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Rocks Roads Ripples N'At: 

Pittsburgh's Civil Engineering News Blog

  • 05 Apr 2023 5:54 PM | Anonymous

    By Pat Sullivan March 30, 2023

    On February 18, 2023, the Pittsburgh Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers hosted their annual Engineers Week banquet at the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania in downtown Pittsburgh.  The engineering community, family members, and friends came out to show their support of the Section’s Award and Student Award Foundation recipients.  Nadeen Agag, ASCE’s newly appointed Deputy Program Director, greeted event attendees and offered lapel flowers to the award winners.  

    The banquet started with a social hour, but like all other previous banquets ran a bit long because “Engineers, love to talk, catch up with old friends and meet new people. But the show needed to go on o in keeping with recent tradition, the Emcee for the event, Pat Sullivan, PE used his microphone like voice to ‘recommend’ that people start their trek upstairs to the banquet room.  

    Tom Batroney, PE, Pittsburgh Section President, ‘permitted’ Pat to dish out a 10-minute monologue about whatever Pat had on his mind… And this year it was toilet paper! You had to be there. Pat’s monologue also highlighted a pictorial presentation of “Who were they before they became ASCE officers?” that really got the audience engaged! Of course Pat went a bit long….you know how HE likes to talk, but unfortunately no one was going to tell him that he was done! Past Past president and Awards Chairman Jonathan Shimko tried, but to no avail! 

    However, ASCE was excited to see four Past Presidents in attendance; Jonathan Shimko, Kemal Nitzik, Bob Dengler … and of course Pat Sullivan! We hope to see (most of) them again soon! ;-)

    Corporate Sponsors were recognized with a certificate and true to form, Pat invited them to say a few words about whatever they wanted. Thanks again to our corporate sponsors Anser Advisory, Arcadis, HDR, and Michael Baker International.

    Because Pat does not like to sit down, UESI Pittsburgh Chapter Chair Alma Rettinger, PE (Pat’s special assistant for the banquet) implemented some last minute seating changes to allow a few friends to sit together, resulting in Pat sitting at the Arcadis table, where everyone enjoyed a great buffet dinner of chicken, Italian pasta, prime rib, salmon, and vegetables. Dessert was vanilla or chocolate cake with chocolate icing (Pat lobbied hard for this dessert!) Did we mention that Maître de Mike Gaetano of ESWP is the powerhouse behind these events?

    Following dinner, the real reason for the Engineer’s Week banquet commenced: To recognize the achievements of projects, people, students, and companies in our Section. This year, Jonathan Shimko, Erin Feichtner, PE, President-Elect Bill Trimbath, PE, and Jeff Argyros, PE did a marvelous job presenting the awards. Thanks for their help!

    The 2022 award winners are as follows:

    SAF American Bridge Leadership Award  Cain Pfoutz, University of Pittsburgh

    SAF Italo V. (Ody ) Mackin Achievement Award  Josephine Reott, Slippery Rock University

    Civil Engineering Achievement Award  Fern Hollow Bridge Emergency Replacement Project

    Award of Merit  Highland No. 2 Reservoir Liner and Cover Replacement Project

    Sustainability Award  Somerset Dam Rehabilitation Project

    Service to the People Award  Rick Obermeier

    Journalism Award  Margaret Krauss

    Young Government Civil Engineer Award  Anna Bennett

    Government Civil Engineer Award  Barry King, PE

    Young Civil Engineer Award  Erin Feichtner, PE

    Civil Engineer Award  Brad Duda, PE

    Distinguished Civil Engineer Award  John Yadlosky, PE

    Employer of the Year Award  Langan

    The event concluded with a second thanks to all of our sponsors, including our Gold Sponsors: Langan, Wade Trim and Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. and the prize raffle, which again was highlighted by the annual humongous CEC food basket.

    Thanks to everyone who attended, and we will see you at the next Section event, the Lifetime Member Recognition Banquet at the LaMont Restaurant in October.


  • 29 Mar 2023 7:44 PM | Anonymous

    “Montgomery Locks and Dam Subsurface Investigation”-James R. James, P.E.

