Video
The Margaret Turner Storm Drainage Improvement project consists of a 145-acre watershed located in northwest Charlotte, North Carolina, near Brookshire Boulevard. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services (CMSWS) identified this area for study and improvements due to reports of road flooding and residential structure flooding in the Margaret Turner subdivision. CMSWS partnered with The Isaacs Group P.C. to complete the planning study, design, public outreach, and construction administration services. Drainage improvements within the project area included a 13-foot by 4-foot reinforced concrete box culvert, a 42-inch pipe culvert, and natural channel improvements. Due to the space constraints, a detailed shoring plan for storm drainage construction was developed to protect existing infrastructure and install the new system. The design included extensive relocation of existing utilities and utility coordination during construction to reduce the disruption of services to the residents in the neighborhood.
Read MoreCommunities are facing unprecedented impacts from climate change, which effects how municipalities deliver services and increases risk to municipal assets. Integrating climate change considerations into asset management (for natural and engineered assets)…
Read MoreOn August 10, 2020, a derecho hit Cedar Rapids with winds of up to 140 miles per hour for 45 minutes. As a result, roads were impassible due to debris,…
Read MoreThe U.S. Composting Council (USCC) is focused on municipalities as the prime actors who can implement/oversee successful food scrap (or adding food scrap to yard waste composting) programs to close…
Read MoreEach community seems to have that one spot that always has crashes when winter weather arrives, or bridge that behaves differently than all the others at night. Why is that? Maybe you have sat through weather presentations before, but can’t figure out how to connect pictures of radars with what happens on your city streets. This session will cut through all the noise on the web and in apps and talk about what really impacts those hard to handle locations. The speaker will investigate the conditions that have the biggest impact on road conditions, and give you a chance to indulge in a little meteorology CSI by looking at examples and deciphering the clues of what happened. Bring your own weather challenges and get them solved on the spot.
Read MoreThis session will focus on some of the challenges and confusion that is prevalent in our profession when it comes to selecting deicer products. The speakers will address both the science and their experiences with liquid deicers.
Read MoreLike many cities, the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, faces the challenge of aging infrastructure in urban environments serving an ever-growing population. This presentation will present two case studies related to expedited temporary repairs the City undertook that employed innovative solutions. The first case study will examine a temporary bridge used to remove traffic loading from a compromised existing culvert that serves a center-city thoroughfare before the planned Republican National Convention and impending NFL season. The second case study will focus on an existing corrugated metal pipe that experienced a significant joint failure and the measures taken to protect the public and restore traffic in an accelerated manner. The presentation will include a summary of the challenges associated with each project and lessons learned.
Read MoreEmergencies are equal opportunity challenges in communities as they impact citizens with and without disabilities. It is vitally important that communities prepare well before emergencies occur with practical and well-thought-out solutions that keep everyone, including those with disabilities, safe while maintaining their dignity at all times. Information will be provided regarding how to plan for individuals with specific needs, including mobility, visual, hearing, and cognitive impairments, and for people whose survival requires medical equipment. Accessible evacuation plans and shelters will also be addressed, along with laws regarding service animals. Attendees will learn about questions that can and cannot be asked of people with disabilities and about politically correct disability-related terminology.
Read MoreAs per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) discoveries increase across the country, water utilities, industry organizations, state regulators, and the EPA are struggling to publicly communicate new findings in drinking water, wastewater discharges, and biosolids. And these discoveries are going to exponentially increase in the coming years. The EPA’s Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) will require most water utilities across the country to test for 29 different PFAS compounds starting in 2023. Make no mistake, obtaining this data is absolutely necessary to our industry as we play catch up with the decades-long damage to our source waters. However, as we look for more PFAS, there is still so much we don’t know about the health and environmental impacts of the vast majority of these chemicals.
Read MoreThis session will give an overview of National Weather Service (NWS) operations and how NWS warnings are communicated to emergency management personnel and the public. The session will then look at how NWS operations functioned during the passage of the remnants of Tropical Storm (TS) Fred in August 2021. The passage of TS Fred simultaneously produced numerous tornadoes in North and South Carolina and extreme flooding in parts of North Carolina. Though damage from tornadoes was light, flash flooding resulted in the loss of 56 homes and five deaths. The NWS outlook products discussed the possible hazards several days in advance. During the event, over 30 tornado warnings were issued, along with many flood-related products, including a “Flash Flood Emergency” product, which is the rarely used and most extreme warning product for flooding. For the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina NWS office, this was one of the busiest days in its history due to the large number of high-impact products issued.
Read More