Brick Sewer Rehabilitation in the Nation’s Capital
The Washington, D.C., sewer system (managed by DC Water) is a mix of pipe systems that includes large-diameter brick structures. Following an alert from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), DC Water’s engineering group carried out a pipe entry inspection to verify the integrity of a 72-inch-diameter brick sewer on the F Street NW block between 12th and 11th streets. A 72-inch brick sewer required rehabilitation in downtown Washington, D.C. Repair of the brick sewer was com...
We’re Not Bluffing: Erosion Is a Serious Issue
By Matt Welch, CPESC, CESSWI, and Adam Dibble, CPESC, CESSWI The North American Great Lakes account for roughly 21 percent of the planet’s surface freshwater and 84 percent of North America’s surface freshwater. If you haven’t had a chance to look across one of these truly magnificent lakes, add it to your to-do list. Not only are these lakes beautiful, biodiverse and full of rich history, but they provide a resource that will only become more important as population increases, polluted w...
Infrastructure Outlook: Remote Sensing for Distribution Networks Drives Safety, Reliability and New Insights
There’s an increasing focus on the reliability and resiliency of the nation’s electric grid; outages have continued to grow in frequency and cost. More than 37 million people were affected by more than 3,500 outage events in 2017, compared to 2009, when only 13 million people were impacted by about 2,800 outages, according to the 2017 Eaton Blackout Tracker. Aging infrastructure, greater demand for service and the need to place additional equipment on existing poles to support 5G and small-cell...
Supercomputing that Supports Infrastructure
Argonne National Laboratories Makes Climate Modeling Practical for Regional Infrastructure Asset Management Argonne National Laboratory, located in Lemont, Ill. (just outside Chicago), has some of the trappings of an outstanding Bond villain lair, including its own 0.7-mile-circumference electron storage ring (a bit like a CERN-style particle accelerator); the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), which is the “first superconducting linear accelerator for heavy ions at ener...
Project Management Insights: Project Management or Else
A contact of mine was considering an administrative assistant position with an engineering firm this summer and wanted my opinion on the job description. She isn’t an engineer but has served in several marketing and support roles throughout her career. The list of responsibilities was typical: some marketing coordination, time at the reception desk, assisting HR, and other assorted generalist duties. The firm was expanding to the city where she lived, and she was looking for a new opportunity....
Executive Corner: Is Your Company’s Stock a Good Investment?
"The best investment I ever made!” I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard owners in the architecture, engineering and environmental consulting industries say something to this effect when I’ve asked about the performance of their company stock. There are exceptions, of course, but this is by far the more-common refrain. Yet many firms struggle with their ownership transition plans due to a lack of demand for stock among their next generation of leaders. Competing Capital When a company offers...
Thoughts From Engineers: Water Scarcity is Common: The Grim Reality of Freshwater Supplies Worldwide
Most news headlines barely get my attention, but it was startling to come across a list of 11 cities projected to experience serious water shortages within the next 50 years due to a combination of polluted and diminishing water supplies, climate change and population growth (bbc.in/2Mj16HR). Some of the major urban centers at risk for severe water shortages won’t surprise you; others surely will. The mix of cities with looming water shortages include Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Tokyo, London, Mi...
‘Science Gateway’ Emerges from Former Naval Compound
Maryland’s Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center opened in August 2019. The hospital cost $400 million and will include 180 private patient rooms. Image Courtesy of Adventist HealthCare A new hospital in Maryland’s Montgomery County is part of a master plan to rejuvenate a long-neglected neighborhood. When the Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center opened in Maryland in August 2019, it became the newest addition in the development of a parcel that has arisen from the...
Change Leader: Use Familiar Tools to Achieve Public Support
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. The video discussed in this interview can be viewed at wp.me/p8dJln-bXo Doug Taylor is vice president and transportation practice leader for Stewart, an engineering, design and planning firm located in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte and Wilmington, N.C.; and Columbia, S.C. A successful project requires much more than a...
Change Leader Full Interview: Use Familiar Tools to Achieve Public Support
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. Doug Taylor is the vice president and transportation practice leader for Stewart, an engineering, design and planning firm located in Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte, N.C. V1 Media: Can you describe your education and career before Stewart Engineering? Taylor: In 1983, I graduated from Asheville–Buncombe Technical College with...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
TriMet’s Banfield Type 1 Substation Replacement Project
February Issue 2026
