ReEngineering the Engineer: Security 101: COVID, a New Level of Growing Pain
Life was seemingly simple when I started engineering. We printed out a large floor plan from the architect and drew the floor framing on tracing paper. Then we designed one beam after another, writing the reactions on the plan, then the girders, then on to the columns and carrying the reactions down to the foundation. Difficult? Not really. Tedious? Absolutely. Reflecting on that process, all I needed was a calculator, the composite beam design guide to interpolate designs for the beams and gir...
Construction Concerns: Ten Strategies for Planning a Successful Construction Project
JACQUELINE GREENBERG VOGT There has been a recent abundance of catastrophic construction failures. One of the more-famous failures occurred on March 15, 2018, when a pedestrian bridge collapsed at Florida International University, killing six people. On Oct. 22, 2019, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a report blaming design errors and poor oversight for the tragedy. Two other deadly accidents occurred in the last year involving construction cranes. These examples highlight a...
Code Update: Construction Stormwater Permitting and Regulations
LILY MONTESANO, CISEC Construction sites can generate substantial amounts of pollutants during a relatively short period of time. From exposed soils to concrete, trash and solvents, pollutants present at construction sites, if uncontrolled, can easily be conveyed offsite and into waterways, degrading water quality and damaging delicate ecosystems. To limit such degradation, the discharge of stormwater from construction sites is regulated at several levels: federally by the U.S. Environmenta...
Executive Corner: Four Action Items to Help Move Your Firm Forward
As we come to grips with the current economic landscape and ponder the post-pandemic future, it’s natural that negative feelings arise. We have the choice, however, to let these negative emotions debilitate or energize. As owners or leaders of our businesses, we can’t afford to let emotions get the best of us; and I believe, from personal experience, that the most-beneficial way to deal with these feelings is to take action. In this column I suggest a few actions you can take right now that will...
From the Editor: Engineers Need To Lead the Way on Climate Change Mitigation
When our Editorial Director Todd Danielson gave me the heads up that Informed Infrastructure would be introducing a new “special issue” on “Green Engineering” a year from now in October 2021, I thought about the end of this summer season and how “un-green” it has been for so many of us. As we watch and listen to the news outlets, we see wildfires devastating forests and homes; hurricanes flooding cities and uprooting people; and in parts of the Midwest, the fields are just barely getting enough...
Thoughts From Engineers: Down by the River: USGS Reports on Human Activity in U.S. Waterways
The endangered status of the Mississippi River skipjack herring may have initiated a few changes to this historic river’s routine management—but little more. This is just one fish in a vast and nuanced ecosystem. But whether discussing an obscure water mite in Black Earth Creek, Wis., or sockeye salmon on the pacific coast Columbia River, the scale and impact of human activity to the nation’s waterways, as documented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), is worth review. This 2019 report, “Flow...
ReEngineering the Engineer: It’s All in the Delivery
My engineering firm works on a large variety of project sizes, even within the same building type. We work on significant expansions for hospitals, but we also do individual medical equipment replacements. We have worked on large retail centers and provided engineering for adding a small roof-top unit on an existing building. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of the billing for these projects, and it’s not uncommon for a project to get lost in billing purgatory. When no one has heard any...
Infrastructure Outlook: Making Progress on Infrastructure Requires a New Approach to Technology Adoption
Infrastructure has a powerful impact on the social and economic health of the regions it serves, and the value of establishing strong and resilient infrastructure is difficult to understate—especially as global populations continue to increase. In the greater New York City area, which is home to nearly 17 percent of the U.S. population, the North River Tunnel is the only tunnel connecting the city to its western neighbors. Its traffic is responsible for supporting the region’s nearly 20 percent...
Code Update: CJP HSS Welds: Be Informed Before You Specify
Weld design isn’t exempt from the numerous differences between wide-flange (WF) and hollow structural section (HSS) connection design. Unlike open sections where welding is possible on both sides of the flanges and web, the interior of HSS sections commonly used in building structures can’t be accessed. Complete joint penetration (CJP) welds are unquestionably the least-preferred weld type from a fabrication and cost point of view. Unfortunately, they tend to be a frequently specified weld for...
Executive Corner: Growth 2.0: The A/E Industry Reflects and Restarts
It’s been approximately 100 days since the United States joined nations around the world in an unprecedented series of events to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Societal norms and business practices were overturned almost instantaneously, while slogans such as “flatten the curve,” “social distancing” and “shelter in place” became part of the national conversation. The A/E community was no different, mobilizing workforces and operations at lightning speed as well as undertaking a “hunker down”...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
