Austin Branch Newsletter

December 2009

Volume 14, Number 3

= In This Issue…

<= /span>

Spring 2010 Meeting =

YMF Update

UT-ASCE Update

Capital Area Food Bank Fund Dri= ve

ASCE Society Awards<= o:p>

History In Heritage<= o:p>

Continuing Education Webinars

December Speaker: Lance S. Kinney, P.E., Deputy Executive Director, Texas Board of Professional Engineer= s

Topic: Ethics<= /o:p>

Mr. Kinney is the Deputy Executive Director of the Tex= as Board of Professional Engineers. He has been with the Board for over six years and oversees various agency programs and activities, including legislative, rule, and policy issues, provides assistance to the executive director and Board members, = and represents the Board at statewide and national functions. He also gives licensing and ethics outreach presentations all over the state at universities, companies, and associations.

Prior to working at the Board, he worked in the semiconductor industry for 11 years.&nbs= p; He has a Bachelors Degree in Physics from the University of Texas, a Masters Degree in Industrial Technology from Texas State University, and is working on a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology at the University of Texas. He has lectured as an adjunct professor in the Engineering and Technology Department at Texas State University and Electronics and Advanced Technologies Department at Austin Community = College. Hobbies include ice hockey, musi= c, and computers.

President’s Message

by Robert W. Scholz, P.E.

As I write this December message to you, I look outsid= e my window at the bright sunshine on a day that we’re supposed be getti= ng snow. Yes, the weathermen a= nd weatherwomen got it wrong again. Similar to many things in our lives, nothing is ever as it seems.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Oh, sure, we got a few flurries,= but all of the excitement and anxiety created over the 2 to 3 inches was all for nothing. Some of us feel that way about the economy. The Obama administration has pro= mised that jobs will be saved or created with the stimulus package. Yet, more and more, I hear about= my fellow civil engineers losing their jobs. Regardless of political views, t= he question we have to ask ourselves now is “How can we help our fellow civil engineers?” Our Austin ASCE webpage, www.austina= sce.org, has job postings available to our branch sponsors and governmental authorities free of charge. Please take advantage of this service, whether you are a private company, a public entity, or a civil engineer in search of a position. Also, if you know of positions available for civil engineers, please email me (rscholz@members.asce.org) or a fel= low board member so that we might get this information out to those looking f= or positions. ‘Tis the season of giving and we should all come tog= ether to help each other with the basic necessities of life. That being said, ASCE will be collecting donations for our yearly contribution to the Capital Area Food Bank. Please consider a sma= ll donation at our December meeting.

In keeping with the spirit of giving, our board is considering several alternatives for community service projects. Some of the projects we have tak= en part in within the past few years have been Habitat for Humanity, New Orl= eans Hurricane Relief projects, and volunteering at the Austin Children’s Museum. If you would like to suggest new ideas, our board is listening. Please contact Erin Gundersen (egundersen@= apaienv.com), Chair of the Community Service Committee, to submit your ideas.

The Austin Branch Civil Engineer of the Year Award wil= l be given to a deserving civil engineer within our community during the 2010 Engineers’ Week in February. We need your help! P= lease think about the excellent engineers that you know in the community and nominate them for this award. Our goal this year is to have the most nominations that we’ve ever had = for this distinguished award. P= lease contact Roman Grijalva (roman.grijalva@jacobs.com) or Garabed Harutunian (kec@austin.= rr.com) if you would like to nominate someone.&n= bsp; Forms will also be posted on our website in the near future.<= /o:p>

In closing, I would like to wish each of you, your families, coworkers, and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. =

December Meeting Sponsor:

MWH is recognized as one of t= he world’s leading wet infrastructure engineering and construction firms. Headquartered in Broo= mfield, Colorado, MWH is an employee-owned firm with approximately 7,000 employees worldwide. Through our global experience, we have developed the expertise and project management systems to ensure that quality, safety, budget and schedule go= als are met on our projects. We also ensure our projects are as sustaina= ble and environmentally responsible as possible and take great care to implem= ent water conservation, waste management/recycling, LEED= compliance, use of sustainable materials and other energy saving measures= . We are currently engaged on a pump station design project for the City of Austin. As a cor= porate citizen of Austin= , we have sponsored events such as the Hill Country Conservancy's rece= nt Earth Day concert held at Stubb's. We have al= so held several outreach events for local minority and women-owned business enterprises to help them procure work within the City. The motto of MWH Constructors is to "Think Globally, Build Locally,” and that is our pledge to the City of Au= stin.

