What we do...

Public works are the construction or engineering projects carried out by the state on behalf of the community. The notion of internal improvements or public works is a concept in economics and politics. The term public infrastructure refers only to the infrastructural capital involved in these activities. Public WorksAn internal improvement is some constructed object that augments a nation's economic infrastructure; examples include airports, canals, dams, dikes, pipelines, railroads, roads, tunnels, and artificial harbors. Public works is a slightly broader term; it can include such things as: mines, schools, hospitals, water purification and sewage treatment centers.
Municipal infrastructure, urban infrastructure and rural development are often used interchangeably but imply either large cities or developing nations' concerns respectively. The terms public infrastructure or critical infrastructure are also used interchangeably but suggest the inclusion of some facilities like hospitals, banks and concerns like national security and terrorism which are not under the mandate of local officials alone.

Research Areas

The major research areas within the Public works engineering division are safety of Public workers during highway reconstruction and maintenance, alternative construction methods and techniques to expedite reconstruction, interchange access management, management of traffic during highway projects, performance based Quality Assurance / Quality Control tests, strategies to minimize construction delays, land development, workforce training and development, emergency management, evaluation of performance based specifications for highway construction and code administrations for local communities. Our faculty members use their close relationship with industry to bring "real world" project scenarios to the class room.

Key Research Initiatives

Strengths/ Needs/ Opportunities:  Public works infrastructure management is multidisciplinary and includes all aspects of civil engineering (e.g. construction, structures, transportation, materials, geotechnical, surveying, coastal, water resources, waste management and facility management).  Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the public works infrastructure, there are many opportunities for inter-disciplinary research with public works and the other CCE areas.  Some such possible research collaborations include:Fountain
Safety of public workers during highway reconstruction and maintenance; Alternative construction methods and techniques to expedite reconstruction; Management of traffic during highway projects; Performance based QA/QC tests; Strategies to minimize construction delays; Development implementation and evaluation of performance based specifications for highway construction and workforce training and development; Use of Flowable fill in the Pavement section; Comparison of Chemical Agent/Toxic Industrial Material Sensor Technologies for Uses in Transportation security; Enabling future enhancements to existing detection systems; Enabling new types of detection systems; Cost Benefit Highway Pavement Maintenance; User Cost Models for Bridge Management Systems; Evaluation of Thermoplastic bonding strengths related to Pavement Surface preparation; Using Benefit-Cost analysis procedures in transportation planning; Development of Computerized ranking system for hazardous pole relocations; Oil Spill Response Capabilities in South Florida Software; WIM (Weigh-In-Motion) Software; Utility Pole Accident Frequency Predictive Model Software

Facilities Development

Since Public Works is multidisciplinary, the existing CCE department facilities can all be included under PWEM.

Important Collaboration

  • Center for Pavements and Infrastructure materials, CCE department, UF
  • Transportation Research Center (TRC) of the College of Engineering, UF
  • Other University Collaborators include: Institute of Concrete Structures, Technical University at Hamburg-Harburg, Germany; Civil Engineering Department, Technical University of Berlin, Germany; Department of Civil Engineering, University of Applied Sciences, Detmold, Germany; Department of Structural Engineering and Natural Hazards, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria. 
  • Federal Agencies: NSF, FHWA, DOE, DOD, DHS
  • State and Local: FDOT, City of Gainesville
  • Other Organizations: TRB, ASEM, ASCE, ASEE, CSCE, ICMA, APWA
  • Consultants: Periodically assisted Brevard Economical Development Corporation in their industrial and economic development activities in Melbourne, Florida. Assistance has been extended to Alachua county and the city of Gainesville economic and industrial development