May 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 May If you live adjacent to a Section in a different Region, or are merely interested in the other Region reports for May, 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 April edition of  News Around Region 1 Share this page via social media and email:

BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS SECTION Ipswich's Choate Bridge honored as ASCE’s newest civil engineering landmark Photo: Ken Yuszkus The Choate Bridge, in the heart of Massachusetts’ historic town of Ipswich, was recently named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by ASCE. The stone arch bridge, which spans the Ipswich River along Route 1A in the heart of downtown Ipswich, has been in continuous service for more than 250 years. The 80-foot bridge was built in 1764 of local fieldstone granite and used keystone engineering, both highly unusual for colonial Massachusetts. Read local coverage of the designation in The Salem News of Beverly, MA.  Section website>>

METROPOLITAN SECTION Water resources and navigation engineering expert elected Distinguished Member Lawrence C. Bank, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, a preeminent scholar and leader in the field of structural engineering, notably for his work in significantly advancing the research and application of fiber reinforced plastics, has been elected to the 2015 class of ASCE Distinguished Members. Bank was founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Composites for Construction, the first scholarly journal devoted to the infrastructure composites research field. He is on leave from the City College of New York. Learn of the other achievements that made Bank deserving of Distinguished Member status in ASCE News.

SYRACUSE SECTION Civil engineering major named SUNY Canton’s outstanding graduate Alyssa M. Baker, a civil and environmental technology major from Boonville, NY, was named the State University of New York Canton campus’ outstanding graduate at the bachelor's degree level for the class of 2015. She's served as the president of the college's ASCE student chapter, including heading up its Steel Bridge team. This year, Baker led her team to a top-three finish in the ASCE Upstate Regional Conference, securing them a spot in next month’s national competition held at Clemson University in South Carolina. The Syracuse Section has selected her twice as a recipient of a scholarship for exceptional academic achievement. She's also received awards for having the highest GPA in her major.  Learn more about Baker.  Section website>>

METROPOLITAN SECTION Section’s younger members tour slim condo tower being built Some say that it is lonely at the top, but the ASCE Met Section's younger members discovered that it is also very cold. As part of National Engineers Week events, Chris Shirley of WSP led a YMF technical tour of 432 Park Avenue, a super slim building under construction. Reaching a height of 1,396 feet, 432 Park Avenue is one of the tallest residential buildings in the world. With the building's slender proportions of just 94 feet square (a height to width ratio of nearly 15 to 1), its engineers needed to devise innovative solutions to lateral movement and acceleration issues. Read more about the tour as covered on the Met Section’s website.

METROPOLITAN SECTION Take a virtual walk along the transformational Highline park in Manhattan A The Highline offers a “soul-charging experience” for walkers through the Chelsea and the West Village. An old elevated train line was converted into a public park and walking thoroughfare. Simple as the concept seems, the project has transformed the neighborhood and provided incentive for the largest new development in Manhattan – Hudson Yards. Younger member Ken Maschke takes you on a walk with him in a photo-filled post to The Emerging Engineer, part of the ASCE Roundup of news and views.

VERMONT SECTION Volunteers transform school grounds, win state award for public places After two years of planning, fundraising and construction to revamp an elementary school’s grounds in Woodstock, VT, the team that revitalized the once-downtrodden public space was honored recently with the 2015 Vermont Public Places Award, presented by a consortium of state groups including the Vermont Section. The award was presented to Woodstock Elementary School Board Chair Paige Hiller, Principal Karen White, Project Manager Jason Drebitko, and Landscape Architect Jack Rossi. The project was made possible by donations raised by the Woodstock and surrounding communities. More than 300 private donations and grants funded 90 percent of the project. Read local coverage of the award in The Vermont Standard.

BOSTON SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS SECTION Leading water engineer in Massachusetts and Boston dies Charles Button, P.E., M.ASCE, credited for his instrumental role in the modernization of the Boston region’s public drinking-water system, died March 13. He was 70. He was the founder and president of Freshwater Consulting, and over the course of a 45-year career, served as chief engineer and deputy chief operating officer of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, chief engineer of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, and chief engineer of the Hartford Metropolitan District Commission. His role in construction of the Boston Harbor Project and Combined Sewer Overflow Program was significant. Read more about the life and achievements of Mr. Button in ASCE News.

VERMONT SECTION What you don’t know about Vermont’s dams What you probably don’t know about Vermont’s dams is that no one knows exactly what the condition of these structures is. Just as much as poor condition, it’s the lack of information that poses a risk to Vermont. This is the lesson shared by Jessica Louisos, a civil engineer with the Waterbury firm Milone & MacBroom and a co-author of the Report Card for Vermont’s Infrastructure, in a PBS interview. Delve into Vermont’s dam challenges in ASCE’s web-exclusive edition of Civil Engineering magazine.

METROPOLITAN SECTION Study of subatomic particles to aid investigations of bridge cables While civil engineers frequently concern themselves with large-scale structures such as skyscrapers, dams, and bridges, researchers in applied physics probe the other end of the physical spectrum, studying the behavior of some of the smallest particles detectible by humans. It may seem unlikely that these two fields would collide, but that is what has happened at Columbia University, where a diverse team of researchers is using microscopic neutrons to investigate the behavior of broken wires inside suspension bridge cables. The results of the researchers' collaboration may be good news for the owners and operators of some the nation's largest and oldest suspension bridges. Explore the potential breakthrough in safety in ASCE’s web-exclusive edition of Civil Engineering magazine.