What civil engineers are reading this week

• Good news for engineers: Atlas 15 – and its rainfall outlook – back on track

  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s efforts, which will inform designs, were briefly frozen but resumed in the wake of mass flooding. How does climate change impact the program’s trajectory?

• Angola awards $200M contract for major desalination plant

  The facility will have a production capacity of 100,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day.

• After Katrina, green infrastructure aims to supplement rebuilt – but still vulnerable – levees

  New Orleans-area residents and activists are forging resilient communities and implementing “flood mitigation by 1,000 cuts.”

• World’s largest sand battery goes live in Finland

  Finland inaugurates an industrial-scale sand battery in the southern town of Pornainen, where it will take over heating duties from an old woodchip power plant for the municipality.

• What constitutes infrastructure sustainability? New ASCE standard has the answers

  Until ASCE/COS 73-23 Standard Practice for Sustainable Infrastructure, understanding what truly defines a sustainable project had often been unclear. Now the industry has a set of baseline criteria.

• Some FEMA staff are put on leave after signing dissent letter

  Several Federal Emergency Management Agency employees who signed a letter earlier this week expressing concern over the agency's ability to carry out its duties have been put on administrative leave.