The purpose of the strategic petroleum reserve is for national emergencies, international crises, and other disruptions in the supply of oil. It was never conceived to be a spigot to turn when self-created policies lead to bad circumstances. While there is no doubt that factors like lingering market impacts from…
Vacuuming your house to be rid of dust can be quite a chore. Dirt and dust seem to accumulate faster than you can keep up. Yet, ever since the first vacuum was invented in 1908, larger and more powerful vacuums have made cleaning household carpets and factory floors far easier….
When it comes to sustainability, many industries are considering how to reduce their energy consumption. Organizations are also taking a more critical look at how their services and products may impact the environment. With the rise in digital currency, new discussions are emerging about the value of cryptocurrency and its…
Do you know what is below? After a month of emphasizing modern roots, it is time to move into national safe digging month! Throughout March, Aii has been educating on the importance of building intuition about what is below your feet every day. While no one has X-ray vision, everyone…
Across the U.S., underground utilities occupy space at different depths. Many factors influence the depth you may find these pipes, cables, and wires, such as the local landscape, population density, and importantly, the regional climate. Due to regional climate variations within the U.S., these modern roots must be protected from…
In any natural landscape, a wide variety of vegetation have different root networks belowground. The same is true for the Modern Roots that deliver water, Internet, and much more to all different types of structures. The utilities that run beneath our feet are buried at different depths depending on a…
Are you planning to dig a hole? Maybe you’re just planting a small tree, installing a mailbox, or leveling out a wonky slope in your yard – but there may be something important underground that you can hit! Picture that you are standing below ground with your eyes at surface…
If you have been following the Aii educational series Modern Roots March this month, you’ll know that we want to get you thinking about underground utilities like you think about the roots of plants and trees. The reason is simple: if you start to recognize that modern life is supported…
Everyone knows you wouldn’t dig right next to the base of a tree if you thought there were roots underfoot. The same intuition should govern your decisions wherever you are because modern life is so interconnected that utilities, pipes, and wires run under your feet almost anywhere you are! That…
Beneath our households, sidewalks, and backyards, a hidden network of utilities enables a multitude of services to be delivered to consumers, like roots to a tree. Across the U.S., there are more than 20 million miles of underground utility infrastructure. These range from municipal sewer lines to privately-owned telecommunications lines…
An Artificial Energy Crisis President Joe Biden said this week that “It’s simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production.” He went on to cite onshore production statistics, comparing them to President Donald Trump’s first year in office, and stating that thousands of…
A single call to 811 for an excavation project sets in motion a process that will reveal modern roots in a dig site. Damage prevention is a collaboration of different stakeholders who pass information on down the line until each party has completed their task and the site is ready…
Building anything, from a suburban family home to a 50-story skyscraper in a downtown business district, requires preparing the building site. A crucial part of the preparation begins before any machinery makes contact with the Earth: locating underground utilities at the construction site. Pipelines, cables, wires, and other utilities can…
Throughout your daily routine – whether it’s your commute to work, grocery shopping, or visiting grandma – your life is dependent on crucial pieces of infrastructure you may not even notice. The foundation of our ability to enjoy electricity, running water, and home heating rests on millions of miles of…
The current push to electrify the U.S. transportation sector along with homes and businesses means that massive amounts of raw material will be needed to build out a more robust and smarter grid, deploy new renewable technology, and facilitate power storage. This electrified future that many long for will require…
