New Wittpenn Bridge Demonstrates the Criticality of Inspection

An estimated 178 million trips are taken across the nation’s more than 617,000 bridges, but approximately 7.5 percent of the nation’s bridges are considered structurally deficient, and 42 percent of all bridges are at least 50 years old. Considering recent incidents of bridge collapses in the news as well as the ‘C’ grade the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives the nation’s bridge infrastructure, the criticality of bridge inspection can’t be understated. A prime example of an agi...

Getting Geotechnical: The Making, Shaking and Remaking of San Francisco’s Treasure Island

Treasure Island is a 400-acre artificial island in San Francisco Bay. San Francisco Bay’s Treasure Island—a flat, 400-acre, rather headstone-shaped island—is entirely artificial, “… constructed by emplacing 260,000 tons of quarried rock in the shoals for the island/causeway perimeter rock walls (a freshwater reservoir was quarried in the rock of Yerba Buena Island). Approximately 23 feet of dredged bay sand filled the interior, was mitigated from salt, and then 50,000 cubic yards of topsoi...

Future Forward: Engineers Are Going To Be Busy for a Long Time

This particular webcam interview was recorded by Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. You can view a video of the full interview above or by visiting bit.ly/35UCpNl . These profiles are based on interviews, and the opinions and statements are those of the subject and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by this publication. Jay Rhame is the CEO and Portfolio Manager of Reaves Asset Management, an asset manager focused on utilities, infrastructure and...

Executive Corner: A Peek Inside the Latest Data-Valuation Trends

The latest valuation statistics from the recently released “A/E Business Valuation and M&A Transactions Study” reveals some interesting trends, including significantly higher valuation multiples for larger firms and higher equity values across the board due to improved profitability and stronger balance sheets. Table 1 illustrates overall enterprise values as a multiple of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2021. The “minority interest valuation multipl...

Thoughts From Engineers: On Shaky Ground: The Effect of Human Activity on Drinking Water

The results of a study examining the relationship between land use and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) contamination were published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology in February 2022 (bit.ly/PFAS2022). The expansive study, based mostly in the Eastern United States, showed a strong relationship among certain hydrologic metrics, specific types of human activity such as landfills and fire-fighting test sites, and the presence of PFAS compounds. PFAS compound...

2022 Business Value of BIM in Infrastructure Update

Letters from April 2022 Issue

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Natural Wonders: Safety, Accessibility and Aesthetics Shape Pedestrian Suspension Bridges

By Sean O’Keefe There’s something wonderful about a walk in the woods: the nearness of nature, the wind rustling through trees, the magical light almost any time of day, and never knowing what’s around the next bend. For Gus Smithhisler, P.E., it’s an adventure that never gets old. Smithhisler is a Natural Resources Engineer for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), where he has worked since graduating from Ohio State University in 1994 with a degree in Civil Engineering...

Data Centers: Provide Unique Circumstances and Challenges for Stormwater Detention

By Carol Brzozowski This article is based on a webcam interview recorded by Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. You can view a video of the full interview at the top of this page or by visiting bit.ly/3FxF3o4 E-commerce is fueling a need for data centers and warehouses that require massive stormwater treatment systems; and designing, manufacturing and installing these systems can require a different approach from other types of structures. S...

Emerging Cyber-Solutions Are Updating Urban Infrastructure

By Gordon Feller Cities are working hard to adopt state-of-the-art technologies. Several forces are driving them to embrace emerging innovations: agencies are working on interconnected problems; increasingly diverse communities are pushing governments to meet their needs; and government operations are becoming more complex, working daily with massive datasets. As a result, municipalities have concluded that they must have reliable, next-generation connectivity. With the right infrastr...