The Georgia Engineer (Aug-Sept) 2011 by Daniel Simmons

the

NATURAL RESOURCES & THE ENVIRONMENT

GeorgiaEngineer Volume 18, Issue 4

August | September 2011

RCC FOR DAM SAFETY… 30 YEARS OF INNOVATIONS See story on page 12

the

GeorgiaEngineer Publisher: A4 Inc. 1154 Lower Birmingham Road Canton, Georgia 30115 Tel.: 770-521-8877 • Fax: 770-521-0406 E-mail: GeorgiaEngineer@a4inc.com Managing Editor: Roland Petersen-Frey Art Direction/Design: Pamela Petersen-Frey Georgia Engineering Alliance 233 Peachtree Street • Harris Tower, #700 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Tel.: 404.521.2324 • Fax: 404.521.0283 Georgia Engineering Alliance Gwen Brandon, CAE, Executive Director Thomas C. Leslie, PE, Director of External Affairs Carolyn M. Jones, Outreach Services Manager Georgia Engineering Alliance Editorial Board Jeff Dingle, PE, Chairman GSPE Representatives Sam L. Fleming, PE Tim Glover, PE Jimmy St. John, PE ACEC/G Representatives Robin Overstreet Carley Humphreys ASCE/G Representatives Daniel Agramonte, PE Rebecca Shelton, PE GMCEA Representative Birdel F. Jackson, III, PE ITE Representatives Daniel B. Dobry Jr., PE, PTOE John Karnowski ITS/G Representatives Bill Wells Shaun Green, PE WTS Representative Angela Snyder ASHE Representative Ed Culican, PE SEAOG Representative Kurt Swensson, PE

The Georgia Engineer is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc. for the Georgia Engineering Alliance and sent to members of ACEC, ASCE, ASHE, GMCEA, GEF, GSPE, ITE, 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.

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

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Inside Back Cover S&ME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Southern Civil Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Southern Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Stantec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Stevenson & Palmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 T. Wayne Owens & Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Terrell Hundley Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Wilburn Engineering LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Willmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Wolverton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

Railroads and Atlanta’s Viaducts

RCC for Dam Safety…30 Years of Innovations

Chilean Mining Disaster Changed Lives, Including a NASA Engineer’s

An Old Church with New Ideas

Water Supply Reservoirs Meeting the Permitting & Implementation Challenges

The Future of Power

Westside Reservoir Park ~ Atlanta’s Next Great Green Frontier

The Final Launch

What’s in the News

Where the Heck Have I Been?

2011 MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament

2011 Summer Conference

RCC for Dam Safety In 1980, the era of using roller compacted concrete (RCC) began for water control structures with the construction of the 120-foot tall Willow Creek gravity dam in Oregon. A small group of dedicated engineers pioneered this new method of placing large quantities of mass concrete in a short time frame using typical earth moving equipment. Fast forward more than three decades. With hundreds of new dams and spillway upgrades completed using RCC, design professionals have gained invaluable knowledge in designing and constructing the latest generation of RCC projects. See story on page 12.

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Railroads and Atlanta’s Viaducts By Thomas C. Leslie | Director of External Affairs | Georgia Engineering Alliance

The existence of Atlanta is a direct result of decisions by railroad companies and the State of Georgia. It is not due to natural features such as a harbor or navigable river; it is due to human endeavor. Railroads were under construction in the 1840s from Augusta and Savannah to the interior wilderness of a land recently taken from Creek and Cherokee Indians. Business and political leaders reached an agreement that these two lines would meet at a point, designated by the State, southeast of the Chattahoochee River where a state-owned rail line would begin a route to the banks of the Tennessee River. The point where these three rail lines joined became Atlanta and the point on the Tennessee River became Chattanooga. The line from Augusta reached the terminus point in 1845 and the Savannah line arrived in 1846. By 1850, the state line to Chattanooga was in service. The initial survey for the state line (the Western and Atlantic Railroad) was completed in 1837, and the terminus point was near the current location of Hall A of the Georgia World Congress Center. In 1842 the ‘final’ terminus was set at a point near what is now the western end of the historic Georgia Freight Depot, the oldest structure in downtown Atlanta. A granite marker was set (much later) to mark the Zero Mile Post of the W. & A. R.R. This

Photo Credit: Edgar Orr

marker memorializes the ‘stake in the ground’ around which Atlanta has grown. 6

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

of railroads, which continued for decades. The automobile age began shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century, and Atlanta embraced this new mode of transportation with gusto—a love affair that continues today. The increase in automobiles in Atlanta, especially after World War I, pushed traffic problems to the top of the priority list. In 1917, incoming Chamber of Commerce President Ivan Allen (father of Atlanta’s 1960s Mayor Ivan Allen) declared, “It is evident that something must be done with the traffic problems in Atlanta.” Three years later, a chamber report concluded, “traffic in Atlanta (has) become well-nigh unbearable. The breaking point is at hand.” By 1925 Preston Arkwright, President of Georgia Power Co. (and also the street railway company) declared, “TRAFFIC IS ATLANTA’S GREATEST PROBLEM.” Narrow, pre-au-

After a distinguished career as an elected official, former Governor Wilson Lumpkin was serving as the disbursing agent for the W. & A. R.R, when the final terminus was set for the converging railroads. He wrote a letter to his daughter on October 25, 1853, describing this location at the time of the selection: “ . . . (it) was in a perfect state of nature—a wild unmolested forest, not a fence or cabin to be seen anywhere in sight of the location…“ Wilson Lumpkin was well qualified to play a major role in railroad development in the state. He was serving on the state Board of Public Works in 1826 when he and Hamilton Fulton, the State Engineer, set out on horseback to determine the best routes for a “systematic plan of internal improvements” in North Georgia. The elected leadership seemed to have envisioned a network of canals linking the Tennessee and Chattahoochee rivers, which would ultimately carry goods from the interior (west of the Appalachian Mountain range) to coastal ports. Lumpkin and Fulton concluded that such a plan was simply not feasible, but the same basic objective was 8

achieved several decades later by the development of the state’s railroads. The state had taken land from the Creek and Cherokee Indians through a series of treaties (some with suspect validity). This land was given to European settlers by eight land lotteries held between 1803 and 1833. The fourth such lottery, which included most of metro Atlanta southeast of the Chattahoochee River, occurred from November 7 to December 12, 1821. (Gwinnett County was in the 1820 lottery, but it was not until the sixth lottery in 1832 that land northwest of the Chattahoochee River was given to settlers). The 1821 land lottery involved a drawing for grants of a ‘land lot’ of 202-1/2 acres. Eligibility for drawing principally rested on being a European with three years of residency in Georgia. A bachelor of at least 18 years of age got one draw, while a man with a wife, or with a son under 18, or an unmarried daughter got two draws. Others eligible for the land lottery drawing included orphans, war veterans, and widows and children of war casualties. Although the ownership of land in what

is now downtown Atlanta was distributed to Europeans by the end of 1821, the first permanent European settlers to live on the land here were Sarah and Hardy Ivy, who built a log cabin in 1833 about two blocks west of where Freedom Parkway intersects with Interstate 75/85—about half-mile from the Zero Mile marker. As reference, the Georgia General Assembly incorporated Lawrenceville in 1821 (the area was in the 1820 land lottery), Decatur was incorporated in 1823 (part of the 1821 land lottery), and Marietta was incorporated in 1834 (part of the 1832 land lottery). It was not until 1847 that Atlanta was incorporated. It is hard to imagine that Atlanta has grown from a “wild, unmolested forest” to the center of a metro area with a population of over five million people in the past 170 years. The first years of Atlanta corresponded to the initial boom in railroad construction throughout America. There was clearly a setback during the first half of the 1860s, but after the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction, the entire country entered the golden era THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

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tomobile streets with odd intersections (like Five Points) in downtown Atlanta were surely part of the problem. Most observers also concluded that there was a fundamental conflict between scores of trains moving through the very heart of Atlanta and citizens in their cars trying to navigate at-grade rail crossings. The solution centered on the construction of viaducts over the railroad tracks. At first individual bridges were built; then a system of viaducts was proposed which, in short, raised the street elevation of downtown over the rails by up to 40 feet. The portion of the work constructed in the 1920s “proved to be the largest public works project that the city had ever undertaken.” The Western & Atlantic Railroad ran parallel to, and just south of, Marietta/Decatur Streets through what is now downtown to within two blocks of the State Capitol, where it merged into the Georgia Railroad and continued to Decatur and on to Augusta. In 1853, the railroad lines were bridged by a wooden structure on Broad Street, which was the only elevated crossing for more than four decades. As more and more trains rumbled through downtown Atlanta, street traffic was halted more frequently and for longer periods. The Broad Street bridge was rehabilitated, expanded, or rebuilt time and time again (1855, 1858,

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1865, 1895, 1931, and most recently in the 1970s when the Five Points MARTA Station was constructed directly over the rail lines at the Broad Street crossing). It was not until 1893 that a second bridge was opened across the rail lines to carry Forsyth Street. Then came the Peachtree Street viaduct in 1901, the Peters Street viaduct in 1904 (connecting West End to downtown across the rail line from Macon), and the Washington Street viaduct in 1906. Washington Street runs along the western side of the State Capitol Square. The Spring Street viaduct, completed in 1923, is by far the longest of any of those constructed by that date. It spanned three full blocks (1,900 feet) over the railroad yards from Marietta Street to Mitchell Street. According to Franklin Garrett, writing in Atlanta and environs, “Immediately there sprang a building boom on Spring, Marietta, Luckie, and other contiguous streets.” A comprehensive program was proposed in 1926 to construct several new viaducts and rehabilitate several more existing bridges. It is this program that created what is now Underground Atlanta. Initial construction involved lowering the original rail lines five to six feet from east of Piedmont Avenue to west of Forsyth Street— about six blocks. By 1929, new viaducts were completed to carry Central Avenue and Pryor, Wall, and Alabama Streets. A new, elevated Plaza Park was built over the tracks between Prior and Peachtree Streets (now a parking lot). In addition, a new viaduct was built to carry Martin Luther King Jr. Drive over the rail line from Macon to help connect downtown to the west side, and the Mitchell Street viaduct (originally built in 1899) was rebuilt across the same tracks. The work was completed and opened for service in March 1929, just six months before Black Tuesday, October 29th, which marked the beginning of the Great Depression. This program of work, including “preliminary work” (presumably, including design), construction, and “property adjustments” was funded as follows: Atlanta bonds $1,000,000 Georgia Power 400,000 Fulton County 386,068 Georgia Railroad 230,600 10

N.C. & St. Louis Rwy. Bond sale premium

167,075 41,624 $2,325,367

At the time, Georgia Power owned the electric street railways, and the viaducts provided for new routes across the highly congested areas around the original railroads. The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway was a successor company to the original line from Macon, which was constructed by the Monroe Banking and Railroad Company. The executive secretary for Mayor I. N. Ragsdale lists in the May 19, 1929, edition of “The City Builder” magazine the benefits that are derived from the recently completed viaduct construction program: 1. Relieves downtown traffic congestion 2. Abolishes two railroad grade crossings (at Central Avenue and Pryor Street, for many years the busiest in the city) 3. Permits trains to proceed into and out of Union Station without halting and without uncoupling 4. Banishes hazard to motorists and pedestrian which were formerly present at the grade crossing 5. Does away with railroad and public delay 6. Remakes (a) large area into (a) more attractive district 7. Enhances property usefulness and property values 8. Completes the linking of north and south side 9. Provides improved approach to Fulton County court house and new city hall 10. Opens new street car routes through city Although the Broad Street Bridge over the rail lines was the only elevated crossing for 40 years (1853 to 1893), nine additional crossings were constructed during the next 36 years (1893 to 1929). Freight trains continue to pass through Atlanta on the same rail lines built by the state and two private companies, which began operation in Atlanta by the 1850s. Even today, the viaducts continue to allow the current railways unimpeded access through downtown, as was their original purpose. The ‘front door’ of the Georgia World

