Posts filed under ‘US Infrastructure’
Herbert Hoover’s Engineer
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
A couple of weeks ago I posed the following question on the Civil Engineering Central Group on Linkedin:
“Why did you become a civil engineer?”
We had a number of great responses, but one gentleman posted the following excerpt that is worth sharing to the masses:
Herbert Hoover’s Engineer
It is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerges through the aid of science to plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comfort of life. That is the engineer’s high privilege.
The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot like the architect cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot like the politician screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work he is dammed.
On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort and hope. No doubt as years go by the people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician put his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other people’s money….
But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness which flows from his success with satisfaction that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants.
Did Herbert Hoover miss anything here? Do you believe his statement still holds true today?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Marketing Opportunities After A Disaster
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Hurricane season is upon us. While homeowners in hurricane-prone areas prepare for the worst and hope for the best, FEMA contractors also update their teams. Disaster relief opportunities abound following devastation from natural disasters. Historically, non profit agencies jump in to help the injured and sick. The US Military Disaster Response Team deploys to work side by side with local officials. The combined efforts of civilian and military operations have become common. According to the FEMA website: Mitigation Assessment Teams (MATs) are made up of representatives of FEMA Headquarters and of FEMA Regional Offices, state and local officials, and public and private sector experts in technical disciplines such as structural and civil engineering, architecture, building construction, natural hazards research, and code development and enforcement. Since the market downturn, many firms have traveled cross country and overseas to find a way to “get listed” as an approved FEMA contractor or a subcontractor.
The Heritage Foundation’s Dennis R. Shrader lectured on FEMAUnfinished Business and asked: ”How do we nationally collaborate and allocate resources to effectively and efficiently prepare ourselves in order to prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from catastrophic incidents?” It is an interesting lecture and I encourage you to read. With that in mind, I would ask you almost the same question. How do you, as those involved in the civil engineering community, collaborate to effectively and efficiently prepare yourselves in order to respond to catastrophic incidents, to help our communities rebuild?
Profiting from disasters can be seen as ”distasteful.” Kerry Harding, President, The Talent Bank, responds “through FEMA, the nation has a planned, measured response to disaster mitigation with pre-approved vendors with pre-approved fee structures in place that they rely on in times of emergency. There is NOTHING unprofessional or “sleazy” about fulfilling the terms of a previously negotiated contract. When disaster strikes, it’s too late for firms who haven’t been thoroughly vetted to try and jump on the bandwagon. At that point, the stakes are too high.”
Are you and your firm ready to respond? Are your “ducks in a row?”
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion board
The Bridge Collapse…Two Years Later. What Do We Know?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
On August 2, 2007, the entire span of I-35W (officially known as Bridge 9340) in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River. Vehicles, concrete and metal crashed into the water below. Lives were lost and many more were changed that fateful day.
Immediately following the collapse, federal officials ordered an inspection of all steel deck truss bridges like the I-35W bridge. Investigative reporter, Bill Dedman reported the following:
“At first, officials thought there were 756 steel deck truss bridges like the one that fell. That’s how many they found in the official federal database of bridges, the National Bridge Inventory, which gets its records from the states. Then state engineers found 32 more to add to the list. But when states started the inspections, they found that 280 of the bridges weren’t steel deck trusses at all — including 13 bridges made of wood timbers. Another 16 no longer existed; a bridge in Pennsylvania had been closed in 1982. Another 11 were private bridges, not subject to federal inspection. One in New Mexico was a pedestrian bridge. And a bridge in Pennsylvania had been double counted; federal officials had placed an identical ghost bridge in Maryland. By the time the survey was finished, the count of bridges of the same type as the Minneapolis span was down to 479, or 277 fewer than initially reported, according to internal e-mails from the Federal Highway Administration received Thursday by msnbc.com under the Freedom of Information Act
.”
The Federal Highway Administration recommended framework for a bridge inspection QA/QC program is comprehensive. In 2008, they cite six (6) state DOTs that have “existing QC/QA procedures that address specific aspects of the “Recommended Framework” in a manner the FHWA considers commendable.” Six? Out of all of the DOTs in the US? I do realize that all states must have existing QC/QA procedures. But only six are “commendable?” What is the status of the remaining state inspection programs? Adequate? Average? Acceptable?
