Georgia Engineer (Feb - Mar) 2013

Volume 20, Issue 1 |

February | March 2013

®

EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING

GeorgiaEngineerthe

2013 ENGINEERING

EXCELLENCE AWARDSSee story on page 8

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2013 32 The GeorGia enGineer

Publisher: A4 Inc.1154 Lower Birmingham Road

Canton, Georgia 30115Tel.: 770-521-8877 • Fax: 770-521-0406

E-mail: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Roland Petersen-FreyArt Direction/Design: Pamela Petersen-Frey

Georgia Engineering Alliance233 Peachtree Street • Harris Tower, #700

Atlanta, Georgia 30303Tel.: 404-521-2324 • Fax: 404-521-0283

Georgia Engineering AllianceGwen Brandon, CAE, Director of Operations

Thomas C. Leslie, PE, Director of External Affairs

Georgia Engineering Alliance Editorial BoardJimmy St. John, PE, Chairman

GSPE RepresentativesSam Fleming, PETim Glover, PE

ACEC/G RepresentativesB.J. Martin, PE

Lee Philips

ASCE/G RepresentativesDaniel Agramonte, PESteven C. Seachrist, PE

GMCEA RepresentativeBirdel F. Jackson, III, PE

ITE RepresentativesDaniel Dobry, PE, PTOE

John Edwards, PE

ITS/G RepresentativesBill Wells, PE

Shaun Green, PEKay Wolfe, PE

WTS RepresentativeAngela Snyder

ASHE RepresentativeJenny Jenkins, PE

SEAOG RepresentativeRob Wellacher, PE

GeorgiaEngineerthe

The Georgia Engineer is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc. for the Georgia EngineeringAlliance 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 dothey accept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neitherdo they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this periodical may be re-produced with the written consent from the Alliance and publisher. Correspondence regardingaddress changes should be sent to the Alliance at the address above. Correspondence regardingadvertising and editorial material should be sent to A4 Inc. at the address listed above.

54 The GeorGia enGineer FEBRUARY | MARCH 2013

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER February | March 2013

GSPE56

ASCE52

ITE57

ACEC50

ITS59

ASHE54

SEAOG60

GMCEAGEA

GEF WTS61

8 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards

22 Atlanta’s Grand Central Terminal

24 Integration & Collaboration: The Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility Improvements Project

28 Leading in the Twilight Zone

32 RM Clayton Cogeneration Project Thrives as Sustainability Initiative

34 GDOT Announces Coming Changes in Pavement Design

36 Cost Segregation ~ An Opportunity to Add Value

39 Engineering Entrepreneurship

42 Lower Cost, Lighter Carbon Footprint: Designing an all-wood Podium Building

46 Top Ten Tips for Running a Great Meeting

48 What’s in the NEWS

Advert isementsA4 Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Albany Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Atkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Ayres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Cardno TBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37City of Atlanta | Department of Watershed Management . . . . . . . . . 33Columbia Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56CROM Prestressed Concrete Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Deemer Dana & Froehle LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back CoverEngineered Restorations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Facility Design Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Foley Arch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30GEL | Geophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Georgia Concrete Paving Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Georgia Institute of Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front CoverGeorgia Power Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Greater Traffic Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Hayward Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back CoverHazen and Sawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4HDR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Heath & Lineback Engineers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62HNTB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Innovative Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27JAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Keck & Wood Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27M.H. Miles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Mercer University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Middleton-House & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Photo Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Pond & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Prime Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Reinforced Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47RHD Utility Locating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Rosser International. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6RSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Schnabel Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Silt-Saver Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Southern Civil Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Southern Polytechnic State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Stevenson & Palmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6STV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27T. Wayne Owens & Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Terrell Hundley Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27THC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60TTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30United Consulting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31University of Georgia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21URS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Wilburn Engineering LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Willmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Wolverton & Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Woodard & Curran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

ngineering Excellence is an an-nual design competition pro-vided by the American Council

of Engineering Companies of Georgiaand held in conjunction with EngineersWeek. Engineering Excellence recog-nizes engineering achievements demon-strating the highest degree of merit andingenuity. Read about each winner’sproject on pages 8 through 19 of thisspecial issue of The Georgia Engineermagazine.v

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9FEBRUARY | MARCH 20138 The GeorGia enGineer

The Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. Boulevard reconfigurationat Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA)was completed by the Ascend and Aviation Infrastructure So-lutions Joint Ventures in May 2012. The Ascend Joint Ventureis comprised of Atkins, Prime Engineering, Delon Hampton &Associates, and Street Smarts (Stantec). The AIS Joint Ventureis comprised of Long Engineering, Michael Baker Jr. Inc., andPond & Company. Sub consultants Brindley-Peters and As-sociates, Harrington Engineers, The Loretta WashingtonGroup, Key Engineering, and Wilmer Engineering also assistedin the project.

Due to a sharp increase in international travel that has occurredover the last decade, HJAIA concluded that a new InternationalTerminal with separate access from Interstate-75 was neededin order to continue the first rate service experienced by thosewho utilize the airport. The Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr.Boulevard was designed and constructed in order to connectGeorgia with the rest of the world via this new internationalterminal.

The Ascend JoinT VenTure And The Ais JoinT VenTure connecT GeorGiA To The resT of The World WiTh The MAynArd holbrook JAckson Jr.bouleVArd reconfiGurATion ProJecT | GRAND AWARD

The two joint ventures used several innovative techniques toovercome a myriad of design challenges in creating a new en-trance to what has been the world’s busiest airport for fourteenconsecutive years. The project reconfigured two parallel serv-ice roadways into one interconnected network that utilized aunique three tiered elevated roadway system to convey terminalpatrons to their destination.

The collaborative project exceeded the expectations of HJAIA.Jorge Cortes, Assistant Director of Design Planning and Devel-opment for HJAIA stated, “the thoroughness and quality of thedesign documents produced were the basis for competitive bidswith very few change orders throughout the construction phase.”Cortes also noted that “the completed Elevated and At-Graderoadway system provides an impressive and efficient new en-trance to the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminaland second entrance to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta InternationalAirport. The roadway system serves as the passenger’s first im-pression of the International Terminal facility which provides asense of welcome, ease, and excitement.” v

ATlAnTA MeTroPoliTAn colleGeAcAdeMic sciences buildinGATlAnTA, GeorGiA | STATE AWARD

The new Atlanta Metropolitan College Academic SciencesBuilding is a 55,767 square foot, two-story building located ad-jacent to the main entrance of campus. The constructionbudget was $11.9 million and it was completed in April of2012. Uzun & Case Engineers, the structural engineer ofrecord, worked for Paul Cheeks Architects in association withCooper Carry Inc., project design architects.

The architect and owner desired to have some very strong anddramatic visual elements for this building, as it was located atthe main campus entry. The resulting building structure con-sists of a structural steel braced frame with the second floorstructure as a composite concrete slab on steel beams. The roofstructure is primarily bar joists with metal decking. Founda-tions are spread footings on improved and compacted soil. Thethree dramatic design elements to this building, which were de-sired by the architect and owner, are the walkway canopy andthe two extraordinarily long cantilever roofs.

The canopy over the walkway is supported by small structuralframes oriented perpendicular to the street rather than to thecanopy orientation in order to accommodate architectural de-sign. As in typical walkway canopies, the structure of these el-ements was kept at a minimum to allow more transparency.The walkway canopy rises from the second floor at one end tomeet the building main roof at the other as one enters the cam-pus and is intended as an architectural design feature.

The two roof cantilever elements each extend more than 45 feetpast the point of support and are intended as dramatic elementsat the end of the walkway canopies. The cantilevers also taperalong their length to form a point at the ends and have a trelliselement built in. The cantilever roofs are located at the north-

east and southwest corners of the roof and are structured withlarge structural steel beams. Both cantilevers have trellis fea-tures built into the roof for architectural design effect. Thesecantilever beams extend back over several columns continuouslyto allow for stiffer back-spans, controlling deflections. The factthat the spans are so long made the calculations even more ex-acting and critical.

