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February Reading Stack

This month, it’s a nice blend of leadership and personal growth. I’m tearing through “Legacy” and “Be-Know-Do” both of which are proving a lot of great takeaways. “The Road to Character” is underway. And I […]

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Time Management vs. Task Management

Hey Crew – It’s so good to check back in with you here on Episode 026.  With so many task management systems now in existence, there’s an opportunity to turn your To Do list into […]

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Construction Layout at JJC

As the Joliet Junior College Spring 2023 semester got underway this week, I reminded the students how fortunate they are to be a part of a construction management program that offers them the opportunity to take a […]

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What I Read in 2022

As we bring 2022 to a close, we all get the chance to look backwards, Our personal After Action Reports. How did we do? How did we perform? Where did we thrive vs. where did […]

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Nothing Beats Hands-On Training

Ask any surveyor and they’ll likely agree: One of the hardest skills to master is setting-up and leveling a total station over a control point. Great to see the Joliet Junior College “Construction Layout” crew […]

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Full Scale SAR Training

Thanks to the Kane County, Illinois Emergency Management team, The Salvation Army food truck, and for all the volunteers who dedicated their Saturday participating in yesterday’s full scale Search and Rescue training exercise in Elgin, […]

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What is Your Percentage of Impact?

Hey Crew – It’s great to be back with you for Episode 025. I’m a big fan of the fire service: Fire service podcasts, fire service leadership. I’ve come to really value listening leaders in […]

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Leveling Up

So cool to see the Joliet Junior College “Construction Layout” students working in the east parking lot applying their new-found skills. Running level loops & setting TBM’s is just a part of what they’re getting […]

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Tennessee Air

We’ve spent the last few days touring Tennessee and hiking the Smokey Mountains. Such a beautiful part of the country-We don’t get views like we’ve seen back home in the corn belt of the Midwest. […]

Honoring Firefighters

FROM THE ARCHIVES

  • ARCHIVES

    Asking the Simple Question – The Solution

    In my previous article (CLICK HERE to read it), I described the maturation of a piling bearing capacity issue that we had on a recent railroad bridge project. Let’s dive into getting the issues resolved. [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    Asking the Simple Questions – The Problem

    “Ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism. It can even stifle someone’s sense of self-preservation. Often, the most difficult ego to [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    When Slopes Fail – Part 2

    In this, Part 2 of my series on slope stability & erosion control failures, I want to dissect another jobsite failure that one of our projects suffered through a couple of years ago. The conditions, [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    When Slopes Fail – Part 1

    There are some people I know, when talking about their “college days,” who can recite chapters & verses of classes they took. They can remember class numbers, people in the class, problems they solved, the [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    It’s More than a Line

    I wanted to write a post discussing a design issue that we encountered out here on our site. MicroStation, AutoCADD and the like are the daily tools of choice for almost all designers, and no [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    The Risk of Traffic – Final Chapter

    So as I’ve developed in the last 2 posts, traffic control on a construction project exposes just about everyone involved in the process to RISK. A motorcycle accident in 2008 sent me through the legal [...]
  • ARCHIVES

    The Risk of Traffic – Part 2

    As I developed in my last post, engineers in construction are often-times thrust into situations of RISK that, in many instances, are completely beyond their direct control. I’m going to take you on a tour [...]