We shape our world everyday.
Through our actions, through our local laws, even through something as simple as deciding whether or not to rake leaves in the morning. Civil engineering is a field that constantly tweaks, alters and improves our world on a daily basis, from filling up potholes to creating flood control measures in a major downtown district. Today the top engineering consulting companies are doing their best to combine the latest in technological advancements with eco-friendly approaches, all in the hopes of crafting the better world just around the corner.
What can we expect to see from top engineering consulting companies over the coming years?
Improved Dams
We rely on dams to control our water sources and prevent floods. There’s a lot of pressure to improve the dams of today, however, and the top engineering consulting companies have a lot of work to do over the coming years. By the time 2020 rolls around every major American container port is projected to handle at least double the volume it was designed for. More than a third of all dam failures (or near failures) since the late 1800’s have happened in just the last decade alone.
Reduced Waste
It’s not enough to simply discard unwanted materials. They have to be discarded the right way. Our wastewater facilities are seeing significant strain and today’s top engineering consulting companies are doing their best to catch up before this strain becomes overbearing. This same year will also see up to half of the assets in wastewater facilities being beyond the midpoint of their useful lies. America’s aging sewer systems spill an estimated one trillion gallons of untreated sewage every single year into various water supplies.
Repaired Bridges
Today’s bridges are under a lot of pressure. Due to the constant foot traffic and car traffic our bridges undertake every minute of every day far too many are starting to reach a point where they are unable to do their job. A recent study found more than 25% of bridges in the United States were in need of significant repairs or were handling far more traffic than they were designed to do. Construction administration energy facilities have since designed functional temporary bridges to help encourage faster construction without sacrificing quality.
Stable Roads
Just like bridges are under a lot of pressure, so too are roads that need a break to recover from long-term damage. It’s estimated one-third of America’s major roads are either in poor or mediocre condition. This includes rampant potholes (which are extremely damaging to tires), hazardous cracks and broken pavement. Another study estimated a third of all highway facilities to be related to substandard road conditions and obsolete road marks. Not only does this create more traffic, it can potentially increase the risk of car crashes.
Geotechnical Design Firms
Thanks to civil engineering management we’re able to not just address these issues, but provide the means of improving our world bit-by-bit. The best civil engineering companies in the world are prioritizing the reduction of waste, the improvement of roads and an overall much more aggressive approach to issues that only get larger by the day. Photogrammetry is one way of accurately analyzing the land in order to make adjustments that can last for years, transforming 2-D images into 3-D models. With today’s roads under even more stress and structural design a widely felt issue, there’s a lot to look forward to in the future.
How will the top engineering consulting companies continue to shape our world?