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For 40 Years, Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Centers have provided training and technical assistance to our local public works agencies and have been critical partners in succession planning, onboarding, and employee development plans. Join us at this session where we will have an interactive discussion about innovative ways the LTAP Centers currently support public works agencies and to get your input on ways we can grow our programs to serve your needs in the future. Guaranteed you will take back ideas for ways you can work with the LTAP Center in your state.
Read MoreThe economic downturn between 2000 and 2012 left the City of Hickory with over 45,000 jobs lost and 25% of its residents ages 20-44 moving away. To counteract that, the City passed a $40 million bond program that helped bring the community together and stimulate the local economy. Currently, all projects from that bond program are either in final design or construction. Hickory’s experience offers lessons for other communities on gaining consensus amongst stakeholders over time, recognizing when goals and priorities are shifting, and communicating with different stakeholder groups. Hickory shows how it proved resilient throughout other economic downturns, leveraging more than double its bond funds and developing a booming economy.
Read MoreCreating Resilient Utility Systems in the Face of Climate Change, Security Threats, and Other Crises
Resilient utility systems are an essential part of operations for all modern municipalities. They are not only vital for the health and safety of residents but to prepare for uninterrupted utility service during a crisis. As climate change brings higher intensity storms and complex ransomware attacks become more prevalent, protection against physical and cyber threats must be prioritized. A continuity operations plan (COOP) is a document that ensures an organization’s essential functions can continue to perform during emergencies. COOP’s solidify the chain of command and delegate necessary tasks to maintain operations if staff is incapacitated and systems become unreachable or disrupted. We will dissect case study examples from local public organizations during this session to illustrate the value of a COOP in preparing to navigate crises. We will discuss the essential functions needed to maintain health, safety, basic operations, and structures for successful COOPs.
Read MoreTechnological tools are becoming available that will provide data collection and analytics, and these will enable human operators who control pipe network performance to make better, more timely decisions. A Digital Twin is defined as an ecosystem of connected sensors, geographic information system (GIS) and asset management data, predictive models, engineering talent, secure cloud-based data storage and transmission, and custom-built analytic dashboards representing the function of a City’s underground sewer assets. It answers the “What If?” questions composed by operations and engineering staff. The presentation will focus on implementing ESRI’s suite of tools TREKK has implemented through their software as a service tool, Waterspout, to work towards the delivery of a digital twin that will allow for owners to make data-driven decisions. We will also dive into leveraging machine learning and visual verification to help owners know when problems are headed their way.
Read MoreThe City of Durham, North Carolina, decided to go digital with waste and recycling communications in 2009, a big move that helps Solid Waste Management share information and make routes scalable for urban growth. Serving about 78,000 total households, the City recently conducted a reroute that changed collection days for roughly a quarter of them. They used the digital communication platform, Durham Rollout, in concert with mailings to educate residents, resulting in lower-than-expected call volumes to Durham One Call, the city’s information service. In addition, the City recently revamped its bulky collection service program from a model that required crews to drive the city and scan for large items on the curbside, to a fully online, self-service model that allows residents to schedule the pick-ups. The City of Durham successfully uses digital tools to create room for growth, provide enhanced services, and keep residents informed about changes in service delivery and programs.
Read MoreThe most forward-thinking organizations are making strategic investments in artificial intelligence (AI), especially machine learning, using location data as the connective thread to automate processes, improve predictive modeling, and gain operational efficiency. Public works organizations already use a geographic information system (GIS) to uncover hidden patterns, gain crucial insights, and provide the best government services for citizens. Now, the benefits of GIS can be accelerated with artificial intelligence and machine learning. This session will provide an overview of GeoAI and show examples of how public works agencies are using it to optimize snow and ice management, automate data collection, prioritize maintenance of infrastructure, identify areas of blight or homelessness, and allocate resources based on the greatest need.
Read MoreThe objective of this session is to facilitate a technology exchange among international public works officials and to discuss and promote innovative public works technologies, operations, and best practices in the field of public works. The expectation is that APWA chapters will have a better understanding of international issues and approaches the international community has used to meet various public works challenges. These challenges have placed new demands upon implementing sustainable and resilient solutions. In engineering, construction, and maintenance, resilience has been defined as the ability to absorb or avoid damage without suffering complete failure. But a more comprehensive definition is that it is the ability to respond, absorb, and adapt to, as well as recover from, a disruptive event. Resilience is about how systems perform, not just about how they are or remain safe.
Read MoreGiven the complexity of field conditions, some aspects of liquid performance may seem to be a “black box,” and at times it can be difficult to know how to best use them based upon field experience alone. This challenge is increased by the fact that we use liquids in a variety of ways, from anti-icing to pre-wetting to direct liquid application (DLA) deicing, and liquids perform differently depending on the application. This presentation will show how we can apply the basic science of liquid deicers to complement our field-based knowledge to better select the right liquid and rate for different conditions and application types. Topics will include how liquids perform differently in anti-icing, pre-wetting, and DLA; the important liquid properties for these different types of application; how we can utilize freezing point curves as powerful tools to predict liquid performance; and how we can apply the basic science to guide the use and expectations of brine additives and blends.
Read MoreUsing a drone is the fastest available way to examine a project area or construction site and provides real-time data gathering and image generation. Using drones through each stage of…
Read MoreManagers of public spaces need to share best practices and network to stay current with trends and technological updates for continuous improvement in operational efficiencies and sustainability efforts. Designed to…
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