The President will be speaking before a Joint session of Congress and the American people tonight to discuss the State of the Union. The first State of the Union was delivered by President George Washington in January 1790 and since then has become a vehicle for a sitting President to outline his legislative agenda for [...]

UPDATED: 01/20/12 at 5:30pm   As the second session of the 112th Congress commences several ASCE priority issues remain unresolved. Thus far the 112th Congress has seen little legislative action on issues related to the civil engineering profession, however House and Senate leaders have indicated that infrastructure legislation could be a top priority in 2012. [...]

Once again, we find an illustration of just how far apart the science and political worlds are – this time an actual illustration!  An editorial cartoon in The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper dedicated to reporting on Congress.  However, I caution anyone who wants to pursue this line of thinking too far.  Einstein’s famous quote [...]

Tags: ASCE, congress, earthquakes, engineering, NEHRP, science, wind hazards

In the wake of an earthquake and Hurricane Irene pummeling the East coast, there is now a spotlight on infrastructure. Thousands of bridges and roads needed to be inspected to make sure that they were safe for use. The graphic shows the grades from the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. These natural disasters are [...]