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ستون هنج |
Basel rejects
Zaha Hadid casino |
17-8-2006 |
The citizens of
Basel, Switzerland, have voted by a
clear majority against architect Zaha
Hadid’s proposed Neues Stadt-Casino,
meaning the auditorium will now not be
built
Hadid won an invited competition four
years ago to design the building, which
would have been the city’s new concert
hall. But Swiss tradition states that
the public get the final say on any
large project that involves public
spending. Basler Zeitung reports that
62.6% of voters rejected the proposal.
Basel also voted against retaining the
city’s remaining trolleybuses in a
separate plebiscite. They will now be
replaced by gas-powered buses.
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cnn |
China bridge
'made of rocks' |
16-8-2007 |
BEIJING, China
(Reuters) -- A Chinese bridge that
collapsed killing at least 41 people was
made of just rocks wrapped in concrete
instead of steel so that it would be in
"harmony with the environment," state
media said, quoting an official.
Villagers look on as rescuers search for
victims on site in Fenghuang, Hunan
province, Tuesday.
1 of 2 The death toll from Monday's
collapse of the almost-completed
Fenghuang highway bridge in the southern
province of Hunan was expected to rise
further. Dozens of construction workers
were feared trapped beneath a huge pile
of debris on the Tuo river.
"While the cause of the collapse is
still unknown, a local official at the
scene claimed that a 'traditional and
risky' model of bridge, made of stone
and concrete, had been chosen over a
steel structure to ensure it remained
'in harmony with the natural
environment'," the China Daily said.
Investigation teams and experts have
pointed a finger of blame at design
flaws and quality defects in the
42-meter-high bridge's structure and
materials.
"The ruptured parts of the bridge show
broken stones, also it was a clean
break. It's obvious the quality was too
poor," the Beijing News quoted an
architecture expert at Beijing's
Tsinghua University as saying.
Over 1,500 rescue workers were picking
through the debris to find the missing,
Xinhua news agency reported, adding that
President Hu Jintao had ordered a
thorough investigation.
Police had detained a construction
manager and a project supervisor, Xinhua
said on Tuesday, a day after the bridge
broke apart like a pat of "bean curd,"
state media said, quoting a rescuer.
One of the contractors building the
bridge also worked on a bridge that fell
apart two months ago, local media
reported on Thursday.
On June 15, a section of the 1,600-meter
Jiujiang bridge, connecting Foshan and
Heshan in neighboring Guangdong
province, collapsed after a barge laden
with sand crashed into it, causing
several cars and pedestrians to fall
into the river below.
Investigators detained the captain and
five other suspects. The bridge was
deemed structurally sound |
