Impressive Buildings

Vuosaari Harbour Road System, Helsinki, Finland

Vuosaari Harbour will be one of the most modern seaports in Europe when it opens in 2008. The new harbour is located in the Vuosaari area of East Helsinki and will handle the majority of cargo for the greater Helsinki area.

The concept behind the new harbour is the rearrangement of cargo handling, rail depot, and oil harbour to release valuable land for commercial and residential development (shipping operations at the West Harbour and Sörnäinen Harbour will be moved to the new harbour).

The total area of the new harbour will be 150ha (90ha of land is being reclaimed from the sea) and there will also be a 75ha business developed adjacent to the harbour.

This development also requires an improvement in transportation infrastructure around the harbour and this means a new railway line and the extension of the Outer Ring III road to the harbour. Read the rest of this entry »

Cooper River Bridge Replacement, SC, USA

The construction of the Cooper River Bridge was a design/build project to replace two old bridges in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina and Charleston The new bridge, which opened in July 2005 connects two major municipal areas and offers eight lanes for traffic plus a pedestrian/bike lane. The bridge measures 2.5 miles in length and has increased vertical and horizontal navigational clearance over its predecessors to reduce hindrance to river traffic (road deck is 200ft above the average high tide mark).

The Port of Charleston, the second largest container cargo port on the East Coast, has significant economical impact through the large number of jobs, income and tax revenue it produces. This project has enhanced national and international shipping accessibility to the Port.

The Cooper River Bridge cost approximately $632m. It was funded partly through an approved direct Federal TIFIA loan of up to $215m. The loan repayment source is a subordinate pledge of SCTIB revenues. These primarily consist of existing truck registration fees and loan repayments to the SCTIB.
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Herren Tunnel, Lübeck, Germany

The Herren Tunnel is a 780 metre-long road-tunnel underneath the river Trave.

The city of Lübeck in the Hanseatic League region of Northern Germany had a major traffic congestion problem across the Trave River, which divided the old city from the new regions of the city.The traffic used to run across the Trave River via a road bridge, which was desperately in need of replacement

The Federal government offered sufficient funds to the City of Lübeck for a replacement bridge at the initial planning stages in 1997.The best option for the city was the construction of a bridge that will take the traffic along the diverted national B104 under the river.
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Burj Dubai – the highest building in the world

Burj Dubai is a tower under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and it will be the highest man-made structure on Earth. Construction began on September 21, 2004, and it is anounnced to be completed and ready for occupation in 2009 (September).

Burj Dubai is part of a 2 kmp development named ‘Downtown Dubai‘ and it is placed at “First Interchange”, along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street. Burj Dubai’s architect is Adrian Smith who is notorious for working unitl 2006 with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM). The primary builder is Samsung Engineering & Construction, along with Besix and Arabtec. Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction manager.

Dubai should hurry up with the Burj because Burj Mubarak Al-Kabir (Kuwait) will be builded in 2012 and it will be tallest building in the world with 1001m. Until then, Dubai will be very proud of their achievement.

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