Before the arrival of European immigrants in the United States, forests totaled about 1.05 billion acres, or about 43 percent of the country. Clearing of forest land in the East between 1850 and 1900 averaged 13 square miles every day for 50 years.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been around for a long time. The precursor technology to RFID was originally developed as a musical instrument by the Russian physicist Leon Theremin, patented in 1928. The Theremin produces music by manipulation of electromagnetic fields around two antennae to produce sound.

Berntsen International, a leading manufacturer of infrastructure marking products, announces that its InfraMarker RFID App now supports Near Field Communication (NFC) and is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

What does the term “Public Works” mean? It’s one of those terms that are so broad that it almost defies definition.

The American Public Works Association (APWA) says “Because of the multi-faceted, ever-evolving nature of public works, we may never arrive at a final definition but, for now, the following definition seems appropriate: Public works is the combination of physical assets, management practices, policies, and personnel necessary for government to provide and sustain structures and services essential to the welfare and acceptable quality of life for its citizens.”

We’ve all heard of RFID, a technology that’s been around since the 1930s. Did you know that it’s now one of the fastest-growing technologies in the world?

Money, Money, Money

Infrastructure is no longer an ignored necessity in the United States. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021, our country is making a once-in-a-lifetime investment in its economic backbone to the tune of $1.2 trillion over five years. In 2022, 6,900 specific projects have been launched in 4,000 communities in all 50 states.

It’s National 811 Day – a very important, but little-known commemoration. Anyone who is planning to disturb the ground should call this number before digging or excavating – or go to call811.com and connect online. Once you provide the area of excavation, locators will come out and mark the location of buried gas pipes, water lines, power cables and other underground utilities.

As surveyors intimately understand, it’s very important to know what’s below. Your life could depend on it. National Safe Digging Month was created in 2008 by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) to bring visibility to protecting workers, utilities and the public by working to prevent utility strikes during excavation. This group is comprised of companies and individuals in every facet of the underground utility industry, including Berntsen.

Harmful algae blooms (HABs) are occurring more and more frequently in lakes, rivers, streams and coastal areas across the United States. Further, HABs are occurring where they were never found in the past. View a map from the Natural Resources Defense Council that tracks HABs across the United States.

Most people don’t really think about how geographic information provides the framework for our entire existence. We exist as living organisms in time and space. Our minds may be occupied with far-way thoughts, but our memories are inextricably tied to the place where they were created. As long as we live and breathe, we always have a location. Shakespeare’s Hamlet said “To be or not to be, that is the question.” Surveyors say, “To be is to occupy a position relative to two axes.”