Austin Branch Newsletter

March 2009

Volume 13, Number 6

In This Issue…

Meeting/Speaker Info

President's Message

Meeting Sponsor

Job Board

Excellence in Journalism

Engineer’s Day

Flood Awareness Workshop

Discover Engineering Volunteering

Continuing Education Webinars

March Meeting Sponsor:

In 1950, Dr. Albert H. Halff started a consulting engineering company in a one-room office in Dallas. His mission was to provide quality engineering consulting services and find sustainable solutions that fulfilled human needs while protecting the natural environment; while creating a dynamic and challenging work environment.

Over fifty years later, Halff Associates, Inc. (Halff) is established in 9 locations and is a Texas-based, employee-owned, diverse and multi-disciplined professional services firm that develops, designs, maintains, and operates programs, providing innovative solutions for our clients. Halff has worked on projects around the United States and across the seas.

Through a bold and agile management strategy, Halff has become a vertically-integrated provider of full-service engineering, architecture, planning, interior design, landscape architecture, right of way, surveying, procurement, construction management, technology, maintenance, consulting, remediation, and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the power, energy, chemical, environmental, infrastructure, emergency response, and homeland security services.

ASCE Austin Chapter Job Board:

This is a reminder that the ASCE Austin Chapter job board is available and is generally up to date with job listings from various member organizations. Please pass this information on to colleagues. The following is a link to our Job Board: http://www.austinasce.org/jobs.htm.

Excellence in Journalism Award Nomination: Due April 30^th

The Austin Branch PR Committee is accepting entries for the 2009 Texas Section Excellence in Journalism Award, and strongly encourages you to nominate a story, or stories. Eligible stories must be published or broadcast between May 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009. Local journalists for News 8 won both the Texas Section Award and the National Award this past year!

The Excellence in Journalism Award was established in 1994 by ASCE to honor newspaper journalists for outstanding news articles that enhance public understanding of the role and impact of civil engineers and civil engineering. Nominations of regional or national general interest news stories are accepted in five categories: Daily and Weekly Newspapers, Magazines, Electronic/Web-Based News Outlets, Radio, and Television.

A list of Award criterion is shown below and can be viewed at the following web link: http://www.asce.org/pressroom/honors/excel_journalism.cfm:

Entries should advance public knowledge and understanding of civil engineers, the profession or the issues that they impact;
Include knowledgeable civil engineering experts;
Cover all sides of the civil engineering issue fairly;
Effectively explain how the civil engineering project or issue impacts the community or region;
Accurately describe the civil engineering project or issue; and
Clearly describe the civil engineer's role (Examples: How did engineers contribute to the project's completion? How did engineers influence the positive outcome of an environmental issue, natural disaster or key legislation?).

If you have seen or heard a story (maybe about your own project) and it meets the criteria above (and the eligibility requirements listed on the website), please submit your nomination directly to any member of the Public Relations Committee (Linda Barlow lbarlow@hvj.com, Sharon Hamilton sharon.hamilton@casengineers.com, John Conquest JDCONQUEST@mactec.com, Cesar Calderon calderon@guerra.com, Chelsea Solomon at Chelsea.solomon@casengineers.com , Jim Huffcut at JHuffcut@pape-dawson.com, or Jennifer Otterson at JMOtterson@pbsj.com). Please include a copy of the article/publication medium, which should show a minimum of the authors name, date of publication and the publisher’s name. Nominations must be submitted by April 30, 2009 to enable the committee to pull together the submittal. Nominations must be submitted to the Texas Section ASCE by May 15^th, 2009. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the Public Relations Committee.

2009 Structures Congress

Registration is open for the 2009 Structures Congress. Don’t miss this chance to join SEI in Austin, Texas from April 30 – May 2, 2009. The Congress will demonstrate what is redefining structural engineering in the areas of bridge and transportation structures, buildings, and advances in research. Take advantage of the following benefits:

Ø Notable Events –

o John Breen P.E., F.ASCE – The Code of the West

o Santiago Calatrava P.E – Construction in the 21^st Century

o Dr. S. Shyam Sunder - NIST Investigation of World Trade Center Building 7

Ø Visibility – Become known as an industry leader.

