For more information, contact:
Brenda Romano, Executive Director
Construction Innovation Forum
Phone: (248) 409-1500, Fax: (248) 409-1502
E-mail: info@cif.org, www.cif.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May, 2002FIVE CONSTRUCTION INNOVATIONS RECEIVE 2002 NOVA AWARDS
International, May, 2002 - The Construction Industry Innovation
Forum (CIF) has selected five innovations as winners of the
internationally acclaimed NOVA Award, worldwide construction’s most
distinguished honor. The NOVA Award is given to innovations in
construction that are proven to improve the quality and cost efficiency of
construction. Recipients are carefully chosen based upon strict selection
criteria and a rigorous investigation process by a jury of international
experts.
Winners of the NOVA Award for 2002 were announced at a gala celebration
hosted in Michigan on April 25, 2002. Nearly 500 construction
professionals from throughout the United States, Canada and Europe were in
attendance.
The 2002 NOVA Award Winners are:
Electro-Osmotic Pulse System (EOP)
EOP received the NOVA Award for innovation in basement
waterproofing. The EOP system is an innovative technology that prevents or
reverses water seepage through concrete walls and floors. EOP is based on
electro-osmosis, in which electrically charged water moves under the
influence of an electrical field. The EOP system uses a patented
ceramic-coated anode to create a positive electrode. A negative charge is
then created using a cathode to form an electric field from left to right.
The positive ions of water are attracted by the negative charge of the
cathode and cause the water to move through the porous concrete from the
inside of the wall to the soil side, which dries the basement side out.
Drying out a basement usually takes about 2-3 weeks using EOP, and is
proven 100% effective in eliminating water intrusion in below-grade
structures. The system is expected to last for a structure’s service life
with no further maintenance.
The EOP systems was developed through a joint effort of
several organizations, including the University of Wisconsin in Madison;
APS Materials of Dayton, Ohio; Electro Pulse Technologies of Greenwich,
Connecticut; Drytronic of Lacrosse, Wisconsin; the U.S. Army Construction
Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Illinois; and the U.S. Army
Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Vincent
F. Hock, Metallurgist, and Michael K. McInerney, P.E., Electronics
Engineer from the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
accepted the NOVA Award Statue on behalf of all those involved in the
development of the EOP system.
Ground Penetrating Imaging Radar (GPIR)
GPIR received the NOVA Award for innovation in subsurface
exploration and mapping. GPIR is a new technology for locating and mapping
underground infrastructure. The system works much like a CAT-Scan,
allowing contractors to determine what is beneath the ground without the
necessity of digging a test pit. GPIR “sees” down about 6 feet in typical
soils and up to 20 feet in dry, sandy soils. Digital images show objects
as small as 2 inches in size and fixes positions within 1 inch. The scan
is done using an antennae array, either towed on a trailer behind a
vehicle or mounted on the front of a small tractor. Prior to 9/11, GPIR
surveys had been performed on approximately 55,000 square feet of streets
around the former World Trade Center for ConEdison. As of February 28th,
2002, an additional 250,000 square feet have been surveyed to help
reconcile utility maps and assist in finding clear lanes.
Michael Oristaglio, Chief Scientist, and Robert Green,
President, of Witten Technologies in Boston, Massachusetts, accepted the
NOVA Award statue as representatives of all those responsible for the
development of GPIR.
Interlocking, Mortar-less Brick Siding (Novabrik)
The NOVA Award was presented to Interlocking, Mortarless Brick
Siding (Novabrik) for innovation in exterior wall materials and
construction. Novabrik is a system of tongue and groove units made of high
strength concrete, measuring 3 inches by 3 inches by 8 inches. These units
overlap and interlock to create strong, water-resistant brick veneer.
Units are stacked to overlap and they are screwed to the wall furring
every fourth row in height. Installation of the product is 25% faster than
brick, can be performed in below freezing temperatures, on new or
refurbished buildings, and is approved by American and Canadian building
codes. Novabrik can be installed on wood stud walls, steel stud walls,
concrete or concrete block
walls, and metal buildings. The units easily cover older materials, and
Novabrik is ever more widely used in the US and Canada for fine residences
and for commercial buildings.
Novabrik was invented by Alba Products, Inc. of
Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Besser-Proneq, Inc. of Montreal developed and
manufactured the molds for Novabrik. The NOVA Award statue was accepted by
Simon Gauthier, President of Novabrik.
