The Georgia Engineer Aug-Sept 2014

G E O R G I A

ENGINEER

®

Natural resources & tHe eNVIroNMeNt Volume 21, Issue 4

auGust | sePteMBer 2014

NEW WATER SUPPLY PROGRAM TO ENSURE ATLANTA’S FUTURE DRINKING WATER

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GEORGIA ENGINEER

G E O R G I A

ENGINEER Publisher: A4 Inc. 1154 Lower Birmingham Road Canton, Georgia 30115 770-521-8877 | Fax: 770-521-0406 E-mail: p.frey@a4inc.com Editor-in-Chief: Roland Petersen-Frey Managing Editor: Daniel Simmons Art Direction/Design: Pam Petersen-Frey Georgia Engineering Alliance 233 Peachtree Street Harris Tower, #700 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 404-521-2324 | Fax: 404-521-0283 Georgia Engineer Editorial board Thomas C. Leslie, Chair Michael L. (Sully) Sullivan, ACEC Georgia, President Shawna Mercer, ACEC Georgia, Director of Communications & Government Affairs ACEC/Georgia Representatives B.J. Martin, PE Lee Philips

ASCE/G Representatives Daniel Agramonte, PE Steven C. Seachrist, PE ASHE Representative Jenny Jenkins, PE GSPE Representatives Tim Glover, PE ITE Representatives Daniel Dobry, PE, PTOE John Edwards, PE ITS/G Representatives Bill Wells, PE Shaun Green, PE Kay Wolfe, PE SAME Representative Pamela Little, PE SEAOG Representative Rob Wellacher, PE WTS Representative Angela Snyder

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liance and sent to members of ACEC, ASCE, ASHE, GEF, GSPE, ITE, SAME, SEAOG, WTS; local, state, and Federal government officials and agencies; businesses and institutions. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the Alliance or publisher nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this periodical may be reproduced with the written consent from the Alliance and publisher. Correspondence regarding address changes should be sent to the Alliance at the address above. Correspondence regarding advertising and editorial material should be sent to A4 Inc. at the address listed above.

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ADvERTISEMENTS American Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Cardno TBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 City of Atlanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Columbia Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 CROM Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 EcoWise Civil Design & Consulting Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Edwards-Pitman Environmental Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Engineered Restorations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Go Build Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Hayward Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back Cover Hazen & Sawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 HDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 JAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 MH Miles Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Nova Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Pond Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Prime Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Reinforced Earth Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 RHD Utility Locating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 ROSSER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 S&ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Schnabel Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Silt Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Stevenson & Palmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 STV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Terrell Hundley Carroll Right of Way Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 T•H•C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 TTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 T. Wayne Owens & Associates, PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Front Cover Willmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Wolverton & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 4

GEORGIA ENGINEER

T a b l e

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CONTENTS

GEORGIA ENGINEER AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2014

New water supply program to ensure Atlanta’s future drinking water supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 At the source: forecasting low lake levels and planning for the worst. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Dams: the goal is the same. Awareness and path to success are changing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Moscow’s answer to Silicon Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Mitigating environmental impacts through dissolved oxygen injections for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Program . . . . . . . 16 Approach an interview like an engineer, sort of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Alpharetta’s Bright Light Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 NPDES permit for stormwater discharge associated with construction activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 125th anniversary of dam failure in Johnstown highlights importance of emergency preparedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Georgia’s logistics infrastructure: gateway to the world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Georgia Engineering News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 ACEC Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ASCE Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 ASHE Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 GEF News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 GSPE Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 ITE Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 ITS Georgia News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 SAME Atlanta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 WTS Atlanta News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

PLANNING FOR THE WORST 9 AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

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GEORGIA ENGINEER

FEATURE

New water supply program to ensure Atlanta’s future drinking water supply

By Cameo Garrett & Jessica Walker | City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management | Office of Communications and Community Relations

For any major city, delivery of clean and reliable drinking water and fire protection service begins with an adequate water source for storage and treatment. In 1893, when Atlanta faced major public health issues with water quality and availability, investment in raw water conveyance and storage was the first step in securing a sound future for the city.

More than 120 years after the water system was developed, Mayor Kasim Reed recognizes the critical need for reliable delivery of drinking water and redundant water storage. The Water Supply Program will enhance Atlanta’s current water conveyance and storage system while providing the projected 280 million gallons of water per day necessary to sustain the drinking water system in the future.

The new tunnel will be designed and constructed to convey source water from the Chattahoochee River.

Water from the river will flow to the water treatment plants, then into a former granite quarry repurposed as a water storage facility. Newly constructed vertical shafts at the water treatment plants will include pump stations to withdraw water from the tunnel system for treatment and distribution. The new five-mile conveyance will end at the bellwood Quarry, which will be renamed Westside Park.

Westside Park will connect with the Atlanta beltline, a comprehensive economic and transportation effort to spur redevelopment in the city. The Atlanta beltline Inc. will develop Westside Park while the Department of Watershed Management will ensure a safe and secure new water storage facility.

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“We are very excited about the development of the Westside Park which will not only create additional greenspace in the city of Atlanta, but also feature a water reserve for additional storage capacity,” Mayor Reed said. “Our water resources must be protected, conserved, shared, and sustained for future generations. When completed, this project will give Atlanta a reliable supply of drinking water for the next hundred years.”

Renewing a vital Resource: The Conveyance System Ensuring the integrity of the raw water conveyance system has proven to be a critical undertaking for Watershed Management. Atlanta’s original raw water pipelines convey water from a pump station at the Chattahoochee River to the Chattahoochee Water Treatment Plant and the Hemphill Water Treatment Plant, the largest of the system’s three water treatment facilities. The 30-, 36-, and 48-inch cast iron transmission mains installed in 1893, 1908, and 1924 respectively, are well beyond their designed 50-year life cycle, significantly reducing the reliability of essential drinking water infrastructure. A fourth main—a 72-inch steel pipe built in 1975—is limited to operation during warm weather months due to its weak and brittle state in cold weather.

Age and other structural limitations necessitate new water conveyance and storage to accommodate projected growth and development. The reserve also allows for an alternative source in case of possible contamination or a serious threat on the water supply. The Chattahoochee River is Atlanta’s sole source for raw water, and nearly 65 percent of Atlanta’s treated drinking water is supplied by the Hemphill facility.

Raw water transmission mains serve as the foundation that feeds the entire city of Atlanta drinking water supply. Identifying and improving imminent service deficiencies in the distribution system is a top Watershed Management priority.The pipelines have exhibited deterioration in the form of breaks and other system failures. A leak in the 36-inch main has already resulted in its 8

failure and discontinuance from service.

Current conditions leave the system virtually no opportunity for maintenance or repair of additional failures.

To ensure the availability of a continuous supply of potable water to the citizens of Atlanta while design commences on the new tunnel, a two-phase project kicks off with the renewal of sections of three castiron mains located under a railroad yard adjacent to Watershed Management’s single functioning reservoir. In the scope, cast-in-place liners are to renew a 600-foot section of each of the pipelines where they crossed under the railroad main-line tracks.

An additional 10,200 linear feet of mains is included, bringing the total renewal length to 12,000 linear feet. Renewal work will also include demolition and replacement of check valves and blow offs and installation of cathodic protection devices.

Phase Two focuses on the 72-inch main.

Prone to system failures during cold weather months when the steel pipe it at its greatest risk of failure, this line will also be renewed as well as valves replaced to easily isolate future leaks.

Former Quarry Serves New Purpose The former granite quarry will serve as the

centerpiece of Westside Park and will be home to a 40-acre, 2.4 billion-gallon water reserve. Once filled, the facility will provide a 30-day backup water supply. Currently, the city has three-to-five days of raw water storage. Named as Mayor Reed’s top priority project for Watershed Management, the Water Supply Program will allow Atlanta to have a water contingency plan in place for the first time in its history. The project design began in June, and the Westside Park is anticipated to open in 2018.

The city of Atlanta acquired the quarry in 2006 for $40 million from Fulton County and Vulcan Materials, which produces construction aggregates. The quarry sits on over 300 acres.

“The new water supply project provides a system for moving and storing water for the purpose of sustained public health and economic vitality,” Watershed Management Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina said. “It allows Watershed Management to support businesses like Coca-Cola and the world’s busiest airport by improving system reliability through the conversion of the Bellwood Quarry for storage while creating a major amenity in the area for the public.” v GEORGIA ENGINEER

By JOHn CLAyTOn, PHD, PE | HAzEn & SAWyER

he Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (GCDWR) serves the majority of the geographic area in Gwinnett County, Georgia, with potable water service and sewer service. In 2012, annual average potable demand was approximately 72 million gallons per day (MGD), with a peak monthly demand in June 2012 at 82 MGD and a peak daily demand on June 30, 2012 at 113 MGD. By comparison, in 2006, the annual average demand was 87 MGD, with a peak monthly demand in June 2006 at 110 MGD and a peak daily demand on 6/21/2008 at 130 MGD. The economic downturn, in combination with rate increases in response to lowering demands, have both led to both lower demand on a per-capita and total basis, even though the service population has not experienced similar uctuations.

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Upstream side of the Lake Lanier Dam, 2007

As of now, the only raw water supply source for Gwinnett County is Lake Sydney Lanier (Lake Lanier). Lake Lanier is a United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operated lake created by Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River. Gwinnett County’s water is supplied through two withdrawal intakes and treatment plants. These are the Lanier Filter Plant (150 MGD permitted capacity) and the Shoal Creek Filter Plant (98 MGD permitted capacity). The current monthly avShoal Creek Aerial – Shoal Creek Filter Plant with Lake Lanier, 2013

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erage total permitted withdrawal from Lake Lanier is 150 MGD. Lake Lanier is an impoundment of the Chattahoochee River formed by Buford Dam. The Chattahoochee River is part of a system of three rivers and five major instream storage reservoirs known as the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River System. Other components of the ACF system include West Point Lake (impounded by West Point Dam), Lake Walter F. George (impounded by Walter F.

George Dam), Lake George W. Andrews (impounded by the George W. Andrews Dam), Lake Seminole (impounded by the Jim Woodruff Dam), and Flint and Apalachicola Rivers.

The Chattahoochee River originates in the North Georgia Mountains and flows downstream through each of these five lakes in succession, nominally coming to an end in Lake Seminole and being renamed the Apalachicola at the outfall of Woodruff Dam. The Flint River parallels much of Dry boat ramp at Lake Lanier, 2007

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the Chattahoochee River, originating near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in southern Atlanta and flowing unimpeded to a confluence with the Chattahoochee River within Lake Seminole.

Storage and flow in the ACF is managed by the USACE through operation of the five dams, each of which was constructed by the USACE. As of July 2014, the USACE operates the ACF according to a Revised Interim Operation Procedure (RIOP). During normal and wet periods when all lakes are full and excess basin inflows are available, the USACE coordinates dam releases in an attempt to maintain: • Seasonal elevation targets in each lake

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(Lanier target elevation = 1070-1071 ft depending on time of year), •

Sufficient downstream flows for Metro Atlanta supply withdrawals directly from the Chattahoochee River,

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Sufficient flow at the confluence of Peachtree Creek and the Chattahoochee River to provide dilution of the city of Atlanta’s treated wastewater effluent, and

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Sufficient environmental flow in the Apalachicola River below Lake Seminole.

When system inflows are insufficient to ac-

complish all of the above, the USACE draws lake levels downward in a fashion that balances percentage storage deficits within defined storage zones in each lake, with an overall goal of maintaining water supply, wastewater dilution, and environmental flow targets throughout the basin.

Lake Lanier levels are heavily governed by release rates from Buford Dam and inflows from the Upper Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers, rainfall runoff, and rainfall capture. Buford Dam release rates are determined by the USACE through the RIOP, as mentioned above. The USACE’s operations of the lake have been subject to intense litigation among Georgia, Florida, Alabama, the USACE, and other parties since 1990 (the ‘Tri-State Water Wars’).

As of July 2013, the USACE is in the process of redeveloping the ACF Operations Manual; this redevelopment may or may not significantly change how the USACE decides upon release rates. Furthermore, it is not clear whether this redevelopment will lead to further tri-state conflict. It is fair to say that the rules by which Lake Lanier and Buford Dam will be operated in the future remain somewhat uncertain, contributing to uncertainty in the frequency, severity, and duration of future 4L events. v

GEORGIA ENGINEER

Dams: the goal is the same.

Awareness and path to success are changing

By Joseph Monroe, PE | Principal | Schnabel Engineering Inc. ams are a critical component to sustaining and improving our lives and living conditions.

The impoundments created by these structures provide drinking water, power production, and recreation, while temporary storage behind dams reduces downstream flooding. The basic goal of dam design and construction remains unchanged … safely store water at an elevated level. Research and technology development, however, have steadily changed and continue to alter the path by which we evaluate, design, and construct dams.

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Research continues to: • enhance our understanding of the physical and mechanical properties of materials (i.e., concrete, steel, soil/rock), •

create new specialty materials (i.e., sealants, admixtures),

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enhance the engineering understanding of materials performance for a broad range of loadings and exposure conditions,

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reveal how and when forces arise and express themselves, and how they act on and within structures, and

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create more efficient, robust, cost-effective, and resilient design approaches.

Technology continues to provide creative ideas for advancing: • data acquisition and monitoring, •

non-destructive tools for investigating and characterizing structures and foundations,

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hardware and software for performing complex structural, hydraulic, and geotechnical measurements and analyses, and

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systems and risk analyses to better understand how project elements work together and the risks that they pose, both independently and in combination.

Catastrophic floods from dam failures are represented throughout the history of the United States. The 1889 Johnstown Flood, resulting from the failure of the South Fork Dam, killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed Johnstown, Pennsylvania. While the dam was drawn up and built with little in the way of modern engineering understanding, the failure of this dam is attributed mostly to willful ignorance and arrogance. The 1976 Teton Dam failure occurred during first filling, killing 11 people, 13,000 head of cattle and causing about $2 billion in downstream damages.

