From Manure to Molecule: GC Delivery of a Complete Dairy RNG Facility in Erath County, Texas
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Atlas 15 Rainfall Data
NOAA is transitioning from the regional, state-funded Atlas 14 precipitation frequency standard to the comprehensive, federally funded NOAA Atlas 15. The current Atlas 14 methodology, while foundational for civil engineering infrastructure planning, relies on piecemeal regional publishing and the assumption of statistical stationarity—limitations that lead to boundary discontinuities and fail to account for temporal trends […]
Cyclic Deformation of Thawing Fine–Coarse Soil Mixtures
Periodic freezing and thawing events often occur in northern Texas regions, during which the mechanical response of engineered soils becomes a significant consideration for infrastructure durability. Fine–coarse soil mixtures are prevalent in subgrade and embankment applications, which are often subjected to repeated vehicular or train loads during the thawing process. This study investigates the cyclic […]
Threats to Drainage Infrastructure: Designing for Resilience in a Changing Environment: Why Material Selection Belongs at the Center of Resilient Drainage Design
Central Texas has had a brutal stretch of weather. The July 2025 Hill Country floods along the Guadalupe River caused widespread devastation, forcing a hard look at design storm assumptions that have held for decades, and this summer the state is already responding to another round of severe flash flooding across the same corridor. NOAA’s […]
Recyclability Evaluation of Asphalt Millings with Geosynthetic Interlayer Remnants for Pavement Base Course Applications
The incorporation of geosynthetic interlayers, such as geotextiles and geogrids, in asphalt layers has been shown to delay crack propagation and increase the fatigue life of asphalt overlays. Consequently, the growing use of geosynthetic interlayers in asphalt layers is expected to generate increasing quantities of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) containing geosynthetic interlayer remnants (referred to […]
Big Data to Guide Geotechnical Engineering Design in Challenging Environments
Geotechnical engineering practice seeks to mitigate uncertainty and reduce risks associated with subsurface conditions, particularly in geologically sensitive environments such as karst terrain. Recent advances in data analytics have enabled broader use of large geospatial and geotechnical datasets (“big data”) to support risk informed design. Big data may include historical aerial imagery, topographic and soil […]
“I wish we had known about this sooner!” The Benefits of Inspection
It would be a tremendous asset if we possessed the ability to travel back in time and correct mistakes. Unfortunately, unless you possess a wayback machine, a phone booth at Circle K, a DeLorean, or a magic school bus, this is not yet possible. Therefore, inspection during every phase of a project: pre-construction, throughout construction, […]
From GIS to Ground Truth: Rethinking Wastewater Infrastructure Resilience Under Extreme Weather
Extreme weather events are exposing a critical vulnerability in U.S. wastewater systems-not only limitations in hydraulic capacity, but also the growing disconnect between documented asset data and actual field conditions. Municipalities often rely on GIS records, legacy datasets, and asset management information that may not fully reflect current infrastructure conditions, potentially leading to ineffective rehabilitation […]
Revitalizing Water Infrastructure Resiliency: Balancing Capital Decision Stability and Operational Prediction Accuracy: A Case Study on the Hydraulic Impact Factor (HIF) Framework in Sugar Land, Texas
Municipal utilities worldwide share a critical responsibility: managing aging infrastructure and strengthening the stewardship of the built environment under tight budget constraints. Traditionally, capital planning relies on static parameters like pipe age, while operations crews use hydraulic modeling to analyze system performance. Operating these two domains in isolation creates an industry-wide conflict between reactive, short-term […]
Toward Rational Design of Void Forms for Expansive Texas Clay Soils: Why do you Still Specify and use Non-Engineered Void Forms for Texas Data Centers?
Engineers have not established a rational design method for void forms, while each manufacturer has developed its own void form products based solely on its proprietary empirical approach. However, none of those empirical approaches have ever been verified with systematic testing or comprehensive analysis by a third party. Simply put, all void form products currently […]