Why Your Multi-Million Dollar Infrastructure Inventory Fails the Thanksgiving Test

Every facility manager and construction executive knows the panic of the Thanksgiving host: you have 50 ingredients, 20 guests, and a single critical item (like the turkey thermometer or a specific cable spool) is missing. In business, this "missing ingredient" isn't a ruined dinner; it's a multi-million dollar project delay due to untraceable assets in a vast laydown yard or warehouse.

GIS connects location to data – delivering a unique way to visualize and address complex, multi-dimensional challenges. It is also phenomenally versatile and easily integrates with other technologies. Today GIS is experiencing significant growth, expanding across nearly every industry, from urban planning and environmental management to public health and business operations. 

Military land surveyors have been crucial throughout history, from laying the groundwork for national expansion and defense to modern-day roles in targeting and construction. Important figures include presidents like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who started as surveyors, and military engineers like John C. Frémont, who mapped vast territories and borders. Modern military survey roles are vital for reconnaissance, troop movement, and construction projects. 

The origins of land surveying and engineering can be traced back thousands of years to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks.

September is National Wilderness Month. The dictionary describes wilderness as: an uncultivated, uninhabited and inhospitable region. For a lot of places in the world, that definition fits perfectly.

At Berntsen, quality isn’t an afterthought—it is the foundation of everything we produce. Survey markers must endure decades in the field under harsh conditions, which is why we start with only the highest-grade raw materials trusted by surveyors, engineers, and agencies nationwide.

For most of us, Labor Day is our last chance to enjoy a long summer weekend with our friends and family before the Fall school or work grind begins in earnest. It’s a great holiday, with a history nearly as long as the country itself.

Public works are key to making our communities livable, and the American Public Works Association (APWA) is committed to continually developing the skills of public works professionals across the full spectrum of public works. 

In 1995, there were more than 20 million miles of buried utilities in the United States, making excavating very dangerous. Compounding the problem was the 70+ state and regional numbers to call for underground utility locating.

You may have noticed a steady stream of news articles about the discovery of hidden cities and previously unknown civilizations. These discoveries are the direct result of new technologies adapted from surveying and engineering by archeologists to access a deeper and more precise view of historical artifacts.

Asset management is key to every economic sector, impacting manufacturing, utilities, transportation, agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry, construction – to name a few.  Each sector faces continual challenges, including fluctuating economic conditions, climate impacts and the ever-present pressure to improve efficiency.

Interestingly, our oldest federal monuments are not protected by designation as a national park or reserve. The 40 stone monuments that mark the border of Washington, D.C. are protected only by metal fences placed around the markers in 1915 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Despite that, several stones have been repositioned, removed, lost, or buried over the years.

Portable bins, relocated signs, replaced valves — assets move. But your records shouldn’t get lost.

RFID links identity to GIS, so you can maintain accuracy even as assets are replaced or repositioned.

When managing an inventory of thousands of assets, it’s a challenge to keep track of them all. RFID provides the ability to instantly identify any asset in the field and verify its identity in GIS.

Many assets, including utility valves in Right of Ways, fire hydrants across a city, and utility poles are engaged by multiple departments, contractors and customers outside of the utility owner.

Sharing precise information between entities is essential but is fraught with difficulties and regulatory considerations.

When infrastructure fails, the consequences go far beyond a broken part.

It could mean outages, safety risks, service disruptions — and for public agencies and utilities, it impacts more than just the asset. It affects operational budgets, regulatory compliance, and public trust.

Today is International Women in Engineering Day – a commemoration that is just 12 years old. Long before there was any specific recognition for women in engineering careers, many women were quietly making an impact with visionary thinking and hard work.

For example, Virginia Norwood designed the first space-based multispectral scanner that flew on the first Landsat—an instrument that went on to define many aspects of modern remote sensing.

In later years, the day came to be observed in honor of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and in 1967 its name officially changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day. It is observed with the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, and by religious services, parades, and speeches nationwide.[3]

National Public Works Week was first proclaimed in 1962 by President John F Kennedy. “. . . I urge all our people to join with representatives of governmental agencies in activities and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works engineers and administrators and to recognize the substantial contributions they have made to our national health and welfare”.

Managing and protecting fish populations is more critical than ever. Aquaculture now supplies nearly half of the world’s farmed and wild fish and the demand continues to surge.

Technology, Stewardship, and a Sustainable Future

Each year on April 22, the world comes together to celebrate Earth Day—a reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the natural world. At InfraMarker and Berntsen International, our connection to the earth has been lived for more than 50 years, starting with innovative, lightweight marking products that helped outline the boundaries of our national parks.