Concrete is the most durable, versatile, and accessible material for construction, but it is also one of the most polluting, as its manufacturing process generates significant CO₂ emissions.

For this reason, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure is seeking innovative solutions to mitigate these environmental impacts, a goal achieved with the B-LOW2 project: “Eco-sustainable Cement-Based Materials that Reduce Our Carbon Footprint.” This initiative eliminates one of the most polluting components in concrete production: clinker.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, through the State Research Agency under the call for “Public-Private Collaboration Projects.”

Clinker is responsible for 65% of CO₂ emissions in concrete production. This project explores how to eliminate it and replace it with other sustainable materials that meet the performance standards required by current regulations.

The European Commission has set the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, positioning the Spanish cement industry as a key player in this ecological transition. B-LOW2 project aligns with the policies of the “European Green Deal” and the “2030 Agenda,” promoting circular economy principles and the use of recycled materials.

In this project, sustainable resources derived from waste will be used to reduce clinker and conventional aggregates, enabling the development of both structural and non-structural concretes as well as special mortars. This approach aims not only to cut CO₂ emissions but also to limit the consumption of natural resources.

The materials selected to replace clinker include construction and demolition waste (C&D waste), biomass, stainless steel slag, and kaolinite.
This initiative is driven by the Innovation and Operations Departments at Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure, in collaboration with Grupo Puma and the Universities of Córdoba and Granada.

Additionally, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure is researching other types of sustainable concretes, currently under development in pilot projects.

Other Developments in Sustainable Concrete

This is not Sacyr’s first venture into sustainable concretes. In collaboration with Flexofibers, Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure developed new concrete reinforcement fibers that replace traditional steel reinforcements with materials derived from end-of-life tires (ELTs). The first application was for a slope outside the Zumelegi tunnel in Elorrio (Vizcaya). These concretes, certified by the Torroja Institute of Construction Science, foster circular economy practices within the sector.

In addition, Sacyr Chile has developed a new type of concrete using recovered glass waste sourced from major cities such as Santiago and Valparaíso to reduce the proportion of cement content in the material.
Glass contributes an average of 13.4% increased mechanical strength in concrete after 28 days, enhancing durability.

Thanks to its fire-resistant, inert, pozzolanic properties and amorphous atomic structure, glass has various industrial applications, such as urban furniture, 3D printing, and radiation shielding in nuclear facilities.

This innovative concrete contains reduced cement content, water, aggregates, and powdered glass. Currently, the glass powder—provisionally named WG-X—is prepared through various processes including selection, control, crushing, and measurement.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

NASA has announced an ambitious initiative to build a revolutionary railway system on the Moon. It may sound like science fiction, but this innovative concept involves laying flexible tracks directly onto the lunar surface and using magnetic robots that levitate above the tracks to transport cargo.

The system, called Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT), is designed to minimise wear and tear from abrasive lunar dust, and each levitating robot will be able to carry payloads of over 30 kilograms. The FLOAT project has already moved beyond the initial development phase. We look at the potential and challenges of this project, which NASA believes will play a critical role in supporting the establishment of a permanent lunar base by the 2030s.

Robots that levitate over a flexible track

"We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous and efficient payload transport on the Moon," says Ethan Schaler, a robotics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The FLOAT project aims to develop "a durable, long-life robotic transport system” that will be “critical to the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s".

According to NASA, the FLOAT system would use magnetic robots that levitate over a flexible film track composed of three layers: a graphite layer that allows the robots to magnetically float over the tracks; a second layer of flexible circuitry that generates electromagnetic thrust to controllably propel the robots; and a third layer with solar panels that would generate electricity when exposed to sunlight. Unlike traditional lunar rovers with wheels, legs or tracks, "FLOAT robots have no moving parts and levitate over the track to minimise lunar dust abrasion and wear".

NASA is working to develop a robotic transport system to help astronauts on the Moon. Credit: Mirror Now

From transporting materials to exploring the Moon

The Moon is the Earth's only natural satellite. With a diameter of 3,475 kilometres, it is also the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. There are plans to exploit resources such as regolith (lunar dust) or other minerals. A lunar railway system could transport these materials efficiently, reducing the need for multiple costly and complex missions using smaller vehicles.

NASA's goal is for each robot to be able to carry payloads of various shapes and sizes at speeds of more than 0.5 metres per second. When fully implemented, it is estimated that the system could move up to 100,000 kilograms of regolith or payload over several kilometres each day. Such a train would also allow equipment and samples to be transported safely and efficiently between research stations and to explore remote, hard-to-reach areas.

James B. Irwin, junto al vehículo lunar durante la primera actividad extravehicular del Apolo 15. Crédito: NASA.

The challenges of implementing the lunar train

The FLOAT project has entered its second phase, which will see up to $600,000 invested in a two-year study to investigate key technical and budgetary hurdles. During this phase, NASA will design, build and test small prototypes in conditions similar to those found on the Moon. It will also study the impact of factors such as temperature, radiation and lunar dust on system performance. In addition, a roadmap will be developed to optimise the manufacture of critical components such as magnetic arrays and flexible circuits.

Although the FLOAT system has the potential to transform lunar transport, it faces technical challenges. These include extreme conditions, regolith abrasion, power supply and high development costs. In addition, such a system has never been tested anywhere other than on Earth. Although prototypes can be tested under similar conditions on our planet, only an actual deployment on the lunar surface would provide the necessary data to safely validate the technology.

The FLOAT project could revolutionise lunar exploration. Credit: NASA

This project still faces numerous challenges, and NASA has not set a specific implementation date. Currently, NASA's Artemis III mission is expected to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2026 at the earliest, marking the first manned lunar landing since the historic Apollo 17 mission in 1972. FLOAT is just one of six innovative proposals that have received funding in the second phase of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Other projects include powerful telescopes, a propulsion system designed to transport cargo and people to Mars, and new power sources for future space missions.

Tungsteno es un laboratorio periodístico que explora la esencia de la innovación.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

In 2008, architect Chris Downey suddenly lost his sight following an operation. With more than 20 years' experience in his profession, he knew that he wanted to continue working in a field he was passionate about. He learned to read braille and began using an embossed printer to reproduce and interpret architectural plans. To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, we explore the story of this iconic American architect.

