Future Ready Features: Focus on Safety

Each one of WSP’s 73,000-plus professionals is required to promote safety, not only for ourselves, but also for anyone impacted by the projects we deliver.

EV Safety

As the era of electric vehicles rolls on, we continue to learn more about what is needed to facilitate a successful transition from the internal combustion engine.

The vehicles themselves have evolved considerably, and advancements in battery technology have enabled longer driving ranges. Recognition of the significant increase in supporting infrastructure and energy required to facilitate mass scaling is driving innovation and implementation to meet those needs.

Other considerations, too, are coming into focus as EVs move beyond primarily personal use and gain a greater foothold in the commercial and transit markets. One of those is safety, and more specifically, how to mitigate the risks of EV battery fires in places like parking garages and transit operations centers, where fleets of electric battery powered automobiles may be parked together in an enclosed environment.

EV fires are rare. But “thermal runaway” could be as scary as it sounds if cities, agencies or companies that are transitioning to EVs aren’t prepared.

Bridge Safety

There are more than 617,000 bridges in the U.S. Half of those are more than 50 years old. That’s a lot of years on a lot of miles of critical infrastructure. And that requires a lot of inspections to ensure safety for the traveling public.

Bridge inspections — required every two years since the National Bridge Inspection Standards were established by the U.S. Congress in 1968 — check for a wide range of signs of deterioration and structural damage, including cracks, corrosion, rust, loose components, misalignment and damage from collisions. Some key elements routinely inspected as part of safety check include concrete decks, steel members, connections and welds, bearings and expansion joints, pier and abutment foundations, and electrical systems.

Innovations, including drones, have provided a great advantage to bridge inspections teams where they enable vision on areas that are difficult and time-consuming to reach, like concrete facades, large steel towers and cables.

However, drones alone can’t see it all. That’s where ropes come in.

Connected Vehicle Safety

Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connected vehicle technology has the potential to revolutionize traveler safety and mobility. A connected vehicle can use wireless communications to avoid potential collisions, improve awareness of pedestrians and bicyclists in the roadway environment, and improve traffic flow.

But scaled implementation will require gaining greater control over the interoperability between roadside, in-vehicle and mobile devices. Why is that important? Because without accurate, reliable and secure data, the system is unable to make consistent safety-of-life decisions.

After an ebb in connected vehicle progress, the U.S. Department of Transportation is again increasing V2X investment, and a resurgence of interest is driving interoperability between roadside and in-vehicle devices to the forefront.

Here is why that is important to original equipment manufacturers, and to finally realizing the benefits V2X technology can deliver.

More about Health and Safety at WSP

WSP’s Health and Safety program builds on our commitment to reducing risk and dedication to our guiding vision. We value people by embedding safety every time, with everyone, in everything we do.