Vehicle crashes consistently rank as one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States, exacting heavy emotional and financial tolls on individuals, communities and society. Preventing these accidents is a top priority for decision makers around the country. We must recognize that our roadways, as they are, reinforce dangerous tendencies for drivers and pedestrians and that our fatal and severe crashes are a critical and preventable public health issue.

This is where future-looking initiatives like Vision Zero come in and change the way the transportation industry, communities and elected officials handle their roadways.

Vision Zero, already adopted by several major U.S. cities including Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington DC and throughout Europe, is based on a set of principles which declares that all actions should adhere to the following:

• Traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable
• No loss of life is acceptable
• Human life and health are prioritized
• Human error is inevitable and transportation systems should be forgiving
• People are vulnerable and speed is a fundamental predictor of crash survival
• Focus on systems-level changes above influencing individual behavior

The Citizens of Philadelphia were introduced to the initiative in December 2015 with the first Vision Zero conference and began to consider how it would be applied to their city. Mayor Jim Kenny hired the first Director of Complete Streets in 2016 and Philadelphia’s Vision Zero Action Plan released an overall goal of zero traffic deaths by 2030. The action plan laid out the following priorities, equitable to all citizens:

• Save lives by reducing the number of traffic-related deaths and severe injuries
• Improve overall performance of streets system and prioritize the safety of those using our streets who are most vulnerable
• Reduce Philadelphians’ risk for developing chronic diseases by promoting active transportation
• Shift trips from motorized to active modes of transportation to reduce congestion, improve air quality and improve health safety

This plan kicked off the current movement to make Philadelphia a safe and truly accessible city. In an effort to build for tomorrow, the data-driven approach has allowed the city to focus on its high injury network of roads. The corridors with the highest rates of fatalities and severe injuries cover 50 percent of all major incidents in just 12 percent of Philadelphia streets.1 Paired with focusing on the most dangerous roadways, instituting protected bike lanes, newly designed curbless intersections and aesthetically-pleasing designs have only increased the ability of Philadelphians to get around in a safe, sustainable manner.

In parallel with the City’s initiative, organized by the Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition, ArchTam has been an avid supporter and partner in the Vision Zero conference each year since its inception. In 2018, we were challenged to develop a way to help the different road users to be empathetic to each other’s experiences. We developed a 3D virtual reality experience that invoked emotional reactions from those who tried it. The VR allowed the viewer to experience a busy road as a pedestrian, bicyclist or driver with varying levels of sidewalk and bicycle lanes (protected and unprotected). The immersive experience gave attendees a glimpse into the perspective of other roadway users.

The project’s collaborative nature has allowed all stakeholders to have a say enforcing the notion that we’re all working together for safer streets. Community members from all walks of life are working together and empathizing with one another to better understand how we can transform our current environment and build safer ones in the future – together.

1: Vision Zero Philadelphia Three-Year Action Plan

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The U.S. Department of Defense views improving energy security and resilience as one of its formative challenges of the 21^st Century. To meet that challenge, military bases are exploring new technologies and using all available acquisition authorities. They are partnering with surrounding communities, their serving utilities, and energy industry experts to build facilities that require less energy and that can restore power quickly after disruptions. Every idea is being explored.

With our partners – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado Springs Utilities, Lockheed Martin, Geli, and Main Electric – we worked with Fort Carson to install an 8.5-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) that’s designed to save the installation roughly 10 percent on annual demand charges and facilitate energy resilience enhancements. It consists of thousands of lithium storage cells, organized into modules and racks, and is controlled by a highly sophisticated predictive control system. Fort Carson’s leadership throughout the project was crucial to overcoming obstacles and unifying stakeholders.

The new BESS combats the high cost of electricity use during peak demand periods. By reducing energy demand placed on Fort Carson’s power grid—especially during the summer cooling season—the BESS increases grid resiliency. Typically, the BESS charges overnight, when energy costs are lower, and discharges during the late afternoon, when Fort Carson experiences its maximum electrical demand. Since the majority of Fort Carson’s energy bill is based on maximum demand, this action by the BESS directly reduces Fort Carson’s utility bill.