Ø Networking – Meet and exchange ideas with structural engineering professionals.

Ø Professional Development – Earn up to 26 PDHs while attending technical sessions and more.

Ø Attend and earn up to 26 Professional Development Hours.

Visit the Structures 2009 Web site and Register today!

Engineer’s Day at the Austin Children’s Museum

by Linda Barlow, P.E. – Public Relations Chair

596240014@12032009-23D2 The ASCE Austin Branch’s 8^th Annual Engineers Day at the Austin Children’s Museum was held Sunday February 15^th 2009. There were about 300 children who participated in the engineering activities we sponsored at the museum. The ASCE event was the second day of engineering at the museum, following UT student sponsored engineering activities the previous Saturday. So it was a full weekend of engineering at the museum this year!

Thanks to all the volunteers who made this event successful and a special thanks to all the sponsors who made it possible to cover admissions for the kids and provide hard hats and goodie bags with t-shirts, construction toys, and more.

Our Sponsors Included:

ASCE Austin Branch

ACEA

Alliance Transportation Group, Inc.

Baer Engineering and Environmental Consulting, Inc.

596240014@12032009-23E0 Binkley and Barfield

Duke’s Root Control

Encotech Engineering Consultants, Inc.

HVJ Associates, Inc.

Jose I. Guerra, Inc.

KBR

MWM Design Group

Urban Design Group

Flood Awareness and Flood Response Workshop

EWRI and ASCE are teaming up with TFMA to host a Flood Awareness and Flood Response workshop in San Marcos, Texas, April 29, 2009, in conjunction with this year's TFMA Spring Conference. The workshop will feature several noted speakers from federal, state, local, and academic perspectives, and it will be a great opportunity for civil engineers to learn more about flood awareness and response issues and to meet some of the key experts involved in this critical work. Please see the following link for more information: http://www.austinasce.org/Misc/floodflyer.pdf.

Discover Engineering Volunteer Opportunities

ASCE school visits (Discover Engineering) are in full swing, and there has been a good showing of volunteers so far. That said, some upcoming school visits (below) could use a volunteer surge to get those visits over the hump. Most visits next week are an easy 1- or 2-hour commitment. If you can help out with these or others, please contact the team leads directly.

Also, Eweek is still in need of team leads at just 3 more schools (see table below). If you are interested in helping with one of them please contact Jennifer Vargus at texeweek@us.ibm.com. Thanks!

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Graham Elementary (NE Austin) - Team Lead: Jessica Rodriguez-Gomez, jgomez@lggroup.com
Date: Mar. 10, (classes are at 7:50am, 8:50am, 9:50am, 10:50am), 5th grade
Need 2 volunteers for each class, volunteers can stay for one or all classes.

Cunningham Elementary (S Austin) - Team Lead: Jean Schunk, jschunck@us.ibm.com
Date: Mar. 10, (1:00pm-2:00pm), 2nd grade
Need 1 volunteer

Naumann Elementary (Cedar Park/NW Austin) - Team Lead: Madeline Vega, mvega1@us.ibm.com
Date: Mar. 11, (morning and afternoon shifts)
Need 4 volunteers.

Walsh Middle School (Round Rock) - Team Lead: Andrew Jones, andrewj@us.ibm.com
Dates: Mar. 11, 12, 13
Need 10 volunteers.

Casis Elementary (Central Austin) - Team Lead: Laton Carr, latoncarr@yahoo.com
Date: Mar. 13, (1:30pm-2:30pm), 5th grade
Need 7 volunteers.

