Executive Corner: A New Age of A/E Entrepreneurship Is Here

With industry headlines everywhere addressing severe talent shortages, rampant consolidation, record backlogs, digital transformation, inflation and private-equity involvement, one intriguing development has quietly gone under the radar. During the last five years, some of the industry’s brightest young leaders have formed a growing number of startups. And given A/E demographics, coupled with a healthy long-term infrastructure and building outlook, we believe we’re on the verge of a boom in newl...

Thoughts From Engineers: Urban Heat Islands Grab the Latest Climate Headlines

Extremely high temperatures searing U.S. and European cities in recent weeks invariably focuses the world’s attention on the “urban heat islands” that cities by and large represent. With rising temperatures of late, cities are literal hotbeds for experiencing the first-hand effects of a changing climate. According to a number of recent studies, due to a variable combination of site-specific factors—from building materials to placement of buildings and patterns of air circulation to the absence...

Transportation Troubleshooting: Cascadia Innovation Corridor Partnership: Balancing Growth and Livability through Ground Transportation

As a resident of Olympia, Wash., I live in one of the most attractive, economically vigorous and culturally rich regions of the United States: the Cascadia Corridor. While not as fast-growing as the Texas Triangle or as large as SoCal, our Pacific Northwest megaregion possesses a dynamic knowledge economy of high-tech employers and universities, a vast land-marine border that saw $12 billion in Canada-U.S. trade in 2017, and coastal ecosystems and cultures that draw millions of tourists annually...

Infrastructure Outlook: Digital Delivery Will Drive Efficient Projects and Sustainable Infrastructure

By earmarking an unprecedented $1.2 trillion for infrastructure improvements, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—formerly known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—provides a generational opportunity for America to regain its top-level status among the world’s infrastructure leaders. Yet money alone will not deliver success. As the United States has fallen from the envy of all to its current world ranking of 13th for infrastructure quality, we’ve spent more on roads than any othe...

Future Forward: A Life’s Work in Sustainability

This particular webcam interview was recorded by Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. You can view a video of the full interview above or by visiting bit.ly/3BRWzoJ. Dr. Christy Slay is the CEO and vice president, Science and Impact, The Sustainability Consortium (TSC). Dr. Christy Slay has been involved with The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) since it was just a concept—even before it officially was born 12 years ago. TSC consists of universiti...

Counting Carbon: Reading Between the Lines To Understand What Matters in Sustainability

Perhaps now more than ever, sustainability remains a predicament. In the nearly 30 years since the U.S. Green Building Council launched the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program, the murky waters of certification vs. sustainability remain clouded by contending interests. At the core of the conversation is how to compel sustainability in everyday lives by design as well as how to measure impacts, regulate it, incentivize it and, hopefully, one day benefit from...

Don’t Knock on Wood: Nation’s Second-Tallest Mass-Timber High-Rise Gets Go Ahead in Denver

In the foreground (adjacent to the medical marijuana dispensary sign “Whole Meds”) is 3495 Wynkoop in Denver’s RiNo District, soon to be home of the nation’s second-tallest mass-timber high-rise. Denver’s River North Art (RiNo) District seems the very definition of an up-and-coming mixed-use neighborhood. “It’s definitely the happening place to be developing, not just in Denver, but in the whole country,” says Andrew Katz, founding partner (with his father and brother) of Katz Development....

Wetlands Restoration: White Slough Project Engineers a Model for the Future

(Image: USGS) In addition to being the first project in Humboldt Bay to tackle a failing levee, sea-level rise and the loss of important habitat by improving infrastructure, the White Slough Tidal Wetlands Restoration Project provides a resilient living shoreline and flood protection for ranchlands and roads (part of US 101). This pilot project would become a team effort, spanning five years, two project leaders, three project managers and many other dedicated professionals. The...

2022 Transportation Design Survey

Transportation Troubleshooting: Cooperation Key to Developing a More Diverse Workforce

The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) represents an unprecedented opportunity to renovate and build a 21st-century integrated transportation system, addressing equity, energy, water, internet access and other infrastructure needs. Yet to realize the benefits of the IIJA and increased state investments, private industry and the public sector must solve a core problem: how to recruit, train and retain the people needed to do all the work the IIJA could fund. While it’s...