Congress Center is on an elevated extension of Andrew Young International Blvd. high over the rail lines, as is the extension of Centennial Olympic Park Drive from the park, along the front of the Omni Complex, before it lands again on Mitchell Street. The rail lines go under and around much of the Georgia World Congress Center as they seek their way to Chattanooga and points much farther north. Building over the railroad yards does not appear to be completed. The Georgia DOT has selected a team to design and build a multi-modal passenger terminal (MMPT) in the railroad ‘gulch’ which is the same vicinity traversed by the first rail lines set in the wilderness in the early 1840s. This time around, the plan is to create Atlanta’s home for access to intercity rail passenger service, as well as rail rapid transit and bus connections. Above and around these transportation facilities will be dense multi-purpose developments that knit into the fabric of the downtown area. The 1920s’ viaduct construction program had much the same effect as anticipated by current plans for the MMPT. Many of the ten benefits listed above in Mayor Ragsdale’s executive sSecretary’s 1929 article are not far off the mark of current aspirations for the MMPT. Capital investments in transportation and associated facilities pay long-term benefits for the public. Trains, viaducts, and an MMPT shape our community, create economic vitality and efficiency, and have enormously long economic value and streams of benefits. They are game-changers and we should embrace them. Article sources: Atlanta and Environs, Franklin Garrett, Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc. New York, 1954 Automobile Age Atlanta, The Making of a Southern Metropolis, 1900 – 1935, Howard L. Preston, University of Georgia Press, 1979 Construction Photographs courtesy of Frank D. Nichols  THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

RCC for Dam Safety…30 Years of Innovations In 1980, the era of using roller compacted concrete (RCC) began for water control structures with the construction of the 120-foot tall Willow Creek gravity dam in Oregon. A small group of dedicated engineers pioneered this new method of placing large quantities of mass concrete in a short time frame using typical earth moving equipment. Fast forward more than three decades. With hundreds of new dams and spillway upgrades completed using RCC, design professionals have gained invaluable knowledge in designing and constructing the latest generation of RCC projects. Evolution of RCC Two main factors differentiate RCC from conventional concrete. The first factor is the actual proportions of the concrete mixture. The early RCC dam designs were generally based on a lean concrete mixture. The reduction in cementitious material was intended to lower costs and to minimize heat gain during the cement hydration process. The reduction in heat gain reduced the potential for transverse cracking, which can result in uncontrolled seepage or transmission of water from the reservoir. While these types of mixtures still have a place in RCC construction, the more common approach utilized today consists of a medium to high paste mix to minimize cold joints along the lift lines. Mix designs that incorporate the replacement of up to 70 percent of the total cementitious materials with fly ash and the use of retardants to keep a lift ‘live’ until the sequent lift can be placed and compacted are being increasingly used to reduce cold joints along lift lines. The second differentiation factor is the method of concrete placement. During the development of RCC, one goal was to achieve high placement rates to reduce project costs. The use of high volume conveyor systems and dump trucks to transport the RCC from the mixing plant to the placement area have resulted in very large placement rates. It is not uncommon for larger projects to achieve daily placement rates in excess of 10,000 cubic yards and monthly rates of over 100,000 cubic yards. Achieving high placement rates is not only a function of the RCC delivery system, but also a design that minimizes obstacles that impede placement and compaction. Any penetration through the dam, such as pipelines, adits, and gal12

By Randall P. Bass, P.E. | Schnabel Dam Engineering THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

Photographs produced by Georgia Aerial Surveys AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

leries, should be carefully planned such that the number of lifts impacted by the penetration is minimized. Application of lift joint treatments is a

major impact on production rates. Projects that are located in moderate to high seismic areas require the horizontal lift joints, which are generally located every 12 inches, to have

strength equal to the strength of the parent material. If a cold joint develops due to a delay in the placement of a sequent lift, the treatment of the lift joint typically consists of pressure washing (green cutting) the lift surface and placement of a thin layer of bedding mortar or grout just ahead of the next lift placement. On large dams, the surface areas can be quite large and treatment of the lift surface commonly becomes a critical path element for the placement of RCC. Cold joints can be minimized through the use of a richer mix that is also set-retarded to lengthen the period of time from placement to initial set. Designers often confer with experienced RCC contractors during the design process to find a balance between design requirements and high production RCC placement capabilities. Georgia Experiences Georgia has been aggressive in building new water supply reservoirs and has an active Safe Dams Program. RCC has been a key component to the rapid and safe construction of 14 dam projects in Georgia. The largest project, Hickory Log Creek Dam, was completed in 2008, and the impounded reservoir has reached full pool at 411 acres. The dam was constructed utilizing 213,000 cubic yards of RCC that was placed in five months. More recently, RCC was utilized to construct the replacement dam for an existing earthen embankment structure located on the Dobbin Air Reserve Base in Cobb County. The construction of the replacement dam utilized approximately 6,000 cubic yards of RCC. A more frequent use of RCC in dam rehabilitation consists of providing additional spillway capacity for extreme storm events. This additional capacity is provided by armoring the dam with RCC such that the

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

and failed, which would have led to the uncontrolled release of the reservoirs. An uncontrolled release of the reservoir would have made a bad situation even worse by increasing downstream flooding.

dam itself serves as an emergency spillway. Six dams in Georgia have RCC overtopping protection. Gwinnett County has five structures that are armored with RCC. Gwinnett County has been very pro-active in upgrading the flood control dams that were designed and constructed by the Soil Conservation Service (now known as the Natural Resources Conservation ServiceNRCS) in the 1970s. These upgrades were put to the test during the September 2009 floods in North Georgia.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

In September 2009, significant flooding occurred over portions of the Yellow River watershed in Gwinnett County. Four of the watershed dams with RCC overtopping spillways were activated. Three of the RCC overlays were covered with soil and grassed due to aesthetic requirements. While the soil veneer was stripped away in places, the RCC performed as designed. Post flood studies found that if the original earthen spillways had not been replaced with RCC, the spillways would have likely eroded

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Limit Very few large dams are being built in the United States in large part due to current environmental laws and regulations. However, many other countries are experiencing a rapid development of new dams for water supply and hydropower. China and other southeast Asian countries are building very large RCC gravity and arch dams. RCC volumes for these projects are measured in the millions of cubic yards. Dams approaching 700 feet in height are not uncommon and are being built in half the time that would be required for a conventional concrete dam. With now more than 30 years of performance and monitoring data, design and construction methods have evolved from the lessons learned from the RCC pioneers. Today, we can say there are very few limitations on when and how RCC can be used. ď&#x20AC;&#x20AC;

Chilean Mining Disaster Changed Lives, Including a NASA Engineer’s

By Jim Hodges | Staff Writer | Strategic Relationships Office | NASA’s Langley Research Center | Hampton, Virginia

hen Clint Cragg arrived in Chile during August 2010 with two NASA doctors, Michael Duncan and James Polk, and a psychologist, Al Holland, from Johnson Space Center, 33 copper miners had been buried 700 meters deep for 22 days. “The miners themselves, for the first 17 days, were unsure if they would get out,” said Cragg, a principal engineer with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, who was included with the team because of his background as a naval submariner. The miners were buried for 17 days until they were discovered as being safe underground. “When I got there, there was no question that they were going to get out,” Cragg added. The question was how. The answer has changed the last year of Cragg's life, exposed him to the international media and sent him to the White House. In January 2011, it had him in front of a NASA Langley audience where he spoke about his rescue experience. His introduction, by NESC head Ralph Roe, included this from Cragg’s resume: “He was just included on Time Magazine’s list of ‘2010’s top nerds.’” “And,” came Cragg’s rejoinder to a roomful of laughter, “Ralph didn't tell you that I was the only person on that list who isn’t a billionaire.” Chile’s requirements for the escape vehicle for the miners were simply dimensional: 62 centimeters of diameter, 2.5 meters of length and unlimited weight. Asked for input, Cragg assembled a group of NASA consultants and came up with a more complete list of suggestions for the vehicle. “That’s it,” said Cragg. “Nothing else. “There was no consideration for medical issues. No consideration for talking to the guys during a one-to-four-hour period (in which they would be hauled to the surface). 16

NASA Engineering and Safety Center Principal Engineer Clint Cragg (right) consults with Rene Aguilar, deputy chief of rescue operations for the Chilean mine disaster. Credit: Cecilia Penafiel, U.S. Embassy in Chile “After talking with them, we said we can help you with this. NASA does design requirements all the time. They kind of nodded their heads and said ‘OK.’ They also said, ‘we’re going to make design decisions within a week.’” In that week, Cragg returned to the U.S., and over Labor Day weekend sent emails to assemble NASA experts from throughout the agency. “We essentially had three days,” he said. “That team did a great job for us, and unfortunately I got most of the credit. It was really their hard work that put this together.” Suggestions included that the vehicle be accessible by a single miner without help, with an understanding that No. 33 should be brought to the surface, too, after all of the others had made it; that it should be equipped to bring up the injured; and that it be equipped to deal with the miners preexisting medical conditions. “We also talked about friction, and that we ought to account for it,” Cragg said. Suggestions included spring-loaded rollers, and that the sides of the vehicle be without protrusions that might hang up in the shaft. Audio and video recommendations for communication with the miner as he was brought up were made, as was a harness to strap him in.

“They told us that they accepted most of our recommendations, which I thought was pretty good,” said Cragg, a soft-spoken, understated sort who has had to learn to become accustomed to the limelight. “As we all saw on TV, it was a successful, almost flawless operation,” he said. Shortly thereafter, the media onslaught began, and it remains mostly abated. “I think, over time, I learned some things about dealing with the press,” he said. “I think it became better. I got so I didn't mind talking to Canadian TV through SKYPE on my desk.” He laughed at the way some of the new technology of social media is being employed by more traditional media. SKYPE—which uses a camera in computing through a computer—has been a fixture at the Cragg household for some time, used so his children and wife can talk with her relatives in Switzerland. To some extent, the mine incident became personal, because he met with the Chilean representatives on their turf and also with the miners’ families, who were skeptical at first and then warmed to the NASA representatives after speaking with them. “I think the Chileans really did it right,” he said. “They were talking with them and explaining things to them as they went on.” He has moved on to a large extent, helping fellow NESC engineers on testing the resiliency of cylinders used to build rockets. “There has always been a fear that they could be crushed like a Coke can,” Cragg said, “so they made them very strong, from the 1930s into the 1960s. Some of that data, we don't know where it came from.” The point is that the rockets could have been built too strong and, therefore, too heavy in a business in which weight is critical. But Cragg is willing to take time away from that project to talk about an earlier one that became an international news story because it ended well. It’s a story that’s still being told.  THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

An Old Church with New Ideas

By Mike Sizemore, AIA, Sizemore Group, and Jimmy St. John, PE

ow does a nineteenth century church listed on the National Register of Historic Places manage to go green in the twenty-first century? Ask Central Presbyterian Church. Central was founded in 1858, and the current sanctuary was constructed in the 1880s. Central is an urban church, located in Atlanta directly across the street from the Georgia Capitol. As Presbyterians, Central members do things in ‘good order,’ take stewardship very seriously, and take a long-term planning perspective. Church members are open to ideas that make good financial sense while preserving a tradition of service to the community and maintaining the architectural integrity of an historic house of worship in downtown Atlanta. Because of activities throughout the week, utilities are a major item in the budget. The Central Outreach and Advocacy Center operates five days a week to provide emergency services, MARTA cards, state identification cards, computer and job readiness training, and referrals to other agencies. Central hosts a night shelter in its gymnasium during the winter months, November through March, which provides up to 65 homeless men with a meal, a shower, and a place to sleep. In the summer months, the gymnasium accommodates visiting youth groups every week from June to September. The Child Development Center offers preschool child care to 70 children five days a week on a year-round basis. And there are the usual church activities associated with Sunday services, weekday office hours for the

