Throughout my career, I have been asked countless times about what exactly I do as a civil engineer. Some people ask just to be polite, but most legitimately didn’t know what a civil engineer does. It seems that we, as engineers, have not done as good…
From the Editor: Will Politics Erode Infrastructure Standards?
My wife and I are planning a road trip from the Midwest to the East Coast. Since we now own an electric vehicle that comes with free charging at…
From the Editor: Be Proud To Be a Civil Engineer
Take pride in what you have accomplished, and then let others know what civil engineers do.
From The Editor: Climate Change Now Is ‘The Issue’
My October 2020 column was titled “Engineers Need to Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation,” and I tried to make the point that our profession has a responsibility to maintain an environment that’s best for the world, and we need to do more…
From the Editor: Personal and Mass-Media Stories Highlight the Importance of Inspections
During my career, I’ve performed inspections on hundreds of bridges. The inspections varied in detail depending on the reasons for looking at them. Some were cursory inspections to determine whether or not to include particular bridges in the INDOT…
From the Editor: There’s No Replacement for ‘Learning by Doing’
I recently visited a job site of a friend of mine who is a construction manager. I met with him to discuss the use of emerging drone and reality-capture technologies, but I ended up tagging along as he crisscrossed the site, solving one problem after another.…
From the Editor: Infrastructure Report Card Again Near Failing
Like for many students across the country, my kids’ school semester ended earlier this year. They each worked hard, doing their homework, studying for quizzes and tests, and preparing for finals. Also, like most kids, they would rather be spending their…
