Speaking

B&N was retained by the City of Phoenix’s Water Services Department (WSD) to conduct aerial imageries of a newly constructed and critical asset in northwest Phoenix. The asset was nearly complete pending the Contractor to backfill the cavity occupied by the concrete asset. The WSD was concerned about future fissures and cracking of the superstructure and wanted to have record imagery of the condition and/or level of cracking, if any, prior to burying the component.

B&N captured drone footage and provided WSD with that raw video of the structure, then created a 3-D model enabling WSD to view the structure using a variety of perspective angles and zoom levels. The benefit of having a 3-D replica and precise imagery is that the transfer of accountability enhances WSD’s position in the event of future construction flaws not predicted at the time of installation.

B&N will present how to capture “record information” that can be annotated for record archiving and development of 3-D modeling, which can make a seamless transfer of project data that would otherwise be deemed inaccessible due to its sheer size and magnitude. B&N will show clients/consultants how they can transform from traditional recording methodologies to state-of-the-art platforms spanning from drone night flights at large-scale treatment plants to construction monitoring of dynamic installations.

As technology continues to evolve, the use of Augmented Reality (AR) with drones, virtual replicas (digital twins) and machine learning will continue to expand and reshape the boundaries of Civil Engineering and asset management. As the primary goal for inspectors is to efficiently record accurate and reliable inspection data, AR provides an opportunity to deliver high quality inspection data in a user-friendly, manipulatable format that will allow facility owners to better understand existing and significant conditions while also providing contractors accurate, to-scale visuals of needed repairs. This combined resultant could lead to lower lifecycle costs for facility owners as well as supporting the old adage of ‘getting it right the first time.’ 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure created to grow the economy, enhance U.S. competitiveness, create jobs, and make the U.S. economy more sustainable, resilient, and equitable. With a total of$550B in new Federal infrastructure investments and 2 million jobs created per year, this funding provides for opportunities beyond transportation including planning, safety, and other initiatives.

Specifically, the IIJA supports local initiatives to prevent transportation-related death and serious injury on roads and streets. This initiative is commonly referred to as “Vision Zero” or “Toward Zero Deaths.” With a total of $5 billion eligible over a five-year period, these funds are granted for comprehensive safety action plans as well as the planning, design, and development activities for infrastructure projects and other strategies identified in a comprehensive safety action plan (the implementation).

The first round of grant applications will occur in Summer 2022, but by the time of this conference, lessons learned from the first round will be available to inform applications moving forward. In addition, it will be important to set Arizona’s MPOs, local agencies and Tribal Governments up for success if interested in applying for a grant to develop a comprehensive safety action plan.

B&N is currently collaborating with the City of Denton in Texas to complete a Vision Zero “readiness” assessment. To develop a successful Vision Zero plan, several elements need to be considered and addressed first. This includes leadership, agency culture, agency to agency collaboration, agency to stakeholder collaboration, public support and buy-in, data collection and availability, and supporting policies. An assessment can help an agency understand 1) where they are in respect to each of these critical topics 2) what the challenges will be to moving forward with a Vision Zero plan if these areas are not addressed and 3) specific actions they can take to overcome hurdles and be organized early to develop a successful Vision Zero planning effort.

B&N will provide the steps and educate local governments and MPOs on how they can apply for these grant funds for the 2023 fiscal year while educating them on best practices for self-assessment and implementation.