Solar Panels for Hot Water AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

Central Presbyterian Church, directly across Washington Street from the Georgia State Capitol staff, and gatherings for a variety of occasions and groups. A substantial amount of hot water is needed to operate the night shelter kitchen, laundry facility (for washing towels), showers, and the main kitchen that provides daily meals for the Child Development Center, Sunday lunch for the congregation, and other meals as required. To reduce energy usage for heating water, Central recently installed two sets of roof-mounted evacuated tube collectors to provide solar hot water heating. The near-vertical evacuated tubes absorb heat from the sun. Water located in copper piping inside the evacuated tubes is vaporized. The vapor rises to a header that transfers heat to the water supply passing over it. Condensate from the header falls back into the copper piping and is reheated. Existing gas and electric heaters were left in place to augment the solar heaters although their use appears to be minimal. To reduce electric usage for lighting, all 34-watt T-12 fluorescent tubes have been replaced with 28-watt T-8 tubes. Ballasts were replaced with low-power electronic ballasts that restrict power to the lamps. There was no need to replace fixtures. The overall result is improved lighting and a 40 percent energy

saving. The total connected load of these fluorescent fixtures had been 39 kilowatts. It is now 23 kilowatts. Currently under consideration are plans to replace or modify some other lighting fixtures in order to achieve better optical design and to take advantage of improved lamps. Because of concerns about the remaining life of a 150-ton chiller with a reciprocating compressor (the chiller was second-hand when it was installed in 1989), Central began considering a replacement. Eventually, the entire heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system was evaluated. As a result, (1) fan coil units that supply conditioned air to individual rooms were repaired or replaced, (2) air handling units that supply conditioned air to larger areas were repaired or replaced, (3) air ducts were cleaned, (4) constant-speed drives for many of the fans and pumps were replaced with variable-speed drives in order to substantially reduce power consumption at reduced heating and cooling loads, (4) the old chiller was replaced with a new chiller with a variable-speed centrifugal compressor that provides substantial power savings at reduced cooling load, and (5) the entire HVAC system was optimized with a new computerized building management control system that can be manipulated locally or via Web site from remote locations. Taking a proactive approach with the HVAC system versus limping along with the old equipment until action is dictated by some emergency is forecast to yield an internal rate of return of around 12 percent per year. Church members who are professional engineers and architects volunteered their services to plan and oversee these projects. The only noticeable signs of change in the appearance of this old historic church are the solar heating units mounted on the rooftop. Central members are hopeful that the sight of these energy-saving units, in full view of the State Capitol, will encourage others to be good stewards of God’s creation.  17

Water Supply Reservoirs Meeting the Permitting & Implementation Challenges By Doug Baughman, Senior Environmental Scientist, CH2M HILL | Brian Skeens, Senior Water Resources Engineer, CH2M HILL | Rick Brownlow, Senior Consultant, CH2M HILL

Photo credit: Georgia Environmental Finance Authority 18

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

evelopment of water supply reservoirs is not for the faint of heart. While the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 122 on public-private partnerships for water infrastructure development received a lot of attention during the 2011 legislative session, it is only one more tool that local governments can use to help address their future water supply needs. Clearly, the potential for collaboration with private investors will help address the lack of local government and utility funding for water supply projects in the near term, but the ultimate responsibility for funding these projects rests with the local community. Moreover, most private investors will require that the project be fully entitled and permitted prior to their participation, leaving all the water supply planning requirements with the utilities and local governments. As the investors and utilities begin working together on potential new reservoir projects, the importance of an integrated water supply planning and implementation strategy becomes clearer and clearer. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) permitting processes are closely linked and both require a detailed alternatives analysis and firm justification for AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

the construction of new reservoirs. Recently, the development of the Regional Water Plans has provided another linkage between regional and local water planning efforts that must be addressed during the permitting and planning process. Furthermore, the economic slowdown has impacted local government funding availability and, to some extent, decreased the growth in water supply demands that had been experienced over the last decade. As a result, a thoughtful and robust analysis of water supply needs and opportunities must be completed before local governments and utilities embark on the arduous process of permitting and building a new water supply reservoir. The Process Remains the Same (with a few new twists) In the last ten years, several new reservoirs have been built across north Georgia, including the Cedar Creek Reservoir in Hall County, the Hickory Log Creek project in Cherokee County, and the Tussahaw Creek project in Henry County. In each case, the local sponsors followed essentially the same process for development and permitting of the projects to meet both state and federal requirements. This process, which was discussed in detail in the GA Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) North Geor-

gia Regional Water Supply Needs Assessment (CH2M HILL, 2003), includes a water supply needs assessment, alternatives analysis, studies for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Georgia Environmental Policy Act (GEPA) Endangered Species Act, and National Historic Preservation Act, engineering design, construction, and public involvement activities. Although Figure 1 may suggest this is a linear process, anyone who has been involved knows that the reservoir permitting process is bound to take many twists and turns along the way. In the last couple of years, additional focus has been placed on the water supply needs analysis, water supply watershed protection requirements, and project funding approaches.

Typical Water Supply Reservoir Permitting Process Integration with Water Supply Planning —A Key to Success The focus of reservoir permitting has typically been on the Federal requirements for Section 404 (of the Clean Water Act [CWA]) permits and specifically the Section 404 (b)(1) alternatives analysis. This analysis requires an applicant to evaluate other practicable alternatives to meet the project purpose 19

and need (water supply in this case) that would not result in impacts to wetlands or waters of the U.S. In addition, the applicant has to provide a thorough and justifiable demonstration of the ‘need’ for the project. This is where the linkage to the water supply needs analysis becomes important. Historically, the demonstration of need for a water supply project was based on the applicant’s evaluation of future water demands. Local governments or utilities would develop estimates of future population growth and per capita water use to determine the expected water demands. Often, these estimates of future demands were based on independently prepared population projections and per capita use rates that varied widely depending on the applicant. In some cases, the evaluation of conservation or demand management practices was not included in this water supply needs assessment process and it was certainly not considered as an ‘alternative’ to the development of a new water supply project.

for utilities and, hopefully, expedite the approval process for both the Section 404 permit and the eventual water withdrawal permit from GAEPD. Conservation and demand management planning are also becoming more important in the process for water demand evaluations. In 2010, GAEPD published Georgia’s Water Conservation Implementation Plan (WCIP)(http://www.georgiawaterplanning.org/pages/technical_guidance/water_co nservation_implementation_plan.php) to guide Georgia water systems, individuals, farmers, and business owners in the implementation of water efficiency and conservation measures. The WCIP includes specific goals and benchmarks for each of the seven major water use sectors: agricultural irrigation, electric generation, golf courses, industrial and commercial, landscapes, domestic and non-industrial public uses, and state agencies. For each sector, best practices are listed which should be considered in meeting the goals and benchmarks. Future applicants for water supply projects should assume that they will be required to demonstrate compliance with WCIP recommendations to obtain approval of their water supply

needs assessments from GAEPD. Since applicants are likely to be water systems, the domestic section of the WCIP will be the most applicable, and includes five goals that will need to be addressed. The first goal is to implement an education and outreach program. This can be successfully implemented with the help of regional or state resources applied to the local service area. The second goal is to maximize the efficiency of water systems. This goal refers to reducing water loss and now matches up very well with the Georgia Water Stewardship Act (WSA) of 2009. The WSA requires all water systems to complete a water audit of their distribution system and develop a loss control program. The third goal is to implement conservation-oriented rates. Many progressive utilities have already done this, recognizing the potential benefits to their financial stability and increases in customer efficiency. The fourth goal is to maximize indoor water efficiency. This is a category that has been and continues to be thoroughly researched, and many resources and examples exist of how to achieve indoor water efficiency. The fifth goal is to maximize outdoor water efficiency. This can most effectively be accom-

plished by targeting landscape irrigation, but also applies to other outdoor uses, such as pools, pressure washing, and non-commercial car washing. Overall, the WCIP is a great resource to help guide applicants in developing or improving their water conservation and efficiency programs.

reservoir proponents across Georgia. In the guidance, EPA indicates that the overall objective is to “ensure that alternatives that support sustainable water resource management and minimize environmental im-

pacts through water efficiency and water conservation practices are employed to the maximum extent practicable…” Applicants for new water supply reservoirs will have to demonstrate they have taken specific actions,

EPA Water Efficiency and Alternatives Analysis Guidance-Adds New Requirements Although USACE is the lead agency for implementation of the Section 404 permitting process for new reservoirs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a critical review role in the permitting process; the agency essentially has the option to overrule the USACE issuance of a permit (through Section 404 c of the CWA) (http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/ dredgdis/404c_index.cfm). This “veto authority” on Section 404 permits has recently been used on some high-profile projects, including the Spruce Mine (mountaintop coal mining) operation in West Virginia. EPA has used this authority only 13 times, twice on reservoir projects: the Lake Alma project in Bacon County, Georgia and the Ware Creek Impoundment in Virginia, both in 1988. So when Region IV EPA issued a new guidance document in 2010 on Water Efficiency Measures for Water Supply Projects in the Southeast, it got the attention of water utilities and

Regional Water Plans Now Provide the Basis for Water Supply Needs Assessments With the development of the ten new regional water plans (http://www.georgiawaterplanning.com/), statewide county-level population projections and per capita water use estimates are now available for water managers and utilities to use in developing water supply needs assessments. Local utilities should assume that for future reservoir planning, these population estimates, per capita use rates, and resulting water demands will need to be used in the permitting process to justify the ‘need’ for new storage projects, and any deviation from these estimates will need to have strong justification. Utilizing this information should make the water supply ‘need’ justification more straightforward 20

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

to the maximum extent practicable, to implement sustainable water resource management practices. These practices include: Effective management This practice is focused on development and implementation of an “Integrated Resource Management Approach,” including collaboration between water, wastewater, and stormwater management programs. Pricing for efficiency Pricing that encourages water conservation, such as increasing block rates, should be considered. Efficient water use This practice includes many of the water efficiency measures recommended in the WCIP, including leak detection programs, metering, water-efficient technologies for new development, rainwater harvesting, retrofits for older buildings, and landscaping to reduce water use. Watershed approaches Watershed-based strategies would look at ways to improve water quality and enhance water supplies on a watershed basis. These include groundwater recharge, wetlands /floodplain restoration, reuse, gray water use, and water supply protection measures. Region IV EPA plans to implement these new guidelines as part of its review of environmental assessments, environmental impact statements, and Section 404 permits. Applicants should plan on providing documentation (a water efficiency evaluation checklist was provided with the guidance) on how these measures have been included in their water supply needs assessment or how they will be implemented in the future to support the overall goal of sustainable water management. Although this is only a ‘guidance’ document, applicants need to be prepared to document how these water efficiency measures have been incorporated into their overall water resource management strategy for their service area. Watershed Protection Requirements Now Include Options for Local Governments Another requirement that has been a hurdle for many communities in permitting new 22

water supply reservoirs and associated surface water withdrawals was the state requirement for water supply watershed protection. The Georgia Planning Act Minimum Standards of 1983 (Official Code of Georgia Annotated [O.C.G.A.] 12-2-8) provided local governments with specific criteria designed to protect water supply watersheds. According to the Criteria for Water Supply Watersheds (361-3-16-.07) and the Criteria for River Corridor Projection (391-3-16-.0), local governments were required to maintain a 100-ft undisturbed riparian buffer in all small water supply watersheds within a seven-mile radius of a water intake. In addition, the law required a 150-ft impervious surface setback (100-ft undisturbed riparian buffer plus the 50-ft setback) where development activities and septic systems are prohibited. In water supply watersheds with an area less than 100 square miles, the local governments were also required to protect tributaries outside the seven-mile radius with a 75-ft impervious surface setback (50-ft riparian buffer and 25-ft setback). Local governments were required to have water supply protection ordinances in place before receiving approval from GAEPD for a surface water withdrawal from these sources (including reservoirs). These requirements were developed more than 20 years ago and have been challenged by many local governments as being too restrictive and limiting potential new development within their jurisdictions. In 2006, a legislative debate regarding property