Jollyville Elementary (NW Austin) - Team Lead: Pradeep Nambiar, nambiar1@us.ibm.com
Date: Mar. 13, (9am-11am, 1pm-3pm), 4th grade
Need 3 volunteers

Casis Elementary (Central Austin) - Team Lead: Laton Carr, latoncarr@yahoo.com
Date: Mar. 27, (1:30pm-2:30pm), 4th grade
Need 5 volunteers.

Westwood High School (NW Austin) - Team Lead: Pierre Costa, Pierre_Costa@labs.att.com
Dates: Mar. 30 & Apr. 2, (morning and afternoon shifts)
Need 10 volunteers.

Deerpark Middle School - Team Lead: Margaret Morgan, mbmorgan@us.ibm.com
Date: Mar. 27, (2 shifts: 9am-12pm, 12:45pm-3:30pm), 7th grade science classes
Need 2-3 volunteers for each shift. We are doing the marble roller coaster experiment: http://www.centexeweek.org/node/31

Wells Branch Elementary (NW Austin) - Team Lead: R.D. Childers, rdchilders@austin.rr.com
Dates: Mar. 27 (8:00am-11:00am), Career Day
Need 2 volunteers.

Wells Branch Elementary (NW Austin) - Team Lead: R.D. Childers, rdchilders@austin.rr.com
Dates: April (exact date TBD), Classroom visits
Need 5 volunteers.

Hill Elementary (NW Austin) - Team Lead: Pradeep Nambiar, nambiar1@us.ibm.com
Date: May 29, (9am-11am, 1pm-3pm), 4th grade
Need 2 volunteers

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The following schools still need a team lead. If you can help with any of them please let me know.

School	City	Zip	E/M/H	Grade	# St
Double File Trail Elementary	Round Rock	78665	Elem	K-4	500
Chisholm Trail Middle School	Round Rock	78681	Middle	6th	360

YMF Update

by Brandon Hammann, EIT

First and foremost, we set up a new business email account under the address of membership@austinasceymf.com. We sent out a few emails during the first week of March related to the PE Exam Review Course. If you are a member and did not receive the email, please send us your contact information and we will be sure to update our distribution list. You may also consider contacting the National Chapter to ensure your profile is up to date.

February was a busy month for YMF! Members gathered at UT’s Union Theater on February 8^th to view the ASCE-sponsored “Liquid Assets”. The event also featured an open forum discussion on the condition of the local water infrastructure. A special thanks to our UT Student Liaison, Ty Womble, for his efforts in overseeing the event. On Saturday, February 21^st, YMF members volunteered their time to help out with the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” event held on the UT campus. We appreciate the efforts of Jill Wicks, YMF’s West Point Bridge Competition Chair, for organizing and participating in this year’s event. At the end of the month, Kim Patak, P.E. (YMF Director) presented members with a second technical seminar on detention pond analysis. Due to limited capacity and an overwhelming response to the first seminar held in January, we decided to offer a second seminar in February. Kim (and co-workers) volunteered an abundance of time outside of work to ensure a successful seminar. Their hard work is truly appreciated and was evident in the response of our members to this new and informative opportunity. If you attended the seminar, please send us your comments and/or suggestions so that we may look for ways to improve upon this new concept.

On March 14^th, prospective professional engineers will begin the PE Exam Review Course (spring session). While the course is now closed for registration, we are currently looking to fill the position of next year’s Vice President. In addition to serving as an officer on the Board, the Vice President’s primary role is to administer the PE Exam Review Course. We are always looking for ways to improve the course and welcome your ideas and suggestions. If you think this great opportunity may be of interest to you or someone you know, please contact Jackee Grote at 442-1122 or at JLGrote@terracon.com.

Sincerely,

Brandon Hammann, A.M.ASCE

Austin YMF President

brandon.hammann@klotz.com

UT Student Chapter Update

by Michelle Wilkinson – Corporate Relations Officer

February was a super busy month for UT ASCE. We held tow meetings, the first sponsored by Halff Associates and the second sponsored by Carrasquillo. Again, we had huge turnouts at our meetings, which is encouraging to see this far into the semester.

