Civil Engineering

Saudi Arabia's proposal to build a 106-mile-long, self-sufficient, road- and car-free, one-building city would make it the first of its kind in the world.

By Laurie L. Dove

It's been some 15 years in the making and is still under construction. What's the real story behind the Jeddah Tower's delay?

By Dave Roos

Drinking fountains have faced a challenge from bottled water, but they seem to be making a comeback. By the way, we throw away over 60 million PET water bottles every day in the U.S. alone.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Smart traffic lights monitor traffic and continuously adjust their timing to improve flow, and can even help disabled or elderly pedestrians navigate crosswalks. Could they be a solution to the problems of traffic stress and road rage?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The Senate just crossed a hurdle to get a bipartisan infrastructure bill signed. It could pay for new roads, bridges and other installations that a country needs to function. But why is infrastructure so notoriously hard to fund in America anyway?

By Patrick J. Kiger

The designer of New York's Central Park believed that public parks were 'democratic spaces' belonging to all citizens, and aren't we glad he did?

By Wendy Bowman

PROTEUS, the underwater research station and habitat, is being designed to address medical discoveries, food sustainability and the impact of climate change. Plus, it's really cool looking.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Back in the 1930s, folks realized they needed a better way to cross the Golden Gate Strait between San Francisco and the Marin Headlands than by boat. Over eighty years later, the Golden Gate Bridge is the city's most prominent landmark.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

The name bestowed on a road depends on its size and function. And it's not just up to your neighborhood's developer either.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

The London borough of Islington plans to harness the excess heat of the London Underground to hike up the heat to nearby homes and businesses.

By Tara Yarlagadda

Bordeaux's famed and beautiful reflecting pool will have you snapping photographs and feeling like you're walking on water.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

The Japanese inventor's textured ground surface indicators to assist pedestrians at traffic crossings.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

There's a mysterious tower in Texas that strongly resembles Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower. Its constructors say they're testing some new forms of electromagnetic waves. But is something else going on?

By Nathan Chandler

These days, you can do a lot more at a transit hub than simply catch a train or a bus.

By Patrick J. Kiger

City workers have pulled 46 tons of the colorful beads from New Orleans' clogged catch basins, mostly from a five-block stretch along St. Charles Avenue.

By John Perritano

Defensive design is becoming increasingly important in cities around the world.

By Patrick J. Kiger

You might be surprised to learn that the twists and turns of streets in the suburbs date all the way to the Industrial Revolution.

By Adina Solomon

Is honesty the best policy? New York subway delays have been couched in mystery for years, but the MTA is now dishing out hard truths about why trains are running behind.

By Jesslyn Shields

What is it about this state that makes it so dangerous for those on two feet? A few things, it turns out.

By Chris Opfer

Roundabouts aren't all that complicated, but they're still relatively rare in the U.S., especially when compared with France.

By Clint Pumphrey

What if you bought a multimillion-dollar luxury apartment, only to find out it was slowly sinking?

By Kate Kershner

What do you do when you're out of land but want to expand an airport? Try building on water.

By Jonathan Strickland

China's Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon glass-bottomed bridge is so high most of the world's buildings would fit in the gap between it and the canyon floor. So why not hit it?

By Christopher Hassiotis

Steel and glass office towers are the norm in most modern cities. But some imaginative architects want to switch to a renewable, less carbon-intensive old standby: wood.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Whether we're talking bricks or fences, there are serious logistical hurdles – not to mention financial ones – to walling off an entire country.

By Chris Opfer