    Write up By: George Chammas and Taylor DaCanal

    On January 19, 2023, the ASCE Pittsburgh Section Geo-Institute (GI) held its

     annual joint meeting with the Pittsburgh Geological Society, and Association of Environmental Engineering and Geologists. The event was held at Cefalo’s Banquet and Event Center. This was the first GI meeting in 2023, and the turnout was tremendous with over 115 people registered. The presenter was Mr. James R James, P.E. of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, his presentation was titled “Montgomery Locks and Dam Subsurface Investigation". Mr. James focused on the geotechnical subsurface exploration for the locks and dams of the Ohio river.

    The presentation focused on the geotechnical challenges that were presented during the subsurface investigation for the navigation structures on the Ohio River. The project was located at the new lock chamber at the Montgomery Locks and Dam in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The subsurface investigation consisted of rock coring, soil sampling, pressure meter testing, water pressure testing, optical televiewing, and acoustic televiewing. In addition to the field investigation, extensive laboratory testing was performed on the rock core samples and soil samples.

    One of the challenges in the subsurface investigation included recovery of soil samples in a traditional hollow stem auger. To better characterize the upper soil layers, the investigation utilized sonic drilling methods. Sonic drilling utilizes high frequency inside a sonic head to advance a core barrel.

    The other geotechnical aspects of the subsurface investigation involved the testing of rock samples specifically the coal seams. To better determine the shear strength parameters of the coal, direct shear tests and rock pullout strength testing was performed. The selection of the rock core samples was a critical part to the testing. This helped achieve more accurate shear strength parameters for the analysis of the concrete wall.

    Overall, the January event was an informational event to attend and learn about the different methods of subsurface investigations. It was interesting to learn about the subsurface investigation methods not typically used on every project. We hope to see more engineers, students, and anyone interested in learning more about the geotechnical field at upcoming events!

  • 02 Mar 2023 8:14 PM | Anonymous

    By: Erin Feichtner, Shirley Tang, and Ben Briston

    On January 14, 2023, the Future City Pittsburgh Regional Competition was held at in Robinson Township, Pennsylvania. This middle-school STEM program involves teams of students using project management skills and engineering concepts to address sustainability issues and build a future city. This year’s students took on the climate change challenge, designing futuristic cities to be adaptable and mitigating the challenges from climate change. Participants were tasked with brainstorming creative solutions to construct healthy and sustainable living environments, which involved producing a city plan and essay, constructing a scale model of the city complete with moving parts, and presenting their vision to the judges.

    Eighteen teams from Western Pennsylvania participated in this year’s Future City Pittsburgh Regional Competition. Members from the ASCE Pittsburgh Section helped judge the overall competition and the special awards. The special awards included recognition for Best Integrated City, Best Transportation System, Best Use of Green Construction, and many other achievements. The ASCE Pittsburgh Section sponsored the special award Best Future City Project, recognizing a team with an impressive use of engineering concepts and consideration to essential infrastructure systems such as stormwater drainage, landscaping, and utilities. This special award was won by Team Phamborough Sweden from West Mifflin High Area School, which made use of innovative city planning concepts as well as the use of multiple forms of renewable energy.

    The event was an impressive showcase of the students’ awareness of the issue of climate change as well as their understanding of the technologies that may be implemented in the future for the benefit of our communities.


    From Left to Right, Board Members Ben Briston, Shirley Tang, and Erin Feichtner at the Future City Pittsburgh Regional Competition

    Asking young people to consider how the built world will function in the future is not unique to the Future City competition. One of Professor John Sebastian’s University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) engineering undergraduate class recently presented their semester final projects to several ASCE Pittsburgh Section members.  Inspired by ASCE’s Future World Vision initiative, the topic of their undergraduate project was to develop design concepts and ideas for how to make Pitt’s campus functional 50+ years in the future. The class divided into 10 teams with various focus areas such as; Water & Environment, Construction & Materials, Transportation, and Energy & Utilities.  Researching materials, technology, and systems currently in development they presented master plans that would help Pitt flourish despite predicted future challenges like climate change, alternative energy needs, advanced materials options, and autonomous vehicle integration.

    For those ASCE members that attended both events, it was impressive to observe specific futuristic concepts that both the middle schoolers and undergraduate engineering students identified as being viable. Some of the recurring solutions were; vertical farming, EcoBricks, living/self-healing concrete, and Maglev Trains.  As professionals we cannot just leave it to the next generation of engineers to come up with new innovations.  We have a responsibility to do our own research and stay open to integrating new concepts into the industry so that we provide the public with the best built environment to survive the ever-changing world.

