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Green stormwater infrastructures (GSIs) are typically built for multi-purposes: stormwater treatment and green space. Established vegetation is used to achieve the designed functions. However, plants often fail before they are established as they undergo constant stresses: either too wet or too dry. By design, GSIs flood during storms. Also by design, the growth media drain and dries out quickly between rain events to make room for the next storm. For that to happen, very porous growth media are used. The extreme variations in soil moisture make it very hard for any plant to survive. Other stresses such as road salt also make it hard to keep plants alive. This presentation will review novel technologies that can address the problems by using some of the abundant stormwater in GSIs. Capturing the stormwater also enhances the stormwater reduction and retention feature of GSIs. This stored stormwater can be used to irrigate the plants to ensure their survival.
Read MoreCompleting Shawnee, Kansas’ Nieman Now program ($37 million of public improvements in five projects, with four design consultants and three contractors, within a two-year window) involved a lot more than a willingness to implement a “road diet,” move power lines underground and reduce local flooding. Staff realized that there were enough complicating factors that project coordination had to be taken to a whole new level. The City’s challenges for design and construction will be described, and examples shared of how they were dealt with and resolved. The presenters will review the design and construction timeline, key happenings, complications, extensive utility coordination, and hard choices that had to be made while sharing illustrative content and anecdotes. The session will also highlight lessons “reinforced” about making field changes during construction and the types of documentation that are most helpful when it is time to close out the project.
Read MoreIn WarGames, a 1983 American Cold War science-fiction techno-thriller, David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) unwittingly accesses a U.S. military supercomputer (WOPR) programmed to execute nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Important lessons are learned in a simple game of tic-tac-toe, and nuclear war is averted. This session will be a highly competitive group activity, as participants are divided into teams and told to win as much as they can. A series of decisions will influence outcomes for individual and collective groups combined. With a win in mind, teams will reach a consensus to strategically choose among provided options, while in alternating rounds they are tasked with negotiating strategy with other groups. Collaborative concepts are tested against the individual charge to win as much as you can. Play along, and in the end, you may suggest that we play a “nice game of chess.”
Read MoreEmbarking on the renovation or reconstruction of a new public works garage requires the integration of many planning factors that most public works professionals do not typically encounter. Determining what functions should be incorporated, calculating their sizing, arranging the layout, and specifying major equipment needs should be based on best industry practices. This session provides public works professionals with a robust methodology for rationalizing and justifying the design criteria for their garage projects, allowing them to move forward with a compelling rationale for budget approval. Created by both a fleet manager and an industry-experienced architect, this seminar will focus on seven design principles: robust definition of your building program, workflow efficiency, staff productivity, asset control and security, supervision and communications, building performance and sustainability, and integration of future trends.
Read MoreThis session will provide attendees information about the Water Resources Management Committee, provide an opportunity to select water resources topics for discussion, and foster discussion among attendees.
Read MoreThe City of Carlsbad has developed the Automation, Compliance, Tracking, Inspection and Owner Notification (ACTION) System, a comprehensive post-construction best management practice (BMP) data management platform. The ACTION System creates a “big picture” perspective of post-construction BMP compliance using cross-site analytics that allows staff to prioritize sites, schedule inspections, and monitor compliance throughout the City’s network of structures. The system configures geographic information system (GIS) applications into new data scripts, integrates backend data, and packages it into a single user endpoint. This combination has resulted in a completely digital and cohesive data management platform. The ACTION System provides a comprehensive way to virtualize the program as an integrated network. The public exchange of compliance information using the ACTION System has created a measurable shift in norms, processes, and relationships.
Read MoreThe National Framework for Advancing the U.S. Recycling System, released November 2019, is the product of a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort that began on November 15, 2018. Recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was firmly supported by EPA, now presents an opportunity for EPA to offer competitive funding grants to Public Works agencies in support of the framework.
Read MoreCommunities are facing unprecedented impacts from climate change, which effects how municipalities deliver services and increases risk to municipal assets. Integrating climate change considerations into asset management (for natural and engineered assets)…
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The most critical component of effective pavement management is pavement evaluation. Roadway maintenance and rehabilitation decisions are significantly impacted by pavement condition evaluation surveys used in a pavement management system.…
Read MoreThe supply chain crisis has compelled fleet managers across the country to get creative to solve certain problems that they may have taken for granted in the past. The nationwide…
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