Infrastructure

When engineers build roads, they use weather models to decide what kind of pavement can withstand the local climate. Currently, many American engineers use temperature data from 1964 to 1995 to select materials. But the climate is changing.

Hurricane season in the U.S. generally runs from late spring to late fall. Hurricane season in the Atlantic basin, which encompasses the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30. It’s slightly longer for the Eastern Pacific basin, which includes the waters off the nation’s west coast. Its season lasts from May 15 to Nov. 30.

Let’s say your city needs cash to build a new school or sewer system. The budget lacks funds and the state government is only willing to pay a small share. What does your city do? Most likely, it issues a municipal bond.

It can be expensive making your home or business conform to local building codes. Ensuring a building does not get blown down in a storm or toppled in an earthquake can require costly materials. Adding confusion to the cost, states and many municipalities have unique requirements for builders and contractors.

In the United States a frequent source for cycling-infrastructure design is the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. In its current form, the guide favors one-way bike lanes separated from vehicular traffic by painted lines; cycle paths at sidewalk level are discouraged and physically separated two-way paths, known as cycle tracks, are not mentioned.