Water Works: A Smarter Approach to Stormwater Management
If you’ve been immersed in the world of urban stormwater management for long, you’ve probably noticed the persistent gap between our water-quality standards and practical capabilities to control stormwater pollution. It’s been more than five decades since the Clean Water Act articulated the goal of protecting and restoring the beneficial uses of our nation’s waters, and it’s been more than three decades since permitting authority for nonpoint pollution was added. As municipal stormwater permi...
Transportation Troubleshooting: How Close Is U.S. Transition to Zero-Emissions Trucks?
After a surge in capital investment and hiring in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trucking industry has struggled for the last 18 months with lower demand, declining freight rates and increasing diesel prices. So it may seem premature to ask the trucking industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by adopting expensive new electric and hydrogen vehicles. But the Biden Administration still hopes to achieve this ambitious and worthy goal, and with careful approaches to im...
Engineering the Future: Infrastructure Is the Hypothalamus of Society
The basic functions of your body are controlled by the hypothalamus—think “breathe, breathe, heart beats, I’m hungry.” Similarly, every aspect of a modern economy is based on the foundation provided by a strong, efficient and resilient infrastructure. It supports a modern economy, silently, with a select few understanding the large amount of work required to keep it running. Society doesn’t see such infrastructure until there’s a catastrophic failure. Following a failure, there’s a rush to judgm...
Thoughts From Engineers: Enhanced Aquifer Recharge Goes Mainstream
Sometimes it takes converging events to suddenly ramp up interest in a particular water-management technology. Articles with headlines such as “America is using up its groundwater like there’s no tomorrow” (bit.ly/IsNoTomorrow) do little to quell fear, but data show that the United States has hit all types of records in recent years—from record heat and drought to precipitation and flooding. Notwithstanding the many climate and aquifer model projections in circulation, the common theme is uncert...
Infrastructure Outlook: A Better Road Ahead for Baltimore Harbor Traffic
Peter Vanderzee Despite unforeseen complexities related to recovery of those who perished and complex entanglement of the collapsed structure with the ship that caused the Francis Scott Key (FSK) bridge collapse, transportation officials in Maryland now expect to be able to reopen the Baltimore Harbor Channel to commercial ship traffic this coming week, less than two months after the maritime disaster that destroyed the main span of the FSK Bridge. While this is good news, the bigge...
Multi-Billion Dollar Investments Propel Bridge Repair and Replacement Projects Nationwide
Approximately $14.4 billion is spent yearly to repair, rehabilitate or replace bridges in America. However, that yearly amount has increased and will continue to increase because the backlog of critically needed bridge repairs is estimated to be $125 billion. With about 50,000 bridges with very significant issues awaiting attention, an estimated 40% of them can be rehabilitated, but at least 35% will require a complete replacement. Many of the bridges in America were constructed about the same t...
From The Editor: Smart Engineering Requires Thinking Without Constraint
The month of May brings many things I enjoy, including the “Smart Engineering” issue of Informed Infrastructure. Each year when this issue is being prepared, I look up Smart Engineering to see the current definition and find some examples. In general, I think we can settle on “engineering that uses processes and IT tools for innovative and interdisciplinary solutions in products, production and infrastructure.” The reader can add or revise as you feel necessary. Following the C’s So what d...
Executive Corner: Five Key Factors To Perfecting an A/E Exit Strategy
An enormous A/E generation that kicked off their careers in the 1980s and subsequently started firms or became owners in the 1990s and 2000s is plotting its final act. Baby Boomer A/E owners across every discipline are contemplating how to successfully transition their firms for sustainability and survivability. And while some are ready to relinquish and others wish to hold on a few more years, the need to assess exit strategy options has never been more urgent. The Silver Tsunami Accordin...
Thoughts From Engineers: A Pulse on the Watershed: The Evolution of Smart Water Infrastructure Networks
The speed with which smart networks are colonizing our homes and cities’ infrastructure is proof of the technology’s adaptability to the systems of our lives. We have smart thermostats, digital surveillance systems and other Internet of Things (IoT)-driven devices to detect leaky pipes or deliver status alerts on random household appliances. Smart sensors also are increasingly being used to enhance operations in large, centralized infrastructure such as combined sewer facilities. Strategically l...
Transportation Troubleshooting: Advancing Transportation Delivery in the Digital Age
If consulting engineers and public infrastructure managers took a vote today on whether we should rapidly adopt digital delivery, the tally would be near unanimous in favor. But if we also asked them to define exactly what digital delivery means for their agency and the best ways to use it efficiently, responses would be all over the map. Theory vs. Practice There’s no arguing that digital delivery, in which computerized data replaces traditional paper documents, is an evolutionary leap ov...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
AdventHealth Weaverville Hospital
June Issue 2026
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