Oct. 18, 2022, marked 50 years since passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA) landmark legislation that established a goal of restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. The CWA initially was focused…
Code Update: Reapproval of ASTM C1776 Sets the Bar for Manufacture of Precast Concrete Modular Retaining Wall Units
In May 2022, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) published the reapproved ASTM C1776: “Standard Specification for Wet-Cast Precast…
Infrastructure Outlook: How Technology Will Ensure $1.2 Trillion Worth of Infrastructure Projects
The United States currently ranks 13th in the world in overall quality of infrastructure. However, with the recent passing of the Infrastructure…
ReEngineering the Engineer: Celebrate the Clever Things
I have worked my entire career at two small firms, and I really enjoy working on a diversity of projects. My previous firm, at that time, had a relatively small band of project types it worked on. When I started out on my own in 2004, my main goal was…
Infrastructure Outlook: Mind the Gap, Your Drinking Water Depends on It
Fifty years after the Clean Water Act passed, the U.S. government has invested more than $1 trillion to try and combat water pollution. Now, nearly one year after passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, improvements in U.S. water systems are as needed as…
Transportation Troubleshooting: Mobility Marketplace Will Improve How We Use Transportation Systems
Transportation technology is changing so fast that it’s easy to forget how our choices have multiplied in the last 15 years. As recently as the mid-2000s, many of the services we take for granted today did not exist. These include ride-hailing services;…
Thoughts From Engineers: Where the Water Will Go
The local waterfront pub you’ve been in the habit of visiting for burgers and fries on Friday night is very likely to be flooded several times a year by the year 2050. Moreover, if past development patterns are anything to go by, this historic eatery…
Executive Corner: Where Are A/E Values Heading?
With so much turmoil in the economy and stock market, many A/E business owners are probably wondering what this may mean for their own firm’s value. Interestingly, while the stock and debt markets are going through turmoil, many firms in the A/E industry—both…
ReEngineering the Engineer: At Some Point, You Could Be the One Asking For Forgiveness
Every now and then, I run across a project that seems “snake-bit.” No matter how complete our drawings were or how well we understood existing conditions, there seems to be this never-ending parade of issues for the life of the structural work. Some…
From the Editor: When the Going Gets Tough, the Engineers Get To Work
I was having a difficult time narrowing down a topic for my column this issue; there seem to be so many things happening at the same time. So rather than struggle with one topic (and adding words to fill the page), I decided to mention of few of the “many…
