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Floating landscape infrastructure wins top ASCE innovation prize

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Floating landscape infrastructure wins top ASCE innovation prize

Climate resiliency a key theme of entrants.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | July 26, 2019
Emerald Tutu floating waterfront infrastructure

Courtesy ASCE

A sustainable, climate-change-resilient floating landscape infrastructure took the top prize of the American Society of Civil Engineer’s latest Innovation Contest.

The winner, Emerald Tutu, provides a floating waterfront infrastructure that provides a city with an inhabitable waterfront amenity while mitigating the effects of climate change. “The contest is a springboard for forward-looking infrastructure ideas and aims to identify cutting-edge ideas from civil engineers, including students, educators, practitioners, and project managers,” according to an ASCE news release.

Another concept, “Smart Walls: Telescopic Structural Walls for Flood Protection,” also addressed climate resiliency. Smart Walls are deployable walls that are hidden in the ground and extend telescopically when needed to stop floodwaters.

The winner in the Best Student Submission category: “Rapid Restoration of Deteriorated Pre-stressed Concrete Bridges Using Mechanically Fastened Fiber Reinforced Polymer,” addressed deteriorated pre-stressed concrete bridge superstructure. It proposed a method to extend the useful life of infrastructure at low cost.

 

The Emerald Tutu from Very Flat on Vimeo.

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