In The News: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction

Septic tank conversions reveal a larger conservation issue; some say the government should look elsewhere to save water as experts say the region needs more.
Red has been the required background color for all government-related stop signs since the 1950s. However, blue stop signs can also be put up by private property owners on their own land.

When his firm was hired to design an auxiliary dwelling unit in a California yard, a designer customized the project with a mix of prefabricated and original features.

He said the goal of HOV lanes is to get people to carpool with each other, but he doesn’t see that happening.
Two major rail companies have come together to unveil a plan to create America's first transcontinental railroad. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced on Tuesday that they would be connecting over 50,000 route miles across 43 states from the East Coast to the West Cost, linking around 100 ports.

Major cuts to public bus and rail services are looming in cities from New York to San Francisco, as combined route reductions and fare hikes suggest a post-pandemic “death spiral” in ridership and revenue.

The Las Vegas Monorail, now over 20 years old, has helped prevent traffic congestion and provide tourists with easy Strip travel. But, how much longer is it expected to last? The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is seeking $12M to upgrade the train to make it last until 2035. Transportation engineer Harry Teng and UNLV Hospitality Associate Professor Chih-Chien Chen are here to discuss both the Monorail in comparison to the Boring Las Vegas Loop, as well as ideal public transportation systems.

Tariffs on imported goods are the known unknown in the Clark County School District’s offices of construction and facilities management.

The impact of the construction industry is obvious during the daily commute. From roads and plumbing to power lines and even the grocery store — everything was previously a construction site, said Mac Bybee, CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors in Nevada, or ABC Nevada.

Here in Clark County, we recycle 99 percent of the water we use indoors via several treatment facilities—but plants like that are a luxury few rural communities can afford. So, what will people there do if the drought gets so bad the pipes run dry? Graduate students in UNLV’s School of Engineering may be close to finding an answer.

Research groups at UNLV are working to find a solution to the scarce water situation in Southern Nevada.

“Can you imagine a day when you turn on your faucet and no water comes out?” The hypothetical question, posed by a research team at UNLV, is called a “Day Zero” scenario. It sounds like the plot of a doomsday apocalypse series but it’s not as unimaginable - or as far-fetched - as a Hollywood screenplay might seem.
