Massive Construction Projects Research Articles

Messaging that resonates with a community during airport construction

Airports throughout the world are remodelling, expanding and upgrading to handle increasing travel demand and Salt Lake International Airport (SLC) is no exception. In 2020, SLC opened the first new hub airport built in the USA in the 21st century. There were many challenges along the way, such as a worldwide pandemic and an earthquake with an epicentre just miles away from the airport. Perhaps the most monumental task was to build a 4 million square foot airport adjacent to an operating one. But beyond navigating construction and operations, building support for a new airport — when the existing airport was so beloved in the community — created additional challenges. SLC’s communication and marketing team was tasked with crafting messages to help the community navigate this change, while also educating, informing and engaging the public. This paper discusses how, in order to provide a roadmap for communicating through the massive construction project, a Strategic Communication and Marketing Plan was developed for The New SLC Redevelopment Program that outlined goals and audiences, messaging, branding, marketing, traditional and social media and video production. The paper presents how the campaign was rooted in research and continually adjusted based on feedback and other evaluation mechanisms. The first step in developing a comprehensive communication plan was to conduct research by surveying SLC’s audiences prior to undertaking a branding programme. An important research component was to identify key audiences and stakeholders, including internal audiences — such as employees and tenants — to help spread the project’s message through grass-roots efforts. Once feedback from the survey was compiled, a brand was developed that resonated with the intended audiences. Just as important was to develop strategic messaging to inform audiences, while also educating and engaging. Next, determining the most effect ways to deliver the message was key, and was done through a combination of advertising, events, press conferences and traditional and social media.

Earthquake, disaster capitalism and massive urban transformation in Istanbul

AbstractIn this paper, I discuss how the earthquake risk is exploited by ‘disaster capitalism’, in order to convert Istanbul to a massive construction site. The shock of the 1999 Marmara Earthquake has been effectively used by the neoliberal market and government as ‘a shock therapy’ to implement a construction‐led development model for Turkey and to favour the construction sector by introducing new incentives, exceptional rights and interventions, which otherwise might be challenged. The current Turkish government justify the ongoing massive urban transformation and new mass housing projects as an improvement of the housing stock to make residential buildings stronger and more resilient to earthquakes. However, areas actually under earthquake risk do not match the areas that are officially declared under disaster risk by the government. The Disaster Law #6306 that granted the government the absolute right to expropriate land based on the justification of ‘protecting residents against earthquakes and other natural disasters’ was applied in a selective way to seize valuable land in Istanbul. In the paper I explore how the disaster was quickly converted to an opportunity for economic growth. To do that I introduce stories of three different neighbourhoods in Istanbul, namely Moda, Tozkoparan and Fikirtepe, each of which experience the ongoing massive urban transformation differently based on the land value of the neighbourhoods, class position of the residents, and residents' capacity to organise in order to protect their rights. I describe, how disaster capitalism is lived and experienced differently in these three neighbourhoods. Although the massive construction projects are indifferent to life's sustainability, those projects are justified as interventions in terms of public health and safety through making housing resilient to earthquakes. I critically discuss how in each case biopolitics presents disaster capitalism's massive urban transformation projects as a manifestation of liveliness.

Cyclic behavior and strength evaluation of RC columns with dune sand

Dune sand (DS) has potential for producing concrete and being used in massive construction projects where commonly used natural sand is facing a shortage while DS is available in abundance. The cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns with DS was experimentally investigated. The influence of DS replacement ratio on the concrete strength and workability was investigated, and the DS replacement ratio as high as 60% for the DS-RC columns was mainly considered. Thirteen square specimens, with a width of 300 mm, were tested under cyclic lateral loading combined with an axial compressive load. Then, the effects of the shear span to effective depth ratio, the DS replacement ratio, the axial compression ratio, and the stirrup ratio on the seismic behavior and strength of DS-RC columns were studied. Test results showed that the shear span dominated failure modes of the specimens and then affected the lateral load capacity, deformation capacity, and ductility capacity. The DS replacement ratio in the range between 20% and 40% moderately improved the seismic behavior of DS-RC columns. The axial compression ratio and the stirrup ratio affected the shear resistance, deformation capacity, and ductility capacity. The design methods for predicting flexural strength and the shear strength of DS-RC columns and design implications were proposed.