We know that bridge construction has changed over the years. Improvements in technology for use in bridge design, materials and construction have allowed engineers to project increased longevity of bridges. Structural engineers now describe bridge lifespan in terms of 100 years, instead of 20-50 years. Building new “improved” bridges, are we going to have 50 DOTs with commendable QA/QC inspection programs?
With the ability to build with an eye to sustainability, how do we fix what we have? Where does this leave us with our decaying bridges? Many of those bridges now require billions of dollars for rehabilitation or replacement. How can we financially repair them if we don’t even have an accurate count of where they are and what type of bridge they are? What do you think?
Is There A Future in Civil/Structural Shweebeneering?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Wooooo Hooooo! Let's Shweeb!
Well, you can thank this week’s blog to my new hobby of “tweeting.” One of the other professionals that I follow made a “tweet” that led to a way cool website whose idea is worth mentioning. The future of this “pod in the sky” is likely “pie in the sky,” but it makes one wonder what the future of transportation could look like.
Pollution, carbon emissions, global warming, traffic congestion, green cars…these are all the industry headlines that plaster the Internet and your favorite trade publications every week. Well, a group of engineers and designers in New Zealand have created a mode of transportation that eliminates nearly all of the environmental concerns that are under such scrutiny today. No, it’s not a magic carpet ( how sweet would that be?). And it’s more primitive and environmentally efficient than SkyTran. Ladies and Gentleman, I introduce to you…
The world’s first human powered monorail, The Shweeb is “the most efficient vehicle on earth, the most inexpensive infrastructure of any proposed urban transit and one of the highest capacity systems available – potentially delivering thousand’s of people per hour in a very small airspace. All this with zero carbon emissions and no parking worries or cost!”
Six years in the making, entrepreneur and design team leader Geoffrey Barnett finally constructed The Shweeb in 2007 ” in direct response to the transportation needs of today and the future.” As of today, The Shweeb concept is 
nothing more than a ride at an adventure park in New Zealand. But Barnett and his team are convinced that The Shweeb is the way of the future. This is definitely a very cool concept that on the surface would solve many of the traffic and congestion and environmental pollution problems that we face today. It would also be an emerging engineering concept that possibly would challenge and excite transportation engineers of all types.
Environmentally speaking, this is a great idea, but Clearly Geoffrey and his team have their work cut out for them as they continue to push this concept of a human powered monorail system. Personally speaking, I am skeptical at best. The “pod” itself that one drives in has little to be desired in the way of comfort and the issues are infinite- what happens if the chain or the pedals break – would Triple A (AAA) show up? How would one travel with family or clients? And what about ventilation? Plus, I have no desire to show up for work or a lunch meeting as a soaking wet sweat ball! We would need Xzibit and the crew from the MTV show Pimp My Ride to develop some nice custom Shweeb vehicles to better suit our needs 
!
Check out The Shweeb in action:
I read on Gizmodo.com, “Well, thank your lucky stars that the people who run our cities have at least some sense in their heads, because it would be highly doubtful for this to appear in the flesh anytime soon.”
Do you believe this engineering concept will ever come to fruition in any way, shape or form as an alternative form of transportation within our urban communities? Or is it merely a pipe dream that will never get beyond the gates of a Six Flags amusement park?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
LEED Accreditation – Fad or Necessity?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Carol’s profile & connect with her on LinkedIn
Is it really necessary to become a LEED accredited professional (LEED AP)? Can you design for sustainability without having LEED accreditation? Is this just another acronym to put on a business card? Or, as some suggest, is this a half hearted attempt by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to exploit the demand for solutions to environmental issues and make some money along the way?
Just a few years ago only a select few individuals had LEED AP following their name. Now more than 75,000 architects and engineers proudly display this designation to demonstrate their prowess in green building, strategies and technologies. The USGBC clearly states that the “LEED Professional Accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process.” As LEED certification becomes better defined, the LEED AP testing has become more difficult and comprehensive.