This project shows how structural engineering design can beapplied beyond the normal range to create extreme elements inorder to realize an architectural concept for the benefit of theAtlanta Metropolitan College and its students.

The Academic Sciences Building is intended to be a corner-stone of the campus main entry, positioned as a visual anchorand gateway. The courtyard was oriented to the street to engagepublic interest in the scientific activities within. The courtyardcladding materials were thus chosen to be transparent glass,while the other faces were masonry. The canopy on the court-yard side that leads from the main entry of the campus to theheart of the campus rises to suggest opportunity through itsperspective. The intent is that the students passing under thiscanopy will become engaged with the visual science activitiesin the building, as seen through the transparent windows.

The Atlanta Metropolitan College Academic Sciences Buildingmet the client’s budget requirements of $11.9M while produc-ing an iconic building for the main campus entry. The archi-tectural expression of showcasing the science learning withinand the positive message of opportunity through its perspec-tive create an engaging environment for teaching learning forthe future generation. v

2013

Engineering Excellence is an annual design competition provided by the American Council of Engineering Companies ofGeorgia and held in conjunction with Engineers Week. Engineering Excellence recognizes engineering achievementsdemonstrating the highest degree of merit and ingenuity. Entries are rated on the basis of uniqueness and originality; futurevalue to the engineering profession; social, economic, and sustainable development considerations; complexity; andsuccessful fulfillment of client/owner’s needs, including schedule and budget. Engineering Excellence offers all competitionentrants a valuable opportunity to be recognized by showcasing their talent, their experience, and their profession.v

2013


The newly renovated Benjamin E. Mays High School represents how an aged buildingcan be transformed into a modern learning facility through creative engineering at afraction of the economic and environmental cost of replacing the entire facility.

A student sitting in the new media center at May’s High School, looking out throughits 60-foot-tall glass curtain wall into the courtyard, while bathed in natural light fromthe clearstory windows just below the roof itself supported by elegant cable-stayed steelking post trusses, would find it hard to imagine how this space was experienced by hisor her older siblings only a few short years before. Prior to the renovation, this space hadno view of the courtyard or the sky above. The low ceiling consisted of drop in tiles andfluorescent lights. In short, the space was dark, disorienting, devoid of natural light,and not conducive to learning.

In order to accomplish such a stunning transformation, Uzun and Case Engineers,working in close collaboration with Perkins + Will Architects, had to overcome a myr-iad of challenges associated with modifying and renovating a 30 year old structure.These challenges included devising a new lateral resisting system, reinforcing the ex-isting floors with carbon fiber reinforced polymer wraps and external post tensioning,and performing sophisticated fire analyses to meet the fire rating requirements of thecurrent building code. The result has set a benchmark for what is achievable throughthe renovation and reuse of existing structures in the Atlanta Public School system.

The completely renovated 340,000 square-foot facility includes a new media center,cafeteria, entry lobby, theater, practice gym, and four new career based academies.v

benJAMin e. MAys hiGh school renoVATion |STATE AWARD

The sustainability program for the Clough Commons project at Georgia Tech includedharvesting storm and condensate water for flushing toilets in Clough Commons, andfor irrigation that resulted in the Clough Commons Cistern. Facility Design Groupconceived, planned, and designed the 1.4 million gallon underground Cistern to treat,store, and distribute harvested storm and condensate water.

Facility Design Group provided full structural and civil engineering design services,specific architectural services, and contract administration services for the G. WayneClough Undergraduate Learning Commons (Clough Commons) project on the cam-pus of Georgia Tech.

The five-story, 220,000 square foot building houses classrooms, science laboratories,academic services, common areas, and is connected to the Georgia Tech Library. Namedin honor of President Emeritus G. Wayne Clough, the Clough Commons project cost$85 million, and opened in the fall of 2011.

Clough Commons is currently in the final stages of receiving Platinum LEED Certifi-cation so sustainability was paramount for its planning, design, and construction. Thebuilding’s sustainable features include locally sourced materials, native landscaping,green roof, rooftop solar panel array, innovative water recycling (89 percent projectedreuse), and the Clough Commons Cistern.

The Cistern is located underneath the northern portion of Tech Green, so it was im-perative that its presence not interfere with Tech Green’s social aspects. With a foot-print of about 10,383 square feet, one would not know the Cistern exists without beinginformed of its presence. v

clouGh coMMons cisTern TreATs, sTores AnddisTribuTes hArVesTed sTorM And condensATeWATer | STATE AWARD

The Lady Antebellum Pavilion in the Evans Towne Center Park has already becomeone of the most recognizable ‘Showcase Structures’ in the Augusta, Georgia area. Ini-tially conceived as a park bandstand, the unique design, function and setting propelledit into international recognition as the namesake venue for home-grown singing sensa-tions Lady Antebellum and Josh Kelley, and designed by Johnson Laschober and Asso-ciates.

Completed in 2011, the pavilion is constructed of architecturally-exposed structuralsteel consisting of three primary curved steel trusses, radiating tube steel girders, andstructural columns inclined in opposing directions for brace-free stability. The struc-ture, topped off by an environmentally-friendly, exposed tongue and groove structuralwood roof deck, sits on top of a fully accessible five-foot, elevated stage. The structurealso envelops a comfortable backstage and green room area for the performers, whichserves as the backdrop for their stage performances.

The Pavilion, situated with lawn seating for 4,000, can also be set up with priority andbleacher seating as well as secure areas for performers. The group Lady Antebellumchristened the pavilion in October of 2011 with a dedication charity concert. This eventdrew the largest crowd ever assembled for one event in the county’s history.v

lAdy AnTebelluM PAVilion | STATE AWARD

A new state-of-the-art intensive care unit and the connecting patient bridge at EmoryUniversity Midtown Hospital opened its doors in June 2012. This $4.975 million en-deavor features a 10,200 square foot renovation of 12 Intensive Care Unit and hi-techsupport spaces in the Peachtree building, and a construction of a new patient transportbridge.

While the ICU is designed to provide the most advanced technology in critical care de-sign, the importance of the bridge to the hospital and community can’t be overlooked.This 2,400-foot structure physically connects the Intensive Care Unit in PeachtreeBuilding and the CT Surgical Suite in the MOT Building while symbolizing the im-portance seconds make in the daily battles for patients’ lives. The bridge reduces stafftime in transporting patients with very delicate outlooks, minimizing those patients’risks during transit and offering them a greater chance of recovery.

In addition to its functionality, the bridge stands as a connecting building block that isa compositional element within the existing landscape and courtyard. The form com-pliments the surrounding building masses and, while it is a formidable structure, it‘hovers’ above the courtyard, therefore minimizing its presence.

From a design standpoint, this project presented numerous challenges. The design teamof Uzun & Case Engineers, Cooper Carry Architects, and FreemanWhite Architects wasconfronted with preserving an existing fish pond, not disturbing critical utilities, andensuring comfortable passage between the existing buildings. This imposed constraintsthat were very complex in terms of vertical, horizontal, and support geometry.

The Emory University Hospital Midtown Intensive Care Unit Renovation and BridgeExpansion project met and exceeded the client’s ambitious project goals. v

eMory hosPiTAl MidToWn icu exPAnsion |HONOR AWARD


Woolpert/KZF LLC was awarded for the firm’s efforts on a design-build contract for theU.S. Army Corps of Engineering Savannah District (USACE). Working closely with itsconstruction partner, Balfour Beatty Construction, the Woolpert/KZF team providedfull design services including project management, civil engineering, architecture, in-terior design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, fire protection, life safety,and plumbing engineering for the quad dining facility at Fort Jackson near Columbia,South Carolina.

“Woolpert is honored to be part of this team with KZF and Balfour Beatty as a recipi-ent of this year’s Engineering Excellence Award,” said Dave Rickard, Woolpert seniorvice president and director of design services. “We are particularly proud to have playeda role with our design partner KZF in helping the 5,200 troops at Fort Jackson achievegreater efficiencies in their day-to-day functions so they can meet their mission.”

