{"id":273,"date":"2024-12-05T16:22:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T17:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durkins.net\/?p=273"},"modified":"2025-01-08T17:33:12","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T17:33:12","slug":"from-the-editor-engineering-musings-from-a-trip-to-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durkins.net\/index.php\/2024\/12\/05\/from-the-editor-engineering-musings-from-a-trip-to-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Editor: Engineering Musings from a Trip to Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

First, let me disclose that Bentley Systems is an advertiser for <\/span>Informed Infrastructure<\/span>, but I would write about their event even if they weren\u2019t.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

During the first week of October 2024, I was fortunate enough to attend the Bentley Year In Infrastructure Going Digital Awards event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I have been retired for a few years and haven\u2019t attended any major engineering events since then. Maybe all conferences have raised the level of professionalism in the last few years, but this event was outstanding.<\/p>\n

Jury Duty<\/strong><\/p>\n

I served as a juror for the Bridges and Tunnels category along with Frederico Foria from Italy and Juliana Fuda from New York. There are 12 categories in all, and you can view information about each of the categories, the nominated projects and the winners at Bentley\u2019s site (www.bentley.com\/yii\/awards<\/span>).
\nBut I wanted to note some of my personal experiences while in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

My wife and I arrived a day early and as I was walking through the hotel trying to get my bearings, someone called out my name. It was Oana Crisan, the Bentley representative from Romania who helped guide me and my fellow jurors through the process of selecting our winner. I had only \u201cmet\u201d Oana through an online meeting when we were narrowing down the project submittals to the finalists. While I\u2019m sure she has spent many more hours at online meetings than I have, I was impressed that she would recognize me from that one meeting.<\/p>\n

The keynote speakers and the breakout sessions were top notch. The displays and videos were great. But mostly, I was impressed by the people attending the event. Professional, courteous, helpful and fun to be around. It was a great experience for me.<\/p>\n

Local Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n

While in Vancouver, we decided to take a little extra time to enjoy the city and surrounding area. As you may recall, I teach a course to civil and structural engineering seniors at Valparaiso University in Indiana. I tell my students that whenever I travel to someplace new, I try to \u201cnotice\u201d engineering things. And I encourage them to do the same (by making it a homework assignment). As young about-to-be engineers, I believe it\u2019s important to be aware of all the ways in which engineering affects our way of life. So I will ask them to come back from Thanksgiving break or spring break with some examples of what they saw while they were away from the classroom.<\/p>\n

I still do this. I have been doing it since before I became an engineer. My wife, children and even my grandchildren will confirm this. I couldn\u2019t help but notice a couple of engineering standouts while in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Vancouver has many miles of bicycle lanes. Wherever we walked, there were bike lanes. Some were the traditional lanes alongside the curb and gutter, and some were dedicated lanes with bicycle traffic signals at the intersections. This reminded me of my years in Chicago riding to and from work. Some areas seemed safer than others, but you learned which route felt the most comfortable. Our Uber driver pointed out that the city has deliberately not constructed highways within city limits, much to his chagrin; it makes vehicle traffic a little more difficult, but cycle and pedestrian traffic safer.<\/p>\n

I read that Vancouver is considering cycle highways in the area. The routes typically are three to five miles and connect major developed areas or other modes of transportation. Geography and climate would be major factors in the feasibility of cycle lanes, but if any large city can make it successful, it looks to me like Vancouver is one of them.<\/p>\n

I also noticed there were blinking green lights at intersections. These are round lights, not arrows. I first thought this was an indication of a green left-turn option as vehicles approached the intersection. But the blinking lights seemed to be at almost every intersection, not only those with dedicated left-turn lanes. It turns out that where there\u2019s a flashing green light, the side streets have a stop sign; they\u2019re used at a crossing or intersection where pedestrians can stop traffic to allow a safe crossing. The pedestrian can press a button to turn the light red for their safe crossing. Therefore, the blinking green light warns traffic that the light may turn yellow then red during what is normally a green cycle. The light will then resume flashing green once the pedestrian has crossed.<\/p>\n

During the upcoming holiday break, let me know of any engineering aspects of our built environment you notice, and I will let you know what my students come up with for their homework assignment. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\"Avatar<\/div>\n
\n

About Robert Schickel<\/a><\/h3>\n

Robert Schickel was born in New Jersey and received his BS in Civil Engineering degree in 1971 from Valparaiso University in Indiana. His career started as a bridge design engineer and expanded to include design of various transportation facilities, including highways, bridges, rail lines and stations, and airport runways. Mr. Schickel managed engineering offices ranging from 20 to 140 people. He also served as a consultant to a large utility company.<\/p>\n

Mr. Schickel currently resides in Indiana and serves as Adjunct Professor for the College of Engineering at Valparaiso University. He enjoys his retired life at his lake house, playing golf, listening to music and spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n