rights and buffer requirements led GAEPD to re-evaluate these water supply watershed protection requirements. As a result, in 2007 GADNR amended the environmental planning criteria (391-3-16) to allow more flexibility to local governments in developing water supply protection strategies. Now local governments may adopt alternative minimum criteria for stream buffer requirements. A water supply protection ordinance is still required, but there are now four options related to stream buffers that include more restrictive stormwater management practices with smaller stream buffer setbacks. The concept was that the smaller (narrower) the buffer, the more measures the local governments would have to require developers to implement for stormwater management to provide an equivalent level of water quality protection. The costs for implementation of these requirements will fall on local governments (those entities responsible for land use planning and site disturbance permitting). These new options for water supply protection provide local governments with some added flexibility. However, the requirements inherent in these options are another set of elements in the integrated approach to water resource management that must be addressed when considering development of new water supplies. Funding Strategies The requirements for planning, permitting, design, and construction of new reservoirs can vary greatly depending on the size of the THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

project. Governor Purdue’s Water Contingency Task Force put the range of costs at $46 million per million gallon per day (mgd) for expansion of existing reservoirs and $819 million per mgd for new reservoir construction ($5-11 million excluding pump and pipe infrastructure connecting? to distribution systems). While the total capital costs vary greatly depending on the size of the project, it is not unexpected for the costs of a reservoir and associated infrastructure to reach into the hundreds of millions. When the costs for annual operations are included (such as pumping power costs, O&M costs, and reservoir maintenance) the costs can easily exceed $0.5 billion for a 40to 50-mgd project (Water Contingency Task Force, 2009). Under certain conditions, significant economies of scale, regulatory advantages, and other factors may provide incentives for water purveyors to join together to develop new water supplies. This can lead to consideration of issues relating to governance, timing of additional water supply needs of the participants, and cost sharing that need to be addressed, preferably throughout the reservoir development process. Traditionally, the funding for water supply reservoirs has come from a combination of sources, including federal or state grants, subsidized low-interest loans, water system revenues, general tax revenues, SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funds, impact/tap fees, and tax-exempt general obligation (GO) or revenue AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

bonds. In rare cases, utilities have been able to use capital improvement funds (‘cash in the bank’) to ‘pay as you go.’ With the escalated costs for land acquisition, engineering design, and project construction, and the reduction in water revenues and tap fees, this option is less likely to provide the funding required to develop new reservoir projects. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) has provided access to low-interest loans, and many utilities have gone directly to the bond market to obtain funding for these major infrastructure projects. The favorable interest rates through GEFA and tax-exempt status of GO and revenue bonds have led most communities to rely on traditional sources of funding for their projects. With passage of the publicprivate partnership (P3) legislation (SB 122), local governments and utilities now have an additional option that can provide the necessary funds before project completion and the start of an additional revenue stream flowing from the project. This may be an attractive option for communities that know they will need this new water infrastructure in the future but do not currently have the funding necessary to begin paying for these projects. The private funding support for local government projects is similar to the situation a student faces in taking out a loan for college and deferring the interest for the next four years—the interest ‘meter’ continues to run even though the student is not obligated to begin payment for some time. So while these private funding options can help ‘jump-start’ projects, there is an expectation of future return on the private investment. Historically, many projects have not pursued private funds or partners because the traditional options (GEFA, bond market) could be used at lower rates of return (typically five to eight percent), whereas the expected private-sector rate of return was higher (12 to 15 percent). In recent months, this spread has closed somewhat, making private-sector participation more attractive. The development of a strategic financial plan for implementing and operating a proposed reservoir must consider making use of a number of funding sources if the plan is to be financially feasible. This allows the par-

ticipants to gain a better understanding of the magnitude and timing of the costs and benefits, as well as the impacts of any potential risks associated with the proposed plans for development of the reservoir. This type of planning also allows managers to forecast the resulting charges to each purveyor and the costs to their customers. Summary As Georgia moves forward with addressing our long-term water supply needs, reservoirs will be an integral part of the strategy. The process for planning and permitting, designing, building, and funding new reservoirs has been and will continue to be challenging, at best. And while the process is not for the faint of heart, utilities and local governments have a much greater potential for surviving the process if they consider the following: • Start with an integrated water resource plan—incorporating water supply planning with an integrated approach to wastewater, stormwater, and water quality management will result in more cost-effective strategies for meeting water resource needs. • Address water efficiency and demand management early—Both the state water supply withdrawal permitting and federal Section 404 permitting requirements are now closely linked to the implementation and incorporation of water conservation and sustainable water use management. • Consider the costs and funding implications from the beginning—Collaboration with adjacent jurisdictions and/or private partners may provide an effective strategy for funding these expensive infrastructure projects. References CH2M HILL. 2003. North Georgia Water Supply Needs Assessment. Prepared for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Water Contingency Task Force. 2009. Final Report: Findings and Recommendations. Prepared for the Governor’s Office. Cedar Creek Water Supply Reservoir, Hall County  23

tems and, as a result will speed up the automatic restoration of power to customers.” As this data collection is fine-tuned, these huge volumes of collected data can be applied to a variety of electrical service components, creating information that not only benefits the consumer but also makes the company more responsive. “A data-to-information action plan will develop as a better understanding of load factors, energy usage patterns, equipment condition, voltage levels, etc. emerges through analysis and is integrated as functional information into usable customer programs and/or operation and maintenance algorithms that identify, trend and alert operators to incipient failure,” wrote Beehler and Cupp.

The Future of Power Southern Company continues to transition to a Smart Grid system that touts sustainability and innovation By Steve Campbell, PE | Georgia Power; Oko Buckle, PE | Burns & McDonnell & Dotun Famakinwa, PE | Burns & McDonnell

With a growing focus on energy efficiency and sustainability, it comes as no surprise that consumers are expecting more from their utility companies—and in turn, these companies are investing millions of dollars to overhaul their increasingly outdated grid systems in an effort to operate more efficiently and maintain reasonable rates. This sort of electrical evolution has a name: the Smart Grid. And simply put, it is “the convergence of information and operational technology applied to the electric grid, allowing sustainable options to customers and improved security, reliability and efficiency to utilities,” as written by Mike Beehler, PE and Jim Cupp, PE, both with Burns & McDonnell, in a technical paper called “Defining the Smart Grid for Electric Utilities.” Moving to a Smart Grid not only increases efficiency and adds more service and monitoring options for electrical companies, 24

but also has ongoing political ramifications as consumers demand lower rates and politicians, including President Barack Obama, continue to pledge the ongoing creation of a Smart Grid system. Numerous justifications certainly exist for the Smart Grid, but it’s no easy project. Often costing millions of dollars—if not more—the Smart Grid also requires a timeconsuming upgrade of existing equipment and infrastructure that can deliver enhanced services and handle a huge amount of incoming data that will provide consumption and other pertinent information. Leading the Smart Grid transformation Several electric companies have proactively pursued this transition to a Smart Grid. Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity, has been among the leaders in this transition, pursuing a Smart Grid evolution that extends to

its operating companies, including Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mississippi Power. With the help of Kansas Citybased architectural, engineering and consulting firm Burns & McDonnell, Georgia Power is in the midst of several substation projects, the goal of which, according to Southern Company Services (the engineering arm of Southern Company) Protection and Control Supervisor Steve Campbell, is “to modernize or update protective relaying in a lot of our facilities.” One of the primary components of the project involves removing much of what Campbell calls “the old technology,” or electro-mechanical relays, in order to install microprocessor-based relays. Burns & McDonnell is providing engineering services for about two-thirds of these distribution feeder projects, Campbell says. Although updating the relays is a small part of the overall Smart Grid transformation THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

process, Campbell says the project has several benefits as related to the company’s Smart Grid services, which are defined by Southern Company as a two-way telecommunication-enabled power delivery system that optimizes grid performance and reliability and creates customer-enhanced options with feedback provided by electronic data and other technologies. “One benefit is that these relays are going to be able to provide data to an automated fault trouble response system,” he says. “The goal is to automate and speed up response to outages, so we'll be able to get customer power restored more quickly and do it in a more efficient manner.” Secondly, Campbell adds, these new relays give Georgia Power employees “a better handle” on the health of the system. “These relays monitor their own health so we'll know when they’re operating correctly,” he says. “To have that capability, we'll be able to extend our maintenance intervals out and that should reduce maintenance costs.” Smart Grid may be the buzzword du jour, but there’s no mistaking that this is a costly, time-consuming transition. Georgia Power has significantly accelerated the relay upgrades, estimating that they'll be completed by the end of 2012—a three-year timeline as opposed to the typical six-to-tenAUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

year period for this sort of project. Despite the significant costs in evolving an electrical system to Smart Grid standards, an added benefit to these types of projects is a far-reaching economic impact. Southern Company applied for—and received— $165 million in stimulus funding from the Department of Energy to help fund Southern Company’s three-year transmission and distribution costcutting project. The recent work has also had a positive economic impact on the involved parties. For Burns & McDonnell, working with Georgia Power presents an opportunity to build on the company’s renowned electrical transmission and distribution expertise. Arnold Olender, Associate Vice President in the company's Atlanta office, says these types of projects will remain necessary as the transition of the electrical system continues. “It has created a domino effect all the way from Georgia Power to the vendors who supply the equipment to firms such as Burns & McDonnell who provide the engineering,” Olender says. “We have had to increase staff as a result of the increased workload.” What can the Smart Grid do? “The systems we’re working on now are really going to impact the consumer, even if indirectly,” Campbell says. “The data from these devices is going directly into our control sys-

Looking toward the future As the grid continues to evolve, a new service landscape awaits consumers. Primary goals include accurate meter readings, reduced operating costs, and a technology platform that enables future customer services. “There are smart meters being installed that will, down the line, be able to communicate cost points and cost information so consumers can make intelligent decisions on their consumption,” Campbell says. “There are schemes being installed to automatically isolate and sectionalize portions of our system by adding communications capabilities and some logic to our distribution system.” Simply put? The Smart Grid is not only efficient and innovative—it’s sustainable. In an age when energy and resource consumption is of an increasing concern, Georgia Power, Southern Company, and Burns & McDonnell are among the leaders in installing a system that brings a necessary efficiency to the country’s electrical grid, paving the way for other utility companies to adopt similar systems to transform the way we use and think about energy. “The Smart Grid is expected to be fully functional by 2030,” wrote Beehler and Cupp. “Data collected, analyzed, visualized, and warehoused from the Smart Grid will contribute to many new ideas and inventions that can improve the lives of people.”  25

WESTSIDE RESERVOIR PARK ATLANTA’S NEXT GREAT GREEN FRONTIER By Atlanta BeltLine Inc. & the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management

ike many cities across the country, Atlanta is grappling with aging infrastructure and increased competition from other cities to attract new residents, jobs and businesses. In response to these challenges, the City is implementing strategies to improve quality of life, generate economic development and sustainably manage its resources.

