Winter 2023
Greg Selstead
From the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to maintaining highways, Selstead spent more than four decades on the roads. He is still making a difference. » More ...
Roads
Summer 2022
Bad breaks for our state’s bridges
Washington State University researchers are going for broke on Washington’s aging bridges. » More ...
Winter 2016
Ice control of a different color
As snowstorms gather in the Cascades, highway safety crews traditionally turn to salt and chemical deicers to clear the roads. The corrosive arsenal keeps traffic moving but is damaging to both vehicles and the environment. Now, thanks to the culinary genius of a Washington State University engineer, deicers are getting a green makeover with a distinctive local flavor.
Apple, grape, and cherry skins—waste products from Washington’s fruit and wine industries—are being reborn as sustainable ice melt in an effort to reduce the amount of salt used for snow and ice control.
The transformation is taking place in a basement laboratory where associate professor of civil … » More …
Spring 2015
Posts for Spring 2015
Mapmaker mystery
Of all the names that were mentioned in the [previous issue] article (those that I studied under in geology), I know Dr. Campbell would have had your answer. I was a graduate student in geology in the early ’70s and I knew Dr. Rosenberg (my advisor), Dr. Webster, and Dr. Campbell. These people were phenomenal teachers and mentors. But when important questions come up, like historical geology questions, Dr. Campbell was your man. He would have known. I remember his research, his retirement, and his death later. Another person who would have known was Al Butler in physics (also my advisor) … » More …
Summer 2014
Mullan Road monuments
An exclusive chapter about monuments along the Mullan Road by historian Keith Petersen.
» More ...
Summer 2014
Lost highway
John Mullan closed the last link of the Northwest Passage and vanished from history—until now
On a May morning in 1858, along a small creek on the northern edge of the Palouse, hundreds of warriors from several Inland Northwest Indian tribes closed in on 160 Army soldiers led by Col. Edward Steptoe. An Army retreat turned into a 10-hour running battle. Two company commanders were mortally wounded, panicking the men. At last, the troops took up defensive positions on a hillside in what is today Rosalia. As night fell, they were surrounded, outgunned, and down to two rounds of ammunition apiece.
More than a … » More …