June 6, 2008
Issue #84
BE Newsletter
Read the latest issue of BE Magazine
Award competitions
BE Awards of Excellence
The winning projects competing for BE (Bentley Empowered) Awards of excellence, which honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving and sustaining the world’s infrastructure, were announced at BE Conference 2008. The awards were presented on May 29 during a dinner ceremony sponsored by McGraw-Hill Construction, publisher of Engineering News-Record.
The 2008 BE Awards of Excellence winners are as follows:
Professional Awards
- Attaining Return on Innovation: Camp Dresser and McKee, Inc. – CDM Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility
- Communicating Through Visualization: Lochner, Inc. – Fort Drum Connector (I-81 to US 11)
- Connecting Project Teams: HDR Engineering, Inc. – Southwest Parkway Interchange
- Developing the Infrastructure Workforce: Gresham, Smith and Partners
- Innovation in Cadastre and Land Development: ISKI Genel Mudurlugu – Asset Management Information System of Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration
- Innovation in Commercial or Residential Building: Arup – Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
- Innovation in Industrial Facilities: GHAFARI Associates, LLC and General Motors Corporation – Enabling Integrated Project Delivery Using ProjectWise and BIM
- Innovation in Metals and Mining: Hatch Associates Limited – Pueblo Viejo
- Innovation in Military Installations, Campuses, and Airports: Port of Long Beach – Port of Long Beach CAD/GIS Project Plan
- Innovation in Oil and Gas: Giprotyumenneftegaz – Booster Pump Station With Preliminary Water Discharge Facility
- Innovation in Power Generation: Sargent & Lundy, LLC – Dry Fork Station Unit 1
- Innovation in Rail and Transit: Gautrain – Gautrain Rapid Rail Link
- Innovation in Road and Bridge: HDR Engineering, Inc. – Southwest Parkway Interchange
- Innovation in Utilities and Communications Networks: Technische Werke Friedrichshafen GmbH – sisNET Implementation at TWF-FN
- Innovation in Water Resources: Camp Dresser and McKee, Inc. – CDM Arbennie Pritchett Water Reclamation Facility
- Sustaining Society: Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran – Transforming Intermittent Water Supply of Developing Countries to 24x7 System
- Sustaining the Environment: CH2M HILL – Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal
- Lifetime Achievement Award: John (Jack) Hallman, General Motors Corporation
Academic Awards
- Educator of the Year: Peter Glaudemans – Eastern Technical High School
- High School, MicroStation PowerDraft: Caitlyn Alfred, Rob Davis, and RJ McNew – Eastern Technical High School – Turkey Hill Elementary School
- University/Collegiate, Engineering: Dominik Galica and Maciej Wlodarczyk – AGH University of Science and Technology – An Attempt at a Photorealistic Visualization of Mine Workings and Work of a Mechanical Coal Miner
- University/Collegiate, Architecture/Building: Tzu-Hung Ho – The School of the Art Institute of Chicago – Interspace
- Animation and Freeform/Artistic Expression: Maciej Wlodarczyk – AGH University of Science and Technology – Presentation of Interior of the Building With the Effect of the Light
The Emirates Glass LEAF Awards 2008
Oct. 23, London
The Emirates Glass LEAF Awards are open to all companies, technologies, and individuals that have made an outstanding contribution to the world of architecture, and who continue to set the benchmark for the buildings of tomorrow. The closing date for entries is June 27.
Categories include best structural design, best sustainable development, commercial building of the year, interior design award, mixed-use building of the year, innovation of the year, residential building of the year, and others.
>> more (Web site)
>> more (contact)
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Events
2008 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference
July 27-31, Chicago
The PVP conference is an international technical forum for the sharing of information related to pressure vessel and piping technologies. The theme of this year’s meeting is “Nuclear Power Plant Renaissance; Change in Paradigm.” More than 150 paper and panel sessions are planned, as well as workshops, tutorials, software demonstration forums, and the Student Paper Competition.
>> more
Structural Engineers Buildings Conference & Expo
Oct. 2-3, Atlanta, Ga.
The Structural Engineers Building Conference & Expo is the only annual conference to focus both on the most up-to-date technical issues in the successful completion of buildings and management issues to increase attendees’ business expertise. The conference program is focused on the topics that are most timely and important to today’s structural engineers, including learning sessions on virtual building tools, technical design and analysis, the latest codes and guidelines, risk and liability issues, market opportunity, and project management and business strategies.
