Concrete that repairs itself?

My apologizes for the delay between posts.  As many of you may know I was in Ireland earlier this month to deliver the keynote address as CITA's October BIM Workshop in Ireland.  I'll post updates regarding that trip over the weekend.  Meanwhile, I wanted to share the article excerpted and linked below on concrete that heals itself because it contains a limestone excreting bacteria that is comes to life when exposed to corrosive water that penetrates the concrete.  Cool heh?

Below is an excerpt from the article with an image of cracking concrete.  Nano / Bio technologies that enable the creation and commercial use of advanced materials is the key to sustainable construction in the future.  In addition to self-healing concrete we need self-dissolving concrete that can be subjected to certain conditions that enable us to quickly and easily remove old concrete in an environmentally friendly way.  As Collaborative Construction says, "The Revolution is Upon Us!"  Are you ready?

Concrete is the world's most popular building material, but cracking is a problem

Bacterial spores and the nutrients they will need to feed on are added as granules into the concrete mix. But water is the missing ingredient required for the microbes to grow. 

So the spores remain dormant until rainwater works its way into the cracks and activates them. The harmless bacteria - belonging to the Bacillus genus - then feed on the nutrients to produce limestone. 

The bacterial food incorporated into the healing agent is calcium lactate - a component of milk. The microbes used in the granules are able to tolerate the highly alkaline environment of the concrete. 

"In the lab we have been able to show healing of cracks with a width of 0.5mm - two to three times higher than the norms state," Dr Jonkers explained.

Read the whole thing!

Welcome to the Collaborative Revolution!

James L. Salmon, Esq.
Collaborative Construction
300 Pike Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Summary of Services and James L. Salmon's CV


Office 513-721-5672
Fax 513-562-4388
Cell 512-630-4446
JamesLSalmon@gmailcom


Collaborative Construction Website

Redesign Required on Fed's $4.2 to $6.2 Billion Project

Welcome to the debacle that is your federal government!  Those antiquated federal procurement laws and regulations work like a charm don't they?

Tasked with building a new Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) in Tennessee, the largest construction project in the history of the state, the Feds bungled it and now have to redesign the whole thing!  

After spending $500 million in the design process the project - which was budgeted to cost $4.2 to $6.2 billion - the roof is 13' feet too SHORT, the concrete walls need to be 18" - 30" inches WIDER and concrete slab needs to be 1' foot THICKER.

OMG & WTF!

Can we please put the federal government in charge of the illegal drug trade already?  Is their anything they lay their hands on that they don't render FUBAR?

The original budget appears to be a joke.  $4.2 to $6.2 billion?  REALLY?  Who in the private sector launches a project with with 30% fudge factor built into the budget?  Private sector projects can certainly run off the rails and go over budget, but who gets to fudge 30% out the gate?  But what's $2.0 billion here or $2.0 billion there when the government is running TRILLION DOLLAR ANNUAL DEFICITS?

I'm sooo glad the federal procurement process is such a well oiled machine.  Otherwise, the use of IPD, BIM and Lean processes might be worth trying and an intelligent and integrated procurement program that utilized IPD to deliver BIM enabled facilities and infrastructure might make sense.

Here's the money quote but treat yourself to the whole article!

The cost range for the Uranium Processing Facility had been officially estimated at $4.2 billion to $6.5 billion, and it was not immediately clear how the redesign will change the project's cost.

John Eschenberg, the federal project director for UPF, told the board that in order to create more space for the facility's production activities that the roof of the building will have to be raised about 13 feet. After the meeting, he acknowledged that would add to the cost of the project.

In addition, the concrete foundation slab will have to be about a foot thicker, and the walls will have to be thickened from 18 inches to 30 inches, he said. 

 

Note they have NO IDEA how much the redesign will cost.  Geez.

UPF To Be Redesigned

 

Welcome to the Collaborative Revolution!

James L. Salmon, Esq.
Collaborative Construction
300 Pike Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Summary of Services and James L. Salmon's CV


Office 513-721-5672
Fax 513-562-4388
Cell 512-630-4446
JamesLSalmon@gmailcom


Collaborative Construction Website

Collaboration of the Criminal Kind

Apparently our friends to the north suffer the scourge of corruption and organized crime too.  The article excerpted and linked below details an investigation into the actions of Infrabec Construction that sounds very much like the Mexican Mafia in San Antonio, the classic Chicago Way or other similarly corrupt jurisdictions here in the US.

Mr Zambito admitted his company had colluded with other contractors for years to rig bids for public works contracts at inflated prices, and also paid security money to the Mafia in Québec.

"The way to do it was when the project was allocated to you, between the companies in an alternating way, the winner had the responsibility to call the others and to tell them the amount at which they should submit their bids, to ensure that we were the lowest conforming bid," Mr Zambito told the inquiry.

Read the whole thing

Welcome to the Collaborative Revolution!

James L. Salmon, Esq.
Collaborative Construction
300 Pike Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Summary of Services and James L. Salmon's CV


Office 513-721-5672
Fax 513-562-4388
Cell 512-630-4446
JamesLSalmon@gmailcom


Collaborative Construction Website

AIA Digital Practice Documents for Review

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recently published a draft set of Digital Practice Documents worthy of consideration by integrated teams interested in providing BIM enabled facilities and infrastructure in an integrated project delivery (IPD) environment.  You can download and review the E203TM - 20112, Building Information Modeling and Digital Data Exhibit; G201TM - 2012 Project Digital Data Protocol Form; and the G202TM - 2012 Building Information Modeling Protocol Form at the link below.

AIA Digital Practice Documents

Also available, at the link, a Guide and Commentary on AIA Digital Practice Documents, another document worthy of review.

The new suite of AIA Digital Practice Documents mirrors the approach Collaborative Construction takes to crafting, drafting and implementing legal agreements on complex construction projects. Specifically, the Digital Practice Documents, and the Protocols referenced therein, provide a flexible legal framework upon which to hang the parts and pieces of a collaborative or integrated agreement negotiated by the parties.

Of course, the AIA documents continue to contemplate a scenario in which certain legal agreements may have already been executed, a scenario Collaborative Construction discourages, but with which practitioners are routinely confronted.  Regardless, the new instruments represent significant advances by the AIA.

Attention is specifically directed to the following language in the document summary:

Owners that wish to procure bids from integrated teams capable of providing BIM enabled facilities and infrastructure need to ensure the "substantive discussion" contemplated by the AIA in its Digital Practice Documents takes place long before an ATTACHMENT to the original agreement is being negotiated!  That said, the new documents represent a step in the right direction and cover many the important issues parties struggle with in a BIM Implementation workshop.

Readers involved in the launch of BIM enabled projects should contact Collaborative Construction to learn more about the innovative series of workshops we offer which help owners, contractors and designers plan, design, construct, operate and maintain BIM enabled facilities and infrastructure.

Welcome to the Collaborative Revolution!

James L. Salmon, Esq.
Collaborative Construction
300 Pike Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Summary of Services and James L. Salmon's CV


Office 513-721-5672
Fax 513-562-4388
Cell 512-630-4446
JamesLSalmon@gmailcom


Collaborative Construction Website