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Asset managers know there’s a disconnect between the asset data in their Asset Management Software/GIS and the assets in the field. This disconnect makes efficient asset management difficult because there’s no assurance that the desktop view reflects the reality in the field. To resolve this data gap, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is increasingly being used to connect field assets directly to their records in GIS. This session demonstrates how RFID-enabled marking products linked to mobile data collection systems provide accurate, real time field asset data and the ability to update asset records in the field. Real-world use of RFID for field asset management case studies will be presented and reviewed. Adam Schleicher, Director of Public Services for the City of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin will provide an overview of the deployment in that city.
Read MoreWhat happens when CNN, The New York Times, and 12 candidates for President of the United States come to town? A lot. Now, imagine having four weeks to plan for public safety for large crowds, prepare infrastructure to support a major international broadcast, and help 10,000 visitors have a free-speech experience within a two-block radius. When Otterbein and Westerville were announced as the host site for the debate, the eyes of the world were upon them. This had an immediate impact on public programs and services. Staff had to get organized, partner in teams and figure out logistics, including public safety, citizen communication, and infrastructure adjustments. The three prior debates resulted in arrests and injuries, and sections in each community were overwhelmed with traffic, protests, and demonstrations. Public works staff were critical in helping devise a plan that would assure Westerville’s name would not be associated with a disastrous event. Partnerships with a number of agencies helped us stage dozens of trucks, mobile light towers, crowd fencing, parking, ride-share and traffic plans, secure bus routes, and much more. Westerville activated an Emergency Operations Center capable of accommodating multiple agencies, an inspections team to monitor compliance, and surveillance systems to protect property and people. Signals, sidewalks, and signage were inspected for working order. Hydrants were checked. Emergency and detour routes established. Turn-by-turn transportation plans were created. Road closures, equipment deployment, and use of staff plans were developed. Service and engineering helped coordinate with public safety professionals who had to manage crowds. A massive event clean-up returned the area to normal, with trash, barricades, and fencing removed overnight. While millions of eyes were on Westerville, we did not miss our opportunity to shine. The event outcome was zero arrests, zero injuries, and a successful show for Otterbein and this community.
Read MoreThis “EV Workshop” guide is intended to promote understanding of public EVs fleets by providing an overview of their various types, the infrastructure needed, how they are charged or fueled,…
Read MoreThe City of Waconia is an expanding west metro community within the seven county region of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota. The City while partnering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation on a corridor expansion and frontage road improvement project were challenged with meeting storm water volume and water quality rules imposed by the watershed. The City chose storm water reuse as a management strategy to meet the requirements. Storm water irrigation isn’t a new science, golf courses have utilized this practice for years. What makes this interesting is the City is selling storm water to businesses and irrigating City parcels within the watershed in effort to meet their volume and water quality requirements. Knowledge of chloride impacts to receiving waters including storm water ponds were of concern, however the City has been vigilant in reducing winter chemical applications. Research after the fact through testing, we have found the challenge in excess of previous sampling efforts in other watersheds in the community. A second challenge is the multiple agencies providing winter services to impervious surfaces outside of the City operational control. As a result the City is taking the higher than desired chloride testing results to the next level through efforts of public and staff education, watershed winter chemical application tracking and route optimization through its AVL system. A new State of Minnesota Chloride Management Plan will require and enhance the City efforts to reduce the found chloride levels in the storm water, and assist the city in education efforts to reduce chloride impacts from an outside perspective. This presentation is tied to a Reporter Article being published in October of 2020
Read MoreCarson City’s Pavement Management Plan for Fiscal Year 2019-2023 was approved by the Regional Transportation Commission in April 2018. The Plan formalized and established an efficient and effective strategy for preserving and maintaining the City’s 676 lane-miles of roadway and established five performance districts within the City with a five-year rotating work schedule. The Plan was designed to provide a predictable use of roadway funding while maintaining flexibility for unplanned city projects and “match” for grant funding opportunities, as needed. Now in its third fiscal year of implementation, city staff has implemented lessons learned from implementation in the first two years and has transformed the transportation capital improvement program from one focused on pavement to one that evaluates each project for opportunities to coordinate with water, wastewater, and stormwater projects to reduce overall Public Works Department costs, streamline work efforts, and improve transparency of local decision-making regarding limited infrastructure dollars.
Read MoreBenefit-cost analysis can be a powerful tool for informing infrastructure investment decisions. New York City’s Department of Transportation has been using this tool in the early stages of funding and design for select projects to identify alternatives that provide the greatest benefit to the public at the lowest cost. This talk demonstrates how the agency applied benefit-cost analysis on a major street redesign and on several bridge rehabilitation projects to save tens of millions of dollars while maximizing safety, mobility, and infrastructural benefits for the public. It also includes a discussion on how this benefit-cost analysis helped city government leadership select and fund the alternative that best advanced the city’s strategic objectives. The presenters will include senior executive management and the department’s policy office.
