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Other stories by Amara Rozgus

  • Phase II: Now what?

    Your municipality is in the midst of its first NPDES Phase II permit. What should you expect for the next one?

  • 2006 Trendsetters

    From do-gooders to good-for-nothings, 50 people, places, and events that shaped, shocked, or otherwise rocked our world over the past year.

  • A perfect circle

    Vance and her team at the Butler County Department of Environmental Services (BCDES) were set on starting up an environmental management system (EMS) in 2001, and nothing was going to stop them.

  • A bird's eye view

    Alone, aerial images won't make your road maintenance team work faster or your sewer mains stop backing up. But when combined with a geographic information system (GIS), accurate data collection, and sound asset-management practices, they can enhance communication internally and with constituents.

  • Joint Venture

    Many municipalities need help completing projects, whether they're new water treatment plants, building a new bridge, or updating an urban park. According to an exclusive survey of PUBLIC WORKS readers, 92% of municipal public works departments used architectural, engineering, and construction...

  • Cold patch with a twist

    John Ackerman, general manager of Everett, Wash.-based YK Products LLC, explains the innovative U.S. Cold Patch.

  • Career paths

    With our public works experts retiring or moving on to second careers, we all know there will be a shortage of experts in the not-so-distant future. By taking a high school or college student under your wing, you can mentor the public works officials of the future.

  • Hallowed ground

    The good news is that more public works departments are handling this Hazardous Household Waste appropriately. The bad news is that nearly one-third of PUBLIC WORKS survey respondents still do not collect HHW of any kind.

  • Coming together

    One of the primary reasons public works employees join a union is the strong contracts for benefits and other perks. Read the results of this and other aspects of unionized work forces, as PUBLIC WORKS shares results of its recent union survey.

  • Is automated collection for you?

    Living in the large city of Chicago, I'm very aware of how much solid waste there is—on the streets and in the alleys, where my trash is collected. Those refuse collectors stop by my house only on Tuesdays, but I see the giant blue Streets and Sanitation trucks scattered around the city's...