:) My laptop crashed this morning and with it went my construction assignment as well as my microstation, so now seems as gooder time as any to post my blog.
I decided to look into the places in the world with the biggest construction booms, and the types of construction they are undertaking.
The most obvious place is Biejing, in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. At current, 1/2 of the worlds steel production and 1/3 of the worlds concrete are being used in China alone. Beijing itself is being rebuilt, in particular a new airport, transport system, and new hotels and sporting arenas are being built at a pace never before seen in any other country.
The China World Trade Centre will be the tallest building in Beijing at 330 metres and with 80 stories. Designed by the architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, its construction has and will be rushed to have it completed in time for the Olympics. Work progresses through the entire day, with people working upon the steel through the day, and the cranes working at night. The hurrying of construction by the Chinese government has come into the press recently, with the deaths of six construction workers several days ago.
To help support the industrialisation of their cities, the Chinese Government has also funded the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. This project has been extremely controversial, as it has required the relocation of 1.13 million people, all but run the Yangtee river dry at the basin, flooded millions of acres of China's best farm land, and is proven not to be the most effective way of harvesting energy from the river.It is however, one of the greatest feats of construcion in the world, and by far the largest dam ever made. Made of concrete, the dam stretches 2335 metres long, and 185 high, is 115 metres wide at the bottom, and 40 high at the top. It consumed a total 28 million cubic metres of concrete and 463 thousand cubic metres of steel. It was opened on May 20 2006, but several genaerators, as well as the shiping locks system are yet to be completed. To date, the total cost has been 22.5 billion dollars.

China's development has come at a price to the environment, in particular, the growth of the Gobi Desert. This has caused an increase in the severity of dust storms in Beijing, which is being dealt with through the construction of the 'Great Green Wall.' This is in affect, a 4480 kilometre network of forest plantations, which will shelter Beijing from the winds.