The collapse of the 300-foot high dam, which was designed by a team of dam engineering experts, occurred due to the failure to adequately address risks related to foundation defects. The Kelly Barnes Dam in North Georgia was first built in 1899 and was raised several times over the next 60 years. There were no engineering plans or construction records for the dam. During a heavy, but not extreme, rainfall event in 1977, the dam failed. The flood wave caused by the collapse of the dam killed 39 people and caused extensive property damage. Forensic studies were unable to identify a cause of failure.

If we are to ask what, if any of our current technology, would have altered the history of these and other dam failures, we need to first recognize that technology merely implies tools available to do a job.

We will never be able to make conclusive statements about the specific impact that technology would have made on these types of catastrophic events. However, evaluating, understanding, and successfully using advanced tools provide additional

pathways that reduce the potential for catastrophic dam failures. There are numerous ways in which research and technology have altered the path of engineering and construction. By expanding our knowledge base, improving the tools we use to validate assumptions, analysis approaches, and make decisions, and more rigorously applying quality review processes, we continue to better understand and respect both the risks and the consequences that dam failures present.

Before discussing technology’s impact on an engineer’s ability to design safe structures, we must quell the notion that technology replaces the education, focus, dedication, and experience of a team of seasoned professionals. Technology is simply an aid to supplement understanding of the forces and complex material behaviors that control our natural world. Incorrect data entry, errors within computer codes, or issues tied directly to technology can have disastrous effects. Only with careful review by qualified individuals can technology be utilized to improve our lives and our understanding of the forces that play critical roles within our world. A pragmatic understanding of engineering fundamentals is paramount to the prevention of oversights and errors. The best engineers are inevitably both cautious and humble. They recognize that every one of us has blind spots and bad days, so outside scrutiny by esteemed peers is encouraged and respected.

Dam design has been evolving since the beginning of civilization. Prior to the 20th century, most design and construction techniques were based on trial and error, a slowly evolving art form where what didn’t work was abandoned and what worked was passed on to future generations and improved through additional trial and error.

Many consider Erdbaumechanik (Soil Mechanics) by Karl Terzaghi (1925) as the founding of modern geotechnical engineer13

ing, a discipline that has a major impact on dam performance. It took several additional decades for Terzaghi’s ideas to become broadly accepted and applied. Dam engineering is still a mix of art and science, with much of the scientific contributions having been made in the past 50 years.

Relatively recent advances in design technology include: • Development of spillways with increased efficiency. Safely storing and discharging water is one of the more critical components of dam design.

The paramount feature to discharging water is the spillway. Development of new spillway types, modifications to existing spillway types, and improved understanding of spillway hydraulics has delivered enormous benefits to dam owners, and to those living or working downstream of dams.

Labyrinth weirs as depicted below, which form a zig-zag pattern in plan

view, were first introduced in the 1970s. They have evolved significantly over the past 40 years. Labyrinths have significantly more discharge capacity than linear spillways having the same plan width. Increases in safe discharge of flood water improves dam safety as the structure is able to safely store and/or discharge larger, less frequent flood events.

•

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Finite element and difference computer programs for evaluating structural, geotechnical, and hydraulic issues. These computer programs are capable of modeling complex mechanics of materials problems for a wide range of fluids and solids in relatively short time frames. In the event the planned grout curtain and pressure relief wells are not capable of reducing

pressure heads to an acceptable level, the design engineer can develop other scenarios to improve the stability of the structure.

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Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). CFD modeling enables engineers to evaluate complex hydrodynamic forces within a specific project without constructing physical models.

Using flow velocities, trajectories and turbulence, the need for and location of erosion protection measures can be evaluated.

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Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD). CADD, while more common and less ‘cutting edge,’ may have the greatest impact on design.

Through the use of computerized grading and rendering, multiple dam sites and multiple dam configurations can be evaluated in short periods of time. Through the use of CADD, economic and environmental savings can be realized by optimizing dam locations and geometries.

While certainly not comprehensive, the above technologies provide an insight into the on-going improvements that have been occurring in dam design processes. Similarly, there have been significant improvements in dam construction. Improvements to equipment capabilities and efficiency have been reasonably well documented; however, advances in materials and monitoring are generally not as well documented.

Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC), which was first used for dam construction in the early 1980s, is basically a drier form of conventional concrete that is placed with traditional earth moving construction equipment. The material, once placed and compacted, has strengths similar to conventional concrete. RCC, however, is less expensive than conventional concrete when used in mass construction such as dams. In addition, RCC, which has a lower total amount of cementitious material per unit volume, has a lower heat of hydration and, therefore, is less likely to crack than conventional concrete. As a general rule, cracking

within a dam is considered a negative and needs to be either avoided or treated to accommodate conforming project behavior.

RCC has numerous benefits when compared to conventional concrete. Shown below is an aerial photograph of the recently completed RCC Hickory Log Creek Dam (185-foot high) in Canton, Georgia.

Monitoring of dams is another area in which modern technology has positively impacted dam safety. From automated monitoring devices such as vibrating wire piezometers to monitoring systems connected to automated e-mail and telephone call networks, technology has improved the frequency of data collection and, more importantly, the clarity and quality of data evaluation. Better decisions regarding emergencies, maintenance, or repair can be made in a more efficient manner when accurate information is readily available.

Planning for emergencies translates to a better early understanding of how problematic an issue is and defines predetermined actions and activities for response, both to prevent failures and to evacuate impact areas to prevent loss of life.

Would the technologies or improvements to dam design, construction, or monitoring have prevented the dam failures mentioned in the opening paragraphs of this article? It is likely but we will never know. What we do know is that technology, when properly applied and implemented, can improve dam safety today and tomorrow. In addition, we can be certain that the technologies of today will be improved upon and made obsolete by the technologies of tomorrow. Therefore, as engineers, we need to stay current with available technologies, maintain a firm understanding of basic engineering principles being applied, and remain cautious in the use of both.v GEORGIA ENGINEER

Moscow’s answer to Silicon Valley

By Stefan Asche | VDI oscow is creating one of the largest technology centers in the world just a few miles from the city center. The project was put on track by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and is funded by government billions.

Meanwhile, European and American companies have jumped on the bandwagon. The aim is the renewal of the Russian economy.

Skolkovo is the name of this project.

Still, it's relatively quiet here. The 400-people-strong community is located in a recreation area, ten miles southwest of the bustling city center of Moscow. In a few years, the expectations are that 25,000 people will have settled in the area while twice as many will be commuting to work there.

This is Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s plan; he wants to give a Russian response to Silicon Valley.

The site is on a 1,000-acre lot. An imposing management school and a sevenstory conference center, with large LED media facade (‘hypercube’) have already been built.

The ‘Matryoshka’ office building, with an eleven-story-high atrium extending up through the core, is awaiting completion. An elite university modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is also under construction as are some research and residential complexes. By 2020, one of the largest and most advanced technology centers in the world will be standing here. The announced total building area: about 27 million sft.

Connecting highways and even a railroad station is planned. The planners are aware of how important good infrastructure is since the current road system requires as much as three hours of travel time from Moskow’s city center. In the future, they expect that to come down to about 20 minutes.

Over 1000 young companies are already accredited by the responsible Skolkovo Foundation. The demand for the site is far greater. In addition to modern architecture in an elegant environment, tax credits are

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also a lure, and counseling programs and research funding in the millions are available for start-up ventures. Applications are only open to companies in the fields of IT, nuclear technology, space, energy, and biotech.

Critics say the experiment is sometimes called the Russian roulette. Overall, the state plans to invest about $ 5.4 billion by 2020. In addition, hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be invested by international corporations, establishing their own research facilities here, including SAP, EADS, IBM, Microsoft, Siemens, Samsung, Cisco, and nokia. The goal: to make the Russian economy less dependent on natural resources by making the country a leader in innovative technologies.

Pitfalls on the long journey could be the widespread corruption in Russia. Skolkovo itself made headlines numerous times, because, supposedly, millions of dollars were spent on dubious consultancy contracts. In addition, certain start-ups were financed, even though they did not meet the strict eligibility requirements. Connections to the management of the Solkovo Project helped.

In the meantime, this type of indiscretion has been corrected.

The fact that the state digs deep into its own pockets to push young technology companies is because institutional venture capital is scarce in this former Tsarist Empire. The first venture capital company in Russia was started in 1995, while in Germany this happened 20 years before and in the U.S. even 50 years before that.

The real momentum started in Russia in 2007 when the Russian Venture Company (RVC) became actively involved in market.

RVC is government-funded, with under $ 1 billion available. It provides new VC capital up to 49 percent of available assets. This offer is gladly accepted and abundant. In the meantime, over 200 VC firms have been established in Russia, 70 of which will have offices in Skolkovo.

Overall, the VC investments in Russia are impressive. In 2013, about $653 million was invested in 222 firms. That sounds outstanding, but it must be noted that the startup scene in Russia is spread over several regions. In addition to the Moscow area, these areas include: St. Petersburg, nizhny novgorod, novosibirsk, Samara, Wladiowostok, Kazan, and Tomsk.

The Russian angel capital scene is waking up. nationally, there are estimated to be only 1,500 informal risk capital firms. “The many wealthy Russians gradually realize that they can earned more money,” explains Eugeny Taubkin, head of the Skolkovo Club of Business Angels (SCBA). “For many years they could easily reap double-digit returns on the stock market or the real estate market, but those times are over. I am convinced that the number of angel investors will multiply rapidly as the first success stories are publicized.”

To get into the stock market has always been difficult. Eduard Kanalosh, investment chief of the Skolkovo Foundation, expects that to change as well. He says, “the Moscow MICEX Stock Exchange introduced an independent platform for IPOs of young, technology-intensive companies modeled after the U.S. nasdaq.”

Still, the Skolkovo project is unique. But when the bill comes up to pay the Russian government, we will need to see whether the artificial eco-system from 2020 is able to sustain itself, then other cities will be going to the drawing board to work up their own opportunities. There is plenty of space, and money is available in Russia. (translated by permission from VDI) v

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Mitigating environmental impacts through dissolved oxygen injections for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Program

By Pamela Little, PE resident Obama signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 into law on June 10. This legislation was the final step to authorizing the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) to begin construction. All that remains at the time this article was written is for the funding mechanisms to be put in place including the Public Partnership Agreement between the state of Georgia and the federal government.

The harbor expansion is a long-anticipated project to deepen the Savannah Harbor from the 42 feet to 47 feet to more efficiently accommodate larger ships, including the Post-Panamax ships which are expected to call on the U.S. East Coast more frequently following the Panama Canal expansion. Currently, these large ships are constrained in the Savannah Harbor to either deliver lighter loads or only navigate the harbor during higher tides.

The harbor expansion project is expected to have exceptional positive regional and national benefits for commerce but studies showed that it could also have negative effects on the Savannah ecosystem.

To mitigate the effects the deepening is expected to have on the natural environment, the following measures have been included in the overall project scope: construction of a new fish bypass around New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam in Augusta; acquisition and preservation of 2,245 acres of wetlands; installation of an oxygen injection system to compensate for potentially lower levels of dissolved oxygen in the water; construction of a raw water storage impoundment for the city of Savannah’s industrial and domestic water treatment facilities; recovery, documenta-

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tion, and curating of the Civil War ironclad CSS Georgia; as well as environmental monitoring beginning prior to construction and ending ten years past project completion to determine the extent of effects from the project.

One of the innovative technologies to be used as part of the mitigation is the injection of dissolved oxygen (DO) into the harbor and river. One of the most-frequently used indicators of water quality for any body of water is the concentration of DO present. This indicator is especially relevant to the SHEP since the Savannah River has been previously listed on the

Oxygen is naturally introduced into the harbor and river either through the water surface (which is enhanced by waves and water turbulence) or through the photosynthesis reactions of rooted aquatic plants and algae. Shipping channels typically exhibit low levels of DO. The Savannah Harbor is no exception. Deepening the river to the 47-foot depth will further reduce dissolved oxygen levels. The amount of oxygen introduced from atmospheric sources, plants, and algae will remain essentially the same but the volume of the harbor will have increased. Simply stated, this increased volume with the same

The harbor expansion is a long-anticipated project to deepen the Savannah Harbor from the 42 feet to 47 feet to more efficiently accommodate larger ships, including the Post-Panamax ships which are expected to call on the U.S. East Coast more frequently following the Panama Canal expansion.

305(b)/303(d) List of Waters as Not Meeting the Designated Use for Fishing due to low DO content Low DO adversely affects both the fishing industry and marine wildlife. The harbor expansion is expected to further reduce the amount of DO in the water. The oxygen injection system is meant to maintain existing DO levels in the water and to mitigate for the anticipated drop in dissolved oxygen as a result of the dredging.

The USEPA Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Dissolved Oxygen in Savannah Harbor, Savannah River Basin Report prepared in 2006 established that all discharges from Augusta to the Harbor would have to meet an oxygen demanding load of zero to allow the Savannah Harbor to maintain its DO water quality standard.

The recommended standard of a daily average DO concentration of 5.0 mg/L and no less than 4.0 mg/L is not always met in the current conditions.

amount of oxygen added will result in a lower DO concentration, especially at depth. The challenge was to find a solution where the reduction in DO concentration could be mitigated by injecting oxygen into the river system at appropriate places without harming aquatic life in the river.

A number of models and studies were completed as part of the feasibility stage of SHEP to determine the baseline levels of DO in the water and the most efficient and effective methods to introduce additional DO to counteract the incremental negative effects of deepening the harbor.

Billy Birdwell, a spokesman for the Savannah District of the US Army Corps of Engineers (the District), said, “We evaluated 25 methods of improved dissolved oxygen levels in river and identified oxygen injection as being the most cost effective for this situation. The Georgia Ports Authority field tested Speece cones in the Savannah harbor. Based on our evaluation GEORGIA ENGINEER

and the results of the GPA tests, along with the proven history of success of Speece cones in other applications, we determined them to be the best-value way to add oxygen in the harbor. Speece cones have been and are still being used in many industrial locations around the world. The basic technology is relatively simple. It lends itself to adaptation should the need arise to make adjustments based on operational results.” The Speece Cone was originally developed by Dr. Richard Speece at Vanderbilt University to provide an efficient way to increase oxygen levels in water using molecular oxygen. A demonstration was performed in 2007 in the Savannah Harbor and showed that the technology could improve DO concentration in the harbor at the injection site.

