Courtesy, OriginClear Inc. Jar (far left) contains original flow-back water from a fracking site in Bakersfield, Calif.; it is laced with oil and chemical particulates. Another jar (middle) contains treated water, or effluent, after going through OriginClear Inc.'s EWS treatment. The last jar (far right) contains the sludge that was removed. A company that makes systems for algae growth and harvesting has repurposed its machines to tackle flow-back water from the oil-and-gas industry. The water-separation technology, which recently completed successful testing in Bakersfield, Calif., uses electricity, instead of chemicals.“The energy cost is low, on the order of 0.14 cents per

Photo Courtesy of Mott MacDonald The corroding steel structure behind this century-old red granite facade is causing the granite to crack. The condition is treated by sending an electric current through the steel, stopping the corrosion. Engineers are using a newly developed carbon-fiber-reinforced geopolymer mortar as a conductor for cathodic protection (CP). The mortar helps to carry an electrical current through the steel frames of structures built before 1960, guarding against corrosion.“We just take the joints out, put the necessary wiring in, re-tuck the joints with the anode material and refit the joint with heritage mortar. It’s as simple as

Related Links: Bentley Adds Cloud Support to Its Design Software With Connect Vendors Serving Construction Comment on Cyber Security Concerns Today The world’s largest cloud-services company is offering $250,000 in prizes to local governments that enter and win its cloud-computing competition. The competition is open to entries until August 21 from any municipality in the world. In its "City on a Cloud" competition last year, Seattle-based Amazon Web Services Inc. gave away Amazon cloud credits to eight winners that harnessed cloud computing in a new or innovative way. This year it will do the same. The eight winners are grouped in

Sami Masri, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, uses the Microsoft Kinect to gather data on the condition of roads. The device’s infrared projector, infrared camera and RGB camera are mounted beneath a vehicle to create a 3D image of the road as the vehicle drives; this data along with GPS information is used to identify cracks and potholes and localize them.If devices like Masri’s prototype were installed in all 2016 Toyota Corollas, for example, live road health monitoring could be possible for Departments of Transportation (DOT’s) across the nation, similar

Photo cCourtesy of Zachary Podkaminer SAM the Semi-Automated Masonry machine uses a map of the wall it's building along with a laser to build alongside workers. Related Links: Robots on the Jobsite Advancing in Construction VIDEO: Watch SAM Work A robot that lays bricks is now out of beta testing and at work alongside masons and laborers at a school-building jobsite in Ft. Collins, Colo. The Semi-Autonomous Mason, more commonly known as SAM, is already booked for two additional jobs. Masons working with SAM say the robot may help alleviate workforce shortages foreseen in future generations in masonry trades."He does

Mrs. Martin, the 1949 Hudson Commodore 8 carrying the Low and Slow tour team, parked behind the tainter-gate section of Folsom Dam's Auxiliary Spillway. Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Blog: Mrs. Martin Meets the Mile-High City Slide Show: Across the Great Basin From an airport terminal expansion in Salt Lake City to an industrial complex growing at warp speed near Reno to a sewer treatment update and the retrofit of Folsom Dam, infrastructure stewards are digging in to upgrade facilities and enhance lifestyles.As ENR's Low & Slow tour made its way to the West Coast, an uphill

Related Links: Engineer Sets Foundation to Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) website Harvard University Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure InterAmerican Development Bank Infrastructure Project Sustainability Awards-2016 Viewpoint by Robert M. Beinstein: Why CEOs Say Sustainable Solutions are Good Business Two public-sector infrastructure owners with markedly different upgrades getting underway agree on one thing—that the projects have vastly improved thanks to the use of a new tool that allows participants to measure long-term sustainability and justify how and why investments will benefit users and communities.The Florida Dept. of Transportation has embraced use of the new Envision infrastructure sustainability

Photo Courtesy DroneBase Drone surveying can be used to double-check grading, as is being done in this photo. Related Links: DroneBase As U.S. Drone Approvals Grow, So Does Need for Expertise FAA's Summary of Major Provisions of Proposed Part 107 A web service called DroneBase connects drone operators with construction owners nationwide and offers visual and surveying packages."It's hard for clients to know what to pay," says Dan Burton, CEO of DroneBase, Santa Monica, Calif. Compared to helicopter or airplane surveying, drones can deliver better output and fly more often for a cheaper price, he says, adding, "It's thousands [of

Courtesy ASCE App sends ASCE infrastructure grades to elected officials. Related Links: Data Updates to U.S. Infrastructure Report-Card App ASCE Report Card Shows Slight Improvement in Nation's Infrastructure Health A new app allows users to see what letter grades infrastructure in their state received in the American Society of Civil Engineers' report card. Users can send the grade, along with photos and statistics, to local and federal representatives."Elected officials say their phones are not ringing with people talking about the failing infrastructure," says Emily Feenstra , ASCE's director of infrastructure initiatives, in Washington, D.C. "We need to elevate this message."The

Photo Courtesy Luke Yoder This aerial robot builds a 3D model of its surroundings, while flying autonomously within a predetermined bounding box. Related Links: The ARIA Project Researchers have developed an unmanned aerial vehicle that can fly itself. Taking 3D scans of its surroundings, the drone can process that data fast enough to navigate in real time, without hitting objects. The scans are accurate enough to use for other purposes, too, such as infrastructure inspection.Typically, inspectors visit a site every 12 to 18 months and generate handwritten notes that vary in detail and accuracy according to the inspector, says Daniel