levitation. Mr. Ahlborn shared his transportation vision and the depth of Hyperloop
TT’s crowd-sourcing and crowd-collaboration efforts. This crowd-sourcing
approach has tapped into a network of part-time or volunteer engineers and
enterprising companies to design, build, and provide capital to build commercially
viable hyperloop systems in both France and China.
Following Mr. Ahlborn, back to back
concurrent sessions were held with
topics that touched on public policy,
the effects of disasters, risk
management, new technologies, and
the state of our profession. Being my
first conference, I was amazed at the
range of presentations; whether it was
ASCE’s Canon 8 on discrimination,
using software to develop plans and
schedules, LEED Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG) certifications,
interviewing for projects, and public speaking. As a geotechnical engineer, sitting
in on a presentation with members of Colorado’s Association of Geotechnical
Engineer’s (CAGE) on design and construction of expansive soils was particularly
interesting.
The most prevalent topic at this year’s conference was on how to incorporate more
resiliency in the design process. We were able to get a glimpse at ASCE’s published
Manual of Practice: MOP 140 -
Climate-Resilient
Infrastructure:
Adaptive
Design
and
Risk
Management by some of the
journal’s authors. Presenters spoke
about failing or terminal lifeline
systems; water, sewer, power, fuel,
and transportation and the need to
design for those systems in the case
of emergencies. Cities like Ft.
Lauderdale, FL are managing risk