Design-Build Project Complete: $300 Million ADA Upgrade and Renovation of Manhattan Subway Station Complex
ADA upgrades at the 14th Street Sixth Avenue subway station complex in Manhattan included installation of nine new elevators, which now take passengers from the street level (top) to the mezzanines (bottom), and 25 new stairways as well as renovation of 39 existing stairways. The project team of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), design-build contractor Citnalta-Forte, Joint Venture, and designers Urbahn Architects and Gannett Fleming completed a comprehensive accessibilit...
Leverage Technology to Revolutionize Urban Management
To successfully integrate technology and address the unique hurdles of digital transformation in municipal planning and operations, a multifaceted approach is essential By Tony Curtis, P.E., and Derrick Sharp, GISP Public-works directors and city engineers play a pivotal role in maintaining the essential infrastructure of our cities. They oversee the roads, water supply and sewer systems we depend on daily. Despite their critical role, these professionals often operate with limited reso...
Above and Beyond: LADWP Races to Ease the Strain of Water Uncertainty
The Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project at The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, Calif., represents a long-necessary step in water resource resilience for 4 million people living and working in Los Angeles. When operational in spring 2027, the new facility will return 22,000 acre-feet of purified water to the San Fernando Groundwater Basin yearly. High above the Never Summer Mountains of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, water vapors condensed into clo...
Building Envelope Choices Can Reduce Environmental Impact and Lower Costs
By Shaghayegh Kurzinski, Shayan Mirzabeigi and Bryce Riccitelli A detailed comparative study examines envelope systems in residential buildings made from mass timber, conventional construction and SIPs. Editor’s Note: This is a summary of an academic paper that originally appeared in: Kurzinski, S., Mirzabeigi, S., and Riccitelli, B. (2025). “Comparative Performance Analysis of Mass Timber, Conventional, and SIPs Envelope Systems in Residential Buildings.”Mass Timber Construction J...
Podcast with Sherwin-Williams on Effective Wastewater Infrastructure Rehabilitations
Todd Danielson, editorial director of Informed Infrastructure, interviews Paul Trautmann, the Marketing Director for Infrastructure for Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine. Learn approaches for securing longer service lives from wastewater infrastructure assets to help stretch municipal budgets by selecting the right coating materials for new constructions and rehabilitations. We discuss the importance of getting the materials--and the applications--right as well as how working directly with...
How Cloud-Based Data Management Benefits Large Infrastructure Projects
All graphics: Credit Donatsch + Partner AG. Cloud technology is unlocking the value of huge reality capture datasets by enabling stakeholder collaboration and all-digital field-to-office-to-field workflows. Data sharing and collaboration among multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, contractors, engineers and environmental experts, is a significant challenge for large infrastructure projects. Subsequent delays, miscommunications and inefficiencies can add to costs...
How BIM Integration Enhances Infrastructure Design and Construction
Imagine having all the essential details about your building at your fingertips. From proactive design to maintenance schedules and all other necessary information. This imagination meets reality with the help of Building Information Modeling (BIM), which is used to create a digital representation of the basic characteristics for an infrastructure. It’s a collaborative process that involves architects, engineers and contractors working together to design a complete 3D model of a project. T...
Back to Basics: Delivering Major Capital Infrastructure Projects In Complex Times
Figure 1. Activity-level plans provide the necessary information to enable execution and problem solving. The industry has certainly changed since brilliant Scottish engineer Thomas Telford stated that major infrastructure projects (such as his famous Menai Suspension Bridge design in Wales) can be accomplished with “a moderate degree of skill and perseverance.” Planning, developing and delivering modern infrastructure grows more challenging with each passing day. Our once-stable sector i...
The 21st Century Renaissance of Tied-Arch Bridges
The Veterans Memorial Bridge (Image) Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s celebrated bridges—such as the Windsor Railway Bridge—are sometimes referred to as the earliest built examples of tied-arch bridges. But while Brunel’s wrought iron structures were groundbreaking and remain engineering landmarks, their primary innovation lies in their truss configurations, not in the development of the tied-arch system. Images describe true-arch (top) and tied-arch (bottom) behavior. Differences in c...
Ion-Exchange PFAS Removal Expands in Northern California
Northern California water agency Zone 7 opened its second PFAS treatment facility in March 2025. (Zone 7 Water Agency) In August 2022, California water agency Zone 7 faced the prospect of taking its most productive well out of service during the driest three water years on California record. Located about 15 miles east of the San Francisco Bay in Pleasanton, Calif., the agency’s Stoneridge Well had shown elevated levels of perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), a chemical that had drawn...