Monitoring deformations of Istanbul metro line stations through Sentinel-1 and levelling observations

Turkey, as a developing country, is designing and performing massive construction projects around Istanbul. Beginning from the 1960s, rapid urbanization has been taking place due to industrialization, which brings an increase in the population. Yet, construction projects have been accelerated especially during the last decade, and many new projects are scheduled to be completed in a short time. Ground-based observations are generally carried out to monitor the deformations within construction sites, especially through geometric levelling, and GNSS techniques. However, in most cases, these monitoring measurements are only scheduled within the period of the construction process, and ensuing deformations are usually not considered. In addition to these techniques, the space-based interferometric technique can also be used to define the line of sight surface displacements with high accuracy, using the phase difference between image result for synthetic aperture radar images. In particular, Persistent Scatter Interferometry is one of the interferometric methods that are capable of defining the two-dimensional (vertical and horizontal) deformation for the desired epoch with a high temporal resolution. Thus it can be used as a complementary method for monitoring ground deformations, where the measurement is made by ground-based observations. In this study, the deforming areas related to underground metro construction are investigated through significant displacements between 2015 and 2018 of Sentinel-1 space-borne SAR data using the PSI technique. These results are validated by comparison with available levelling data corresponding to the new metro line.

Chemical Composition, Distribution and Morphology of Beranang Laterite and Granite Aggregate

Imbalance ecosystem due to massive construction projects taken by the government and developers need to be tackled seriously. Replacement on the construction material nowadays become a trend in solving the part of the issue or as a whole. Investigation on the most popular concrete material, concrete need to be done properly in order to find potential replacements especially on the aggregate as it takes approximately 60 to 70 % of concrete constituents. Laterite aggregate seems to have the potential as it is abundantly available in most region in Malaysia. This paper presents the chemical composition, distribution and morphological study on the Beranang laterite aggregate as compared to granite aggregate. The size use in the study is 20 mm maximum. The aggregates were subjected to, chemical elements, chemical elements distribution and the morphology analyses. From the results, it can be discussed that the main compositions such as carbon, silica, and oxygen were detected on the surfaces of both aggregates with similar peaks trend. Furthermore, the structural and morphology of both aggregates were also similar. In conclusion, based on the experimental carried out, Malaysian laterite aggregate has the potential to be acted as coarse aggregate in concrete mix. However, further experiments must be conducted to investigate the physical properties of it.

BUILDING THE NATION: SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN ALGERIA, 1962-1978

Since the middle of the 1950s, the Socialist countries led by the Soviet Union had made significant contribution to the economic advancement of the developing countries. Under the umbrella of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), Soviet aid programs extended on many African countries, including Algeria. Founded by the Soviet Bloc in 1949, the CMEA was a response to the Marshall Plan. Within the confines of the Cold War, this international governmental organization aimed to promote the socialist economic integration not only of its members but also the emerging nations beyond the Iron Curtain. In case of Algeria, the massive construction projects sponsored by the CMEA turned into the crucial platforms of the new nation building. Erection of industrial enterprises projected economic, political, social, and cultural development of Algeria. This article presents the construction works in Algeria as the crucial sites for spreading Soviet influence in North Africa. In addition, it demonstrates the role of youth from Algeria and the Soviet Bloc in the establishment of these country-wide projects and the formation of Algerian nationhood.

COVID-19 crisis response at the National Library of Israel: Confronting challenges and maximising opportunities

Founded in 1892, the National Library of Israel (NLI) serves as the vibrant institution of national memory for the Jewish people worldwide and Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths. Its four core collections – Israel, Judaica, Islam and Middle East, and the Humanities – tell the historical, cultural and intellectual story of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Land of Israel and its region throughout the ages. The NLI’s current transformative renewal aims to encourage diverse audiences in Israel and across the globe to engage with these treasures in meaningful ways through a range of innovative educational, cultural and digital initiatives. The most tangible manifestation of this transformation is the new NLI campus, now under construction adjacent to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in Jerusalem, and on schedule to open its doors in 2022. NLI’s renewal and dual mandate requiring it to engage diverse domestic and international audiences, as well as the massive construction project underway, have in many ways magnified the challenges posed by this difficult period, as well as – and perhaps even more so – the opportunities it presents. While the response to these unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances has largely been ad hoc, the NLI approach has been guided by the goal of protecting the health and welfare of its staff and users, and identifying strategic opportunities to not only make the most of the difficulties presented by this complex new reality but also build programs and initiatives to help achieve strategic goals. Following a brief summary of the crisis in Israel, this article presents a number of examples of the physical, logistical and programmatic adaptations NLI has implemented in attempting to maximise potential opportunities in best fulfilling its mission during this time.

