshire, where she has been since the day after she left hospital.
The Duke will return to work at RAF Valley on Anglesey next week after his paternity leave ends, but today he will be in action alongside Prince Harry when they play polo at Coworth Park in Ascot. Yesterday Prince Harry joked that the birth of Prince George means the "pressure's off" him to settle down and have children.
He said his father was "over the moon" to have become a grandfather and hinted that he might stay single for some time. Prince Harry, 28, made the comments as he spoke to Royal Marines and their families on a visit to the Devonport naval base in Plymouth.
After unveiling a plaque to open a pounds 30?million training centre, the Prince spoke to Tasha Reilly, 35, who was accompanying Lt Col Tristan Harris. She said: "Harry was very down to earth. He said his father was over the moon to be a grandfather. I said, 'No pressure'.
He said, 'No, now he's got one he'll be fine. Pressure's off'." The new base, Royal Marines Tamar, is home to 1 Assault Group Royal Marines, which oversees amphibious warfare and Royal Navy board search and training. Wearing his Household Cavalry service dress uniform with his light blue Army Air Corps beret, the Prince reviewed a parade before taking the salute. He then joined Marie Francis, 68, to cut the ribbon on the training block, dedicated to her husband, Colour Sergeant Michael James Francis, who was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for bravery in the Falklands conflict.
Colour Sgt Francis, who suffers from MS, could not attend the ceremony, but the Prince spoke of the "amazing" accomplishments of the veteran, who was a coxswain on a landing craft when enemy aircraft bombed RFA Sir Galahad. He ferried more than 100 survivors, some seriously wounded, to safety.