What civil engineers are reading this week

• Newly available satellite data show just how flawed some river models can be

  Current models are only as good as the math that they’re based on, and short of measuring every river in the world, there is no way to check this on a global scale.

• ASCE2027 opening keynote speaker set to help attendees level up their leadership

  The infrastructure solutions of tomorrow require a change of mindset today. ASCE2027 opening keynote Ryan Leak has a way of looking at things that changes mindsets.

• Keeping an ‘engineer of record’ during project construction will minimize negative impacts

  With construction costs commonly around 80% of the total design and construction budget, trying to find 2% to cut can actually cost clients more than the “savings.” Consider these three cases.

• Highway projects nationwide receive $426M in federal funding

  The Department of Transportation awards infrastructure projects in 12 states $426 million through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program.

• Global soil erosion outpaces natural recovery, report warns

  Most of the world's soils are being managed in ways that are unsustainable, concludes a new report synthesizing a decade's worth of research in a way that makes the information accessible to policymakers.

• With design-build contracts, government approval is not a legal safety net

  What happens when a contractor’s design fails to meet a performance standard, even though the government approved the drawings? Here’s the best way to address this thorny design-build scenario.