Sustainability assessment in construction industry supply network: a review

Construction industry plays important role to support human welfare by providing access for living and moving. Developed countries are characterized by having good infrastructures such as roads, bridges, office towers, residential buildings, seaports and airports. To have these infrastructures, massive construction projects must be implemented by construction industry. This industry consists of several activities such as extracting raw materials, manufacturing construction’s materials, construction projects, infrastructure operational, and after operational activities that are run by different organizations and companies. These organizations and companies configure construction industry supply networks. Despite of the positive impact of these supply networks in improving human and product mobility, these supply networks also responsible for significant negative impacts such as consuming high energy and material resources, producing greenhouse gas emission and creating waste. To monitor and maintain these negative impacts, a sustainability assessment process is required. This paper aims to review sustainability assessment process in construction industry supply networks. It was found that different indicators are required for assessing activities in each stage of supply networks.

BRITISH HERITAGE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MALTESE CULTURE

Purpose of the article. The article highlights the ties between the United Kingdom and Malta and it is shown that they are indissoluble. They run deep, go back centuries, and are founded on mutual respect in good times and bad. The author, Jesmond Grech, rightly dwells on the period from 1800, when the Royal Navy and the people of Malta struck up a friendship which was built to last throughout and beyond the period of British rule, and which embraced the Army and the RAF, through the dark years of World War II and to the present day. Today, Malta’s self-evident European vocation and Britain’s continuing friendship go band in the band. Among the visible signs are the English language, education choices, tourism, culture – including football – trade and investment. Not to mention Leyland buses, red pillar boxes, and phone kiosks, and abiding affection for things British. With the acquisition of Malta, the British had gained an indispensable Mediterranean naval base. The Grand Harbour area, especially the dockyard was given the utmost consideration. As technological developments constantly the Admiralty invested in the modernization of the harbour facilities. With the opening of the Suez Canal (1869) the naval traffic which passed through Malta on its way to or from India multiplied considerably. Consequently two docks, the Somerset Dock (1871) and the Hamilton Dock (1892) were constructed to meet the demands of heavier shipping. At Vittoriosa one can still see the hub of the Victualling Yard, the Naval Bakery. In this place the Navy’s daily bread supplies were prepared by the use of steam-powered machinery. The building was constructed according to the design of William Scamp, a British architect and military engineer, between 1842 and 1845. Previously, the site served as the covered slipways from which the Order’s ships were launched. Presently the building is the premises of the Maritime Museum and houses an interesting collection of naval memorabilia from Punic to modern times. In 1903 the construction of the breakwaters at the entrance of the Grand Harbour was commenced. The foundation stone of this project was laid by King Edward VII himself on April 20th 1903. Work on this massive construction project was to provide the livelihood to hundreds of workers and their families for the next three years. Consequently, the initial years of the 20th century augured well. Things, however, began to turn sour both in the local and international scene. Conclusions. The aim of the article is to highlight Malta`s benefit from increased defense spending by Britain. Although Malta remained heavily dependent on British military spending, successive British governors brought advances in medicine, education, industry and agriculture to Malta. The British legacy in Malta is evident in the widespread use of the English language in Malta today. English was adopted as one of Malta's two official languages in 1936, and it has now firmly replaced Italian as the primary language of tertiary education, business, and commerce in Malta.

