Visitors to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai can now pay to ride to the 148^th floor to get an even more elevated view of the surrounding area from the new observation deck located 1,821 feet above the ground. The recently opened observation deck set the Guinness World Record for the world’s tallest observation deck and offers views from about two thirds of the height of the buildings overall height. It beat out the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China for the distinction.  The new area was built 24 floors higher than the buildings previous highest observation deck on the 124^th floor. The existing observation deck attracted 1.9 million visitors last year who payed to take in the amazing views of Dubai and the surrounding area.

This week marks a milestone in the Elizabeth River Tunnel project in Virginia. The project is one of the largest infrastructure projects occurring in the U.S. right now. It will place a two lane tunnel next to an existing tunnel connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia and thus double the tunnels capacity and reduce commute times. SKW Contractors team, a joint venture between Skanska, Kiewit, and Weeks Marine, are overseeing the public-private partnership project and are responsible for submersing eleven 16,000-ton hollow concrete elements into a special trench at the bottom of the Elizabeth River.

The Transbay Transit Center, a $4.5 billion project in the Bay area, involves transportation and housing that creates a "Grand Central Station of the West". Once completed, the new hub will connect eight Bay Area counties and the State of California through 11 different transit systems. With the excavation, earthwork, and dewatering project for the Transbay Tower already in progress, Nicholson Construction was awarded a contract for the construction of critical foundation elements of the new bus ramp for the Center. Read more on this exciting project!

The “I Lift NY” floating super crane arrived at the Tappan Zee Bridge this week and yesterday had to do the limbo to travel to the other side of the bridge. The crane made its way up the Hudson River from Jersey City on Monday after completing its journey from San Francisco through the Panama Canal earlier this month. Around 5 pm yesterday, a tugboat helped guide the crane north underneath the existing bridge and to the location where the new bridge is currently under construction. Workers on site prepared for the crane's arrival by removing the existing bridge’s navigation light from under the bridge to give the crane a little more clearance. The barge carrying the crane was also filled with water to make it ride lower in the water. The crane was able to squeeze under the existing bridge without any problems and will now be anchored on the other side for the next couple of years. It uses special steel anchors, called spuds that are planted in the river bottom to keep from moving.

Nicholson Construction was recently awarded a contract for the soil nail wall of the Stage 2 Slope Construction at McCook Reservoir in Willow Springs Illinois. The United States Army Corps of Engineers owned project involves the installation of a grout curtain around the reservoir's perimeter and previous soil nail wall work. Nicholson Construction has already performed extensive work on the Stage 2 Grout Curtain project.

Over two thousand architects, designers and clients traveled to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore this past week for the World Architecture Festival (WAF).  The WAF is the largest live awards festival in the world dedicated to architecture. Each architect who was shortlisted for a competition presented their entry in front of a panel of judges and the audience were able to learn not only about countless new and existing projects, but also the judges' opinions of these projects.  Hundreds of architecture firms from over 50 countries competed in 27 different categories during the festival. The big winners included The Chapel in Vietnam, designed by a 21studio winning "Building of the Year" as well as the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada, designed by 5468796 Architecture + Number TEN Architectural Group, winning "Future Project of the Year". Other winners include the PINCH in China, a library and community center for a village destroyed by an earthquake in 2012, and the Alex Monroe Studio in London for the Wood Excellence Prize.

A potentially illegal gold mine collapsed in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, killing at least 18 people. Locals in the area cannot securely estimate how many people were trapped underground and reportedly up to 500 workers were on the site on Saturday, the day of the collapse.