Examples of 4-manifolds with almost nonpositive curvature

We construct an infinite family of non-homeomorphic 4-manifolds with almost nonpositive sectional curvature whose universal covering space is not contractible. As a consequence, these manifolds do not support metrics with nonpositive sectional curvature. To achieve this, we use a generalization of Bavard's surgery construction, combined with an open book decomposition and knot theory.