Effect of Adjusting for Particle‐Size Distribution of Cement on Strength Development of Concrete

The massive construction projects such as nuclear power plants and gas storage plants operate their own batch plants for appropriate supply of a massive amount of ASTM Type I cement. The batch plants have difficulty responding to diversifying consumer requirements such as early strength development of concrete under the current limited production line of cement. In order to respond to the needs, this study collected several sizes of cement particles from different filters at a cement plant, and conducted the adjustment of cement particle‐size distribution to enhance the properties of concrete based on ASTM Type I cement. This paper shows the chemical properties and physical tests such as setting time and compression tests considering the effects of the distribution of cement particles. Also, the classification based on cement particle‐size distribution was defined as FMC (fineness modulus of cement). As FMC increased, compressive strength was relatively low at early age but the difference became smaller for later age. The test results show the effects of the adjusted mix proportion considering particle‐size distribution of cement on strength development of concrete. Therefore, it is possible to see that customized cement or concrete can be manufactured in response to various consumer requirements by introducing such method that by‐passes and collects fine or coarse cement in the cement‐crushing process and then re‐mixes them with OPC ASTM Type I cement depending on FMC.

DEVELOPING NEW CHARGED SYSTEM SEARCH-BASED ALGORITHM: APPLICATION IN THE TIME-COST TRADE-OFF PROBLEMS

The trade-off between the total cost and project duration is one of the most important parameters of construction project planning. There are various methods to optimize time-cost trade-off problems. Mathematical programming models as one type of them cannot solve large and complex networks effectively. On the other hand, although the meta-heuristics algorithms in many cases can find a complete set of solutions but to optimize the time-cost trade-off problems in very massive construction projects they need to spend a lot of time, so existence a powerful algorithm with higher convergence rate is necessary. In this paper new procedures MAWA-CSS and SMOCSS are introduced to generalize the well-known CSS algorithm for solving TCTP optimization problem and all multi-objective optimization problems in discrete and continuous search space. The overall structure of SMOCSS algorithm is similar to the MOPSO and to determine the Charge magnitude of particles a new simple method is introduced. The proposed method is examined for different test functions and the results are compared to the results of two well-known multi- objective algorithms (NSGA-II and MOPSO). In addition, two example of time-cost optimization problem (Feng and Zheng network with 18 and 7 activities respectively) are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The results indicate that the SMOCSS algorithm has the ability to find out the optimal solution and define the Pareto front as well in reasonable time. Hence the proposed approach in this paper is much adaptive and suitable for tackling TCTP, which is useful and beneficial for decision-making on the trade-off between project duration and total cost.

The Effective Classification Process Analysis of the Big Data in Construction Project

In large construction projects, a single construction features data cannot be found to use as constraint. Traditional data classification methods use multi-feature constraints. Using multiple features for construction data uniqueness expressed has excessive features to express so that affect the efficiency of the classification. This paper proposes a construction project based on discrete transform big data classification. By enhancing the features of the construction project data, use the enhanced identification as the basis data classification, so that the scope of construction data classification can be obtained. Experimental results show that use the improved algorithm to perform big data classification on massive construction projects, it can effectively improve the accuracy of classification.

Super Market

Super Market Minsoo Kang (bio) I Ro Jintek and his wife Ri Sunja were both children of the Arduous March, the great North Korean famine of the 1990s. The horrors they had witnessed at the time revisited them again and again in their adulthood. There were nights when one of them would wake with a helpless cry, the mind recoiling from visions of ashen landscapes covered with piles of decaying corpses. In the fearful hours that followed, they silently held onto each other tightly until the warmth of their intimacy loosened the necromantic grip of their unwanted memories. Jintek came from the insignificant town of Woldong, in the northernmost province of Hamgyeong, but he was able to attend Kim Ilsung University in Pyongyang as his late great-grandfather had been a hero of the 1950 war and his father was a third-generation party member with a solid position as an official in the provincial People’s Committee. At the end of his third year as a law student, he made the long trip back home to make arrangements to marry his childhood sweetheart Sunja following graduation. Soon after he returned to Pyongyang, however, all of his plans for the future became lost in the unexpected intrusion of history that changed the entire world around him. A series of dramatic movements in international politics unfolded with breathtaking [End Page 123] speed, resulting in the sudden end of all of hostilities between the two Koreas and an agreement for their reunification. II The uncertain and precarious situation in the peninsula that had lasted well over half a century could have easily ended in catastrophe for millions, so the achievement of a peaceful and orderly reunification came as a surprise to everyone, even to those who had been waiting all their lives for the event. The new nation’s government impressed the entire world with the efficiency and sound judgment with which it oversaw a smooth transition into the new era. A quickly negotiated treaty with the United States, China, and Russia affirmed that the country would be free of nuclear weapons and that no American troops would be stationed north of the 38th Parallel, with a schedule for complete withdrawal. The border area of what used to be the Demilitarized Zone (which would be turned into a nature preserve after the removal of landmines) was kept firmly closed for the time being by divisions of the military to stop the flooding of hundreds of thousands of destitute refugees to the South. With the help of the UN and other international organizations, extensive camp sites were built on the north side to shelter and feed the migrants. The chaebol corporations of the South went up and quickly initiated massive construction projects, building roads, power plants, and factories, especially in the more economically stricken rural areas. The government opened occupational training facilities in virtually every city and town, and at the refugee camps, where people were taught skills that they could use in the new economy. A special effort was made to recruit younger people whose work habits had not yet been corrupted by the demoralized laziness engendered by the previous Stalinist system. People in the South, especially recent college graduates, were encouraged to go up to teach or just help out at the camps (with time-served credit for military service), while many Korean-Americans and other [End Page 124] foreign residents were recruited as English teachers. In less than two years, as a steady number of healthy and newly skilled people began to leave the camps to take up many available jobs in the great reconstruction of the North, the foreign press was already speaking of the second Korean miracle, the first having been the South’s economic rise in the 1970s and 80s. For the average citizens of the North, however, this was a time of great anxiety as well as hope. They were relieved, first and foremost, that there would be no war, no invasion by the monstrous Americans on a genocidal campaign that the previous regime had warned them of all their lives. The poorest people gratefully received aid packets full of strange-tasting but filling food from...

