Infrastructure protection

Scientists: weight of water in reservoir may have triggered China quake
The May 2007 magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province killed 70,000 and forced 5 million to be relocated; Just 550 yards from the fault line and 3.5 miles from the epicenter stands the 511-foot-high Zipingpu dam; scientists say that the immense weight of Zipingpu reservoir’s waters — 315 million tons — likely affected the timing and magnitude of the quake
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Doubling the service life of concrete
NIST researchers double the service life of concrete The key to the idea is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulphate ions from road salt, sea water, and soils into the concrete
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Data loss cost companies $6.6 million per breach
Customers lose faith in organizations that cannot keep data safe and take their business elsewhere; study of data breaches show that negligent companies lose on average more than $6 million per breach
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ASCE assigns Grade of D to U.S. infrastructure
Civil engineers association assigns a D grade to U.S. infrastructure, and says $2.2 trillion in repairs needed
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Bomb-proof concrete developed
Liverpool University researchers develop blast-resistant concrete; the Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete is able to absorb a thousand times more energy than conventional mixtures
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Smiths Detection shows active mm-wave detection system
Passive mm-wave detection systems pick up the mm-wave heat energy emitted by the body, which is used as a background reference point; active systems transmit mm-wave into the detection area to boost the level of energy overall, give a better return and a more detailed image
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Napolitano issues first action directives
On her first day in office, new DHS secretary issues five action directives centering on protection of critical infrastructure, transportation, and on better intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local levels of government
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First weapons-grade plutonium found in a dump
The oldest batch of weapons-grade plutonium was found inside a glass jar buried at a dump at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington State
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Japan to restart controversial fast-breeder reactor
Japan, an economic giant with no natural energy resources, is to restart its controversial fast-breeder nuclear reactor this year after a series of safety scares caused the closing of the plant for more than 13 years
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Freight train derails near Chicago
Seventeen cars are derailed near a suburb west of Chicago; two of the cars contained molten sulfur, and authorities treat the accident as hazmat event
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Utilities plan to stay the course with spending plans for infrastructure
Despite the economic slowdown, utilities around the world plan to press ahead with investments in both their infrastructure and “smart grid” automation program; investments will be in the range of $90-$105 billion
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Detecting rusted metal encased in concrete structures
Many of the problems of aging infrastructure owe to rusting metal; trouble is, much of that metal is encased in concrete — in bridges, tunnels, dams, roads; new technology uses electromagnetic fields to measure corrosion through non-ferrous material
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New sensors to monitor health of U.S. infrastructure
Northeastern University researchers are working on developing new sensor systems for cars and trucks that will allow road and bridge infrastructure to be assessed in real-time across the United States
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SwissCopter in $15 million Middle East deal
Swiss developer of manned and unmanned systems for surveillance and search-and-rescue — and the innovative software these systems use — receives an order from an “unnamed Middle Eastern government”
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States, localities are slow to repair poorly maintained levees
Two years ago the U.S. government identified 122 levees as too poorly maintained to be reliable in major floods; only forty-five of them had necessary repairs; people living behind the unrepaired levees should be concerned
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