The approved mitigation plan calls for eight Speece cones to be installed upriver and four Speece cones to be installed downriver to inject 40,000 pounds of oxygen per day into the river. A Speece cone is an inverted enclosed funnel where the injection of oxygen is performed entirely within the unit. The cone works according to the principles of Henry’s Law in which the pressure of a gas is directly related to the amount of gas that can be dissolved in a liquid. Water is introduced at the top of the cone close to the source of the oxygen gas. Water continually flows down from the top of the cone containing the dissolved oxygen, allowing the water within the pressurized cone to become supersaturated with oxygen. Birdwell indicated the installation points were chosen carefully. “Based on the engineering designs of the expansion, we calculated the most likely areas where dissolved oxygen content would be most impacted by the deepening. We then chose accessible locations where we could construct a facility that would increase dissolved oxygen levels where the most impacts would occur. We chose to locate the cones upstream and downstream of the Garden City terminal in order to provide the maximum protection to the water at the most reasonable cost.”

The Speece cones will operate with pure oxygen gas rather than air to maximize efficiency. On-site oxygen generation AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

is proposed to reduce the costs, labor, and maintenance associated with liquid oxygen delivery. Three intake pumps will be at each location (upriver and downriver) to provide a constant supply of water to the Speece cones. The pumps will be fitted with traveling water screens for fish protection. The superoxygenated water will be released into the river through three diffusers (one upriver and two downriver).

As the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project progresses, the installation of the DO injection systems will be initiated.

The systems are designed to work during the warmer months when DO levels are typically low. The amount of oxygen added to the river at both locations will be monitored to confirm that the project objective

of 40,000 lbs of oxygen per day is met.

Birdwell emphasized the District’s commitment to the success of the installed systems. “The District has agreed to demonstrate that the dissolved oxygen system works as intended before we deepen the inner harbor. We will begin that evaluation as soon as construction of the lower dissolved oxygen system is complete.

We also built ‘adaptive management’ into our environmental mitigation plan.

This will allow us to make adjustments, if needed, to modify the dissolved oxygen systems if they are not performing as expected. We will monitor dissolved oxygen levels following construction and compare them to levels we expect the system to produce. We will adjust the system based on those tests.” v

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GEORGIA ENGINEER

Approach an interview like an engineer, sort of

By Teri N. Pope | Georgia DOT | District Communications Officer ake the fear and dread out of an interview by approaching it as you would a project, build a plan. If the reporter doesn’t tell you the topic of the interview, ask! Then start with concept development—concisely state what the project is and why it is needed in two simple sentences or less.

Sharing information so that it is understandable is crucial. On average, Georgia’s adult population reads at a sixth grade level—use short sentences with simple vocabulary.

Todd Long, Deputy Commissioner of Georgia DOT, describes his strategy, “Leave industry jargon and acronyms at the office. Think of explaining the project to your Grandmother. Don’t talk down to her but simplify your words to share the information in a way that she understands. Instead of saying the urban arterial needs geometric corrections, say, the road needs

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to be straightened out and flattened. By getting rid of the hills, valleys, and curves we make the road safer for motorists.”

Know the goals of the project and make those into four or five ‘key messages.’

These key messages will become your over-

all theme for the interview and become the outline for your interview. Know your story and stick to it by using your ‘key messages’ to answer the questions about the project or interview topic, especially when questions are inflammatory or biased.

Who is building the project?

Who will be impacted by the project?

What is the project? Use your simple two sentence description.

Where is the project?

Why does this need to be done?

When will this project start?

When does each phase of work start?

When will the work be finished? When will this phase of work be finished?

How will you proceed? Will there be a detour or road closure? How will it be built?

How much will each phase of work cost? How much will the overall project cost? How is project funded?

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These questions are also the basis of every journalist article or story. You can be prepared if you’ve developed short, simple, and concise answers before the interview.

Speaking knowledgably without hesitation also gives readers or viewers a sense that you are credible and trustworthy. Therefore, your work, your firm, or department and your project are credible too.

Here are some examples of typical reporter questions matched with Georgia DOT key message answers: ~ Did someone from Atlanta that has never been here come up with this?

GDOT key message answer based on importance of public inputThis project was begun based on data about the roadway and input from your local leaders but we need your opinion too. No one knows this community like the people who live and work here. Your input will help us develop a project that improves safety (or reduces congestions, use the purpose of the project) and works in this community.

cause all traffic is going in the same direction. It will improve travel time through the area as it improves safety. ~ Why are you wasting all this money?

GDOT key message answer based on improving safetyThis project will reduce the severity of crashes on this section of road by separating directions of traffic with a median. It will also give left turners a place to wait out of the way of through traffic until it is safe for them to turn. ~ Although you are showing options, everyone knows input from this meeting won’t matter.

GDOT key message answer based on key message community input helps build the best projectGDOT needs the input of people who know this community best and use the road every day. We will narrow down the options by combining community input with federal environmental laws and engineering standards, then bring the plan back to you in a public hearing as the best buildable option. ~ You don’t even have a date for construction to start, why are you bringing this up now?

GDOT key message answer based on

~ is area needs a signal not a roundabout. What will a roundabout do?

GDOT key message answer based on congestion reductionA traffic signal stops at least two directions of traffic all the time. A roundabout allows for a continuous movement of traffic through the area and minimizes crashes be-

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GEORGIA ENGINEER

importance of public inputRoad projects take years to develop, and we need the input from the community throughout the process. We develop some options as a starting point, like the options you see here tonight at the open house meeting. We will use the comments we get tonight, federal environmental laws, and engineering standards as strainers to get down to one option. Then we will come back to the community to share that option at a public hearing. ~ is bypass will put people out of business. How can you take people out of Downtown?

GDOT answer based on congestion relief and supports economic developmentRight now, traffic gets backed up headed through Downtown and people are avoiding the area. A bypass will get through traffic out of Downtown, allowing people going Downtown to get there easier and more quickly, thereby improving access to Downtown businesses.

– How much tax money will be wasted on this?

GDOT answer based on funding crisisThis project is built with funds from the state and federal gas tax. When you buy gas you pay for roadway improvements but vehicles are going farther on less gas today than 25 years ago. So the needs increase while funds decrease. We need to find alternate funding sources to support transportation infrastructure.

By answering their biased questions with your own key messages, you don’t get caught up in fault finding and stay positive while sharing your story.

The construction part of your interview is continuing to build upon your foundation of key messages by sharing supporting information. Giving the reporter a handout that has correct information helps ensure the details come out accurately in the story. Data or statistics that make your point, like crash data or level of service, are helpful. Project fact sheets, maps or renderings are also helpful tools.

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Most media outlets are focusing on multimedia Web content not just one story. Giving reporters links to information on your Web site or a strategic partner’s Web site helps get your story across in another way. Even newspaper reporters are asking for video recordings to use on their Web site.

Then conclude with maintaining that relationship with the reporter by offering to answer follow up questions they have or sending them additional information. Become a resource to the reporter providing them with helpful information. If you make a reporter’s job easier, you will become their subject matter expert and their first call on that topic. This gives your information more validity and weight in their work. Sharing information isn’t really about the reporter, it is about getting your story out to their listeners, readers, or viewers— your customers.

Remember that the best offense is a good defense. Be prepared by prepping for an interview based on project phases. Preconstruction—know why the project was developed and the goal or purpose of the work. Start building your foundation of the interview using key messages focusing on your priorities, your story. Build up with supporting data and handouts the reporter can refer to and share on their Web site. Finally, maintain a positive relationship with the reporter by sharing follow-up information. Take the time to look and sound like a subject matter expert simply explaining the topic.v

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Be prepared - Know more about the subject than the reporter

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Focus on key messages so reporter knows what is important to you about the subject or project

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Have handouts on complicated material like project fact sheet or map

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Maintain eye contact with reporter especially when interview is recorded

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Talk in complete sentences

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Don’t chew gum

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Turn your phone off so it doesn’t make noise or vibrate and distract you

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Be calm and pleasant regardless of the reporters attitude

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Focus on sharing information

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Not being prepared – makes you nervous and too fast or too slow to respond

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Don’t talk in paragraphs, going on and on

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Answering with only one word

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Getting defensive or mad

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Using jargon and acronyms

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Not dressed in uniform (if one is required) or dressing unprofessionally

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Alpharetta’s Bright Light Systems pioneering light-emitting plasma (LEP) luminaires in high mast applications

By By Brad Lurie | CEO | Bright Light Systems Inc.

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right Light Systems Inc. (BLS) specializes in producing luminaire systems targeted at environments where there has been little deviation from the legacy lighting technologies for nearly half a century.

Bright Light Systems’ underlying technical approach to innovation for these markets utilizes a combination of hardware and software, coupling advanced light source technology with sophisticated control, scheduling, and monitoring to further reduce energy consumption.

The core of BLS’ hardware technology is the utilization of electrodeless plasma light sources in our luminaires. Historical discharge lamp technologies experience thermal, mechanical, and/or chemical degradation of the metallic components that pierce the lamp envelope. By contrast, electrodeless plasma lamp sources have eliminated these metallic components and the attendant failure modes.

The hermetic, chemically inert plasma source bulb exhibits excellent stability in challenging operating theaters where environmental factors might otherwise promote degradation of light emitters and/or supporting optical systems. Plasma lamps are well suited to the rigors of industrial operation on extended time scales. Beyond the durability and longevity improvements, plasma light sources exhibit advantages in the construction of luminaires. For example, because of the high lumen output of each plasma source, practical field luminaires utilize one or two light sources. This stands in contrast to LED luminaires with comparable lumen output, which typically use dozens of discrete LEDs, and the attendant electronic driver complement, to develop their light output. Similarly, optical designs for the 22

plasma luminaires need not be configured to accommodate high numbers of sources. This yields advantages in design simplicity and fixture footprint.

The first electrode-less plasma lamps were invented by Nikola Tesla is the 1890s, but subsequent iterations of plasma lighting encountered a variety of challenges and limitations, such as limited lamp life, high heat, and high power requirements.

A new system used in the LEP products discussed in this brief was first developed in 2000. The LEP lamp itself is a small quartz electrodeless capsule, the size of a large pill. The key to the system is the ceramic resonator in which the lamp

capsule is embedded. This ceramic resonator concentrates a radio frequency (RF) field, energizing the capsule without electrodes. The concentrated radio frequency creates a plasma state inside the capsule, which emits a high-intensity white light.

Figure 1, below, shows a diagram of this process. The diagram was developed

by Luxim, the manufacturer of the LEP modules used by Bright Light Systems Inc. The process shown in Figure 1 is as follows: An RF circuit is established by connecting an RF power amplifier to a ceramic resGEORGIA ENGINEER

onator known as the ‘puck.’ In the center of the puck is a sealed quartz lamp that contains metal halide materials and other gases.

The puck, driven by the power amplifier, creates a standing wave confined within its walls. The electric field is strongest at the center of the lamp, which causes ionization of the gases, creating a glow.

Figure 1. Diagram of How Light-emitting plasma works (imagesource: LUXIM) The ionized gas in turn heats up and evaporates the metal halide materials forming an intense plasma column within the lamp. This plasma column is centered within the quartz envelope and radiates light very efficiently.

Because of its small size and high light output, LEP is superior to Light Emitting Diodes (LED) for high intensity scenarios that require precise optical control, or a concentrated beam, which cannot be delivered as successfully by large arrays of LED chips. The high intensity white light that LEP produces makes it competitive with High Intensity Discharge (HID) sources, such as High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide, in a variety of applications, such as exterior roadway and parking lot, industrial high bay, and high mast applications.

BLS’ plasma luminaires utilize solid state technology to couple energy into the plasma lamps. This solid state technology allows for precise control of plasma stability within the lamp. It also facilitates lamp dimming behavior, which can then be integrated within the luminaire control framework. The underlying solid-state LDMOS technology has been extensively used in mission-critical communication applications since the 1990s. Bright Light Systems is the beneficiary of the ongoing improvements of LDMOS that are driven by other industries, insuring the plasma driver durability and efficiency continue to advance.

By utilizing compact, efficient light sources driven with the flexibility of proven solid state technology, Bright Light AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Systems has created a luminaire platform to realize further energy savings through use of monitoring, control, and scheduling. Luminaire communication is facilitated through use of 802.15.4 mesh network technology with AES128 encryption. The mesh network is accessed through a responsive HTML5 Web-based interface powered by an API running on distributed cloud infrastructure. Events effecting the lighting scheduling may be triggered via mesh network nodes, the web interface, or API. Control and monitoring of luminaires operating on designed schedules enables further energy savings realized by insuring every lumen of lighting output is contributing to the safety, security, and operation of the lit facility. Real world data indicate that additional software enabled control can drive up to a further 30 percent energy savings for industrial installations.

Leveraging its NASA experience, Bright Light Systems embarked on developing an energy efficient luminaire for high mast lighting that requires sufficient lighting at ground level from 80 – 120 feet mounting heights for a retrofit project with a container port operator. The requirement was simple. Use the existing infrastructure: wires, power, mounting, etc.; no increase in weight since the mounting arms are designed for the legacy product, maintain or improve the wind shear load rating, and maintain the OSHA lighting requirements of five-foot candles average. With these requirements, it was clear only LEP provided the

efficacy in an envelope that would allow BLS to design and manufacturer a compact luminaire to meet all the requirements. Today, the BLP1000 from Bright Light Systems is becoming an industry standard for high mast lighting applications, reducing energy by more than 50 percent compared to legacy fixtures and yielding five to seven times the life rating while increasing safety through light quality and uniformity. BLS products can be found in ports, airports, rail yards, prisons, military facilities, and roadways. For more information: www.brightlightsystems.com v

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NPDES permit for stormwater discharge associated with construction activities: When do you apply and what regulatory changes have occurred?