At the heart of this effort is the Atlanta BeltLine project, the largest urban redevelopment project currently under way in the United States. Using a 22-mile network of mostly abandoned rail lines, the Atlanta BeltLine is being built as a system of dense, live-work development that includes badly needed greenspace, parks, bike paths and similar recreational and lifestyle amenities. The vision for the Atlanta BeltLine originated in a Georgia Tech graduate student’s thesis and has evolved into a sustainable redevelopment initiative that addresses transportation, parks and public spaces, affordable housing, economic development and sustainable resource management. The Atlanta BeltLine will create 22 miles of pedestrian-friendly rail transit, 33 miles of multi-use trails, 1,300 acres of new parks, more than 5,000 units of affordable workforce housing, and 30,000 new jobs. It will also remediate more than 1,000 acres of brownfields, address stormwater runoff and use sustainable methods to manage resources and keep long-term maintenance costs low. And, in its fifth year of development, the Atlanta BeltLine is already making an impact on the City’s water infrastructure. Recently, the City celebrated the opening of a new Atlanta BeltLine park in the Old Fourth Ward community, the Historic Fourth Ward Park. Providing the anchor for the new park is a two-acre stormwater detention pond that can store stormwater from a 500-year storm, if necessary. The pond, construction of which was funded by the City’s Department of Watershed Management, will dramatically reduce sewer overflows and flooding in the low-lying area. “The detention pond represents what can happen when the City and a dedicated community work together to resolve an issue,” 26

says Kimberly Parmer, who managed the project for the Department of Watershed Management. “Building the pond instead of pursuing alternative options for elimination of sewer overflows saved money and provided an aesthetic amenity that the community loves.” A few miles northwest of the Historic Fourth Ward Park, another park, the Westside Reservoir Park, is envisioned as one of the signature pieces of the Atlanta BeltLine. The park is a prime example of the BeltLine vision—a planned park that will be the largest in the city. Built on the site of a former granite quarry, the park’s centerpiece will be a 1.9-billion-gallon water reservoir. In Atlanta, water has been a central focus of residents, politicians, businesses and neighboring states for decades. Even before beginning work on the Atlanta BeltLine, the City had undertaken a $4 billion, federally mandated effort to upgrade its aging sewer system. And, for the last two decades, the state of Georgia has been at odds with neighboring states Florida and Alabama regarding the use of water from the Chattahoochee River, a primary source of water for the Atlanta region. The Bellwood Quarry, located in northwest Atlanta and formerly managed by Vulcan Materials Co., provided granite for roads and infrastructure for more than 100 years. In 2006, the City of Atlanta, Vulcan and Fulton County, which owned the massive property, negotiated a deal to sell the site to the City for construction of a new 300-acre park with a drinking water reservoir in the old quarry pit. Since that time, Vulcan has transferred is operations off of the site and started remediation activities. The site is now being managed by the City’s Department of Watershed Management. THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

From 2007 to 2009, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., the organization responsible for the planning and implementation of the Atlanta BeltLine project, and the City of Atlanta’s Bureau of Planning created a master plan for the area around the future park, using significant input from the community. The plan included the 45-acre reservoir in the quarry pit, multi-use trails, hiking and bike paths, multi-use sports fields and a large meadow for passive recreational space. The reservoir will hold a 28-day backup water supply, which will be critical to successfully addressing citywide droughts. The future park is located just west of Midtown Atlanta in one of the fastest growing areas in the city. The area has already experienced significant growth, and the park is expected to generate some of the most robust development along the entire Atlanta BeltLine. Its location near the Chattahoochee River intake, from which river water is piped to the City’s treatment plants, makes the reservoir well-positioned to benefit from an existing water source. Because of the park’s proximity to the Atlanta BeltLine corridor, alternative transit will be another important component to the park’s development. The park will be served by three transit alternatives: the Bankhead MARTA Station, MARTA bus routes and Atlanta BeltLine transit. The park will also be accessible via the Atlanta BeltLine multiuse trail system and the future extension of the Silver Comet Trail – a widely used trail extending from the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna to the Georgia-Alabama border. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

While significant progress has been made since the purchase of the property by the city, much remains to be done before construction can begin. Approximately half of the land envisioned for the park is now owned by the City, and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. is working with the various abutting property owners to acquire the rest of the parcels. In the next five to seven years, the Department of Watershed Management will begin work on the reservoir itself, and pieces of the park will be developed in phases as funding becomes available. While the site is not yet open to the public, people can access the future park as part of the free Atlanta BeltLine tour, which runs every Friday and Saturday morning, and includes a stop at the quarry site. People can reserve seats on the tour online at tours.beltline.org. The quarry is considered by many to be the highlight of

the tour. In its current state, the quarry pit is visually dramatic with large, jutting pieces of granite and a greening meadow adjacent to it where the quarry activities used to take place. The site also boasts excellent views of the Atlanta skyline. Cities rarely have the opportunity or the land necessary to develop 300-acre parks. Even rarer is acquisition of a site that can also serve as a water reservoir. Once Westside Reservoir Park is complete, it will be a national model for how to repurpose industrial land to serve the needs of the public and improve quality of life. “This park will not only provide recreational opportunities for Atlantans, it will also help us address a critical infrastructure need,” says Brian Leary, President and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “It provides a benefit not often seen in construction of a park.” 

The Final Launch

ble because of impaired visibility. Aware of these and other variables, the crowds watching nearby were waiting on pins and needles until just nine minutes before the expected target launch time to find out if the shuttle would indeed depart on time. Fueling takes 12 hours and began ontime at the KSC launch site. Slightly after midnight, the astronauts were woken and final preparations made. Once inside the shuttle, air was pumped into their suits to remove any wrinkles that may have existed between their bodies and their seats as this would prove to be uncomfortable for the flight's force and duration. The astronauts finalized preparations, were briefed with one last weather report, and waited for two hours before take off. The rocket boosters cause the shuttle to move backwards with the needle arcing to the rear, then it straightens up, and vibrates with insurmountable force as it begins to move off of the launch pad toward orbit. The magnitude of the ignition is such

By Stephanie Aurora Lewis, NCARB, LEED AP An incredible sight, over one million people crowded around every nook and cranny at Cape Canaveral on a sweltering Florida morning to sneak a peak at what is likely America’s greatest engineering accomplishment. One amongst many, I was profoundly moved by the massive explosion of liquid hydrogen and oxygen as the Atlantis shuttle took off toward the International Space Station for the last time. The sound of its booming exit to space caused the spectators to cheer in unison. Decidedly, one must experience a launch in person to fully realize its blazing splendor. A vastly influential architect of the 20th Century, Le Corbusier too was inspired by leading engineering ideas and materials of his day when designing Villa Savoye, his most famous building. In fact, it was also with great appreciation that he wrote in Towards a New Architecture, "Engineers unknown to the world at large, mechanics shop and forge have conceived and constructed these formidable affairs that steamships are. We landlubbers lack the power of appreciation and it would be a good thing if, to teach us to raise our hats to the works of 'regeneration,' we had to do the miles of walking that the tour of a steamship entails." Like Le Corbusier, how can we be inspired by NASA’s feats of engineering and incorporate some of its lessons into our own work?

Page 28 photo: Space shuttle Atlantis, secured atop a mobile launcher platform, is moments from liftoff from Launch Pad 39A, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff was at 11:29 a.m. (EDT) on July 8, 2011. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts for the space station. Atlantis also carries the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA

An Exciting Friday At 11:29am EST on Friday, July 8th, 2011, the long-awaited final shuttle mission Atlantis STS-135 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Atlantis held the small four-person crew of Christopher Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandra Magnus, and Rex Walheim. The day before the launch, many administrators from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) did not believe the launch would leave as planned due to the following weather conditions. A small liquid nitrogen leak exposed to lightening from as far as 25 miles away while fueling the shuttle could result in an explosion. Low cloud cover could make an emergency landing impossi28

NASA Shuttle Launch Stats: Fleet: 5 Space Planes—Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour First Delivered: March 1979, Columbia Expected Launches: 500 Actual Launches: 135 Total Flight Time (as of January 2011): 1289 days, 36 minutes, 29 seconds Shuttles Lost: 2 (Challenger, 1986; Columbia, 2003) Total Passengers/Crew: 836 Rollbacks from Launchpad: 19 Reason for Delay: Mechanical 10; Weather 5; Payload 2; Bird Damage 1; Hail Damage 1 Fatalities: 14 Failure Rate: 1 in every 67.5 missions Rate of Liquid Fuel Consumption During Takeoff: 45,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen per minute; 17,000 gallons of liquid oxygen per minute Rate of Solid Fuel Consumption During Takeoff: 660,000 pounds per minute Speed in Orbit: 17,500 mph G-Force at Launch: 3 Gs Time to Orbit: 8.5 minutes Landing Speed at Touchdown: 220 MPH

Space shuttle Atlantis lands for the final time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

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that a person standing within 800 feet of the engines would be killed instantly by just the sound of the explosion. While on the STS-135 mission, there will be repairs for within the ISS, scientific experients, and a space walk for repairs on the ISS exterior systems. The recent Space Station IMAX movie begins as an astronaut finds that he has lost contact with the ISS while working on a part on the ISS. He begins to drift off into space, no longer unattached to any hardware. Avoiding an astronaut's worst nightmare, he is able to fire up his jet pack from the controls on his chest to move in from abysmal space back to his partner astronaut that reattaches him to the ISS. On this mission, Magnus will control the space arm that will help Ron Fossum and Mike Garan (who are temporarily residents on the ISS) make their repairs to the ISS during their dangerous space walk. The smallest error on her part could be fatal for the astronauts and detrimental to the ISS. Her technical experience, like her colleagues, is vastly underrated. Over the past 30 years, the NASA shuttles have supplied work on the Hubble Space Telescope and have helped conduct experiments in biology, physics, astronomy, and meteorology on the International Space Station. Impacting earth, it was in this laboratory that significant advances in breast cancer research, improved design of safe child car seats, and breakthroughs in research on muscle atrophy, bone loss, crystal formation, recycling water, plant growth, and much more

were realized. The Atlantis crew plans to return to earth on the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo 11’s touchdown on the moon on July 20th, 2011. The Most Complex Machine Ever Built Watching the launch made all of us take a step back and seize only a very, very small glance into the kind of human ingenuity it has taken to make it possible to send astronauts to space. The amount of people and intelligence backing these missions is hard to begin to depict and describe. As a teaser, let's

look at some information about the shuttle's main engine courtesy NASA.gov. Developed in the 1970s by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Ala., the space shuttle’s main engine is the most advanced liquid-fueled rocket engine ever built. Its main features include variable thrust, high performance reusability, high redundancy and a fully integrated engine controller. The shuttle’s three main engines are mounted on the orbiter aft fuselage in a triangular pattern. Spaced so that they are movable during launch, the engines are used, in

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

conjunction with the solid rocket boosters, to steer the shuttle vehicle. Each of these powerful main engines is 14 feet long, weighs about 7,000 pounds and is 7.5 feet in diameter at the end of its nozzle. The engines operate for about 8.5 minutes during liftoff and ascent, burning more than 500,000 gallons of super cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants stored in the external tank attached to the underside of the shuttle. The engines shut down just before the shuttle, traveling at about 17,000 miles per hour, reaches orbit. The main engine operates at greater temperature extremes than any mechanical system in common use today. The fuel, liquefied hydrogen at -423 degrees Fahrenheit, is the second coldest liquid on Earth. When it and the liquid oxygen are combusted, the temperature in the main combustion chamber is 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than the boiling point of iron. In fact, one space shuttle main engine generates sufficient thrust to maintain the flight of two and one-half Boeing 747 airplanes. The space shuttle main en-

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gine also is the first rocket engine to use a built-in electronic digital controller, or computer. The controller accepts commands from the orbiter for engine start, change in throttle, shutdown and monitoring of engine operation. Another hallmark of the shuttle program is the outstanding display of teamwork and leadership that expands not only across our nation, but internationally. NASA has plans for continued research even though the space shuttle program has expired. Nonetheless, one could have cut the emotion with a knife

there at Cape Canaveral on Friday before and after Atlantis took off. "After the wheels have stopped and the displays go blank and the orbiter is unpowered for the final time ... there will be a rush of emotion when we all finally realize that's it, that it's all over, the crowning jewel of our space program, the way we got back and forth from low-Earth orbit for 30 years ... we'll realize that's all over," Astronaut & Commander of Atlantis Chris Ferguson said before launch. "That's going to take a little while to deal with." 