The LEED train has left the station and whether critics like it or not, it is here to stay. Therefore, having LEED AP on your resume will become a necessity and possibly valued in the future as the PE, AIA, RLA or AICP designations are now. Whether one can or has designed with an eye to sustainability in the past will no longer matter, without having the acronym after their name. Experts concur that, for now, LEED is here to stay and one might as well get on board.
Do understand that as the U.S. increases desirability and need for green design, skeptics are becoming louder and activists more outspoken. Pete Wann’s blog on the “Fashion of LEED Bashing” suggests that the original critics were builders and developers and that today’s naysayers are those from the environmental and architectural traditionalist movements. While an Internet search turned up plenty of arguments on both sides of the recycled fence, I still think that in spite of its flaws and inadequacies, the LEED program is better than nothing when it motivates people to seriously face the future environmental challenges. And if we are going to have universally accepted guidelines (I don’t see the USGBC going away) then why not have professionals accredited? What do you think?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Some Civil Tomfoolery
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Tired of reading about the failing infrastructure? Tired of waiting for your firm to reap the benefits of the infrastructure stimulus package? Tired of hearing about how the civil engineering industry is struggling and that civil engineering jobs are few and far between? Well, at this very moment in time, I certainly am. So in light of that, I thought I would use a little history and a little humor to maybe brighten up a few minutes of your day (though the historical video may also make you chuckle).
First, take a look at the videos below which I found on youtube, GM Futurama Parts 1 & 2. 
These videos give perspective from 1939 in regards to what our infrastructure would look like in 1960. Bridges, highways, airports that would solve all of our problems and make life easier. 
These videos are amazing, really, to see how far our infrastructure has come since then. Now we are looking at technologies like SkyTran and SmartRoads, ideas that were surely beyond comprehension in 1939.
Following the videos are a few snapshots that have been circulating the Internet, maybe you have seen them. Engineering and construction masterpieces they are not…just a little civil tomfoolery!
NOW FOR SOME NOT SO MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN ENGINEERING
- And you thought airport security was getting better…
- My clients have often complained that good rail engineers are very hard to find…
- Clearly a case of two very stubborn engineers working in the same office…
- Maybe it’s not just the economy effecting the housing market…
- An engineer should never go back to work after happy hour…
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Questions Of The Month – Final Tallies Revealed
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Each month at CivilEngineeringCentral.com we have a Question of the Month. This question is posted on our home page and is included in each issue of ”The LinkedIngineer“ as well as our monthly e-newsletter which is sent out to nearly 10,000 members of the civil engineering community (If you would like to sign up for our monthly e-newsletter please click HERE…sorry, couldn’t pass up that free plug). It’s been a while since we have posted the results, so in light of that (plus the fact that I have struggled to come up with anything else), check out the results below. If you see any surprising results in there or feel the urge to comment about any of the topics please feel free to do so.
MAY 2009
DID YOU SEE AN INCREASE IN PROJECTS IN YOUR COMPANY DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2009?
83.1% No
16.9% Yes
Just yesterday I was speaking with a colleague of mine who commented on a report he had just watched on MSNBC. They were discussing the question “where did all the stimulus go?” Most of it of course is going to construction; all those projects that we have come to love and know as…shovel ready. What seemed like a lot of money initially, when spread out over the entire United States, seems to be spread pretty thin.
APRIL 2009
HAS YOUR FIRM CUT IT’S BENEFITS PACKAGE AS A RESULT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE?
67.6% Yes
32.4% No
It’s expensive out there folks. Our health insurance has gone up 50% over the past four or five years…everyone is feeling the pinch here.
MARCH 2009
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT SEARCHING FOR A JOB?
42.9% Networking
25.0% Not Knowing Where To Start
17.9% Updating My Resume
14.3% Nailing The Interview
The way I see it, assuming you are a talented engineer, if you are able to effectively network throughout the course of your career, that, in-and-of-itself, takes care of the the remaining three obstacles. You see, if you are a great networker, you easily know where to start, and because you have networked so well and know so many people very well, there is no need to update your resume because they have seen you in action and your stellar reputation precedes you. Your noticeable performance within your industry over the course of your career has coincidentally been an ongoing interview. All that being said, a hand shake over a cocktail, beer, sparkling water or other beverage of your choice should be all that is needed to nail down your next job. A little tongue in cheek maybe, but there is some validity to my theory.
