Unless you are involved in building or facilities management, few designers encounter, or are required to support, post-build issues such as power cuts, or suffer the associated productivity and economic losses that power cuts can cause. [acronym] online’s, Vinny Poliseno, talked to Mark Ascolese of EDSA about making power systems “perfect on paper” before a single building foundation is laid.

Got questions? We’ve got answers. Each issue our team of experts weighs in on a variety of topical issues relevant to public sector digital design. In this issue our team of experts includes leading technical and public sector experts from Avatech Solutions, CADD Centers of Florida, U.S. CAD, and CADD Microsystems. With the weight of current economic pressures on business organizations and government agencies alike, we asked our network of experts to weigh in on the following question:

The Route 22/322 Lewistown Narrows Project was PennDOT’s second largest construction project and most complex project ever undertaken. Once considered one of the most dangerous roads in the United States, the Narrows Project consisted of expanding a two-lane roadway into a modern four-lane limited access expressway. This 10 mile, $142 million project represents an example of award-winning innovation and ingenuity having overcome numerous challenges to finish a year ahead of schedule. Here are a few facts and figures of how PennDOT not only overcame challenges but surpassed expectations.

Shaan Hurley is a passionate and public Autodesk figure. His blog, “Between the Lines,” was the first recognized CAD industry blog back in 2003. Despite working for Autodesk for more than 10 years, Shaan considers himself to be a product user and customer evangelist first and an Autodesk employee second.

Imagine you are standing in the lobby of your new civic center. To the left, you see the reception area and foyer meeting space. With a movement of the mouse your view switches to what you would see if you were looking outside the south window. Switch off the structural view to see all the electrical and piping systems tracing their outlines above and around you as you walk toward the elevator. No, this is not a movie and no you are not on the holodeck of Star Trek’s Enterprise. You are experiencing a building information model where design visualization crosses the line into design virtualization. Real 3D design is now pervasive; driven by the vast improvement in understanding that designers and clients gain. Today, anyone can walk down the street to Home Depot to obtain 3D drawings of a new custom kitchen renovation project from multiple angles. They aren’t in color and don’t show the details of materials and lighting effects, but they are a vast improvement over that of a 2D plan, which most people cannot picture. Large building projects are taking the pervasiveness of 3D, combined with the power of building information models a step or two further down the visualization line – adding color, materials and lighting effects at the basic end, and comprehensive, animated, virtual walking tours at the higher end.

Earlier this year Autodesk declared it was turning the lights out on AutoCAD® Land Desktop with its 2009 version release. This news was not so surprising since Autodesk has been evangelizing the benefits of migrating users to AutoCAD® Civil 3D for some time. However, while Civil 3D is regarded as the creme-de-la-creme of civil design software, it has also been perceived as somewhat too heavy-handed for the needs of certain users. Cognizant of this, Autodesk has taken the step of looking beyond LDT to introduce technology solutions that better fits the needs of civil engineering organizations. We explore AutoCAD® Civil and explain the key differences between it and AutoCAD Civil 3D to help you make the right choice for your civil engineering needs.

The City of Roseville Environmental Utilities Department Streamlines CAD & GIS Workflow Processes While Getting a Grip on Rapid Growth. Located a few miles to the north east of Sacramento, CA, the City of Roseville, California, began as a sleepy railroad town. Recent years have seen the city grow outward in all directions with an expansive industrial zone that is headquarters to many large corporations. With just four full time employees, the City of Roseville’s Environmental Utilities Department (REUD) needed to scale quickly and efficiently to handle the challenges of managing and maintaining its extensive utilities infrastructure, without increasing head count.

Chiron Technology Services, Inc. has developed a portal that gives users an easy way to display and interface with different datasets that it has created in a serious gaming environment. With serious gaming, information is presented with the look and feel of a video game, but offers a deeper experience: It helps a soldier prepare for battle by showing real-life battlefield scenarios or gives a facilities manager a 3D view of the buildings he manages.

When it comes to disseminating information, reaching people and collaboration, more and more government agencies are turning to Web-based, interactive social communities. Traditionally viewed with skepticism in both business and government, Web 2.0 – a term used to describe a two-way collaborative Internet – is gaining firm ground in the public sector. Blogs, podcasting, virtual worlds, wikis and all forms of new media are increasing public outreach and fostering intra-agency collaboration in a highly accessible, low cost way.

Since the beginning of time, people have had the urge to express their opinions. Even before the freedom of expression was guaranteed by law, given an outlet people have welcomed the opportunity to share their thoughts. Fast forward 30,000 years and people still have the urge to share their knowledge. The underlying practice is still the same but the digital age has changed the medium from rock and flint to blogs and keyboards.