W h a t ’ s

i n

joined Thomas & Hutton as a part time employee through a temp agency in January of 1971 while attending Armstrong College. Boyce joined the team full time, March 29,

t h e

NEWS Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global infrastructure strategic consulting, engineering and program/construction management organization, announces that Russell Merritt has been named a project manager in the Atlanta office. Russell Merritt

In his new position, Mr. Merritt is serving as Parsons Brinckerhoff ’s Liaison Project Manager with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for a construction engineering and inspection program for District Two. Parsons Brinckerhoff is providing engineering and inspection personnel for transportation projects in 24 counties in east central Georgia. Prior to joining Parsons Brinckerhoff, Mr. Merritt served with the GDOT for over 32 years. He retired as District Construction Engineer at Tennille District. Mr. Merritt has a bachelor of civil engineering technology degree from Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia. Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a leader in developing and operating infrastructure 32

around the world, with 14,000 employees dedicated to meeting the needs of clients and communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and AustraliaPacific regions. Parsons Brinckerhoff offers skills and resources in strategic consulting, planning, engineering, program/construction management, and operations for all modes of infrastructure, including transportation, power, community development, water and the environment. Parsons Brinckerhoff is part of Balfour Beatty plc, the international infrastructure Group operating in professional services, construction services, support services and infrastructure investments (www.pbworld.com).  SPSU awarded $455,000 Air Force grant Dr. David Veazie, director of the SPSU Center for Advanced Engineering Materials and Education (CAMRE) and a professor of mechanical engineering technology, has been awarded a grant of more than $455,000 by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research in the 2011 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program

(DURIP) Competition. SPSU and Georgia Tech were the only two Georgia institutions to receive the funding. DURIP supports the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments or improves the capabilities universities have to perform cutting-edge defense research. The Department of Defense received more than 800 proposals for the purchase of research instrumentation and awarded a total of $37.8 million to 83 academic institutions nationwide. Dr. Veazie’s winning proposal made a case for the acquisition of a high-performance, thermal field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) to observe, characterize and analyze advanced engineering materials. “The acquisition of a thermal field emission SEM will lead to significant transformative materials research, design and fabrication,” he told DURIP officials. The SEM, he added, is “an indispensable tool for student research training in materials” that can be used by research groups based at SPSU and also at Clark Atlanta University, and will be central to CAMRE’s instrumentation capabilities. “Students will utilize the SEM to acquire skills in multiple material-related disciplines, such as mechanical characterization, microfabrication, nanostructured and multifunctional materials, and material synthesis," he said.

Boyce Young 1971 and worked for three years on a survey field crew. Two of those years he served as a chief. He has experienced duties as a construction inspector, designer of roads, streets, stormwater, sanitary and sewer systems. In 1988 he took over the survey department with four crews and one CAD tech. His department then grew to 44 crews with 155 employees in 5 different offices in 3 states. It is impossible to sum up forty years of Boyce in a few paragraphs, but General C.B. Cates, 19th Commandant of the USMC said it best: "Leadership is intangible, hard to measure, and difficult to describe. Its quality would stem from many factors. But certainly they must include a certain measure of inherent ability to control and direct, self-con-

Chad Grass

Grass has worked extensively with the Engineering Explorer Post program, an annual program dedicated to helping high school students experience engineering in the Savannah area and learn about engineering career opportunities. “We are extremely proud of Chad. His attitude, technical capacity and professionAUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

alism, along with his ability to manage multiple projects and do whatever it takes to get the job done, makes Chad an invaluable resource for Thomas & Hutton. We are fortunate to have him as part of our team.” Chance Raehn Industrial Group Leader, Thomas & Hutton Jennifer A. Roach, of Thomas & Hutton, receives professional engineering registration Thomas & Hutton recognizes Jennifer A. Roach for receiving her professional engineering registration. Jennifer Roach is a Project Designer with five years of experience in planning, designing, permitting, and constructing water resource related projects. She has been involved in both large and small scale projects

Chad Grass, of Thomas & Hutton, recieves professional engineering registration Thomas & Hutton recognizes Chad Grass for receiving his professional engineering registration. Originally from Huntingburg, Indiana, Chad migrated south to become a graduate of Georgia Tech. He has been with Thomas & Hutton for five years. During his tenure,

Boyce Young in 1970

Boyce Young retires from Thomas & Hutton. With both joy and sadness we announce the retirement of Boyce Young effective Friday, June 24th. Boyce came to Savannah for the first time in December of 1970, after serving a tour of duty in The Republic of Vietnam in the Marine Corps. He THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

fidence based on expert knowledge, initiative, loyalty, pride, and a sense of responsibility. Inherent ability obviously cannot be instilled, but that which is latent or dormant, can be developed. Other ingredients can be acquired. They are not easily learned. But leaders can be and are made." Boyce has been more than just a valuable asset to the company, he is a great leader, friend, and mentor to us all, and will be greatly missed. His contribution and rich experience made many things possible. His leadership, loyalty to Thomas & Hutton, and tireless energy will be missed. We thank Boyce for over 40 years of outstanding service and wish him well as he prepares for retirement. He will always be a part of Thomas & Hutton. “We wish you all the best, Boyce!” 

Jennifer Roach including stormwater drainage systems, flood control studies, and rehabilitation designs. Jennifer is experienced in several types of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling systems. Jennifer holds certification in Floodplain Management. A Georgia Tech graduate and native of Savannah, Jennifer is also an advocate for the Humane Society of Chatham County and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Her charitable work in the community is a direct reflection of her good nature and exemplary of the Thomas & Hutton culture. “We are very proud of Jennifer. Her knowledge, professionalism, and ability to roll up her sleeves and get the job done, is top of the line. We are proud to have Jennifer as part of the Thomas & Hutton team.” Ray Pittman, PE, PH, CPSWO, D.WRE, Group Leader, Thomas & Hutton  33

2011 ACCG Emory Greene Award Recipient Bibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson

t the Annual Meeting Awards Session, ACCG leaders bestowed Bibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson with the highest honor a commissioner can receive from his peers, the Emory Greene Leadership Award. This award is named in honor of the late Emory Greene, Chairman of the Bibb County Board of Commissioners and former ACCG President, who was not only an outstanding leader in his home county, but was also a statewide leader who served on a number of boards and commissions. Richardson was nominated by Bibb County Chairman Samuel F. Hart, Sr. “I am surprised and honored to receive the Emory Greene Leadership Award,” said Bibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson. “Emory Greene was someone that I respected greatly and a good friend, and I appreciate this recognition.” Currently in his second term as a commissioner in Bibb County, Richardson has made many valuable contributions to the county’s operations by applying his engineering expertise, problem-solving skills and talent for negotiation. He has served as Chairman of five committees and currently serves as Chairman of the Construction Board of Appeals for Macon-Bibb County and Chairman of the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Since joining the Board of Commissioners, Richardson has earned the respect of his constituents and his fellow county leaders by recognizing problems, leading efforts to develop solutions and consistently seeing projects through to their finish. In 2005, knowing that the southern area of Bibb County didn’t have convenient access to a public library, Richardson worked tirelessly to secure land, building approvals and funding for a library which opened its doors in 2008. Following the Mother’s Day Tornado in 2008, which destroyed much of Bibb’s Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area, 34

Richardson coordinated with the Engineering Department to produce in-house construction work that rehabilitated the site and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 2010, when growth in the northern part of the county had brought about a need for a new fire station to keep citizens protected, Richardson worked with the Fire Department and the Engineering Department to determine a central location, and successfully negotiated the land contract. Richardson’s background in engineering has proven invaluable to his work in Bibb County, and his business acumen has also served the citizens well. Board of Commissioners Chairman Samuel F. Hart, Sr. believes that Richardson, in his role as Chairman of the Finance Committee, has been “instrumental” in helping to ensure that the Bibb County Fund Balance remains healthy, even in a harsh economic climate. Richardson has served his community and his profession in numerous other capacities, including as Chairman of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, President of

the Consulting Engineers Council of Georgia, National Director of the Water Environment Federation and Director of Georgians for Better Transportation. He has also enjoyed the opportunity to contribute his expertise to state-level operations, having been appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, the Board of Directors of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, and the Middle Ocmulgee State Water Planning Council. “Elmo Richardson embodies the commitment to public service and the leadership for which this award was created,” said ACCG Executive Director Ross King. “He has used his time and talents not only to make a real difference in the lives of the people in Bibb County, but also to the citizens of Georgia through his state appointments.” Richardson is a graduate of the ACCG Certified Commissioners’ Training program, the Academy for ACCG Leadership and the Certified Commissioners’ Advanced Program. 

IRS Increases Mileage Rate to 55.5 Cents per Mile

The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2011. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and other purposes. The rate will increase to 55.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2011. This is an increase of 4.5 cents from the 51 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2011, as set forth in Revenue Procedure 2010-51. In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS made this special adjustment for the final months of 2011. The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year. “This year's increased gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. The IRS is adjusting the standard

mileage rates to better reflect the recent increase in gas prices," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We are taking this step so the reimbursement rate will be fair to taxpayers.” While gasoline is a significant factor in the mileage figure, other items enter into the calculation of mileage rates, such as depreciation and insurance and other fixed and variable costs. The optional business standard mileage rate is used to compute the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business use in lieu of tracking actual costs. This rate is also used as a benchmark by the federal government and many businesses to reimburse

Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc. (MA) announces the appointment of Joseph McGrew, PE as vice president and manager of

multiple roles for a national engineering firm, including a position as practice/division manager for a structural engineering program in the eastern U.S. “We are excited to have Joe on our team at Moreland Altobelli,” said Buddy Gratton, PE, president of MA. “He brings a strong track record of successful engineering projects and programs to our team and to our clients and future clients.” Moreland Altobelli employs more than

Pictured below with Commissioner Richardson is Melvin Davis, Oconee County Chairman and ACCG President.

their employees for mileage. The new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by 4.5 cents to 23.5 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2011. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents a mile. The new rates are contained in Announcement 2011-40 on the optional standard mileage rates. Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

Mileage Rate Changes Purpose Rates 1/1 through 6/30/11 Rates 7/1 through 12/31/11 Business 51 55.5 Medical/Moving 19 23.5 Charitable 14 14 325 professionals and support personnel in transportation engineering, program management, land acquisition, surveying, environmental services, water and wastewater engineering and architecture, among other services. The company has designed numerous “signature” projects in Georgia including the award-winning, I-85/State Route 316 interchange in Gwinnett County and 14th Street Bridge over I-75/I-85 connector in mid-town Atlanta. 