    Read more about ASCE’s Future World Vision Initiative here: https://www.futureworldvision.org/why-future-world-vision.

  • 11 Feb 2023 3:24 PM | Anonymous

    Written by: Xinchao “Steven” Wei, Ph.D., P.E. who is the Director and a Professor at the School of Engineering in Slippery Rock University.

    As many of you ASCE members already know, Pennsylvania’s infrastructure for 2022 received a grade of C minus, according to the 2022 ASCE Pennsylvania Infrastructure Report Card. As civil engineers ourselves, a grade of C- is not something we should be very proud of. It does however emphasize the challenges we are facing and great opportunities for us to make significant contributions to our community, our country, and our profession.

    Due to my work and family reasons, I travelled frequently to many places in China in the past two decade (except the past two years due to COVID). I personally witnessed the sea of change to infrastructure that occurred in almost every corner of the huge country (China is as big as the United States) from small villages to megacities. I would say China has been a wonderland for civil engineers and designers in the past two decades; with amazing highspeed rails, highways, bridges, and buildings being built. Some of the infrastructures are so creative, with stunning aesthetics, that they look alien or even crazy to a certain extent. In almost every front, investing in infrastructure has definitely been a way for China to modernize its economy, develop its workforce, and stimulate growth in the science and engineering industries.

    Beijing Daxing International Airport aka The Starfish Interior view of The Starfish

    While amazed by the rapid infrastructure modernization in China, the typical response from political figures or ordinary citizens is we cannot afford it!  I think the questions that are posed should be: How can China afford it? Where does the money come from?

    The secret is investment by public funds. Building our nation’s infrastructure is an investment which might not have immediate return but is made for the generations to come. Its impact can be profound; penetrating almost every sector of the economy, just like how it has transformed China in the past two decades. I am glad to see our government made significant investments in the future of this country’s infrastructure through multiple legislations including The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and The Inflation Reduction Act. All of this is exciting news for us as civil engineers and ordinary citizens. We need to give credit to the ones who have worked hard to draft, pass, and sign these legislations to funnel money into infrastructure. But will it be enough? Probably not. Just like our own houses, we need to keep investing in repairs, updating, and lobbying for renovation.

    Together Let’s Rock Engineering!
  • 20 Dec 2022 5:59 PM | Anonymous

    Markosky are pleased to announce the promotion of Frank as our Structures Department Manager.  Frank has been with Markosky for over six years serving as a Project Manager and Lead Bridge Engineer on numerous transportation projects.  Frank’s extensive engineering experience in structures and bridge design is invaluable to the Markosky team and has helped him in serving as our Assistant Department Manager. Frank has completed over 60 structures projects through construction, and numerous projects to various stages of design. Frank has built and maintained various client relationships for Markosky and plans to continue to grow those relationships and to expand our structures services to new markets. We are confident that with Frank's leadership and technical skills that he will excel in growing our Structures Department and that he will help to continue to guarantee top of the line work from Markosky.


  • 14 Nov 2022 8:29 PM | Anonymous

    By: Jayne Marks, PE

    Jayne is a Structural Engineer in the Transportation Department of AECOM in Pittsburgh, PA. She was the Pittsburgh ASCE Younger Members Forum (YMF) President 2020 – 2021 and is the current Treasurer of the YMF, as well as the Winter Banquet Committee Chair.

    On October 23-26, 2022, ASCE hosted their annual ASCE Convention at the Disneyland Hotel in sunny Anaheim, CA. I was fortunate enough to be a part of an amazing team of contributors who won this year’s ASCE Collingwood Prize;  an award given to younger members under the age of 35 who are the author or authors of a paper (1) describing an engineering work with which the author(s) have been directly connected, or (2) recording investigations contributing to engineering knowledge to which the author(s) have contributed some essential part, and (3) containing a rational digest of results. Our paper is titled “Finite-Element Fatigue Analysis of a New Rib-to-Floor Beam Connection for Orthotropic Steel Decks” and was published in the February 2021, Volume 26, Issue 2 of the ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering. Thanks to the generosity of my company, AECOM, and the Pittsburgh ASCE Section, I was able to attend the Convention with my co-authors and accept my award in person from outgoing ASCE President, Dennis Truax, and Executive Director, Tom Smith.


