Invent Civil

In the past couple of days, the spill from the TVA plant has been gaining a lot more publicity.  This is thanks in part to two lawsuits that have been filed against the TVA.  The first suit is by a local landowner claiming $165 Million in damages to a nearby subdivision.  The second suit was [...]

On Monday, December 22, 2008 a retention pond at a steam plant in Tenessee was broken.  Surrounding roads and lands were flooded and ruined.  The good news is that there have been no injuries reported to date.  The Knoxville News Sentinel has posted an intriguing video of the aftermath:

The worst part of the whole break [...]

A recent article in the Victoria times shows that people are considering infrastructure investments as a viable option for stimulating the residing economy.  The article points to the Conservative’s “Building Canada Plan”, which touts $33 billion in infrastructure spending throughout the next seven years.
Yet some people don’t think it’s enough.  According to the article:
Perrault’s federation [...]

For all you student members of ASCE, there is a contest now running for papers by undergraduate students who are both ASCE Student Chapter members and ASCE Society student members.  This year’s topic is “Sustainability and Civil Engineering”.
Prizes range from $200 for 5th place to $1000 for first place.  So give it a go, students.

I just read an interesting article over at the Northwest Herald entitled “Growth of invasive species has engineers rethinking waterways”. The article talks about how invasive species, including the zebra mussel, Asain carp, and round goby have been causing big problems in the Mississippi river.
The interesting part is that the problem is rooted in a [...]

According to a recent article from treehugger.com, Toronto ranks in as number two in their list of “Under-the-Radar Cities Worth a Visit”.  I just drove/walked through various spots throughout Toronto this past weekend, and let’s just say it doesn’t give off that “eco-friendly” vibe while simply touring around.
Nonetheless, there is some merit to what the [...]

Stantec is one of the most well-known names for consulting engineering in all of Canada.  So while I did not previously know who was previously the president of Stantec, it’s interesting news when Stantec announces a new president/CEO for the company.

So I was browsing around the Engineering News Record, and I found an article entitled “Construction Unemployment Soars As Housing Plunges”.  The article is touting an increase in unemployment within the construction industry.  In fact, it claims that the unemployment rate increased to 9.9% in September, up from last year’s rate of 5.8% (note that [...]

It’s no secret that I like the Dutch.  However, it’s not just because I was born of a rich Dutch ancestry.  The Dutch are continually impressing me with stories about what they can do with water.  In fact, thanks to their ingenuity with dikes, canals, and the like, about 60% of Holland’s population lives below [...]

Last week, I featured an article which discussed the City of Cambridge’s vote to allow bottled water in its meetings. Turns out that I am not the only one that had a problem with the article. Three 12-year-old students made a presentation to city council in an attempt to make them reconsider their [...]