Public Works articles from July 2004

Public Works archives from July 2004

Public works attitude.(Editorial Viewpoint)
July 1, 2004... The secrets to success in business are not really secrets at all: listen to your customers and give them what they want, treat your employees fairly and with respect, manage your money wisely, and plan for the future but be ready to respond to...

Getting a handle on performance measures.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... Bob Burgher's letter to the editor (January 2004) is right on target. We in the profession must deliver on our promise. Unfortunately, part of the problem is the fact that most public works managers lack effective performance measures. We have...

Death toll rise concerns Highway Users Alliance.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... The DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the nation has lost 43,220 men, women, and children on our nation's roads last year--the highest number since 1990. Highway deaths have increased for the fourth straight...

Largest penalty ever against a public water system.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... The Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced that judge Jeremy Fogel, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, issued an order on May 20 imposing the largest penalty...

SAFETEA moves forward--slowly.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Chairman of the Environment & Public Works Committee, praised the appointment of Senate conferees for the House-Senate conference committee on the Safe Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act,...

AWWA recommends lead study.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... The American Water Works Association supports measures to reduce lead exposure and promote public health, AWWA water utility chairman Howard Neukrug told the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform in late May during testimony on elevated...

Designing energy-efficient buildings.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... To reduce the air pollution caused by commercial building energy use, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expanding the ENERGY STAR program to include new commercial buildings by encouraging the design of energy-efficient buildings....

AWWA reminds public to drink water.(Washington Report)
July 1, 2004... The American Water Works Association, the authoritative resource for safe drinking water, and its member utilities celebrated National Drinking Water Week May 2-8 by reminding consumers that drinking enough water is especially important in the...

Future City mentors offer insights to students.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... If you can't clearly communicate with a 12-year-old, Margaret Mead once said, you need a better grasp on your subject matter. The legendary anthropologist would be proud of William Waldron. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Waldron, a manager of...

Sewer fixes costly and complex, EPA says.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... The Milwaukee sewerage district has become one of the worst sewage polluters in the Great Lakes and must take swift action to fix the problem, the top regional administrator of the U.S. EPA said in early June, as reported in the Milwaukee...

Asphalt, concrete compete in head-to-head comparison.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... Ground was broken on an 8-mile stretch of the new four-lane U.S. 30 in Wayne County near Orville, Ohio, according to Flexible Pavements of Ohio. The demonstration project was created as a side-by-side comparison of the performance of asphalt...

World of Concrete returns to Las Vegas.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... World of Concrete 2005 returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Jan. 18-21, 2005, with seminars Jan. 17-21. Registration topped 71,000 in 2003. Exhibitors from all over the world will showcase the latest products across more than...

CSDA introduces blade code for diamond saws.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... The Concrete Sawing and Drilling Association, St. Petersburg, Fla., has introduced standard CSDA-BC-107 Blade Application Code for Diamond Saw Blades. This standard establishes an application code for diamond saw blades to help end-users...

PBS & J studies high surveillance cameras.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... Many states use stationary closed-circuit TV cameras mounted on 45- to 50- foot poles erected every half-mile as part of their highway monitoring and information systems. However, highway surveillance cameras mounted on higher poles with...

New Orleans opens historic Canal streetcar.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... Aceremony was held recently to mark the return to service of the historic Canal streetcar line after a hiatus of 40 years. Parsons Brinckerhoff, in joint venture with the New Orleans-based firm C & S Consultants Inc., was the general...

John Deere helps New York school district.(Engineering Notes)
July 1, 2004... John Deere Power Systems, Waterloo, Iowa, announced it has helped a New York school district become the first in the state to obtain an entire fleet of clean-fueled buses. The Long Beach City School District in Nassau County recently received a...

Propane industry.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... The propane industry has announced the winners of the fourth annual PROPANE Exceptional Energy Fleet Awards. Five fleets were recognized for exceptional propane-powered fleet applications: the City of San Antonio; El Milagro, Chicago; Island...

URS Corp.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... URS Corp., New York City, has been selected by the San Antonio Water System to provide civil, mechanical, and electrical design for the Carrizo Aquifer Storage and Recovery Phase II Addition Project. URS will design up to 17 new high-capacity...

Underground Group at Kenny Construction Co.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... Ted Budd, vice president of the Underground Group at Kenny Construction Co., Wheeling, Ill., was named the 2004 Outstanding Individual in the Underground Construction Industry by the American Underground Construction Association. The award was...