>> more
National Council of Structural Engineers Associations
Sixteenth Annual Conference
Oct. 23-25, Cleveland, Ohio
NCSEA serves to advance the practice of structural engineering and, as the national voice for practicing structural engineers, protect the public’s right to safe, sustainable, and cost-effective buildings, bridges, and other structures. As it is released, information about this year’s conference will be posted at this page.
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AEC and GIS news
Infrastructure’s Call to Action: Sustaining the interface between people and our planet
Infrastructure plays a key role in addressing urgent global challenges to the collective quality of life, the sustainability of human society, and the sustainability of the planet. Among these challenges are carbon dioxide emissions, climate change, the availability of clean water and sanitation, chronic hunger, unsafe bridges, earthquakes, severe weather, terrorist attacks, civil wars, coastal flooding, hazardous waste, and the depletion of nonrenewable resources.
This article by Buddy Cleveland, Bentley’s senior vice president, Applied Research group, covers three aspects of sustaining infrastructure: sustaining our society, sustaining the environment, and sustaining the infrastructure professions. A number of relevant projects by Bentley users are described.
>> more (BE Magazine)
Key Toll Road Concession Winner in U.S.
A consortium comprising Spanish firm Abertis, Citi Infrastructures, and Criteria Caixacorp is the preferred bidder for the famous Pennsylvania Turnpike toll road in the U.S. The tender is for a 75-year concession to manage the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The consortium’s bid of US$12.8 billion (just over €8.3 billion) was selected by Pennsylvania, but is now subject to legislation and authorization by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
>> more (World Highway News)
AIA Convention: Habitat for Humanity Founder Delivers Compelling Keynote
An architect’s true calling should be designing decent and attractive housing for the poor. That’s the message Millard Fuller, Habitat for Humanity founder, delivered during the AIA convention’s opening session. The millionaire-turned-philanthropist recounted the story of how he came to start the nonprofit organization in 1976 and spoke about some of the underprivileged families it’s helped over the decades. He urged architects to be Samaritans for the less fortunate.
>> more (Architectural Record)
Arizona Infrastructure Needs Top $500 Billion
To keep pace with the state’s projected explosive population growth during the next 25 years, Arizona will need to invest a half-trillion dollars in infrastructure – energy, water, transportation, and telecommunications ¬¬– according to a study by the Arizona Investment Council (AIC). Between 2008 and 2032, the projected change in Arizona’s population is 4.2 million, a 65-percent increase.
“The fact is, we are not spending enough on infrastructure to keep pace with growth. In some areas, our infrastructure is wearing out faster than we can replace or maintain it,” says Gary Yaquinto, president of AIC. AIC is a not-for-profit organization comprising approximately 5,500 debt and equity investors in Arizona utility companies.
“This study provides hard evidence that infrastructure investment must be made – and the amount of that investment is staggering,” says Yaquinto. “Decisions must be made now, not five or 10 years from now. We must bring to the decision-making table our policymakers, regulators, and our business and community leaders, and we must be open and forthright with the public regarding costs as we move forward. This is the only way we can ensure Arizona’s economic competitiveness and quality of life.”
>> more (cenews.com)
Another Record-Setting Year for Wind Energy Continues into 2008
Thanks to a second congressional extension of the wind energy production tax credit (PTC) through December 31, 2008, developers and manufactures moved forward with a record number of wind power installations in the U.S. in 2007. The trend continues at a record pace in 2008. Already as of May 1, 2008, the industry has seen more than 1,700 MW or approximately $3 billion in new wind capacity reach commercial start-up. Currently, 7,900 MW is under construction in 26 states, racing to meet the existing PTC deadline. This new capacity could represent an 84 percent increase over the previous 2007 record of 5,200 MW.
>> more (free registration required)
Army Appoints Geospatial Chief
The U.S. Army appointed Robert Burkhardt as its first geospatial information officer (GIO). Burkhardt is director of the Topographic Engineering Center at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center. His appointment to the position of GIO was made by the Department of the Army’s Geospatial-Enterprise Governance Board. As GIO, Burkhardt serves as the Army’s central manager responsible for coordination, assessment, and synchronization of all Army policies and standardization requirements for geospatial information.
>> more
Proto-Building: to BIM is to build
If architects are deliberately creating individual components in the manner that they would be built in the real world, then why don’t they do it comprehensively, and model the entire building as it would be built? When done in this manner, a design model approaches a proto-building, emulating many real-life aspects of buildings in construction. After working with BIM for several years, many architects find themselves modeling in ways that don’t necessarily make sense if 2D representation is the end-goal. But the goal is no longer 2D representation – instead, knowing with some certainty how a building works in 3D is invaluable even if it appears many aspects will not make it onto a sheet of paper.
