Professional and Career Topics

A lot of us in this forum are likely guilty of stopping to take photos of things that our friends would walk right past. 

I personally have multiple videos of rainfall entering storm inlets near my house. To me, it's interesting to watch how runoff behaves during different storms, or witness what could possibly be my neighbor's gutter surcharging. But to most people, it probably looks like a video of a curb.

Post

Does anyone else have a piece of the built (or natural) environment that they can't help but take photos or videos of?

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Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
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I routinely take photos of civil engineering related items, especially those that I think would be good for illustration purposes in training.

For example, I recently got to go to California for the first time on a Route 66 trip. One of the first photos I took after we crossed the state line was this slope transition to a dumpster enclosure where you can see vehicles have scraped. I think this will go nicely in a future training on site grading. I do at least try to remember to not add them to shared vacation albums...

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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So many I can't count them! I have an album on my phone called "stormwater" :). one of my recent ones...

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Rachel Jones P.E., M.ASCE
Section Manager, Stormwater Capital Planning
Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources
Lawrenceville GA
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I can't resist taking pictures of hydraulic structures, ships and tows, and particularly poorly designed/failing erosion control.

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William McAnally Ph.D., P.E., BC.CE, BC.NE, F.ASCE
ENGINEER
Columbus MS
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I always liked this photo... way too much stormwater combined with an unfortunately parked car: 

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Terence Hampton M.ASCE
Quality Manager
Ijamsville MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-08-2026 07:16 PM
From: William McAnally
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

I can't resist taking pictures of hydraulic structures, ships and tows, and particularly poorly designed/failing erosion control.

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William McAnally Ph.D., P.E., BC.CE, BC.NE, F.ASCE
ENGINEER
Columbus MS
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Jonathan McNamara P.E., M.ASCE
Helotes TX
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I searched my phone for 'bridge' and discovered that I had over 150 photos of bridges going back nine years.  My collection includes auto, rail, and pedestrian bridges across the world. The photo is one of my favorites.

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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That's a great photo, Mitch!

My mom used to always buy me the ASCE bridges calendar. When they stopped making one, she realized she takes enough bridge photos for me on her travels to make one herself. It has become a fun tradition to get her annual bridges calendar for my desk.

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-18-2026 03:48 PM
From: Mitchell Winkler
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

I searched my phone for 'bridge' and discovered that I had over 150 photos of bridges going back nine years.  My collection includes auto, rail, and pedestrian bridges across the world. The photo is one of my favorites.

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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That's an awesome idea!    I hadn't thought of that, but my work does give me access to cool vantage points that most people never get... I should start carrying a better camera. =)   

Here's my favorite bridge pic that I took. The Old Goethals Bridge from the top of the New Goethals Bridge.

 

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Terence Hampton M.ASCE
Quality Manager
Ijamsville MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-18-2026 05:14 PM
From: Heidi Wallace
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

That's a great photo, Mitch!

My mom used to always buy me the ASCE bridges calendar. When they stopped making one, she realized she takes enough bridge photos for me on her travels to make one herself. It has become a fun tradition to get her annual bridges calendar for my desk.

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 06-18-2026 03:48 PM
From: Mitchell Winkler
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

I searched my phone for 'bridge' and discovered that I had over 150 photos of bridges going back nine years.  My collection includes auto, rail, and pedestrian bridges across the world. The photo is one of my favorites.

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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This is definitely worthy of being in a frame.

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Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2026 09:45 AM
From: Terence Hampton
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

That's an awesome idea!    I hadn't thought of that, but my work does give me access to cool vantage points that most people never get... I should start carrying a better camera. =)   

Here's my favorite bridge pic that I took. The Old Goethals Bridge from the top of the New Goethals Bridge.

 

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Terence Hampton M.ASCE
Quality Manager
Ijamsville MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-18-2026 05:14 PM
From: Heidi Wallace
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

That's a great photo, Mitch!

My mom used to always buy me the ASCE bridges calendar. When they stopped making one, she realized she takes enough bridge photos for me on her travels to make one herself. It has become a fun tradition to get her annual bridges calendar for my desk.

------------------------------
Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
------------------------------



Original Message:
Sent: 06-18-2026 03:48 PM
From: Mitchell Winkler
Subject: "I Promise This Storm Drain Photo Is Interesting"

I searched my phone for 'bridge' and discovered that I had over 150 photos of bridges going back nine years.  My collection includes auto, rail, and pedestrian bridges across the world. The photo is one of my favorites.

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Mitch Winkler P.E.(inactive), M.ASCE
Houston, TX
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I've got lots of those pictures to illustrate to my students the difference between sheet flow and shallow concentrated flow.   One of my favorite videos to show to demonstrate the force of storm surges is when this huge manhole gets blown out, narrowly missing a truck.   Watch to the end to see the size of the manhole compared to the truck it almost hit.    https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=huge+storm+manhole+blows+up+just+misses+truck&&mid=6B73CBDF106484D337E46B73CBDF106484D337E4&churl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fchannel%2fUCDVsE-g-q_5dnSrG_2pA50w&FORM=VRDGAR

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Timothy Murphy P.E., M.ASCE
Professor
Trine University
Angola IN
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