By Heidi Schneider | HnTB Corporation n the state of Georgia, per O.C.G.A 12-7-17(3), “minor land-disturbing activities are exempt from the Georgia Erosion and Sediment Act: such minor land-disturbing activities as home gardens and individual landscaping, repairs, maintenance work, fences, and other related activities which result in minor soil erosion.” Activities which do not meet the definition of minor land-disturbing activities may require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit.

The state of Georgia has NPDES General Permits No. GAR100001 (Stand Alone Construction Projects), No. GAR100002 (Infrastructure Construction Projects), and GAR100003 (Construction Activity for Common Developments) for stormwater discharge associated with construction activities. The NPDES permits were reissued on September 24, 2013 and

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will expire at midnight on July 31, 2018.

Coverage under the State General Permits for Stormwater Discharge associated with construction activities is not required for projects less than one acre in size and not part of a common development.

This article will focus on the regulatory changes to these NPDES permits.

For NPDES No. GAR 100001, the definition of ‘stand-alone construction’ or ‘stand-alone construction project’ means construction activities that are not part of a common development where the primary permittee chooses not to use secondary permittees.

For NPDES No. GAR100002, the definition of ‘infrastructure construction’ or ‘infrastructure construction project’ means construction activities that are not part of a common development that include the construction, installation, and maintenance of roadway and railway projects and conduits, pipes, pipelines, substations, cables, wires, trenches, vaults, manholes, and similar or related structures for the conveyance of natural gas (or other type of gas), liquid petroleum products, electricity, telecommunications (telephone, data, television, etc.), water, stormwater or sewage.

Based upon the definition of ‘infrastructure construction’ or ‘infrastructure construction project,’ park and ride lots, landscape only projects, buildings, etc. have to be permitted under the Stand Alone Permit (GAR100001).

‘Roadway project(s)’ was added in the definition section of NPDES No. GAR100002. Roadway project(s) mean traveled ways including but not limited to roads, sidewalks, multi-use paths and trails, and airport runways and taxiways. This term includes the accessory components to

the roadway project that are necessary for structural integrity of the roadway and the applicable safety requirements. These accessory components include but are not limited to slopes, shoulders, stormwater drainage ditches and structures, guardrails, lighting, signage, cameras, and fences and exclude subsequent landscaping and beautification projects.

A significant regulatory change to the NPDES No. GAR100002 is located in Section C.1. It states that coverage is required for “all discharges of stormwater…that will result in contiguous land disturbances equal to or greater than one (1) acre…Contiguous means areas of land disturbance that are in actual contact to create a connected, uninterrupted area of land disturbance. However, for purposes of this permit, contiguous areas of land disturbances solely separated by drilling and boring activities, waters of the state and adjacent state-mandated buffers, roadways and/or railways. In addition, contiguous areas of land disturbances include all areas of land disturbances at a sole roadway intersection and/or junction.”

Scenario 1, a project is constructing three separate segments of sidewalk to connect to an existing sidewalk system. However, the three segments are not contiguous and are each less than one acre of disturbance. In this situation, a NPDES permit would not be required.

Scenario 2, this is the same as Scenario 1 except one of the three sidewalk segments exceeds the one acre threshold for soil disturbance. In this case, a NPDES No. GAR 100002 would be applicable for the segment of sidewalk that exceeded the soil disturbance threshold. The other two segments would still not require an NPDES permit.

GEORGIA ENGINEER

There are other changes to the reissued NPDES permits including, but limited to: 1) removal of size requirement for routine maintenance projects [no NPDES permit required]; 2) best management practices (BMPs) for Biotic Impaired

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Stream segments were revised [the permit overrules Appendix 1]; 3) control BMPs must be in place prior to start of construction; 4) infrastructure project buffer exemptions have been revised with disturbance thresholds; and 5) project can be phased into four (4) Notice of Terminations (NOT).

For more information on the permits, visit http://epd.georgia.gov/npdes-construction-storm-water-general-permit-reissuance. For the latest Notice of Intent (NOI) and NOT forms, you can visit http://epd.georgia.gov/storm-waterforms. v

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125th anniversary of dam failure in Johnstown highlights importance of emergency preparedness exington, Kentucky: After 24 hours of rain, totaling as much as ten inches in some areas, the South Fork Dam failed on the afternoon of May 31, 1889, releasing 20 million tons of water toward Johnstown, Pennsylvania. by the time the water subsided, more than 2,200 people were dead—one of the highest civilian death tolls on U.S. soil. To this day, the South Fork Dam failure remains the most devastating dam failure in U.S. history.

Each year on May 31, the dam safety community commemorates this failure during National Dam Safety Awareness Day. “As we mark the 125th anniversary of the South Fork Dam failure, it’s important to remember that we all have a role to play in creating a future where all dams are safe,” said Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO). “Unfortunately, the potential for another tragic dam failure still exists and people who live downstream from dams need to take steps to ensure their safety before an emergency occurs.”

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History The village of Johnstown was founded in 1800 by the Swiss immigrant Joseph Johns (anglicized from ‘Schantz’) at the confluence of the Stony Creek and Little Conemaugh rivers, forming the Conemaugh River. It began to prosper with the building of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in 1836, and the construction in the 1850s of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Cambria Iron Works. By 1889, Johnstown's industries had attracted numerous Welsh and German immigrants. With a population of 30,000, it was a growing industrial community known for the quality of its steel.

The high, steep hills of the narrow Conemaugh Valley and the Allegheny Mountains to the east kept development close to the riverfront areas. The valley had 26

large amounts of runoff from rain and snowfall. The area surrounding Johnstown is prone to flooding due to its location on the rivers, whose upstream watersheds include an extensive drainage basin of the Allegheny plateau. Adding to these factors, slag from the iron furnaces of the steel mills was dumped along the river to create more land for building. Developers' artificial narrowing of the riverbed to maximize early industries left the city even more floodprone.

South Fork Dam and Lake Conemaugh High above the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built the South Fork Dam between 1838 and 1853, as part of a crossstate canal system, the Main Line of Public Works. Johnstown was the eastern terminus of the Western Division Canal, supplied with water by Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal and sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The dam and lake were part of the purchase, and

PRR sold them to private interests.

Henry Clay Frick led a group of speculators, including Benjamin Ruff, from Pittsburgh to purchase the abandoned reservoir, modify it, and convert it into a private resort lake for their wealthy associates. Many were connected through business and social links to Carnegie Steel.

Development included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway (the screen also trapped debris). These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. The members built cottages and a clubhouse to create the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive and private mountain retreat.

Membership grew to include more than 50 wealthy Pittsburgh steel, coal, and railroad industrialists.

Lake Conemaugh at the club's site was 450 feet (140 m) in elevation above Johnstown. The lake was about two miles (3.2 km) long, approximately one mile (1.6 km) wide, and 60 feet (18 m) deep near the dam. The lake had a perimeter of seven GEORGIA ENGINEER

Main Street after flood miles (11 km) to hold 20 million tons of water.

The dam was 72 feet (22 m) high and 931 feet (284 m) long. Between 1881 when the club was opened, and 1889, the dam frequently sprang leaks. It was patched, mostly with mud and straw. Additionally, a previous owner had removed and sold for scrap the three cast iron discharge pipes that previously allowed a controlled release of water. There had been some speculation as to the dam's integrity, and concerns had been raised by the head of the Cambria Iron Works downstream in Johnstown.

On May 28, 1889, a storm formed over Nebraska and Kansas, moving east.

When the storm struck the JohnstownSouth Fork area two days later, it was the worst downpour that had ever been recorded in that part of the country. The U.S. Army Signal Corps estimated that 6 to 10 inches (150 to 250 mm) of rain fell in 24 hours over the entire region. During the night, small creeks became roaring torrents, ripping out trees and debris. Telegraph lines were downed and rail lines were washed away. Before daybreak, the Conemaugh River that ran through Johnstown was about to overwhelm its banks.

On the morning of May 31, 1889, in a farmhouse on a hill just above the South Fork Dam, Elias Unger, then president of AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, awoke to the sight of Lake Conemaugh swollen after a night-long heavy rainfall.

Unger ran outside in the still-pouring rain to assess the situation and saw that the water was nearly cresting the dam. He quickly assembled a group of men to save the face of the dam by trying to unclog the spillway; it was blocked by the broken fish trap and debris caused by the swollen waterline. Other men tried digging another spillway at the other end of the dam to re-

lieve the pressure, without success. Most remained on top of the dam, some plowing earth to raise it, while others tried to pile mud and rock on the face to save the eroding wall.

John Parke, an engineer for the South Fork Club, briefly considered cutting through the dam’s end, where the pressure would be less, but decided against it. Twice, under orders from Unger, Parke rode on horseback to the nearby town of South Fork to the telegraph office to send warnings to Johnstown explaining the critical nature of the eroding dam. But the warnings were not passed to the authorities in town, as there had been many false alarms in the past of the South Fork Dam not holding against flooding. Unger, Parke, and the rest of the men continued working until exhausted to save the face of the dam; they abandoned their efforts at around 1:30 p.m., fearing that their efforts were futile and the dam was at risk of imminent collapse. Unger ordered all of his men to fall back to high ground on both sides of the dam where they could do nothing but wait.

During the day in Johnstown, the situation worsened as water rose to as high as 10 feet (3.0 m) in the streets, trapping some people in their houses.

At around 3:10 p.m., the South Fork Dam collapsed, freeing the 20 million tons of Lake Conemaugh to cascade down the

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Little Conemaugh River. It took about 40 minutes for the entire lake to drain of the water. The first town to be hit by the flood was South Fork. The town was on high ground, and most of the people escaped by running up the nearby hills when they saw the dam spill over. Despite 20 to 30 houses being destroyed or washed away, only four people were killed.

On its way downstream toward Johnstown, 14 miles away, the crest picked up debris, such as trees, houses, and animals.

At the Conemaugh Viaduct, a 78-foot (24 m) high railroad bridge, the flood temporarily was stopped when debris jammed against the stone bridge’s arch. But within seven minutes, the viaduct collapsed, allowing the flood to resume its course. Because of this, the surging river gained renewed hydraulic head, resulting in a stronger wave hitting Johnstown than otherwise would have been expected. The small town of Mineral Point, one mile (1.6 km) below the Conemaugh Viaduct, was hit with this renewed force. About 30 families lived on the village’s single street. After the flood, only bare rock remained. About 16 people were killed.

In 2009, researchers reported the results of studies showing that the volume of the flood through the narrow valley temporarily equaled the flow of the Mississippi River.

“The deluge released by the dam’s collapse carried more than 12,000 cubic meters of debris-filled water each second.

Flow rates in the Mississippi River typically vary between 7,000 and 20,000 cubic meters per second.”

The village of East Conemaugh was next to be hit by the flood. One witness on high ground near the town described the water as almost obscured by debris, resembling “a huge hill rolling over and over.”

From his locomotive, engineer John Hess heard the rumbling of the approaching flood and, fearing what it meant, tried to warn people downriver: he tied down the train whistle and raced backward toward East Conemaugh. His warning saved many people who reached high ground, but at least 50 people died, including about 25 passengers stranded on trains in the town.

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view of lower Johnstown three days after the flood Hess survived despite the flood picking up his locomotive and tossing it aside.

Before hitting the main part of Johnstown, the flood surge hit the Cambria Iron Works at the town of Woodvale, sweeping up railroad cars and barbed wire in its moil.

Of Woodvale's 1,100 residents, 314 died in the flood. Boilers exploded when the flood hit the Gautier Wire Works, causing black smoke seen by the Johnstown residents.

Miles of its barbed wire became entangled in the debris in the flood waters.

Some 57 minutes after the South Fork Dam collapsed, the flood hit Johnstown.

The residents were caught by surprise as the wall of water and debris bore down, traveling at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) and reaching a height of 60 feet (18 m) in places. Some, realizing the danger, tried to escape by running towards high ground but

most people were hit by the surging floodwater. Many people were crushed by pieces of debris, and others became caught in barbed wire from the wire factory upstream. Those who reached attics, or managed to stay afloat on pieces of floating debris, waited hours for help to arrive.

At Johnstown, the Stone Bridge, which was a substantial arched structure, carried the Pennsylvania Railroad across the Conemaugh River. The debris carried by the flood formed a temporary dam at the bridge, resulting in the flood surge rolling upstream along the Stoney Creek River. Eventually, gravity caused the surge to return to the dam, causing a second wave to hit the city, but from a different direction.

Some people who had been washed downstream became trapped in an inferno as the debris piled up against the Stone

A contemporary rendition of the scene at the Stone bridge (1890) GEORGIA ENGINEER

Bridge caught fire; at least 80 people died there. The fire at the Stone Bridge burned for three days. After floodwaters receded, the pile of debris at the bridge was seen to cover 30 acres (12 ha), and reached 70 feet (21 m) in height. It took workers three months to remove the mass of debris, largely because it was bound by the steel wire from the ironworks. Dynamite was eventually used to clear it.

Still standing and in use as a railroad bridge, the Stone Bridge is a landmark associated with survival and recovery from the flood. In 2008, it was restored in a project including new lighting as part of commemorative activities related to the flood.

Skewered by a huge tree uprooted by the flood, the house floated down from Union Street to the end of Main. Six people, including Schultz, were inside the house when the flood hit. All survived.

The total death toll was 2,209, making the disaster the largest loss of civilian life in the United States at the time.

Ninety-nine entire families died in the flood, including 396 children. One hundred twenty-four women and 198 men were widowed, 98 children were orphaned.

One-third of the dead, 777 people, were never identified; their remains were buried in the ‘Plot of the Unknown’ in Grandview AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Cemetery in Westmont.

It was the worst flood to hit the U.S. in the 19th century. Sixteen hundred homes were destroyed, $17 million in property damage was done, and four square miles (10 km2) of downtown Johnstown were completely destroyed. Clean-up operations continued for years. Although Cambria Iron and Steel’s facilities were heavily damaged, they returned to full production within a year and a half.