The dining facility project consisted of replacing and consolidating four 1,300 soldierdining facilities from existing adjacent troop barracks into a new, single, 124,780-square-foot facility. This unique arrangement allows the quick and efficient movementof the 5,200 troops per meal three times a day.v

forT JAckson sTArshiP QuAd dininG fAciliTy |HONOR AWARD

Sustainable and innovative design of the central Transit Hub at Georgia Tech wins recog-nition from Georgia Engineers Week. In the spring of 2010, Georgia Institute of Tech-nology retained Southern Civil Engineers’ design team to design a new drop-off area forTech Trolley bus. The site selected for this transit hub project is central to the GeorgiaTech’s urban campus, adjacent to the Student Center and at the crossroad of severalpedestrian corridors through campus. The site is also one of the oldest areas on campus.

The site, once considered merely as a thoroughfare, has become the central hub fortransportation and a destination for students and faculty members as it seamlesslyweaves pedestrian and vehicular circulation. It has become functional in uses as it canaccommodate trolleys and coach buses for various campus events along with pedestri-ans and bicycles. It has become a beautifully preserved natural landscape that strength-ened the integrity and history of the campus identity

Quoted by Howard Wertheimer, Director of Capital Planning and Space Managementfor Georgia Institute of Technology, “Georgia Tech has experienced phenomenal growthsince we hosted the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996. During this time, we havedoubled our square footage to nearly 15M gsf and increased our student populationfrom 12,000 students to over 21,000 students. During this time, as we carefully de-signed wonderful buildings on our campus, we invested an equal amount of time andenergy designing the space between buildings, creating a campus that is both memorableand culturally responsive to the human and ecological landscape. Having just com-pleted a 220,000 gsf building in the center of our campus that is connected to our mainlibrary, we realized the importance of linking this academic center with our transit sys-tem. We systematically developed a comprehensive design for central campus, linkingit to the rest of our 400 acre campus with a new multi-modal Transit Hub. Designedto accommodate our three types of transit vehicles, along with a robust accommodationfor pedestrians and cyclists, our new Transit Hub has far exceeded our expectations.” v

GA Tech TrAnsiT hub | HONOR AWARD

After sitting idle for 16 months, the Kessler Campanile Fountain at Georgia Tech wasback in operation for the 2011 fall semester as scheduled. Being designated as anOlympic Historical Monument, the restoration maintains the original design intent ofthe fountain’s operation while enhancing its operation.

In preparation of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a plaza with the architectural fountain wasconstructed on the campus of Georgia Tech that became in need of restoration. Theplaza is located at the northeast quadrant of the Student Center Complex and includesan amphitheater radiating from the fountain.

Facility Design Group provided complete Architectural and Engineering Services forconstruction document design and construction administration services for the foun-tain. Working closely with specialized vendors, they examined and solved a multitudeof issues, which included replacing the fountain’s deteriorated concrete, specifying newoperational equipment, and constructing a new walk-in underground bunker for thefountain’s new operating equipment in limited space that had to blend with existinglandscape.

A unique enhancement is programming a wind speed monitor with new fountainpumps to choreograph the fountain by the wind. Other enhancements for the Foun-tain’s water treatment system included adding a media pressure filter, UV lights, and au-tomating bromine feed. v

GeorGiA Tech kessler cAMPAnile founTAinresTorATion | HONOR AWARD

A 30-inch sewer line runs from north Bibb County near I-75 and the Arkwright, River-side, and Bass interchanges. The line reduced from 30-inch to 12-inch under railroadtracks at the Lennox Pump Station, which lifted the sewage to a shallower 21-inch sewerline. Increased development, the 30-inch-to-12-inch ‘bottleneck,’ and the under-ca-pacity Lennox PS caused numerous sewer spills into the Ocmulgee River since the1980s. Hofstadter and Associates Inc. designed the Lennox-to-Corbin InterceptorSewer for the Macon Water Authority, which desired to reduce the volume and fre-quency of sanitary sewer spills upstream of the water treatment plant intake.

The new 36-inch gravity sewer intercepted the deep 30-inch line at a new Lennox FlowSplitter Structure, eliminated the ‘bottleneck,’ and bypassed the Lennox PS. It contin-ues 16,098 linear feet downstream between the railroad and river buffer to a new CorbinCollection Structure where flow from the new 36-inch line and three additional 24-inchlines is distributed into the Corbin PS. At a 60-foot ‘choke-point’ between a home andthe river the 36-inch sewer avoids sewer, water, and gas mains. With only nine inchesavailable for vertical adjustment along the entire corridor, 95.7 percent of the pipe is in-stalled at the minimum grade of 0.046 percent in order to fit below a 48-inch stormdrain and above a 64-inch water main.

Since the new pipeline entered service in March, 2011 there have been no sewage spills,including after the April 16, 2011, tornado which touched down directly on the re-cently abandoned Lennox PS. Millions of gallons of sewage did not spill into the Oc-mulgee River. v

MAcon WATer AuThoriTy lennox-To-corbininTercePTor seWer | HONOR AWARD

14 The GeorGia enGineer 15FEBRUARY | MARCH 2013

WK Dickson & Co. Inc. was presented with the Engineering Excellence Award byACEC/GA for their work on a transformative grouping of projects at the RooseveltMemorial Airport including: a 2,000 foot extension of the runway from 3,000 feet to5,000 feet to accommodate business jet aircraft; the construction of new T-hangars toattract and accommodate additional based aircraft, and the firm’s role in MeriwetherCounty’s acquisition and refurbishment of a large existing box hangar on the airfield.Business jet traffic translates into potential economic opportunities and jobs for thecommunity. Additional based aircraft and an airport-based business, which will be lo-cated in the renovated main hangar, translate into revenue for the county.

The development of a major automobile assembly plant nearby encouraged local lead-ers to move forward with plans to significantly expand their airport with the goal of at-tracting new industry and, therefore, new jobs. The planned expansion would ensurethat the facility would become the significant economic generator envisioned for thecommunity. WK Dickson’s engineering expertise, as well as their experience in aviationplanning, and familiarity with FAA and GDOT, enabled them to assist with the lever-aging of federal, state, and local resources. The firm worked proactively to bring key de-cision makers together to ensure that the projects moved forward smoothly andefficiently. The completion of these projects has set the tone for the future growth ofthe facility and the community it serves.

All involved stakeholders were required to make a significant commitment to turn thissmall facility into an economic engine for the community. v

rooseVelT MeMoriAl AirPorT iMProVeMenTs |HONOR AWARD

In a collaborative effort to proactively manage the potential environmental impact ofplant operations, Wenck Associates Inc. assisted the Saint-Gobain Corporation in ob-taining ISO 14001:2004 certification of an environmental management system (EMS)at its Watervliet, New York, abrasives manufacturing facility in 2010.

Working under an accelerated schedule to obtain certification in one-third of the usualtime, in June 2010 Wenck launched the project by first assessing the facility for poten-tial environmental impact and identifying existing systems in place at the facility thatcould be incorporated into the EMS. Wenck then assisted in selecting an overall EMSrepresentative for the plant and members of a cross-functional team (CFT). The teamwas composed of key personnel who had in-depth knowledge of the operations in theirdepartments and who could expedite EMS implementation and training.

Once the team was formed, project manager and lead technical consultant Tara Mc-Cullen provided in-depth ISO 14001 training to educate team members about EMSimplementation and to arm them with the information they needed to put key EMSelements in place. Then they worked together to review more than 200 environmentalaspects of plant operations and rank them for significance using the guidelines for ISO14001, a set of international standards for environmental management systems.

Objectives, targets, and programs within the EMS were developed next, with progressmeeting benchmarks communicated company-wide to foster organizational pride inthe EMS process. EMS documentation and plant-wide training followed, providing in-ternal and external auditors with the materials they needed to verify that the facility’sEMS met the requirements of the ISO 14001:2004 program. The Watervliet plant wasawarded its ISO certificate in November 2010. v

sAinT-GobAin iso 14001 cerTificATion | HONOR AWARD

Look at the news for any length of time, and you’ll see that energy generation, devel-opment, and use are a critical issues of our times, affecting political, social, and economicpolicy. Prime Engineering Inc. had the opportunity to design and build a trailblazingterminal facility that will serve as a keystone for national energy production and deliv-ery. To help clients Velocity Ohio Midstream, LLC and Plains All American Pipeline,LP take advantage of this market, Prime Engineering Inc. was selected to design andbuild the first midstream oil products terminal located on a greenfield site atop the fuel-rich Eagle Ford Shale Formation near Cotulla, Texas.

