Douglas Gransberg

https://lnkd.in/gJkpmKg7 The Parties vs The People is one reason we don't have High-Speed Rail in the US. Another is misplaced spending priorities. A final is the Koch Brothers exposed. Let's take the first one. The Political Parties are more interested in "playing King of the Mountain" than doing what their constituents want. That would explain the single digit approval ratings. The Democrats have championed the framework of High-Speed Rail projects under the Obama Administration. This became the number one target of the Republicans as it was deemed the ultimate example of government waste. #highspeedrail #civilengineering #transportationplanning #trafficengineering

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Here is another argument for High-Speed Rail (HSR) in California (CA). According to this article, California leads the nation in the number of fatalities associated with trains. What does High-Speed Rail have to do with all of this? These fatalities were at at-grade crossings. California High-Speed Rail through the Central Valley would operate at 220 mph, and all at-grade crossings would be eliminated. High-Speed Rail Systems in Japan and France have been operating for decades without a passenger fatality. Let's get CA HSR up and. running, so that we can demonstrate the safety possibilities. #highspeedrail https://lnkd.in/g5DGjX4G

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The partial collapse of the abandoned railroad bridge on the Pelican Island Causeway has damaged the highway structure, requiring further assessment. On Fox 26 this morning, I discussed what inspectors might be looking for to decide if the highway bridge replacement should be accelerated or if temporary repairs can suffice until funding is secured. The series of recent bridge collapses highlight the urgent need for proactive risk assessments of aging infrastructure, especially with increased waterway capacity over the past two decades. #BridgeSafety #Infrastructure #CivilEngineering #RiskAssessment #UniversityofHouston #UAS #AI #MachineLearning

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https://lnkd.in/gsyamVrZ This is a "Shout Out" for the LeadershipITE program. In a nutshell, it is a multi-moth leadership course for Transportation Professionals on Leadership "through the lens" of Transportation. I still need to sign up. While the total program cost is $3,000.00 (what I made in Calendar Year 2012), scholarships and sponsorships are available. Don't let the $3,000.00 get in the way. Apply for scholarships, or ask public and private sector organizations to sponsor you in exchange for doing a presentation on what was learned at LeadershipITE.

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The US High-Speed Rail Association tells me that the California High-Speed Rail Authority is one of the most challenging roles in the nation. What are traits of successful High-Speed Rail Authority CEO. I say, three things under the appreciation of "cup". C stands for Communicating Effectively. U stands for Understanding Poverty. P stands for pursuing opportunity. For C, join Toastmasters. For U understand that one of the goals is providing a "Windfall for All" including the impoverished. The project is all about opportunity to all across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds including the impoverished by connecting them to opportunity like never before. For P, passionately pursing opportunity, note that Brightline West just broke ground. They are focused on building Los Angeles to Las Vegas in four years. Take the opportunity to learn from them what it takes to expedite a High-Speed Rail System. Apply it to Merced to Bakersfield, so that this segment can be completely up and running by the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. www.ushsr.com #highspeedrail

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The outline of my book is complete. The book is "Ultra High-Speed Ground Transportation Systems: Expediting Intercity Travel". I have several historical sections including the history of railroading in the United States, and the history of the streamliner in the United States. Why so much history? I want to sell my book at the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM), and they want books with a lot of history. My book will be hard covered with color graphics throughout. I expect to have an in-print version by the end of the year. #highspeedrail

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Attention High-Speed Rail Stakeholders: Today, the CEO Selection Committee of the California High-Speed Rail Authority met to deliberate over CEO Candidates. I was the only one who participated in public comment. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The good thing would be if I was the only applicant. The bad thing would be if I needed to go through a staffing agency to be considered. I gave the Authority HR department my $50 submittal package. In a nutshell I summarized the testimonies from the April 2012 Board Meeting in San Francisco. 2012 was a tough year for many of us. I only made $3,000.00 that year where many of my colleagues made 100 times that, and knew nothing about the project whatsoever. I was debating, were all of these trips to San Francisco worth it? Then I heard, "This is our turn. This is our System. Previous generations gave you the transportation systems that you enjoyed. It's your turn to give to our generation. We'll pay for it. Just get it up and running. This defines how we will access our employment and vacation destinations." To answer my question, Absolutely! These are Millennials. I'm a Gen X'er. I felt the previous generation the "Me" generation simply "kicked the can down the road", and failed to deal with the realities of our crumbling infrastructure. I also underscored the importance of getting Merced to Bakersfield up and running by the 2028 Summer Olympics and having the basketball venue at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. The current plan is to have Merced to Bakersfield up and running by 2023. #highspeedrail

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What are some of the barriers to the adoption of proof load testing of concrete bridges as an assessment method? I have explored this question (and potential solutions) in this paper: https://lnkd.in/e6ffyhQH

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Bridge reports indicate that off-system bridges managed by local governments in Texas are underperforming compared to on-system bridges overseen by the State Department of Transportation. In a research study funded by the Research and Technology Implementation division of the Texas Department of Transportation, we examined the design, construction, and maintenance procedures for Texas off-system bridges to compile a set of recommendations aimed at improving how local governments manage their bridges. The results were collected from survey questionnaires and interviews with subject matter experts. Many thanks to Dr. Mohsen Shahandashti, the co-author and Principal Investigator of this project (TxDOT RTI# 0-7146). If you are interested in learning more about the research findings, please feel free to visit the following link to our recent publication in the ASCE International Conference on Transportation and Development, 2024:

