News from the Field
Our field is always changing. Read about the latest developments and innovations here.
December 29, 2020
USDA awards nearly $900 million for rural water and wastewater projects
Categories: Sustainability,
In late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it had awarded $891 million in loans and grants for rural drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in 43 states. Awarded through the USDA’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, the funding will help pay for 220 projects benefiting an estimated 787,000 residents. …
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December 17, 2020
Engineering innovation solves the problem by eliminating the problem
Categories: Workplace,
Sorin Dinu and Mihai Dinu have 15 years of experience on sewerage project work sites in their native Romania and beyond. So, they know what it’s like to work in a 3-meter-deep trench. And what they learned is that the best way to improve working in a 3-meter-wide trench is to not work in a …
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December 15, 2020
Review: On food infrastructure and urban growth
Categories: Sustainability,
The Problem with Feeding Cities: The Social Transformation of Infrastructure, Abundance, and Inequality in America, by Andrew Deener. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2020; 328 pages, $32.50. The restaurant industry is one of the more visible economic sectors being devastated by the pandemic. Many well-known establishments — often locally owned institutions — are closing their …
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November 15, 2020
Leading in a multi-generational workplace
Categories: Workplace,
Today, more Americans than ever are working past the traditional age of retirement. According to a 2019 report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 10.6 million people in the workforce…Read More >>
October 15, 2020
5 Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Community Calls Series
Categories: Workplace,
April 2020 is not a month anyone will forget anytime soon, as the coronavirus pandemic emptied city streets and shuttered many businesses. The ASCE Plot Points podcast’s COVID-19 Community Calls series featured 33 phone calls…Read More >>
October 14, 2020
Don’t Fear the Next Big Energy Transition
Categories: Sustainability,
Michael E. Webber’s 2019 book, “Power Trip: The Story of Energy,” considers world history as the history of energy. All of which is very interesting. And what’s perhaps even more interesting is the way that…Read More >>
“Especially in the country’s older cities, much of the drinking-water infrastructure is old and in need of replacement. Failures in drinking-water infrastructure can result in water disruptions, impediments to emergency response, and damage to other types of infrastructure.”