FEBRUARY 2009
HOW OFTEN DO YOU VOLUNTEER IN YOUR COMMUNITY?
50.0% 8 or more times per year
23.1% Not at all
15.4% 1-3 times per year
11.5% 4-7 times per year
One half of our respondents give back to the community 8 or more time per year…that is AWESOME!
JANUARY 2009
HAVE YOU EVER MISLED OR EMBELLISHED EXPERIENCES ON YOUR RESUME?
77.8% No
22.2% Yes
One should always be truthful on their resume, that goes without saying. But sometimes resumes can be misleading as different titles mean different things to different companies and different people.
DECEMBER 2008
WHAT CONCEPT WILL MAKE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON SOLVING OUR ENERGY CRISIS?
40.0% Nuclear Energy
23.3% Wind Energy
20.0% Solar Energy
13.3% Bio-Fuels
3.3% U.S. Oil Digging
0.0% Coal
I think our economy will need to stabilize and re-establish itself for a while before we begin to see any of these technologies really begin to flourish.
NOVEMBER 2008
DOES YOUR MANAGER ALLOW FOR YOU TO WORK A 4/40 OR 9/80 WORK WEEK?
65.5% No
34.5% Yes
I think the civil engineering industry, prior to “The Great Recession,” had actually come accustomed to the 6/60 work week – that is Monday-Saturday/60 hours week!
OCTOBER 2008
WHICH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WILL YOU VOTE FOR ON NOVEMBER 4th?
49.4% Barack O’Bama
42.9% John McCain
6.0% Undecided
1.2% Other
0.6% Ralph Nader
Not bad, not bad. The final results in total votes for the Presidential election in November was Obama 53% / McCain 46%. Our participants were nearly dead on here…sorry I can’t say the same for the Question of the Month which we ran in August 2008; see below!
SEPTEMBER 2008
WITH HIGH GAS PRICES, HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR COMMUTING HABITS BY OPTING FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION?
73.5% No
26.5% Yes
This poll was posted at the time when gas prices were averaging $3.74/gallon. We have come a long way over the years in mass transit, but you know what? People love their cars and it would take a lot more than higher gas prices for them to drop their keys and take to mass transit.
AUGUST 2008
WHEN DO YOU BELIEVE THE LAND DEVELOPMENT MARKET WILL BEGIN TO PICK UP?
30.6% 2nd Quarter of 2009
26.5% 2010 or Beyond
14.3% 3rd Quarter 2009
12.2% 4th Quarter 2008
10.2% 4th Quarter 2009
6.1% 1st Quarter 2009
As of today, just about 50% of our survey responders are wrong and there are another 26.5% who will likely end up on the wrong side of the fence as well by the end of this year. Seems to be an ol’ case of “if I only knew then what I know now.”
I would like to thank you all for answering our Questions of the Month and look forward to your continued participation.
Got Comments? Got Questions? Got Insight? Got Speculation? Got Inside Information? Let us know, we would love to hear from you on any of the subjects of our recent polls.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC &
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
During my college years (long ago ) I can’t say that I ever thought of the science of civil engineering as “sexy.” As far as I knew, civil engineers built cement canoes for competition. While interesting, not “sexy.” I was obviously not well informed!
Fast forward 20 some years and I know MUCH more. The daily job of civil engineers hasn’t changed that much in two decades – specifically, in the sense of planning, designing, managing jobs, working with agencies, citizens and clients. What has changed is the manner and tools used to accomplish those daily responsibilites.
Technology and better textile/materials has catapulted our industry into a new realm. Environmental concerns with the multitude of regulations make the nuances of the job even more complex. Technology and sustainability will transform the civil engineering profession for years to come.
Robert Mote asked a question on the CivilEngineeringCentral LINKEDIN Group. He asked for folks to name the most famous civil engineer in the US. Not unlike my understanding of civil engineering 20 years ago, I think most people may not be entirely clear on that subject. While, as a non civil engineer, I am not ready to give my answer to Robert’s question, I certainly DO know what a civil engineer does. Over the past 10 years the US has seen it’s share of infrastructure failings, crumblings, etc. I have witnessed countless numbers of civil engineers being called to speak to the press to explain in “plain talk” what happened in these tragedies and how to repair them. So, hopefully, if Robert asks his question in another 10 years, folks will be able to rattle off not only a famous US civil engineer, but they will actually understand what a civil engineer does!
