A special report by BBC describes the territorial fight in the South China Sea between the neighboring countries of China, Vietnam and Philippines. The latest move from China's part is the creation of artificial islands upon submerged reefs in an attempt to claim more islands. Offshore construction works are in progress and captured by a video, while in the meantime Philippines are colonizing reefs with civilians trying to face the Chinese challenge.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its fourth year of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data, detailing greenhouse gas pollution trends and emissions broken down by industrial sector, geographic region and individual facilities. In 2013, reported emissions from large industrial facilities were 20 million metric tons higher than the prior year, or 0.6 percent, driven largely by an increase in coal use for power generation.

After the success of the Tianmen Mountain Skyway in Zhangjiajie, China, Chinese engineers have opened a new glass suspension bottomed bridge.  This time, though, the bridge is only 180 meters above ground level instead of 900 meters like the Tianmen Mountain Skyway.  The bridge stretches between two mountain peaks in the Hebei Province and spans 300 meters.  It is 2.3 meters wide and is estimated to have cost $42 million.  

London’s newest and tallest skyscraper opened its doors to the public last weekend after being under construction for the past three years.  The building is officially known as the Leadenhall Building, named after its location at 122 Leadenhall St, but is more commonly referred to as the Cheesegrater due to its wedge shape.  Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners designed the 738-foot, 48-story building and Arup were the structural engineers for the project.  Nearly 80% of the $465 million building was prefabricated in the north of England and transported to the site in the middle of the night, proving to be one of the main challenges associated with the project.

Alice, the Tunnel Boring Machine that has been digging underneath Auckland's western suburbs for 10 months has finally broken into daylight! This is New Zealand's longest road tunnel that will be connecting Auckland's Southwestern and Northwestern motorways, as part of the Waterview Connection Project. Watch the video below, which captures the moment of Alice's appearance.

A new $900 million, 740-foot skyscraper is being proposed for Boston’s Financial District. If approved, the skyscraper would be the tallest building in the Financial District and the third tallest building in the city. Entrepreneur Steve Belkin is hoping to receive approval for the tower after failing to receive enough interest or funding for a 1,000-foot building at the same location in 2006. If built, the complex would include office and retail space, a 300-room hotel, and possibly condominiums on the upper floors. The tower would be one of a few skyscrapers built in the area since the 1980s.

TheCivilEngineer.org was founded in 2000, almost 15 years ago and is currenlty visited by thousands of visitors every month. Today, we are excited to launch the new website of TheCivilEngineer.org. The website has a brand new architecture and layout. It is integrated with other websites of our network of civil industry websites, such as Geoengineer.org, TheStructuralEngineer.info and CeeCareers.com to bring you the most interesting, useful and up-to-date resources in the civil engineering industry.