Thoughts from Engineers: The Food Industry Has a Major Impact on Water Resources
Cheesemaking is a bonafide American industry that generates some $50 billion in revenue every year. In the regions of New York where dairy farms dominate, small-town communities and cheese production have coexisted peacefully through the years. A longtime American favorite, Philadelphia Cream Cheese has been produced in Lowville, N.Y., for nearly 40 years. A new plant became operational in 2017 and expanded Kraft Heinz’s (parent company of Philadelphia Cream Cheese) production line to also in...
From the Editor: Spring’s Arrival Leads to Thoughts of Unfrozen Infrastructure
As I write this in early March, we’re experiencing sunny, warm days in the Midwest. We had a warmer-than-average winter with less snow than usual. Spring is the time when we witness the change from gray and white to blue and green. The sky clears itself of the ever-present cloud cover and melts the snow of winter, giving way to blue above and green growth at ground level. If this sounds a bit poetic, it’s because I’m preparing myself for the companion season of road construction and farm-e...
Project Management Insights: Managing Remote Teams (Or During a Pandemic)
Depending on where you live and work, there may be a stay-in-place order recently issued by your state or local government. Your firm or office building manager may have closed facilities out of abundance of caution. Whatever the situation, you are more than likely now working from home. Since construction is considered an essential service in many states, projects are moving forward; as are most in the design phase. A project manager develops some specific and unique skills to be successful,...
Infrastructure Outlook: Cloud-Based CMT Makes Social Distancing and Remote Work Possible
The majority of U.S. states consider construction and building material suppliers essential. This means many testing labs are still open. It has also created two problems for those in the industry: How do you follow CDC social distancing guidelines at a busy testing lab? And how do stakeholders access test results from home to keep business moving? Moving some or all the CMT workflow to a cloud-based platform can help answer both of these questions – and fast. Practical Social Distancing in t...
CARES Act Impacts Engineering and Construction Sector
The CARES Act does not provide direct relief for additional costs and delays to individual projects. COVID-19 precautions continue to impact construction by delaying material shipments and reducing labor availability, as well as governmental orders to halt many construction projects. Some ongoing or planned construction projects are at risk of being suspended or terminated because of reduced demand in various sectors, such as hospitality or oil and gas, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ma...
ReEngineering the Engineer: Curiosity: Engineers Do Better than the Cat
To date, my engineering firm has been a team member for two different Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) projects. Both included many regularly scheduled “Big Room” meetings. Almost all of those meetings start with an ice-breaker question to allow everyone to learn a little something about the other team members. The questions are usually pretty simple: your favorite movie, a favorite childhood memory, the most influential person in your life, your favorite food, a second career you didn’t ch...
Construction Contractors Are Working to Manage Coronavirus Risks
Contractors are staggering shifts and crews are cleaning tools, handles and hands in cities where projects continue. Zurich North America Construction crews in many cities continued to raise cranes and swing hammers as much of the world shut down to stem the spread of coronavirus. While Boston and Pennsylvania ordered a halt to most construction projects, some other cities and states designated construction as an essential or crucial sector. There is debate over the interpretation of go...
Now is the Time to Increase Investment in America's Critical Infrastructure
The scope of the coronavirus pandemic is something we haven’t experienced in our lifetime. Each of us has been recruited to fight an unseen enemy that is disrupting our lives, businesses, and overall economic health. State and local leaders have called on President Trump to put the nation on a wartime footing. In response, the administration is speeding production of medical supplies and tasking the military to assist states with expanding hospital capacity. Congress is putting partisanship a...
Infrastructure Outlook: Power Distribution Networks Must Perfect Data Quality and Governance
The electric utility industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by new sources of energy generation (solar and wind power), consumer demand for faster and more-affordable services, cybersecurity, and Big Data. Gathering data to harvest insights and forecast more accurately offers a significant potential to optimize the way utilities operate. Emerging modern grids demand accurate data and as-operated network information to function optimally. Given these business imperatives, utilities...
Project Management Insights: Delivering on Brand Is Integral to AEC Marketing and Management
How you deliver projects either supports or hurts your branding. At a rudimentary level, the role of marketing is to create awareness and generate demand for a company’s product or service. The brand is the link to the buying marketplace, and it’s the identifier in name, logo, symbol or other intangible form. In the building and designing industry, the marketing function didn’t always get the respect or resources it deserved. It was seldom present at strategic planning sessions and often rele...
Video: New Roundabout Under Construction at McIver and Old Florence Roads in Darlington County
Promenade at The Point
June Issue 2026
.jpg?width=225)