I recently became a licensed drone pilot after our team realized we had an opportunity to enhance our ability to gather information for traffic projects, whether through obtaining a more comprehensive understanding of the existing conditions within a project area or enhancing our deliverables to clients. Drone Use in Engineering While not all engineering projects…
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Vissim modeling allows individuals to map various intelligent traffic management systems to stabilize traffic flow and increase traffic safety. Vissim is a microsimulation tool that models individual vehicles in the traffic stream, considering the actions of virtual drivers in response to other vehicles, the road network, and various traffic controls. Sain Associates built a Vissim…
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Let us introduce ourselves – we are Sain Associates’ Traffic Team! Sain is widely recognized as one of the top traffic engineering firms in Alabama, with 15 Traffic Team members serving clients from our Birmingham headquarters and branch offices in Auburn, Mobile, and Huntsville, Alabama, and Pulaski, Tennessee. We have worked throughout the Southeast to…
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What does a fruit have to do with engineering? Well, in this case, it’s one of the first steps in the preliminary engineering process. The Advanced Planning, Programming, and Logical Engineering (APPLE) program is administered by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB). The goal of the program is to assist local governments in…
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Did you know that the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA) is one of the oldest associations for public safety systems? A group of municipal signal employees formed IMSA in 1896 as the “International Association of Fire and Police Telegraph Superintendents.” The initial goal of IMSA has stayed the same over the years: to help its members…
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Who doesn’t love to ride a bike or walk around their city? Have you ever thought about the planning that goes into making a street bicycle- or pedestrian-friendly? Historically, roads have been designed to get vehicles from point A to point B as quickly as possible, without a lot of regard for other road users…
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As a Senior Project Manager at Sain, I lead our transportation and sustainability practices in the Traffic Department to help communities plan for future growth. Sain’s approach is to take a look at the community as a whole to map out a plan that will include transportation analysis to shape a community’s future growth and…
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Interested in saving on fuel costs, reducing negative environmental impacts, and helping provide a more pleasant driving experience? The solution can be found through proper signal timing and coordination. Suppose signals are timed or coordinated incorrectly. In that case, vehicles will likely have to make frequent stops while traveling through a corridor, which wastes time…
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In April 2020, Carvana, a cutting-edge leader in online automotive sales, contracted Sain Associates to perform surveying, civil, and traffic engineering services for a distribution facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Although non-disclosure agreements required the project to be known as “Project Otto,” it was later announced as Carvana. Commonly known as an online car dealership and…
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When Sain Associates opened its doors in 1972, the business consisted of consulting engineering services and land surveying. Many projects included site engineering for enclosed shopping malls across the southeast. Believe it or not, some of the mall projects from the 1970s are still in operation today, including the Santa Rosa Mall in Mary Esther,…
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