    Pictured: Dennis Truax, Jayne Marks, Yixin Chen, Joe Saunders, Tom Smith

    Attending the Convention was an amazing experience filled with many opportunities to gain new perspectives, form new goals, and keep my finger on the pulse of my profession. A large focus of the programming was on President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill. Signed in November 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is set to inject trillions of dollars into infrastructure over five years and presents a unique opportunity to the civil engineers who will be responsible for making this plan a reality.

    The opening keynote was a panel of various government officials assembled to discuss implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law. I found this presentation to be particularly engaging because it offered a perspective on a facet of my job that I don’t think I personally give enough thought to during the day-to-day: how do the decisions we, as civil engineers, make affect our communities? How can we ensure that this new wealth of resources is spent equitably and efficiently to enact the most positive change?

    The Director of Los Angeles County Public Works, Mark Pestrella, stressed the importance of making data-based decisions when deciding how to utilize the money from the infrastructure bill. He mentioned that in LA, they’ve found that communities predominantly occupied by marginalized groups tend to be left behind when it comes to infrastructure spending; a conclusion they were able to come to based on data collected specifically to investigate this. Because of this, it’s important for civil engineers and decision makers to think creatively as we begin to utilize the funding provided by the bill: provide resources for smaller communities to help them navigate the grant writing processes, lump smaller projects in with larger projects to help them attain funding, combine smaller infrastructures systems into larger systems to avoid unnecessary segmentation, and provide education to communities so they’re able to properly maintain the systems they do have.


    Pictured: Dennis Truax, Becky Keogh, Mark Pestrella, Laura Hanson

    A similar message was reiterated during the Industry Leaders Forum event on the second day of the convention, with a strong focus on how racial inequality is a large component of this conversation. The newly appointed ASCE President, Maria C. Lehman, also highlighted the ongoing issue of gender inequality in our profession today during her acceptance speech. This was an inspiring address coming from someone so accomplished in her field. President Lehman has even been appointed to President Biden’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council which brought the conversation full circle. I sincerely appreciated these reminders that civil engineering is more than calculations done in a vacuum and that our choices and actions mean something beyond the obvious and important function of our jobs.

    In addition to the larger presentations, I had the opportunity to learn more in the smaller presentations throughout the convention. I took a journey into ancient Rome to learn more about the Colosseum and a project that endeavors to use modern technology to recreate a moveable version of the ancient wooden flooring system that was lost to time. I also have a better appreciation now for the fake phishing email tests my company sends out every couple of months after sitting in on the session “Understanding Cyber Security Threats from a Hacker’s Perspective.”


    Overall, attending the Convention was an incredibly valuable experience, not only for the things I learned, but for the people I met and the experiences I had. Disneyland was an amazing backdrop for a conference focused on innovation, creativity, and creation. Walt Disney once said:

    “I don’t believe there’s a challenge anywhere in the world that’s more important to people everywhere than finding solutions to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? How do we start answering this great challenge? Well, we’re convinced we must start with the public need.”

    I made sure to keep this in mind as I got my picture taken with Mickey.


    Pictured: Jayne Marks, Mickey Mouse, Scott Pickrell

  • 29 Oct 2022 7:18 PM | Anonymous

    On August 25, 2022 a group of 15 industry professionals took a tour of the Charleroi Lock and Dam, a project owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    The lock is on the lower Monongahela River and is currently being modernized to include a new, larger River Chamber which will better accommodate today’s river traffic. Participants learned about several unique construction means and methods required for the project while viewing active construction within the dewatered lock chamber. Attendees were also treated to panoramic views of the construction site from the top of the new control tower. The existing lock chambers were constructed in 1932 and the new lock chamber is expected to be completed in 2024.

      


  • 13 Apr 2022 8:06 AM | Anonymous

    Check out the Spring 2022 Region 2 newsletter to learn what Director Jack Raudenbush has been doing, updates from around the Region, and even a Governor spot light of our very own Angela Mayer!