When fully charged, the BESS holds enough energy to power around 3,400 homes and it stores about the same amount of energy as a million iPhones. It is 25 percent more powerful than the newest freight locomotive and can execute a control signal 10 times faster than a hummingbird’s wing beat. Construction of the BESS required 2,865 tons of imported structural fill, 118 yards of concrete, and 8.4 tons of concrete reinforcement steel (rebar).

With the addition of this innovative energy asset, Fort Carson has enhanced its reputation as one of the most forward-thinking and capable energy managers in the U.S. Army.

“The system will reduce our billed peak electric use by an average of nine percent every month,” said Directorate of Public Works Utility Program Manager Vince Guthrie, “The reduction will save Fort Carson approximately $525,000 a year.”

Building this battery project supports the Army’s focus on energy resiliency. This project, with its technology and cost savings, could become a model for cities facing an uncertain energy future.

A “switch-throwing” ceremony for the BESS was held on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 at Minick Substation at Fort Carson, Colorado. This time-lapse video condenses 60 days of construction and only hints at the complexity of the undertaking.

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Natural (i.e., nature-based) infrastructure entails the use of natural systems such as land, forests, and wetlands to advance coastal protection and restoration efforts in a manner that is both cost-effective and ecologically beneficial. Examples include the beneficial re-use of dredged material to rebuild shorelines, the construction of “living shorelines,” and the placement of oyster reefs – all of which can protect coastlines while advancing ecological health.

It’s rare to find a solution in civil engineering so straightforward that the concept immediately starts the mind racing. Even those who have no formal training in the area can conjure up projects worthy of consideration in their community, home state, and home country. As a founding member of the Natural Infrastructure Initiative (NII), a coalition of public, private, and non-governmental groups promoting natural infrastructure, the aforementioned projects are exactly what we had in mind. The group includes The Nature Conservancy, ArchTam, Caterpillar, and Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers as an active and valued partner.

Natural infrastructure solutions are a win–win to assist coastal and riverine jurisdictions as they respond to, and plan for, natural and human-induced disasters. Among others, this includes extreme weather events, storm surges, sea level rise, land subsidence, and coastal flooding. For example, during Hurricane Sandy, coastal wetlands helped prevent an estimated $625 million in damages, based on insurance industry models/tools used to quantify the economic benefits¹.

Natural infrastructure represents a progression in our thinking about coastal protection and restoration. Traditional approaches to “hardening” our shorelines, for example, may have positive economic impacts by protecting vulnerable coastal assets, but they can also have adverse ecological and social impacts by compromising aquatic habitat and separating residents from the resource. For these reasons, it’s important to promote natural infrastructure solutions as options when projects are in the initial planning stages. For many projects in this arena, costs versus benefits are often more short-sighted than the longer-term benefits of natural infrastructure. While it isn’t suggested that natural infrastructure solutions replace traditional approaches to coastal protection and restoration, it’s important to keep in mind that natural infrastructure solutions can and should be equally and objectively considered when project alternatives are examined. Given that more than $69 trillion in economic infrastructure development is projected through 20351, it’s easy to see why promoting the full and objective consideration of natural infrastructure alternatives is important to engage stakeholders, scientists, engineers and communities in the conversation about major investments.

ArchTam and other NII members are advancing natural infrastructure solutions through project design and implementation, promoting pilot programs, advocating for legislative language and removal of regulatory/policy barriers through testimony on Capitol Hill, and pursuing development of consistent evaluation criteria to assess both the feasibility and performance of natural infrastructure solutions.

Stay tuned for a follow-up blog post that will highlight more of our natural infrastructure projects.

¹Dr. Todd S. Bridges, USACE Senior Research Scientist. 2019. Natural Infrastructure: A Smart Investment.

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Our changing climate is placing billions of people and assets throughout the world at risk. The wellbeing of those in harm’s way will be determined by our ability to adapt and build resilient infrastructure.

