Best practices in public works are not static

Bob Moorhead, P.E.

Compliance Manager, Washington State County Road Administration Board Olympia, Washington Trustee, Public Works Historical Society

istory is not static. The history of public works is concerned with both the origins and development of public works systems left to us by past generations, and with changes over time in beliefs concerning such systems and roles played by them in society.

Over the past 50 to 70 years, prevailing beliefs concerning technological or “best practices” answers to various public works challenges and issues have evolved, and in some cases have almost reversed. Factors driving these changes include greater public involvement; different values for natural resources; and changes in available technologies. Here are some anecdotal examples:

Solid Waste

1955: In New York City the typical single family dwelling generated three to six 32-gallon cans of mixed waste every week. The Sanitation Department used a three-person crew (one driver and two loaders) on each five-cubic-yard capacity truck to pick up the waste three times a week. About half the work day was spent picking up the trash, and the other half of the day was spent driving to the drop-off site in the course of picking up three loads per truck per day.

2012: In Olympia, Washington, residential solid waste is picked up every other week. Single-family dwellings typically use a single 64-gallon wheeled cart, which is emptied into the 20-cubic-yard truck with a mechanical arm operated by the driver, requiring only one end-of-shift trip to the drop-off site. This is a reduction of up to 83% in each home’s solid waste. The same truck and driver are used to pick up a 64-gallon cart of mixed recyclable materials (paper, plastics, glass) in the alternate week. And, on Mondays, the same truck and driver pick up 96-gallon yard waste carts.

Wastewater Treatment

1956: When the author’s home was built, the rain gutters were connected to the combined sanitary-storm sewer, which drained into the waters of Puget Sound. “The Solution to Pollution was Dilution.”

2012: Not only have the rain gutters been disconnected from the sanitary sewer (which is now connected to a tertiary treatment plant), a separate stormwater collection system has been created, and even those flows receive retention and detention treatment before being discharged into the bay. The sanitary flows now go through a treatment plant that has been upgraded several times since it was built in the early 1960s, and now provides ultraviolet final disinfection before entering Puget Sound.

Urban Freeways

1930 to 1960: Downtown waterfronts of coastal cities were prime locations for elevated highways, freeways and expressways. The goal was to ease downtown traffic congestion and reduce conflicts between freight moving on and off oceangoing ships docked in the harbor and the growing number of private cars. Examples include the West Side Highway in Manhattan, the Central Artery in Boston, the Embarcadero in San Francisco, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle.

2012: Today, all four examples are either gone or are in the process of being replaced. The conflicts have dissipated as the ocean shipping has evolved to containers, and the old industrial waterfronts have become more pedestrian oriented. In New York and San Francisco, the elevated structures have been replaced by surface boulevards. In Boston, the “Big Dig” allowed the waterfront to be reconnected to the historic downtown. And, in Seattle, construction has commenced to replace the earthquake-prone twolevel elevated highway with a deepbore, two-level, four-lane tunnel that will snake its way on a more inland alignment beneath the heart of downtown, offering opportunities to once again extend the bustling downtown to the shore.

River Systems

1870-1970: Major river systems were once routinely harnessed for waterborne transportation, flood control, irrigation and energy generation facilities.

2012: Currently, serious proposals are on the table to remove four dams on the Snake River between Pasco, Washington, and Lewiston, Idaho, and return the river to free flowing to enhance habitat for endangered fish species. In northwest Washington

State, two dams on the Elwah River that provided electricity for industries in Port Angeles are being removed as you read this. Removal of the Condit Dam is also underway on the White Salmon River in southwest Washington, and dam removal may soon become a reality on the Klamath River in southern Oregon.

Urban Mass Transit 1930s through early 1960s:

Most of the electric trolley systems in North American cities were dismantled and replaced with “modern” rubber-tired bus systems.

2012: In cities across the United States and Canada, “light rail” is making a comeback. No doubt there are some “new routes” that lie within a stone’s throw of those constructed about a century ago.

What does all this mean?

Public works is not a static profession. As new technologies develop, as public attitudes evolve, and as the Earth’s finite resources come into focus, public works is in the forefront of making the changes necessary to meet the needs of our local communities and our world at large.

Bob Moorhead is a Past President of the Washington State Chapter, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Public Works Historical Society. He can be reached at (360) 350-6083 or BobM@crab.wa.gov.

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