Sensitivity of Stormwater Conveyance System Cost to Design Recurrence Interval
(No paper) The cost of a piped and/or swaled stormwater system is determined principally by the storm recurrence interval (e.g., 5-year design storm) used to design it. That is, the present...
Determination of Flood Frequency as a Function of Mitigation Expenditure
(No paper) This paper describes an approach to the determination of flood frequency as a function of moneys that could be spent to address a road flooding problem caused by runoff from...
Selection of an Optimal Ecosystem Restoration Plan: Decision-Making Criteria in the Planning Process
(No paper) This paper explores various decision criteria for restoration projects and how they may be modeled with existing decision models. Cost-effectiveness, incremental cost analyses,...
Holding the Advantage
Small firms are constantly under a number of business pressures, and competing for qualified engineers with both large and small engineering firms is just one more challenge to contend...
Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Plans
Less than a third of workers at small firms with 100 or fewer employees have a job-sponsored retirement plan, far fewer than that of bigger firms. A survey by the Employee Benefit Research...
The New Commute
Owners of small engineering firms differ in their opinions about the efficacy of allowing employees to work from home one or more days per week. Some find it difficult to justify the technology...
Defying Gravity
Vacuum sewers, a technology once used only in areas unsuitable for standard gravity sewer systems, are coming into mainstream use in highly developed areas as reliability improves and...
A Stockholder's Story
A former partner in an engineering consulting firm tells about what happens when a firm goes public. His view is that while it benefitted financially, the firm changed for the worse. The...
Automatic Savings
Long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) costs of environmental remediation systems often dwarf engineering and remedial construction costs, but they don's have...
Getting the GISt of Costs
Over the past five years, geographic information systems (GIS) have become powerful graphical database tools, useful to everyone from city planners to departments of transportation, from...
Quarry Conversion
All over the country, old landfills are filling rapidly, and potential new sites�and public support for them�are in short supply. Cities are faced with increasing solid waste disposal...
Small Firms, Big Advantages
Engineering companies with 50 or fewer employees make up the bulk of the profession, yet they rarely receive the attention that larger, better-known firms do. Owners say that's...
The New Environment for Consolidation
Environmental consulting firms are planning more acquisitions�and to acquire more companies each time they do�in 1998 than in previous years. This finding, from an exclusive survey by...
Marketing is Everyone's Job
While good management, strategic planning and a good reputation certainly contribute to a firm's growth and higher profits, most successes can be credited to an aggressive...
Small Town, High-Tech Solution
A reverse osmosis system is a viable treatment option for small communities seeking to achieve compliance with stringent drinking water standards. Here's how one town in Illinois...
Defusing Delay Claims
Many contractors, owners and design professionals are finally becoming aware of and sensitive to high cost and substantial risks associated with litigating delay claims. As a result, the...
Bridge Bashing
Ships can be dangerous to bridges. Collisions are increasing and costs are considerable. There are ways to reduce the risks, but these cost money, too. A 1993 vessel collision with and...
Optimal Fiber Optics
Fiber optics, which played a crucial role in reinventing the telecommunications industry, have historically been noted for their potential in other facets of science and technology. Yet,...
Managing Mobilization Costs
Owners may not realize it, but contractors know that things don't get easier once a bid has been won. The next step is to mobilize equipment and materials for the project,...
Infrastructure Visionaries
The city of Indianapolis is investigating the long-term structural integrity of its infrastructure, in an unusual effort for U.S. municipalities. Most cities are strapped for cash and...
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