Latest Updates

Annual ATPA Conference at Gulf State Park

On March 13-15, the Alabama Transportation Planners Association (ATPA) gathered in Gulf Shores for its annual conference.  The mood was decidedly more cheerful this year, thanks to passage of the Rebuild Alabama Act, which will provide more money to fund transportation infrastructure needs in Alabama. In addition to celebrating the good news for funding, participants got to…
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“Aren’t you already a Road Safety Professional?”

I have some new initials behind my name.  Erin L. Curry, P.E., R.S.P.  I am now a certified Road Safety Professional (RSP).  (To read what the P.E. means, check out this blog post). Charles Cochran in our Birmingham, AL office also obtained the certification.  A few months ago the Transportation Professional Certification Board (TPCB) announced a new certification…
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Mentoring the Senior Design Class

The Senior Design program at the University of Alabama provides students with the opportunity to get realistic experience practicing engineering with area industries. Sain Associates has had the pleasure of working with the Senior Design Class every semester since the Fall of 2017. Each semester the class is given a different engineering project, and professionals aid…
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Rebuilding Alabama’s Infrastructure

Guest Blogger: Drew Harrell, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Business Council of Alabama and Executive Director of the Alliance for Alabama’s Infrastructure All over the state, at every level of government, the issue of fixing Alabama’s crumbling road and bridge system is a policy matter that has risen to the forefront over the past few…
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Behind The Scenes: I-59/20 Big Build

If you live anywhere close to the Birmingham area or if you have traveled through Birmingham within the past several months, you are certainly aware of the construction taking place on I-59/20 in the Central Business District (CBD) of downtown Birmingham. The emphasis of the project is to replace the aging bridges on I-59/20 between…
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ACEC Alabama: 2019 Outlook

There have been a lot of exciting things happening for the American Council of Engineering Companies from a National and State perspective. It is an honor to serve as President for ACEC Alabama for the 2018/2019 fiscal year. It’s hard to believe that my term is halfway through. We have an extremely hard working Board made up…
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Travel Demand Models Help Predict Travel Patterns

Travel Demand Forecasting involves the use of a variety of models to duplicate Trip Generation, Trip Distribution, Mode Choice (e.g. car, transit, bicycle, etc.), and Highway/Transit assignment in a metropolitan region. The models are coded using a program language that is typically executed using Cube or TransCAD software. The primary inputs into the model are…
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