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In The Press |
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 ConRock Provides Concrete for Cradle to Cradle Homes Winning designs from the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Home Design Competition will soon become homes for area residents. Workers began pouring the concrete footers for Roanoke's first C2C home this afternoon. ConRock is providing the concrete for the foundations of these homes. See video of the pour. Designed to fit in with its neighbors on Gilmer Avenue, the house will include materials that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. This first home will use modular sections built by Southern Heritage Homes, in Rocky Mount. The components will arrive on site early next month. The builders expect to complete the home by the end of April. Source: WDBJ7 News, Roanoke, Virginia  Indonesia to Try to Plug Mud Volcano With Concrete Balls SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) -- An Indonesian official hit back at critics of a plan to control a gushing mud volcano by dropping concrete balls into its crater, saying something must be done to stop a nine-month-long eruption that has displaced 11,000 people. A team of geologists and engineers hope the plan, believed to have never been tried before, will reduce the amount of mud flowing from the geyser at a gas exploration site on Java island by up to 70 percent. The mud is now surging out at a rate equivalent to about a million oil drums a day. The plan follows an abandoned attempt to block the flow by pouring in concrete. Critics have said they doubt the new attempt will work, and that it may be dangerous or cause the mud to flow out from different points. "Those experts can say what they want, but we have to do something," said Rudi Novrianto, a spokesman for a government task force handling the disaster. "There is no time to debate and sit around." The team had planned to begin releasing the balls on Friday, but were forced to postpone the operation until a later date -- possibly as soon as Saturday -- due to technical problems, he said. Engineers will release five of the chained cement balls, each weighing up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds), and monitor the effect before gradually releasing more balls into the hole, Novrianto said. He said laboratory tests by geologists at Indonesia's most respected university had indicated the plan will work. Mud volcanoes are fairly common along volatile tectonic belts such as the one running below Indonesia, and in areas where there are rich oil and natural gas deposits. Opinions differ about the cause of the mud flow, but experts agree it could continue for years. Some scientists suggest the rupture was triggered by faulty gas exploration techniques by operator PT Lapindo Brantas. Other research suggests it is the result of increased seismic activity, with the mud flow starting two days after a major earthquake. The mud has inundated several villagers and scores of factories in one of Java's most densely populated areas. Some of the mud is being channeled to the sea, while the rest is being contained behind dams. Lapindo is a subsidiary of PT Energy Mega Persada Tbk, controlled by the family of Indonesian Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie. He has said repeatedly the geyser was sparked by the earthquake and that his company bears no financial liability. Source: CNN.com, February 23, 2007 |
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