How Chip Seals and Slurry Seals Extend a Road’s Lifetime
Near where I live, I noticed that a construction crew closed off a road to be worked on. Throughout the...
AI Traffic Signals Keep Cities Moving
Whenever I drive through intersections, I notice that sometimes, the traffics lights are all green when fewer cars are around,...
The Advantages of Composite Construction
During my internship, I noticed that some buildings used a combination of structural steel and reinforced concrete rather than relying...
The Hidden Danger of Progressive Collapse
One might think that in such a large building, one component failing or breaking wouldn’t be a huge problem. However,...
The Behind-the-Scenes Work of Foundations
When visiting a site of an in-construction building, I noticed that even before construction began on the walls and other...
What Outrigger Systems Are and Why They Are Important to Buildings
As buildings become taller, keeping them stable becomes an increasing challenge. Usually, engineers use strong cores made of steel or...
How Shear Walls Work to Keep Buildings Standing
While looking over drawings of building plans, I noticed how some walls were marginally thicker than other walls in the...
How Engineers Choose between Reinforced Concrete and Structural Steel
Some buildings rely heavily on reinforced concrete for stability, while others use structural steel. I first noticed this when I...
Why Skyscrapers Sway in the Wind
Growing up in the bay area, I was always one drive away from large buildings in that dominated the San...
The Strangely Warm Winter Week
I recently recorded some data from my personal weather station that was very odd for this time of year. During...
Uncovering a Hidden Microclimate
Weather forecasts are supposed to tell us what to expect, but in my neighborhood, they often seem wrong. Even when...
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