ASCE Sponsorships

The time is here to renew or become an ASC= E Austin Branch sponsor for the 2010 year.

Branch Sponsorship is $250.00 if submitted by December= 1^st, 2009 and $300.00 anytime thereafter. Meeting Sponsors will remain at $300= .00 for the 2010 year. Below is a detailed description of each type of sponsorship.

1. Aust= in Branch Sponsor – $300.00

Spo= nsorship Includes:

Business card ad in the monthly newsletter for the term of your sponsorship.
Listing on the ASCE Aust= in Branch Website Sponsor Page with a link to your website for the term= of your sponsorship.
Advertise job postings f= or FREE on the Branch Website for the term of your sponsorship.

2. Austin Branch Meeting Sponsor (10 Meetings per year) - $300.00

Sponsorship Includes:

Introduction at the meet= ing and approximately three (3) minutes to speak about your company, services, and community activities.
Recognition and introduc= tion of your company in the monthly newsletter for that month.=
Mention on the website h= ome page for that month with a link to your website.
Includes two (2) free admissions to the sponsored meeting.

Not= es:

"Year" refers to Januar= y thru December of the current Calendar Year.

There are 10 meetings and 10 newsletters per year, no meetings/newsletters in July or August.

We encourage everyone to get involved. A sponsorship will allow your co= mpany to give back to the Austin community as well as market your Company’s name.

For Branch and Meeting sponsorship applications please refer to http://www.austinasce.org/sponsors.htm<= /span> for more details or you can contact Suzanne Dean at suzanne.dean@jacobs.com.

We appreciate everyone’s involvement with the AS= CE Austin Branch and hope to see even more in the future.

Thank You!=

Austin = Branch Hosts Texas Section Spring 2010 Meeting – Save the Date!

The Austin Branch will be hosting the Texas Section Sp= ring 2010 Meeting. This meeting = will be unique in both its revised format and location. This will be a Texas Section meeting that will be talked about for years to come. There is no better opportunity t= o get involved in creating the future Texas Section meeting formats.=

Preparations for this meeting have begun with the selection of a fabulous venue – the newly constructed AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, located on the University of Tex= as Campus.&nb= sp; This facility combines advanced technology and sophisticated hospitality – just the setting to make the Texas Section meeting in= Austin the civil engineering event of the year!

The Host Committee invites all Austin Branch members to get involved in making this meeting a success. you may contact individual sub-committee chairman to find out about volunteer= ing for their committee.

General Co-Chair: Amy Spicer Smith = &nbs= p; amy_smith@urscorp.com

Ge= neral Co-Chair: David Mat= ocha = ; &nbs= p; david.matocha@hanson.com

Bu= dget/Finance: Curtis Steger = ; &nbs= p; curtis@holfordgroup.com=

CPD Seminars: Craig Chesser = &nbs= p; cachesser@lan-inc.com

Aw= ards Banquet: Kelly Barney = ; &nbs= p; barneyka@gmail.com

Ex= hibits: &nbs= p; Ron Reichert &nb= sp; &nbs= p; rreichert@ejiw.com

Ho= tel Arrangements: Steve <= span class=3DSpellE>Bontempo = ; &nbs= p; steve@bontempo-eng.com<= /o:p>

