Concrete Makes Waves in Chicago with Aqua Tower

The Lakeshore East urban development in Chicago has a new iconic tower. Aqua is a daring new addition to the Chicago skyline. The multi-use tower will be completed in 2010 with partial occupancy of the lower levels beginning in 2009. Concrete is utilized in both the structural support and the tower’s architectural expression.

The tower’s façade features vertical glass with undulating balconies of reinforced concrete that varies slightly from floor to floor, creating a rippling, wavelike effect. Overall, the exterior mimics the natural striated limestone outcroppings and formations that are plentiful throughout the Great Lakes region. The architectural and structural firms combined their efforts to develop a unique tower that has received international attention.

The 88-story, multi-use high-rise will be home to a hotel, condominiums, apartments, parking and retail space. Lakeshore East/Magellan Development Group is the owner of the 2.3 million square foot, 874-foot tall structure, which has been designed to meet LEED certification. The typical tower floors are 16,000 square feet and offer spectacular views of Lake Michigan, the Chicago River and some of Chicago’s architecture gems. More on Aqua.

PCA/ACI ACI 318-08 Code Seminars

These one-day seminars are intended to assist engineers, architects, specifiers, building officials, and other code users in understanding the background of the latest code changes. Each seminar participant will receive a copy of the PCA Notes, ACI 318-08 Building Code, and Seminar Lecture Notes. More on the seminars

Development and Splicing of Flexural Reinforcement

For a refresher on the important aspect of reinforcement detailing, review the latest issue of the PCA Professional Development Series, Development and Splicing of Flexural Reinforcement. Continuing education credit is available by completing the quiz at the end of the article.

Topping Trump Tower

Chicago's 92-story Trump Tower received its 227 foot tall decorative spire early in 2009, topping out the structure. The spire will house a limited amount of communications equipment and stretches the height of the Trump hotel and condominium to 1,361 feet. That is 90 feet shorter than the Sears Tower and a foot shorter than Two World Trade Center. More on Trump Tower.

Self Cleaning Concrete Tower

A new campus bell tower relies on photocatalytic cement to keep the white precast concrete clean. The landmark tower, now completed on the campus of Dalton State College in northwest Georgia, soars 75-feet high. At that height, keeping the precast panels clean through conventional methods would be difficult and costly. More on the Dalton Tower.

Engineers Week Celebration 2009 at IIT's Rice Campus

Du Page Area Engineer’s Week Committee has scheduled an open house for Saturday, February 21, 2009 [11:00 A.M. – 3:30 P.M.] at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus at 201 East Loop Road, Wheaton, Ill. This program includes activities that are free and open to the public. Students and adults are invited to explore engineering with members of the Chicagoland engineering community. This event promises to be very special as this year marks the 25th anniversary of the program. More on Engineer's Week.

The Art of Detailing

There is more to design than calculating the forces in the structural members and proportioning the sections. Good structural analysis and design must be complemented with appropriate reinforcement detailing to insure that the structure as a whole behaves as it has been modeled by the designer. A poorly detailed structure may suffer from unsightly cracks, excessive deflection, or even collapse. Good details and bar arrangements should be practical, buildable, cost-effective, and suitable for its intended use. More on reinforcement detailing.

Tanks, Tanks, Tanks

Rectangular Concrete Tanks (IS003)
The latest in analysis and design for rectangular tanks. This edition contains vastly expanded design tables.

Circular Concrete Tanks Without Prestressing (IS072)
Presents analysis methods for circular tanks containing fluids. Tables of coefficients are provided for bending moments and ring tensions due to various loading conditions.

Design of Liquid-Containing Concrete Structures for Earthquake Forces (EB219)
This publication contains comprehensive information on the design and detailing requirements for concrete tanks subjected to earthquake forces. The earthquake forces are computed in accordance with a variety of codes, including the 2000 International Building Code. Requirements of ACI 350.3/ 350.3R-01 Seismic Design of Liquid-Containing Concrete Structures and Commentary are also explained and illustrated with worked-out design examples for rectangular and circular tanks.

Purchase all three of PCA's concrete tank publications and save 30%.

New Versions of pcaSlab and pcaBeam Available

StructurePoint has recently released version 2.5 of the pcaSlab and pcaBeam programs for analysis, design, and investigation of elevated reinforced concrete beams plus one-and two-way slab systems. Both programs are upgraded to support CSA A23.3-04 standard along with many new enhancements that include introduction of slab bands as a new floor system type in pcaSlab. More on pcaSlab.
More on pcaBeam.

More about StructurePoint’s suite of reinforced concrete analysis and design software.

• World of Concrete
February 3-6, 2009, Las Vegas, Nev.
Click here for free registration and a discount on seminars.

• ACI Spring Convention
March 15-19, 2009, San Antonio, Texas

• University of Illinois 10th Annual Structural Engineering Conference
April 16, Urbana Champaign, Ill.

• Structures Congress
April 30 – May 2, Austin, Texas