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Monthly archive for December, 2009
The Top 10 Infrastructure Stories of the Decade (Part 2)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Yesterday, we brought you numbers 10 through 6 of the top 10 infrastructure stories of the decade. Today, we bring you the top 5. Have your own top stories? Tell us in the comments. 5. Dubai Can a city that Read more ›
The Daily Dig: Demolitions in Winter Edition
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
• Here’s a misty video of the demolition of Lake Champlain Bridge, which runs between New York and Vermont. The 80-year-old bridge was closed Oct. 16 when engineers deemed it wasn’t safe because of severe erosion to its concrete piers. Read more ›
The Top 10 Infrastructure Stories of the Decade (Part 1)
Monday, December 28th, 2009
The aughts have been called “The Decade From Hell,” and certainly there was more than enough bad news to justify the title. But the past decade has not lacked for major infrastructure stories, both in the U.S. and abroad. If Read more ›
The Daily Dig: It’s a Honda Dealership! It’s a Yoga Studio! Edition
Monday, December 28th, 2009
• What to do with all those big gleaming spaces that once housed (now-closed) car dealerships? Many are being repurposed as restaurants, schools, day care centers, and even yoga studios. (AP) • Meanwhile, are the complexities of modern car models Read more ›
The Daily Dig: Train Fights Plane, Train Wins Edition
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
• In Germany, high-speed rail lines have led to the grounding of hundreds of short-haul flights. Just imagine what HSR could do for the Northeast Corridor. (Guardian) • The trials of flying with Snowball: Should airlines be allowed to charge Read more ›
The Daily Dig: Three Hour Delay? Better Pay the Fine Edition
Monday, December 21st, 2009
• The Transportation Department has announced that it plans to start routinely fining airlines for long tarmac delays, and will prohibit airlines from keeping passengers on a runway for more than three hours. Oh, and snacks and water must be Read more ›
The Daily Dig: High-Speed Rail Edition
Friday, December 18th, 2009
• Big week in HSR. New numbers from CAHSR say the Bay Area-LA fare will rise from an estimated $55 to about $105, or 83% of an airline ticket. The Authority hopes to get $17 billion in federal dollars, $4 Read more ›
Special Report from Copenhagen: An Infrastructurist’s View
Friday, December 18th, 2009
I arrived in Copenhagen last night expecting a different scene, perhaps something more like the tent cities and angry protesters that greeted Bradley Whitford in last year’s strikingly relevant TV mini-series Burn-Up, which revolves around a global warming summit in Calgary. Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Dirty Water Edition
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Daniel Libeskind’s CityCenter in Las Vegas (Kris Ziel). • The latest installment in a series on the nation’s water supply says that the laws that govern “safe water” are outdated, and millions are potentially at risk. (NYTimes) • For anyone Read more ›
Is Urban Planning Dead in the U.S.? Frank Gehry Thinks So
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Over at The Independent, Holly Williams has a candid and entertaining interview with legendary architect (but don’t call him a “star-chitect”) Frank Gehry. Despite his advancing age (he’s currently 80) Gehry is still full of opinions about the state of Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Year in Building Edition
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
• ‘Tis the season for year-end roundups: Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for the The New Yorker, has published his list of the ten most positive architectural events of the year. (New Yorker) • Progress! The Florida governor has signed signed Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Perfect Parking Edition
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
• British mathematicians have come up with a formula that, in theory, will help motorists parallel park perfectly. This raises the issue of whether people who can’t park cars should be allowed to drive. (Telegraph – pic via, from SOLENT) Read more ›
The 4 Highway Projects that Would Be the Biggest Waste of Money
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Back in March, we warned that stimulus money might be spent on a number of huge, wasteful projects around the country. We spotlighted the Ohio River Bridges project through downtown Louisville as the worst offender — it would require a Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Ray LaHood and John Stewart Edition
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Ray LaHood www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis • Last night, Ray LaHood went on The Daily Show to discuss infrastructure, the stimulus, high-speed Read more ›
The Evening Dig: 3-D Motor City Edition
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
• The Google SketchUp team has added a 3-D rendering of Detroit to Google Earth. Definitely worth a look. (SketchUp Blog) • Jet fuel from coal? The company responsible says it produces fuel with lower carbon emissions, because waste CO2 Read more ›
Has Stimulus Spending Dissed Minority Contractors?
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
The word is out that distribution of stimulus money for transportation projects has been alarmingly absent for minority- and women-owned businesses. A recent investigation by Chicago Public Radio found that less than 10 percent of stimulus funds awarded by the Read more ›
Amusingly Defaced Street Sign of the Day
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
We’ve brought you some of the most hilariously defaced street signs in the country. Here’s one with a somewhat surrealist twist: . Got a photo of an amusingly-defaced sign? Send it to melissa@infrastructurist.com. [SButtonZ button="digg"] Previously: Amusingly Defaced Street Signs Read more ›
The Morning Dig: The Year in Creative Transportation Ideas
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
• Among the New York Times Magazine’s ninth annual “Year In Ideas”: Bicycle highways and fake car noise. And yes, we fully support the former (though the latter we’re not sold on). Also on the list: suburban cul-de-sac bans. (NYTM)[SButtonZ Read more ›
The Evening Dig: Seattle, Korea Boondoggles Edition
Monday, December 14th, 2009
• South Korea’s President wants to remake the country’s four largest rivers, both for environmental reasons and to encourage development. He’s known as the “Bulldozer”; critics say it’s a “political boondoggle.” (NYTimes) • Denser urban developments have the potential to Read more ›
New Center for National Policy President Hopes to Rescue U.S. Infrastructure
Monday, December 14th, 2009
It seems that U.S. infrastructure has a new friend in Washington. The Center for National Policy, a think tank focused on national and global security, has named Dr. Stephen Flynn as its newest president. Former presidents of the group include Read more ›