Pr= inting/Mailing: Dale Murphy &nbs= p; &nbs= p; dmurphy@kfriese.com

Pu= blicity: = ; Vanessa Rosales-Herrera Vanessa_Rosales-Herrera@URSCorp.com

Re= gistration: = ; Linda Bar= low = ; &nbs= p; lbarlow@hvj.com<= /p>

= ; &n= bsp; Don Willhouse &nbs= p; &nbs= p; dotdon32@msn.com<= /span>

St= udent Activities Rose Marie Klee &= nbsp; &nbs= p; rmklee@crespoinc.com

Or= der of the Engineer

Ce= remony: = ; Cres Guzman = ; &nbs= p; crespin.guzman@klotz.com

= <= /a>YMF Update

by Yvonne L. Garcia, EIT <= /p>

YMF Announcemen= ts

= Austin Younger Member Forum is excited to announce the following up and coming events:

YMF Christmas Happy = Hour

Looking to wind d= own after a long day of work? Let YMF treat you t= o a night on the town! Please j= oin YMF for a Christmas celebration @ Lanai Lounge Rooftop. Happy hour will be Thursday, December 17 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Soft drinks, food and dessert wi= ll be provided. All participants = will be eligible for a door prize give away.&= nbsp; Lanai Lounge Rooftop is located at 422 Congress Ave, Suite C. For more details and information please contact Yvonne Garcia @ ygarcia@rkc= i.com. Hope to see ya there!

U= T vs. A&= amp;M Basketball, Jan 2010

Mark your calenda= rs for an exciting evening of Big 12 Conference Action!!!! UT vs. <= span class=3DSpellE>A&M Basketball @ the Frank Erwin Center, Saturday, January 16, 2010. Tickets prices are $20 and will be available for purcha= se at the next ASCE Meeting. F= or more information contact Yvonne Garcia @ ygarcia@rkc= i.com.

Int= erested in joining ASCE YMF?

Interested in lea= rning more about ASCE YMF and how to get involved? = ASCE YMF welcomes and encourages young engineers to beco= me actively involved in their local branch chapter. For more information contact Yvo= nne Garcia @ ygarcia@rkci.com.

Wha= t’s going on with ASCE YMF?

=

Interested in rec= eiving YMF newsletters and updates about our social events, community services, etc.? You can request to be added to the YMF= listserve by emailing Jennifer Higby, E.I.T., LEED AP at higbyjl@cdm.com. =

UT-ASCE = Update

As the semester comes to an end, UT ASCE looks back on= a successful semester. The UT= ASCE Co-ED Flag Football team is proud to announce a championship! That’= s right, ASCE has not been an intramural champion in a= very long time. The championship= game was very interesting. We tr= ailed for the majority of the game, until we got ahead in the last few plays of= the game playing thoughtfully and patiently. All around it was a great effort! Afterwards, the off= icials were surprised to discover that engineers just won an athletic competition. We are looking forward excitedly toward the upcoming Basketball season, with many return= ing ASCE athletes!

Outreach has been successful in tutoring and is also s= till working on CanStruction. A committee to plan the Concrete= Canoe competition that Austin is hosting this year is beginning to form. UT will have a lot of work to do= to host this competition but we will also fortunately have the home-court advantage.

Most exciting, the Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe teams have been receiving materials and supplies stead= ily and eager to begin work. Mo= nths of preparation and design are about to become tangible and we are very ea= ger to do well this year! The <= st1:PlaceName w:st=3D"on">Steel Bridge team will hit the basement hard during this winter break in anticipation = of the competition held in San = Antonio January 15, 2010. Students = have been very involved this year but there’s always room for more as we hope to get students more excited about our competitions, especially Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe, so th= at they become more involved early and stay involved throughout the year.

We enjoyed URS Corporation at our last meeting and are= excited to have Freese and Nichols at our January 24, 2010 meeting. Currently, we are booking meetin= gs for the Spring semester. If your company would like to sponsor a meeting please feel free to contact us. We are thrilled at this year’s current success and hope to keep the bar high for the rest of this year. Hook ’Em!

Contact Kassey Wooldridge = at kwooldridge@mail.utexas.edu = if you would like to get involved with UT ASCE.

