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The worst Texas winter weather in recent history occurred in February 2021, creating unexpected public works infrastructure resiliency challenges for communities large and small. Join us for a moderated discussion…
Have you been thinking about having a connected and/or automated vehicle pilot in your jurisdiction? If so, this program is for you. This program will provide participants with an overall…
Participants will be able to make informed decisions on what type of equipment will fill their agency’s needs, then each person will be able to understand different levels of specification writing, plus build a sample spec sheet that can either be used for bidding or comparison to open contract listings for fulfillment of the vehicle and equipment needs.
FORE! Authentic Community Engagement will always engage, educate and inform the community. Transparency is key when relying on the community’s support to ensure success. This workshop will help you put in practice your ACE! Whether you are just beginning your community engagement…on the “FAIRWAY” or if you have started engagement but are stuck in the “ROUGH” or if you need a “MULLIGAN” for a new approach to authentic community engagement…this one is for you! Workshop includes 3 breakout sessions to meet you where you are with your authentic community engagement. PUTT: This session will cover the “Basic” plan for authentic community engagement. DRIVE: This session will cover the “Advanced” plan for authentic community engagement. APPROACH: This session will cover the “Extreme” plan for authentic community engagement.
The Missouri Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (SAVE) Coalition is a group of volunteer engineers, architects, building inspectors, and other trained professionals that assists the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) with post-disaster building safety evaluations. After a disaster, SAVE volunteers are trained to move quickly to determine which buildings are safe to use and which should be evacuated. As a member of the Coalition since 1995 and a member of SAVE Board of Directors since 2001, Ben Ross has had the opportunity to deploy on a number of missions to assist communities hit by a natural disaster. He is an enthusiastic booster of SAVE’s mission and has participated in training programs and preparation of training materials and guidance documents at the state and national level. Ben led the SAVE deployment of over sixty volunteers in response to the EF-5 Joplin tornado and helped facilitate the deployment after the EF-3 tornado that struck Missouri’s capital, Jefferson City. The differences between those experiences, such as coordination with local, state, and federal agencies, collaboration with law enforcement, NIMS resource typing, interstate mutual aid, and the role of improved technology (GIS, real-time data collection software, etc.) over that time span, will be discussed. The initial volunteer training provided and continuing education requirements to participate with SAVE will be described, as well as the expectations of volunteers when called for a deployment. Since many involved in the public works industry are also first responders in their communities and have training and work experience that fits well with the mission of organization’s like SAVE, perhaps this can serve as an incentive for attendees to look for ways that they might get involved with similar activities in their state.
The staffing of public works is changing. As the generational divide expands throughout the industry, emotional intelligence moves beyond buzzword to a practical and necessary skill set. Emotional intelligence provides improved communication, self-awareness, conflict resolution, and empathy amongst staff and public engagement. It is becoming essential to identify and empower staff with high emotional intelligence, leveraging these individuals to train and develop agency wide. As professionals, it is important to fully commit to utilizing emotional intelligence to create a workforce capable of working inclusively together to better serve public works and our communities.
There's an old saying that goes "what can be measured can be improved". Unfortunately, America's roadways are continuing to fail, and fail at a rapid rate. In a time where the management of our taxpayer dollars is more important than ever, our public works departments deserve a data-driven approach to the annual maintenance and repair of our local roadways. While many understand the value of pavement management software and incorporating more preventive and preservation measures into the annual program, the implementation process and costs often associated can be a daunting task. The pavement management blueprint aims to provide a solution to this problem in a standardized, objective, and cost-effective manner, leveraging state of the art technology such as high-definition video and artificial intelligence-based condition assessment. It offers a communicative, map-driven, and data-driven connection between public works, engineering, the public, council, and our public officials. By measuring the current state of the roadway network against industry standards, we can begin to address the best go forward maintenance and repair staregy that will maximize the budget, create the most impact and improve our local roadway networks.
This session will give an overview of the need for properly identifying the proper commercial tires, mounting and dismounting procedures and the significance meaning between “torqueing ” and “clamping force”. The session is designed to show the importance for having a good tire program in place as well as having certified technicians to do the work. Proper Identification and application of commercial tires. A. Learn how to identify the age of the tire. B. Learn how to identify the number of times a tire has been recapped. C. Learn the different types of tread and their applications. D. Learn the different styles of wheels/rims and their component parts. Proper mounting and dismounting A. Learn the mounting procedures for tubeless, tube type and multi-piece wheels/rims. B. Learn the acronym R.I.S.T., Remove, Inspect, Snug and Tighten. C. Learn the causes of zip ruptures and the methods to test for and ready a tire for service. D. Learn what is meant by the word torque and how it relates to clamping force. Learn about the proper plug-patching techniques. A. Learn the reasons for proper plug patching. B. Learn the differences between one piece and multi-piece plug patches. C. Learn the limits of plug patching that will keep you in compliance.
Over the last 30 years, a large body of national, international, and industry asset management standards and guidelines have been created. Today, the industry continues to struggle with integrating engineering, accounting, and community planning while aligning corporate goals with daily operations and maintenance, planning, budgeting, and delivery activities. Many organizations continue to have their budget and resource allocation entrenched in short-term, historical based budgeting processes. The challenge is how to adopt and sustain asset management practices to meet the demands and expectation of our communities while managing an aging infrastructure asset base. Where do we start and what does it look like? To assist jurisdictions navigate their asset management journey the American Public Works Association (APWA) has developed an interactive Asset Management (AM) Roadmap. The AM Roadmap is designed to assist communities systematically identify and implement their asset management system. The Asset Management Roadmap is structured around ten key asset management themes defined as Roadmap stops. Under each of the stops is a library of definitions, examples, and templates that communities can both access and contribute to.
This presentation provides new workflows and examples of how DOTs, local and State-level government are taking control of their winter operations material consumption before, during and after the season. Ideas include: real-time inventory management, storm reporting, safe loading, multi-depot stockpile management and more.