Have you seen the ‘what I do’ meme? What better way to explain Geographic Information Systems (GIS) than debunking all the perceptions? What our friends think GIS is:Often times, all our friends remember is that it has something to do with maps and maybe phones. What our moms think GIS is:Maybe it’s due to selective […]
As a business owner, I am frequently asked, “How is business?” I often used to reply “Busy” but had a colleague follow my answer up with the question “Is it productive?” Wow, that was a new one. I stopped dead in my tracks with a blank but inquisitive stare on my face, prompting my colleague […]
Did you know that your safety program is an important part of your new business strategy? Potential clients want to know about your safety program as part of their request for proposal (RFP) screening when accepting bids on a project. John Meola, Pillar Inc.’s Safety Director, recently published an article in Construction Business Owner magazine […]
Previously, we talked about the critical importance of maintaining an accurate inventory to support asset management. Knowing your inventory is just the first step in good asset management. It’s also important to know the condition of that inventory, which brings us to the next step, assessing your infrastructure inventory. None of us is getting any […]
Some people see a survey plat as an overpriced piece of paper but it’s not just a pretty picture. It represents hours spent reading moldy court records and digging through centuries of legal documents about a piece of land two people transferred back and forth….and back and forth. It represents the blood and sweat shed […]
The P3 approach includes preventive, lifecycle maintenance for the asset and avoids the problems associated with deferred maintenance. Simply put, deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing infrastructure maintenance activities, usually due to lack of available funding. Lack of proper and timely maintenance leads to early deterioration that costs more to repair later on or […]
Most folks would rather endure a root canal procedure than attend a safety meeting. And that’s perfectly fine, as long as you are confident that you know all there is to know about doing a job safely. Admittedly, most safety meetings are mind-numbingly boring. That’s largely the fault of the safety community. We need to […]
As an engineer, I am very analytical and linear in my thought process. This is natural and almost expected as I deal with equations following specific procedures to arrive at design solutions. After all, there is no gray in engineering – it is either black or white. I refer to this thought process as counting […]