Downey's journey after losing his sight

In 2008, Downey was admitted to hospital for surgery to remove a brain tumour. "The surgery was successful. Two days later, my sight started to fail. On the third day, it was gone," he explained in a TED talk in 2013. At first, a cocktail of emotions gripped the San Francisco architect: "Fear, confusion, vulnerability."

But when he stopped to think, he realised he had a lot to be thankful for. "I thought about my dad, who had passed away from complications from brain surgery. He was 36. I was seven at the time. So although I had every reason to be fearful of what was ahead, and had no clue quite what was going to happen, I was alive. My son still had his dad," Downey said.

The architect lost his sight at the age of 45 after undergoing surgery for a brain tumour. Credit: TED

Sounds, textures and smells that define cities

Downey never forgot that he was "not the first person ever to lose their sight." Worldwide, an estimated 2.2 billion people live with some form of visual impairment, according to the World Health Organisation. Of these, 43 million are blind. Downey left the hospital with a mission: to get the best training as quickly as possible and rebuild his life.

And he succeeded. "As an architect, that stark juxtaposition of my sighted and unsighted experience of the same places and the same cities within such a short period of time has given me all sorts of wonderful outsights into the nature of the city itself," he explained. Subtle sounds, textures in the ground felt through the grip of his cane, the warmth of the sun on one side of his face, the wind on his neck and his sense of smell became key tools for Downey to understand space and to move and orient himself. "I started to realise that my unsighted experience was far more multi-sensory than my sighted experience ever was," he said.

Downey uses touch to design accessible spaces. Credit: CGTN America

Reading a plan by touch

It took Downey just six months to return to work. He found an embossing printer, commonly used to teach braille to visually impaired children, and opened his own architecture firm. The embossing printer enabled him to reproduce plans in a format accessible to him, allowing him to study the details of the design and form a complete picture in his mind. In order to make his own contributions and revisions to the plans, he found a solution in Wikki Sticks, pliable wax sticks that can be broken and shaped to form new lines that adhere to paper, which allowed him to add and modify lines with ease.

As Downey explains, "reading a plan through touch is very different from looking at it visually, and in some ways more difficult: you don't see the whole immediately and then understand the details; you find the detail first and then have to build out to the whole." The architect had sight for 45 years, so he says he can still visualise the space. "It's just a matter of engaging in it intellectually as I, with my fingertips, review, study and move through it," he says.

In recent years, his work has focused on enriching the environment for the visually impaired. Among his most notable projects is the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco, California. He has also worked as a consultant for HOK on the Duke Eye Center at Duke University Hospital and has collaborated on projects with companies such as Microsoft. He also played a key role as a consultant in the design of the Vision and Rehabilitation Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

The LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco. Credit: Architecture for the Blind

In addition to his work as an architect, Downey serves on the California Commission on Disability Access and is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. For him, architecture must go beyond the purely visual and embrace the tactile experience. He stresses that every detail—from the texture of walls to the design of handrails—shapes how we perceive and interact with the spaces we inhabit.

Tungsten is a journalistic laboratory that explores the essence of innovation.

Understanding road-surface conditions is essential to performing proper maintenance that improves highway safety.  

Sacyr InRoad is an innovative initiative from Sacyr Conservation based on artificial intelligence. This award-winning technology continuously assesses the main markers and indices that gauge roadway conservation.  

With this project Sacyr Conservation won the AXA Award for Innovation and Development in Road Safety at the 14th annual “Ponle Freno” Awards, organised by Atresmedia.

Continuing the success of the prototype, Sacyr now unveils InRoad Evo. With help from the Plan to Support Sustainable and Digital Transport (Plan de Apoyo al Transporte Sostenible y Digital) to promote industrialisation processes, the project has been scaled up through the manufacture of 11 devices that include improvements to new inclination and temperature sensors to help optimise the algorithm and yield more precise results.  

“The project features two technologies: one that analyses the road surface and another that assists in interpreting the results”, explains  Alejandro Otero, Innovation Project Manager for Sacyr’s Innovation Division.
Sacyr InRoad measures the force exerted by vehicles, ground temperature, etc. 

With regard to concession assets, it is essential to know the condition of the road surface in order to maintain a level of service and anticipate future deterioration, invariably with a focus on user safety.

To that end, Sacyr Conservation and Sacyr Concessions, together with the company’s Innovation areas, are currently collaborating to implement one of these devices on the Eresma highway (A-601 between Cuéllar and Segovia).
 

In addition, Sacyr Concessions will be able to feed the Prediction Tools, which will use the data collected by InRoad to predict how road surfaces behave in the long term, based on real data. The data obtained also helps the decision-making process when building new roads.  

Cost savings and increased road safety

Regularly attending to minor road damage not only improves safety, but is up to 3x cheaper than waiting to carry out major repairs. 

Sacyr InRoad was developed in conjunction with the Instituto Tecnológico de Castilla y León to boost service quality and fulfil Sacyr’s commitment to the environment and safety for both users and workers.  

Through artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, the use of InRoad helps prevent accidents and reduce CO₂ emissions. 

According to a report by the Spanish Roadway Association (Asociación Española de la Carretera), a well-maintained system of roads could cut CO₂ emissions from lightweight and heavy vehicles by 9% and 6%, respectively. Moreover, flat surfaces with sufficient rolling capacity reduce fuel consumption by 3%-6%. 

According to data from the Highway Safety Department of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía de Seguridad Vial del Ministerio Fiscal), 30% of traffic accidents occur as a result of poor road conditions.  

This project is the successful consequence of the synergies derived from the various divisions that make up Sacyr, with the ultimate goal of circulating these devices worldwide to improve road conditions on an ongoing basis.  

Reducing greenhouse gases is a key pillar of our Climate Change Strategy, which is why we design initiatives that prevent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

As part of our strategy, we have collaborated with the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and its spin-off, LightNet Carbon Capture, to utilize a material they have developed that captures atmospheric CO2.

This material, known as CO2atings®, is a coating mortar that has been tested at one of our building projects in Barcelona.

“To date, the material had only been tested in the laboratory, which is why we found it interesting to conduct a pilot test on temporary walls within a construction environment, though not part of the actual building,” explains Eugenia Riqué, Head of Quality, Environment, and Energy for Sacyr's Building Division in Catalonia.

CO2atings® was applied to four wall facings with different orientations (north, south, east, and west), and periodic samples were collected over a month to monitor performance.

“This area had higher humidity, and with the positive results from this initial series of tests, we aim to continue with further pilot tests and explore the potential for use in a unique project,” adds Eugenia.

