Stakeholder and Community Engagement in Sustainability
Social equity is one of the three pillars of sustainability, environmental protection, and economic viability; however, it is often not given the same level of importance as the other two. And that is due to the fact that we are always concerned about budgets...
The Built Environment and Effective Teamwork
A long time ago, I attended a workshop at Stanford University regarding negotiation. And although I gathered great information and insight into this topic, the one statement that still reverberates with me to this day was this: “in negotiation, it is important to...
Risk Analysis in Civil Design and Construction
As civil engineers, we place a great deal of care ensuring the integrity of the triple constraint, which consists of scope, schedule, and budget. However, design and construction projects, like all projects, must adhere to other project management components, such as...
Civil Engineering and Climate Change
As a civil engineer, like most of us, I always like to stop and look at construction sites and see what and how something is being built. Also, since I have been a licensed civil engineer for a while, I have seen how quickly our industry is changing and adapting to...
Retaining Walls as a Beautiful Structural Component
I recently took a refresher course in structural engineering, specifically retaining structures, and have been working with the typical examples, such as big concrete poured walls or block walls. As an engineer, I find design and physics fascinating. Still, as an...
Recycled Construction Materials
I was recently in a networking meeting with many professionals from various fields. At some point, we each took a turn stating what we needed and are looking for, such as an architect, or a structural engineer, r a connection to a particular company for whim we want...
Good fences may make good neighbors
Good fences may make good neighbors, but they do not make a property line More and more municipalities around California, and even nationwide, are requiring that new residential projects, in particular, submit updated boundary line surveys before receiving a building...
Building for the Future
Although it can vary from culture to culture, instant gratification is a human trait. Another human trait is to meld needs and wants to the point where they are indistinguishable. I write this because as I get busier with new building projects, I find it more and more...