When Project Automation Gets a Scoreboard

Infrastructure Catalyst
Issue #1 | December 08, 2025

Welcome, infrastructure professionals.

You manage water, roads, bridges, and public works. You're here for systems that save time, tools that actually get adopted, and industry news that matters.

📡 We keep hearing automation saves time. Nobody's measuring it.

Every vendor pitch deck says the same thing: "AI-powered efficiency." "Work smarter, not harder." "10x your productivity."

But when leadership asks how much time your team actually saved last quarter, most of us shrug. The tools don't track it. The dashboards don't exist. We're supposed to just trust that automation is working.

Microsoft seems to agree that's a problem and gave you the tools to measure it. Last month's Power Automate update added ROI analytics, dashboards that show exactly how many hours your workflows saved, which processes have bottlenecks, and where you're still wasting time.

It's not hype. It's a number you can put in front of a client or a VP.

But dashboards don't mean much without workflows worth tracking. This issue's tutorial: a 30-minute build that eliminates 3+ hours of status report assembly every Friday.

In today's issue:
Turn meeting notes into tracked tasks — 40 min setup, 90%+ completion rate
Auto-file attachments — 5-minute setup, zero manual filing
Excel vs Power BI — When to use each
AI on the jobsite — NotebookLM, EarthCam, Turner's bet
5 conferences — Deadlines approaching

🔧 CORE SAMPLE: Turn Meeting Notes Into Tracked Tasks

The Problem: The meeting ends. Everyone agrees on next steps. You type them into an email. Two weeks later, half the items never happened. Nobody remembers who was supposed to do what. The same issues resurface at the next OAC meeting.

The 5-Step Build:

1. Create Your Action Item List in SharePoint. Columns needed: Action Item, Owner (person), Meeting Date, Due Date, Status (Open/In Progress/Complete), Notes. This becomes your project's single source of truth for accountability.
2. Set Up a Quick Entry Form. In SharePoint, create a custom form view. During or after meetings, enter action items directly. Takes 30 seconds per item.
3. Open Power Automate. Create a scheduled flow that runs every Monday morning. Add action: "Get items" from SharePoint. Filter: Status ne 'Complete' AND Due Date is this week.
4. Send Weekly Accountability Emails. Add action: "Send an email (V2)" to each Owner with their open items. Include Action Item, Due Date, and a link to update the status. People can't claim they didn't know.
5. Create an Overdue Alert. Add a second flow: If Due Date has passed AND Status = "Open," send email to Owner and CC the PM (you). Automatic escalation without awkward conversations.

Setup: 40 min | Skill: Beginner | License: M365 E3/E5

⚡ QUICK WIN: Auto-File Your Email Attachments

5-minute setup: Go to make.powerautomate.com. Search "save email attachments" in templates. Pick your cloud storage (OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, or whatever your team uses). Select the project folder. Done.

Submittals, RFI responses, inspection reports, all filed automatically. No more downloading, renaming, and uploading.

📊 BID TAB: Excel vs Power BI

Both tools live in your M365 license. Here's when to use each:

Bottom line: Start in Excel. When you catch yourself rebuilding the same report monthly or need to combine data from multiple projects, move to Power BI.

📡 FIELD NOTES

NotebookLM adds Deep Research for technical documents

Google's AI research tool now browses hundreds of websites on your behalf, creating multi-page reports with citations. Upload specs, standards, and RFPs to get AI-powered summaries and cross-references. It also now accepts Word docs, PDFs from Google Drive, and spreadsheets. Free to use.

Why It Matters: Could cut hours off proposal prep. Drop in a 200-page specification, ask a question, get an answer with page references. Also useful for studying new codes or comparing standards across jurisdictions.

EarthCam launches AI-powered material tracking

EarthCam's jobsite cameras now use AI to identify 34+ construction materials in real time, from metal studs to drywall. The system detects when materials arrive on site, tracks installation progress, and automatically updates Procore or Autodesk dashboards.

Why It Matters: Automatic verification of deliveries and installations without manual logging. Integrates with your existing schedule to flag when work is complete. Also monitors dumpster fill levels, PPE compliance, and workers at height.

Turner Construction partners with OpenAI on construction workflows

The country's largest GC just gave all 10,000+ employees access to ChatGPT Enterprise. At their Innovation Summit, teams built 100+ custom AI agents for contract reviews, bid leveling, and safety protocols. Turner's head of innovation: "If we can build something ourselves over a weekend, why would we pay for someone to build it for us?"

Why It Matters: When Turner goes all-in on something, the rest of the industry follows. Expect to see AI-assisted RFI processing, specification scanning, and document comparison tools become standard expectations on larger projects within 2-3 years.

📅 LOOK-AHEAD: 5 Conferences Worth Your Time

Registration deadlines are approaching. Here are the events to put on your radar:

WateReuse Symposium
Mar 8-11, 2026 | Los Angeles, CA
⚠️ Early bird ends Dec 16 | watereuse.org

For water/wastewater engineers working on recycled water, PFAS, or drought resilience. Keynote by Philippe Cousteau Jr.

TRB Annual Meeting
Jan 11-15, 2026 | Washington, DC
⚠️ Register by Jan 8 | trb-annual-meeting.nationalacademies.org

For transportation engineers, planners, and DOT staff. 12,000+ attendees, 750+ sessions covering all modes. Includes Career Fair.

ASCE Geo-Congress
Mar 9-12, 2026 | Salt Lake City, UT
⚠️ Early bird ends Jan 7 | geocongress.org

For geotechnical engineers and foundation designers. 30th anniversary featuring the Karl Terzaghi Lecture. Childcare grants available.

ASCE Structures Congress
Apr 29 - May 1, 2026 | Boston, MA
⚠️ Early bird ends Jan 12 | structurescongress.org

For structural engineers. 30th anniversary with embodied carbon focus. Younger member rate (35 and under): $795.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG
Mar 3-7, 2026 | Las Vegas, NV
conexpoconagg.com

For heavy civil construction and equipment. North America's largest construction show: 2,800+ exhibitors across 3 million sq ft.

💬 RFI: Your Turn

What do you spend your time chasing every week? Action items, RFI responses, submittal approvals, timesheet reminders?

Reply with your biggest time sink. I'll feature the best automation opportunities in upcoming issues.

Build systems, not stress.

Joseph Dib, PE, PMP | The Infrastructure Catalyst

P.S. Know a PM still chasing action items from last month's meeting? Forward this to them.