This new truck-loading terminal needed to allow receipt of condensate or crude prod-uct via pipeline and delivery of either or both products to tanker trucks. The terminalneeded to be designed to take advantage of ‘fracking,’ a technique that extracts oil andgas from shale in a method intended to be more environmentally conscious than tra-ditional drilling methods. This technology, if successful, could prove to be a vitally im-portant transition technology between standard fossil fuel extraction methods and cleanenergy.

Prime Engineering was tasked with designing and constructing the ten-bay truck load-ing terminal to ensure a total onsite storage capacity of 150,000 bbls of natural gas con-densate liquids and daily throughput of 90,000 bbls. To meet a challenging schedule andreduce time to market, Prime Engineering used 3-D modeling techniques and softwareto create detailed designs in a variety of layouts. Doing so allowed the client to view,change, and select an appropriate layout in real time, letting design take place ahead ofschedule.v

TerMinAl desiGn And consTrucTion-PlAins AllAMericAn PiPeline, lP | HONOR AWARD

Gresham, Smith and Partners announces the completion of the replacement bridge forthe State Route 324 bridge over Interstate 85. The project, designed by GS&P, is partof the existing Gwinnett County Department of Transportation’s widening of StateRoute 324 from State Route 20 to State Route 124 from a two-lane, rural section to afour-lane, divided urban facility. The replacement bridge serves to improve safety andoperational efficiency and to provide for future transportation needs along I-85.

“Prior to completion of the State Route 324 replacement bridge, there were safety is-sues for drivers and pedestrians and there were no provisions for the future widening andupgrade of Interstate 85,” commented Kent Black, P.E., Gresham, Smith and Partners.“Our experienced team provided design services that increased sight distance in thebridge approach area, created safer user conditions, accommodated for anticipated travelvolume increases and all future widening along I-85, and enhanced operational effi-ciency and flexibility.”

State Route 324 is a major connection for commuter traffic to access I-85 and I-985.It is also one of a number of east-west routes that traverse Gwinnett County linking res-idential areas to I-85 and I-985. The replacement bridge was designed with two travellanes in each direction, curb, and sidewalks and a 24’ raised concrete median. The con-crete median can be removed to accommodate dual left turn lanes for a potential full-access or HOV interchange in the future. In addition to widening SR 324 toaccommodate the anticipated traffic volumes, this project increased the radius of the ver-tical curve to improve sight distance across the bridge. Both side roads were relocatedto intersect SR 324 further from the bridge to increase intersection separation as wellas to accommodate a future full-service interchange with I-85. The future layout of I-85 and the interchange were closely coordinated to ensure adequate intersection spac-ing along SR 324 and clear span under the new bridge. v

WideninG of sr 324/GrAVel sPrinGs roAd oVer i-85 | HONOR AWARD


Tom has worked as an environmental engineer for federal and regional governmentalagencies and as an officer in a private sector engineering company. While in privatepractice, Tom served as President of ACEC/Georgia and Chair of the Southeast Sectionof the American Water Works Association. In these positions, he represented his firmand the engineering profession with a high level of professionalism and contributed ina meaningful way to the water resources industry. He was well known as a person whotook his responsibilities very seriously but who also treated everyone with the utmostcourtesy and respect. This made him very effective in those roles, and he had major ac-complishments in each of them.

In 1994, Tom took on a new role that provided him an opportunity to use his engi-neering background and people skills to serve the engineering profession and the busi-ness of consulting engineering in a different but also very meaningful way. He servedas Executive Director of ACEC/G and GSPE and as the President of the Georgia En-gineering Alliance from 2000 until 2007. As Director of Governmental Affairs forGEA in recent years, he has represented the engineering community exceptionally well,

ThoMAs leslie, P.e. | 2013 LIfETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

taking engineering issues to the state legislators and agency administrators. He is considered a highly credible source of information withgreat insight into what is important to engineers and is also beneficial to the state of Georgia.

Tom has ably led the efforts to find areas of common interest among numerous engineering societies in Georgia. He participated in the cre-ation of the Georgia Engineering Alliance, Georgia Engineer Magazine, Georgia Engineers Summer Conference, and the joint Georgia En-gineers Legislative Coalition. His effective and dedicated efforts have greatly enhanced the respect given to the engineering profession. v

Jim Case was born in 1955 in upstate New York. His father was an electronics engi-neer with IBM whose job eventually took the family to Boulder, Colorado.

Jim studied architectural engineering at the University of Colorado, after which he wasaccepted to the architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania. However, aftera short time at Penn, Jim realized that his true calling was structural engineering. Hethen transferred to Cornell, where he received a Master of Engineering degree in 1980.

Jim started his career at Leslie E. Robertson & Associates in New York. However, afterhis marriage to Lucia Clark in 1982, he took a position with John Portman and Asso-ciates in Atlanta. Jim joined Nielsen & Uzun Engineers in 1985 and later started CaseEngineering in 1987. In 1993 he rejoined Tamer Uzun, Martin Cuadra, and LarryMcDowell to form Uzun & Case Engineers.

Starting with six people, Uzun & Case Engineers has grown to become the largest struc-tural engineering firm in the Southeastern US. Jim attributes Uzun & Case’s success

JAMes cAse, P.e. | 2013 GEORGIA ENGINEER Of THE yEAR

to its talented and diverse partners and staff. They are the embodiment of the firm’s commitment to excellence, its reputation for creativ-ity, and its teamwork orientation.

Jim’s training in architecture and engineering has led to a lifelong interest in exploring the intersection of the two disciplines and a com-mitment to helping clients achieve their design goals. Whether it is an elegant stair, a daring post-tensioned structure, or a traditional build-ing, Jim strives to arrive at synergistic solutions that are intuitive, correct, and buildable.v

A South Florida native, Steve is a graduate of the University of Miami in Electrical andComputer Engineering with minors in math and philosophy. He was attracted to en-gineering at an early age and taught himself basic FM transmitter and receiver designat the age of eight and started his working career as a technician at a computer store atthe age of 12. He was teaching students, first other children, then adults, computersstarting at the age of 13. Steve, through his career, continuously gained leadership ex-perience and responsibility to his current role as chief operating officer at Televes USA,a telecommunication equipment design and manufacturing company. His technicalexperience ranged from electrical power to defense to communications and consumerelectronics, with the majority of his time spent in terrestrial and satellite RF commu-nications related endeavors. Steve was even the assistant director of the public astro-nomical observatory at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium while in college.Steve’s father taught him at an early age the value of volunteering his time. He startedat age 12 running a food booth at a four-day church festival where he was responsiblefor supplies, money, and other workers, all of whom were adults. He has volunteeredthrough the years with various government and non‐government emergency manage-

sTeVe sTronG, P.e. | 2013 ENGINEER Of THE yEAR IN INDUSTRy

ment, search and rescue, philanthropic, and professional organizations. Steve co‐founded both domestic and international search and res-cue organizations. He has served in leadership roles with the IEEE, GSPE, Georgia Engineering Foundation, Amateur Radio EmergencyService, and the US Air Force Auxiliary. He took his EIT and PE exams in Florida and holds an FCC Amateur Extra Class Radio License.v

A native of Middlesbrough, England, John graduated from the University of Sheffieldin 1976 with a B.Eng in Civil and Structural Engineering. Upon graduation, he beganhis professional career with the West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council and dis-covered his passion for bridges through involvement in the design and construction ofthe River Trent Bridge. This was the first bridge of its kind—precast segmental posttensioned concrete box girder – built in the United Kingdom.

