The Federal Highway Administration defines resilience as “the ability of a project to anticipate, prepare for, adapt to, withstand, respond to or recover rapidly from disruptions.” As the climate and weather patterns change, the need for local and state governments to plan and adjust becomes more urgent. Hurricanes have been occurring more often and becoming more intense, according to on Oct. 19, 2022, and resiliency is a growing concern as hurricanes become increasingly disruptive and destructive to U.S. coastal areas. The federal government has offered funding for communities looking to strengthen their coastal resilience. In February 2024, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced it would invest about $140 million — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law providing $96 million of it — in coastal resilience projects incorporating nature-sourced solutions. Hanson is jumping into action, helping our Florida clients prepare for the effects of climate change by developing projects that will qualify for grants and working with them to carry out effective design.

When you’re starting in the professional world, advice from someone who’s walked the path you’re navigating can help smooth the transition from school to career. The 36 interns starting Hanson’s 2024 summer internship program this month will benefit from the wisdom of Hanson interns who walked the path before them.

International Women in Engineering Day holds a special meaning for two college friends who launched their engineering careers together after graduating together. As close-knit confidantes, they have navigated a six-year path of life and learning that culminated in full-time positions at Hanson a week apart and has led to their shared anticipation of receiving their professional engineer licenses— together, of course.

About 25 rail engineering students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) recently came to Springfield, Illinois, for a Hanson-led tour of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule for PFAS compounds in drinking water sets requirements that all communities must meet for their public water systems.

On Feb. 7, Hanson lost one of its great leaders and mentors when Chairman Emeritus Eugene “Gene” Wilkinson passed at age 89.

What type of sandbag material will best stop a flood? Does banana water work well as a fertilizer? These and many other questions were posed and answered Feb. 9 during the judging of the annual science fair at Blessed Sacrament School (BSS) in Springfield, Illinois. Since 2014, engineers and scientists from Hanson’s Springfield office have visited Blessed Sacrament to serve as judges for the variety of science fair topics and exhibits researched and built by the school’s seventh graders.

A 410-page college textbook first published in January 1953 and re-released about 20 years later as an expanded second edition has left a notable footprint — not only in engineering classrooms, but on office desks and bookshelves. “Foundation Engineering,” by Ralph Peck, Hanson founder Walt Hanson and Thomas Thornburn, addresses topics including the properties of subsurface materials, foundation types and construction methods, foundation type selection and design basis, as well as the design of foundations and earth-retaining structures.

Life often takes people in different directions, but sometimes they end up back where they were before — especially if the place they started is the best fit in the long run. This statement has rung true for several Hanson employees who departed for different opportunities and later returned. Brian Maldonado, an electrical designer who works in Hanson’s Orlando, Florida, regional office, left Hanson for nine months to explore different market types and grow in experience at a different firm.

On a cool, overcast day in early October, several rakes, some tools and more than a dozen pairs of helping hands resulted in a to-do list completed at the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois’ Camp Widjiwagan near Springfield, Illinois. Along with six of my Hanson colleagues, I was blessed to spend a couple of hours on Oct. 6, 2023, with one of those rakes in hand, helping to clean up several areas of this Girl Scouts facility, which gives so many young girls the opportunity to experience independence and fun in a safe environment of learning and growth.