Corps Management of Columbia Snake River Maintenance
July 06, 2017
Unscheduled maintenance can be frustrating and costly for shippers. To help combat this problem on the Columbia Snake River, which has no auxiliary locks to rely on in the event of a closure, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now does routine maintenance and inspections over two weeks each spring. The annual closure is announced......
July 06, 2017
Texas is among the leading producers of wind energy. But with the size of the Lone Star State, wind energy still needs to be moved from where it is captured to where it is most needed. Through the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ), the state invested $7 billion in the erection of 3,600 miles of......
Public transit growing all over, even in Montana
May 19, 2017
When most people think of public transportation, they think of a subway in New York or a bus in Los Angeles, but there are almost 1,400 rural transit systems in the U.S. One place that’s seen strong growth in rural transit is Montana. Between 2004 and 2016, the number of rural transit systems increased from......
May 19, 2017
If a freight train wants to cross the Hudson River from Jersey City into Brooklyn, it has only two options: (1) cross a bridge 140 miles north in Albany or (2) ride a rail barge across the river. After years of inactivity, the barge operation was bought by the Port Authority of New York and......
May 19, 2017
Engineers have known for a long time that the presence or lack of certain features can have a serious impact on the number and severity of crashes on a road. To help governments make better investments in their roadways and improve safety for all road users, the U.S. Road Assessment Program (usRAP) serves as an......
May 19, 2017
The Ray, a 16-mile stretch of I-85 in Georgia, is challenging the idea that roads are just for driving on. It is the country’s first solar-paved road, with 5,400 square feet of solar panels capable of producing 7,000 kilowatt-hours of energy annually. The solar panels are placed on top of the asphalt road surface and......
May 19, 2017
In an effort to educate the public on risk associated with living beneath a dam, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have partnered to curate www.livingneardams.org. This website plays host to public resources to help dam owners, public officials, and others to help identify and mitigate the......
Improving Public Safety with DamWatch
May 19, 2017
To improve public safety for those living below a dam, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has partnered with US Engineering Solutions Corporation to launch “DamWatch” a web-based application that provides real-time monitoring of rainfall, snowmelt, stream flow, and seismic events that could pose potential threats to dam safety. Through a......
March 07, 2017
In early 2010, after the Arizona Legislature was forced to cut all general revenue funding for state parks because of recession deficits, Arizona State Parks (ASP) closed 13 parks. Some communities stepped up to take over management, and in November 2016, Lake Havasu City broke ground on a new park, utilizing a creative public private......
Michigan’s Recreation Passport
March 07, 2017
State parks’ budgets are often targeted for budget cuts during economic downturns. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources used their budget crisis to rethink how they generated revenue through the sale of yearly passes. By doing away with a daily pass and offering residents the opportunity to purchase a yearly Recreation Passport license plate tab......
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