December 2014

Great outreach event or other activity? Let the whole Region know! If you’re a local ASCE leader and your Section, Branch, Younger Member Group, or Student Chapter has staged any special events, engaged in outreach from grade-school kids to lawmakers, done charity work, fund raising or anything of the sort, let ASCEnews Weekly know and we may include it in next month’s Region report. You may already have written about it and posted pictures in your newsletter, website, or social media. Share the details and any photos at asce.org/localnews. Got questions? Write to submissions@asce.org. See the other Region reports for December If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for December, click on each to view them:   Region 1   Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, Buffalo Section, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers Section, Ithaca Section, Maine Section, Metropolitan Section, Mohawk-Hudson Section, New Hampshire Section, New Jersey Section, Puerto Rico Section, Rhode Island Section, Rochester Section, Syracuse Section, Vermont Section Region 2   Central Pennsylvania Section, Delaware Section, Lehigh Valley Section, Maryland Section, National Capital Section, Philadelphia Section, Pittsburgh Section Region 3   Akron-Canton Section, Central Illinois Section, Central Ohio Section, Cincinnati Section, Cleveland Section, Dayton Section, Duluth Section, Illinois Section, Michigan Section, Minnesota Section, North Dakota Section, Quad Cities Section, Toledo Section, Wisconsin Section Region 4   Arkansas Section, Indiana Section, Kentucky Section, North Carolina Section, South Carolina Section, Tennessee Section, Virginia Section, West Virginia Section Region 5   Alabama Section, Florida Section, Georgia Section, Louisiana Section, Mississippi Section   Region 6   New Mexico Section, Oklahoma Section, Texas Section Region 7   Colorado Section, Iowa Section, Kansas City Section, Kansas Section, Nebraska Section, South Dakota Section, St. Louis Section, Wyoming Section Region 8   Alaska Section, Arizona Section, Columbia Section, Hawaii Section, Inland Empire Section, Montana Section, Nevada Section, Oregon Section, Seattle Section, Southern Idaho Section, Tacoma-Olympia Section, Utah Section Region 9   Los Angeles Section, Sacramento Section, San Diego Section, San Francisco Section Region 10   All International Sections, Branches, and Groups Missed last month's Region 1 update? See the November edition of News Around Region 1 Share this page via social media and email:

BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS SECTION Merrimack College to host 2015 ASCE regional competition Civil engineering students from all over New England and part of Canada will converge in April on Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, for the 2015 New England ASCE Student Conference and regional Steel Bridge Competition. Teams from colleges and universities will be competing to see who will represent the New England region in the national competition. All are welcome to witness this exciting event. Learn more about the events at Merrimack College’s website.

BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS SECTION Co-founder of renowned engineering consulting firm dies Harl P. Aldrich, Jr., P.E. Sc.D., Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, 91, co-founder of the Boston, Massachusetts–based consulting engineering firm Haley & Aldrich, Inc., and a true pioneer and visionary, contributing over 35 years to the development of the field of geotechnical engineering in New England, died November 24.  A recipient in 2004 of ASCE’s Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) award for lifetime achievement in management, he had the honor of serving as president of ASCE’s Massachusetts Section in 1964 and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section in 1968-1969. Discover more about Aldrich’s distinguished career in ASCE News.

METROPOLITAN SECTION Post-Sandy rehabilitation boosts resiliency of New York subway facilities A new phase of Hurricane Sandy recovery focuses on bolstering the city’s critical transit system against future storms and sea level rise. See what’s being implemented in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

VERMONT, NEW HAMPSHIRE SECTIONS Successful joint dinner meeting of Sections briefed on novel NH truss bridge  Courtesy NH.gov In early November, members of the New Hampshire and Vermont Sections got together at the Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction, VT, for an enlightening and entertaining joint meeting, highlighted by a great presentation on the New Hampshire OCEA award-winning Memorial Bridge project in Portsmouth. Theodore Zoli, a senior vice president and technical director for HNTB's bridge practice nationwide, talked about the first-of-its kind truss design for the bridge. More than 50 Section members from Vermont and New Hampshire attended.   Vermont Section website>>    New Hampshire Section website>>

IN ASCE’S CIVIL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE ONLINE Pay trends indicate construction market changes Research reveals the emphasis that engineering and construction firms are placing on securing new business in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Explore a consulting firm’s findings in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

IN ASCE’S CIVIL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE ONLINE Corps ‘embracing uncertainty’ in its project planning In adapting to climate change, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now models both historical and theoretical storms and consults a sea-level rise tool that it developed to gauge site vulnerability. Discover the Corps’ new approaches in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

METROPOLITAN SECTION Corps of Engineers leader briefs members on north Atlantic coast risk reduction and resiliency Lynn Bocamazo, P.E, D.CE., chief of the Hurricane Sandy Branch for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District, gave Metropolitan Section members a look ahead at a report to be released next month on the flood risks to vulnerable coastal populations already hit by Hurricane Sandy. Bocamazo delivered the opening lecture in the 2014-15 COPRI Met Section Chapter's lecture series last month. She’s seen at right with Met Section COPRI Chapter Chair Andrew Cairns. Bocamazo provided a preview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study, a 24 month long, $19 million examination of areas affected by Sandy within the boundaries of the Corps’ North Atlantic Division from Virginia to New Hampshire. Scheduled for official release in January, the study is a valuable tool that will save communities time and money when planning for resilient adaptation to increasing risk from sea-level rise and coastal storms. The study provides a transferable, consistent coastal framework, powerful new tools and data sets, and allows for risk-informed decision making. The data collected and results of the study will be available and open for use by all.  Presentation slides are available on the Met Section website; more information can be found at the Corps page on the study.  Section website>>.