Bridging the Divide: How Lidar Data Help Mitigate Landslides Near Yellowstone
The Double Draw Landslide in May 2011 closed U.S. 26 for about a month after leaving an estimated 200,000 tons of debris on the highway. More landslides occur along a 38-mile region of U.S. 26/287 in northwest Wyoming—close to Yellowstone National Park and along the Continental Divide—than any other stretch of roadway in the state. The instability is attributed to the topography, weather and proximity to Yellowstone, which sits atop an active volcano and contains more than half of the...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Growing Trend Toward 3D Digital Deliverables for Bridges and Structures
In the United States, a project-delivery revolution that’s been building for years is unfolding. As software continues to “eat the world,” Model Based Design and Construction (MBDC) has been slowly and methodically added to the menu. MBDC is the use and transfer of digital data and information among design and construction to convey design intent, capture as-constructed data, and provide data for asset management. MBDC, including the use of 3D models as legal contract documents, is being depl...
Change Leader: A Career Spent Improving Transportation Safety and Saving Lives
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. Jim Barbaresso is the HNTB national practice leader for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and emerging mobility solutions as well as a senior vice president and HNTB Fellow. Barbaresso was fortunate to find his professional calling almost as soon as he started working. Shortly before his first day on the job in 1978...
Executive Corner: You Just Revalued Your Share Price as of the Year-End, Then This Happened …
So 2019 was your firm’s best year EVER, and with the stock market soaring and the economic outlook for 2020 looking strong, your share price also hit an all-time high. And then this happened: A viral pandemic sweeps across the globe, states begin shutting down schools and non-essential businesses in response, the stock market drops by one-third, and oil prices plummet. Your share price was valued at $100 at year-end, but is that what it’s realistically worth now? MICHAEL O'BRIEN, ASA, CM&AA...
The CEO Series Continues: Excerpts from an Interview with Esri President Jack Dangermond: The Convergence of AEC and GIS
In November 2019, Informed Infrastructure Editorial Director Todd Danielson interviewed Esri President Jack Dangermond at the Autodesk University (AU) Conference in Las Vegas. The full interview video (above) also can be viewed at bit.ly/2VTPr4q, but we wanted to include some excerpts in this issue. Danielson: Tell me about the partnership between Esri and Autodesk. Dangermond: Several years ago, Autodesk executives and myself got together, and we thought we should really mer...
From the Editor: Engineers Seem to Be Adjusting to New Circumstances
I am a proud Baby Boomer, but I don’t feel like I’m one of those to whom the “OK, Boomer” derogative is directed. Just like every generation, mine has some particular (some might say peculiar) characteristics. But this is a time when all generations should come together, help each other and, maybe even more importantly, learn from each other. This pandemic requires just that, and it gives all of us an opportunity to be better. Varying Stages of Preparedness Informed Infrastructure has been ope...
Thoughts from Engineers: Project Management in the Age of COVID-19
If there’s one positive to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that we’ve been knocked out of our comfort zones, and forced to recalibrate and reevaluate the important things in life and business. The virus and global economic downward spiral have driven home the fact that we and our businesses are significantly more vulnerable than we thought. Seasonal flu and its annual culling of the human population have always been an unfortunate fact of life, but COVID-19 added another potentially deadly and un...
Engineered Solutions: Why You Should Drop the Tape Measure, Pencil and Digital Camera, and Start Scanning
Sponsored by A Brief History Laser scanning—the digital capture of objects using a line of laser light to produce a surface—has been around for decades and came to prominence in the survey, engineering and construction space in the 1990s. The deliverable: a point cloud of highly accurate, measurable as-built conditions. Yet industry professionals are still reluctant to invest in the technology. The perception is that it’s an expense that can’t be justified when a tape measure and ca...
Enginereed Solutions: Location Intelligence Changes How You Plan, Design, Build and Operate Your Projects
Sponsored by: By Marc Goldman We live, work and play in a world we have created and manipulated to meet our needs. We’ve built houses, offices, hospitals, parks, roads, waterways and hundreds of other structures that allow us to do what we do. However, as the population is growing and the world becomes more connected and complex, our ability to respond to the challenges of the future requires us to reexamine how we plan, design, build and operate our world. We cannot continue using the...
Engineered Solutions: Digital Twins: The Backbone of Road Infrastructure Decision Making
Sponsored by: Digital twins have become one of the most important technology trends for transportation infrastructure because of their potential to improve design, visually enhance collaboration, and increase asset reliability and performance. Digital twins can be considered the backbone of infrastructure decision making because they provide up-to-date information about projects, their status, and the risks associated with the project. Digital twins enable visualization of an asset a...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
TriMet’s Banfield Type 1 Substation Replacement Project
February Issue 2026
