Hacker News with Generative AI: Construction

Why Hong Kong uses bamboo scaffolding, and meet the spider-men who climb it (scmp.com)
Hong Kong is one of the last places in the world where bamboo is still widely used for scaffolding in construction. It’s flexible, strong and cheaper than steel and aluminium — metal alternatives that are now more commonly used in mainland China and elsewhere in Asia.

Construction, Hong Kong, Culture, Sustainability

14 points by thunderbong 7 days ago | 2 comments

Innovative ways to float skyscraper-sized wind turbines (mena-forum.com)
Record-tall Wind Turbine Towers with 3D-printed Concrete Bases were in the news a few years back. Today, here are six innovative ways to float skyscraper-sized wind turbines. These enormous turbines can reach up to 240m tall—about the size of a skyscraper. Since they are so tall, strong winds far above the sea surface tend to cause the turbine to tilt, so platform designs focus on minimising this tilt while still being cost-competitive with other forms of energy.

Renewable Energy, Engineering, Wind Power, Construction, Sustainability

30 points by yread 8 days ago | 12 comments

The engineering behind the San Antonio River Walk (practical.engineering)
I am on location in downtown San Antonio, Texas, where crews have just finished setting up this massive 650-ton crane. The counterweights are on. The outriggers are down. And the jib, an extension for the crane's telescoping boom, is being rigged up. This is the famous San Antonio River Walk, a city park below street level that winds around the downtown district.

Engineering, Construction, Urban Design, Tourism

197 points by impish9208 10 days ago | 49 comments

The Evolution of Tunnel Boring Machines (2023) (construction-physics.com)
Tunneling is an important technology for modern civilization, as a tunnel is often the only reasonable way to create a direct path between two points.

Construction, Engineering, Technology, History

93 points by chautumn 13 days ago | 88 comments

Epic Construction Site in the Saudi Desert Is a Hazard for Workers (wsj.com)
Billed as a futuristic city-state with dazzling architecture including parallel 106-mile-long skyscrapers taller than the Empire State Building, Neom is the centerpiece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plans to transform his oil-rich country into a modern diversified economy.

Saudi Arabia, Construction, Architecture, Labor, Economy

5 points by Jimmc414 20 days ago | 0 comments

Financially, Saudi Arabia is flying by the seat of its pants. But how longer? (middleeasteye.net)
Saudi Arabia's most extravagant and outrageous giga-project - the futuristic city called "Neom", carved out of the country's northwest border region - is trying a reboot after funding and other challenges over the past year appeared to put key elements of Neom in jeopardy.

Saudi Arabia, Economics, Construction, Future Cities

3 points by Qem 21 days ago | 1 comments

3D-printed neighborhood nears completion in Texas (yahoo.com)
GEORGETOWN, Texas (Reuters) - As with any desktop 3D printer, the Vulcan printer pipes layer by layer to build an object – except this printer is more than 45 feet (13.7 m) wide, weighs 4.75 tons and prints residential homes.

3D Printing, Architecture, Construction, Texas

81 points by whoisstan 21 days ago | 117 comments

The Engineering of Wildlife Crossings (practical.engineering)
This is the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing under construction over the 101 just outside Los Angeles, California. When it’s finished in a few years, it will be the largest wildlife crossing (*of its kind*) on the planet. The bridge is 210 feet (64 meters) long and 174 feet (53 meters) wide, roughly the same breadth as the ten-lane superhighway it crosses. Needless to say, a crossing like this isn’t cheap.

Engineering, Wildlife, Construction, Environmentalism

61 points by impish9208 31 days ago | 6 comments

Building the steepest cable car in the world 85-ATW Stechelberg-Mürren [EN Sub.] [video] (youtube.com)

Engineering, Transportation, Switzerland, Cable Cars, Construction

12 points by sschueller 32 days ago | 0 comments

Mobile 3D Printer Can Print Directly on Your Floor (ieee.org)
Waiting for each part of a 3D-printed project to finish, taking it out of the printer, and then installing it on location can be tedious for multi-part projects. What if there was a way for your printer to print its creation exactly where you needed it?

