The Netherlands have a long history of extraordinary public works when it comes to water management. With much of the country’s land lying at or below sea level, massive civil Keep reading
Tag: infrastructure
How Cooling Towers Work
Power plants (and other industrial settings) often need to cool water to control plant temperatures. This usually requires cooling towers like the iconic curved towers seen at nuclear power plants. Keep reading
The Taum Sauk Dam Failure and Its Legacy
Managing an electrical grid is all about balancing the electricity that plants can supply with the instantaneous demands of consumers. If there’s more power available than people need, it needs Keep reading
Who Killed the Colorado River?
From its source high in the snowy Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River runs through two countries and five states on its way to the Gulf of California. Or at least Keep reading
Building Underwater Foundations
For bridges, deep-sea platforms, and marine wind turbines, engineers have to build secure foundations able to withstand extremely heavy loads. Just how do they do this? One technique — driven Keep reading
The Art of French Drains
Civil engineers face a constant challenge trying to protect their structures from water — both above and below the ground. Subsurface water can build up enough pressure to lift and Keep reading
Engineering the City of Venice
In 452, Roman refugees established what became the city of Venice across a series of low-lying marshy islands in a lagoon. With no solid ground available, Venice has needed clever Keep reading
Fish Ladders Keep Species Swimming
Dams often use fish ladders to help migratory species make their way upstream without interruption. In this video, Grady from Practical Engineering discusses some of the considerations that go into Keep reading
Helping Fish Bypass Hydro Power Dams
Many dams in the U.S. were built at a time when their ecological impact was not a major concern. But, thanks to ongoing efforts to study affected species and upgrade Keep reading
How Spillway Gates Work
Dams and reservoirs need a way to control their water level, and for many, that’s managed using spillway gates. In this video, Grady from Practical Engineering introduces several types of Keep reading