If you are like most people you probably haven’t ever considered how to best design a sidewalk; for many people, its as simple as asking, “is there one or not”. But if you are like me, you understand that sidewalk design can play a huge role in the vibrancy of street-level activity, allowing businesses to […]
Category Archives: Design
Prototype Small Scale Solutions
As a resort community, Revelstoke sees a lot of tourist traffic in the downtown, both pedestrians and vehicles. Additionally, as a community to over 7,500 residents, Revelstoke boasts one of the highest per capita rates of active transportation in Canada, with over 22% in the 2016 census showing walking or cycling as the main mode […]
Simple Solutions
How often do you feel that the world is unnecessarily complex? Here are some simple products and solutions I’ve enjoyed using recently. Sugru I’ve used Sugru for a couple of years now. It’s not an everyday product, but it has provided lasting solutions to a number of problems in our house, from a broken toilet […]
National Public Works Week
Public works is always there. Rain, hail, snow or shine, public works crews are dedicated to the job. They keep our cities and towns running so we can enjoy the essential services of the places we live and work. Since 1960, APWA has sponsored National Public Works Week. Across North America, our more than 29,000 […]
Sustainable Civil Engineering
Earth day is just around the corner, and it is important that we make sustainable choices in the areas that we have influence in. I’m a big advocate of sustainable #engineering, and it is an area that I have some influence in, to the point where almost all of the major projects I work on […]
Kelowna’s Roundabout
Last time I was in Kelowna, I had an opportunity to see the new bus terminal and roundabout downtown. Designed by MMM Group, and with visionary input from the City of Kelowna and BC Transit, this project sets a new standard for urban transportation and spaces in the interior of British Columbia. And for those […]
Watermain Replacement
Among other things, one of my projects in the past month was pulling an old 40m water main out of a culvert under the Trans Canada Highway. We had no information on the condition of the culvert or exactly how the pipe was held together, we spent several utilities meetings working through possible solutions and problem-solving to find […]
62 Considerations for an Integrated Urban Design
As a civil engineer involved in municipal, development, and transportation; one of the most important concepts to remember is that of integrated urban design. Simplified, if just the traffic engineer was responsible for the design, roads might be large enough for the maximum projected traffic demand; if just the public works manager was responsible for […]