Data-modeling and implementation for massive construction project data based on manageable entity-oriented object

For the requirements of building Project Information Portal(PIP) data center based on a unified data model,a manageable entity object-oriented data model was proposed.The project data were treated as a series of managerial entity based on management workflows which were decomposed according to the whole life cycle.The conceptual layer data model was designed.The project data could be naturally represented and recorded by using this model.The data organization method was presented based on MongoDB(document-oriented database technology).The cluster storage architecture for PIP was also addressed.The experiments show that it has efficient performance in data writing and querying.It also has high availability and storage capacity scalability.

Study on the Environmental Issues and Countermeasures in Urban Planning

Urban planning refers to the division of areas functions of the city by the urban management department according to the demands of urban economic development strategies; it is the re-integration and re-distribution of urban resources. Urban planning arises from the needs of urban economic development, but restricts urban economic development to a large extent as well. Therefore, urban planning must take into account not only the city’s long-term interests but also the balance among population, resources and environment. However, the current situation of urban planning is worrisome, for phenomena like massive construction projects, land waste and resources over-exploitation, have occurred in big cities. Urban planning, therefore, must be integrated into environmental protection and sustainable development, seeking new ways of building a harmonious environment.

Situation and Competitiveness of Foreign Project Management Consultancy Enterprises in China

At the end of the World Trade Organization transition period for China in 2006, the foreign project management consultancy sector entered a new era. Massive construction project development in China created a huge demand for various project management consultancy services, which has attracted an increasing number of foreign project management consultancy enterprises (FPCEs). Using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis framework, this paper identifies the FPCEs’ SWOT in China. A multifacet qualitative approach including a literature survey, statistical data review, regulation and policy studies, and semistructured interviews is adopted to investigate these factors. A total of 26 SWOT factors are identified. A SWOT strategies matrix is proposed to assist FPCEs in forming appropriate strategies.

South Pole paleowind from automated synthesis of ice core records

We develop a fully automated reconstruction of South Pole surface roughness as a measure of past wind intensity, using dynamic warping feature recognition and internal consistency checks to reduce subjectivity and analysis time. We synchronized millimeter‐resolution optical profiles of deep South Pole glacial dust together with ice core data between the ages 26 and 90 thousand years B.P. The images were captured using a laser dust logger in six boreholes of the IceCube neutrino detector array, a massive construction project in the ice at South Pole and an unusual opportunity for glaciology and paleoclimate research. South Pole surface roughness anticorrelated with curves of Antarctic pCO2 and temperature, which we propose were connected through secular migrations of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies. This new paleoclimate signal may be direct evidence of atmospheric reorganization during the glacial, helping to deconvolve the thermodynamics and biogeochemistry of climate change. We also found that local intensity of atmospheric circulation roughly tracked the quantity of wind‐borne particulates deposited in Antarctic ice during the glacial period, although the largest dust increases were likely furnished by the source regions.

Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America (review)

Reviewed by: Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America Benjamin Schwantes (bio) Stairway to Empire: Lockport, the Erie Canal, and the Shaping of America. By Patrick McGreevy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2009. Pp. xiv+309. $27. Water provides the central theme for Patrick McGreevy's geographical, historical, and at times overtly autobiographical narrative of Lockport, New York's origins, rapid nineteenth-century growth, and gradual twentieth-century decline. McGreevy, professor of history at the American University of Beirut and a Lockport native, describes in detail how Ice Age glaciers and rivers shaped the terrain of western New York State and provided a natural right-of-way that the Erie Canal's planners would use millennia later for their path between the lakes and the ocean. The flight of canal locks and the deep rock cut employed to pierce the Mountain Ridge, an escarpment that separated Lake Erie from the Atlantic Ocean watershed, brought the community of Lockport into being and shaped its identity as a technologically progressive and economically successful inland port. At the same time, McGreevy's narrative reveals the darker side of Lockport's commercial success. Class tensions, violence, postindustrial decline, and massive watershed degradation are all factors, he argues, that challenge the progressive master-narrative of the Erie Canal's creation and its central place in American history. Instead, McGreevy "argues against the inevitability of U.S. expansion, the inevitability of the Erie Canal, and the inevitability of the strangely forgotten place where the canal was completed, Lockport" (p. xiv). The opening chapters focus on the geographical and social factors that [End Page 504] influenced the location and development of Lockport in the early nineteenth century. Planners took advantage of natural watercourses along much of the length of the canal, but they faced amajor challenge when they encountered the Mountain Ridge. Engineer David Thomas finally settled on amassive rock cut, combined with side-by-side five-tiered locks, to transcend the sixty-foot elevation difference between Lake Erie and the Genesee River. The community of Lockport grew up around this massive construction project and serviced an army of itinerant Irish and African-American navvies involved in the excavation and construction of the "Deep Cut" and the "Lockport Five." While much of this part of the book is based on secondary sources, McGreevy does include an intriguing discussion of working-class life in Lockport, the site of two major labor riots during the waterway's construction. Using newspaper accounts and court documents, he details how ethnic and class tensions shaped an uneasy relationship between canal workers and Lockport's small, but prosperous, middle class. McGreevy segues from Lockport's genesis story into a chapter-length discussion of literary and artistic representations of Lockport and the Erie Canal in nineteenth-century travelogues and artwork. He explores the various metaphors and concepts used by writers to explain the significance of the canal and its massive locks for American economic and social expansion. For numerous writers and artists, the canal represented the ultimate machine in the garden, and Lockport stood as a technologically sublime monument far surpassing the natural sublimity of nearby Niagara Falls. McGreevy attempts to deconstruct these metaphors and situate them within a broader nineteenth-century narrative of progress and manifest destiny. McGreevy concludes his work by discussing the history of Lockport from the mid-1820s through the end of the twentieth century. He offers an intriguing, but far too brief, look at the industries that developed in Lock-port to take advantage of its inexpensive hydropower and ready access to transportation resources. His analysis of inventor Birdsill Holly's achievements in centralized steam heating and fire hydrant technology and the rapid growth of the Harrison Radiator Division of GeneralMotors Corporation at Lockport hints at the community's rich industrial heritage, but Mc-Greevy's primary focus on the social, economic, and environmental decline of Lockport into rust belt oblivion dominates the narrative. Stairway to Empire builds on many of the themes that McGreevy developed in Imagining Niagara, his 1994 historical and environmental study of Niagara Falls. Historians of technology will appreciate his efforts to highlight the interconnectedness of environmental, social...

