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Warmer climate regions may have one or two small snow and ice events annually and then every few years, one snow event measuring 4 inches or more. But public works professionals in those areas still need to be prepared to provide safe roadways. The City of Greenville, South Carolina, combines some practical and some unorthodox approaches to achieve effective response to snow and ice events, including using their work management program. Check out their processes to see if some would work for your agency.
Read MoreRegardless of the type or quantity of vehicles or equipment your agency needs, the most important part of the procurement decision-making process is making the right selection for the agency's needs. Not only can the wrong choices negatively impact the agency's service delivery, but they can also waste taxpayer dollars. This session will provide an overview of APWA's Spec Writing 101 publication that provides an overview of how to conduct a legal and ethical procurement process for vehicles, equipment, and services to meet your agency's operational needs.
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Don’t miss this introduction to the use of liquids in winter maintenance. From the southern states to the northern-most provinces, liquids are part of the public works arsenal for fighting snow and ice. This presentation will provide the basics: what are winter maintenance liquids? When and where should liquids be used? How are liquids made?
Read MoreUnmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are having positive effect on the design and maintenance of public facilities and infrastructure. UAVs (drones) combined with 3-D technology are being used to upgrade surveying and construction drawing development. The City of Peculiar, Missouri, used drone and 3-D photography to enhance the surveying for the new 28,000-foot sewer interceptor design and installation. Costs were lowered approximately 30% from traditional surveying techniques.
Read MoreOC Public Works recently met the challenge for integrating their numerous systems into one centralized CRM platform. Among the systems integrated were the GIS platform, land management, operations and management, and financial systems. No small task! Engaging all the stakeholders for these activities has been crucial to the success of the project. Internally they had to rearrange resources and balance staff levels to complete the project while still delivering day-to-day services to constituents. The improved levels of service will be the most important benefit for all.
Read MoreLearn how to leverage partnerships with public and private organizations that will help expand operational and financial resources. This panel discussion will highlight strategies implemented by small communities to benefit the bottom line.
Read MoreHillsborough County, Florida, conducted performance review of several operational areas. They gained valuable insight about opportunities to make work processes more efficient and effective. This session will cover the methodology for the reviews and the substantial savings that have resulted from deploying the recommended changes. The County has implemented a complete maintenance management system which is integrated with GIS, allowing them to track work completed and comparing the unit costs and productivity against established benchmarks.
Read More“Get out of the office and circulate among the troops.” We’ve all seen the version of this where the boss joins the crew for a day, poses for a picture in a hard hat, and then is never seen again. Don’t miss this presentation by a public works leader who has adopted a regular, repeating program of inserting himself into workgroups. Every two or three weeks, he spends an entire workday as a member of a crew. He tells the crew to treat him like an extra, if unskilled, pair of hands. Invariably the barriers come down after a couple of hours and after the conversations about sports and families subside, questions are freely asked. Honest answers are a must, but this approach has strengthened relationships, countered bad perceptions, enhanced communication and built trust.
Read MoreThis session will feature presentations from the Netherlands about integrating the concepts of social cohesion and resiliency into the design of public spaces and infrastructure. Presentations will include: • Information about a design instrument that integrates input from all the various stakeholders involved in designing public spaces. • A case study featuring The Resiliency Strategy developed by the City of Rotterdam that includes these components: social cohesion and education, energy transition, cyber use and security, climate change adaptation, infrastructure, and changing governance.
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Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are step-by-step instructions about how to do a job or task properly to ensure consistent and quality results. St. Joseph County, Indiana, will share what they learned while developing and implementing SOPs for winter maintenance operations.
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