American Council of Engineering Cos.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... Vice president of Cambridge, Mass.-based CDM William S. Howard, P.E., DEE, has been elected chairman of the American Council of Engineering Cos. The nationwide engineering industry association represents the business and political interests of...

Carter & Burgess Inc.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... Robert Scarpa, P.E., and Kenneth Cecil, P.E., have joined the Denver Public Works Unit of Carter & Burgess Inc. The two senior project managers will manage projects in the firm's growing water, wastewater, and water resources markets.

Berryman & Henigar.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... Depika Vidyarthi has been named regional marketing director at Berryman & Henigar, San Diego. Scott Kvandal, president of Berryman & Henigar, made the announcement. "Depi brings to Berryman & Henigar more than 14 years of strategic, practical...

W.R. Grace & Co.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... W.R. Grace & Co., a Cambridge, Mass.-based supplier of catalysts and silica products, specialty construction chemicals, building materials, and sealants and coatings, held a worldwide celebration of its 150th anniversary on May 10. Grace hosted...

National Survey & Engineering.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... National Survey & Engineering, a division of R.A. Smith & Associates Inc., Brookfield, Wis., a civil engineering, planning, surveying, and technical services consultants, has added Tom Mortensen as landscape architect. Mortensen brings an...

Schoor DePalma.(Worth Telling)
July 1, 2004... Schoor DePalma, a Philadelphia-based engineering and consulting firm, has hired Robert J. Guthrie, P.E., P.P., as a vice president to manage the firm's Pennsylvania Transportation Department. Guthrie has more than 30 years of transportation...

Making their communities livable: the public works departments in the nation's most livable communities make a huge contribution.(Special Report)(Cover Story)
July 1, 2004... We've all visited a city and said to ourselves, this would be a great place to live. But what creates that feeling? What makes any community a great place to live and work? Every decade the Washington, D.C.-based Partners for Livable...

CCTV inspects city's pipes: San Diego's large-scale CCTV inspection program gives workers a close-up view of the problems.(Pipe Maintenance)
July 1, 2004... The last thing a visitor to San Diego wants to see is a beach closure sign posted at Mission Bay or staked in the sand along the Pacific Ocean. In San Diego, as in other coastal communities, closures due to sanitary sewer overflows cause the...

When all else fails, go up: with a lack of available space and the need to add a sedimentation pond for compliance purposes, the only suitable option was to work vertically.(Stormwater)
July 1, 2004... Earlier this year, the City of Toledo, Ohio, approved a $1.5 million appropriation for further development and construction at the rapidly expanding Hoffman Road Landfill in northwest Ohio, near Lake Erie. Already a 1500-ton-per-day facility,...

Making safety paramount in the trenches: after a decade of progress, a setback in 2003 prompted OSHA to revisit its revised 1989 excavation rules--and trench shield manufacturers are ready.(Trench Shoring and Shielding)
July 1, 2004... Few tasks in construction are more notoriously dangerous than trenching and excavation. Public works officials and anxious city legal departments have long been aware of this fact, but most have chosen to avoid the risks whenever possible. Now,...

Surviving tunnel fires: a review of your tunnel safety inspection and fire prevention plans can save lives.(Transportation Safety)
July 1, 2004... If ever there was a time to focus on improving fire safety in the nation's vehicular tunnels, that time is now. Over the past 4 years in the United States and in Europe there have been numerous serious tunnel fires with many deadly results....

Sealing cracks, filling gaps in roads and budgets.(PW Update: Equipment)
July 1, 2004... Filling and sealing cracks in asphalt pavement is an ever-present and sizeable task for most public works agencies. But with budgets even tighter now, extending the life of cracked road surfaces has never been more necessary. Depending on...

Paving program boosts San Antonio streets.(Products Solving Problems)
July 1, 2004... With a pavement management program as its guide, the City of San Antonio, Texas, is improving streets and satisfying its citizen customers at an increasing pace. San Antonio has ramped up its street maintenance and reconstruction program to a...

Trenchless technology aids gas utilities.(Products Solving Problems)
July 1, 2004... On the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, major gas utilities are realizing the tremendous economic and environmental benefits of adding trenchless pipeline rehabilitation to their maintenance programs as an alternative to dig and replace....

HDD makes quick work.(Products Solving Problems)
July 1, 2004... In a setting that includes the Mississippi River, Lake St. John, and Lake Concordia, Concordia Parish, La., has a population that is on the rise. As with any fast-growing community, the parish is responsible for managing many municipal burdens....