Nature-inspired technology

This solution uses a highly efficient technology that fixates CO2 through an accelerated ex-situ mineralization process, bio-inspired by natural mineral formations such as dolomites and evaporites.

Additionally, through Sacyr Water, we have explored the potential to extract valuable materials from brine for use in producing this CO2-capturing mortar. This is currently under further analysis.

The advantages of using this mortar include the use of abundant raw materials, resistance to cracking, durability in rain and humidity, compatibility with common construction materials such as cement, concrete, and asphalt, and the fact that it does not require energy consumption.

The analysis of samples taken from the temporary facilities provided by Sacyr concluded that the material performed well on all four facades, with the highest CO2 capture observed on the north-facing facade (up to 40% by weight compared to 30% on the other orientations).

LightNet Carbon Capture, a joint venture of ICN2 and CSIC, focuses its efforts on researching materials and solutions for CO2 capture, storage, and utilization.

Black Friday is a tradition originating in the United States that has spread worldwide. Initially, the term was used to describe the traffic and pedestrian frenzy occurring the day after Thanksgiving as the holiday shopping season began.

Today, it has become a global event marked by major discounts and promotions. With the rise of e-commerce, the tradition has expanded to include Cyber Monday, the following Monday, dedicated to online deals. Both large and small businesses, whether physical or online, often extend these promotions to maximize sales.

However, as online shopping increases, so do the risks. Cybercriminals aim to exploit shoppers' haste and excitement, underscoring the importance of secure transactions and vigilance against scams.

To avoid falling victim to fraud, follow this 10-step guide to safe shopping:

1. Avoid using work devices for online shopping.
2. Don't click on links or attachments from suspicious emails. Check URLs for odd characters, misspellings, or unexpected domains when buying from international retailers.
3. Ensure websites are secure before entering personal information or completing transactions. Look for "HTTPS://" or the padlock icon in the URL. Also, review the site's privacy policy.
4. Use credit cards instead of debit cards. Credit cards offer better protection against fraudulent charges.
5. Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks for shopping. These networks make it easier for fraudsters to access your banking information.
6. Too good to be true? Be skeptical of unrealistic deals.
7. Don't use your work email or corporate passwords for external websites. This prevents recognizable patterns that could expose company credentials.
8. Keep your antivirus software up to date. Ensure your devices are protected against the latest threats.
9. Monitor your bank statements for unusual activity. If you spot unrecognized charges, contact your bank immediately to dispute them.
10. Lastly, use common sense and enjoy Black Friday responsibly!

In January of this year, the Community of Madrid approved the Cognitive Hospital project, a platform designed for the comprehensive management of hospital infrastructure. 

Sacyr leads the consortium developing this project, which includes participation from Sener Mobility, Fracttal, Cuatro Digital, Open Ingenius, Áptica, and the technology centers of Tecnalia, UPM, and CSIC.

We are already working on developing innovative pilot projects utilizing new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), IoT, advanced algorithms, 7D BIM, Big Data, and more to transform hospital management. 

Sacyr has developed a smart platform that optimizes the building's operation and maintenance processes. Its implementation enhances energy efficiency and improves the air quality within the hospital.

Additionally, a digital twin based on the hospital's BIM model has been developed and will be integrated with the cognitive platform, enabling predictive maintenance.

Furthermore, through augmented reality, it will be possible to obtain information from any hospital facility and system, facilitating building maintenance tasks. 

Additionally, through the use of LiDAR sensors and AI algorithms, alerts will be generated to detect queue formation, aiming to reduce waiting times and improve patient care.

Sener, using artificial intelligence, processes different types of data to predict thermal behavior and the risk of disease transmission through air and water. The system will automatically adjust equipment operation to improve the quality of life for patients and healthcare workers while minimizing energy consumption. 

Fracttal geolocates the strategic assets of hospitals in real time, significantly reducing the search times for healthcare personnel. Its technology enables detailed control over the status, maintenance, and availability of each asset.
Open Ingenius, using virtual reality, creates environments for continuous staff training on occupational risks and emergencies, without disrupting hospital operations or compromising user care quality. 

Cuatro Digital leverages blockchain technology to ensure circularity by certifying the accuracy, accessibility, and transparency of data. It will collect data on construction materials, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions.

Aptica is deploying a new multi-technology communications network throughout the hospital to support all use cases. The result will be a robust and stable network that allows comprehensive connectivity across sensors, systems, and equipment, facilitating daily hospital operations.

European Funding

The Cognitive Hospital project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the ERDF operational program of the Community of Madrid for the period 2021-2027. Implementation will take place at Hospital del Henares (Coslada, Madrid), managed by Sacyr, over a period of three years (2024-2027).

This ambitious project has a budget of €6.1 million, including a €2.9 million grant from the Community of Madrid. These funds are part of the 2023 grant call to enhance public-private cooperation in R&D&I through projects with a significant "tractor" effect.
 

Civil engineer Isabel Barba Menchen, Quality and Environment Manager at Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure in Chile, won the 2023 Natural Innovators Award in the We Are Excellence. 

The recognition came from the innovative tool he had developed, called CALO (short for Calidad en Obra, Quality on Site), for the digital control of inspection protocols of the units of execution of the works. 

This platform optimizes communication between quality control and real-time monitorization roles. 
 

This tool was first launched in late 2023 and has been fully deployed in 2024. CALO represents a before and after for the Quality team in terms of onsite protocol control. It can be used on both mobile phones and tablets and one of its greatest advantages is that it is integrated into Sacyr's management system and can be used in any project and country.

"In construction work there are thousands of protocols that used to be carried out physically, with papers, or inspection sheets, it had to go through five signatures. CALO was created to provide service and speed up that work. We take our management systems to a digital platform that automatically reaches the devices of the people who must check the status of the work," explains Isabel Barba.

CALO has been implemented in Sotero del Rio and Buin Paine Hospitals and in the Los Vilos-La Serena and Camino de la Fruta highways. The aim is to deploy it in all projects in Chile.

Isabel has been out of Spain for 10 years, and she has been in Chile for five years. In Peru, she started the rehabilitation and improvement of the Longitudinal de la Sierra 2 Norte and then it was transferred to Cajamarca, another maintenance section. 

This engineer has also led the process through which Sacyr Chile has been certified as the first company in Chile to have a zero-waste certification and the first in Sacyr. This Aenor certification serves to validate that more than 90% of the waste in our work is recovered at the Sotero del Rio Hospital (Santiago de Chile).

