This August 2023 column highlights three infrastructure topics I find interesting on personal and professional levels. Headline News: The Bridge Collapse There have been many articles written about the bridge on I-95 in Philadelphia, where a tanker truck…
Executive Corner: Could A/E Firms Avoid a Recession?
The previous “Executive Corner” column noted that despite the looming economic conditions, the A/E sector may avoid a recession with continued growth…
Thoughts From Engineers: Who’s at Risk for Extreme Storms?
The use of data and computer models to simulate complex physical processes, make predictions and more-effectively plan for the future has never been more…
Transportation Troubleshooting: How NEVI Will Jumpstart Growth of U.S. Electric Vehicle Charging Networks
Everyone in the U.S. transportation industry is excited about NEVI—or they should be. Enacted with the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program commits $5 billion to subsidize electric vehicle…
Workforce Focus: The Human Element of Increasing Employee Retention
The United States is expected to add as many as 1.5 million new infrastructure jobs each year through 2031. According to a Brookings analysis of BLS data (found at www.brookings.edu/articles/infrastructure-workforce/), an estimated 1.7 million additional…
ReEngineering The Engineer: Keeping It All Together
There’s never a dull moment in the life of a small business owner. As I look back over the last 40 years—and especially the last 20—there have been workload cycles to manage, staff to mentor, economic fluctuations to weather, technologies to champion,…
From the Editor: Learning Is a Lifelong Endeavor
I look forward to this time of year for many reasons. Of course, the warmer weather is one of my favorites. New spring growth changes the landscape every day. The farmers are in the fields planting their crops for the year. This also is the time of increased…
ReEngineering the Engineer: Make Time for Knowledge and Experience Transfer
One of the more-difficult tasks for me (personally as a business owner) is hiring new staff. It doesn’t matter if it’s an admin, CAD/BIM support or an engineer; I find hiring stressful. Most candidates I talk to still are gainfully employed, and although…
Executive Corner: Despite Indicators, A/E Sector May Avoid a Looming Economic Recession
All the usual warning signs point to a potential U.S. recession, beginning as early as Q3 of 2023. We have an inverted yield curve with short-term interest rates significantly exceeding long-term rates due to aggressive monetary policy actions by the…
Thoughts From Engineers: The Fight to Get the Lead Out
No issue captures the failings of our nation’s drinking-water infrastructure quite like the chronic and widespread problem of lead service lines (LSLs). Starkly highlighting racial disparities in the United States, LSLs can be found predominantly in…