    Spring 2022 Newsletter

  • 26 Feb 2022 12:23 PM | Anonymous

    By Edward J. Major II, EIT, A.M.ASCE

    The 2022 YMF Winter Banquet was held on January 20th and I’m happy to report it was a SUCCESS!  Previously, the Younger Member Forum (YMF) organized an annual networking and technical event  called the December Dinner. This year, the YMF hosted the event in January to allow professionals and students the freedom to attend without possible schedule conflicts due to the holidays or final exams. While we were limited in capacity, we had 42 attendees come out to Penn Brewery on the North Side for an evening of food, networking and an informative lecture. Our keynote speaker, Jeff Argyros, gave a wonderful talk on the ALCOSAN Wet Weather Plant Expansion project. Attendees were also able to attend one of two tours of the brewery to learn about Penn Brewery’s history and process.  The night concluded with several raffle prizes, including tickets to some great Pittsburgh places such as Phipps Conservatory and the Children’s Museum.


    The YMF also wants to give all our Sponsors a huge THANK YOU! We were blown away by the generosity of these companies. Thank you to Arcadis for being the exclusive event sponsor of the Eisenhalle Room! Thank you to our bar sponsors, Colliers Engineering & Design and GHD! Thank you to our brewery tour sponsors, AECOM and Michael Baker International! And last but certainly not least, thank you to our dinner sponsors: Civil & Environmental Consultants, DLZ, Erdman Anthony, Geosyntec Consultants, Pennoni, and Venture Engineering!

    We hope to see everyone at next year’s event! Until then, stay safe and remember to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on all the YMF happenings!

    Pictured from Left to Right: Daniel Phillips (YMF President), Connor Gibson (YMF Treasurer), Rama Pandkar (YMF Secretary), Jeff Argyros (Keynote Speaker), and Jesse Doss (YMF Social Chair)

  • 03 Oct 2021 12:03 PM | Anonymous

    To all with a curious mind,

    Recently, as creator and host of the Everything STEAM Podcast, I published an episode called Sinking Cities that featured Sebastian Lobo Guerrero, a key member of the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Pittsburgh Chapter (ASCE) and employee of American Geotechnical & Environmental Services. In 2020 he was voted Civil Engineer of the Year for ASCE’s Pittsburgh Chapter. Sebastian recently served as the Director for the chapter as well as served as the President of ASCE’s Geotechnical Institute. In the episode, Sebastian and I discussed many causations of sinking cities, while pointing out case studies all over the world where sinking cities are such as; Mexico City, Bogota Colombia and much more. To finish out the episode, we covered engineering and environmental approaches to slow or remediate these sinking cities.

    Another episode that may be of interest to fellow members is an interview with Dr. Kent Harries. Dr. Harries is a tenure Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and is an active Fellow of ASCE Pittsburgh, ACI and IIFC. He will be featured in Woke Talk Podcast’s upcoming episode, Materials of the Future where we plan to discuss building materials that are used now, and showcase materials that could shake up the way we build our infrastructure in the future due to climate change action.

    In many episodes to come, we plan to shine a spotlight on many other important members of Pittsburgh’s ASCE Chapter. These episodes include; Public Transit, US Infrastructure, The Importance of Engineering, Diversity in Engineering, Women in STEM and much more. If you would be interested in being involved in these conversations please, feel free to go to the Contact Us page on our website (https://everythingsteam.org), or email us at everythingsteam3.14@gmail.com. To stay up to date with the podcast, connect with me on LinkedIn, or look up Everything STEAM on social media.

    To listen or watch the interview with Mr. Guerrero, head to Our Streaming Platforms. You can listen to our podcast episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor by Spotify, Stitcher and Amazon Music. To view our video content, look us up on YouTube or use the link above! We hope that you enjoy our content and support us in our cause to make our society more STEAM informed, thank you.

    About the Author: My name is Sam Stanford, and I am a Physicist, Structural EIT and alumni of the University of Pittsburgh. For more background information about myself, I was a member of Pitt ASCE, awarded top Civil Engineer of the Spring 2021 Graduating Class, Summa Cum Laude at the University of Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock University, and was inducted into the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society.

    Woke Talk Podcast is not an ASCE sponsored program and the views expressed are their own and may not reflect the views of ASCE.

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