"So called sustainable infrastructures should have cutting-edge technologies and be supported by renewable energies," explains Domingo Jiménez, Director of European Operations at Sacyr Concesiones.

In Domingo’s opinion, they should also include the principles of the circular economy and nature-based solutions. The goal is to meet our needs and improve the environment at the same time. 

"At Sacyr, we are constantly adapting to create infrastructures that meet these criteria," explains Domingo Jiménez. "25 years ago, we pioneered this in the construction of the Gran Canaria Airport, where we recycled all the demolition material of the aircraft parking platform. It was an innovative and ecological solution," Jiménez adds. He stresses: "It is not true that the most sustainable solution is more expensive than the traditional alternative."

Domingo Jiménez summarizes the keys to this vision in four points:

1)    Energy-efficient designs: They incorporate smart building designs and are energy-efficient, as they use renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, or geothermal. They will be equipped with energy management systems that optimize consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A current example of this is our Geobatt project at the Moncloa Transport Hub in Madrid. 

2)    Circular economy: A circular economy approach is needed where materials are reused and recycled to minimize waste. This also involves designing with future dismantling or demolition in mind at the end of its useful life, using sustainable materials and implementing comprehensive recycling programs. In Catalonia we have two pioneering works in the implementation of these measures: the office tower at Plaza Europa 34, in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) and a development of 95 multi-family homes in Viladecans (Barcelona).

3)    Climate resilience: We need to develop infrastructure that is resilient to the impacts of climate change. This includes building flood defenses, using permeable materials to manage stormwater, and incorporating green spaces to mitigate the effects of urban heat concentration islands. In addition, CO2 emissions will be increasingly taken into account both during the construction and operation processes. An example could be Velindre Cancer Centre, one of the most important hospital projects in the United Kingdom, with measures such as a strict control of the carbon footprint of the materials used in construction and the incorporation of a vegetation layer used as a refuge for dormice on a nearby plot, saving transport costs to the landfill,  reducing the carbon footprint and creating a habitat for these and other animals in the environment.

4)    Smart infrastructures: Use IoT and AI to create smart infrastructures that can self-monitor, deliver real-time data, and adapt to environmental changes. Smart infrastructure will improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability. An example could be our project with Detektia, through which geotechnical behavior is anticipated to make a non-invasive monitoring of slopes and terrain thanks to InSAR satellite radar technology, rainfall and more than 30 terrain variables.

In the Elorrio-Elorrio railway project, located in the Basque Country (Spain), various innovative measures have been implemented to minimize the impact on the surrounding environment. 

Our commitment to addressing the climate emergency drives us to innovate construction procedures that better incorporate social and environmental aspects into our activities.

At Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure, we are committed to developing environmentally friendly projects, always prioritizing sustainability in material use and construction processes. 

The Elorrio-Elorrio railway project is a clear demonstration of this approach.

Currently in its final phase, the project features several innovative measures designed to minimize its impact on the surrounding environment.

Here are six key measures that make this project particularly sustainable:

Integration of Infrastructures at an Environmental Level

As our team completes each phase of the project, hydroseeding is employed. This method uses a seed projection tank with a cannon or distribution hoses to sow seeds. 

Sowing is done on all slopes formed both by covering foundations and in the creation of embankments and clearings. The process is completed with shrub-type plantations in the final phase to ensure environmental integration.

Relocation of Excess Excavated Land

Another environmental objective achieved is the relocation of 850,000 cubic meters of surplus excavated land. This material was used to form embankments, such as in the extension of the Zumelegui Tunnel, promoting better integration with the surrounding landscape.

Restoration of the mouth of the Zumelegui Tunnel.

Environmentally Friendly Concrete

In the project, more sustainable concrete and cement was used, reducing the carbon footprint by 20-40% compared to conventional cement. These materials include 20-40% recycled content, with an emphasis on using locally sourced raw materials.

Waste Recovery

A key priority in the project’s waste management plan is the reuse and recovery of surplus materials. As a result, only 6-7% of the total waste generated has been discarded, aligning with our objective to minimize waste.

Water Use

To maximize water efficiency and prevent waste, several settling ponds have been installed near adjacent streams. These ponds act as filters before water reaches riverbeds and serve as decanters to provide water for road cleaning and dust suppression. 

During the Zumelegui Tunnel excavation, a treatment plant was installed to prevent contamination of the Goikoa stream, a tributary of the Ibaizabal River. 

Additionally, a second treatment plant was set up to handle runoff water (rainwater entering the river network), aimed at reducing suspended solids and protecting the biodiversity of nearby streams.

Arregiarte's leftover deposit.

Caring for Biodiversity

To ensure the free movement of wildlife, particularly the European mink, special crossings have been built into the drainage works along the route. These crossings include lateral steps raised above the water level, allowing animals to cross safely. Additionally, refuge areas for bats and protective sheets for amphibians have been installed at the entrances of one of the drainage works.
 

Fauna escape route.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

A head 18.3 metres high and a nose 6.4 metres long: these are the stratospheric measurements of George Washington's head on Mount Rushmore. Next to him are situated the heads of Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, towering over the beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 Their dimensions would also leave some jaws agape: each of their eyes is approximately 3.4 metres wide and each mouth is about 5.5 metres across. We investigate the story behind this iconic American landmark.

Obstacles to sculpting US history

The idea to carve this iconic sculpture in the Black Hills dates back to 1923. It was suggested by South Dakotan State Historian Doane Robinson, who contacted sculptor Gutzon Borglum. The American artist decided to carve the faces of these four presidents because he felt that they represented the most important events in the history of the United States.

The project faced a number of challenges in its early days, including getting permission to carve into the mountain and acquiring sufficient funding. "For those involved, keeping the project moving forward often seemed more difficult than the actual work of carving the granite into a colossal sculpture of the four presidents," says the US National Park Service (NPS) website.

Lincoln Borglum, son of Gutzon Borglum, next to a plaster scale model of the monument. Credit: Charles D'Emery / NPS

Dynamite shaped the presidential faces

The creation of this iconic monument began on 4 October 1927 with the explosive power of dynamite, followed by meticulous carving by hand to bring the busts to life. This monumental project took 14 years to complete and involved the dedication and effort of nearly 400 workers. "The duties involved varied greatly from the call boy to drillers to the blacksmith to the housekeepers," the NPS notes.