His work on that project led to his recruitment by the renowned bridge design firm, Figg& Muller Engineers Inc., in early 1981. He and his new bride, Juliet, relocated to theUSA. Here, John worked as resident engineer at a casting yard in New Orleans,Louisiana and then on site near Mobile, Alabama for the construction of the newDauphin Island bridge. With a 400-foot main span, this bridge boasted the longestconcrete span in the Southeastern United States. He followed this by serving in a sim-ilar role for the construction of the Red River Bridge in Alexandria, Louisiana, whichextended that record span range to 550’.

John AlAn heATh, P.e. | 2013 ENGINEER Of THE yEAR IN PRIVATE PRACTICE

In 1984, John took the opportunity to reduce the constant travel demands of construction field work and accepted a new job with TGQin Atlanta, Georgia. It was during his time at TGQ that John designed several bridges for a downtown Atlanta interchange. So began his30-year period of continuous service for Georgia Department of Transportation. From this experience, John was able to seize the oppor-tunity to establish a new company, Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc. (H&L). John founded H&L with the goal of delivering quality trans-portation design services to regional municipal, county, and state agencies. H&L thrived under John’s leadership. He instilled his values intothe company and laid a path for success through an emphasis on ethical behavior, providing education and support for staff, serving all clientswith professional pride and delivering maximum value without sacrificing quality of service or product. He ensured that all clients, vendors,and staff were treated fairly, evenly and transparently.

John and Juliet live in Marietta, Georgia, where they can reflect on their greatest achievement - their three sons, all engineers, who work orattend university in Atlanta.v


Kun Suwanarpa is the Interim Director of the Fulton County Department of WaterResources. Ms. Suwanarpa began her career in Bangkok, Thailand after graduatingfrom Chulalongkorn University with a Bachleor Degree in Civil Engineering. In 1971she accepted a scholarship from the Australian Government which took her to Can-berra, where she worked for the Department of Works and Aeronautics.

In 1974 Ms. Suwanarpa received a Master’s in Sanitary Engineering from Georgia Tech.She went on to work in consulting and for the EPD. After earning her Professional En-gineering License in Georgia in 1978, her focus became the utility business.

Kun Suwanarpa joined the Fulton County Government Department of Public Worksas Deputy Director in 1999 and after six years was promoted to Assistant Director forWater Services. As of 2010, Ms. Suwanarpa assumed the responsibilities of all waterservice divisions. In January, 2012 Kun Suwanarpa was named Interim Director of theDepartment of Water Resources.

kun suWAnArPA, P.e. | 2013

ENGINEER Of THE yEAR IN GOVERNMENT

When she is no working Kun enjoys traveling, reading biographies, playing Sudoku, inline skating, and contributing time to sup-porting others. v

Craig Forest is an Assistant Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineer-ing at Georgia Tech with program faculty appointments in the departments of Bio-Engineering and BioMedical Engineering. From 2007-2008, he was a research fellowin genetics at Harvard Medical School. He obtained a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineer-ing from MIT in June 2007 at the BioInstrumentation Laboratory, led by Prof. IanHunter. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 from Georgia Tech andan M.S in Mechanical Engineering in 2003 from MIT. He was a Sandia National Lab-oratories MEMS Fellow and an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and was awarded theGeorgia Tech Institute for BioEngineering and BioSciences Junior Faculty Award(2010). In 2007, he was a finalist on the ABC reality TV show ‘American Inventor.’ AtGeorgia Tech, he is cofounder/organizer of one of the the largest undergraduate inven-tion competitions in the US—The InVenture Prize, and founder/organizer of one of thelargest student-run prototyping facilities in the US—The Invention Studio. His re-search interests include genetic applications of bioMEMS, neuroengineering tools, op-tics, and precision machine design. v

dr. crAiG foresT | 2013

ENGINEER Of THE yEAR IN EDUCATION

Jeff Collins is a 2001 graduate of the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indianawith a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. Since graduation, he has gainedvaluable experience throughout his working career. Jeff now holds a Professionalengineers license in Georgia and Indiana. He also holds a National Land Surveyorin Training license, as well as, a Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Level II Cer-tificate.

Jeff began working with Rochester & Associates Inc. in March of 2005 as a junior en-gineer performing parking lot designs, intersection improvements, roadway im-provements for industrial parks, streetscape projects, hydrology and flood plain studiesand grading and site plans for new sites. Over the past eight years, he has grown intoa senior engineering position and now manages some of Rochester’s most complexprojects. His high standards for quality assurance and quality control on high pro-file and multi-year projects have shown he is truly an outstanding young engineerwho is wise beyond his years.

Jeff collins, P.e. | 2013

yOUNG ENGINEER Of THE yEAR

Jeff married a southern girl who was determined to stay in Georgia, and they have two wonderful daughters.v

David T. Peters is a traffic engineer intern for Transcore, where for the past five monthshe has assisted other engineers in the implementation and setup for an intelligent trans-portation system across the country. He has set up these systems for four cities, well overtwo hundred intersections. Currently, he is on his way to get a BS in Civil Engineer-ing Technology from Southern Polytechnic State University. Before finishing highschool, David had acquired two certificates from Chattahoochee Tech for Drafter’s Aideand Assistant Drafter. From fall 2011 to spring 2012, David was the president forSPSU’s American Society of Civil Engineers, vice-president of SPSU’s Institute of Trans-portation Engineers, recruiting officer for SPSU’s American Concrete Institute, and co-captain for the concrete canoe as well as helping facilitate the Rubble House projectunder ASCE and the CET department. Currently, David is the ITE president forSPSU. While being president of ASCE, David was able to get every participating stu-dent to Florida even though ASCE’s account balance started out in the negative whilekeeping a sum of over $750 in the account after his term ended. However, even thoughthe two main competitions reached a record low for SPSU, concrete canoe and steelbridge were managed by different captains and advisors, and David was able to get the

dAVid T. PeTers | 2013

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGy STUDENT Of THE yEAR

school up two ranks by managing the smaller competitions. At the same time, David was able to beat Georgia Tech in the ITE Traffic Bowland went on to Kentucky for the regional competition; yet he was not able to get past the preliminary rounds. As well as keeping theHOPE scholarship throughout his college career, David was awarded the ITE scholarship in 2011, the ASHE Jim McGee Memorial Schol-arship a few months ago, and the GDOT Scholarship a month ago.v

2013

2013

21FEBRUARY | MARCH 2013


GRANDCENTRALTERMINAL

By Thomas C. Leslie | Georgia Engineering Alliance | Director of External Affairs

rand Central Terminal in New York City opened on February 1, 1913,and is celebrating its 100th anniversary all year. It is actually the second

Grand Central at this exact location. With great vision (and enormous wealthand power), Cornelius Vanderbilt, acting through the New York Central Railroad, built the first Grand Cen-

tral in 1871 in an almost rural section of Manhattan at 42nd Street and Park Avenue. At the time it was the largest railroadfacility in the world.

The Second Grand Central was an innovative design, driven by legal constraints and radically creative thinking. In 1902steam locomotives were prohibited from entering Manhattan due to safety concerns; the alternative was electric-powered en-gines. Two levels of underground rail lines were constructed up to 80 feet below street level, with a footprint of 79 acres.Streets supported by long columns were built above the rail lines which contemplated construction of commercial buildingsin the air rights over the rail yard. The plan worked beautifully and over the following 15 years or so, a 30-block area con-trolled by the railroad became one of the most desirable sections at the heart of Midtown Manhattan. The terminal itselfcovered only one block of this area and was an extravagant temple to the Vanderbilts and the railroad era.

By the 1960s, rail passenger service in the U.S. had greatly diminished. The owner of Grand Central declared bank-ruptcy, and the terminal was to be sold to a developer who proposed a high-rise on top of Grand Central with only a rem-nant of its elegant façade retained. The ensuing progress v. preservation debate finally ended at the U. S. Supreme Court.Grand Central was saved from demolition, carefully restored, and operationally updated. It has returned to its role as a verybusy transportation hub where AMTRAK provides a smaller, but growing intercity service and suburban commuter rail serv-ice has a direct connection to the New York subway system. Grand Central is a vital element of the booming Manhattanprosperity.

