Making the Move to Reclaim Water: Extensive Rehabilitation of Arizona Facility Demonstrates Need to Reuse Water to Meet Increasing Demand
Florida began widespread use of reclaimed water in the mid 1960s, becoming one of the first states to begin using reclaimed water for agricultural purposes, and more communities have adopted use of the technology through time. Estimates vary, but the National Academy of Sciences claims water reuse amounts to less than 1 percent of total water usage in the United States; the General Accounting Office reports 36 states use reclaimed water. Those statistics, however, are just the tip of the r...
Plotting For Growth: Geospatial Technology Boosts Efforts To Rebuild Forests And Reestablish Landscapes
Imagine planting enough new trees to cover a plot of land the size of Switzerland. Now do it again and again, nearly 500 times, until you’ve covered 2 billion hectares. It’s a huge, seemingly overwhelming effort. Yet a Dutch company is using advanced geospatial technologies to make it happen. From its base in Amsterdam, Land Life Company works to restore lands degraded by natural or human activities such as wildfire, desertification, agriculture and urbanization. It’s one of a small handful...
Reality Now: Turning Data into Actionable Information
Much industry media coverage has been given to the capabilities of current reality capture (recap) tools such as drones, mobile lidar scanners, hand-held SLAM devices and even smartphone-based capture technology. And surely most readers of this publication are at least casually familiar with recap terminology such as point cloud, photogrammetry, orthomosaic, lidar and 3D mesh. It seems nearly every AEC and Infrastructure (AEC/I) software and hardware vendor has joined the chorus extolling the v...
Knock on Wood: California’s Mass Timber Regulation Changes Expand the Building Material’s Viability
A project developed by SKS Partners and designed by Perkins&Will, this 134,000-square-foot triangular building is San Francisco’s first CLT building and California’s first multi-story fully mass timber building. (Image) Recent changes to California’s mass timber regulations have expanded opportunities for building design and construction that increasingly leverage the benefits of wood. Code changes went into effect July 2021 as an early adoption of what will be in the next formal code cyc...
Seattle-Tacoma International Modernizes, Expands North Satellite
This feature was co-produced with Airport Improvement magazine (airportimprovement.com). In summer 2021, just as passengers returned in significant numbers, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) opened Phase 2 of its $710 million North Satellite modernization project, adding much-needed gates and square footage. Lance Lyttle The investment, however, was about more than adding operating space. Making sure the new facilities meet or exceed passenger expectations was equally i...
Steel Roof Deck Shows Off Its Curves in Las Vegas
Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall features a majestic, curved roof made up of type N roof deck. Imagine trying to design and build a structure that could stand out amid the glitzy, audacious Las Vegas skyline. That was the task assigned to the team behind the $989 million Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall expansion. The result is a big, bold, visually exciting addition to the city’s architecture. The project’s hallmark feature is a majestically curving, sloping roof inspired...
Natural Disasters and Infrastructure Damage: How Innovative Technology Can Support Response
A project inspector on a Seattle jobsite uses mobile technology as part of the inspection process. The technology is accessible on mobile tablets (below), making it easy for onsite workers to capture images and notes in real-time. Image Courtesy of HeadLight The nation is experiencing record-busting temperatures, worsening drought conditions in the West, and a fire season that has already burned more than 2.4 million acres—equivalent to an area larger than the state...
Green Roofs: A Growing Trend for a Growing Need
The green-roof industry has steadily grown 10 to 15 percent annually, notes Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), the North American industry association for the green roof and wall sectors. More policy support is in place as many cities mandate green roofs, particularly on new buildings, as decision makers recognize that roof space is an asset. Mandatory requirements for green roofs have been passed in New York City; San Francisco; Cambridge, Mass.; and Portland...
Sustainability in the Solar Industry
Figure 1. Projected growth of various fuels. By Chris Kline and Dan Salas Utility-scale solar power in the United States is projected to continue growing for the next several decades in support of national energy goals. The primary purpose of utility-scale solar is to produce safe electricity at scale while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions as compared to emissions from fossil-fuel-powered facilities that solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is replacing. However, solar PV growth is comi...
Managing Water Assets with Reality-Capture Technologies
Maintaining water and wastewater infrastructure often is challenging. Water facilities rely on large, often-complicated networks of piping, steel structures, equipment and tanks that aren’t always easily accessible. These elements often are located in areas difficult to reach, and therefore it can be difficult to confirm measurements and verify accuracies of existing drawings. They also can be located underground and behind facility walls, and it can be difficult to create maintenance schedules...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