Multi-Span Suspended Bridge Platform (Safespan)
The NOVA Award was presented to Safespan for innovation in
bridge construction, renovation, and maintenance. The Safespan suspended
bridge platform brings bridge rehabilitation projects to the ground,
allowing access to numerous spans simultaneously. A Safespan under-bridge
installation consists of highly tensioned main cables supporting a
corrugated steel platform. The cables are stretched like guitar strings
from bridge pier to bridge pier, vertically supported by hangers attached
to the bridge structure above at about 20-foot intervals. The work
platform panels are 3 foot by 11 foot corrugated steel panels that have a
6 inch interlocking overlap on all four sides to form a continuous work
platform from pier to pier. A railing is installed with a toe board. Tarps
can be added to provide complete containment. A crew of 5 people can
install Safespan. Safespan provides easy containment of the work area,
protecting pedestrians, vehicles, and land below from demolition debris
and dust. It allows simultaneous access by multiple workers over an entire
work area, improving productivity and decreasing the duration of
construction. The platform is easily installed and removed, and components
are completely reusable.
The Multi-Span Suspended Bridge Platform received the
NOVA Award for innovation in bridge construction, renovation and
maintenance. Accepting the NOVA Award for Safespan was its inventor,
Lambros Apostolopoulus, Owner and President of Safespan Platform Systems,
Inc. of Tonawanda, New York. Apostolopoulus immigrated to the United
States when he was 16, studied Civil Engineering, and started his own
bridge painting company.
Reinforced Tied-Arch Truss
The NOVA Award was presented to Reinforced Tied-Arch Truss for
innovation in arena roof design and construction. The Reinforced Tied-Arch
Truss was devised for use in the new $84 million arena in downtown New
Orleans. Construction of the arena would normally have called for large
steel trusses to
span the arena and support the roof. However, the project was met with
rising steel prices and long lead-times for acquiring structural steel,
leading the structural engineer, Walter P. Moore of Houston, Texas to seek
an alternate solution. The solution was found in combining two long-proven
technologies, the concrete tied-arch bridge and the queen post truss, to
create a new, practical structural concept. Concrete arch bridges combine
the long span compression capacity of concrete to arch over a river with
the long span tension capacity of steel to tie the ends of the arch
together. In contrast, the queen post truss - typically constructed of
timber or steel - has an upper chord in compression, a lower chord in
tension, and two vertical “queen” post members in compression. It often
has diagonal tension ties across the rectangular center panel, to resist
the shear load in the mid-span section caused by unsymmetrical loads.
The New Orleans Arena roof structure is both a concrete
tied-arch and a queen post truss with diagonals in the center panel. The
primary innovation was the new use of concrete for the upper chord
compression members in combination with structural steel for the lower
chord tension (as in a concrete tied-arch bridge) to form a queen post
truss. Another innovation was using a hollow core box girder for the
concrete top chord compression to reduce roof weight yet provide high
structural efficiency. By using the concrete tied-arch system instead of
steel, the overall project cost was reduced by approximately $430,000.
Primarily responsible for the innovation were Walter L.
Moore and Associates of Houston, architect Arthur Q. Davis and Partners of
New Orleans, contractor Manhattan Construction Company of Houston, and
steel erector Derr Copnstruction of Eulass, Texas . The NOVA Award statue
was accepted by the Walter P. Moore Project Manager, Douglas Ashcraft,
P.E., S.E.
The 2002 NOVA Award recipients join an elite list of only 50
innovations worldwide to be honored by CIF with the NOVA Award. To be
selected for a NOVA Award, an innovation must be a proven success with a
positive, important effect on construction or service. It must improve
quality, reduce cost, and promote good, acceptable construction practices.
The innovation must be a significant advance, not just a natural evolution
of existing methods, common sense or good practices. Finally, the
innovation must be documentable and presentable.
The Construction Innovation Forum is a non-profit, international
organization founded in 1987 to encourage and recognize innovations that
have improved the quality or cost efficiency of construction. By
identifying innovative techniques and methods and publicly recognized them
through publications, awards, etc., CIF hopes to educate industry leaders
on the importance of innovation in the construction industry and encourage
others to develop, implement, and require innovative processes.
For additional information, Contact CIF at (248) 409-1500, or visit the
CIF web site at www.cif.org.
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