One of the first outsiders to arrive was Clara Barton, nurse, founder and president of the American Red Cross. Barton arrived on June 5, 1889, to lead the group’s first major disaster relief effort; she did not leave for more than five months. She and many other volunteers worked tirelessly. Donations for the relief effort came from all over the United States and overseas. $3,742,818.78 was collected for the Johnstown relief effort from within the U.S. and 18 foreign countries, including Russia, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Australia, and Germany.

Frank Shomo, the last known survivor of the 1889 flood, died March 20, 1997, at the age of 108.v

Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Coleman, N.M., C. Davis Todd, et al. 2009.

"Johnstown flood of 1889 – destruction and rebirth" (Presentation 76-9). Geological Society of America meeting. Oct. 18-21. Portland, Ore. Davis T., C., et al. 2009. "A determination of peak discharge rate and water volume from the 1889 Johnstown flood" (Presentation 7610). Geological Society of America meeting.

Oct. 18-21. Portland, Ore. Johnson, Willis Fletcher. History of the Johnstown Flood (1889). [2] McCullough, David. e Johnstown Flood (1968); ISBN 0-671-20714-8 O'Connor, R. Johnstown - e Day e Dam Broke (1957).

is article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain (see Wikipedia.org): Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia 29

Georgia’s logistics infrastructure: gateway to the world

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hen it comes to logistics and supply chain infrastructure, Georgia is what some might say ‘uniquely complete’ in all aspects, from rail and road to sea and air.

Home to the world’s busiest passenger airport with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s fastest growing port with the Port of Savannah, the best rail infrastructure in the Southeast, and a nationally-ranked highway infrastructure, it’s no wonder that Georgia has become a strong hub for manufacturers and distribution centers. This level of logistics infrastructure is part of the story that has resulted in Georgia being named America’s best state for business by CNBC and the number one most competitive state in the nation by Site Selection Magazine.

“Georgia has been ranked the best state for doing business, and a lot of that has to do with its supply chain and logistics infrastructure,” said Page Siplon, executive director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics.

Probably the most visible of its logistics infrastructure, Georgia’s ports managed by the Georgia Ports Authority, include major sea operations in both Savannah and Brunswick. Georgia’s port locations reduce landside travel to major U.S. markets by being the western most ports on the east coast. Two modern deep water terminals, the Garden City Terminal and the Ocean Terminal, collectively make up the Port of Savannah. At 1,200 acres, the Garden City terminal is the nation’s largest container facility and due to the terminal being owner-operated, the port’s operations are streamlined to serve shippers and carriers. The Port of Savannah is also serviced by two Class I rail lines. Likewise, the three terminals making up the Port of Brunswick 30

have made it number one in the nation for auto imports and one of the fastest-growing heavy machinery ports in North America. More than 20 major auto manufacturers use the Colonel’s Island Terminal, which is also home to the Southeast’s fastest-growing bulk export/import operation. Many of the state’s agricultural products also flow through this port on the way to their destination.

When it comes to rail infrastructure, Georgia has a longstanding history as a major railway hub and even the city of Atlanta was formed from a rail line’s terminus. That tradition continues today with the most extensive rail system in the Southeast. Of all the East Coast ports, the state’s two Class I railroads provide the fastest rail connections from the Port of Savannah to Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas as well as overnight service to major markets like Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Charleston.

These Class-I railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, are supported by 29 short lines that easily provide cross-state access.

With more than 5,000 miles of rail and the largest intermodal hub in the Southeast, Georgia’s rail infrastructure rivals any other national leader.

The compliment of Georgia’s highway infrastructure to the rail network truly gives the state an advantage. Georgia’s interstate system connects to 80 percent of the U.S. population within a two-day truck drive. More than 40 percent of U.S. manufacturing operations are within a 500 mile radius of Atlanta. More than 1,200 miles of interstate highway and 20,000 miles of federal and state highway move an average of 5.9 million tons of freight across the state weekly.

As the tenth largest air cargo hub in North America, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is a critical component of Georgia’s infrastructure network for transporting goods. The airport is home to 14 cargo-only carriers and two million square feet of cargo warehouse space. From the airport, people and products can reach 80 percent of the U.S. market within a two-hour flight and 75 inGEORGIA ENGINEER

ternational destinations in 50 countries.

But it’s not all about the infrastructure. Georgia is home to nearly 12,300 providers of logistics services and ranks as the fifth largest overall logistics employer in the nation. Companies like Delta Air Lines, UPS, SAIA, and Manhattan Associates have headquartered here along with major players in logistics such as The Home Depot, The Coca-Cola Company, and Gulfstream Aerospace. Georgia is also home to a growing market for logistics and supply chain management technology with 70 percent of the top 20 supply chain management software providers located here.

“We truly have an advantage in Georgia with our logistics infrastructure and that is why we’ve seen so much growth in other logistics-enabled companies choosing our state to call home,” Siplon continued. “Georgia is able to bring together the people, process, and technology that make logistics happen like no other state in the nation through its laser focus on the industry.”

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

As an example of the state’s commitment to the logistics industry, the Center of Innovation hosts an annual Georgia Logistics Summit in Atlanta each spring. The Summit provides a tremendous networking opportunity and connects all aspects of the industry from road, rail, air, and ocean to manufacturers and retailers to understand the challenges and opportunities each face. This event also promotes dialogue with the public sector and keeps Georgia moving forward. The Summit features a rapid fire update panel from the

state’s transportation experts. The panel is comprised of the heads of the Georgia Railroad Association, the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Ports Authority, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Focusing on the trends and issues within each sector, the panel highlights the interconnectedness of the state’s logistics ‘ecosystem’ that must flow seamlessly from end to end to keep business thriving and growing.

From its cornerstone location on the U.S. East Coast to its seamless connection of infrastructure—both physical and professional, Georgia offers businesses a significant competitive advantage. From Georgia you have a gateway to the world you can ship any product to any customer, any mode to any market.

The Centers of Innovation are a leading resource for fueling logistics growth and global competitiveness and a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. v

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GEORGIA

ENGINEERING NEWS

Army Chief of Engineers Looks to P3S for Nation’s Water Infrastructure Needs Army Chief of Engineers Looks to P3S for Nation’s Water Infrastructure Needs

By Editor of NCPPP e Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is looking at new ways to finance the essential civil works infrastructure on U.S. waterways, including public-private partnerships according to Lt. Gen. omas Bostick, the agency’s commanding general.

“We can only do so much through process efficiencies. We’re going to have to work together in public-private partnerships to find some alternative financing means that come from outside the federal government,” Bostick told reporters last week.

Some Corps projects have an identifiable revenue stream. The Corps currently collects fees on shipping companies that use deep-sea ports and inland waterways.

However, projects such as levees do not have an obvious revenue stream, according to Bostick.

“We have to find a way to monetize the things we want the private sector to invest in,” Bostick said. “At the end of the day, they need to make a profit, and we have to find ways to set up long-term contracts that will allow them to accrue benefits based on the investments they make.”

Bostick’s comments come as the Corps faces a backlog of $60 billion in recapitalization projects, according to a 2013 review. at same year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a grade of a D- to the network of 15,000 miles of levees and infrastructure along the thousands of miles of inland waterways in the United States.

Hydro-power dams earned a modestly higher grade of D. “e infrastructure is slipping in its ability to deliver consistent and reliable services,” Bostick told Federal News Radio. “Since 2000, we’ve had a 50 percent increase in the downtime of our hydroelectric equipment.

Since 2009, delays and interruptions have more than doubled on our inland waterway 32

locks and dams. And 16 percent of our dams are categorized as ‘extremely’ or ‘very high’ risk, which increases the urgency for dam safety work.”

Congress funds the Corps’ recapitalization projects at around $2 billion per year.

But even as the Corps continues to focus on the nation’s highest priorities, the projects it is working on this year will require an additional $23 billion to complete. “at gives you some idea of how long our current projects will take at the pace we’re getting appropriations,” he said. v GS&P Adds Senior Water Resources Engineer Chris Hammer Results-Driven Leader to Enhance Project Management, Client Service in Southeast Gresham, Smith and Partners, a leading multi-disciplinary design and consulting firm for the built environment, announces Chris Hammer, P.E., has joined GS&P as a senior water resources engineer in the firm’s Nashville office. He has delivered more than $2 billion of infrastructure projects during his 22-year career, managing water, wastewater and natural gas projects in both the public and private sectors. At GS&P, Hammer will focus on project management, staff mentoring and client service throughout the Southeast.

“Chris brings a results-driven ap-

Chris Hammer

proach to infrastructure design, asset management and total project management,” said Joe Whitson, P.E., executive vice president at Gresham, Smith and Partners. “He is known for his responsiveness, dependability and tremendous work ethic, which is how he has successfully served so many clients in Tennessee and Kentucky. I know GS&P’s clients will value Chris’s knowledge and leadership, and he’ll be an excellent resource for our internal staff as well.

We’re proud to welcome him to the team.”

“I’m a small-town Kentucky native who has built a career out of serving clients in the Southeast and understanding the region’s infrastructure needs. My time as a city engineer in Clarksville, Tennessee, one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, allowed me to experience projects from the client’s side. I know the level of service they expect and I’m committed to going above and beyond that. The satisfaction I get from my job is knowing I helped to achieve something great for my client and their community,” added Hammer.

Prior to joining GS&P, Hammer was a senior project manager and client service manager at URS Corporation in Franklin, Tenn. Most recently he served as lead engineer for a 19-million-gallon storage tank project, one of the region’s largest tanks, in support of the Clean Water Nashville Overflow Abatement Program. As Clarksville’s City Engineer, Hammer was department head and project manager for planning, engineering, construction and maintenance of numerous natural gas, water, sewer infrastructure and regulatory compliance projects. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Kentucky and completed graduate work in Environmental Engineering. He is an active member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water Environment Federation (WEF). v GEORGIA ENGINEER

ACEC Georgia Darrell Rochester, PE Chair ACEC Georgia

Georgia’s Number One! These are exciting times! While I would not wish the past few years’ economy on my

News worst enemy, I would not trade the experience gained for anything either. Many of us are paying attention to the details of our businesses far better than we did before the crash. At least I can tell you, I certainly am!

I have learned much about myself and the business of engineering during tough economic times. Workload seems to be improving; business is getting better. We are starting to climb out of the big ol’ hole that has been created for us.

In November of last year, Georgia was named the number one place in the United States to do business, according to Site Selection Magazine. This is great news for our state! Of course, you realize that means everyone will be gunning for us this year,

so we have to stay on our toes. Businesses look closely at a number of factors before making the decision of where to be located.

Two of the top five “Site Selectors’ Most Important Location Criteria” are Transportation Infrastructure and Utility Infrastructure. As you know, high quality infrastructure is the backbone of healthy business. This confirms that we have to keep our infrastructure in good order to remain competitive; we have to invest in our future. We have to pay to play.

I have traveled to Washington, DC, several times over the last ten years for the ACEC National Convention, and we always ‘Storm the Hill.’ And every year, one of the topics of discussion with legislators is

Political Advocacy

The Value of ACEC Georgia Serving your firm’s business interests through:

• Advocating at all levels of government to advance policies that impact the business of engineering in Georgia.

• Monitoring the regulatory issues and government agency actions that affect engineers.

• Working for a more pro-business climate and defending against unfair business practices.

• Fighting to protect the professional engineering practice.

Business Development • Providing networking opportunities, meetings, and programs that put you in contact with potential clients, industry peers, and the leaders of the engineering profession.

• Hosting the Georgia Engineers Summer Conference, Transportation Summit, P3 Summit, and other programs that expand your professional knowledge and network.

• Offering informative and relevant seminars, programs, and webinars with presentations from leaders who affect our industry and community.

Firm Operations • Providing a forum for the exchange of business and professional experiences.

• Offering programs and resources on best business practices for member firms.

• Sponsoring the Future Leaders Program to build the next generation of leaders within member firms and the engineering profession.

• We provide executive development training for emerging leaders and firm management.

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

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infrastructure funding of some type. Well, this year was no exception. With the Federal Highway Trust Fund on the verge of insolvency, we asked that lawmakers pass a long-term funding measure for transportation. And the reply we received this year sounded very similar to many of the other years: “We need a long-term solution but getting it passed does not look realistic. So, we are working on a short-term solution to the problem.” I guess the good news is the U.S. House passed a short-term funding measure in July that would provide $10.9 billion to the Highway Trust Fund, which should extend the Trust Fund at current spending levels of federal highway and mass transit accounts through May 2015.

Assuming the Senate passes it, we just kicked the can down the road once again.

The problem is the federal government’s fiscal year ends on September 30 and GDOT gets 55 percent of its funding from the Federal Highway Administration. So what are we supposed to do for the four months that are unfunded?

You have to ask yourself, how can our state continue to remain number one when businesses tell you infrastructure is critical to determining where they will locate and our state does not know if it will have funds

available to meet its infrastructure needs? I am pretty well convinced at this point in my life that times are changing and always will be. In my humble opinion, with uncertainty for the foreseeable future in Washington, we are coming to a point where we need to rely less on the federal government and more on our state and alternative sources to fund infrastructure improvements. Funding closer to home gives greater control and far fewer strings will be attached.

I can promise you other states are making the tough decisions needed to become more competitive. For example, the 2014 North Carolina Regional and Statewide Strategies for Comprehensive Community and Economic Development Report released by The North Carolina Association of Regional Councils states: “To remain competitive in a growing global economy, North Carolina makes the revitalization and improvement of state and local infrastructure a priority for funding.”

We are not only competing with other states but we also have to compete with other countries around the globe. It will be difficult to continue to draw business to our state if we are not serious about funding our infrastructure needs.

Great things are happening at ACEC

Georgia. Thanks to the vision of past Chairmen like Jim Hamilton, Eddie Williams, and Jay Wolverton, tough decisions have been made to move the organization forward. Our future is bright! We have a strong vision and very talented staff under the leadership of Michael L. ‘Sully’ Sullivan that is fully engaged and pressing forward with our mission of Political Advocacy, Firm Operations, and Business Development.

Because Sully recognizes the importance of infrastructure funding, he has agreed to serve as Chairman of the Georgia Transportation Alliance whose mission is “To build upon Georgia’s strong history of transportation excellence by supporting efforts to improve transportation funding and improve our state’s transportation infrastructure.” It is good to know ACEC will be ‘right in the thick of things’ solving our state’s infrastructure funding challenges.