In February UT ASCE/AEI students participated in the EERI Seismic Competition in Salt Lake City. The University of Texas placed 4^th in the competition and we were all very proud of our hard work! Thanks again to our sponsors for helping us make the trip possible: ARUP, Datum Engineers, HKS, Linbeck, and MWM Design Group. Team members included: Cynthia Hua, Matt Homer, Eleanor Reynolds, Jorge Bouffier, Mohamad Tassabehji, Michelle Wilkinson, James Kleineck, Ariana Alvear.

We just finished our Intramural basketball season. The co-ed team finished 2-2 and the men’s team finished 3-2. Next up in sports is baseball, and we are all really looking forward to this because it is our organization’s staple sport!

Concrete canoe is getting close! The competition is in South Padre, April 3-4 and we have completed our formwork and are going to be pouring our canoe. We are excited to see how the concrete we designed compares to the concrete other schools in the competition come up with.

Contact Michelle Wilkinson at mwilkinson@mail.utexas.edu if you would like to get involved with UT ASCE. Please let us know if you would like to sponsor a meeting, a Friday in the Park, or any of our technical competitions (Seismic Competition and Concrete Canoe). Visit our website, www.ut-asce.org, for more information regarding the student branch.

Dam Builders: Engineers Who Worked on the Construction of Buchanon and Inks Dams

by Melinda Luna, P.E. – History and Heritage Chair

Buchanan Dam was approximately 40% complete when the Insul Company went bankrupt in the early 1930’s. The Felges Company originally from Minnesota had brought in construction workers to the Hamilton Dam (now Buchanan Dam) area. The project had given a boost to the local economy. When word came to the construction sit of the bankruptcy of the Insul Company, some workers had no means of getting back home. Construction stopped in April 1932 and Buchanan Dam then called Hamilton Dam was transferred to the Public Works Administration (PWA). When LCRA was created, the construction of the dam was then transferred to LCRA and work restarted on the Buchanan dam in 1936. Fargo Engineering was hired to design the dam and LCRA started hiring engineers and workers to finish the construction of the Buchanan dam. Inks Dam was also started and completed in the same time period. One of the first tasks of the restart in construction was to chip out concrete that had been left in the concrete mixers from the original construction.

The building of the dams was a welcome project to the area. Unemployment was at 33% at the time and in contrast before the 1929 Stock crash when unemployment was only 3 %. Farmers were especially hard hit because along with hard economic times, there was a harsh drought in progress.

The engineers that LCRA hired worked from 1936 to 1938 with a number of challenges. The engineers and construction workers were housed in a camp adjacent to the work site. The camp consisted of octagonal wooden buildings. These buildings had 7 double deck bunks in the structure with nails to serve as hangers for clothes. The roof was made out of black tar paper which during the harsh Texas summers made the structures unbearable to sleep in until midnight. There was only a single window for ventilation. Looking at temperature data there were 67 days of temperatures above 100 degrees. The construction workers in telling and documenting their experience all reported the hot temperatures. Snakes were abundant in the area and workers had to careful not to get bit. The dining hall was 13 miles away and it took 45 minutes along unpaved road and trails. A suspension bridge was built in downstream of Buchanan dam in the original construction of the dam. It was about 700 feet long with two decks to provide a roadway for vehicles (at the top) and the second deck for pedestrians. This bridge was an asset as it helped both locals and the construction traffic to cross the Colorado River. Despite the distance to Austin and other cities, these engineers also found time to participate in the American Society of Engineers (ASCE).

With the camp, equipment, and bridge in place, the engineers that came to work on two dams. Each engineer had a role of building what Secretary Ickes declared engineering wonders. Because records are scattered in different archives a complete list of engineers and roles not be possible, but the stories of a few engineers that were involved in the construction is presented here: http://www.austinasce.org/Misc/buchananbuilders2.pdf.

