Archive for the ‘Civil Engineering’ Category
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
The NewYork Times reports on a planned road that would glow at night after light-sensitive material stores energy during the day.
If cars, traffic and navigation can be “smart,” is there any reason for roads to remain as dumb as bricks? Not according to the unlikely combination of Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch art-school .Read more...
Posted in Civil Engineering, Design, Roadway Design, Technology | No Comments »
Monday, December 31st, 2012
Is the streetcar making a comeback in America? The Wall Street Journal reports.
Streetcars, which typically run as single-car, electric-powered units on steel tracks in a condensed area, once were a common part of the urban landscape. But most cities’ tracks were ripped out to make more room for automobiles on .Read more...
Posted in Civil Engineering, Engineering, Transportation Engineering | No Comments »
Friday, December 7th, 2012
The Economist looks at why British drivers are slowing down.
Compared with other European countries, Britain’s top legal limit of 70mph on motorways and some dual carriageways is comparatively low. That may be one reason why 49% of drivers broke it in 2010, a higher proportion than almost anywhere else. Yet .Read more...
Posted in Accidents, Civil Engineering, Safety, Transportation Engineering | No Comments »
Thursday, November 8th, 2012
The Atlantic looks at five ideas that could have prevented some of the damage from Hurricane Sandy on the American east coast. Here’s the first:
Sea Gates and Surge Barriers. We’ll start with the biggie, a multi-billion dollar idea to keep storm surge out of New York by blocking it with some .Read more...
Posted in Accidents, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Safety | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
Discovery.com looks at the University of Maryland’s human-powered helicopter.
The concept of a human-powered helicopter dates back to Leonardo Da Vinci. A team of University of Maryland Students has made it a reality, breaking a flight duration record.
Called the Gamera II, the helicopter has four rotor blades, and is 105 feet across but .Read more...
Posted in Civil Engineering, Design, Engineering, Technology | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 11th, 2012
The Wall Street Journal’s excellent column, The Middle Seat, examines airline costs broken down by the seat.
Fuel now is by far the biggest cost for airlines—greater than even airline salaries. On that 100-passenger US Airways flight, the tickets and fees of 29 people pay just for the fuel to make .Read more...
Posted in Civil Engineering, Design, Engineering, Transportation Engineering | No Comments »