If you or your firm is not a member of ACEC, we would like to talk with you about the benefits of membership. And, if you are a member and you have ideas of how ACEC can better serve your firm or the engineering community, please let us know. v

ACEC GEORGIA MEMBER FIRMS Board of Directors Darrell K. Rochester, Chairman / Roseana Richards, Chairman-elect / Jay C. Wolverton, Past Chair / Charles Ezelle, Treasurer / John Heath, Secretary / Dave L. Wright, National Director / Jim Case, Vice Chair / Don Harris, Vice Chair / Robert Lewis, Vice Chair / Anita Atkinson, Director / Daveitta Jenkins, Director / Emily Meador, Director / Kevin McOmber, Director / Al Pramuk, Director / Charles ‘Corky’ Welch, Director / Brent Wright, Director / Taylor Wright, Director

Committees Kevin McOmber, Government Affairs/PAC David Wright, ACEC PAC Champion Rob Lewis, Business Development Jim Case & Don Harris, Firm Operations John Heath, Coalitions Doug Robinson, Communications Brannen Butts & David McFarlin, Leadership Development Charles Ezelle, Membership Jay Wolverton, Nominating Jay Wolverton, Past Presidents/Chairmen Scott Gero, Transportation Forum

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Staff Michael ‘Sully’ Sullivan, President & CEO Jennifer Head, Director of Membership & Programs Brittney Love, Director of Finance & Operations Shawna Mercer, Director of Communications and Government Affairs

Forums Bill Griffin, Building Systems Corky Welch, Environmental Chris Marsengill, Transportation Brannen Butts, Leadership dkrochester@rochesterassoc.com (678) 450-5161 GEORGIA ENGINEER

ASCE Georgia

News

Katherine Gurd, P.E., President American Society of Civil Engineers, Georgia Section www.ascega.org

•

In November 2013, our Section meeting was an overview of the Sweetwater Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration Project, which was the winner of our 2013 Civil Engineering Environmental Project of the Year. Kevin Middlebrooks, PE, from CH2M Hill was one of the project designers and our meeting speaker.

•

In December 2013, our Section meeting focused on sustainability at the Atlanta Beltline with speaker: Lisa Y. Gordon, CPA, Chief Operating Officer of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Katherine.Gurd@aecom.com

Hello members and friends! We’ve had quite a busy year, and I’m surprised it’s passed so quickly. In my last article here as your President, I wanted to recap some of our highlights and successes.

• In September 2013 we held our Annual awards banquet. This event was held at the Atlanta Zoo in 2013 (and will be at the 755 club at the Braves Game this upcoming September – see details below!).

•

•

In January, Matt Harper, the Water Supply Senior Program Manager from Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), presented information on the Governor’s Water Supply Program and the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Demonstration Project in southwest Georgia. Also in January, we released the Georgia Infrastructure report card at the state capitol: http://www.ascega.org/georgia-report-card/

•

In February, we received an overview of Envision, a Sustainable Infrastruc-

In October 2013, Michael L. ‘Sully’ Sullivan, President & CEO of ACEC Georgia, provided us with a Legislative Outlook and Update for Engineers. Legislative activities were a key focus for our Section in 2013-2014, so this gave us a great overview of the current legislative climate in the state.

ASCE/GEORGIA SECTION 2013 - 2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Katherine McLeod Gurd, P.E.

Shaukat.Syed@dnr.state.ga.us

AECOM | katherine.gurd@aecom.com President-Elect: Rebecca Shelton, P.E. Gwinnett County DWR rebecca.shelton@gwinnettcounty.com Vice President : Richard Morales, M.Sc., P.E. LB Foster Piling | rmorales@LBFoster.com Treasurer : Dan Agramonte, P.E. O’BRIEN & GERE | Daniel.agramonte@obg.com External Director : Shaukat Syed Georgia EPD, Watershed | Protection Branch

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Internal Director : Christina Vulova, P.E. ARCADIS U.S. Inc. | christina.vulova@arcadis-us.com Secretary : Julie Secrist, P.E. T.Y. Lin International Group | Julie.Secrist@tylin.com

Savannah Branch Director : Laurel M. Webb O’BRIEN & GERE | laurel.webb@obg.com NE Georgia Branch Director : J. Matthew Tanner, PE Breedlove Land Planning Inc. mtanner@landplanning.net

Technical Director : Luis E. Babler, P.E. Geo-Hydro Engineers Inc. | luis@geohydro.com

South Metro Branch Director: Bob Nickelson Portland Cement Association BNickelson@cement.org

Younger Member Director: Benjamin L. Moss O’BRIEN & GERE benjamin.moss@obg.com

Past-President: Lisa S. Woods, P.E. JACOBS | lisa.woods@jacobs.com

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transportation and infrastructure in our state.

•

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Kids outreach activities at the Smyrna Library in July. ture Ranking Tool, provided by was the first conference the Georgia Speaker ‘Buddy’ Humphries, PE, Section has hosted which gave us opLTEC. Also in February, we had portunities to meet members from our some GA ASCE members take the neighboring state. To close out March, report card to their state and local legwe hosted our 4th annual Middle islators, and we hosted a legislative apschool competition – “What Do Civil preciation reception with the Georgia Engineers Do?” which allows kids to Section of ITE and ITS Georgia. We show their creativity while learning also hosted the Toothpick Bridge about the engineering profession. event at Fernbank on February 22nd.

At this event, we had 56 middle school • In April, our Section meeting speaker participants who had bridges tested was Charles R. Bailey, PE, Traffic Enand broken. gineering & Planning Div. Director and Tom Sever, PE, Chief Engineer March was a busy month. Our SecTraffic Signal and ITS Section with tion meeting was a joint meeting with the Gwinnett County Department of SAME. We had Charles Hayes, EPA Transportation. The focus of the Region Four Small Business Program meeting was the Gwinnett County Manager speak with us about Doing Traffic Control Center.

Business with the EPA. Also in March, we held the Founding Fathers • In May we had Georgia State LegislaConference in Augusta. This confertive Representatives: Senator Brandon ence was a joint venture with the Beach and Representative Ed Setzler South Carolina Section of ASCE and talk to us about their perspectives on

•

Finally, to close out our Section meetings in June, we had US Congressman Rob Woodall give us the national perspective on transportation and infrastructure.

•

In July, although our Section meetings had taken a summer hiatus, our volunteers remained engaged and supported the Smyrna Library and their Summer STEM reading program. ASCE hosted two hands-on activities for kids ages four to 12 to help them apply engineering principals.

Volunteers helped the kids create domes made of gumdrops for one activity and skyscrapers made of straws for the other.

Kids outreach activities at the Smyrna Library in July.

To celebrate this successful year, the ASCE Georgia Section will host our Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet at the 755 Club, followed by a Braves game at Turner Field on September 20th, 2014. Past ASCE National President, Mr. William P. Grogan, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, will also be joining us for the festivities. I hope you’ll make plans to join us as we recognize our 2014 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement projects, recognize outstanding engineers, and induct our 2014-2015 Section Officers. We’ll also have food, fun, and social time as we take in the last home Braves game of the season. Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/org/26228 82550?s=18356657 In closing, I’d like to thank our members for letting me serve you. It’s been an honor to serve as your President this last year. I’d like to personally thank each one of our board members that have helped us have such a successful year. I’d also like to thank our sponsors whose contributions have allowed us to host all these great activities: AECOM, ATG, Belgard Hardscapes, CES, CH2MHill, Haywood Baker, John Group International, and LBFoster. v GEORGIA ENGINEER

ASHE Georgia Michael Bywaletz President American Society of Highway Engineers / Georgia Section

I’m on my second term as President of one of the best engineering organizations in Georgia. We have openings for some of our chair and co-chair positions, so please become a member and get more involved! I want to thank all of the Board members and Committee Chairs for a great year, and I look forward to more exciting events in the future.

Great Success at the National Conference Attendees of the 2014 ASHE National Convention heard quite a bit about the ASHE Georgia section this year! Held in June in Bismarck, North Dakota, the ASHE National Conference was an excellent opportunity for ASHE Georgia members to network with other professionals in the highway design industry. The Georgia section attendees were recognized at the annual banquet for their friendliness, and other sections across the country are looking at ASHE Georgia as a model of an extremely successful chapter.

Attendees participated in a variety of technical programs and social activities.

Some of the session topics included the relocation of the Hoover Dam road and bridge, mobile barriers, diverging diamond interchanges, asset management, and accelerated bridge construction. Georgia section members had the opportunity to play golf at Hawktree Golf Club and visit historic Buckstop Junction.

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

News Two members of ASHE Georgia were recognized for their continued dedication to ASHE. Nikki Reutlinger was awarded the ASHE National President’s Award. Nikki has served in many positions on Section Committees and on the Section Board, including Georgia Section President, the Southeast Region Board, the National Board as a National Director, and on numerous national committees over the years. She currently manages the national ASHE LinkedIn site. She has been a member of the National Regional Oversight Committee, the National Public Relations Committee, and is the Chair of the National Conference Committee.

Tim Matthews received the 2014 ASHE National Member of the Year Award. Tim has held numerous positions of leadership in the Georgia Section, including Section President, as Regional Representative, currently as the Southeast Region Immediate Past President, and now as the National New Sections Committee Co-Chair. Tim has also made a great effort to recruit and maintain GDOT membership in the local section.

Congratulations to Nikki and Tim for their hard work and dedication to ASHE National and ASHE Georgia!

President ~ Michael Bywaletz, Gresham

Smith and Partners First vice President ~ Brian O’Connor,

T.Y. Lin International Second vice President ~ Rob Dell-Ross,

City of Roswell Secretary ~ Mindy Sanders, Lowe

Engineers Treasurer ~ Richard Meehan, Lowe

Engineers Co-Treasurer Rick Strickland, Michael

Baker Corporation Past President ~ Ron Osterloh, Pond &

Company National Director ~ Nikki Reutlinger,

Atkins Director ~ Shawn Fleet, Heath and

Lineback Director ~ Karyn Matthews, GDOT Chairs Nominating Committee Chair ~ Tim

Matthews, GDOT Program Chair ~ John Karnowski,

Foresite Group Membership Chair ~ Scott Jordan, Cobb

County Scholarship Chair ~ Sarah Worachek,

Gresham Smith and Partners ASHE Student Chapter Liason ~ Jennifer Stephan, T.Y. Lin International Technical Chairs ~ Dan Bodycomb,

AECOM; Chris Rudd, GDOT Communications Chair ~ Jenny Jenkins,

McGee Partners Social Chair ~ Holly Bauman, ARCADIS Golf Tournament Chair ~ Ashley Chan,

HNTB Web site Chair ~ Pervez Iqbal, Parsons

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2014 ASHE Golf Tournament Sponsors Eagle Sponsors: AECOM ARCADIS Ecological Solutions Edwards-Pitman Environmental Inc. McGee Partners Inc. Southeastern Engineering Inc. Birdie Sponsors: United Consulting Gresham, Smith and Partners Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc. Thompson Engineering Foley Products Company

ASHE Georgia members at historic buckstop Junction (l to r – brian O’Connor, Tim Matthews, Karyn Matthews, bruno barros, Nikki Reutlinger, Michael bywaletz, Shawn Fleet) In addition to Tim and Nikki, several members of ASHE Georgia are involved in ASHE on a regional and national level.

Scott Jordan is the current Southeast Region President, Ron Osterloh is the Southeast Region Representative, Jenny Jenkins is on the National Partnerships Committee, Tom Ziegler is on the National Conference Committee, and Mindy Sanders is the Chair of the newly created National Technology Committee.

Upcoming Events This fall, ASHE Georgia will be offering Level II NPDES Certification and Recertification classes. Please contact Michael Bywaletz (michael_bywaletz@gspnet.com) for more information. We will also be hosting our annual bowling tournament in August, along with a tent party at the Kaiser Permanente Run/Walk in September. Come join us! v 38

Par/Hole Sponsors: American Engineers Atkins Baker Cardno TBE CH2M Hill Clark Patterson Lee Collins Engineers Inc. ECS HNTB Keck & Wood Inc. Kimley Horn & Associates Landair Surveying Long Engineering Mulkey Engineers & Consultants Parsons STV Terrell, Hundley & Carroll THC T.Y. Lin Transystems Wolverton & Associates Door Prizes/Goodies: CH2M Hill Pond & Company United Consulting Group URS Corporation

Golf at Hawktree Golf Club (l to r – Kristen Rowe, vP of Chesapeake Section; brian O’Connor; Shawn Fleet; Kathryn Power, President of Pittsburg Section) GEORGIA ENGINEER

GEF

News James R. Crowder, PE President Georgia Engineering Foundation

While GEF’s primary mission is to ‘Manage Scholarship Programs for the Engineering Community,’ GEF supports Georgia’s engineering profession in many other ways. Planning for the 2014 GEF Scholarship Banquet and Awards Ceremony at the Dunwoody County Club on November 13, 2014 is well underway.

Over the 40 years that GEF has managed the scholarship program more than 850 scholarships have been awarded. Today our endowments and managed scholarships exceed $800,000. GEF will likely award more than $65,000 in scholarships this year.

Other GEF activities supporting the engineering profession in Georgia this year, which are also representative of past years include: Sponsorship and participation in the Exploring Engineering Academy’s week long resident program at Georgia Tech this past June. This was our 14th year of sponsorship for EEA. GEF members and member organizations provided committee members and mentors responsible for planning this event and staffing the event. Once again it was a great success as 26 Georgia High School students from Georgia attended.

GEF once again provided educational grants to Rockdale Magnet School and Mays Academy. Grants are used by the science teachers to enhance their programs

which are keyed to students with a strong emphasis in science and math.

GEF provided judges again this year for events such as the Future City competition, the State Science Fair, and Math Counts. GEF also provided funding for awards for the State Science Fair. These events raise the interest level of High School students and encourage them to pursue college degree programs in Engineering, Science, Environmental and Math.

