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Examine different applications for using prefabricated wet well technology for various projects, including installations in an underground parking garage and an oval lift station in a city easement. Examples will be presented of how it reduces the required depth needed for installation and provides savings in materials and installation costs.Learning Objectives: Compare the use of prefabricated wet well versus traditional precast concrete in terms of production, delivery time, transportation, and installation.Evaluate the benefits of using prefabricated wet well technology including reducing leaks.Review the reduced cost and sustainability benefits of prefabricated wet wells.
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When kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, common responses include police officer or firefighter. To get more exposure for public works, the City of North Port hosts an annual Road-E-O that features activities for children, vendor information tables, demonstrations, a big truck area, and a heavy equipment operators Road-E-O skills contest. Last year's edition also included a ""create a reuse craft"" project where kids made crafts with recycled materials, a gopher tortoise protection space with a simulated burrow, and a walking excavator that ""danced"" to the Star Wars theme. The kids loved it.Learning Objectives: Discover ways to positively elevate their departments' visibility.Create community support for public works.Engage employees in unconventional activities and build workplace cohesion.
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Over the last few years, the City of Phoenix Public Works Department experienced a perfect storm of events that impacted the ability to attract and retain highly qualified solid waste equipment operators (SWEO). Pension reform, a high number of retirements, and pay concessions resulted in a high turn-over rate. Out of challenging circumstances comes the opportunity for innovation. The SWEO Apprenticeship program trains new recruits from the ground up. The two-year program helps apprentices obtain their commercial driver's licenses (CDL), learn all aspects of a solid waste operation, and become a qualified SWEO. By working to bring in and train a diverse workforce, Phoenix is not only molding future organizational leaders, but providing jobs to underserved and underrepresented populations.Learning Objectives:Adopt proven strategies for creating a successful apprenticeship program.Provide a framework for successful collaboration with the stakeholders for an apprenticeship program.Think outside-the-box for solutions for attracting and retaining qualified staff.
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Case studies will be presented about how online permit systems can transform onerous paper-based procedures into empowering integrated WebGIS ROW occupation management systems. This type of system comes complete with intuitive dashboards for both applicants and validators, step-by-step standardized workflow, easy-to-use interactive mapping, valuable spatial and attribute queries and filtering. It is all contained within a secure but readily accessible geographic database server environment, with an integrated inspection tablet app for QA/QC.Learning Objectives:Improve ROW permit process efficiency.Coordinate traffic management issues related to ROW projects.Use a tablet app to track non-compliant work and road condition.
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How do we make sure that we get the best possible return on our investment in training? What sort of training do we need for our agencies? How much time…
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The past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in societal awareness regarding the implications of climate change. While there is still debate on the methods and quality of some…
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Operations managers know they can no longer operate as they have in the past for many reasons including increased operational costs, declining budgets, loss of staff and increased service level…
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Put us together, Minneapolis and St. Paul, known as the Twin Cities, become one of the largest Snowbelt cities in the United States. While we have many similarities as urban…
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This is a case study on the City of Fort Collins' experience in specifying, buying, and building Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) tandem axle snowplow trucks. The City of Fort Collins…
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The headlines say it all-on March 22, 2016, the LA Times headline read, ""Huge Cost Overruns on High Speed Rail."" On May, 25, 2016, the Boston Globe reported, ""Massive Delays to Anderson Bridge."" Project delays and cost overruns are endemic as public works acts to deliver public projects with ever-diminishing resources in an environment of public skepticism, staff cutbacks, and funding challenges. Agencies have become more and more dependent on the consultant community to provide project planning, design, and construction oversight. When the projects are completed, the consultants leave and take their expertise with them. How can we reverse this trend? Get tips for developing and sustaining an organization culture for project delivery; provide better oversight of consultants; develop strong agency project managers; manage a non-performing consultant; and deal with permitting agencies, the public, and other interests.Learning Objectives: Describe the state of project delivery amid the challenges facing public projects in today's climate.Recognize and take action to correct project delivery shortfalls.Develop strategies to better deliver public projects.
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