More Than Hype: The Reality of Reality Capture
I know what you might be thinking: “Yawn. Another story about drones. Skip!” and usually I’d agree with you. There are so many stories, so much marketing, and so much hype around drones that it’s easy to get bored with the topic. However, it’s with this sentiment in mind that I decided to write something about drones you can use in your business. I spent time with a group that has taken drone-based reality capture from the “wow” phase to a practical, profitable business. The team of Region Engi...
Collaborative BIM: Xishi Winter Olympics Square Project Transforms Historic Industrial Zone
The 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee contracted Beijing Shougang International Engineering (BSIE) to design and construct an office plaza in Shougang, a historic industrial park in Shijingshan District, Beijing, China. The project called for innovative planning due to challenging site conditions and various regulations. Many of the original steel plants were protected, and strict requirements governed the height and architectural style of the buildings being redeveloped. The challe...
Fire Safety for High-Rise Mass-Timber Buildings
By David Barber, Principal, Arup Buildings constantly change and develop as architects, engineers and scientists innovate and develop new products and construction methods. Interest has been growing worldwide in the design and construction of high-rise timber buildings, which are increasing in number throughout Europe and other parts of the world, as engineered mass-timber products such as glulam and cross-laminated timber (CLT) become more popular. In the United States, high-rise buildings us...
Engineered Solutions: IKEA Project Sets New Stormwater Management Standard
Developers of a new IKEA store in Jacksonville, Fla., wanted to make this project a model of sustainable, forward-thinking design. A big part of this plan was an underground stormwater management system that would be the largest ever installed in the southeastern United States. Along with the size of the installation, developers faced the task of coordinating runoff from a variety of sources into six separate basins around the building, while also meeting state and local regulations that requir...
Engineered Solutions: New Bridge in Hawaii Forest Replaces Roadway Prone to Flooding
Acrow Bridge designed and provided a permanent bridge to Mocon Construction for vehicle and pedestrian use in the Keahua Arboretum in the Keahua State Forest in Kauai, Hawaii. Planted with native plants and vegetation introduced by the University of Hawaii, the arboretum also is enjoyed for picnicking, swimming, hiking, biking and horseback riding. The original route, a concrete roadway, had sunk over time and flooded after heavy rains. Safe passage over the Keahua Stream wasn’t always possible...
'Out of Tolerance’ before 'Out of Time'
DPR Avoids Construction Delays with Automated Verification Software By Kevin P. Corbley A general contractor avoided what could have been a significant delay in the exterior shelling of a new multi-story retail building by finding twisted, missing and poorly aligned steel beams in the interior structure. The company used automated construction verification software to analyze 3D laser scans of the steel framework to identify precisely where as-built conditions deviated from the design mode...
Hydroseeding Takes Root at the Panama Canal
In a country that receives more than 100 inches of rain per year, on slopes as steep as 45 degrees, controlling soil erosion is crucial. In 2006, when the $5.7 billion Panama Canal expansion project kicked off, headlines were awash with news about the engineering feats required to expand one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. What received much less attention—but just as critical to the project’s success—was the stabilization of the banks along the nearly 50-mile-long canal. After seeding a...
Sponsored: MicroStation CONNECT Edition - The Foundation of Efficient Civil Engineering Design Workflows
Most of us must work with various file formats, integrate multiple disciplines, and improve project workflow efficiency. With all the different applications used by the many consultants that collaborate on today’s design projects, a lack of interoperability between software products represents a huge risk. That’s where Bentley Systems comes in. MicroStation CONNECT Edition, and all Bentley BIM applications, are built on the same comprehensive modeling platform so that users can easily progre...
Vibration Control in Hospital Construction
A renovation of White Plains Hospital, a 123-year-old healthcare facility north of Manhattan, featured the construction of the new, steel-framed, six-story Center for Cancer Care. Long-span high-performing composite slabs were designed to support heavy booms over operating rooms and limit vibration that could adversely affect hospital occupants. Project Team Steel Decking Source: New Millennium Building Systems Architect of Record: Perkins Eastman Structural Engineer: GACE Consult...
Engineered Solutions: Barren Arkansas Roadside Springs to Life After Soil Amendments
After completing an open cut slope for a recent highway project, the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) encountered a difficult mitigation challenge: a soil bed totally unsuitable for organic growth. The highly acidic soil, composed primarily of clay, rejected initial attempts at sustainable vegetation and threatened to create a high erosion environment. Soil analysis confirmed the poor growth conditions. Clay content was measured at 50 percent; such high concentrations...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
