Practical Engineering - Why Construction Projects Always Go Over Budget, 21032023

From preconstruction costs to inflation to unexpected site conditions, there are a lot of reasons construction budgets rarely align with construction costs.

Practical Engineering - How Different Spillway Gates Work 03012023

Almost all dams need a way to release excess water when the reservoir is full. Although many dams use uncontrolled spillways, gated spillways provide more control over the flow, allowing us to build smaller, more cost-effective structures. There are countless arrangements of mechanical devices that have been used across the world and throughout history to manage the flow of water. But, modern engineering has coalesced to variations on only a few different kinds of gates.

Practical Engineering - How Would a Nuclear EMP Affect the Power Grid, 08112022

How a nuclear blast in the upper atmosphere could disable the power grid This video is a summary of the EPRI study on the impacts that a high-altitude nuclear electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) would have on the US power grid. It’s the first in a deep-dive series of videos about large-scale threats to the grid

Practical Engineering - Why Buildings Need Foundations, 04012022

What is a foundation and why do all structures need one? If all the earth was solid rock, life would be a lot simpler, but maybe a lot less interesting too. It is both a gravitational necessity and a source of job stability to structural and geotechnical engineers that all construction - great and small - sits upon the ground. And the ways in which we accomplish such a seemingly unexceptional feat are full of fascinating and unexpected details.

Practical Engineering - Why SpaceX Cares About Concrete, 05102021

When a launch or landing pad fails, it can be worse than if it wasn’t there at all, creating high-speed projectiles that jeopardize the safety of the vehicle and its support equipment, not to mention its crew. It’s a nice reminder that even the humblest provision here on earth - a solid, flat, and durable surface - is an absolute luxury on another world and of the importance of infrastructure in our interplanetary quests