Tank helps growing city beat drought.(Products Solving Problems)
July 1, 2004... Even with the motto "What a Place to Grow," it's surprising to learn just how rapidly the city of Grain Valley, Mo., has grown. Located on the eastern edge of the Greater Kansas City area, the city has doubled in population to more than 9000...

Hancor strengthens environmental commitment.(Product Notes)
July 1, 2004... Hancor Inc., Findlay, Ohio, a manufacturer of stormwater management systems, has joined the U.S. Green Building Council, a 4000-company strong membership organization. The USGBC is the nation's foremost coalition of leaders from across the...

ASTM Standards by AWWA released.(Product Notes)
July 1, 2004... The new Compilation of ASTM Standards Relating to Wastewater and Stormwater, published by the American Water Works Association, Denver, includes 94 ASTM International standards specially selected by the AWWA and ASTM International as being most...

Haestad Methods' suite supports AutoCAD 2005.(Product Notes)
July 1, 2004... Haestad Methods' suite of hydraulic modeling products for the water, stormwater, and wastewater industries now provide full support for AutoCAD 2005. Autodesk's AutoCAD 2005 was designed to help save time and money throughout the complete...

GE Energy upgrades its software.(Product Notes)
July 1, 2004... GE Energy, Atlanta, has upgraded its Smallworld Business Integrator product line to work seamlessly with its Smallworld 4 product suite. This latest addition to the Smallworld 4 product portfolio allows utility and telecommunication operators...

Segmental retaining walls.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... The Newcastle Retaining Wall system represents the latest advances in segmental retaining walls. Each component has been designed and detailed to work together for optimum structural stability and each component has been rigorously tested to...

Reduce water flow rate.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Rice straw wattles--recycled and naturally weed-free--effectively stabilize slopes by reducing the rate of water flow, absorbing water, and filtering sediment runoff. Trapping the silt allows native plants to revegetate the hillside. The...

Retaining walls.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... The Palisades Earth Retention system combines the reliability and economy of mechanically stabilized earth technology with welded-wire-form facing units to create grade separation solutions for all types of land development projects. The system...

Cellular confinement system.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Geoweb is a cellular confinement system that features an engineered pattern of perforations in the cell wall. The hole pattern provides increased frictional interlock with coarse aggregates, crushed rock, and concrete. In vegetated systems the...

Stormwater storage.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Rainstore3 is a plastic structure for storing stormwater underground. Made from injection molded plastic, the system consists of a framework of cells that can be placed under parking lots, driving areas, asphalt, or vegetated surfaces. With 94%...

Helps stop erosion.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Landlok Erosion Control Mats are an advanced reinforcement systems that shelters seed, soil, and water to promote faster vegetation growth. They anchor the root systems to the surface soil to stop erosion on moderate to extreme slopes, and...

Soil reinforcement.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Miragrid XT geogrids are high-strength, high-tenacity, high-molecular weight polyester geogrids in a full range of tensile strengths to meet the most demanding applications of soil reinforcement. The grids are woven and coated with polymer...

Control valves.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... The 032000 and 132000 Series control valves provide favorable solutions for chemical feed systems in water treatment plants. Both products are able to resist acid corrosion and provide precise control. The 032000 valves are made of barstock...

Molded fiberglass grating.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... This fiberglass-reinforced plastic grating dramatically reduces the life-cycle costs of the platforms and walkways used in water and wastewater applications. It offers high corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, ease of...

Slurry drying.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... This unit combines a mechanical dewatering system and thermal drying device into one compact machine for drying all types of slurries. It is constructed with polypropylene membrane filter plates, which can be retrofitted for existing presses....

Bird repeller.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... The QuadBlaster QB4 repels unwanted birds--which can create mess, expenses, and disease--by using four Piezo ceramic speakers to project ultrasonic waves in an overlapping pattern for 360-degree coverage. The frequency irritates birds but...

Meter reading systems.(Featuring: Erosion Control & Soil Stabilization)
July 1, 2004... Two products provide users with the ability to totally automate meter reading. The ProRead absolute encoder register encodes the odometer, providing error-free remote electronic meter reading capabilities; the product solves problems associated...

Public sector continues to embrace design-build.(Legal Aspects)
July 1, 2004... In a state known for its sudden seismic shifts and occasionally unorthodox politics, recent procurement legislation in California seems to be tilting the local landscape toward greater use of design-build project delivery in public works....