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The State of America’s Roadways

05 Apr 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

Potholes. Steel plates. Grooved pavement. Faults in America’s roadways seem to be increasingly common, as does the traffic from road work. The roadways that connect our homes, businesses, cities, and states are a crucial part of America’s infrastructure, but seem to be in terrible condition. Is it really as bad…

How Do Pipelines Relate to Railways and Roads?

31 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

The relationship between pipelines and land is a central point of discussion whenever pipelines are in the headlines. Those who oppose pipelines may argue that pipelines infringe on private land, and those in favor of pipelines may point to the legal process designed to protect private citizens’ land from being…

Do You Know What’s Below? A look into Modern Roots March

24 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

    The ground we walk on is covered with asphalt for roads, concrete for sidewalks, and is naturally decorated with grass, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Intermingled within are telephone polls, electricity wires, buildings, and other structures requiring power. We all understand that natural organisms have roots that ground them…

How Much Land is Needed to Keep America Powered?

16 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

  Our 3.8 million square-mile nation uses its space for a lot of purposes. About 50 percent of U.S. land is used for agriculture. Roads run for over 4 million miles across the country. Forests occupy nearly 300,000 square miles. But this vast and dynamic country requires abundant energy to…

How Drones May Solve Climate Change

04 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

With a problem as large in scope as global climate change, the solution may need to be pretty big. But how about something the size of a bird, like a drone? Drones are compact but powerful tools. Already, we are seeing them complete tasks as diverse as aiding roof inspections,…

Are Pipelines Safe?

02 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

  o one could be blamed for having the wrong impression of pipelines. Views tend to align with politics, and media coverage often casts these silent transport methods in one extreme light or another. The facts about pipelines are quite revealing, but there is a lot of data to discuss…

Modern Life Is Rooted in Infrastructure

01 Mar 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

When you see a tree, you know it has roots. When you pull weeds, you aim to get all of those roots spread across the whole garden just beneath the ground. What you may not think of quite as intuitively is that modern infrastructure has roots too. This month, Aii…

Aii Joins American Flood Coalition – South Carolina

18 Feb 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: February 18, 2021 CONTACT: John Cassibry, jcassibry@aii.org   Charleston, SC, Feb. 18, 2021 — The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii), today, joins the American Flood Coalition, in order to advance both organizations’ missions of promoting resilient infrastructure. Aii is a national research and educational…

Aii Joins American Flood Coalition

18 Feb 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: February 18, 2021 CONTACT: John Cassibry, jcassibry@aii.org   Washington, D.C, Feb. 18, 2021 — The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii), today, joins the American Flood Coalition, in order to advance both organizations’ missions of promoting resilient infrastructure. “The future infrastructure challenges we are facing…

Learn About Drones from Drone Pilots

15 Feb 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

 What comes to mind when you think of drones? Advancements in technology for the betterment of society? Unmanned aircrafts used to spy on private citizens? If you aren’t in the drone-world, you may identify with the spy-movie nature of 24/7 drone surveillance. If you’re a drone fanatic, you may…

How Close Are We to a Smart Grid?

12 Feb 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

The power pulsing into your home right now probably comes courtesy of an antiquated system of power plants and transmission lines thought up while horse and buggies were still common on the streets. Even with the advent of the Internet age, we largely still use this one-way power network, and…

Mandy Gunasekara joins Aii Board of Directors

11 Feb 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: February 11, 2021 Contact: John Cassibry, jcassibry@aii.org   WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 11, 2021) – Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief of Staff, Mandy Gunasekara, joins The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) Board of Directors. “We are delighted Mandy is joining our Board of…

Climate Control Requires Fossil Fuels, For Now

22 Jan 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Blog Posts

Forgotten, it seems, in much of the discussion of climate change is the phrase “climate controlled.” This seemingly oxymoronic word pairing usually refers to buildings, which use heating systems and air conditioning to keep what is inside insulated from whatever occurs outside. Clearly climate control does not refer to humanity’s…

Three Stages of Pipeline Opposition and What Each Gets Wrong

14 Jan 2021, Posted by bdierker in All Posts, Analysis, Blog Posts

  generally comes in three key stages. Each stage has its merit, but opposition to natural gas pipelines in many instances leads to negative consequences. To separate fact from fiction and dive deeper into the issue, this policy blog explores some of the broader considerations for natural gas pipelines and…