Tech Tip: Is it Time to Update Your Civil 3D Template?
If you’re on an Autodesk subscription plan, new versions of software are available to you every year, and periodic updates, enhancements and hotfixes are issued on a pretty regular basis. Although your software may be keeping up to date, your template file might not be. Our professional services team has had numerous conversations with customers interested in reviewing the quality of their working template files for efficiency and effectiveness. During these conversations, it’s not unusual to...
Code Update: An Advanced Approach to Seismic Code-Check of Steel Connections
About half the buildings designed and constructed in North America have some level of seismic design requirements. Seismic design has evolved—engineers now face terms such as capacity design, dissipative item, plastic hinge and deformation capacity—so this column hopes to shed some light on recent developments. Capacity Design The objective of capacity design is to confirm that a building is capable of a controlled ductile behavior to avoid collapse in a design-level earthquake. This invol...
From the Editor: What’s Past Is Prologue, But the Future Seems Uncertain
For the last three months, I’ve been teaching a senior design class at Valparaiso University, my alma mater. When I say “at Valparaiso University,” I mean “at home, for the university, through online software.” The pandemic has had a significant impact in the way classes are taught worldwide, and I can only speak to my experiences. We’ve been using Zoom software and, as you probably know, all you see are a number of windows with the students’ faces. Difficulties of Online Learning It’s a c...
Executive Corner: Are These Beliefs Crippling Your Firm?
You’re probably familiar with the adage “beliefs drive behaviors, behaviors drive results.” From my 15 years of experience as an owner and CFO for architecture and engineering firms, I can tell you that faulty beliefs are the biggest culprit when firms are underperforming financially and struggling in other business areas. The challenge is that most of these firms don’t know that holding faulty beliefs is what’s driving poor performance. That’s why it’s of paramount importance that every firm...
Thoughts From Engineers: A Moving Target: The Challenge of Predicting Flood Risk
The Aug. 20, 2018, storms that hit Dane County, Wis., near Madison, unloaded in some locations nearly 15.33 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Flood stage on Black Earth Creek climbed from 2 feet to 9.7 feet within a few hours, and the two-day rain event firmly shattered all precipitation records for the region. For decades, the 100-year floodplain has guided the delineation of the country’s special flood hazard zones, restricting development in and around areas of high flood risk, and servi...
ReEngineering the Engineer: Security 101: COVID, a New Level of Growing Pain
Life was seemingly simple when I started engineering. We printed out a large floor plan from the architect and drew the floor framing on tracing paper. Then we designed one beam after another, writing the reactions on the plan, then the girders, then on to the columns and carrying the reactions down to the foundation. Difficult? Not really. Tedious? Absolutely. Reflecting on that process, all I needed was a calculator, the composite beam design guide to interpolate designs for the beams and g...
Construction Concerns: Ten Strategies for Planning a Successful Construction Project
JACQUELINE GREENBERG VOGT There has been a recent abundance of catastrophic construction failures. One of the more-famous failures occurred on March 15, 2018, when a pedestrian bridge collapsed at Florida International University, killing six people. On Oct. 22, 2019, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report blaming design errors and poor oversight for the tragedy. Two other deadly accidents occurred in the last year involving construction cranes. These examples highlight a...
Code Update: Construction Stormwater Permitting and Regulations
LILY MONTESANO, CISEC Construction sites can generate substantial amounts of pollutants during a relatively short period of time. From exposed soils to concrete, trash and solvents, pollutants present at construction sites, if uncontrolled, can easily be conveyed offsite and into waterways, degrading water quality and damaging delicate ecosystems. To limit such degradation, the discharge of stormwater from construction sites is regulated at several levels: federally by the U.S. Environment...
Executive Corner: Four Action Items to Help Move Your Firm Forward
As we come to grips with the current economic landscape and ponder the post-pandemic future, it’s natural that negative feelings arise. We have the choice, however, to let these negative emotions debilitate or energize. As owners or leaders of our businesses, we can’t afford to let emotions get the best of us; and I believe, from personal experience, that the most-beneficial way to deal with these feelings is to take action. In this column I suggest a few actions you can take right now that will...
From the Editor: Engineers Need To Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation
When our Editorial Director Todd Danielson gave me the heads up that Informed Infrastructure would be introducing a new “special issue” on “Green Engineering” a year from now in October 2021, I thought about the end of this summer season and how “un-green” it has been for so many of us. As we watch and listen to the news outlets, we see wildfires devastating forests and homes; hurricanes flooding cities and uprooting people; and in parts of the Midwest, the fields are just barely getting enough...
Video: Crashes Drop Measurably After Rural Road Safety Improvement Project on US 521 in Lancaster County
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June Issue 2026
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