Joseph McGrew the firm’s bridge and structures group. MA is a Norcross-based engineering, architectural and program management firm with additional offices throughout Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. McGrew, a registered professional engineer in multiple states, has more than 35 years experience in design of highway and railroad bridges, parking structures and retaining walls. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Louisiana State University and a M.S. degree from Tulane University. Prior to joining MA, McGrew served in THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

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Where the Heck Have I Been? Where the Heck Have I Been? I watched my son Sam the other day as he stood at the fence inside of the baseball field dugout, analyzing why the ball he hit ended up being a pop fly to center field for an out. He was mad, and completely oblivious to what was going on around him. During the post game conversation on the way home, Sam shared that he indeed was mad and was “just keeping his head down and staying focused”. I reminded him that he’s a long way from the end of his journey through baseball and life but that his mindset is a great way to handle tough times. But I did advise him that he can’t “check out” and just think about his tough times and forget the bigger picture of supporting his team. I’ve been mad too! And I admit that I’ve “checked out” a bit too on some things, like Sam standing in the baseball dugout. My focus has been on dealing with the challenges of two teenagers at home, maintaining as much peace in my house as possible, and helping my company survive this tough economy as we attempt to position ourselves to do well when things get better around here (Yes I said “WHEN”). In the mean time, I haven’t written this column for several months, my schedule has caused me to miss a few Editorial Board Meetings, and I can’t even remember when I attended my association’s monthly meeting. Not good! I’m sure many of you have done the

same thing as you continue to work diligently and make the tough decisions that times like these require. Associations are suffering with membership, and the associated reduction in dues revenue, because leaders are placing the payment of dues as lower and lower priorities. In reaction, associations are doing their best to show value and encourage continued participation. Consequently, many of us have cut ourselves off from the connection we had to our peers and industry trends that made and kept us all personally successful and professionally “in the know”. We’ve come to believe that times are too hard and we don’t have time or money to spend on what we thought were valuable organizations when life was good and capital improvement budgets were robust. We’ve checked out! Well I’ve decided to snap out of it! Time for me to fiercely defend and articulate the value of my association membership in

ACECNews

our corporate budget. I also must protect the portion of my calendar that is supposed to be allocated to the Georgia Engineering Magazine Editorial Board meetings, as well as the monthly meetings of my association, and other industry events that I used to value so much. You guys must do that as well. Remember, those young engineers coming up behind us are watching how we navigate through these waters! Face it folks, our professional associations need our time, talents, and dues. Time to get out from behind the dugout fence and back on the field! Better Days Are Ahead! Jeffery G. Dingle, P.E. Chairman, Editorial Board

James R. Hamilton, PE President ACEC/G

This year will be unbelievable! It is indeed a privilege serving as your president this year. I pledge to work very hard and I am lucky to be surrounded by very smart and committed individuals that are serving us all very well. My Dad said “surround yourself with the best and some of it will rub off on you— work with people that are smarter than you and you will look smarter yourself.” These words are very true. All members of ACEC/G are fortunate to be led by a robust and committed board and staff that work very hard for you every day—even in the toughest economy since the depression. Before I go further, I wish to thank Tom Gambino for an outstanding job as ACEC/G President this past year. According to Abraham Lincoln a great thinking leader does three things well: • Solves problems • Creates opportunities • Enriches the human condition Tom did all three of these for ACEC/G. Our ancient dues structure was finally revised to provide a terrific planning tool to empower our organization for decades to come (problem solved). A terrific five-year plan was developed during his term (opportunities created). ACEC/G was enhanced through Tom’s emphasis on the Value Proposition, Heightened Communication and encouraged participation at all levels (human condition enriched). Tom made a difference and a lasting one. He sets a great example for me to follow and that is a huge benefit. Like Tom, I invite you to join us as we are at a key turning point. You can be a part of the committees and task forces and realize this picture of success. Imagine a date in the not so distant future when everything is perfect for your business. This is how ACEC/G

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

To view the entire ACEC/G Strategic Plan with detailed action items please visit the ACEC/G Web site at www.acecga.org.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

created that perfect day: • ACEC provided the structure, guidance and training that member companies needed to collaborate in new ways. • ACEC/G’s communication to member companies and to the public was informative and ahead of the curve. • Individual members met people and firm’s whose support they needed through ACEC/G. • Thanks to ACEC/G’s political radar it kept members and the public informed of relevant political and legislative developments in time to prepare and take action. • ACEC/G not only reports on political and legislative developments, it impacted them. • The Emerging Trends Task Force (ETTF) kick-started by Doris Wilmer is a solid part of the ACEC/G culture. • Members of ACEC/G are successful emerging trend followers as they make key business decisions from ETTF’s intelligence. Their continued success is inevitable. • Armed with ETTF information ACEC/G firms attract the attention of decision

makers which affect their businesses in time before they can be influenced by others. • ACEC/G firms make more money than non ACEC/G firms. This is our vision and your future as an ACEC/G member firm. If you are not involved in our organization—join us now! This year ACEC/G will add four key elements to focus our implementation: Value Proposition: members will clearly see a return on investment at the end of this year. Communication: members will see a robust communication program Change: ACEC/G will be a strategic issues driven organization as ETTF is a solid part of our culture Organize: we will enhance the organization structure of ACEC/G to be the best organization for member firms. I thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and look forward to working with each of you throughout this year. All the best, James R. Hamilton, PE

GSPENews

William G. Wingate III, P.E. President Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

Together what can we contribute that benefits our communities as well as our profession. As professional engineers we are charged with protecting the health, safety and well being of the public first. There are many ways we go about performing these duties, and some of them are not as recognizable as you might think. One of the ways is through participation in the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers. The volunteers who make up our organization go about the daily tasks in an effort to make Georgia a better place to be. Much of the future of our state will be crafted by our profession through support of the economic competitiveness in our industries as well as quality of life through infrastructure. I am humbled that our membership has found me worthy to serve, and look forward to the honor of representing our organization as president for the next year. One of the things that attracted my participation in this organization was the selfless efforts of the membership and leaders across the state. The individual efforts of our members at the chapter level, coupled with the coordination and support of our state officials, are certainly a recipe for success. What is it that we do in support of our members and ultimately the public? GSPE is active in our legislature and the board of registration protecting and supporting the right to practice engineering in our state. We provide opportunities for engineers across the state to improve their skills through chapter meetings, technical sessions, and state-led professional development sessions. Our youth outreach programs, such as Mathcounts, provide opportunities for more than 1,000 middle school students each year to participate in mathematics competitions, and begin to see what engineering offers 38

them. Through the student chapters in our engineering schools, we encourage future engineers to become leaders in the industry. Our annual New Engineers Recognition Dinner is provided to congratulate and mentor those who have passed their professional engineers examination. These initiatives are instrumental to the future of Georgia. This past May GSPE held its annual planning session to review our current status, and our goals for the coming year. Last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership team, as well as those of prior years, provided our organization a wealth of positive initiatives. Our chapters are flourishing, and this past year our active participants grew by nearly ten percent. It is through the active growth of our membership that we will be able to provide the greatest impact to the communities of Georgia. The state leaders highlighted in this article are committed to improving the value of membership. This year we will be working hard to provide leadership opportunities for young engineers at the state and chapter levels, provide additional education opportunities, improve member communications through multiple media options, and expand active chapter participation across the state. These initiatives are important to our organization, but will require participation by all of our members to make them happen. We encourage and appreciate all volunteers who wish to contribute, and welcome recommendations for improvement.

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In closing I would like to personally thank all those actively participating in our organization, and encourage all professional engineers across the state play a vital roll in the future of Georgia through participation in the activities of the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers. ď&#x20AC;&#x20AC;

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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

ITENews

high capacity rail. An overview of efforts to date and those to be undertaken in the future along the three major northern corridors were presented by Faye DiMassimo, Cobb DOT Director, for I-75; Brandon Beech, North Fulton CID, for GA 400; and Brian Allen, Gwinnett DOT Director, for I-85. Presentations were given by two of the nation’s communities leading this effort through the advocacy, planning, and implementation of their successful high-capacity

Mike Holt, PE, PTOE, President Georgia Section, Institute of Transportation Engineers July 1st marked the beginning of certain laws in Georgia passed by the 2011 Legislature and signed by Governor Deal. While most of the media attention has focused on HB 87 dealing with illegal immigration, there are a couple transportation related bills that have become law, two of which are discussed below. House Bill 101 requires motorists to yield to bicyclists traveling in a bicycle lane, as well as leave a safe distance of three feet when passing a bicyclist on any roadway. As a casual cyclist, I am glad to see such legislation passed. This law mirrors a similar law passed several years ago that requires motorist to change lanes or slow down when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle on the shoulder. As the Atlanta area continues to grow, we need to work toward providing more transportation options for our residents, including bike lanes and bike paths. Fortunately, more road widening and shoulder improvement projects are incorporating bike lanes or ‘bicycle friendly’ lanes. The City of Roswell has taken great strides to become a Bicycle Friendly city, with over 43 miles of bike facilities. Much of the metro area’s bike facility network is still discontinuous, but hopefully the gaps will be filled as funding becomes available to provide connectivity between recreational facilities, employment centers, shopping centers and residential areas. With more bicycle facilities, more vehicle interactions will come, and this new law will help provide safer conditions for cyclists. While I do not commute to work by bicycle, I do take advantage of many of the bike facilities in the metro area. Biking provides a great way to exercise and spend time with your kids. Below is a list of some of my favorite paved bike trails in metro Atlanta: Silver Comet Trail—this trail runs from Smyrna to Anniston, AL, a total dis40

tance of over 100 miles. There are several access points in Cobb and Paulding Counties. At Floyd Road (MP 4) you can stop at the Silver Comet Depot bike shop for supplies or an ice cream snack. The Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle, over 750 long, is located at MP 23, just west of Rambo Road in Dallas. For those who want to get away from the busy traffic on the east end of the trail, drive out to Coots Lake (MP 33) in Polk County. You can bike 2 ½ miles east to the Brushy Mountain tunnel, then turn around and bike west to Rockmart (MP 37) and stop into Frankie’s Italian Restaurant for lunch (be sure try the breadsticks), where you can sign your name on the wall. Roswell Riverwalk—this trail system runs for about five miles along the Chattahoochee River from Willeo Road east to Eves Road. Much of the trail is an off-road path between Azalea/Riverside Road and the river. The trail runs past three parks, and there’s even a hard packed gravel path that wanders through a wooded area called the Wells Tract. Big Creek Greenway—this eight-mile trail runs between Big Creek Park in Roswell and Marconi Drive in Alpharetta. The trail has several connections to neighborhoods and office parks near North Point Mall. There are plans to connect this trail with a 7mile greenway section in Forsyth County. Arabia Mountain/Rockdale River Trail —this little known trail runs from downtown Lithonia through south DeKalb County for 11 miles into Rockdale County, passing through the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve. Unlike the trails above, this trail has some topography to it and is a bit more challenging to ride. I always see wildlife along this trail, including deer, turkeys, snakes and turtles. Senate Bill 88 increases the age require-

transit projects. Steve Banta, CEO of METRO Light Rail, spoke on the system in Phoenix and their continued expansion and challenges associated with operations. Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory spoke about their city’s efforts to put their light rail line into service. Each of the speakers shared from the wealth of their experiences with some of the more telling insights being that implementing a high-capacity rail system is not a project but a process; when defining

the vision for the system that it has to identify the multiple components for a transportation investment to include land use and economic development; and that the operations staff has to be included in the planning on the front end. The Summit concluded with ARC Chairman Tad Leithead moderating a panel discussion of elected officials that also fielded some very pointed comments and questions from the attendees.

ment for the use of child passenger restraining systems in vehicles from age 6 to 8. Any child under 8 or under 4’ 9” must be secured in a booster seat or car seat (age 4 and under). Any child age 8 and over must be secured with a seat belt. According to the CDC, motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death among children in the United States. Many of these deaths and injuries can be prevented by using age appropriate car seats and booster seats. The CDC also recommends that any child ages 12 and younger should ride in the back seat. This places children in the safest part of the vehicle and eliminates the injury risk of deployed front passenger-side airbags. Additionally, seat belts are designed to secure adults, and if not properly adjusted, they can cause injuries or death when strapped across a child’s neck in the event of a crash. I know some parents are eager for their children to grow up and ride in the front seat with them. Other parents give in to their children’s complaining about having to use booster seats. These are unsafe practices, and our new law makes an attempt to reinforce the safety of child restraining systems. Please be sure to follow these guidelines with your own children to ensure their safety. In addition to the legislative actions discussed above, other efforts continue, particularly in transportation planning, to lay the foundation for a safer more efficient network that can reduce congestion and delay plus contribute to continued economic growth. Supporting this effort, on June 8th the Metro Atlanta Northern Crescent Transit Summit was held at the Cobb Galleria Center. The purpose of the Summit was to educate metro elected officials, government transportation administrators and business leaders on the benefits and best practices of THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

ITS

stay in southern Europe and has extensive understanding of how ITS can make our lives better. Please visit our Web site (www.ITSGA.org) for information about our monthly meetings for 2011 and our annual meeting to be held September 18 – 20, 2011 at the Reynolds Plantation near Greensboro Georgia. 