GEF members also attended this year’s FIRST Robotics Regional competition as GEF takes a look at this

exciting event to determine how we might be able to provide support in the future.

GA Robotics Alliance supports FIRST Robotics which has the goal to inspire students K-12. Nationally, 3800 teams participated last year and $18,000,000 in scholarships was awarded. They are looking for volunteers to mentor teams and work at events. The increasing numbers of teams wanting to compete means there is a need more engineering mentors. During the sixweek build schedule, mentors and advisors are needed for as much time as volunteers want to give. v

FIRST Robotic team members working on their robot prior to the Regional Competition held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

2013 Scholarship Winners, ‘Our Future Engineer Leaders AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

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GSPE Georgia Rob MacPherson, P.E., President Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

GSPE Is For All Professional Engineers On October 5, 1943, Colonel Michael J. Blew, P.E., called a general meeting of all registered professional engineers living in Georgia to discuss the possibility of forming an organization of registered engineers.

This meeting was held at the Ansley House in Atlanta. By April 26, 1944, the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers was incorporated in the state of Georgia.

Today, GSPE is one of the leading state organizations that promote the engineering profession to protect public health, safety, and welfare. The society is made up of engineering professionals from all disciplines and promotes the ethical and competent practice of engineering, advocates licensure, and enhances the image and well-being of its members.

Are you a member of GSPE? If you are an engineer, you should be. Visit the GSPE Web site, www.gspe.org.v

News 2014-2015 Georgia Society of Professional Engineers Executive Committee Rob MacPherson, P.E. | PRESIDENT Mr. MacPherson is Vice President of Prime Engineering, a full service consulting engineering, architectural, and surveying company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Rob has been in the consulting business for almost 30 years. His specific duties include overseeing the surveying, municipal, and infrastructure departments of Prime Engineering. Mr. MacPherson graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1984. He is married to Charlene Clark MacPherson, an electrical engineer from Georgia Tech. They reside in Marietta, Georgia, and have two children, David, a senior at Georgia Tech (ME) and Lexi, a sophomore at Marietta High School.

Kevin G. berry, P.E. | PRESIDENT-ELECT Mr. Berry studied Environmental Engineering at Mercer University and received a Bachelor’s degree in 2007 and a Master’s degree in 2012. He is currently employed by Hodges, Harbin, Newberry & Tribble in Macon. Mr. Berry has served in leadership positions for the Middle Georgia Chapter of GSPE and has served on the GSPE Board of Directors for the past three years. Kevin and his wife, Whitney, reside in Forsyth, Georgia.

William ‘Trey’ Wingate, III, P.E. | PAST - PRESIDENT Mr. Wingate earned an Associate’s Degree in Chemistry and Physics from Andrew College in South Georgia. He then attended North Carolina State University majoring in civil engineering. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in civil engineering, Trey began his professional career with W.K. Dickson and Company in Charlotte, North Carolina. His first engineering position has turned into a 25 year career with the same company.

Over this time span, Mr. Wingate has been challenged with helping the firm develop regional offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the process of helping the W.K. Dickson and Company team achieve its goals, he has been able to develop as a professional and assist municipal clients throughout the three-state region. Trey currently resides in Augusta, Georgia with his wife, Manon, and their son.

Douglas b. Weaver, P.E. | SECRETARY Mr. Weaver grew up in Atlanta and obtained a Bachelor’s in Nuclear Engineering from Georgia Tech. He has since worked on many nuclear plants and then started working on other facilities. He is a licensed Mechanical Engineer and certified Project Manager. Mr. Weaver currently resides in Atlanta.

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GEORGIA ENGINEER

Douglas benner, P.E., FNSPE | vICE PRESIDENT REGION I (Cobb, Northeast, Northwest, and West Georgia) Mr. Benner is currently the President of DEB Consulting which performs electrical engineering and project management services. He is a licensed engineer in New Jersey and Georgia. Doug holds an Associate Degree in electrical technology from Spring Garden Institute, a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering degree from Lehigh University and an MBA from Seton Hall University. Mr. Benner served as President of the New Jersey Society as well as the National Director. He has also served on many state committees and has chaired state and national task force committees for the Society of Professional Engineers.

Mr. Benner resides in Marietta, Georgia with his wife, Fabiola. He has four daughters and three grandchildren.

Jason Cooper, P.E. | vICE PRESIDENT REGION III (Augusta, Columbus, Middle Georgia, Savannah, South Georgia) Mr. Cooper is the current Branch Manager of the Columbus and LaG r a n ge, Georgia offices of Geotechnical & Environmental Consultants Inc. Jason completed his BSE, environmental engineering degree at Mercer University. He is also a member of the ASCE, SAME, and WEF. Mr. Cooper was named the GSPE 2008 Professional Engineer of the Year in Private Practice and is a registered Professional Engineer in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Jason and his wife, Janet, of 20 years currently reside in Columbus, Georgia.

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Dennis Adams, P.E. |TREASURER Mr. Adams received his BSE from Mercer University in 2003 and is currently a Senior Structural Engineer with Pi-Tech Inc. in Macon, Georgia. Dennis is a licensed professional engineer in Georgia and ten other states, and currently serves as President of the Middle Georgia Chapter of GSPE. He and his wife, Sarah, have two daughters, and are active members of First Presbyterian Church in Macon.

Gale Sights, P.E., FNSPE | vICE PRESIDENT REGION II (Atlanta Metro) Gale was born in Fremont, Nebraska, and spent his early years in San Antonio, Texas. His family relocated to Atlanta where he attended Druid Hills High School. Mr. Sights is a registered chemical engineer, holding a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Science Industrial Management degrees from Georgia Tech, and a Juris Doctorate from Atlanta Law School. His work career spanned forty years from time with Georgia Kaolin in Macon, Georgia and The Southern Company in Atlanta.

Gale served on active duty with the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot in Europe and Viet Nam receiving numerous aerial combat awards. He just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife Janet.

They have two children and two grandchildren.

GSPE Web site www.gspe.org

Steve Strong, P.E. vICE PRESIDENT REGION-AT-LARGE A South Florida native, Steve earned a BSEE from the University of Miami in electrical and computer engineering and minored in math and philosophy. He is the Chief Operating Officer for Televes USA, a telecommunication equipment design and manufacturing company. Mr. Strong has served in leadership roles with IEEE, the Georgia Engineering Foundation, Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the US Air Force Auxiliary, and the Atlanta Metro Chapter of GSPE. Steve resides in Dunwoody, Georgia with his wife,Christine.

Luther Cox Jr., P.E. | STATE DELEGATE FOR NSPE | HOUSE OF DELEGATES Luther is the owner of LOC Engineering, a forensic engineering cons u l t i n g c o m p a n y.

Mr. Cox provides over 39 years of experience in his specialty of accident reconstruction and causation. Luther received a BS Degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M in 1957 and his MS in industrial management from Georgia Tech in 1972. Besides being a Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), Past-President of GSPE, and GSPE's State Delegate for NSPE, Luther is the treasurer of the Atlanta Metro Chapter, a member of SAE, ASCE, ASTM, and the link between GSPE and the Order of the Engineer. He is also Past President of Conyers Rotary Club, and Past Chairman of the Board of Adjustments for Rockdale County.

Chapter Representatives: Joe D’Alessandro, P.E.; Henry Lee Everson, P.E.; Ed Fiegle, P.E.; Ryan Peter, P.E.; David Simoneau, P.E.; Farley Wolford, P.E. 41

ITE Georgia Jonathan Reid, PE Georgia Section, Institute of Transportation Engineers

Greetings once again from Georgia ITE headquarters to all Georgia Engineering Magazine readers! Believe it or not, we are half-way through the 2014 calendar year, a good time to reflect on what our organization has accomplished this year and look ahead to what is still in store for the last half of the year. As a reminder, the four basic goals for this year were to grow our membership, provide excellent educational and numerous engagement opportunities, and be notable as an organization. Though I myself am not a huge soccer…ah, futbol fan, given the recent frenzy, we’ll review these goals World Cup style.

What we’ve learned so far: Like the bandwagon of recent soccer converts, our membership is up this year. Our

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News crack membership team and board representatives have been working hard to purge old databases, track-down members who have not showed up in a while and encouraged others to join through outreach and great meeting opportunities and it has paid off ! The number of great meetings and engagement opportunities has created a synergy for growth. Many newcomers are young(er) in age, and we hope that they will be a part of our great organization for a long time to come.

We’ve had five monthly meetings so far this year (way more meetings than goals scored in an average World Cup game…in about the same amount of time). Most of our meetings have had over 100 engineers, planners or other transportation enthusiasts in attendance, to hear such relevant topics (at least to us transportation engineers) as: • Increasing installations of flashing yellow arrows at traffic signals •

The state of roundabouts in Georgia including the planned roundabout interchange at I-285 and Riverside Drive (satisfying those European soccer-types who love roundabouts)

•

Cool, next-generation infrastructure management data collection techniques that our brethren at Georgia Tech have been developing (I think

they have a soccer team too) •

Some history and insight into the pending funding dilemma facing Georgia, and

•

The current state and future plans for MARTA

Throw in several team trivia outings, a brewery tour, and a volunteer day at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and I’d say we’ve covered the goals of educational and engagement opportunities for our members. And all of this was accomplished without one single biting incident!

Georgia was host to the annual Southern District ITE meeting this fall at the Ritz Carlton at Reynolds Plantation. The event was hosted by two of our great leaders and past presidents, Todd Long and Keith Strickland, and was another great event for learning and engagement with industry leaders from across the Southeast, including our very own GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden. At the meeting, we found out that the Georgia Section won the Best Large Section Award for 2013, and one of our fine young members, Sean Coleman, won the Joe M. Thomas Outstanding Young Member Award for his great achievements and boundless enthusiasm (plus I hear he was a pretty mean midfielder in college too….)

GEORGIA ENGINEER

mobility and safety needs. ITE facilitates the application of technology and scientific principles to research, planning, functional design, implementation, operation, policy development, and management for any mode of ground transportation. Through its products and services, ITE promotes professional development of its members, supports and encourages education, stimulates research, develops public awareness programs, and serves as a conduit for the exchange of professional information.

Georgia ITE and Student Chapter members gear up to sort some food at the Atlanta Community Food Bank v What’s still yet to come: At the time of writing this article, we are just weeks away from our premiere technical conference event at St. Simons Island!

The anticipation is building as much as a Brazil-Argentina match in the WC finals (we’ll see how well my predictive powers are with that one….)! We expect a crowd of over 150 members and 300-plus when you include families. Details of the conference will be forthcoming in the next update letter.

We are also kicking off our section mentoring program, in which several of our members will be paired with a “seasoned” section member and go through a sixmonth program featuring group and oneon-one meetings together. The mentorship program is one of our best engagements to help sustain our organization and train up tomorrow’s leaders, as many of our past presidents have greatly benefitted from this program.

Lastly, there are still several monthly meetings to attend, a Technical Exchange Day this fall (where we will be partnering with our ITE brethren from Alabama), as well as other engagement opportunities for all to come and be a part of in the last half of 2014. If you have no organization to call home and be a part of, please come check us out. A schedule of events and opportunities can be found at our Web site at http://www.gaite.org.

The Institute of Transportation Engineers is an international educational and scientific association of transportation professionals who are responsible for meeting AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Board Position President Vice President Secretary/Treasurer Past President District Representative District Representative District Representative Affiliate Director

Member Jonathan Reid Andrew Antweiler Sean Coleman Dwayne Tedder David Low Vern Wilburn Marion Waters Meg Pirkle

E-mail reid@pbworld.com aantweiler@roswellgov.com sean.coleman@kimley-horn.com dwayne.tedder@urs.com dlow@roswellgov.com vwilburn@wilburnengineering.com marion_waters@gspnet.com mpirkle@dot.ga.gov

Phone (404) 364-5225 (678) 639-7540 (404) 419-8700 (404) 406-8791 (770) 594-6422 (678) 423-0050 (770) 754-0755 (404) 631-1025

Committee Activities Activities Annual Report Audio/Visual Awards/Nominations Career Guidance Clerk Comptroller Engineers Week Finance Georgia Engineer magazine Georgia Tech Liaison Historian Host Legislative Affairs Life Membership Marketing/Social Media Membership Monthly Meetings Newsletter Past Presidents Public Officials Education Scholarship Southern Poly Liaison Summer Seminar Technical Web site Winter Workshop

Chair(s) Kate D’Ambrosio David Low Mark Boivin Dwayne Tedder Amy Diaz Elizabeth Scales Jim Pohlman Amy Diaz Charles Bopp Dan Dobry Chris Rome Charles Bopp Meredith Emory Bill Ruhsam Don Gaines Patrick McAtee Sunita Nadella Andrew Antweiler Vern Wilburn Todd Long Scott Mohler Betsy Williams Bryan Sartin Marco Friend France Campbell Vamshi Mudumba Jonathan Wallace

E-mail kdambrosio@dot.ga.gov dlow@roswellgov.com markboivin@alltrafficdata.net dwayne.tedder@urs.com amy.diaz@jacobs.com escales@thompsonengineering.com j.pohlman@icloud.com amy.diaz@jacobs.com charles_bopp@hotmail.com ddobry@croyengineering.com crome@fg-inc.net charles_bopp@hotmail.com meredith.emory@kimley-horn.com bill@jbwr.net dgaines@gcaeng.com pmcatee@thompsonengineering.com sunita.nadella@parsons.com aantweiler@roswellgov.com vwilburn@wilburnengineering.com tlong@dot.ga.gov scott.mohler@urs.com betsy.williams@transcore.com bryan_sartin@gspnet.com marco.friend@jacobs.com france.campbell@aecom.com VamshiM@LAIengineering.com jonathan.wallace@arcadis-us.com

Phone (404) 635-2842 (770) 594-6422 (404) 374-1283 (404) 406-8791 (678) 333-0283 (404) 574-1985 (404) 790-3569 (678) 333-0283 (678) 380-9053 (770) 971-5407 (770) 368-1399 (678) 380-9053 (404) 201-6133 (404) 931-6478 (404) 355-4010 (404) 574-1985 (678) 969-2304 (678) 639-7540 (678) 423-0050 (404) 631-1021 (678) 808-8811 (770) 246-6247 (678) 518-3884 (678) 333-0408 (404) 965-9738 (770) 423-0807 (770) 431-8666

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ITS Georgia Tom Sever, P.E. ITS President

The concept of ‘Complete Streets’ is just what the name implies, a philosophy of designing and building urban and suburban surface transportation that supports all modes of transportation and promotes safety. Complete Streets is an example of an intelligent transportation system.

