Back to Basics: Delivering Major Capital Infrastructure Projects In Complex Times
Figure 1. Activity-level plans provide the necessary information to enable execution and problem solving. The industry has certainly changed since brilliant Scottish engineer Thomas Telford stated that major infrastructure projects (such as his famous Menai Suspension Bridge design in Wales) can be accomplished with “a moderate degree of skill and perseverance.” Planning, developing and delivering modern infrastructure grows more challenging with each passing day. Our once-stable sector is...
Future Forward (Powered by ACEC): The Tax Debate: A Pivotal Moment
Powered by: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ushered in substantial changes to the American tax code, promoting economic growth and providing businesses with the tools needed to invest, expand and innovate. It has been a catalyst for the engineering industry’s stratospheric growth in recent years, which, in turn, has supported millions of direct and indirect jobs and injected billions of dollars into the overall U.S. economy. To paraphrase an often-misquoted line: what’s good for...
Infrastructure Outlook: Engineering Future-Ready and Stormwater-Resilient Infrastructure Projects with Porous Pavers
The challenges posed by urban flooding and stormwater issues continue to weigh heavily on the shoulders of engineers, planners and their clients. Water, flowing rapidly over impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt, causes more than just ecological damage. In extreme weather events, the sheer volume of uncontrolled water can severely damage infrastructure by cracking foundations, flooding basements and accelerating soil erosion. These issues compromise the structural longevity of buildin...
Engineering the Future: Public Safety Is Paramount in All Aspects of Engineering
Nothing is more important than the core tenet of our profession’s ethics: protecting public health, safety and welfare. When we do not do our jobs right, people can die. I remember a few years into my career, on Dec. 3, 1984, more than half a million people in Bhopal, India, were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. It was the world’s worst industrial disaster, resulting in 2,259 immediate deaths and another 10,000 deaths through...
The Joy of Watching Engineers Graduate and Take the Next Step
I’ve been privileged to lead the senior class at Valparaiso University through the two-semester Senior Design Course for civil and environmental engineers for the last five years. This gives me the opportunity to experience what our future engineers are thinking. Granted, I only interact with 20 or so engineering students each year, so my observations are based on a small representative population. But, as I have said in previous columns, it’s rewarding to come to know and understand what this g...
Transportation Troubleshooting: During a Disaster, Get By with a Little Help from Your Friends
Severe natural and man-made disasters now are more commonplace and expensive. In 2024 alone, the United States experienced 27 extreme weather events that each resulted in more than a billion dollars in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Whether it’s a hurricane, flood, wildfire, earthquake, bridge collapse, mudslide, tornado or another occurrence, transportation infrastructure is among our hardest-hit assets—and getting roads and tunnels, trains, buses, an...
Thoughts From Engineers: Stormwater Brings Change to the Modern American City
Every age has its infrastructure challenges. The Industrial Revolution, for example, drove scores of people to the largest cities in search of work. Urban areas grew as they never had before, and widespread illness and death resulted from improper sewage disposal and poor sanitation. Cities such as London managed the resulting public health crisis poorly at first, but later more effectively. Through trial and error, analysis, innovation, and tenacity, simplistic solutions gave way to methodolog...
Executive Corner: A Shifting Outlook for the A/E Industry
For the A/E industry, 2024 ended with widespread optimism, strong contract backlogs and record financial performance for many firms. This is based on the reported performance of publicly traded A/E firms and supported by anecdotal observations of private firms. As earnings reports were released in February 2025 from firms such as TetraTech, AECOM, Jacobs Solutions, Stantec and NV5 Global, the news was almost all positive. The following are a handful of highlights: Stantec (Jan. 28, 2025) • Ne...
Water Works: How Goodhart’s Law Is Reshaping Stormwater Management
Data-driven performance verification is the backbone of the stormwater treatment industry. Engineers, regulators and municipalities rely on quantitative metrics such as pollutant removal rates and runoff reduction volume to evaluate the success of stormwater control measures (SCMs) and estimate regulatory compliance. We’re entering a promising era in which the standardization of SCM performance evaluation can significantly improve our understanding of how well these practices meet regulatory goa...
Change Leader: PFAS Is a Daunting Problem Requiring New and Collaborative Approaches
Bruce Chalmers This interview was recorded by Todd Danielson, the editorial director of Informed Infrastructure. You can watch a video of the full interview above or by visiting iimag.link/IYSkH. Susan Moiso Bruce Chalmers is senior vice president and general manager, Environmental Solutions, Jacobs; and Susan Moiso is senior vice president, Water, Jacobs. Chemicals That Changed the World The general public is becoming increasingly aware of the origin and dangers of per- a...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