>> more
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User stories
FTTP Project
Emerson Network Power Communication
When Emerson Network Power Communication installs fiber-to- the-premises for broadband communications in new areas, it is critical that the organization obtain accurate and timely information for its clients. The client specified MicroStation because through its use, ESRI and MapInfo data can be accessed in their native formats.
Emerson relies on MicroStation to do the heavy lifting of data translation, engineering, and collaboration. MicroStation allows Emerson to translate GIS files for planning purposes. The firm can download public data and integrate it into MicroStation to help create documentation. The survey plats of new development gave Emerson a complete view of the existing land area and zoning requirements on one screen.
>> more projects from The Year in Infrastructure 2007
Click to enlarge image.
Yumsung Project in China
Durr Korea
Durr Korea designed an automobile production facility in Yumsung, China, for KIA Motors of Korea. The firm previously used AutoCAD for design, but had experienced interference problems and errors between disciplines.
Bentley’s PlantSpace helped the firm verify design procedures and manage interference checks in a 3D modeling environment. This enables each phase of the project and each of the many disciplines involved to be more tightly integrated, which reduces errors and saved time. The use of 3D modeling interference checks enables each phase of the project and each of the disciplines involved in the project to be more tightly integrated, increasing the efficiencies of workflows, improving accuracy, and saving time and money.
>> more projects from The Year in Infrastructure 2007
Click to enlarge image.
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Bentley news
Connecting on Campus: A new exposed-steel pedestrian skyway links two parts of the Duquesne University campus
>> more (PDF)
IDEAS2 Awards
The project “Taxi2 Mixed Use Development – Denver” by RAM Structural System user KL&A, Inc., received a merit award for AISC’s Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel (IDEAS2) awards.
>> more (PDF, page 4)
Expediting Expansion: 3D modeling helps avert interferences when adding capacity to Polish coke plant
>> more
Sitting Pretty: David Chadwick explains how GenerativeComponents plays a defining role in the development of seating plans for modern sports stadia – an important factor in their design, as HOK Sport will concur
>> more (PDF)
Brisbane Water Management: Maintaining firefighting capacity while managing pressure
>> more (PDF)
Safeguarding Water Supply in Mumbai: The Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran provided adequate water supply during adverse conditions in the business capital of India, Mumbai
>> more (PDF)
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HP delivers workstation technologies that help you work efficiently and reduce costs.
The HP workstation line includes mobile, desktop, and blade workstations. HP offers a choice of processors including Intel dual-core processors or quad-core processors or AMD processors. In addition, HP offers highly secure Blade Workstations, which provide the capability of remote engineering from centralized server-based workstations with powerful 3D performance.
>> Learn more about HP and great deals on HP workstations
>> Learn more about HP and Bentley
Webcast: How To Reduce Errors in Your Engineering Calculations
This Webcast shows you why construction and architecture organizations across the country use Mathcad to reinforce the safety and accuracy of their projects. Learn the right tools - calculation tools that use real math notation and capture engineering logic for easy auditing - and techniques to reduce errors. View the Webcast today!
>> more
The 2008 Fall Members Meeting will be hosted by Keith Roe, chairman, president and CEO of Burns and Roe Enterprises. The theme of this meeting is "Creating Sustainable Business Value: Deploying Innovative Technologies."
>> more
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The worldwide schedule of Bentley Institute training
Find the Bentley Institute training that can best fill your needs.
>> more (PDF)
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Recent Bentley press releases and news stories
Bentley Announces Release of May 2008 Annual Report
Bentley Acquires Common Point to Mainstream Construction Simulation
Bentley’s Communications Products Help Hellas Online Speed Delivery of 450-Kilometer Fiber Network in Athens
IRIDE Energia Builds Next-Generation Multi-Utility GIS Using Bentley Software
Bentley Announces ISO 15926-Based Bentley OpenPlant PDx Manager
Bentley Introduces Comprehensive New Geospatial Product Portfolio With Powerful GIS Capabilities
Bentley Named No. 2 Provider of Geospatial Software in Second Consecutive Daratech Study
Bentley Integrates Bentley Building Electrical Systems With Visual Lighting Design and Analysis Software From Acuity Brands Lighting
Bentley Releases Bentley Water V8 XM Edition
Technische Werke Friedrichshafen Selects Bentley Software to Implement New Multi-Utility GIS
Bentley Announces Winners of 2008 BE Awards of Excellence
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