The Institute of Civil Engineers put together an EXCELLENT video about “The Public Perception Of Civil Engineering“…..Take a look:
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Are CE’s Becoming IBMr’s ?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Prior to this current economic downturn a MAJOR topic of discussion was the lack of civil engineers in the marketplace. It did not matter if I was executing a search for a Project Engineer who was an expert in hydrology & hydraulics and flood control, a Project Manager who understood advanced water treatment, a National Program Manager with P3 or Design Build experience as it related to toll roads or a Land Development Department Head; no matter how you sliced it, the pool of civil engineers was shallow. Engineers at all levels throughout the civil engineering community struggled with same dilemma. They were working ridiculous amounts of hours, weekends included; their employers became stagnant in their plans to diversify into other civil engineering disciplines; and principal level engineers were rolling up their sleeves and cranking out construction plans themselves. When the economy eventually picks up, the civil engineering community will be treading in that shallow pool again wondering ‘where are we going to find the right engineer with the right experience?’
The other evening I was at home watching the NCAA Tournament and a commercial came across the television screen that caught my attention. It was all about traffic and transportation and the technology that is being utilized to help ease traffic congestion, which would help cut down on fuel costs as well as free up more time for people all over the country. The average commute time in most major cities across the United States, according to a Time Magazine report in 2007 is +/- 30 minutes. Many folks I know spend at least 45 minutes each way on their commute. And if there happens to be an accident on the LBJ Freeway in Dallas or the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia, well then you can just forget about getting to work on time or home for dinner. Thank goodness for the hard working civil engineering consultants and DOT engineers who are putting in countless hours and lending their skills to help make the necessary improvements to our transportation infrastructure that will help cut down our commute times and allow for us to do fun things like play with our children, spend time with our friends and families or be able to get to our softball game before the 4th inning…right? But wait…this commercial I saw was not for a consulting engineering firm or a PSA type commercial from ASCE…it was is an IBM commercial.
So, if I am a college student pursuing a degree in civil engineering and I want to specialize in transportation, you can be darn sure I am going to check out IBM. To answer the question as to ‘where are all the civil engineers?,’ maybe they are all working at IBM. Is it even possible to fathom the AECOM’s and URS’ and CH2M Hill’s of the world to advertise in this manner? Are there opportunities for ASCE to advertise like this? Or are those avenues of advertising just a pipe dream for the traditional civil engineering community at large?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: linkedin discussion group
Can You Name That Highway?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
My father and grandfather were chemical engineers, my younger brother studied civil engineering, my older sister scored over 1400 on her SAT’s. Apparently that “smart” gene, along with the gene that provides a full head of hair, managed to bypass me. Though I never even had the chance to be an engineer, I have always been fascinated with the final products that are churned out by architects, engineers and construction professionals. I remember a couple of years ago when we were developing the website for Precision Executive Search and I was in search of some cool aerial photos of some crazy interchanges. We ended up going with photos of bridges to go along with our tag line of “Bridging The Gap,” but we found some pretty amazing photos that we ended up not using. Besides my intrigue with long span bridges, highway tunnels, elevated highways and uniquely designed and structurally sound buildings, I am even more fascinated with the design and construction of the interchanges that can be found in some of the most traveled areas across the globe. What our audience of civil engineering professionals is capable of accomplishing is nothing short of amazing to me.
So, after perusing the Internet I came across some cool videos (accompanied by music, so turn down your speakers if you are in cube world) that blast through some of the craziest highways and interchanges around the globe. I began to wonder,
Who within our blogosphere could identify some of these interchanges?
Maybe you designed or built one of them, maybe you proposed or bid on one of them, maybe you attended a conference where it was profiled, or, maybe you hit it up every day on your way to work. Whatever the case may be, I would like to challenge you to….
NAME THAT INTERCHANGE!!
Thanks for participating…we look forward to your responses!
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