As summer heats up, so do thunderstorms. This can mean sudden inundation of heavy rain, increasing the risk of dangerous flooding for your assets. Flooding is a serious issue that is exacerbated by blocked culverts which can cause road collapse resulting in trapped residents at best and loss of life at worst. To stay ahead […]
If you use mowing contractors, you may be familiar with the incremental “bump” in acres/prices that happens as they spend more time, labor, and resources to fulfill their mowing duties. That’s because often contractors accidentally begin mowing more and more areas. This scope creep is unintentional; sometimes, it’s just a normal byproduct of the job […]
As an asset manager, you know how hard it can be to stay in front of potential emergencies. Asset management is a complex, ever-changing landscape and part of the job involves responding to unforeseen events. However, many asset managers report that 80% of their job is dealing with crisis and only 20% is devoted to […]
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy cast a vision of zero fatalities as the standard metric by which transportation safety is measured during her keynote speech at this year’s Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting “Plenty of people think that zero deaths is an unrealistic goal,” Ms. Homendy noted. But she pointed out that […]
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Beware of any proposal that doesn’t spell out target accuracy requirement details and is coupled with a lower price. You may be left with inaccurate data that will cost you much more down the road, opening you up to costly change orders. A responsive and […]
Guardrails are meant to keep drivers safe on the highways, but improper installation practices make guardrails yet another life-threatening hazard for motorists. What are Frankensteined Guardrails? In the spring of 2020, high school senior Isabella Alonzo was killed after crashing into a guardrail on a Georgia highway. Instead of cushioning the impact, the ‘Frankensteined’ guardrail […]
As you traveled Virginia’s roadways this summer, did you notice taller grass and wildflowers in the right-of-ways? It’s not an oversight. As part of its overall commitment to implementing sustainable approaches to managing Virginia’s roadway system, VDOT implemented a right-of-way maintenance program that significantly reduced mowing and converted eligible right-of-way spaces into beneficial land uses […]
For the third straight year in a row, DOTs are facing a shortage of snowplow drivers. A survey by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials shows that 84% of respondents reported higher to much higher snowplow operator vacancies than normal. Snowplows are a critical component of keeping the roadways clear during winter storms. Without […]