Our website can be found at www.ut-asce.org. It contains information for Tech= nical Competitions, Outreach, IM Sports, and Social Events, as well as contact information for all of our officers.

Capital Are= a Food Bank (CAFB) Fund Drive

3D"Turn At the November meeting, ASCE Austin Branch collected and donated $222 to the Capital Area Food Bank. We will have collection boxes on the table again for the December meeting. Last year ASCE donated $560 for November and December. Let’s beat our last year’s amount and give everyone a happy, hunger free holiday season.

Many of our members, as well as student members, participated in this year’s Canstruct= ion event at Barton Creek Square Mall, where engineers and architects designed and built structures out of cans. All the cans were then donated to the Food Bank.=

A message from David M. Davenport, President & CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank:

Your gift to the Food Bank touches many li= ves, and although you may not know all their names or their stories, you will = know that you've done your part to help. Together, we can turn hungry holidays into happy holidays and impr= ove the lives of thousands of families struggling to make ends meet in the ye= ar ahead. Here is just one exa= mple of an individual who relies on the Food Bank this holiday season:

Martha Herrera, originally from Colombia, lives in east Austin and works as a tax consultant. “I am homesick sometimes,” she said. “I miss Christmas with my family.”

Martha says she has to adjust her lifestyle due to a medical condition. “I was diagnosed with Lupus,” said Martha. “It changed my life. It’s hard for me to work. I don’t have much energy.”

Recently, she visited Our Lady Guadalupe, a Food Bank Partner Agency, for the first time. “I’ll come here until January, when I can work again,” she said. “I’m so grateful food pantries like this= exist,” Martha says. “There aren’t any in Colombia so I think they are really great. It is comforting to know this is an option when I need it.”

Thank you.

Brief history of Traffic sign= s and sign standardization

By Melinda Luna, P.E.

Amazingly enough the history of the traffic sign starts about 250 BC with the Romans using marble and granite to set milestones a= long their roads. The distance t= hat these signs displayed was the distance from that stone to Rome. If the stone was located more than 100 miles away from Rome, then it wo= uld indicate the distance to the nearest town. Roman engineers also used direct= ional signs. Sign development was= very slow up until the invention of the automobile. During the early days of the automobile, it was very difficult to travel.

The Linco= ln highway was the first modern highway to have the addition of traffic signs. This was an effort b= y the Trail Association (Lincoln Highway Association). The highway covered 3,300 miles = from New York to San Francisco.

It was the state of Wisconsin that was the first to use route markers on their highway system in 1918.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In 1921, = Minnesota followed but it was actual= ly the first state to publish a manual on pavement markings and signs. The Bureau of Public Roads joine= d a board of engineers to set a nationwide standard which eventually was consolidated into the “Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (<= span class=3DSpellE>MUTCD)”.

The creators of this MUTCD put much thought into the sign shapes and had= a plan for the signs. T= o give you an example, round signs warned of approaching railroad crossings, whi= ch even then represented the most potential danger to the driver. The octagon advised of the next level of danger was the need to STOP for intersection= s. Diamond signs indicated more ordinary conditions that required drivers to= be cautious. Rectangular signs were reserved for direction or other regulato= ry information. The first sign= s were black letters on white background and were limited to 2 feet square which= was the maximum width of sign-making equipment. Because round and octagon sha= pes required the most cutting and wastage, the were reserved for the signs with least use. The shapes were the biggest indicator to the driver to what was ahead because it was difficult to see= the smaller two foot signs.

In 1924, the First National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) improved on earlier efforts and proposed standardizing colors for traffic control devices. Again, many remain in use today. For example, signs with white letters on a red background indicated STOP. White letters on a green background signified proceed. Black letters on a yellow background advised caution. Black and white signs providing information on direction and distance were specified for every intersection and junction. <= /span>

In 1930 signs were placed on Texas Highways. It was estimated that about 100,= 000 signs were placed on Texas Highways the first year. With each revision of the MUTCD the design and placement of signs has changed= . To name only one of the si= gns improvements, signs now are made to be visible to every driver. The MUTCD is now online line making information on traffic sign placement and design easily available. Texas has its = share of traffic signs making it one of the states easiest to drive and find your = way.

