After the Fire: Engineering a Watershed-Wide Defense Against Flooding
Post-wildfire flooding carrying ash, sediment, woody debris and boulders moves through a residential corridor after the 2022 Pipeline Fire. (Coconino County Emergency Management) For wildfires in northern Arizona, the danger doesn’t end with the flames. When monsoon storms inevitably arrive, disaster can begin anew in the form of devastating flooding. Rain that once soaked into forest soils can race downhill carrying ash, sediment, woody debris and even boulders toward neighborhoods below. Water...
It’s Tall, But That’s Not All: A Consequential 158 Feet of Mass Timber in Columbus, Ohio
This mass-timber student housing high-rise at Ohio State University is setting records for height and speed of construction Watch author Angus Stocking’s full interview of Josh Dortzbach, principal, Forefront Structural Engineers at iimag.link/eUaGo. When completed, the new student housing tower being constructed at 9th and High at the edge of Ohio State University will be a 12-story residential building rising 158 feet, a height record for mass-timber student housing. On this project, however,...
Rossana D’Antonio, P.E., GE, F.ASCE: ASCE’s Groundbreaking President Elect Ready to Lead an Evolving and Essential Profession
This article is based on an interview recorded by Todd Danielson, editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. The entire discussion can be viewed at iimag.link/LuZNm. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) members elected Rossana D’Antonio, P.E., GE, F.ASCE, as president of the society for the 2027-2028 term. When inducted as president-elect at ASCE’s annual business meeting in October 2026, she will be the first Latina female to serve the traditional three-year appointment as president-e...
Future Forward (Powered by ACEC): Artificial Intelligence and the Firm of the Future
Every industry has a moment when the ground shifts beneath it before anyone has a chance to update the org chart. For the engineering industry, that moment is now, and the cause isn’t one single technological breakthrough, but something more fundamental: the logic that governs how engineering firms create value is being rewritten. That’s the theory of the case laid out in the ACEC Research Institute’s recently released study by futurist Mike Walsh, “Redefining the Firm: Talent, Technology, and T...
Change Leader: Revolutionizing Water Management With AI-Powered Optimization
Water is our most vital resource, yet the systems that manage it are under growing strain. Between aging infrastructure, rising demand, retiring workforce, increasing costs and the intensifying effects of climate change, utilities are challenged to do more with less. In the United States alone, it’s estimated that water utilities emit greenhouse gases equivalent to more than 9 million cars and lose 6 billion gallons of potable water daily due to leaks. The numbers are just as staggering when you...
Water Works: Urban Karst: Stormwater’s Invisible Infrastructure
Early in my career in stormwater management, I designed storm sewer networks as isolated infrastructure—after all, MS4 is an abbreviation for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System. Since then, I’ve gained enough experience to challenge that notion, particularly when it comes to green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). I don’t think I’m alone, so let me explain. GSI inherently elevates principles of interconnectedness by recognizing that stormwater isn’t simply an isolated engineering problem, but...
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Infrastructure Outlook: Water Utilities Must Move From Optimization to Orchestration
The U.S. water sector has built its success on a steady playbook: plan long, invest steadily and optimize assets through time—but that playbook is showing its limits. Conditions are changing faster than the system was designed to absorb, and utilities are feeling it in every part of their operation. The findings in the survey-driven “Black & Veatch 2026 Water Report” (www.bv.com/en-US/resources/water-report) show a sector that’s adapting, investing and innovating in real time. They also point to...
Executive Corner: Navigating the Talent Gap: How M&A and Corporate Restructuring Are Shaping the Future of the A/E Industry
Our practice of conducting business valuations for firms in the A/E industry provides a unique perspective on emerging trends as they unfold. With a diverse array of firms seeking valuations for various purposes—ranging from mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to succession planning and financial assessments—these evaluations offer valuable insights into the dynamics shaping the industry landscape. One challenge we’ve observed is that the A/E industry is grappling with a significant shortage of mid-c...
Thoughts From Engineers: Locating Wetlands for Better Planning
Geospatial data, high-resolution terrain models and machine learning are creating new ways to understand what’s happening on the ground. These technologies already are influencing fields such as traffic management, agricultural production, infrastructure maintenance, watershed planning and environmental protection. One especially useful example is the Wetland Intrinsic Potential (WIP) tool, developed by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. WIP uses multivariable datasets, lida...
Transportation Troubleshooting: Standing at the Edge of the IIJA Funding Cliff
With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) set to expire Oct. 1, 2026, the transportation industry is approaching a pivotal moment that will shape project pipelines, workforce planning and long-term infrastructure investment across the country. The IIJA is the latest in a series of federal transportation laws that provide funding and set policy for highways, transit and other critical infrastructure. These legislative packages, commonly referred to as “Surface Transportation Reauthor...
Video: New Roundabout Under Construction at McIver and Old Florence Roads in Darlington County
Promenade at The Point
June Issue 2026
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