Final Thoughts: Looking Backwards and Forwards
With 45 years in civil engineering behind me, I have the experience (or at least the tenure) to look back and reflect—as long as my memory doesn’t fail me. But I want to start by looking back even further than I can remember. Lasting Structures My wife and I have had the opportunity to travel to other parts of the world, many of them with much older civilizations than here in the United States. Some years back, we were in Bruges, Belgium, staying in a hotel located on one of the canals thr...
Code Update: New Los Angeles Seismic Ordinance Will Save Lives ... and a City
As a structural engineer working with governments and communities worldwide as they struggle to face earthquake disasters, I’ve repeatedly seen tragedies unfold after catastrophic earthquakes. Most often, these cities were not ready. From the loss of historic buildings to modern multi-story hotels pancaked onto the soft first story and non-ductile concrete schools that collapsed like decks of cards on innocent children, these are horrible things to witness when you know—as engineers do—that b...
Executive Corner: Is the End Near for Traditional Management/Ownership Structures?
There’s no doubt about it; attitudes regarding ownership, particularly among younger generations, are changing. Why own a car when, with the touch of your iPhone, you can summon an Uber or Lyft driver to take you where you want to go? Why own a house or condo, when you can rent? As these generations progress in their professional careers, I wonder what impact this cultural shift will have on the ownership and capitalization structures of architecture, engineering and environmental-consulting...
Engineer Spotlight: Small Changes for Women: Big Improvements for the Engineering Profession
In the last few years, there’s been much discussion of “Women in (fill in the blank).” Why are these topics so important? And what can be improved for women in engineering to better the profession? Much debate focuses on how women’s careers may be limited because they're valued for being “nice” or supportive as opposed to being leaders. And there’s still a lot of criticism directed at women who have “leaned in” and are assertive and outspoken. That aside, people tend to relate to, befriend an...
Structural Solutions: Delegated Design or Delegated Engineering?
If you didn’t make it to the 2016 NASCC conference this year, you missed a lot of excellent engineering sessions. One of the more-interesting sessions (at least for me) was titled “Delegated Connection Design: What Are the EORs Responsibilities?” As I understand it, there are differences in the way steel-framing connections are handled along East and West Coasts. West Coast engineers typically designate exactly how they expect even the simplest of connections to be detailed. Although there ma...
Structural Steel Detailing—Perfection has Always Been More than Important
Today’s construction industry relies heavily on robust steel development. Accurate structural engineering promises sturdy buildings that withstand unexpected natural disasters. Gone are times, when engineers and construction specialist had to work with elementary knowledge about various aspects of a project at hand. Blueprint were the only authority, based on which crucial decisions were made on how to move from one step to another in any construction project – large or small. With the dawn o...
Executive Corner: Can the A/E Industry Re-accelerate Its Growth?
Ten years ago, 2006, was arguably the A/E and environmental-consulting industry’s peak of financial performance and achievement. Architects and engineers everywhere took advantage of unprecedented gains in commercial and residential building, while surging tax receipts and a post-9/11 world provided steady demand for new federal, municipal and security infrastructure. Institutional, educational, energy and telecommunication markets all flourished. Companies of all disciplines and sizes were inun...
Structural Solutions: Picking Partners to Manage Risk
In the previous issue of Informed Infrastructure, I wrote about how sometimes things happen in our lives that help us do better and avoid trouble later in life. The scout-leadership training obstacle course I talked about did just that (see “Managing Risk through Careful Planning,” March/April 2016, page 14). A lack of planning by the scouts in my leadership group resulted in a poor outcome, at least for me, and ultimately poor risk management. At my firm, we try to leverage past experiences as...
Managing the Model: Varied Organizations Lead the Charge for AEC Improvements
For nearly 15 years, my company, Engineered Efficiency, has worked with thousands of AEC users and firms to help them get the most out of the technology they use (or could be using). But this is a large industry with a tremendous amount of variety and disparate technology needs, so it takes a combined effort to truly effect change. Luckily, there are a number of people and organizations dedicated to the same goal, ranging from individual evangelists to organizations that exist only to promote pr...
Infrastructure Outlook: Key Points You Need to Know About Aerial Photography
By Sherry and Brett Eklund No matter the project at hand, knowledge is power. The more perspective an engineer can gain when planning or completing a job, the better. An aerial photographer, offering insights and data that can’t be gathered any other way, is an essential member of the team. Aerial photography provides an unmatched tool in evaluating a landscape before breaking ground, and it’s extremely helpful for assessing project milestones and reporting to offsite team members and ma...
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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