The workers faced extreme conditions: from searing heat to bitter cold and high winds. Each day they climbed 700 steps to the top of the mountain to punch in, and then descended the wall face in a "bosun chair" supported by steel cables. The work was "exciting but dangerous," says the NPS, which notes that 90% of the rock was carved using dynamite.

Explosives were used until only three to six inches of rock remained to be removed and the final carving surface reached. At this point, drillers and assistant carvers drilled closely-packed holes into the granite in a process called "honeycombing". This weakened the rock so that it could often be removed by hand. Workers would then smooth the surface of the faces using hand tools, creating a final rock surface as smooth as a sidewalk.

Workers suspended to carve the faces of Mount Rushmore. Credit: Charles D'Emery / NPS

A hidden chamber carved into the mountain

Little did the workers know at the time that they were building a monument that would go down in history. With Borglum’s death in early 1941 and the Second World War looming on the horizon, the US Congress cut off funding for the project and all work on the memorial was halted on 31 October 1941. Over time, the sculpture has become a great icon of American history.

Today, more than two million people visit it each year, according to the NPS. Many may not know that hidden behind the giant stone heads is a chamber carved into the rock of the mountain, known as the Hall of Records, which is inaccessible to tourists.

Mount Rushmore hides a chamber carved into the mountain's stone behind Lincoln’s hairline. Credit: Business Insider

Inside the repository is a teakwood box that houses a titanium vault, covered by a granite capstone, on which the following quote from Borglum is etched: "...let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and rain alone shall wear them away."

Tungsteno is a journalism laboratory to scan the essence of innovation.

Elena Ferrer, bioindication and bio control tech at the Northeast Tenerife Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The ecosystem created by wastewater and the microorganisms in it, is called activated sludge or mixed liquor. It consists mainly of bacteria, protozoa, metazoans, and fungi. All these beings work together dynamically, creating a true microsociety.

Bioindication encompasses all the information we can extract from the presence or absence of these microorganisms in our mixed liquor. Many of them are closely related to specific environmental variables, such as the physicochemical characteristics of the influent water (BOD, %soluble COD…), the physicochemical characteristics of our mixed liquor (temperature, %volatiles…), and operational characteristics (organic load, sludge age…).

It is a highly effective tool to understand the state of our process and the conditions of our sludge in real-time. Additionally, it helps us prevent and predict potential concerns, such as filamentous bulking or foaming.

We gather information through macroscopy and microscopy. Macroscopy is based on direct observation of both the biological reactors and our sludge in the V30 analysis; we look for the presence of foams, odors, solid loss, waxy layer formation, settling speed, clarified water turbidity, and more.

Microscopy allows to closely watch a fascinating microcosm.

With just a drop of mixed liquor, we can obtain a lot of information about the operation of our plant. Among other things, we will find out if we are conducting proper nitrification, if the organic matter in the wastewater is being removed, if we are injecting enough oxygen, if the sludge age is high, or if we have an overgrowth of filamentous bacteria. All of this is thanks to our bioindicator microorganisms.

Each treatment plant is unique and has its own identity because it is influenced by its particular characteristics, the habits of the population it caters to, and the type of process used. All these factors provide specific conditions for the development of different populations of microorganisms.

We are currently preparing a meeting between various lab techs and plant managers at Sacyr Water to share this knowledge and potentially bring bioindication techniques to many more facilities.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena boasts that he builds "half of a good house". Not because he can't build entire homes, but because of his innovative approach: offering a starter home with a complete basic structure and unfinished space. The aim is for families to expand and improve it as their resources and needs allow.

A house built in instalments

Aravena was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2016. "His built work gives economic opportunities to the less privileged, mitigates the effects of natural disasters, reduces energy consumption, and provides a welcoming public space," said the jury. He thus became the first Chilean and fourth Latin American to receive the prize, after Luis Barragán (1980), Oscar Niemeyer (1988) and Paulo Mendes da Rocha (2006).

His buildings can be found throughout Chile, the United States, Mexico, China and Switzerland. Among them, the jury highlighted the Siamese Towers, the UC Innovation Centre - Anacleto Angelini, and the Medical School of the Catholic University of Chile. Since 2001, Aravena has been the executive director of ELEMENTAL, a "Do Tank" focused on projects of public interest and social impact, which has designed more than 2,500 low-cost social housing units.

An emblematic "incremental" social housing project is the Quinta Monroy housing complex, built in 2004 in Iquique, a coastal city in northern Chile. These homes are designed to allow for incremental improvements over time as families have more resources. "If there’s no time or money to finish everything, let's do now what guarantees the common good," said the architect in an interview with Architectural Digest magazine.

Aravena has led significant architectural projects in various parts of the world. Credit: Dezeen

The "hardware" and "software" of cities

Aravena is known for his commitment to transforming cities and improving people's quality of life. The architect believes that a city is more than an accumulation of buildings; it is a concentration of opportunities, including work, education, and more. "That's why people move to them. The challenge arises when we are unable to respond quickly, and migrating people end up living in terrible conditions. I am convinced that if we strategically identify public space projects, the city would be a shortcut to equity," he says.

That is why he believes it is important not only to build physical infrastructure in cities, but also to ensure that it is balanced with the development of opportunities and services that improve the quality of life for all residents. "We can change the infrastructure—the "hardware" of our cities—all we want, but the "software" is still going to be oriented in one direction," he cautions in an interview in the Spanish newspaper El País. "What we are seeing right now is the cost of having accumulated only houses and not opportunities in our peripheries," he adds.

Reconstruction after earthquakes and tsunamis

Aravena is also convinced that design can help provide more comprehensive responses to natural disasters. In 2010, Chile suffered an earthquake and tsunami measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale. "We were called to work on the reconstruction of Constitución, in the southern part of the country. We were given 100 days, almost three months, to design almost everything: from public buildings to public spaces, street grids, transportation, housing, and mainly, how to protect the city against future tsunamis," Aravena explained in a TED talk in 2014.

Aravena works to create more resilient and sustainable cities. Credit: TED

To find a solution, they asked residents what they would like their city to look like. Through open meetings, they listened to the concerns of the public, such as the need for protection against tsunamis and rain flooding, as well as the lack of quality public spaces and democratic access to the river. The result was "a forest between the city and the sea that doesn’t try to resist the energy of nature, but dissipates it by introducing friction, a forest that may be able to laminate the water and prevent flooding… and that may provide democratic access to the river."

