Augmented reality is a fascinating technology that could change the way we live and interact with the world that surrounds us. Unfortunately, we don’t see many good applications of AR in engineering yet, partly because achieving good visual integration of…
HDR Delivers Texas’ First Modern Streetcar System
The Union Station to Oak Cliff Dallas Streetcar TIGER Project is Texas’ first modern streetcar system. The project is a collaborative endeavor between…
Creating Real-time Navigable 3D Infrastructure Models
Designing successful infrastructure projects is one thing. Communicating and demonstrating those designs to clients and other stakeholders before construction…
Rethinking Rail Signal Design
Global consulting engineering firm Hatch Mott MacDonald had used a conventional CAD-based system to design rail signal systems when serving its public and private clients around the world. However, this approach had serious limitations in an industry where…
Wetlands Worth their Weight
Monitoring, Managing and Protecting Ecological Powerhouses “Wetland” is a generic term covering a wide variety of habitats that are wet for at least some period of time each year, have vegetation, and have soils that are saturated long enough during the…
Infrastructure Showcase: ACI’s Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards
The American Concrete Institute (ACI) recognized 11 winners at its 2015 Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards Gala during the ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition held Nov. 9, 2015, in Denver. The awards honor the most-creative projects in the concrete…
Structural Solutions: Engineering without a Net
I was flipping around the cable channels a while back and happened across a show about “The Flying Wallendas.” I had heard of the Wallendas as a kid, but I didn’t realize they had been performing since the late 1700s, a remarkable seven generations.…
Managing the Model: Why Do A/E Firms Hate BIM?
It’s possible that “hate” in this column’s title is too strong a sentiment—perhaps “have indifference toward BIM” is more appropriate. I spend a lot of time talking to owners and department managers at A/E firms, and a common chorus I repeatedly…
Executive Corner: Five Takeaways on 2015 A/E M&A Activity
Fueled by cheap debt, a restless and activist investor climate, and a desire to accelerate growth through economies of scale and efficiencies, global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across all industries hit an all-time high in 2015. In fact, this year…
Infrastructure Outlook: Radar Tomography Provides an Underground Point Cloud
By Andrew D. Lund, GISP Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was first patented in 1904 by Dr. Christian Hülsmeyer, a German scientist. It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, that GPR became a widely used tool for underground (or under-ice) surveying. Since then,…