Here in Georgia, this concept is state policy as the Georgia Department of Transportation has formally incorporated the Complete Streets model into its practice.

The goal of the program is spelled out in its Design Policy Manual: “The concept of Complete Streets emphasizes safety, mobility, and accessibility for all modes of travel (including pedestrians, bicyclists,

ITS Georgia Mission We believe that ITS is a valuable tool for improved management of any transportation system, regardless of the inherent complexity of the system. ITS can help operate, manage, and maintain the system once it has been constructed.

We believe that ITS should be systematically incorporated into the earliest stages of project development, especially into the planning and design of transportation projects.

We believe the best way to achieve this systematic incorporation into the process is through a coordinated, comprehensive program to ‘get out the word’ on ITS to constituencies that might not otherwise consider the relevance of ITS to their transportation system. transit riders, and motorists) and individuals of all ages and abilities. The design of transportation projects for multiple modes of travel requires the balancing of the needs of each mode. This ‘balance’ must be accomplished in a context sensitive manner appropriate to the type of roadway and conditions within the project and surrounding areas.”

To promote the concept, ITS America and ITS Georgia will be sponsoring a Complete Streets Symposium October 27 —28 in Atlanta. Topics planned for the event include: • Urban Freight

Track 1 Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

Technology and Innovation new ITS Technology and Deployments Automotive V2V and V2I Initiatives TMC and Ops of the Future Telematics

Track 2

Operations and Traveler Information/Dissemination Social Media and ITS Making Sense of Data Collection and Dissemination Multimodal Ops and Travel Information TMCs and 511 Operations

Session 5 Session 6 Session 7 Session 8 44

News ITS GEORGIA CHAPTER LEADERSHIP President Tom Sever, Gwinnett DOT vice President Grant Waldrop, GDOT Secretary Jennifer Johnson, Kimley-Horn Treasurer Ashlyn Morgan, Atkins Immediate Past President

Scott Mohler, URS Directors Mark Demidovich, GDOT Eric Graves, City of Alpharetta Winter Horbal, Temple Inc. Keary Lord, Serco David Smith, DeKalb County Transportation Prasoon Sinha, ARCADIS Mike Holt, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Yancy Bachmann, World Fiber, Kenn Fink, Kimley-Horn, Kristin Turner, Wolverton Associates State Chapters Representative

Shahram Malek, Arcadis Ex Officio Greg Morris, Federal Highway Administration Andres Ramirez, FTA

Track 3 Session 9 Session 10 Session 11 Session 12

Safety and Mobility ITS Safety Studies and Results First Responders/TIM Mobility and Data across Modal Platforms Integrated Corridor Management and Cross Platform Studies

Track 4 Session 13 Session 14 Session 15 Session 16

Planning, Funding, and Measuring Funding ITS Freeway/Toll Performance Measures ITS Planning Arterial ITS/ATMS Performance Measures GEORGIA ENGINEER

• • • •

Impact of Re-Development Streetcar/Beltline Transit Safety for a Complete Street

This Symposium will draw from across the nation and is an excellent opportunity to showcase local projects and learn lessons and improvements. Check our Web site for more information, www.itsga.org.

This year, as you probably already know, ITS Georgia, ITS Florida, and Gulf Region ITS are holding a joint annual meeting in Mobile, September 14-17. At the time of the annual meeting, ITS Georgia announces award winners and newly elected officers and directors. Because everyone will be focused on regional issues at the joint ITS 3C Summit (www.its3csummit.com), ITS Georgia is holding a gathering the evening of November 6 to announce award and election winners. The gala will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia. Check www.itsga.org and your e-mail for more details.

A big part of the November 6 gathering will be recognizing outstanding ITS people, projects, and programs from around the state. Award submissions are accepted until September 1, 2014. The categories this year are: Larry R. Dreihaup Award - Recognizes an individual or an organization who has provided leadership, professionalism, and dedication in promoting ITS in the state of Georgia. The award is named in honor of

Larry R. Dreihaup, Division Administrator for the Georgia Division of Federal Highway Administration for six years and ITS champion in Georgia. Last year’s winner: R.J. Surgi, URS Corporation.

technologies and now has support of future ITS investments from decision makers who previously misunderstood and lacked knowledge of how ITS tools allow the county to do more with less.

Outstanding Public Member Agency Award – Recognizes leadership in promoting ITS and/or ITS Georgia goals. Last year’s winner: Gwinnett County.

Project of Significance Award - A project, study, or program with an impact that is quantifiable and directly related to a specific activity/action that reduces congestion, improves safety and security, and enhances mobility in Georgia. Last year’s winner: City of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.

The scope of this project included installation of a wireless mesh communication network to support the communication of the 110 traffic signals in the Atlanta downtown area to the city’s Traffic Control Center (TCC). Once the project got underway it was noticed by our team and other city staff that there were concurrent projects that were trying to establish similar types of communication infrastructure between security camera assets and the city’s Video Integration Center (VIC). Our team initiated the dialogue and brought the various players to the table to determine an overarching set of requirements that met the needs of both projects. The design was completed in less than 30 days and implemented in less than three months for APD to meet its go live date of March 31, 2013 prior to the 2013 NCAA Final Four. v

Outstanding volunteer Award - Open to all membership, including board members and committee chairs, who have gone above and beyond to support ITS Georgia.

Last year’s winner: Mike Holt, P.E., Parsons Brinkerhoff.

Outstanding Private Member Award Recognizes leadership in promoting ITS and/or ITS Georgia goals.

Innovation: Outside the box Award - Creative and unique approach or solution by an individual or group to an ITS challenge, or to an issue using ITS as a solution. Last year’s winner: Douglas County.

Douglas County Department of Transportation (DCDOT) successfully implemented a powerfully capable retrofit mini Traffic Control Center for less than $18,000 and had the system fully operational, managing an initial 20 signal system, within a three month time frame. During this process, DCDOT was capable of educating its elected officials and upper management of the benefits of ITS

Our chapter meetings are the fourth Thursday of each month January—August. Join us for networking and informative topics.

Thursday, June 26, 2014 Thursday, July 30, 2014 Thursday, August 28, 2014

Kari Watkins/John bartholdi Muhammad Rauf Shahram Malek

OnebusAway/Georiga Tech City of Roswell TCC Technologies Reviving Legacy Infrastructure

Wavetronix/Mike Kline Temple Inc. Temple Inc.

OUR 2013/2014 SPONSORS

Control Technologies Utilicom Temple Arcadis Atkins World Fiber Technologies AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

Kimley-Horn & Associates Southern Lighting & Traffic Systems Delcan Gresham Smith & Partners Grice Consulting Jacobs

Parsons Brinkerhoff Quality Traffic Systems URS Transcore

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SAME Atlanta Pamela Little, P.E. President, SAME Atlanta Post

SAME Atlanta Post swore in the 2014-15 Board of Directors on June 10, 2014 at the Dunwoody Country Club. Our new Board is as follows: We are delighted to have former active Post members continuing to serve in the roles of James Lucas Emeritus Chairs.

James Lucas Emeritus Chairs are able to participate as voting board members and these individuals include: Sy Liebmann, Jim Gilland, Jack Newhard, Roger Austin, Jack Seibert, Richard Scharf, Steve Premo, Bill Bersson (also serving as the RVP), Scotti Bozeman, and Ben Glover.

SAME Atlanta Post is proud to provide two $5,000 scholarships to deserving students this year. The scholarships are granted in honor of Sy Liebmann and Al Rowe, two long-term Post members.

With heavy hearts we mourn the recent passing of Al Rowe, but are glad that his wife Donna Rowe is able to continue to join us in honoring his memory at the scholarship presentations. The scholarships are awarded to encourage and assist qualified students who wish to pursue a college education in engineering, architecture, science, math, and related degrees so that they, in turn, might further the goals and exemplify the ideals of SAME. Our high school senior winner for 2014 is Davis Hubbard. Davis graduated from Whitewater High School in Fayetteville, Georgia, with a weighted GPA of 4.164 and plans to attend Georgia Tech in the fall.

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News Our current undergraduate/graduate student scholarship winner for 2014 is Phil McHugh, CP, CMS, GISP. Phil has been very active with the SAME Atlanta Post as the Chair of the Young Members Committee and is currently on the Board of Directors. Phil is pursuing his Master of

Science degree in Geosciences at Georgia State University.

We look forward to our upcoming golf tournament at St. Marlo Country Club on August 25 and our Shrimp Boil at Monday Night Brewery on September 23, 2014. v

President Pamela Little, PE, LEED AP

Assistant Secretary Beth Roby, RID, LEED AP ID+C

vice President Beth Harris, CPSM

Treasurer Brian Dance, PE, SE

Past President Ray Ramos, PE, RRC

Assistant Treasurer Ronnie Davis

Secretary Sherri Smith, CPSM

Regional vP Bill Bersson, PE, F.SAME

2013-2015 Directors Howard Ayers Phil McHugh, CP, CMS, GISP Steve Poole, PE Kellie Sak, PE 2014-2016 Directors Bob Marbury, PG Candice Scale Kaysie Glazer, PE Ray Willcocks, PE, F.SAME

GEORGIA ENGINEER

WTS Atlanta Angela Snyder, P.E. President, WTS Atlanta

WTS Atlanta has been very active in 2014!

In April, we co-hosted a tennis tournament with ASHE at St. Ives Country Club which was a lot of fun. The weather report threatened rain, but fortunately held off the entire time we were playing. Door prizes were awarded and a delicious dinner was served. This joint social event has quickly become a hit for both WTS and ASHE members. It is something that our membership looks forward to in the spring time every year, and our hopes are for it to continue to grow and draw more people to network, socialize, and play a little tennis too.

In May, nearly twenty Atlanta chapter members attended the WTS International Conference in Portland, Oregon. We were very proud to once again have an international scholarship winner that had been a winner at the local level and recommended by our chapter: Janille Smith-Colin, P.E., second year PhD student in Transportation Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech.

She was first awarded the Leadership Legacy Scholarship for Graduates in October 2013 at the WTS Atlanta Annual Angela Snyder Tonya Saxon Marissa Martin Kirsten Berry Jennifer Stephan Beth Ann Schwartz Helen McSwain Regan Hammond Shelley Lamar Jennifer King

News Scholarship Luncheon. This scholarship advanced her into the running at the international level with many other local chapter winners.

Because of her accomplishments and very impressive resume, she was selected for the $10,000 scholarship given by CH2M HILL. Later in May, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) hosted the chapter for a lunch and learn about the expansion of the I-20 Corridor. The event was very well attended and the presentation was very informative.

In June, WTS Atlanta hosted a breakfast to honor the four female Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) board members and the eighteen women in leadership roles within GDOT. This is an exclusive event held annually at the Hotel Melia, adjacent to the GDOT headquarters, for WTS Atlanta members and corporate partners only. This year, the chapter felt that a new format was needed, so we put together a fun, interactive game show with Marsha Anderson-Bomar as the game show host. The four female board members were the contestants: Stacey Key and Ann Purcell as Team 1; Emily Dunn and Dana Lemon as Team 2. These women were competitive, keeping it light and funny, yet maintained a professionalism that everyone in the room could admire. Commissioner Golden gave a brief update on the transportation funding dilemma that we are currently facing.

There were even two commercial breaks provided for a few individuals to share a little bit about their companies: The Foresite Group, EcoWise Civil Design and Consulting, and United Consulting.

WTS ATLANTA 2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President angela.snyder@wolverton-assoc.com Vice President – Programs tsaxon@itsmarta.com Vice President - Membership marissa.martin@wolverton-assoc.com Secretary kberry@hntb.com Treasurer jennifer.stephan@tylin.com Director-at-Large BSchwartz@mbakerintl.com Director-at-Large Helen.McSwain@atkinsglobal.com Director-at-Large Regan.Hammond@arcadis-us.com Director-at-Large Shelley.Lamar@atlanta-airport.com Immediate Past President jjking@hntb.com

AUGUST | SEPTEMbER 2014

At the end of June, WTS Atlanta sent two pairs of mentor protégés within the Transportation YOU program to the DC Youth Summit, a once-in-a-lifetime conference consisting of tours, meetings with White House administrators, challenges, and breakout sessions culminating in a reception on the last night of the program.

The two groups in attendance from the Atlanta chapter were: Heidi Schneider with Casey Manders and Marsha AndersonBomar with Talia Lockridge. Be on the lookout for an article highlighting their trip in the next issue of the Georgia Engineer Magazine.

WTS will be heading to the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) in July for a lunch and learn to discuss the exciting projects that are coming up now that the GA 400 toll has ended. Just in the last year, approximately twenty-five employees of SRTA have joined WTS Atlanta, a record high from one organization! As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we were fortunate enough to have Christopher Tomlinson, Executive Director and Board Secretary for SRTA, accept an honorary membership into WTS International. We are very excited about this new opportunity to build a relationship between WTS and SRTA. Upcoming events for the rest of the year include a social at the Atlanta Dream basketball game, a lunch and learn at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA) to discuss the new airport master plan, the annual scholarship luncheon to be held at the Georgia Aquarium on October 30th, a new member reception in November, and the annual holiday social in December. WTS is a unique organization in that it seeks to promote women in all modes of transportation covering all professions within the industry. Our events this year provide learning and networking opportunities in the modes of transit (MARTA), roads (GDOT), tolls (SRTA), and aviation (HJAIA). We encourage ALL professionals in the transportation industry to join WTS and get involved to build networks and gain a greater understanding of the industry and the impact that it has on society. v 47