February  2015

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 February If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for February, 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 7 update? See the January edition of News Around Region 7  Share this page via social media and email:

MONTANA SECTION First geotechnical engineer to serve in ASCE’s top post, 1977 President Walker dies Leland Jasper Walker, P.E., Pres.77.ASCE, the first geotechnical engineer elected ASCE president and founder of Northern Testing Laboratories (later Northern Engineering and Testing), a geotechnical consulting firm, died December 31 at age 91. When Mr. Walker became Society president in 1977, ASCE’s 125th anniversary, his agenda was to spread the word to the public about what civil engineers did. In an effort to build a coalition with clout in Congress, Mr. Walker successfully joined forces with presidents of other large engineering associations in the U.S. to create a framework for what would become the American Association of Engineering Societies. Mr. Walker also strove to build coalitions abroad. During and immediately following his presidency, he traveled to more than a dozen countries, including the former Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, to help establish ASCE’s presence. Discover more about his achievements in ASCE News.

IOWA SECTION Iowa breaking down its old low-head dams for recreational safety Courtesy Recreation Engineering and Planning Many of Iowa's dams are low-head dams, which do not block a river's flow entirely. These simple-looking dams are deceptively unsafe. Forty-six people have died in dam-related incidents in Iowa since 1990, including two since January, during a variety of water activities, including swimming, fishing, tubing, kayaking, canoeing, and jet skiing. Above, the Cedar River in Charles City is among tributaries with a low-head dam that was modified to allow safer whitewater recreational use. Explore the modification program in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

COLORADO SECTION MWH Global’s director of hydropower and dams receives ASCE’s Rickey Medal Mario Finis, P.E., M.ASCE, is the recipient of the Rickey Medal for 2015 for contributions to the practice of hydropower engineering through global advocacy and support for hydroelectric development, education, and public policies that include hydropower as a clean, sustainable supply of electricity for developed and developing nations. Senior vice-president and director of hydropower and dams at the Broomfield, Colorado–based engineering firm MWH Global, Finis serves on ASCE’s Energy Division Executive Committee and is dedicated to the development of hydropower as a clean and reliable renewable resource, a commitment that has taken him to a large number of both developing and developed countries to support hydroelectric development across the globe. Discover more about what made Finis worthy of this honor in ASCE News.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Global engineering firm evaluates 50 most sustainable cities A new report by ARCADIS examines how 50 of the largest cities in the world balance social, environmental, and business interests. See which cities rank highest in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

COLORADO SECTION Researchers into tsunami loads win ASCE’s Raymond C. Reese Prize For their paper “Evaluation of Tsunami Loads on Wood-Frame Walls at Full Scale,” published in ASCE’s Journal of Structural Engineering, David Linton; Rakesh Gupta, M.ASCE; Daniel T. Cox, Ph.D.; John van de Lindt, Ph.D., F.ASCE; Mary Elizabeth Oshnack; and Milo Clauson share the Raymond C. Reese Prize for 2015. The Reese Prize is awarded to the author or authors of a paper that describes a notable achievement in research related to structural engineering. Van de Lindt is the George T. Abell distinguished professor in Infrastructure in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. Discover more about their award-winning work in ASCE News.

IN ASCE’s CIVIL ENGINEERING ONLINE MAGAZINE Study for Corps of Engineers urges national effort to reduce coastal risks A report conducted by the National Research Council and sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls for a united, national vision for coastal risk management. Consider the call to action in ASCE’s online edition of Civil Engineering magazine..