Podcast: The Infrastructure Show

The U.S. inland waterways system provides a highly efficient means for moving large quantities of bulk materials – agricultural products and natural resources – which is important both for domestic industries and the export market. But the locks and dams that support the waterway network comprise an aging infrastructure with limited capacity and almost no redundancy. Planned and unexpected lock closure for maintenance and rehabilitation impose substantial costs on our economy. In this podcast we discuss the condition, performance, and funding of the inland waterways system with Dr. Craig Philip, who is Research Professor at Vanderbilt University and Director of VECTOR, the Vanderbilt Center for Transportation and Operational Resilience. Before joining Vanderbilt, Dr. Philip spent 30 years in the barge industry, 14 as President and CEO of Ingram Barge Lines, now the largest domestic maritime operator in the United States

Ride matching or Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft have experienced extraordinary growth in major cities around the world in the past decade. What are the impacts of these services in our cities? What is known about the scale of TNC services and the demands they are placing on city streets? To tell us more about TNCs and their impacts on one city, we talk with Joe Castiglione, Deputy Director for Technology, Data and Analysis for the San Francisco County Transportation Authority

The integrity of our infrastructure can be critical to life safety. Nowhere is this more obvious than our bridges. There are over 600,000 highway bridges in the United States, as well as a large number of transit, railroad, and pedestrian structures. Having timely and objective knowledge of the condition of these bridges is essential to assure their safety and efficiency. That knowledge comes from a program of systematic bridge inspections.To help us understand the responsibilities and processes of bridge inspection, we’re talking with Dr. Sreenivas Alampalli, who is Director of the Structures Evaluation Services Bureau of the New York State Department of Transportation

Urban mobility and traffic congestion present challenges to cities around the world. Many modes and service concepts are intended to meet these mobility needs. Bus rapid transit, BRT, is a competitive option because of its service quality and capacity, as well as its potential to be less costly than fixed rail transit options. To learn about the promise and delivery of BRT in the US and around the world, we talk with Samuel Zimmerman, an experienced transportation planner, a consultant to the World Bank, and an expert on bus rapid transit

Cranes are prominent on the skyline of every city, serving as a measure of the pace of development. They are essential tools for infrastructure construction, a source of fascination for the sidewalk superintendent, and in some cases, a source of risk. To explore the role, functioning, and safety of large cranes in construction we talk with Greg Teslia, President, Crane Safety and Inspections, of Coral Springs, Florida

Some airports face serious flood risks because they are flat by design and are located in coastal or riverine settings. Airports in New York are particularly vulnerable because they face both rising sea level and severe storms. Richard Barone, Vice President for Transportation of the Regional Plan Association has studied these airport flood risks and discusses them in this interview

Hurricanes and tornados can be devastating to infrastructure. The electric power grid is particularly vulnerable because it is both exposed and extensive. In 2017, Hurricanes Harvey along the Gulf Coast, Irma in Florida, and Maria in Puerto Rico demonstrated the risks of that vulnerability. To help us understand what it takes to restore power, and in the long run, to increase the resilience of the grid, we talk with Mike Vaughn, Vice President of Assets for the Entergy Corporation, producer and distributor of electric power the Gulf region

The infrastructure that prepares and distributes potable water to our cities requires continuing monitoring and maintenance. Many facilities are old and aging, built in an era when engineering knowledge was less and materials and methods more primitive. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission uses a widespread collection of dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and pipe to supply 2.7 million residential and business customers, and the agency is now in the midst of a $4.6 billion renewal program that includes rebuilding the 90+ year old Calaveras dam in the East Bay. In this interview we talk with Alan Johanson, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Water System Improvement Program (WSIP), to learn about the system and this program

Fire is a rare but persistent danger in tall buildings. There have been several major high rise fires around the world in recent years, notable among them the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London that killed at least 80 people. That event highlights the risks that may be presented by the materials used in construction and rehabilitation. To explore the connection between building materials and fire risk, we talk with Robert E. Solomon, Division Manager for Building Fire Protection of the National Fire Protection Association

Managing and treating stormwater is a challenge to many cities. Building treatment plants with sufficient capacity to process large volumes of runoff that occur occasionally is not cost effective. The District of Columbia, facing a Federal consent decree to treat its stormwater, has been building subterranean storage tunnels but is now testing green treatment options that, if they work, could save much money in the long run. This experiment is funded with an unusual bonding arrangement in which lenders are betting on its success. To learn about this approach we talk with George Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of DC Water