The project had an estimated cost of $48 million. When the public investment system was examined, it was discovered that there were three separate projects planned by three different ministries, costing a total of $52 million, all focused on the exact same site, but not coordinated with one another. By coordinating them, Aravena says they saved $4 million and were able to build the forest. "This case illustrates how synthetic design can optimise the use of the scarcest resource in cities, which is not money but coordination."

Tungsteno is a journalism laboratory to scan the essence of innovation.

La iniciativa de Sacyr Agua en Chile en la Municipalidad de Lo Barnechea busca reducir un 80% el consumo de agua fresca en el Parque El Huinganal. Lo Barnechea es la comuna con mayor consumo de agua potable residencial en Chile, sobre todo en los meses de verano. 

Además, en 2023, inauguramos la Plaza de la Sustentabilidad en Santiago de Chile, que persigue ser un entorno rodeado de zonas verdes, espacio de juegos infantiles y un área de servicio para mascotas en el municipio. Este nuevo parque apuesta por el desarrollo sostenible, cuenta con una superficie de 16.800 m2 de áreas verdes, donde se han plantado especies de arbóreas y arbustivas de bajo consumo hídrico.

Parque de la Sustentabilidad (Chile)

En Milán (Italia), estamos remodelando el Hospital Policlínico Mangiagalli y Regina Elena, en cuyo bloque central se integrará una cubierta coronada con un jardín transitable, accesible a los usuarios del hospital.

La cubierta verde tendrá una superficie mayor de 5.500 m2 y el riego procederá del reciclado de aguas grises del propio hospital. Este pulmón verde en el medio de la ciudad mejorará la calidad de los usuarios del hospital y contribuirá positivamente a la disminución de la contaminación provocada por la congestión del tráfico.

En el proyecto de construcción del Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid (España), hemos realizado un jardín terapéutico en el nuevo edificio pensado para mejorar la estancia de pacientes, familiares y sus mascotas. La zona ajardinada abarca más de 9.000 m2 y la zona de alcorques más de 500 m2.

En el complejo de las Setas de Sevilla (España) hemos instalado 16 islas móviles que son, a la vez, bancos y macetas donde la vegetación mediterránea cobra protagonismo. Estas piezas confieren al espacio más vida y versatilidad, ya que al ser móviles pueden conformar distintos patrones paisajísticos, en función de las necesidades de esta plaza.

Además, hemos realizado una intervención de 512 m2 de parterres del perímetro y las escaleras principales están inspiradas en un bosque.  Este espacio cuenta a su vez con 16 grandes olivos y más de 878 plantas y arbustivas. Ahondando en el valor de la sostenibilidad, creamos dos nuevos espacios infantiles. Para hacer su suelo, se han reciclado 641 neumáticos fuera de uso, dejando de emitir 13,2 k de CO2 a la atmósfera.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

The Sahara is the world's largest hot desert and one of the driest places on Earth. Throughout history, engineers and visionaries have dreamed of an idea as bold as it is utopian: to create an inland sea or lake in this vast region. The most prominent projects seek to connect the desert to the ocean through canals or depressions. We examine the details of the most striking proposals.

Connecting the desert to the ocean

In 1877, Scottish engineer Donald Mackenzie proposed flooding the El Djouf basin in modern-day Mauritania. He believed that the area was far enough below sea level to be connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a 644-kilometre-long channel. He wanted to create an inland sea of about 155,400 square kilometres (about the size of Ireland). “The flaw in his proposal was that he was completely wrong about the elevation of El Djouf, which is actually about 320 metres above sea level,” says Simon Whistler of Megaprojects. On top of that, Mackenzie received little investment despite the huge press coverage his audacious project received.

The idea of creating a sea in the Sahara poses significant technical and environmental challenges. Credit: Megaprojects

The challenge of creating a gigantic salt lake

The French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps developed the Suez Canal. This iconic infrastructure joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1869 and transformed international maritime traffic. After its construction, Lesseps became an idol. So much so that the French public hailed him as le grand Français (the great Frenchman). Lesseps dreamed up another great project and teamed up with the military geographer François Élie Roudaire to create a vast inland sea in the North African desert.

The plan became internationally famous. It involved linking the Gulf of Gabès in the Mediterranean with the Chott el Jerid, a seasonal salt lake in Tunisia that is dry most of the year. This was to be achieved by means of a190-kilometre-long canal. The resulting sea would have an average depth of 23 metres and a surface area of about 5,000 square kilometres. “The Sahara is the cancer eating away at Africa,” Roudaire wrote, according to Big Think. “We cannot cure it; therefore, we must drown it.”

The Chott el Jerid is dry most of the year. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

De Lesseps convinced the Academy of Sciences of the feasibility of the proposed plan, and the French government gave Roudaire a budget of 35,000 francs to carry out a study. The results were not as expected as several areas were found to be above sea level. Although Roudaire tried to salvage the project by lengthening the canal and reducing the area to be flooded, French scientists and engineers objected because of the unfavourable geographical and geological conditions and the high cost of implementing the project.

Atomic bombs to turn the Sahara into an oasis

The Plowshare Program was an initiative of the US Atomic Energy Commission to explore the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The aim was to detonate nuclear bomb explosions in civil and industrial projects, such as the creation of harbours and canals. In this case, the aim was to create a canal to flood the Qattara Depression in northwestern Egypt in order to generate electricity. However, the use of peaceful nuclear detonations was banned by several international treaties and Project Plowshare was terminated in 1977.

The Sedan nuclear test, conducted in 1962 as part of the Plowshare Program, was a detonation that left a mark on the Nevada desert. Credit: Nevada National Nuclear Security Administration.

Such projects force us to reflect on the limits of engineering. Beyond the technical and logistical aspects, they also raise important debates about ethics and sustainability. Flooding the Sahara could have a huge impact on the ecosystems and communities that live there, as well as being a colossal drain on resources. While creating a sea in the Sahara could boost trade and the economy, would the environmental and social costs be worth it?

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Tungsteno is a journalism laboratory to scan the essence of innovation.

“Acuama is a fertilizer management enterprise resource planning (ERP) software that has worked swimmingly the past 15 years but is no longer fit to address the industry’s technological challengesy. Its main setbacks include that it is hard to integrate with third-party systems, tele-reading platforms, and our own datalake”, said Miguel Cebrián, Head of Sacyr Water’s digital transformation area. 

