Monthly Archives: April 2011
Posted in Bridge Design | Codes & Regulations | Economic Development | Politics | Transportation by Maureen Bower (Designer - Site Engineering) on April 26, 2011
Image © 2011 Google Maps
A few years ago, I conducted research for my independent study during my senior year at Lafayette College. My study was part of the 2006 Infrastructure Report Card for the State of Pennsylvania. Living in one of the oldest states in the union as well as a state that has frequent freeze-thaw cycles, I did not have high hopes for the grades the roads and bridges would yield based on their condition, performance, capacity, and funding needs. Turns out, I was correct. Pennsylvania roads received a grade of “D” (meaning poor on the grading schedule) while the bridges did slightly better with a grade of “C” (meaning mediocre). The release of the report card caused commotion and called for government officials to fund infrastructure maintenance programs. In 2009, the Obama Administration provided $27,115,533,955 through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) for Transportation projects around the country, with Pennsylvania receiving $1,098,699,760. In 2010, the American Society of Civil Engineers published the 2010 Infrastructure Report Card for the State of Pennsylvania. I was eager to see the results from the four years of infrastructure improvements. Sadly, I was disappointed. The bridge rating remained a “C” while the roads grade dropped to a “D-”. I was determined to find out why this was the case. It turns out that although the funding from the ARRA was helpful, it is not nearly enough for the upkeep and maintenance of Pennsylvania’s 22,280 bridges and 40,000 state and 76,000 local miles of roadway.
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Posted in Alternative Energy | Current Events | Innovative Solutions | Marcellus Shale | Natural Gas | Water/Wastewater by Marty Muggleton (VP Client Development & Marketing) on April 19, 2011
Part of my job at Larson Design Group (LDG) involves TerrAqua Resource Management (TARM). This subsidiary of Larson Design Group is the first enterprise in PA that recycles water generated from Marcellus development under a permit from PADEP. You can learn more about TARM here: www.tarmsolutions.com.
TARM is a high compliance success story. Our company doesn’t discharge any water. Clients bring us flowback and produced waters, we run it through our treatment system, and the clients take the water back and reuse it in drilling operations again. TARM’s approach protects the environment in many ways. This best practice leads to a sustainable future for Marcellus. TARM has processed and recycled more than 38 million gallons of water in just over 11 months. Recently, TARM and LDG received a national award for engineering excellence.
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Posted in Client Service | Communication | Employees | Leadership | Professional Development by Steve Muller (Manager of Client Development) on April 14, 2011
LDG employees participate in the Home Run Derby for Breast Cancer and help raise funds for research.
Several weeks ago I sat in on an introduction meeting between a few of our executive managers and an architectural firm from the Lancaster area. It proved to be a valuable sharing of capabilities and connections. The president of the firm we were meeting with is a business friend of mine from years past, and a couple things he mentioned generated some good dialog among those of us from LDG that were present.
It turns out that the leader of this firm has his Architectural degree from Temple University, and also holds a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Seminary (interestingly, he made the point that Russell Conwell was instrumental in establishing both of these schools.) His firm is well-heeled in designing offices and healthcare facilities, but a significant part of their portfolio happens to be churches. The faith-friendly orientation of their leadership seems to prove valuable to that end. Ensuing conversations among us at LDG, about the interaction of faith alongside business, proved to be affirming and challenging, and got us talking about our values.
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