CONSTRUCTION BANK

The Hoover Dam

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam

Built across the Krishna River in the Andrha Pradesh area of India, the Nargana Sagar towers at one hundred and twenty four meters in height and is able to hold almost twelve million cubic meters of water. This makes it the largest dam in Asia – at the moment. It is also one of the oldest. Construction began in 1956 but it was a long time before it became fully functioning.

Sayano-Shushenskaya

The power plant that this Russian dam supports is the fourth largest in the world and it was opened in 1978. Another example of the gravity arch dam, this one has a crest of almost eleven hundred meters in length. The arch itself is two hundred and forty five meters height. The dam itself forms a reservoir of the same name, which covers over thirty cubic kilometers and a surface area of over six hundred square kilometers.

Itaipu

The Itaipu dam of Brazil is given its name from a small island that used to exist near the site and it means “the sound of a stone”. One can only imagine what the dam sounds like when it releases its water. The length of the dam is a staggering 7235 meters and at its highest it is two hundred and twenty five meters.

The MagLev Wind Turbine is a big step forward in the world of wind power. By using magnetism to levitate the blades friction is eliminated and more power can be produced without any additional power expense (since the magnetics require no energy to run). The MagLev has a low threshold velocity for producing energy, could theoretically survive for centuries and can power up to 750,000 homes. Though the initial investment involved hundreds of millions of dollars the payoff is potentially huge.

The Lighthouse skyscraper is a 1000-foot-tall office skyscraper that is designed to use about half the water and energy of a typical high-rise building. The tower design employs solar energy collection and wind farming techniques coupled with strategies to reduce the use of and improve recovery of energy and water within the building. If/when built, this building will be a kind of working prototype for future green design in massive urban construction

The most impressive feature of the new Bahrain World Trade Centeris, no doubt, the three massive wind turbines situated between the two towers comprising the main building. Each of these 80-foot turbines projects from a bridge between towers. The shape of the towers themselves channels and accelerates air moving between them which will help the building generate even more power. It is by far the largest wind-powered design incorporated into a massive building project to date.

Like any good sustainable design the zeroHouse has all kinds of green bells and whistles, but it does something that many eco-friendly designs fail to do when they get too carried away with sustainability: it also looks extremely cool. Green home design strategies are balanced with beautiful prefabricated materials, colors and finishes

The zeroHouse collects solar power and can store energy for up to a week’s worth of use. It also gathers rainwater in an elevated 2700 gallon cistern so that gravity can do the work rather than tapping into the power supply. Waste is processed into dry compost below the house. Insulation and day-lighting are used to balance internal temperatures and maximize thermal performance.

The house has everything needed for a short-term getaway or long-term residence, including a living room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms and an elevated, covered deck. Everything in the house is automatic, with master controls tied to a central laptop computer.

This seems to be more and more the trend within green design: building homes that take maximum advantage of versatile materials, prefabricated parts, energy indepedence and other sustainable design strategies while maximizing style, comfort and livability.

MILLAU, France - Piercing the sky above the verdant hills of southern France, a roadway bridge hailed as the tallest in the world.

Celebrated as a work of art and an object of French national pride, the Millau bridge enables motorists to take a drive through the sky — 891 feet above the Tarn River valley for 1.6-mile stretch through France’s Massif Central mountains.

Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the steel-and-concrete bridge with its streamlined diagonal suspension cables rests on seven pillars — the tallest measuring 1,122 feet, making it 53 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower.

AKASHI-KAIKYO BRIDGE
Also known as the Pearl Bridge, this structure spans the strait between the islands of Honshu and Awaji in Japan.

Upon its opening in 1998, the Pearl Bridge became the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a center span measuring 6,532 feet in length — making it a full quarter-mile longer than the previous record-holder.