This is why Sacyr has created a multidisciplinary team of programmers, functional analysts and business partners who have developed and approved each of the modules of this Sacyr-owned management system.

This system, called Nubia, has native integration with tele-reading systems, which to register a continual and remote reading of our users’ water consumption. 

“This will allow us to offer improved services to our clients like we’ve never done before. By daily logging their hourly rates into our database, we will get water demand curves. This will help us detect any leakage, non-revenue water and early detection tools for clients and users”, said Miguel.

Another pillar to enhance user experience requires improving our Client Area’s to process most queries online rather than in person.

“App users will be able to pay their bills, check and report their consumption, as well as ticketing any service-related incidents in real time”, said Miguel.  

The goal is for Nubia to become part of Sacyr Water’s digital ecosystem. This environment of apps and tools will improve treatment plant and water cycle management to obtain information and service indicators with which to monitor our efficiency in our daily work and optimize the resources we manage.

Starting in 2026, this new ERP will be implemented in all our integral cycle P3 projects in our portfolio, such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Guadalajara, Soria, Melilla, Sotogrande, Ribadesella, San Vicente de la Barquera, Biar and Almadén, as well as in all Chilean health companies, catering to more than 250,000 users.
 

When starting a construction excavation, having knowledge of the ground is essential for the success of a project, since exploration is slow, expensive, and unsafe. 

Working with external suppliers also complicates the preservation of historical information. Hence the need to have a digital repository with geotechnical studies and artificial intelligence tools to deepen that knowledge. 

Sacyr Engineering and Infrastructure in Chile is partnering with the geotechnical area of the Department of Engineering of the Universidad de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC) to develop a repository tool that digitizes the collected information from previous soil studies. This way, we get the information before excavating to see what the best approach to this process is.

This tool adjusts the time and cost of the processes, so it provides added value that our team in Chile did not have until now.

Sacyr participates in two lines of action in this joint project with the UCSC:

• Making a repository of soil mechanics laboratory reports.
• Creating a machine learning tool to predict soil stability and its properties.

The first pilot test of this project was carried out on Ruta 66 de la Fruta, currently under construction. 

"We have to continue feeding historical information and take advantage of the same artificial intelligence process with the platform we have created with the University," says Matías Cuitiño, Head of Geotechnics at the engineering department of Sacyr Chile. 

"We have already worked with the Universidad de la Santísima Concepción on green hydrogen projects and digital repository projects. They have an excellent capacity for innovation which allows us to work in different disciplines for the business model," says Víctor Armijos, Innovation Manager at Sacyr Chile. 

This artificial intelligence tool features three stages: 

• Creating a map repository, which will generate a detailed mapping of the terrain with spatial interpolations for the typical variables of geotechnical studies.
• A pattern recognition application that will implement a recognition methodology to recommend geotechnical tests based on historical information. This app uses supervised and unsupervised learning methods and the development of web tools and plug-ins.
• Developing a plug-in for the QGIS software to facilitate the detection of patterns in soils. 

The project, which will last approximately one and a half years, will be developed in three stages in Chile, through late 2025.

On the other hand, Dr. Mauricio Villagrán, Professor from the Faculty of Engineering and Director of the Advanced Capital Program in Artificial Intelligence at UCSC, pointed out that this technological contract is "very iconic for the university” as it explicitly establishes a collaboration agreement with the company. This agreement will usher the development of a specific application using artificial intelligence to solve an industry-specific problem. 

"In addition, the proposal was planned in stages to give the necessary flexibility required to address this type of challenge where there is a lot of technological uncertainty. I believe that this will be the kind of project where everyone involved will gain experience, knowledge and we will make tangible progress in the use of this type of cutting-edge technologies," he said.

The Rumichaca-Pasto road corridor, managed by Concesionaria Vial Unión del Sur (Sacyr Concesiones), is one of Sacyr's most relevant projects in Colombia. 

During the construction process, we discovered hundreds of archaeological remains that have been examined by Marcos Martinón-Torres.

Martinón-Torres, curator of the largest exhibition in Europe of the terracotta warriors of Xi'an (China), coordinated the analysis of these items with David Alejandro Pérez Fernández, Head of the Preventive archaeology program for Rumichaca-Pasto project between 2016 and 2023. Currently, he oversees archaeological tasks at the Unión vial Camino del Pacifico project, another Sacyr contract in Colombia. 

Martinón-Torres; Lina Campos Quintero (left), archaeologist at the Gold Museum; Kate Klesner, research associate with Martinon's team, and David Alejandro.

"The Nariño region has vast archaeological wealth. The discoveries made in the Vial Unión del Sur project are extraordinary and among the largest in Colombia's recent history. Excavations have unearthed pre-Hispanic tombs that provided us thousands of objects, revealing the richness and diversity of their technologies and funerary rituals," says Martinón-Torres.

 "Thanks to the excellent work of Sacyr's archaeologists, we have been able to carry out a very important part of our Reverseaction project, funded by the European Research Council. This project aims to explain how stateless societies mastered complex and luxurious technologies, such as goldsmithing, textile production, and precious stones. Items of this kind are usually associated with kings or pharaohs," explains the researcher.

"Including the perspective of European researchers and advanced scientific techniques is helps expand the possibilities of interpretation of the archaeological materials found during the archaeological excavations at the Rumichaca-Pasto widening project. Their insights help establish deep reflections about the ancient of this region, their way of life and how they connect to the technology at the time applied to ceramic arts", explains David Alejandro. 

"We carry out scientific analyses using various techniques from different scientific disciplines (natural, geological, and physical) to better understand objects that are 1,500 years old," explains Martinón-Torres. 

The three main techniques he uses are:

-    Chemical analysis on ceramic objects to understand the clays and pigments used.
-    Scanning electron microscopy to observe the items’ microstructure.
-    3D modeling to study their morphology and better understand their manufacturing processes.

"The collaboration with David Pérez and the Sacyr archaeologists has been incredibly enriching and synergistic. From the beginning, they have been open to sharing their discoveries," explains the archaeologist. 

"We were impressed by the professionalism of the archaeological record and the extent of excavations and items found. Upon our arrival, all the excavations were already completed. We have been able to add to our scientific contributions based on Sacyr's archaeological work," says Martinón-Torres.

