2001: A Trash Odyssey

Fresh Kills on Staten Island is the largest operating landfill in the world and the only active landfill in New York City, processing some 13,000 tons

By Janet Ward • May 1, 1999

Y2K: You’ve still to time to do something

I am not the kind of person who slows down to gape at car accidents. I would not stay in my beach house (which, by the way, I don’t have yet) and toast the coming hurricane.

By Janet Ward • May 1, 1999

Snow problem: Buffalo knows how to deal with winter

Locals remember the Blizzard of 85 as if it happened yesterday. That 85 storm and its sister, the Blizzard of 77 forever planted Buffalo, N.Y., in the nations mind as the Snow Capital of the United States.

By Janet Ward • April 1, 1999

Playground design: It’s more than child’s play

Play comes easily to children, and it takes only a little thought for them to turn anything into a toy: Slap a board over a barrel, and call it a seesaw; tie a tire to a limb, and the tree becomes a swing set.

By Beth Wade • March 1, 1999

‘Tanks’ for the memories

Standing over communities of all sizes, elevated water tanks are an enduring part of the national landscape, appearing on the horizon as icons of identity and local legend.

By Beth Wade • Nov. 1, 1998

How privatization helped raise the bar in the solid waste field

Over the last 30 years the competition among waste services companies and municipal solid waste departments has grown in intensity.

By Christi Clark • Feb. 1, 1998

Construction continues at Toledo’s Swan Creek

For several years, the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio, was the focus of area developers, while Swan Creek, a tributary to the river, was largely ignored.

Jan. 1, 1998

Post-earthquake building restoration wins award

It’s been said that every cloud has a silver lining, and this adage rings true in Oakland, Calif., where the dark cloud of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake has resulted in the restoration and preservation of a landmark historic building.

June 1, 1997

Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell: 1996 Municipal Leader of the Year

Philadelphia was foundering in an ocean of red ink when Ed Rendell decided he had the stuff to save it.

By Janet Ward • Nov. 1, 1996

Chicago dump re-use is not par for the course

he two golf courses that comprise Harborside International Golf Center are just 16 minutes from downtown Chicago and on one of the city’s highest elevations at a site originally used for disposal of municipal solid waste and, later, for incinerator ash and wastewater sludge. Another portion was used as a landfill for construction debris.

Oct. 31, 1996

San Diego stays cool with chilled water system

More than 2 million square feet of space in the heart of San Diego — including hotels, theaters and shopping centers, such as the 900,000-square-foot Horton Plaza — receive chilled water for air conditioning via a 2.5-mile subterranean District Cooling System, which is owned by San Diego Power & Cooling Co.

Oct. 1, 1996

Landfill innovations – down-in-the-dumps solutions

Looking for innovations on the current landfill scene is a bit like chasing the facts in a scandal: the key is to follow the money.

By Shapard Rob • Sept. 1, 1996

10 issues in urban stormwater pollution control

As pollution from traditional point sources is reduced, it is clear that much of the remaining pollution in most rivers, lakes and streams is the result of stormwater discharges from urban systems.

By Les Lange, Howard Andrews, Kirk Kisinger • Sept. 1, 1996

A grand experiment brings spring floods back to the Canyon

Upstream water users are wary of the impact on vital water and power supplies as concern for the environment downstream from big federal dams begins to play a greater role in their operation.

By Shapard Rob • June 1, 1996

Chicago digs deep to better manage stormwater

The $194.5 million Calumet Tunnel, part of the Calumet Tunnel System in Chicago's southern suburbs, was recently completed more than a year ahead of schedule.

June 1, 1996

How to prepare bridges to survive winter

Little lasts forever, and concrete bridges under heavy use are no exception. But properly protecting the surface and structure of bridges can add ears,

April 1, 1996

North Miami opens aquatic playground

The latest rage in aquatic recreation is big, blue and orange, spews water and sits in a pool no deeper than 12 inches. The first Wet-Tot-Lot in Dade County, Fla., is now open and fully operational at the city of North Miami’s Gribble Pool.

Feb. 1, 1996

America’s sewers: finally money goes down the drain

Wastewater collection systems in the United States are in disarray. About 60 percent of the country’s sewers were installed before 1950, and their pipes are deteriorating.

By Ed Peratta • Jan. 1, 1996

Engineering as a tool for city management

Running any successful city or county has always required the efforts of two disparate types of people — those with a technical bent and those whose talents are best suited to managing things.

By Weingardt, Richard • Sept. 1, 1995

Chicago parks play for keeps with partnerships.

Chicago’s park system has been referred to in the past as “dysfunctional,” “a patronage system for jobs, not for citizens” and “out of control.” It used to take 84 steps and a year to fire a problem employee, and vacancies went unfilled for an average of 38 weeks.

By Kelly Steve • Sept. 1, 1995

Regionalization: a solid waste solution

Historically, states have delegated the responsibility of solid waste management (SWM) to local governments. These responsibilities vary considerably

By Robert Craggs • Aug. 1, 1995

The pros and cons of buying and selling wastewater plants

Many cash-strapped local governments have tried selling public infrastructure to private enterprise to generate additional funds. Former President George

By Douglas Herbst • July 1, 1995

Shake, rattle & hold: landfill stability in seismic regions

Landfill forensic analysis, the examination of landfill durability following seismic events, has taken root in the last two decades, rising from the rubble of California’s San Fernando, Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes.

By Anne Magnuson • April 1, 1995

GAC can be affordable alternative

Most people believe powdered activated carbon (PAC) is a more cost-effective water treatment method than granular activated carbon (GAC). Over the last decade, several articles have been published about the cost of installed GAC treatment systems, and their conclusions are enough to make most cities think twice about implementing GAC.

By Gary Van Stone, Annette Vickers • Feb. 1, 1995