UrbanWorkbench

From the category archives:

Civil Engineering

Boomer Housing Denial

by Mike Thomas on March 15, 2010

in Construction, Design, Housing, Transitions

Have you noticed the disconnect between reality and expectations for housing options in the Baby Boomer crowd?
A recent AARP study, for example, found a massive disconnect between perceptions of aging and its reality. The vast majority of people surveyed expressed optimism that they would not only be in good physical health in their later years, but [...]

{ 0 comments }

The video on the front page of ShapeVancouver.com suggests that by increasing the City’s density there would be significant environmental benefits. However, a recent article on Planetizen from Dr. Tony Recsei suggests that these claimed facts may not have empirical support…

{ 1 comment }

The Street View is only available on the Highways throughout the West Kootenays, but in larger centres such as Kelowna, Spokane, WA and Cranbrook, (as well as all the big cities), all streets have been photographed and input into the software.

{ 0 comments }

We speak in very real terms about the state of infrastructure deficit we find ourselves in as a nation and as municipalities, and scratch our heads as we wonder how we are going to possibly find the money to complete all of the upgrades or renewal required. Charles Hughes Smith, the author of Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for [...]

{ 0 comments }

It’s all in the numbers. On reading about the Green Municipal Funding for the Cogeneration System at the Regional District of Nanaimo Wastewater Treatment Facility, you’d imagine that the system was making a huge dent in the electricity required to power Vancouver Island.
Cogeneration at [Wastewater Treatment Facility] will significantly offset electricity demands on Vancouver Island, [...]

{ 0 comments }

The Luge – Designing for and Owning the Risks

by Mike Thomas on February 13, 2010

in Canada, Design

The Olympics should be above politics, but is this just the tipping point for an organization that has turned the act of sporting achievement into a carnival of corporate excess, where the spectacle of entertainment is more important than the sport, where the Canadian government goes to any length to Own the Podium.

{ 1 comment }

As of February 1, 2010, the BC Building Code has been amended to require the consideration of potential for slope instability and it’s consequences at a building site becomes an explicit requirement in the design of structures and their foundations, additionally, the seismic design criteria has been increased to a probablility level of 2%-in-50 year. [...]

{ 1 comment }

Is High Speed Rail The Answer?

by Mike Thomas on February 3, 2010

in Civil Engineering, Transportation

I’ve suggested before that returning to rail would be a good thing for many areas, and that air travel is likely to decline, as well as support for roads and longer distance highway travel. So if rail is good, the high speed rail must be better right?
Not that anyone is seriously talking about high speed [...]

{ 0 comments }