"There is still much to do. As our project is currently planned, it will go on until 2026. We plan to return to Pasto at the beginning of next year to begin disseminating the results and take further steps. We will also develop our collaboration with the Gold Museum in Pasto, as well as with indigenous communities," this scientist says. 

The team has begun collaborating with native communities to better understand their history and integrate pre-Hispanic technologies into today's traditional crafts. "We can only do this work if we feel welcome and can contribute something to the local communities," he stresses. 

For example, Prof. Martinón-Torres’ team is collaborating with a community that is searching for clays for traditional pottery. Researchers compare these clays with those used thousands of years ago to better understand pigments used in the past. 

Kate Klesner, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge and a member of Martinón-Torres' team, has worked with students from universities in Colombia to analyze these findings.

"The idea is to publish an article with Kate and Marcos; hopefully this year. The combined research reports amount to close to 4,000 pages, and they are an excellent groundwork for a book that will expand our knowledge about the human societies that inhabited this part of the world," says David Pérez.

According to Martinón-Torres, the excavations in this area are some of the most extensive and abundant known in the world.

Biomethane is a gas obtained from biogas. The European Union wants to promote its production to offset fossil fuel consumption since biogas is renewable. 

However, biogas has a small drawback: when producing biogas, a co-product called digestate is generated, which has complicated management strategies.

Different alternatives are currently being studied to valorize digestate while minimizing pollution. The goal is not only to eliminate it but also to turn it into a useful product. 

A group of researchers has discovered that digestate helps decontaminate water, creating a win-win situation: digestates are no longer an environmental problem and can be given a sustainable economic use.

Digestates can be transformed into biochar through a process called hydrothermal carbonization. Biochar can decontaminate water by removing organic contaminants. 

This is the gist of the UPGRES project, carried out by a team of scientists from the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Group at Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC), in collaboration with Repsol and INGELIA.

Juan Antonio Melero, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rey Juan Carlos University, is the principal investigator of the UPGRES project. "A lot of this digestate could end up in landfills, which is not sustainable. This is where UPGRES comes in, offering new ways of valorizing digestate," says Juan Antonio.

The Repower EU project, promoted by the European Union, aims to boost biomethane generation, increasing production from the current 20 billion m3 to 35 billion by 2030, and 167 billion by 2050. This would cover 60% of the EU's natural gas demand but would also generate 1.7 billion tonnes of digestate compared to the current 180 million tonnes.

While digestate can also be used as a fertilizer, it has low agronomic value, and its use is limited depending on its origin. 

Digestate is transformed into biochar (hydrochar) through hydrothermal carbonization, which is carried out at temperatures between 180 and 250 ºC, producing a bio-based carbon. What nature does by fossilizing organic waste and transforming it into fossil charcoal, these researchers achieve in four hours.

In the UPGRES project, they manage to degrade pollutants from wastewater or industrial effluents using the generated biochar. 

“Currently, we are in the basic research stage. The next step would be for companies to scale it up to a pilot plant, where digestates would be treated in larger reactors," explains Isabel Pariente, a professor in the area of Chemical Engineering at Rey Juan Carlos University and head of the water treatment line. 

"This process can be used for process waters with a high concentration of organic matter at a temperature of 200 ºC and 50 bars of pressure. Its profitability would need to be studied," she adds.

UPGRES is a project funded by the State Research Agency for strategic R&D&i lines. IMDEA Energía, Repsol, Ingelia—a Valencian company dedicated to the hydrothermal carbonization of biological waste—and Rey Juan Carlos University are participating in it. 

UPGRES project began in November 2021 and will end in November 2024.

ISABEL RUBIO ARROYO | Tungsteno

There exists a White House that seems to touch the sky. It is a replica located 121 metres high, atop a skyscraper in Bangalore, India. The two-storey private villa crowning the Kingfisher Tower belongs to Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, once known as the "king of good times" for his extravagant lifestyle. We delve into the secrets of this striking construction and why it remains a mystery whether its owner will ever be able to enjoy it.

A mansion atop a skyscraper

This 40,000 square metre mansion includes a helipad, garden, infinity pool, gym and a terrace offering a 360-degree view of the city. The skyscraper on which it stands houses 42 luxury flats, offices, shops and a parking area. It is part of a project by United Breweries Holdings Ltd (UBHL) and Prestige Estates Projects, the latter known for building luxury residences, proudly calling this "the most luxurious and expensive project in Bangalore".

A year ago, the mansion was almost finished, as shown in a drone-captured aerial video. "It was a challenge to construct the mansion on a huge cantilever at that height, but we have ensured that we built it exactly the way it was conceived," explained Irfan Razack, chairman of Prestige Estates Projects, in an article from October 2023. According to him, work to complete the building was underway.

The mansion has a helipad, garden, infinity pool, gym and an enormous terrace. Credit: Srihari Karanth

A tycoon on the run from justice

The construction cost $20 million and was commissioned by Mallya. But after such an outlay, there is a possibility that the Indian tycoon may never live in it. As well as being the former owner of the Force India Formula One team, Mallya is known as the "king of good times" for his lavish lifestyle complete with yachts, private jets, classic cars and mansions.

The construction of the mansion coincided with Mallya's mounting financial troubles. In 2022, he was sentenced to four months in jail for disobeying a previous court order related to the bankruptcy of his airline, Kingfisher Airlines. He is currently believed to be a fugitive in the UK and is trying to avoid possible extradition to India. “I don’t think that [Mallya] would very tamely come back to India,” said Sanjay Hegde, a senior lawyer and legal analyst not involved in the case, to the Financial Times. According to the newspaper, the tycoon has "fought very hard" to avoid extradition.

Although it is believed that Mallya is in the UK, India has been trying to extradite him from countries where he owns property and where extradition treaties are in effect. "The French offered a (extradition) proposal with some preconditions (but) India asked them to approve the proposal without any preconditions," sources told the Indian Express.

For now, the mansion will remain unoccupied due to its owner's legal troubles. Credit: Famous Luxury

It remains to be seen whether Mallya will eventually occupy his quirky villa in the sky. Over 12,000 kilometres away, in Washington D.C., sits the real White House, home and workplace of the President of the United States. The main difference between this iconic building and Mallya's residence, apart from being inhabited, is its impressive scale: the official White House has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms and six floors, and it takes 570 gallons of paint to cover its vast exterior surface.

Tungsteno is a journalism laboratory to scan the essence of innovation.