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Houston’s big bet on big water pipes

Photograph courtesy of GettyImages.com/travelview

Topics Column Media

Utility & Pipelines Engineering

How San Diego weaved a large-diameter pipe through congested urban areas

The transmission line extension project is meant to improve water service to the city’s coastal areas.

The picture shows the main span of a bridge along with its two piers. A city can be seen faintly in the distance.

Bridge Engineering

Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Bridge rose above the drama

Spanning the Delaware River, the bridge eased commuter woes.

Photo of Supreme Court facade by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash

Business Management

Practitioners should flag contract inconsistencies before submitting bids

All construction documents should be viewed as a whole, not in isolation.

A 3D illustration shows a crane holding part of a house frame in the air. Next to the crane is the rest of the frame, assembled.

Construction Engineering & Management

Modular construction could ease America's housing crisis

Photo by Sara Kurig on Unsplash

Career Development

Asking questions can lead to insights and understanding

There are four images on the picture. The first shows a crumpled piece of pager. The second the crumpled paper transformed into another shape. The third shows a swan, and the fourth shows the bird taking flight. These images represent evolution, transformation, innovation, and creativity.

Engineering Education

Advancing the workforce

More from the magazine

The rendering shows a tied-arch pedestrian bridge spanning multiple highway lanes along an urban waterfront.

Philadelphia project reconnects its downtown to the waterfront

The endeavor features a new pedestrian bridge and a park that span a major interstate.

The photograph shows an aerial view of cars and other vehicles moving around a roundabout on a wooded street surrounded by residential and commercial buildings.

Two New England towns enhanced transportation with ‘complete corridors’

The roadway infrastructure projects balanced safety improvements and historical conservation. ...

A blue commercial truck crosses a steel bridge. Below the bridge is water.

Engineers, volunteers converge to restore local access to flood victims

Resilient bridge design is on display as teams rebuild private bridges destroyed...

The stone facade of a multistory mansion is shown. There are flowers on the trees and steps leading down to beautiful green grass.

The Frick Collection in New York City underwent a masterful renovation

Creative structural solutions and an understanding of archaic structural systems seamlessly integrated...

From the archives

The picture shows the main span of a bridge along with its two piers. A city can be seen faintly in the distance.

Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Bridge rose above the drama

Spanning the Delaware River, the bridge eased commuter woes.

Image shows a wooden dam during construction. There is a low level of water in the foreground and on the sides of the dam is construction rubble.

Seattle feels the rush of hydropower

A timber crib dam marked the city’s first attempt at a municipally run utility.

Colorized postcard shows the roadway leading to the entrance of a tunnel. The entrance is at the base of a mountain. There are fall-colored leaves on the trees.

‘America’s First Superhighway’ connected major Pennsylvania cities

The original stretch of the Pennsylvania Turnpike set a new standard for roads.

Photo shows a lake and in the background are autumnal-colored tress and a small mountain.

An inverted siphon brought water to 1800s Nevada boomtowns

The Marlette Lake Water System made mining for precious metals feasible.

Arched bridge set amid the foliage.

Spanning the gap over Oregon’s Coos Bay

The bridge, which is part of the Oregon Coast Highway, is known...

Sepia-toned photo shows a cable-stayed bridge that spans a body of water. Cars are on the bridge.

Engineers and historians share their thoughts on their favorite structures

From tunnels to bridges, find out what inspires these individuals.

Sepia-toned photograph shows a tunnel being built with its timber supports.

San Francisco’s hidden engineering feat: How a tunnel helped rebuild a city

Building the sewer required innovative technologies.

Photograph shows a multiple-arch dam set amidst trees and hills.

The Mountain Dell Dam in Salt Lake City turned around an engineer’s career

Building it helped John S. Eastwood prove an engineering concept — and himself.

Photograph of a long concrete bridge over water that has many arches.

Pennsylvania’s Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge has endured for 95 years

It was once the world’s longest multiple-arch reinforced-concrete highway bridge.

Image shows a four-lane parkway. Autumn-colored trees dot the landscape in the background.

New York City parkway showcased beautiful, nature-like leisure spaces

The Bronx River Parkway provided a model for future traffic development.

Long reads that dig deep

Rendering shows an astronaut entering a lunar habitat. Below the lunar surface are other astronauts walking around underground. A large planet is in the distance.

Lava tubes could make life on the moon possible

The structures, set deep beneath the lunar surface, are safe, efficient, and...

The rendering shows the space shuttle Endeavour, plus its external tank and side booster rockets, as it will be displayed inside its new home at the California Science Center: upright, as if ready to launch.

Space shuttle Endeavour stands tall in California Science Center display

The retired orbiter and various historical components were lifted upright and seismically...

A long and tall stone wall has stone triangles embedded in it. in the center of the wall is a triangular shaped structure that is lit from within.

The Grand Egyptian Museum showcases astounding design and creativity

Rising from the sands of Giza and the imaginations of the architects,...

A sports arena sits amid the cityscape. There are walkways to the arena and many open entertainment and gathering spaces in front of the stadium.

New stadium for the Los Angeles Clippers is a dream turned reality

The arena’s diagrid shell was key to the stadium’s seismic response.