Assessing the West
Analyzing the geography, geology, flora and infrastructure in eight western states is a massive geotechnical project being undertaken for the military. More than 190,000 square miles have...
Support the Complex
A computerized decision support system (DSS) can help manage the uncertainties of a complex construction project. A construction DSS consists of two interlocking parts. First, it is a...
Databasics
Databases can replace both manual methods and specific software packages written for a variety of tasks in the engineering office. The flexibility of a database makes it more useful than...
Keeping Tabs on CADD
In 1983 Howard Needles Tammen and Bergendoff (HNTB) began to implement a CADD system. Fostering the independence of individual offices while maintaining the company wide standards and...
Storing Drawings on Optical Disks
Optical storage of drawings and maps on compact disks provides better long-term protection and accessibility than with hard-copy documents, and at much lower cost than computerized systems....
Transit Triumph
The 1988 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement is Boston's Southwest Corridor, chosen not only for its size, complexity and technology, but for its environmental, public...
A New Lake and a Beautiful Bridge
The two 1988 OCEA awards of merit are the Great Salt Lake west desert pumping project and the Sunshine Skyway near Tampa, FL. Both projects were constructed fairly quickly. The pumping...
Hong Kong Races Toward 1997
A summary of a May 1988 visit to the Third International Tall Buildings Conference in Hong Kong is presented, including excerpts from presentations on current Hong Kong construction projects...
Putting a Lid on Liability
In the face of the recent landslide of claims and litigation, limiting your firm's liability sounds impossible. But there are ways to protect yourself, from selling quality,...
Ten Top Projects for 1988
The other Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement nominees make up an impressive collection of projects. They are notable for innovative management techniques, state-of-the-art engineering...
Changing Requirements
There are three sections to the presentation. First, a discussion of the changing environment of highway transportation - what are the factors and variables that are changing in the world...
Air Safety?Programs and their Effectiveness
Airplane accidents have always had considerable media attention, particularly, when they involve large numbers of fatalities. Ever since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and the air...
Railroad Safety Programs and Effectiveness
Safety in the railroad industry has been a matter of concern to employees, officers, federal agencies and the general public since railroads came into being. This paper summarizes the...
Conflicts: The Common Denominator of Health/Safety Programs
Constraints on time and resources influences the public sector as strongly as our personal lives. Experience teaches us that our desires must be tempered with hard realities. Finite resources...
The Federal Budgetary Process
The paper outlines the federal budget process as it affects highway safety programs. There are a variety of federal programs which come under the umbrella designation highway safety. Those...
Comparing Benefits of Safety and Non-Safety Programs
The objective of this presentation is to compare benefit-cost ratios for major highway construction projects to those for highway safety projects, such as: (1) new highways, (2) major...
How Uncle Sam Values Mortality Risk Reductions
This paper reviews the policies, methods and 'value-of-statistical-life' (VSL) estimates used by several federal agencies to assess the economic efficiency of...
Benefit-Cost Analysis: Past and Future Directions
As implemented at the State level, highway resource allocation models fail to consider the travel time delay and crashes that result from construction. They use the economic costs of crashes...
Highway Safety; Moving from Fantasy to Reality
An assessment of the effects of highway safety program on the reduction of traffic accidents is made. The annual traffic death rate is currently 47,900. The paper discusses whether present...
A Case for Science-Based Road Safety Design and Management
What civil engineers do has a major effect on road safety. However, contrary to appearances, the level of safety built into roads is largely unpremeditated. Standards and practices have...
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