ASCE Society Awards – Call= for Nominations

ASCE National is accepting nominations for the Civil Government, Friedman Professional Recognition, Parcel-Sverdrup, and Government Civil Engineer of the Year awards. Nominations are due by March 1, 2010. The winners of these awards will be honored during the Society’s 2010 Annual Conference = in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A short summary of the awards follows. The compl= ete nomination rules and forms can be found on the Civil Gover= nment Award, Friedman Professional Recognition Award, = Parcel-Sver= drup Award, and Government = Civil Engineer of the Year Award pages of the ASCE web site.

Civil Gover= nment Award

The Civil Government Award recognizes those members of= the engineering profession who have rendered meritorious service in elective = or appointive positions in government.

Friedman Professional Recognition Award

The Edmund Friedman Professional Recognition Award recognizes a Society member who has contributed substantially to the stat= us of the engineering profession by establishing a reputation for profession= al service.

= Parcel-Sver= drup Award

The John I. Parcel - Leif J. Sverdrup Civil Engineering Management Award was created to encourage effective leadership and manage= ment skills in the civil engineering profession.

Government = Civil Engineer of the Year Award

The Government Civil Engineer of the Year Award recogn= izes distinguished civil engineers employed in public service for significant engineering contributions as a practitioner in public service.

You are encouraged to review the information and devel= op nominations for these important awards. In the event you have quest= ions or need guidance on the nomination process, please contact Jane Moran Alspach, Senior Manager of Honors and Awards at jalspach@asce.org or 1-800-548-2723 x6382.

Thank you in advance for your nominations.<= /span>

Don’= t Forget to Update Your Email Address

As a reminder, please update your email addresses thr= ough the National ASCE website. You may have moved or changed jobs and y= our email may have changed.

ASCE Continuing Education Webinars

= December 20= 09

Tue Dec 01, 2009

Ethics: The Road All Engineers Must Fol= low

Wed Dec 02, 2009

Deciphering Building Code Provisions for Structural Renovation =

Thu Dec 03, 2009

Thu Dec 10, 2009

How To Plan Your Projects Effectively -= A Two Part Series

Fri Dec 04, 2009

Reducing Collisions at High Crash Locat= ions

Mon Dec 07, 2009

Tools for Setting Sustainability Object= ives and Indicators on Engineering Projects &n= bsp;

Tue Dec 08, 2009

Sustainable Water Management: Rainwat= er Collection Systems and Analysis <= /o:p>

Wed Dec 09, 2009

Awarding Design-Build Contracts Using= the Two-Envelope Process

Wed Dec 09, 2009

Personal Time Management: Achieving L= ife Balance

Fri Dec 11, 2009

Wind-Tunnel Modeling of Pressures for Cladding Design - New Webinar

Mon Dec 14, 2009

Preparing and Implementing Constructi= on Site Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans &= nbsp;

Tue Dec 15, 2009

Investigation and Repair of Wood Stru= ctures

Wed Dec 16, 2009

Lessons From Failures of Pre-Engineer= ed Buildings - New Webinar

Thu Dec 17, 2009

Scope Creep: Preventing and Resolving=

Fri Dec 18, 2009

Safety Aspects of Timing Traffic Sign= als - Newly Updated<= /i>

Mon Dec 21, 2009

Design of Building Foundations: Pract= ical Basics

Tue Dec 22, 2009

Design and Renovation of Glulam Beams - New Webinar

Thank You to All of Our 2009 & 2010 Sponsors!

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Want to be an Austin Branch Sponsor? Gives your company advertising and free postings on our online job board. Click here for more information.=

The Austin Branch Newsletter = gives you the latest information on ASCE events and activities. To inquire about this newsletter= or to publish articles contact the Communications Director. Contact information for our Boar= d of Directors can be found at www.austina= sce.org.

National ASCE – www.asce.org Texas Se= ction – www.texasce.org