Atlanta’s Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal was first given serious consideration in a 1992 study by the Atlanta RegionalCommission. The MMPT was proposed to be constructed over the rail yards in an area called the Gulch. By fits and starts,the MMPT has moved to a public-private partnership where a developer team would provide for access to MARTA’s FivePoints transit station and commuter bus, local bus, street car, and inter-city rail services. A team is developing a conceptualdesign in conjunction with an array of public partners (GDOT, MARTA, Atlanta, GRTA, and CAP). The developer teamwill consider how the project relates to adjacent land in a larger 119-acre planning area. In the end, the developer wouldbuild platforms above the rail lines for commercial development that is compatible with transportation plans and surround-ing areas. The conceptual design and environmental documents (NEPA) are scheduled to be complete by the end of 2013with construction beginning in late 2014.

The MMTP and Grand Central Terminal have many common features, albeit separated in time by 100 years. Very few of usin our town have a notion of a MMTP; we have only been at it since 1992. As times have changed, Atlanta demolished thegracious Terminal Station and Union Station and three-to-four others previously (with help from General Sherman in oneinstance); but these were only train stations. Times continue to change, and the current endeavor at a transportation hubseems compatible with our time.

If all this leads us to something like Grand Central for Atlanta, then I want to get started. v

Thomas C. Leslie

FEBRUARY | MARCH 201324 The GeorGia enGineer

A Contract Model for SuccessThe objective of the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources was fairly straightforward: upgrade all treatment processes at theexisting Yellow River Water Reclamation Facility (WRF), increase plant capacity from 14.5 MGD to 22 MGD, and improve the effluentquality. While this project could be viewed as just another major treatment plant renovation, the path taken to achieve that goal was any-thing but ordinary.

The facility was originally constructed in 1979 and was functionally obsolete. The $250 million construction project included high-level, advanced treatment methods to meet the stringent discharge limits required in Georgia. All work had to be completed without oper-ational disruption and required phased decommissioning followed by new construction.

Gwinnett County specifically wanted a fully integrated project team that would work together to manage the implementation of mul-tiple design and construction phased packages through a rolling Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) procurement process. By utilizingmultiple GMPs, Gwinnett County recognized they would be able to better coordinate available funds with the design process.

The County elected to move forward with a modified construction management-at-risk (CMR) delivery method and contracted sep-arately for design and construction services. This decision turned out to be the defining element in the project’s overall success.

The TeamHazen & Sawyer was hired to create a basis of design report for the competing designers to use as a guideline. The design proposal was so-licited and the engineers, Jacobs—the engineer of record—in collaboration with CH2M Hill and Precision Planning Inc. (PPI), were se-lected through a qualifications-based process. Within the next year, the project team was finalized with selection of PC ConstructionCompany (PC) as the contractor.

Relationahips and PersonalitiesThe project team was made up of many peo-ple who brought different skills to the proj-ect and the delivery process. As workprogressed, identifying those individuals whowere best-suited for this type of delivery wascritical. “The specific people on the projectreally make a difference,” said Mike Joseph,PC Project Manager. “If you throw a few ofthe wrong personality types in there, it justdoesn’t work.”

Getting the project under way was cer-tainly an adjustment for many team mem-bers. Three diverse groups—the contractor,the designers, and the owner—came to-gether with preconceived notions about thecontract and how the process would flow. Aconscious effort was required to break downthe normal barriers that exist on a traditionaldesign-bid-build project.

A Common GoalOne of the first steps in getting the teamworking as a single unit was combining theteams under one roof. Every trailer houseda mix of Gwinnett County, Jacobs, CH2MHill, PPI, and PC people. “The goal wasthat if someone walked through the door,they wouldn’t know who you worked for,”recalled Kristin Wilson, PC Field OfficeManager.

Rick Fisher, PC Project Executive said,“We had people sitting next to people theynormally wouldn’t work with. For example,quality control people were placed in our su-perintendent’s trailer. That was the enemyin the old days. Normally we are in the roleof protecting that line but here, steps weretaken specifically to blur it.”

Accounting and Administration The project’s accounting functions were alsointegrated from the onset. The contract re-quired PC to maintain an open book for allaspects of the project. The team maintainedjoint records in one place to avoid duplicationof effort and provided all project team mem-bers with access to the information. This doc-ument control system proved to be effectivethroughout the duration of the project.

It was determined that separating thecost for work by GMP was essential to mon-itoring and estimating accurate work com-

pletion costs. Working with multiple budg-ets was a learning process for everyone, in-volved additional work for the accountinggroup, and created confusion at times. As theproject progressed, everyone adjusted to theprocesses and adapted to challenges encoun-tered along the way.

The Green Light on ConstructionChallenges arose as PC wanted to keep con-struction rolling while needing answers andsupport from the design team who were, atthe same time, aggressively designing otheraspects of the project. The tradespeople hadto make similar adjustments. “Normally ona hard bid job, you do what your job is andnothing else,” said Hector Ortiz-Macias, PCForeman. “It’s not like that here. If you askfor help, other trades will come right away.” Submittals were also handled differently. PCworked directly in the engineers’ 3D modelsto develop shop drawings and other projectdocuments, and had immediate access tosubmittal reviewers in the trailer complex toclarify details. Once the engineers receivedsubmittals, they reflected the details dis-cussed previously by the group.

Team SuccessesThe flexibility allowed by the constructioncontract and the continuous team approachto problem solving, innovation, and collabo-ration allowed the team to achieve many suc-

cesses throughout the course of the project.

The Flood: On September 21, 2009 the At-lanta metro area was hit by what many con-sidered to be the worst rainstorm in nearly300 years. The existing pump station wasdamaged and no longer operable, and theelectrical equipment associated with the newpumps had been compromised. The teamhad to work fast to get the new pumps intoservice.

Working around the clock, crews hadthe new pumps in service within three days.What could have been a disaster turned outto be a tremendous success story and a greatexample of how the contract arrangementmade the effort easier to execute.

3,400 Cubic-Yard Concrete Placement:The structural floor for a 20-million-gallonwater equalization tanks presented uniquechallenges. Atlanta traffic and road workcould delay the arrival of concrete. So theteam started the placement at 1:00 a.m. on aSaturday. For 14 straight hours, one ready-mix truck arrived every two minutes. Portablelighted signs and police directed traffic to en-sure the trucks arrived without holdup.

Maintenance Facility: The team needed awarehouse to store construction equipmentand tools. When they discussed the options asa team, it was suggested that—rather than

Integration & Collaboration: The Yellow River WaterReclamation Facility Improvements Project

By Crystal DelleChiaie | PC Construction Company

AerialView ofYRWRFSitework

Multi-discipline teams worked side by side.

25

27FEBRUARY | MARCH 2013The GeorGia enGineer

building a temporary, makeshift building—they construct a metal building that could beconverted to the Maintenance Facility at theproject’s completion simply by incorporatingmasonry to match the existing architecture.

Adam Minchey, Gwinnett CountyDWR Special Projects Manager, said,“That was a simple value-added compo-nent, but it really showed how we ap-proached the greater project. That is justone example of hundreds if not thousandsof ideas the team came up with—and thatis essentially part of the delivery method—collaborating up front.”

Involvement of Plant Personnel: The con-tract for this project encouraged a close work-ing relationship between the plant personnel,Jacobs/CH2M Hill/PPI, and PC. Because ofthe interaction among the groups, the testingand start-up of the facilities was executed veryeffectively. Plant personnel were also involvedwith the design work, and they made sugges-tions and changes along the way.

Cost Savings: A few examples of more than$10 million worth of cost-saving efforts as-sociated with this project include:• The salvage and resale of existing plant

materials and equipment provided ap-proximately $1 million in savings.

• Plant Odor Control and MBR facilitieswere constructed using structural steelversus cast-in-place concrete. This deci-sion saved as much as four months oftime in each area, and resulted in sav-ings over $100,000.

• The flexibility of this contract allowedPC and Jacobs/CH2M Hill/PPI to worktogether to procure the specified processequipment. By combining forces in thisway, the project saved $500,000 on thepurchase of pumps and $180,000 on thepurchase of mixers.