Read MoreIn January of 2016, Mayor Sylvester Turner challenged the Houston Public Works (HPW) Transportation and Drainage Operations (TDO) to assess and repair all potholes reported by the next business day. The number of reported potholes increased by more than 30% shortly after Mayor Turner’s inauguration. HPW employees rose to the challenge and have been successful filling 98% of potholes by the next business day. Presenters will explain HPW’s potholes problems, demonstrating what improvements were made to procedures, technology, scheduling & personnel. HPW field operation staff will share with you what was done differently to resolve this headline-making news items: repairs over 25 SF are “Not-a-Pothole” and referred as asphalt skin-patches; in-house crews perform partial and full depth skin-patch repairs on asphalt streets; in-House crews perform asphalt patches on concrete streets; the pothole and patch repairs are intended to be as durable as possible; HPW centralized all forces from four quadrants to one primary location; offered crews additional pick-up locations for more efficient travel time to problem locations; utilized latest iPad to report and manage most of the work order; the city boosted employee morale by engaging employees and front-line supervisors in weekly meetings in regard to process improvement efforts; implemented QA/QC group to ensure the accuracy of all data recorded; created Pothole Action Plan; implemented new SOP’s in addition to new techniques and cost-effective tactics without costing taxpayers any additional money; the pothole program includes “Next Business Day Potholes” and “Pro-Active Potholes” that are not reported by citizens but filled by operations & maintenance crews while on-site typically covering intersection-to-intersection potholes; and the creation of a dedicated website covering all aspects of the program to educate the public.
Read MoreSince the boom in the first decade of this century collapsed into the great recession, the public works industry has seen a mighty blow to its workforce and resource levels. While the recovery is underway and in full swing, a large number of capable personnel have left the industry never to return. Now more than ever, the public works industry needs good leadership. That doesn’t mean people with lots of experience who ascend to higher positions in our organizations because it’s their turn either. It means people who are willing to lead, no matter their position or title. Leader Under Construction examines a variety of key characteristics, skills and attributes a good leader must have or develop, relating those to the development of a construction project. Participants in Leader Under Construction progress through their leadership development from what makes for a solid leadership foundation, through the things a leader must do to form/frame themselves properly, finally moving into the finishing touches that ensure a leader stays sharp. Foundation, Forming/Framing, Finishing. Just like a building, a roadway, or a pipeline, you can’t stand the test of time if each step of the process isn’t done right. But that isn’t the end. Just like a construction project, once a leader is built, they must maintain those attributes and skills if they want to continue on in peak condition. Maintenance isn’t just for pavement. Attendees at this session will be challenged to create a leadership development plan. The foundation for this plan will be discussed during the presentation, but it will be up to each person to form/frame and finish it on their own! Good leadership starts with self-leadership, and developing better leaders creates stronger, more productive, more profitable organizations. Become a Leader Under Construction and start your journey toward good leadership.
Read MorePortland, Maine, began making significant investments in green infrastructure (GI) in the early 2000s and has since installed nearly 150 GI features throughout the city. In a decade plus of installing and maintaining these systems, Portland has learned important lessons about which systems work and how best to maintain them. Portland’s experience offers insights applicable to many other communities as they build and invest in their stormwater infrastructure programs. Portland was proactive in developing GI installations and linkage to clear maintenance procedures. In 2014, the city hired contractors that specialize in maintenance of stormwater control measures to inventory assets, develop operations and maintenance protocols, and to inspect a subset of systems. Today most GI maintenance is subcontracted to skilled contractors and inspection and maintenance cycles continue to increase to accommodate trash, sedimentation, winter damage and other impacts. Portland’s experience shows that maintaining GI is different. It requires skills and knowledge that current staff may not have—staff who manage buried pipes may not be good gardeners. GI maintenance also requires significant effort. Understanding the level of effort, the necessary frequency of maintenance visits, and the different kinds of maintenance each feature requires is critical. This presentation tells the story of the development of Portland’s GI program, the evolution of its maintenance practices, and how past experience is shaping future approaches. Through specific examples, it encourages attendees to think about the unexpected issues they may encounter as they develop their own GI projects, particularly in colder climates. And it offers specific guidance based on lessons learned from more than a decade of hands-on management of an extensive GI program.
Read MoreEfficient stormwater asset management is crucial to public safety as well as meeting regulatory compliance, but the cost and effort of conducting field inspections and collecting field data is an ongoing challenge for municipalities. Radio frequency Identification (RFID) technology is rapidly becoming the solution to bridging the gaps in field data collection workflows. Adam Schleicher, Director of Public Services for the City of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin will discuss their deployment of RFID marking for stormwater assets in combination with mobile data collection. This method reduces the time, cost and errors in field data inspections and automatically creates an audit trail for regulatory compliance.
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