Reflection, Vision, and Change

Reflection
Reflecting on the last few months has brought back memories of my childhood. The experience with the SR-193 design reminded me of the holidays with all of my Aunts, Uncles, cousins and grandparents. In the beginning we would all be happy to see each other and the excitement at first was exhilarating. Although at the end of the day everyone was ready to go home and yes in the end I just wanted it over and done.

There was the controversy of who ate the turkey leg before dinner and stuffed the remains under the couch cushion. Then we would have the traditional fight on who was going to set the table and who was going to wash dishes afterward. This was always a meaningless event because Mom and my Aunts with the help of Grandma would always end up setting the table and doing the dishes no matter who was assigned to do it. Uncle Bud would sneak out for a smoke behind the barn thinking no one knew. Truth told my Aunt was happy that Uncle Bud was not in her way. Grandpa, Dad and several other uncles would sit in front of the TV after dinner and snore. The cousins would compare scars they received while doing something spectacular or foolish depending on your point of view. The older kids would taunt and torture the younger ones until someone started to cry. At that point we were all punished and told to behave. It didn’t matter if we had done nothing wrong because it wasn’t about being fair it was about being quiet. I will admit comparing the design process to a holiday memory is a little strange, but yet I am reminded of those days long past every time I sit down to review a set of plans.

Vision
While watching an old science fiction flick on TV this weekend I kept thinking about what will be possible in the future of transportation? Intelligent cars and highways are always a topic of conversation when we talk about the future of transportation, but what is the future of roadway design and construction? Carlos Braceras has said that someday he would like to see no impact construction. He talked about the idea of rolling out the new roadway at night like a big spool of cloth but instead of cloth use either asphalt or concrete spools. This is one vision for the future of transportation. Although it may not seem possible today, cell phones were not considered possible back when Star Trek first aired on TV. Remember, Captain Kirk introduced the pocket size communicator while exploring new worlds on television back in the 1960s’.

Putting it into perspective is easy when you think that we are only two generations from the Civil War. I was alive when the last veteran of the Civil War died and all of you were alive when the last WWI veteran died. What did our Transportation system in Utah look like during the Civil War or WWI? How long did it take to design and construct a highway 20, 50, 100, or even 150 years ago? 20 years ago design of a highway could take anywhere from 1 to 5 years depending on the complexity, then it could take up to 3 years to construct. I don’t recall any large projects, during that time that didn’t take at least two years before construction was complete. Designing and constructing a highway back then is not the same as it is today. Today the process is more complex because the demands of our system have increased exponentially in the last 20 years. Yet we design and construct projects in half the time it took 20 years ago. We have had to become more efficient in our approach to meet the increased demands of the transportation system. Precast bridges with ABC construction and precast concrete pavement panels along with other innovations in design and construction will bring us one step closer to Carlo’s vision of rolling out the roadway overnight.

Then there is the idea of intelligent cars and highways that we will see in our life time. If you don’t think that it is possible just watch an episode of the old Star Trek and count how many things we have now that were not invented in 1965. Automatic doors, communicators (Cell Phones), portable computers, and big screen TVs’ to name a few items that someone envisioned as possible. Necessity is the mother of invention and if the recent demands for transportation improvements are any indication we will be inventing lots of new ways to work in the near future.


Changes
Change is the one constant in the universe and Region One is consistent with the universe. Preconstruction has said goodbye to Tom Hales, Ben Maughan, and Brad Loveless and are looking forward to bringing Thomas Roylance into our design team. Tom Hales has moved into Central Structures, Ben Maughan is the Region’s newest Resident Engineer and Brad Loveless will be working as a Field Engineer with Jace Meacham’s crew. Our Region Program Manager Kevin Griffin is also moving to another challenge at Central Construction. With these new changes come new perspectives, ideas and opportunities for growth.

"Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."
—John F. Kennedy

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
- Benjamin Franklin