Technology is evolving rapidly, and will have profound effects on our transportation options, networks, and spending habits within the next few decades. Public officials need to start preparing today for an inevitable, vastly different infrastructure future due to a variety of technologies that are emerging and changing the ways we plan and develop our future roads, parking, transportation networks, and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). 

Increased levels of manganese in drinking water supplies have raised concern in some communities and increased speculation that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will make regulation changes. Manganese is a naturally occurring element found in groundwater, very acidic soil, and foods such as seeds, grains, nuts, legumes, green leafy vegetables, and in drinking water.

Obtaining grant funds for various projects is paramount for most communities; however, securing and managing these funds for critical projects is no simple task. In an ideal world, effective Capital Improvement Planning allocates funding for improvements; however, when accidents occur or Mother Nature strikes, disaster recovery efforts can be a significant funding challenge for communities. Grant funding knowledge is essential to ensure that a community can recover from disaster and prevent future loss of life and property.

Lead water mains have become a significant concern nationwide as stories have made headlines warning of high concentrations of lead in drinking water. Understanding the complexities for replacing lead services lines (LSL) in a community can seem daunting. Often community leaders and stakeholders don’t understand their options for implementing an LSL replacement plan.

The infrastructure that utilities build and maintain can run the spectrum from convenience for the utility’s customers to critical infrastructure (both for customers and national grids.) The potential damage to the many components of that infrastructure can come from different sources with varying intent.

Partially grouted masonry shear walls are common in North America. Construction of partially grouted concrete masonry shear walls can benefit greatly by placement of joint reinforcement in bed joints of each or every other course instead of deformed reinforcement in bond beams, because placement and grouting of bond beams slow construction. Joint reinforcement is already used to help control cracking and provide prescriptive horizontal reinforcement. With sufficient area and ductility of wire, joint reinforcement can also provide the tension capacity to span across cracks in shear walls and to act as primary shear reinforcement for in-plane shear forces.

Now that the Illinois Accessibility Code (IAC) has been updated for the first time since 1997, it is crucial that your community’s Code Officials, Building Inspectors and Plan Reviewers become knowledgeable about some key changes. The IAC requires certain accessibility standards to guarantee that newly-constructed or renovated buildings are safe and readily accessible to persons with disabilities. Some of these standard have been updated in 2018, and this article highlights the major changes.

The Illinois Accessibility Code (IAC) has been updated for the first time in nearly 20 years, and went into effect on October 23, 2018. Established in 1997, the IAC requires certain accessibility standards to guarantee that newly-constructed or renovated buildings are safe and readily accessible to persons with disabilities. This article lists some of the major observations and changes that we noticed.

HR Green’s Andrew (Andy) Swisher, PE, PTOE, Senior Traffic Engineer, ITE Advocacy Committee, recently wrote an article for the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ (ITE) publication, the ITE Journal. In the article, Andy addresses the role of the traffic engineer in a future of automation. He shares insights from a recent meeting, hosted by the ITE Advocacy Committee, in which ITE leadership discuss the topic. During the discussion the group brought to light the myriad related topics that will be impacted with the projected connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) future envisioned by the masses.

The zebra mussel, an aquatic invasive species (AIS), has made its way above Gavins Point Dam near Yankton and has rapidly increased its presence in Lewis and Clark Lake. One female zebra mussel can produce a million eggs in one year, with the mussels attaching to infrastructure and watercraft while creating problems for fish and other life sharing the waters.