Page 23 - Built Expressions - Online Construction Magazine - November 2014 Issue

Tech - Bytes boeing Moves Dirt for 777X wing Center By David Phillips, Seattle VERETT, WA—Boeing has 777X to market,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Ray Ebegun ground work on its new Conner. “We wouldn’t be in this position without the support of our teammates 777X Composite Wing Center at the and partners throughout the Puget Sound region and in Olympia—we owe them Everett campus. Permitting for the all a debt of gratitude.” new 1-million-square-foot facility was Completion of the new building, which is expected in May 2016, will require completed approximately seven weeks approximately 3.5 million hours of work. At its peak, there will be approximately earlier than anticipated, allowing for 1,200 contract employees working on the project. By the numbers, the new an accelerated start to construction. building will require: Boeing is investing more than 31,000 tons (28,000 metric tons) of steel $1 billion in the Everett site for 480 miles (770 kilometers) of electrical cable construction and outftting of the new 80,000 linear feet (24,384 meters ) of process piping building. 530,000 cubic yards (405,210 cubic meters) of fll material Once completed, the facility located 170,000 tons (154,000 metric tons) of concrete on the north side of the main fnal To date, the 777X has accumulated 300 orders and commitments. Two assembly building will help usher in models will comprise the 777X family - the 777-8X, with approximately 350 seats composite wing fabrication for the and a range capability of more than 9,300 nautical miles; and the 777-9X, with company’s newest commercial jetliner approximately 400 seats and a range of more than 8,200 nautical miles. The 777- and sustain thousands of local jobs for 8X competes directly with the Airbus A350-1000, while the 777-9X is in a class decades to come. by itself, Boeing says. First delivery of the 777X is targeted for 2020. BE “We’re excited with the progress being made on this new facility that Contributed by David Phillips, for www.globest.com/news ; David Phillips is a Chicago-based freelance writer and consultant with more than 20 years experience in business and community news. He also has extensive will play a crucial role in bringing the reporting experience in the food manufacturing industry for national trade publications. Researchers Predict Commercialized wet-Mix Concrete Printing within Two years By Peter Reina oncrete printing in 3D has a future in the near term, with commercial The ESA team printed a 3,300-lb test Capplications coming in a couple of years, predict researchers in the U.K. block of fgured concrete using “D-Shape” Richard Buswell, senior lecturer in building-services engineering technology, owned by Dinitech S.p.A., Pisa, at Loughborough University, spent four years on a team developing a Italy. computer-controlled process for producing complicated concrete elements In lunar use, printers would place layers not possible by traditional means. The $2-million project, completed in of regolith—the dust and broken rock on the 2011, produced a series of 1-meter-sq, curved panels with internal voids, moon’s surface—on an infatable formwork made with high-strength mortar extruded and placed with a three-axis while injecting it with a liquid binder of frame. undisclosed composition. De Kestelier now Buswell’s team now aims to increase production by mounting the wants to bring the technology “back to Earth.” printer head on a seven-axis robotic arm. They are seeking a commercial Like Buswell, he also believes 3D concrete industrial partner, he says. printing will soon fnd commercial uses. BE Co-researcher and architectural frm Foster + Partners, London, has studied 3D printing for a decade, says associate director Xavier de Kestelier. See more at: http://enr.construction.com/technology/ He represented Foster on a European Space Agency project, completed last construction_technology/2014/1027-british-researchers- year, designing a shelter for lunar travellers. It comprises a load-bearing predict-cocrete-printing-will-be-comercialized-within- dome of impact-resistant cellular concrete. two-years.asp Vol: 3 Issue: 11 November 2014 Built Expressions PG 23