"Why are they digging a hole on my street?" Toronto puts infrastructure planning online Wondering what that hole is doing in the middle of the road

InfraNews
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"Why are they digging a hole on my street?"

Toronto puts infrastructure planning online

Wondering what that hole is doing in the middle of the road outside your office? What's going on with the stripped-down sidewalk outside your house?

Starting this week, you'll be able to check out those and other major construction projects going on across Toronto at a new website run by Toronto's Transporation Services, Toronto Water, and city planning.

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Globe Editorial:

Drive the mafia out of Quebecs construction industry

Cash doled out to workers to make “personal” donations to political parties; blacklisting of companies that don’t pay the right kickbacks. According to a new report by the respected former Montreal police chief Jacques Duchesneau that was leaked last week, these relics of a bygone era are common practices in Quebec’s construction industry. Before any more damage is done, Premier Jean Charest should take decisive action to restore confidence in the province’s institutions.

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New University Study: Canadian PVC pipes perform better than old fashioned cement & metal

Why is PVC lasting so much longer, especially in Canada? PVC can flex as the ground freezes. But even more importantly - it doesn't rust and corrode, which the Utah State University study says is the major cause of watermain breaks.

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Helping save the Chesapeake Bay, One Oyster at a Time

Bill Chamberlin, a retired engineer and land surveyor, has a small operation in his barn where he makes oyster floats out of PVC pipe. While oyster growers enjoy eating their catch, they also help clean up Chesapeake Bay. Chamberlin estimates a mature oyster will filter 50 to 60 gallons of water per oyster per day, so 1,000 oysters clean 50,000 or 60,000 gallons of water daily.

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Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies offers a New Online Course

The University of Waterloo’s Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technologies will be offering a new online course entitled “Buried Infrastructure Asset Management and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (Traditional and New Approaches)” during the Fall 2012 session. Live webcasting offers the convenience of studying wherever you choose.

The course is part of the CATT’s Education Program for Civil Infrastructure Professionals and will be credited towards Buried Infrastructure Specialist Certification. For further information and registration, please visit www.epcip.ca.

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Tired of scratched up cellphones?

A new American Chemical Society (ACS) video explores materials that mimic the human skin’s ability to heal scratches and cuts.

The video takes viewers on a tour of the lab of Nancy Sottos, Ph.D., who has published articles on the self-healing plastics. She is an engineering professor at the University of Illinois. Inspired by human skin, the plastics repair themselves by “bleeding” healing agents when they are cut or scratched.

The video is available at www.BytesizeScience.com.

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Questions or comments?

Let's hear them! Call or email anytime.

Veso Sobot, P.Eng.
Ipex Management Inc.
veso.sobot@ipexna.com
(905) 795-6113

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