• Existing valves and pipe were reused fornew construction and temporarily dur-ing construction of the new plant facil-ities, saving the project $40,000.

• PC was able to leverage their purchas-ing power for stainless steel pipe, andsaved the project over $200,000.

• Gwinnett County opted for PC to carrythe quality control personnel at half thecost of typical construction manage-ment, which saved approximately $1million. Elimination of an overall qual-ity control manager saved GwinnettCounty an additional $600,000.

Project CompletionNearly 500 workers covered this congested128-acre site during peak work periods. To-gether, they moved 350,000 cubic yards ofsoil materials, placed over 65,000 cubic yardsof concrete, laid 63,000 linear feet of under-ground piping, placed 15 new facilities intoservice, and brought in a complete newpower service from off site.

The new plant was put online one yearearlier than would have been possible utiliz-ing a design-bid-build process, and the mul-tiple GMP structure set for this projectallowed the team to utilize the job history toreduce costs.

Adam Minchey summed it up: ”I have22 years and $1.5 billion worth of construc-tion projects that I’ve overseen and I’ve neverworked on a project that was anywhere closeto this successful.” v

Celebration Day As Effluent Flows

26


od Serling’s1959 series

told tales ofordinary peo-

ple who foundthemselves in ex-

traordinary circumstances. Fifty-three years later those people are us. Today,like Serling’s heroes, we are confronted withthe unexpected:• Something we expected to happen does

not.

• Something we didn’t expect to happendoes.

• Something we never thought about…comes out of nowhere.

Like Serling’s heros, we want to be part of agood outcome, even if it is a surprising one.To do that, we’ll need to change our expec-tations. Our built-in expectations of roles,responsibilities, and routines give us the pre-dictability we have depended upon. However, dependence on predictability cre-ates blindspots. These blindspots, then, delayour recognition of troubling data; theynumb us to the significance of critical issues.

Wicked Problems have no clear defini-tion and no clear solutions. Uncertainty ishigh; tried and true formulas just won’twork. Transactional leadership (reward andpunishment) alone won’t deliver results.Success in turbulent times requires thesetransformational leadership skills:• Consciousness. Transformational lead-

ers are mindful of what is going onaround them as well as what is goingon within them.

• Conviction. People will follow aleader they trust. They will followsomeone who believes what they be-lieve.

• Creativity. A creative leader in the

Twilight Zone won’t solve a puzzle byfitting together pre-cut pieces. A cre-ative leader in the Twilight Zone willpiece together a crazy quilt by askingnew questions and by looking at famil-iar things in unfamiliar ways.

• Charisma. People who apply keyCharismatic Leadership Tactics (CLTs)can unite and mobilize followers inways that others cannot. Among otherthings, they are more likely to usemetaphor and tell stories.

• Collaboration. The hardest part is thefirst step: listening for understanding tothe person with whom you absolutelydisagree.

Crisis audited the nation’s capacity to dealwith the unexpected during Katrina. Thecountry came up short. Better to inventorycapacity ahead of time and build the neededskills before a crisis comes. To take inven-tory of your transformational leadershipskills, review the questions below. Then startbuilding your capacity. Each question ispaired with an action item. To be preparedfor the unexpected, take at least one of ac-tions every day for a week or more.

What’s Wrong with this Picture? Re-member that feature in many children’s mag-azines? Keep asking the question. It canhelp you anticipate coming change.

Spot and note at least one inconsistencyin a system or in a person’s behavior. Trackthe frequency of the inconsistency and notethe circumstances under which it occurred.

What did you say? When you commu-nicate with others, you are communicatingwith yourself too. Your body language cansay, “I’m not and I can’t”; or it can say, “I amand I will.” Amy Cuddy’s research concludeswe can shift from “not” to “am” by spendingjust two minutes a day in a confident, ex-pansive posture: head up, chin in, arms open.

Deliberately assume confident and ex-

pansive posturing for at least two minutesevery day. Do it before every important en-counter if you can.

Do you have a dream or do you have aplan? Dr. Martin Luther King had an ex-traordinary ability to attract followers. Hedidn’t go throughout the country promotinghis plan; he went throughout the country de-scribing his dream. He started from the in-side out—with his purpose, his cause, hisbeliefs.

Write out your purpose for taking onyour Wicked Problem in one paragraph.Then use the rest of the page to list your be-liefs that come into play. Share what youhave written with at least two other people.Does your purpose inspire instead of direct?

What new questions can you ask? Gointo a meeting with an individual or a groupprepared to ask the central question in a dif-ferent way. Shift from questions that haveonly one right answer like “What is 5 plus5?” Move toward questions that open upmany possibilities like “What two numbersadd up to 10?” Your question provides theframe for a different kind of answer.

How can you look at familiar things inan unfamiliar way? A chindogu is an ‘un-useless’ tool. It’s not completely useless. Itcould serve some purpose; but the purposejust isn’t all that valuable. Take, for example,a tiny umbrella attached to the toes of yourshoes to protect them from the rain. That’snot a big value-add if the rest of you is get-ting drenched. Then why chindogu? It willlimber up your brain to see things in a newway and recognize possibilities you didn’t no-tice before.

Bring up the chindogu concept at lunchwith a group. Come up with at least one un-useless invention.

What metaphor would you use to de-scribe your Wicked Problem? A ship with-out a rudder? A bad check? A plane inaerodynamic stall? A strong metaphor cancommunicate an abstract concept in a con-crete way that helps others understand.

Leading in the Twilight ZoneBy Dr. Ruth Middleton House & Doris I. Willmer, PE, PACEC, LEED® AP

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight,a dimension of the mind. You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas.

You have just crossed over into…the Twilight Zone.

Capture the essence of your WickedProblem as a metaphor and share it with atleast two different people. Or brainstorm fora metaphor in a group meeting.

What is your story? A good story canalso translate your Wicked Problem into con-crete terms. Georgia Senator Johnny Isaksonwas stumped by a question about the USdebt: “How much, exactly, is 16 trillion dol-lars?” Then he came up with a story that put

it in perspective: “Imagine you were spend-ing one dollar a second. It would take you31,688 years, 269 days, 1 hour, 46 minutesand 40 seconds to spend 16 trillion dollars.”

In one or two pages, write out a story thatexplains how you and your group came to bedealing with this Wicked Problem or pointsto the path you would like to take forward.

What relationship can you strengthentoday by listening and reflecting? Spend atleast 15 minutes with this person listeningand reflecting only. No blame, no war sto-ries, no probing questions.

Next Steps. When you’ve built your capac-ity for transformational leadership, whatnext? Come back next issue for PlanningThrough the Looking Glass. v


References:Antonakis, John; Fenley, Marika; and Le-ichti, Sue. (2012). Learning charisma:Transform yourself into the person otherswant to follow. Harvard Business Review,June 2012, 127-130.

Bienecke, Richard H. (2009). Introduc-tion: Leadership for wicked problems.Innovation Journal, 14(1), pp. 1-17.

Cuddy, Amy. (June 2012). Your bodylanguage shapes who you are. Edinburgh,Scotland: TedTalks.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc&playnext=1&list=PL56CDAB06243C461A&feature=results_video

Seelig, Tina. (August 1, 2012). A crashcourse in creativity. Stanford, CN:TedxStanford. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyM6rx69iqg

Sinek, Simon. (2009). Start with why(Kindle Edition). New York:Portfolio/Penguin.

Weick, Karl E. and Sutcliffe, Kathleen M.(2007). Managing the unexpected: Re-silient performance in an age of uncer-tainty. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

32 The GeorGia enGineer 33DECEMBER | JANUARY 2013

In early 2010, Atlanta’s Department of Wa-tershed Management was looking for waysto save money and energy in order to complywith Mayor Kasim Reed’s sustainability goalsfor the city. The need to flare off the methanegas that results from the wastewater treat-ment process provided the perfect opportu-nity. Cogeneration, also known as combinedheat and power (CHP), is the production ofheat and electricity from a single fuel source.A methane recovery, cogeneration projectproved a feasible opportunity for the RMClayton Water Reclamation Center, Water-shed’s largest wastewater treatment plant.