Resilience speaks to the ability of a community, organization, or system to absorb or quickly recover from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To assess and enhance resilience, we must understand the impact of a risk, how to mitigate it, how and when to transfer the risk, and we need to understand which risks we must accept.

As our climate continues to change, severe storms will become more frequent and powerful, sea levels will continue to rise and the risk associated with flooding will continue to increase. Flooding is the most frequent severe weather threat and the costliest natural disaster facing our nation. As we encounter more intense storms and grapple with rising sea levels, our cities and their infrastructure grow more and more vulnerable. Our infrastructure needs to be strengthened and adapted to meet the increased pressure on our systems.

Unfortunately, in today’s market, resiliency follows recovery when it should be the other way around. The Rebuild By Design process that followed Superstorm Sandy in the Northeast has helped spawn a new way of thinking in the post-disaster recovery process, and while federal funding sources for post-disaster areas allow our clients to rebuild in a smarter, more resilient fashion, we need to find ways to fund resiliency projects ahead of disasters. Grants, stormwater utilities or “rain taxes”, and public, private partnerships can help our clients bridge their funding gaps and assess the costs and benefits of potential resiliency projects using our “triple bottom line” approach. This approach has proven to be an effective, innovative strategy for assessing the social, environmental and financial realities of their resiliency projects.

At ArchTam, we strive to foster safe, secure and resilient infrastructure through collaborative engagement among our public and private sector partners, developing customized solutions to meet our client’s needs. Infrastructure resilience as more than just an operational cost; it is a vital investment that begins as a concept and continues through the lifecycle of the structure or system, following the design and build.

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With increasing power demands and expanding electrification of transportation and other sectors, the amount of power used and produced on various parts of the grid is fluctuating at levels never seen before. Can we adapt and upgrade the grid to include the new capabilities needed to adjust to climate change while continuing to provide the reliable and affordable power we need? There are no easy answers – but there are solutions.

The electric grid was complex when built and it is getting even more complex as we add electrical loads and generation in places not anticipated in the original grid designs. Across the country, homes and businesses that once only consumed electricity are now producing it with the help of solar panels, microturbines, combined heat and power, as well as other sources that now make it possible to reverse the power flow. We can respond to this trend by delivering a series of resources.

To start, implementing a high-speed communications infrastructure that connects advanced sensors will ensure that all data are available and analyzed when needed, providing grid operators with greater visibility and abilities to react. Flexible resources, like smart inverters, can preserve reliability with higher levels of solar photovoltaics, and energy storage can deliver power when clouds are overhead. Grid connected devices like smart thermostats can respond to price signals and microgrids can help maintain the stability of the entire grid.

A smarter electric grid greatly enhances the ability of energy users to be more efficient and/or to shift their use to times that are the most convenient and economically advantageous for them. Grid operators can send users the price signals needed to make that happen.

This brings us to the discussion of how grids are planned. Adapting to these changes requires our grid planners to think in new ways. Managing this future smart grid will necessitate investment in technologies as well as improve coordination between regional transmission organizations, such as Pennsylvania-Maryland-New Jersey Interconnection LLC (PJM), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), independent system operators, such as NY Independent System Operator (NY ISO) and local electric distribution companies. We will also need additional transmission lines to bring renewably sourced power from resource rich areas and increase renewables penetration, again in cooperation among grid planners at the local, regional and national levels.

Accomplishing this demands a mechanism to recognize the value of these resources and capabilities to develop and design advanced solutions for a smarter, greener energy future. ArchTam is working with grid operators across the country to value the social, economic and environmental benefits of the smarter electric grid.

By the end of the century, global energy generation will have to increase significantly to accommodate universal economic and population growth. Energy generation accounts for around 60 percent of global greenhouse gases emissions and electricity demand alone is expected to triple by 2040. Proactive measures need to be taken today to drive this energy transition while continuing to provide reliable and affordable power required to build for tomorrow.

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