The collapsing commodity prices across the globe after an explosive increase to record levels shows how closely linked all national economies are to events that happen outside the home countries. It also highlights the increasing economic pressure on individual countries and companies to join cartels to manipulate through antitrust behavior the prices of commodities and services in which they have a production advantage. The best known of these cartels is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the world’s oil reserves, 40% of global oil production and 70% of all oil traded internationally. OPEC
The recent major increases in fuel prices, exacerbated by the turmoil in the financial and credit markets, have provided the impetus for airlines to take a hard look at their operations and begin to tailor their operations to today’s needs. The increased fuel prices have a major affect on the ability of various aircraft in the fleet to produce positive yields, and the load factors necessary for all aircraft to produce positive yield. This has led airlines to critically evaluate demand and attempt to better match segment demand with capacity. The results of this endeavor are not final as of
Leadership begins by taking the first step and not waiting for others to act. As a profession, we have bemoaned the failings of politicians and bureaucrats to make the investments we believe are required to have an efficient and effective national infrastructure system—and by extension an effective and efficient competitive national economy. We developed tools like the American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card to measure the inaction of others and have spent a considerable amount of time talking to ourselves about how bad things are and how they should be fixed. Now is the time for us to take
The vast piles of dollars proposed, pending and spent to stimulate the U.S. economy must be used as an investment in the future of America and not just to bail out companies that have failed to live up to their promises to investors and customers. One of the major flaws in all the discussions of how to do this is the lack of detail regarding the benefits infrastructure investments receive from economic multiplier effects. These benefits include not just the jobs created immediately and directly by the construction but also the indirect and induced benefits in other parts of the
The City of Salt Lake had a dilemma. In the center of a downtown parking lot, a large silver maple tree was slowly dying. Enclosed with impervious concrete, the tree was withering because water could not reach its roots. The city’s Urban Forestry Division approached our civil engineers who agreed to work on a pro bono basis to develop a sustainable solution to the problem. They redesigned the parking lot with pervious concrete, which allows water to seep through the surface directly into the soil beneath. It was too late to save the silver maple, but the Urban Forestry Division
I have grown passionate about improving America’s infrastructure for several reasons: my personal migration to the U.S. more than seven years ago; my more than 35 years experience in the building products industry; leading a North American building products team for seven year; and being a father as well as a resident of this great country. The U.S. is growing faster than any other industrialized nation. Population is expected to reach 400 million by 2039, four years earlier than previous projections, according to the newest U.S. Census Bureau report. Will our nation’s infrastructure be ready to handle almost 100 million
Voters are fed up with highly volatile and sometimes confiscatory fuel prices for their vehicles and tired of being treated like cattle at airports. They finally are waking up to the benefits of mass transit, especially high-speed rail. That growing support was underscored in November when voters approved a number of multibillion-dollar state and local transportation bond issues. But that patchwork quilt raises the question again, Why is there is no coordinated national rail program? The time is now, say many experts, and the flood of economic stimulus packages can provide the pacemaker to revive serious rail in America. Related
Book Reviews: 11/26/2008 Bucyrus Heavy Equipment By Keith HaddockISBN: 978-1-58388-219-1; 222 pages; Iconografix; $39.95 In the beginning, there was Bucyrus. The story of the 128-year-old manufacturing company is about as colossal as the giant excavating machines it produces. Many have long gone to the scrappers or forgotten bone yards, but some Bucyrus rigs are still hard at work, mining the world’s minerals. Veteran equipment historian and civil engineer Keith Haddock scoops away the overburden to reveal one of the construction and mining industry’s most awe-inspiring companies in his latest book. The 222-page, soft-cover guide takes the reader on an adventure through
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is big news, and for good reason. A close second to �sustainability,� it�s difficult to navigate the waters of the AEC industry without colliding with the BIM revolution. However, lurking just below the surface, there are some issues that need to be negotiated before your BIM ship sails into the sunset of profitability. Advantages of model-based design and analysis have been well-documented. Element connectivity, material takeoffs, scheduling, clash detection, and photo-realistic visualizations, just to name a few. Beyond the capabilities built into the software, the model can be increasingly leveraged for use in external applications such
The current economic crisis and the attempts to bail out an ever-widening circle of companies has many turning to review the perhaps forgotten lessons of the Great Depression. Some of the parallels are clear and some things are different. Today, there are a greater number of tools available to regulators and a greater willingness to use them, but the question becomes when enough is enough and how the U.S. should deploy its assets. At the time of the stock-market crash in October 1929, brokerage firms would lend investors $9 for every $1 invested. The market was on a winning streak
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