Category Archives: Engineering
Two weeks ago, an unfortunate collision occurred at a railroad grade crossing in Maine. Reuters reports that a dump truck was hit by an Amtrak train and the driver was fatally wounded. Four passengers aboard the train were injured as well. Terrible. At-grade railroad crossings are some of the most dangerous intersections we have on our road system and they should be avoided whenever possible. Fortunately, many public agencies are fully aware of hazards associated with them and are taking steps to fix … Continue reading
Not exactly recent news, but exciting none the less. As an avid OS X user and fan of all Apple products, I’m very excited to see AutoCAD coming back to Mac. While a lot of designers can find their software made for Mac OS X, most engineering software is very hard to come by outside of Windows. Has anyone tested it out yet? I’m eager to hear of its intuitiveness. Along side the software, Autodesk is releasing a free mobile … Continue reading
The following is an email I sent to Wake County Representatives, concerning the issue of legislation-run engineering. If you can, write something similar RIGHT NOW to your representatives. A list of NC Representatives can be found here. Here is a list of NC Senators. From: Mike Roselli To: Jennifer.Weiss@ncleg.net, Paul.Stam@ncleg.net, Deborah.Ross@ncleg.net, Tom.Murry@ncleg.net, Grier.Martin@ncleg.net, Darren.Jackson@ncleg.net, Rosa.Gill@ncleg.net, Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net, Marilyn.Avila@ncleg.net, Richard.Stevens@ncleg.net, Josh.Stein@ncleg.net, Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net, Dan.Blue@ncleg.net Senators and Representatives, I live in Wake County and I work in the engineering field. I’ve been made aware … Continue reading
Today, the News and Observer reports that the State Senate will be voting on House Bill 561, to require NCDOT to remove a half mile of center median installed on new projects in Asheville, NC, “at a cost estimated by NCDOT at $797,500″, and to give the State legislature power over road design for other projects. Other than ripping up a nearly completed project to nullify the design, the legislation would force DOT to change widening plans and forget other … Continue reading
I was reading this News & Observer article today about the new roundabout on Hillsborough St in Raleigh, NC. Raleigh Police have cataloged more than 40 collisions at a new roundabout installation at it seems at least a few people have some ruffled feathers. At first this number seems high, but it’s important to remember a few key thoughts about the safety, design and installation of new traffic patterns: New patterns can cause collisions It’s a fact, and one that is … Continue reading
For my Highway Safety graduate level course at NC State, I conducted a field study at the intersection of Glenwood Ave and Peace St in Raleigh, NC. The study evaluated the current status of field conditions, conflicts, previous collision reports, and recommended a few counter measures that might reduce conflicts at the intersection. I’m really enjoying the class. If you’re interested in reading the study, I’ve attached it to this post. Safety Report
Not a very intriguing post, but a funny one anyway. Projects across the US are stalled to finish because of a shortage in line-marking paint. That’s kind of funny, right? Link: Shortage of paint for highway stripes
I was browsing TED earlier today (Technology, Engineering, Design), and found a few things I wanted to share. The first being a completely new road sign concept and I find it fascinating! It’s called the “Take Turns” sign, and unfortunately, due to the semantics of the English language, it may confuse you at first. It doesn’t want you to “turn”, but to alternate vehicles when needed. Envisioned by venture capitalist Gary Lauder, the concept is half stop sign, half yield sign. When there are no … Continue reading
This morning I attended a virtual workshop seminar hosted by the ITE entitled “Traffic Demand Forecasting”. Focused on local modeling and surveys taken by transportation engineers, the workshop was very informative on what models and tools are currently being used and their effectiveness. One piece of information that I thought was especially useful was the detailed focus of the “4-Step Method”. We all learned it in school: Generation, Distribution, Mode Choice (split), and Assignment. But it never occurred to me that one can obtain … Continue reading
If you’re a member of the ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers), you should be pretty hyped about the upcoming Technical Conference and Exhibit in Savannah, GA that starts on March 14th. Because I can’t make it, I was very excited to find out that two of the seminars will be broadcast live over the web. One seminar focuses on labor laws impacting consultants and the other explores local travel demand modeling and sustainability. If you’re a member, click here to register … Continue reading