City of Austin Road Names – Monroe Road

A family member of John Milton Swisher, founder of the "Swisher Addition" in South Austin in 1877 (streets that were also named for members of the Swisher family include Milton, Elizabeth, Newton, Nickerson, Nellie, James, Stacy, and Annie).

ASCE Continuing Education Webinars

March 2009
Tue Mar 10, 2009	Implementing Design-Build in the Public Sector
Wed Mar 11, 2009	Critical Path Method: Introduction to the Method and Software
Thu Mar 12, 2009	Renovation of Wood Trusses
Fri Mar 13, 2009	Underpinning and Strengthening of Foundations New Webinar
Tue Mar 17, 2009	Design of Steel Lintels in Masonry Walls
Wed Mar 18, 2009	Wind Tunnel Testing for Wind Loads on Structures
Thu Mar 19, 2009	Avoiding the Economic Consequences of Poorly Planned Growth on the Provision of Water and Sewer New Webinar
Fri Mar 20, 2009	Safety Aspects Of Timing Signalized Intersection
Tue Mar 24, 2009	Wind and Seismic Retrofit of Steel-Framed Buildings New Webinar
Wed Mar 25, 2009	Runoff Analysis using WinTR 55 (the SCS Method) New Webinar
Thu Mar 26, 2009	Strengthening Wood Beams and Joists
Fri Mar 27, 2009	Keeping Airports Functioning During Disaster New Webinar
Tue Mar 31, 2009	Ethics: The Road All Engineers Must Follow
Tue Mar 31, 2009 - Thu Apr 02, 2009	P.E. Civil Depth Review Sessions New Webinar
April 2009
Wed Apr 01, 2009	If You Haven't Planned it - You Can't Control it New Webinar
Thu Apr 02, 2009	Principles of Sustainable Design for Buildings New Webinar
Fri Apr 03, 2009 - 10, 2009	How To Plan Your Projects Effectively ~ Part I & II - Complete Series
Tue Apr 07, 2009	Specifying Metal Building Systems
Wed Apr 08, 2009	Deterioration and Repair of Concrete
Thu Apr 09, 2009	Improving Safety at Railroad Crossings New Webinar
Tue Apr 14, 2009	Wind and Seismic Retrofit of Buildings: The Basics
Wed Apr 15, 2009	Reducing Runoff Impacts using Infiltration Basins New Webinar
Wed Apr 15, 2009 - 22, 2009	Writing: Producing Action-Oriented Documents ~ Part I & II - Complete Series
Thu Apr 16, 2009	An Introduction to Roadside Delineation and Safety Systems
Thu Apr 16, 2009	Going Green I: National and State Overview New Webinar
Thu Apr 16, 2009 - Thu May 07, 2009	Going Green - Diverting Materials from Landfill ~ Complete 4-Part Series New Webinar
Fri Apr 17, 2009	Design of Wood-Framed Sloped Roofs
Tue Apr 21, 2009	Reinforced Masonry: Design and Construction
Wed Apr 22, 2009	How to Talk to Your Clients Strategically About Sustainable Development New Webinar
Thu Apr 23, 2009	Designing Bicycle Facilities
Thu Apr 23, 2009	Going Green II: Construction & Demolition Waste Case Studies New Webinar
Fri Apr 24, 2009	How to Give and Receive Effective Feedback New Webinar
Tue Apr 28, 2009	Renovation of Slabs on Grade
Wed Apr 29, 2009	Improving Pedestrian Crossing Safety at Uncontrolled Locations
Thu Apr 30, 2009	Designing with Engineered Lumber
Thu Apr 30, 2009	Going Green III: Electronic Waste Case Studies New Webinar

Thank You to All of Our 2008 Sponsors!

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 Board of Directors can be found at www.austinasce.org.

National ASCE – www.asce.org Texas Section – www.texasce.org