Executive Corner: Are These Beliefs Crippling Your Firm?
You’re probably familiar with the adage “beliefs drive behaviors, behaviors drive results.” From my 15 years of experience as an owner and CFO for architecture and engineering firms, I can tell you that faulty beliefs are the biggest culprit when firms are underperforming financially and struggling in other business areas. The challenge is that most of these firms don’t know that holding faulty beliefs is what’s driving poor performance. That’s why it’s of paramount importance that every firm h...
How the Challenges of 2020 Will Shape the Infrastructure Industry
The need to build and maintain U.S. infrastructure continues, and organizations continue to operate in a period of unprecedented disruption. A global pandemic, economic downturn and necessary social change will ensure 2020 a place in the history books. The future of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry will—and must—change in the context of these cumulative events. This year is proving particularly transformational for the infrastructure sector. The need to build a...
Thoughts From Engineers: A Moving Target: The Challenge of Predicting Flood Risk
The Aug. 20, 2018, storms that hit Dane County, Wis., near Madison, unloaded in some locations nearly 15.33 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. Flood stage on Black Earth Creek climbed from 2 feet to 9.7 feet within a few hours, and the two-day rain event firmly shattered all precipitation records for the region. For decades, the 100-year floodplain has guided the delineation of the country’s special flood hazard zones, restricting development in and around areas of high flood risk, and serving...
Modern Bridge Inspection: Latest Technologies and Techniques Employed on NYC’s Massive New Cuomo Bridge
Nagesh Goel, co-founder and president of Atlas Evaluation & Inspection Services (AEIS)—a leading testing, inspection and certification company based in South Plainfield, N.J.—has been involved in testing more than a dozen of the area’s most notable bridges. But his company’s work with the newly constructed Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in New York City—and its massive size—set this project apart. The new $3.98 billion 3.1-mile twin-span bridge features eight traffic lanes with shoulders, dedic...
Easing the Headache of Industrial Stormwater Compliance
A photo shows a typical use of galvanized grating on a rooftop, which can be a contributing source of zinc. Industrial activities continue to be a source of impairment to waters of the United States. Common pollutants include total suspended solids, oil and grease, metals and other hazardous substances that can be carried to nearby streams, rivers and lakes by stormwater runoff or snow melt. If your facility has industrial activities exposed to precipitation, you probably need a Na...
Workplace Reimagined: COVID-19 Reshapes the Modern Office Experience
World Economic Forum’s U.S. Headquarters in New York City, designed recently by Montroy DeMarco Architecture, features extensive video-conferencing facilities to allow collaboration between individuals and large groups located on different continents. This type of meeting spaces will be increasingly incorporated into commercial offices as well to allow remote work and meetings with both clients and employees. Picture Courtesy: Peter Dressel/Wilk Marketing Communications Architects, bu...
Change Leader: Utility Providers Increasingly Turn to Third-Party Private Contractors
These profiles are based on interviews, and the opinions and statements are those of the subject and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by this publication. Keith Oldewurtel leads the municipal and commercial (M&C) business for Veolia North America (VNA). Third-party contracting has been growing among mid-size municipalities for some time, particularly in the complex areas of energy, water and wastewater systems. The COVID-19 pandemic is adding to that trend as many governments...
Future Forward: Data Sharing Determines Project Success
Chris Bell is the vice president of marketing and product management for e-Builder, a Trimble organization. Donna Laquidara-Carr is the industry insights research director at Dodge Data and Analytics. Donna Laquidara-Carr Project-management (PM) software has rapidly become part of most modern infrastructure projects, as they’ve proven to help projects become more efficient and reduce budget overruns. However, many different PM approaches have been tried, and they often come from either an...
Change Leader Full Interview: Utility Providers Increasingly Turn to Third-Party Private Contractors
Keith Oldewurtel leads Veolia North America’s (VNA’s) municipal water and energy business. V1 Media: Please provide a brief background of your education and career before Veolia. Oldewurtel: I have 42 years of experience in water, wastewater, energy, utility, management and operations. I joined Veolia about 12 years ago as general manager of a district energy system in Michigan. Prior to that, I spent 20-plus years working for a large engineering, construction and environmental firm, i...
Future Forward Full Interview: Data Sharing Determines Project Success
Donna Laquidara-Carr Chris Bell is the vice president of marketing and product management for e-Builder, a Trimble organization. Donna Laquidara-Carr is the industry insights research director at Dodge Data and Analytics. V1 Media: Please provide a brief background of your education and career. Bell: I’m Chris Bell, and I’m the vice president of marketing and product management for e-Builder, which is a Trimble organization. Laquidara-Carr: My name is Donna Laquidara-Carr. I’m th...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
TriMet’s Banfield Type 1 Substation Replacement Project
February Issue 2026
