Applying Internet Technologies to a 1980s Water Resources Study and Report: A Retrospective Look

Internet technologies have forever changed how engineering studies are conducted and results are published. To get a better understanding of just what these changes are and their impact, good and bad, this paper reexamines a study of Corps of Engineers hydroelectric power potential published in 1988 and applies these technologies to that prior work. The revised work improves markedly on the original and shows that internet technologies can enable faster, cheaper, more thorough, and just better outcomes. Some of the improvements include increased access to data and ability to search that data; improved tools, such as mapping; an explosion of alternative media, including video; and improvement in communication, collaboration, and corroboration that expand potential contributors to and an audience for engineering work. The increased data availability and number of potential contributors does require increased fact checking to verify accuracy of data. On the whole, internet technologies are a boon to the conduct and publication of engineering studies.