Brezhnev's Folly: The Building of BAM and Late Soviet Socialism (review)

Reviewed by: Brezhnev's Folly: The Building of BAM and Late Soviet Socialism Jenny Leigh Smith (bio) Brezhnev's Folly: The Building of BAM and Late Soviet Socialism. By Christopher J. Ward. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009. Pp. xii+218. $50. Christopher Ward's excellent history of the Soviet Union's second transcontinental rail line, the Baikal-Amur Mainline, or BAM, charts the rise and fall of a vast and impractical construction project. Through this lens he imparts both meaning and insight to everyday life in Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union, an era that until recently has been dismissed by Western scholars as one of stagnant decline. Brezhnev's Folly makes fair headway toward reversing this sort of wrongheaded thinking. Ward's focus is on the most active years of the BAM project, roughly 1974–84.Work on the first and more famous transcontinental train line, the Trans-Siberian Railway, had been finished in 1905. The BAM diverged from the Trans-Sib in central Siberia, and cut north rather than south, ending in Sovetskaia Gavan, a full 600 miles north of Vladivostok, the terminus of the Trans-Sib. This northerly diversion multiplied the project's engineering problems and meant that most construction took place on geologically unstable frozen taiga, greatly compromising BAM's safety and functionality. Although the title of his book is Brezhnev's Folly, Ward also explains some of the more prudent economic forces driving the project. Fundamentally, Soviet planners sought a better and more expedient trade corridor as they anticipated the rise of the East Asian economy; the BAM was meant to double the amount of rail traffic that could reach Pacific ports. While he addresses economic considerations early on, Ward focuses more on the symbolic effects of the project, which included reigniting socialist patriotism, deflecting criticism resulting from the Prague Spring repressions, and civilizing a remote swath of northeastern Siberia. Much as Stalin's later years were defined by his commitment to building the hydrogen bomb and Khrushchev is remembered for his mission to turn the steppes of Kazakhstan into fertile farmland, Ward makes the case that BAM began as Brezhnev's pet project and rapidly devolved into his personal bête noire. Ward probably overemphasizes the sexier, symbolic side of BAM's rationale and [End Page 513] foregoes a more detailed analysis of how socialist planners became convinced that urbanization and industrialization in northern Siberia would be cost-effective. Ward is a social and cultural historian, and scholars looking for a detailed economic analysis or a discussion of steel tensile strength, rail gauges, and the like should consult the work of other scholars. What Ward excels at is peopling BAM's construction sites with a fascinating cast of belligerent, disorganized workers who drink, steal, worry about the environment, ignore rules, and dream of amassing capital rather than building socialism. The youth of Brezhnev's generation was savvy and cynical enough to disdain the hyperbolic nationalist rhetoric that surrounded the BAM project, and Ward's skill in drawing out the disaffected voices of young people is this book's greatest strength. Chapters on female BAMers and national minorities are excellent studies of the interplay of labor, discrimination, and identity politics in the late Soviet Union. Two quibbles: first, Ward rightly sees BAM as a sort of state-sponsored catchment program for Soviet youth. He depicts this as a negative development, pointing to the isolation of the far north, boredom, disorganization, and the lack of work skills as a few of the miseries that young workers had to endure as BAMers. This is all true, yet there is a historical precedent in both the United States and the USSR of sponsoring massive construction projects in order to direct and streamline the energies of idle young people in times when social unrest threatens. Ward does not analyze or acknowledge this potential ulterior motive; he simply notes the disparity between triumphal BAM propaganda and the squalid lived experience of BAM job-sites, and stops there. Second, Ward hardly considers the question of just who and where the state might be in his story. While he has the field roughly divided into incompetent faceless bureaucrats back in Moscow and...

Noise and vibration control for the Alameda Corridor project

The Alameda Corridor project is a 20-mile railroad cargo expressline that will connect the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the transcontinental rail network east of Los Angeles. Once completed, the corridor will create a fast and efficient way to move cargo through United States and overseas world markets. The midcorridor section of the project consists of a 10-mile long, 33-ft descent into a by-railway Trench. Although this Trench will be the featured portion of the midcorridor project, the construction of a by-pass track will facilitate cargo-laden freight passage while the Trench is constructed as well as provide access for local businesses after completed. On its path from the ports to downtown Los Angeles this massive construction project will traverse potential noise and vibration-sensitive areas that house single and multi-family residences, motels, schools, daycare centers, parks, and churches. One of the greatest challenges encountered with projects of this magnitude is the successful control of construction and operational noise and vibration. The presentation will focus on various noise and vibration control methods that have been implemented as part of an abatement program. The scope of this successful program includes monitoring, equipment noise certification, and impact studies.