3D Printing, Robotics, Manufacturing, Construction

49 points by rbanffy 54 days ago | 24 comments

Launch HN: Fresco (YC F24) – AI Copilot for Construction Superintendents (ycombinator.com)
Hi HN! We're Arvind and Akhil, and we're building Fresco (https://fresco-ai.com/). We use AI to quickly create and manage documentation for construction superintendents.

Construction, AI, Startups, YC, Software

80 points by arvindveluvali 58 days ago | 32 comments

Urban Machine: robotics and AI to reclaim lumber for reuse (urbanmachine.build)
Urban Machine pioneers sustainable wood reclamation.

Robotics, AI, Sustainability, Construction

6 points by fanf2 61 days ago | 2 comments

21,000 Killed Working on Saudi Megaprojects During Construction: Report (newsweek.com)
Thousands of workers have reportedly been killed or have gone missing during the construction of several megaprojects in Saudi Arabia.

Construction, Saudi Arabia, Labor Rights, Accidents, Human Rights

5 points by dtquad 79 days ago | 1 comments

University of Waterloo to build fourth mathematics building (therecord.com)
The University of Waterloo is building a fourth mathematics building on its campus.

Education, Mathematics, Architecture, Construction

8 points by amichail 82 days ago | 0 comments

Carbon Sequestration by Recycling Cement, Aggregates, and Concrete (mdpi.com)
As the world’s largest producer of construction waste, China’s recycling and related policies are of the biggest concern to the world.

Recycling, Concrete, Environmental Sustainability, China, Construction

37 points by PaulHoule 87 days ago | 11 comments

Rebar and Reinforced Concrete (leancrew.com)
A recent episode of the 99% Invisible podcast, “Brilliantly Boring,” covers a topic near and dear to my heart: reinforced concrete—more specifically, the rebar that does the reinforcing. The show does an excellent job in a short period. I just want to fill in some details.

Construction, Engineering, Podcasts, Reinforced Concrete

7 points by zdw 90 days ago | 1 comments

Saudi Arabian Neom project 'uses one fifth of world's steel' (agbi.com)
The Neom giga-project in Saudi Arabia is currently using one fifth of all the steel produced in the world, an official said on Monday.

Saudi Arabia, Construction, Megaprojects, Environment, Resources

25 points by Ozarkian 91 days ago | 49 comments

Maker Pipe – Structural Pipe Fittings for DIY Builders (makerpipe.com)

DIY, Building, Hardware, Construction, Maker

276 points by elsewhen 116 days ago | 119 comments

Hinkley Point C: Building Britain's first nuclear reactor in 30 years (building.co.uk)

Nuclear Power, United Kingdom, Construction, Energy

80 points by chickenbig 117 days ago | 200 comments

World’s Biggest Construction Project Is a Magnet for Executives Behaving Badly (wsj.com)
Neom executives were summoned to the office to manage a crisis: Three workers had recently died toiling on the world’s biggest construction project.

Construction, Business Ethics, Saudi Arabia, Megaprojects

5 points by impish9208 129 days ago | 1 comments

Japan’s Temple-Builder Kongō Gumi, Has Survived Nearly 1,500 Years (openculture.com)

Japan, History, Construction, Culture

237 points by dangtony98 138 days ago | 203 comments

Heavy Construction of a Sewage Pump Station – Ep 3 [video] (youtube.com)

Construction, Engineering, Video, Sewage Treatment

40 points by Bluestein 138 days ago | 8 comments

How to build a 50k ton forging press (construction-physics.com)

Engineering, Manufacturing, Construction, Mechanical Engineering

451 points by chmaynard 150 days ago | 188 comments

Researchers fabricate calcium carbonate blocks strong enough for construction (techxplore.com)