News

Marion Waters, P.E. ITS President It seems like an enormous understatement, but a lot of things are happening right now. The picture of our lives today, as I paint it in my mind, is of a passenger riding in the back seat of a fast moving car. We are not exactly sure where we are going, but we are getting there very fast. Our view is somewhat restricted (by being somewhere other than in the driver’s seat). We are straining to look through the windshield into the far distant horizon while glancing every once in a while out the side window at the blurred landscape flashing by so fast that only a small portion of the roadside details can be seen. The present flashes by, and most often it is difficult to comprehend the warning signs and other important things that are right under our noses. The distant future is approaching so rapidly that unless we concentrate on the horizon, we may fail to act in time to navigate to our desired destination. Even worse, the winds are blowing hard, and whoever is driving the car seems to be having

ITS GEORGIA CHAPTER LEADERSHIP a heck of a time keeping the car on the road. Fortunately, we in Georgia have a good opportunity to both slow down and smell the flowers, (also some fresh air, and good cooking) while sharing the wisdom of industry leaders to see a clear vision of the future of ITS at the Georgia Chapter meeting. In just a few days, (September 18 – 20) the Georgia ITS Chapter will be having its annual meeting at the Reynolds Plantation Resort where we will be focusing on a clearer vision (20/20) of the future at a time when so much is happening that it is tough just keeping up with where we are now. A few most fortunate will have the opportunity to go to the combined ITSA Annual meeting and ITS World Congress in Orlando Florida next month (October 16th – 20th) to see even more of what is happening in Asia and Europe as well the U.S. These opportunities present us with knowledge to help us change and to do so wisely. In a recent conversation with Russell

McMurray, one of the senior staff at the Georgia Department of Transportation, the subject of making wise change came up. The challenges seem to be • avoiding the mistakes made in the past, • but at the same time having an open mind about attempting to do what could NOT be done in the past. Today, new materials and advancements in technology are enabling the transportation industry to do what would have been considered impossible just a couple of decades ago. Some of those products will be shown at the EXHIBITOR’S displays at the ITS Georgia Annual meeting. Ms. Shelley J. Row, Program Director of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office in the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) has agreed to be our keynote/opening session speaker for our Annual Meeting. Ms. Row has only recently returned from an extensive

OUR SPONSORS Thanks to our sponsors, who provide valuable financial assistance to the organization: DIAMOND SPONSOR Temple PLATINUM SPONSORS World Fiber Utilicom URS PBS&J GS&P Arcadis Serco Delcan Sensys 42

GOLD SPONSORS Control Technologies AECOM Transdyn Kimley-Horn Iteris Traficon Garrettcom

Daktronics Cambridge Systematics Intelligent Devices Midasco Grice and Associates Videolarm Gannett Fleming Quality Traffic Citilog

SILVER SPONSORS Southern Lighting & Traffic Systems Multilink Maxcell THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

the

GeorgiaEngineer Take a look at The Georgia Engineer Blog. Enjoy a new video every day.

GEORGIAENGINEERBLOG.

President Marion Waters, Gresham, Smith and Partners

Vice President Mark Demidovich, GDOT

Secretary Kristin Turner, Arcadis

Treasurer Christine Simonton, Delcan

Immediate Past President Anthony Bradford, GDOT

Ex Officio Greg Morris, Federal Highway Administration Jamie Pfister, Federal Transit Administration

Directors

Marwan Abboud, Arcadis Ronald Boodhoo, GDOT Susie Dunn, ARC John Hibbard, PBS&J Carla Holmes, Gresham, Smith and Partners Patrece Keeter, DeKalb County Scott Mohler, URS Tom Sever, Gwinnett County DOT Kenn Fink, Kimley-Horn Bayne Smith, URS

State Chapters Representative Kenny Voorhies, Cambridge Systematics Inc.

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

2011 MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament Hosted by the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

The Georgia Society of Professional Engineers hosted the 8th Annual MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament to raise awareness of the importance of the MATHCOUNTS Competition and funds for the MATHCOUNTS Endowment. A new venture for the tournament was launched in 2011, the tournament was held in conjunction with the Georgia Engineers Summer Conference. The collaboration lead to one of the largest MATHCOUNTS Golf

Tournament that has been held to date. The Georgia Society of Professional Engineers was able to host the MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament in 2011 due to the generous financial support from the following companies and individuals.

MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament Hole Sponsors Florence and Hutcheson (2) Golder Associates (2) Mallett Consulting, Inc. (2) Associates Engineering Consultants Columbia Engineering Cranston Engineering Group Dewberry Georgia Concrete Paving Association Geotechnical & Environmental Consultants Mark Kilby, P.E Mathcounts Fund Raising Committee Piedmont Geotechnical Consultants Portland Cement Association, SE Region Southern Civil Engineers Steve Skalko, P. E. Tensar United Consulting Willett Engineering

2011 Summer Conference

he theme Georgia Engineers In Action was just that with over 200 in attendance at this year’s 2011 Georgia Engineers Summer Conference held on June 19th through June 22nd at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Reynolds’ Plantation Lodge on Lake Oconee, Georgia. The conference was hosted by the Georgia Engineering Alliance with partnering associations, ACEC Georgia, ASCE Georgia Section, GSPE, and SEAOG. The conference kicked off with a Sponsor/Exhibitor Appreciation Reception in the exhibitor hall where attendees networked with sponsors, exhibitors and fellow engineers. On Monday morning the Opening Session Breakfast featured three speakers, Stacey

MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament Sponsors Gold Sponsors Schnabel Engineering, LLC Pavestone Company

Kalberman, Executive Secretary for the Campaign Finance Commission of Georgia on Vendor Lobbyist laws and requirements; Elmo Richardson, PE, Chairman, Georgia State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors reviewed updates with the Board of Registration and Jim Cole, Board Member, State Transportation Board of Georgia on Transportation Funding, HB 277. The conference offered two days of 4 educational tracks featuring business practices sessions, and technical sessions in which engineers could earn up to 12 PDHs. The conference highlight was the Monday night Gala Dinner where the keynote speaker Clint Cragg, Principal Engineer of NASA Engineering and Safety Center gave a presentation on how he as a member of a four-person NASA team assisted with the Chilean miner’s rescue. Following the keynote speaker the entire crowd had a good time kicking up their heels with music from the only engineering band in Georgia. Odd Man Out is a rock band with musicians that are engineers by trade! To close the conference there was a BBQ cookout for the whole family. Lots of fun! We at the Georgia Engineering Alliance

Silver Sponsors Southern Company Hydro Generation Bronze Sponsors Infratec Consultants, Inc. Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 MATHCOUNTS Golf Competition! 

Georgia Engineering Alliance President, Gwen Brandon rocks with band members Travis Riker and Sammy Powell (Odd Man Out Band) Engineers get down to business in the educational session

Platinum Sponsors Rick Deemer and Arthur Dana (Deemer Dana & Froehle, LLP) network with engineers at Sponsor/Exhibitor Appreciation Reception. 44

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

Lily Claire Herman (granddaughter of GEA Staff Kathy Belcher) presents GEA Drawing winner Neil Davies (Geosyntec) with Ritz Carlton Gift Certificate

hope all the attendees enjoy this conference as much as we did and hope to see you all next year! Be on the lookout for the 2012 Georgia Engineers Summer Conference announcement of the location and dates coming soon!  We would like to thank our sponsors and exhibitors for making this a successful conference! A Special Thank You to our Platinum Sponsor Deemer Dana & Froehle, LLP A4 Inc. - The Georgia Engineer ACEC Business Insurance Trust Applied Software Auburn University College of Engineering Boss Environmental Green Solutions Cardinal Systems, LLC Crow Friedman Group Delta Environmental Products Food & Drug Administration Ctr for Devices & Radiological Health GEL Geophysics, LLC Georgia Concrete Paving Association Georgia Power Greyling IMS Pavestone Company Photo Science Pritchard & Jerden, Inc. Southern Polytechnic State University T Wayne Owens & Associates The Miller Group, Inc. Tidewater Environmental Services Inc. United Consulting Wolverton & Associates

Jim Cole, Board Member of the State Transportation Board speaks at the Opening Session Breakfast on the Transportation Investment Act 45

WTSNews

President

Jennifer King, PE, President Women in Transportation Seminar WTS National Conference In May of this year, the WTS Annual National Conference was held in San Francisco, where many of the international organization’s 4,100 members gathered to explore the technical, policy, financial, and political aspects of emerging transportation issues in virtually every sector. United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary LaHood was a special guest at the WTS 2011 Annual Conference, where he helped launch Transportation YOU, a joint initiative of the USDOT and WTS to promote education and careers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and for the advancement of women in the field of transportation. Transportation YOU will introduce younger girls, ages 13‐18, to the broad array of transportation careers through hands‐on interactive activities, mentoring programs, field experiences and a national ‘virtual’ community. This initiative also provides specific attention to STEM and career exploration in a variety of transportation related fields. For more information about WTS and the Transportation YOU initiative, contact WTS President and CEO Marcia Ferranto, mferranto@wtsinternational.org, 302‐545‐7292. WTS Atlanta members in attendance at this year’s national conference included Marsha Anderson Bomar, Claudia Bilotto, Jennifer King, Laurie Reed, Beth Ann Schwartz and Marcia Steele. In addition, one of our Georgia

Tech affiliate members, Josie Kressner, was in attendance to accept the WTS President's Legacy Scholarship. This $3,000 scholarship recognizes women who demonstrate leadership in the transportation industry and a commitment to community service. Ms. Kressner was recognized for her work in co-founding Revive Atlanta, a non-profit organization that seeks to convert underutilized properties into community parks and gardens. Josie represented the Atlanta Chapter well and we are very proud to have her as part of our chapter. Breakfast with Commissioner On June 16, WTS hosted a breakfast with GDOT’s Commissioner Vance Smith and the State Transportation Board. The breakfast, held just prior to their monthly Board meeting, was attended by over 80 WTS members, corporate partners and GDOT employees. The purpose of this meeting was to recognize and thank GDOT for their continued support of and involvement in the WTS chapter and to provide an opportunity for our members and corporate sponsors to interact with these key statewide decision-makers. We want to extend our thanks again to the Commissioner and Board for attending this event. We look forward to doing it again next year. Upcoming Events Please Save the Date for: Joint Golf Tournament with ITE – September 12, 2011 Annual Scholarship Luncheon – October 18, 2011

Jennifer King, PE HNTB

jjking@hntb.com Vice President-Programs lreed@hntb.com

Laurie Reed, PE HNTB

Vice President-Membership tsaxon@itsmarta.com

Tonya Saxon MARTA

Secretary Angela Snyder, PE angela.snyder@wolverton-assoc.com Wolverton and Assoc Treasurer Marissa Martin, PE marissa_martin@gspnet.com Gresham Smith Partners Director at Large

Beth Ann Schwartz, P.E.

bschwartz@lpagroup.com The LPA Group Director at Large Heather Alhadeff, AICP heather.alhadeff@perkinswill.com Perkins + Will Director at Large Jennifer Harper, PE Jennifer_harper@urscorp.com URS Corporation Director at Large Helen McSwain, PE hmcswain@matcjv.com PBS&J Immediate Past President Emily Swearingen, PE URS Corporation Emily_swearingen@urscorp.com Thanks to our 2011 Corporate Sponsors: Platinum Level

Bronze Level

Gold Level

Atkins

Cubic

CH2MHill

Edwards-Pittman

Kimley Horn

Environmental

KYS Communication

HNTB

McGee Partners

JAT Consulting

Reynolds, Smith &

Thompson Engineering

Hill Southeastern Engineering, Inc. (SEI)

Silver Level

Stantec

Croy

STV/RalphWhitehead

PSI URS

Associates Wolverton & Associates

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