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Are you aware of the challenges that come with the Professional Engineering Civil Engineering Transportation Exam? One such challenge is that the exam is being dominated by qualitative questions. These questions may seem simple at first glance, but they require a thorough understanding of the manuals listed by NCEES as design standards. https://lnkd.in/gGyVAr66 Knowing your manuals is the key to success, as time management is the #1 reason people fail the PE exam. It is crucial to be able to find information in the manuals quickly and efficiently. To help you with this part of your exam preparation, I will be posting various qualitative questions on a regular basis to help you gauge how well you know your reference manuals. If you are not familiar with the manuals listed by NCEES, it's important to start studying them now. On exam day, you will have access to each of the manuals, but if you wait until then to open them (in electronic format), you are likely in for a long and disappointing day. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts, where I will be sharing example qualitative questions and their solutions to help you prepare for the PE exam. Remember, knowing your manuals and managing your time effectively is the key to success. #PEExamPrep #CivilEngineering #TransportationEngineering #NCEES #EngineeringSuccess #TimeManagement #ProfessionalEngineer

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So I'm working on a book called "Ultra High-Speed Ground Transportation Systems - Brining Cities Together to Foster Face-to-Face Collaboration". I'm contemplating Best Practices. There is a broad spectrum of performances. Pastor Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life sold so many copies that he reverse-tithed - gave 90% and living off of the remaining 10%. On the other hand, I've seen authors in the hole for upwards of $10,000.00 and garages full of books. Here are some principles I was able to come up with regarding successes: 1. Speak to a significant need of the audience; 2. Include color graphics throughout the book to increase the appeal (This will result in a more expensive product); 3. Get universities, associations, and museums on board during the actual drafting process, because once it's in print, it's too late; 4. Know that the book in and of itself will not sell itself based on its cover - Marketing is absolutely essential; and 5. Once published, give a complimentary copy to each of your points of influence including professors, museums, associations, and high-level government officials who will have an interest in the content of your book. Anything else to add? #civilengineering #transportationplanning #trafficengineering #highspeedrail

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🌉 New Data Initiative to Inform Future Bridge Investments 🌉 A collaboration between Replica, Alta Planning + Design, and HEAVY.AI has enriched the National Bridge Database, providing a fresh perspective on the condition and criticality of the nation’s bridges. This project focuses on equitable access for disadvantaged communities and introduces a Criticality Score for each bridge. Key Insights: Higher rates of Poor condition in bridges located in Areas of Persistent Poverty. Increased walking and biking trips on bridges in Poor condition. Texas, Louisiana, and California lead in bridges with high Criticality scores. For a comprehensive look at the data and its implications for infrastructure investments, explore the detailed blog post. 🌐🔎 https://lnkd.in/grcEEcJc #DataInnovation #Infrastructure #Equity #UrbanDevelopment #BridgeSafety

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Did you know NCEES administered over 78,000 #engineering and #surveying exams in its 2022–23 fiscal year? For more facts and figures, check out the latest issue of Squared, the official NCEES source for engineering and surveying licensure statistics. https://bit.ly/3oc8rxd

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Test your knowledge of engineering ethics.

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Comprehensive detailed design and documentation software for civil infrastructure Deliver design and construction documentation for road and highway, site design, rail, and bridge projects. Reduce overall design time with faster modeling for surfaces, corridors, terrain, and more. #civil3d #ınfrastructure

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Everything the Construction Safety Research Alliance produces is available for free to everyone regardless of membership. When the CSRA was created, our small board of advisors had a decision to make. Do we charge for access research products or make it all free and open access? Some folks outside the board thought that no one would sign up to be a part of the CSRA if they could just get the knowledge for free anyway. Why would companies donate time and funding for something they could get for free? Despite that risk, we unanimously agreed to make everything open access with no paywalls. If that meant that some wouldn't join the community, then so be it. Five years later, the CSRA has over 100 member companies. If you don't have the resources to donate and travel to research meetings, there are still many ways to get involved and access the knowledge. In our knowledge center, you will find journal papers, guides, scorecards, and digital resources. We pay the open access fees so you can download the PDF directly. Everything is available here: https://lnkd.in/e4G87PzH You can also join our events at no cost. We offer a livestream of our annual summit and open access to a monthly community of practice. You can join these events live or watch the recordings at your leisure.  You can sign up for the community of practice here: https://lnkd.in/gTED87Wy The CSRA's vision is to eliminate SIFs in construction through transformative research and defendable science. Sharing the knowledge is just as important as creating it.

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Advancements in Artificial Intelligence are helping engineers and transportation project planners. Hear from two HDR experts on how AI is being applied in transportation decisions and how industry organizations can adapt and prepare for future advancement. https://lnkd.in/gjNcivp9 #Transportation #AI

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How can we encourage more cooperation among the Generations ("Me" '46-64; "X" '64-'82; and "Millennial" '82-'00) at work? I'm of the "X" Generation sandwiched. between the "Me"and "Millennial". I feel like the "Me" Generation took away our jobs, and "kicked the can down the rumbling and pothole ridden road". Specifically when the "Me" Generation retired from Caltrans, their positions were eliminated making it next to impossible for my "X" Generation to even get on board. The "Millennials" want a state-of-the-art High-Speed Rail System claiming, "This is our turn. This is our system. Previous Generations have given you the transportation systems that. you enjoy. It's your turn to give to our Generation. We'll pay for it. Just get it up and running. This defines how we will access our employment and vacation destinations. As an "X" Generation, I want to do everything I can, through the times of poverty and prosperity, to give the "Millennials" the state-of-the-art High-Speed Rail System that they want without blaming the "Me" Generation. I want to model delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure to the "Millennials". Hopefully my "X" Generation will. get to enjoy it too. #highspeedrail www.ushsr.com

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