Now, two years later, the RM ClaytonCogeneration Project is helping the city ofAtlanta move toward its sustainability goals,providing both financial and environmentalbenefits.

“This is a comprehensive project thatconverts waste energy and waste heat intobeneficial uses, one being electricity and theother being heating requirements at theplant,” said Watershed Engineering ServicesManager Sam Krishnan.

The financial benefits of the cogenera-

tion project are clear. RM Clayton spendsapproximately $4 million annually in elec-trical costs. The cogeneration project is pro-jected to save the plant $700,000 a year by

providing power for the primary wastewatertreatment processes and part of the second-ary treatment processes, a saving of over 17percent.

The energy savings also are impressive.The primary treatment processes alone con-sume one-fifth of the plant’s energy. RMClayton has significantly reduced its con-sumption by harnessing energy from themethane gas, and, once additional project el-ements are complete, plant operators expectthe energy savings to exceed the current 20percent.

The environmental benefits of the proj-ect are moving Watershed toward a more sus-tainable future as well. “Waste heat iscaptured and goes back to heating digesterswhich allows us to turn off the boilers,” saidDeputy Commissioner for Water Treatmentand Reclamation Frank Stephens. “So thereis a savings of natural gas.”

Replacing natural gas consumptionwith what was previously waste heat con-serves natural resources and reduces green-

RM Clayton Cogeneration Project Thrives asSustainability Initiative

By Jessica Walker, Intern | Deptartment of Watershed Management | Office of Communications and Community Relations

house gas emissions. Using methane gas toheat digesters decreases the need for an al-ternative fuel source.

Additionally, as energy production isthe largest user of Chattahoochee Riverwater in the state, saving energy saves water.

How the Cogeneration System Works When treating wastewater, large organicsolids are broken down into less complexmaterials through a process called digestion.During this process, a significant amount ofmethane gas is produced, along with carbondioxide, siloxane, hydrogen sulfide, andmoisture. Although methane is a powerfulgreenhouse gas when released into theEarth’s atmosphere, its high energy valuemakes it attractive for cogeneration projects.

Crowder Construction Company andHazen & Sawyer, the design firm, proposedand built the cogeneration system that cleansthe methane gas and converts it into elec-tricity. The system includes a digester tank,biogas cleaning equipment, a 1.6-megawatt,combustible engine, and the newly equippedexisting 60-foot diameter storage sphere for

excess gas. Connections to the plant’s elec-trical system allow the electricity to providepower to the plant and heat from the engineto the digester.

The design-build approach was uncon-ventional for Watershed when constructionbegan in January 2011, but with a $1.5 mil-lion grant and a low-interest loan from theGeorgia Environmental Finance Authority,the department took the leap into unfamiliarterritory.

The success of the RM Clayton Cogen-eration Project propels Atlanta closer to itssustainability goals by reducing its energyfootprint by three percent. “The Depart-ment of Watershed Management is focusedon looking for sustainable practices, beingenergy conscious, and efficient in our oper-ations,” Stephens said. “We are going totake advantage of emerging technologies toachieve those goals.”

The Georgia Chapter of the AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers named the proj-ect the 2011-2012 Small Project of theYear. v


id you hear the oneabout the civil engi-neer who fell asleepand woke up yearslater to continueworking with hisold design manuals?

This old joke illustrates that civil engineeringis not known for the rapid adoption of newpractices like other professions. However,in less than two years, civil engineers whospecialize in pavement design will see amajor change in Georgia.

Georgia DOT is currently implement-ing AASHTOWare ‘Pavement ME Design’software, a revolution in pavement design.The software was developed over a period ofmore than ten years, using over 20 years ofnationwide pavement data. For the firsttime, the physical properties of the pavementlayers and foundation can be characterizedand directly incorporated into predictionmodels for pavement distresses. Materialproperty behavior and mechanical modelsare the ‘M’ or mechanistic part of the MEdesign process. The ‘E’ or empirical partrefers to the development and refinement ofthe models from historical pavement per-formance data. Georgia DOT is implement-ing ‘Pavement ME Design’ with theassistance of Applied Research AssociatesInc. (ARA), one of the developers of the soft-ware. ARA has already worked with a num-ber of other states in their efforts. TheGDOT/ARA research project started in Oc-tober 2012 and is scheduled to be completedin April 2014.

AASHTOWare ‘Pavement ME Design’has also been known as DARWin-ME andMEPDG. After its original developmentthrough a National Cooperative HighwayResearch Program (NCHRP) project, own-ership of the computer program was trans-ferred to AASHTO (American Associationof State Highway and Transportation Offi-cials) for continued maintenance and devel-opment. AASHTO rebranded the softwarein 2012 as part of a suite of AASHTOWaretransportation related products. Improve-ments continue to be made to the software asadditional research is completed or issues are

identified. Recently, an advisory was sentout to users that the current model for un-bound pavement materials underestimatesthe structural impact of high quality aggre-gate (e.g. graded aggregate base). The Geor-gia implementation effort is aware of andwill consider any such issues, along withkeeping abreast of future improvements.

The benefits of implementing ‘Pave-ment ME Design’ to Georgia are three-fold:1) roadways and conditions in Georgia willbe used to calibrate the models to developmore reliable distress predictions; 2) mecha-nistic models can optimize pavement struc-tural design and rehabilitation designmethods; and 3) modeling new materials ornew methods may be possible without hav-

ing to establish costly test sections over longperiods of time.

The current pavement design used inGeorgia (AASHTO 1972) is based on a sec-tion of roadway in Ottawa, Illinois that wastested in the late 1950s and early 1960s(AASHO Road Test). The design methoddeveloped was highly empirical, meaningthat it was the result of experiments thatmeasured several different types of roads andloadings, and an equation was developedthat tied the number of loadings (ESALs-equivalent single axle loads) to the measuredlife of the roadway. It is a very simplemethod and has served Georgia, with sometweaks, since the 1970s. However, some ofits limitations are that current traffic and

loadings are ten to 100 times more than wasseen in the 1960s testing and that the pave-ment design is only applicable to similarpavement sections and materials and meth-ods used in the original experiments. TheGeorgia DOT now uses different materials,including polymer-modified asphalts, whichare not recognized or given any credit by theold method.

As noted previously, the current pave-ment design is based on one location in theUS, limited materials, and a limited rangeof vehicle loadings. The new ‘Pavement MEDesign’ software models the roadway em-pirically and mechanistically. The additionof a mechanistic analysis means that stressesand strains are estimated from the modelsand accumulated into distress levels overtime. The performance of the roadway iscomputed by totaling the effect of the traf-fic loadings and climate on material proper-ties over time. The computer models arealso calibrated using actual roadways andhistorical performance data, which is theempirical part of the ME design. The originof this historical pavement data was throughthe Long Term Pavement Performance(LTPP) program. This pioneering programwas started in the 1980s and has measuredperformance and loadings of thousands ofactual roadway test sections in the US andCanada for more than 25 years. Over 20different roadways containing LTPP testsections are located within Georgia.

Some of these LTPP test sections andother Georgia roads will be used to initiallycalibrate the models and for future contin-ued calibration of ‘Pavement ME Design’ inGeorgia. The effects of weather on pavementdeterioration are modeled in the new soft-ware and use actual Georgia weather stationdata for additional accuracy. Georgia DOTis also finishing a research project thatlooked at actual loads (truck types andweights) found on Georgia roadways so themodel will also use actual Georgia vehicleloadings. Other research projects are com-pleted or on-going that characterize the ma-terials used in Georgia, such as typicalaggregate bases, asphalt mixes, and concretepavement mixes.

Typical pavements are expected to lastten to 20 years and more. To test new mate-rials, GDOT cannot realistically wait 20some years for quantifiable results. ‘Pave-

ment ME Design’, when properly calibratedfor Georgia conditions, will provide a testplatform to perform ‘what if’ scenarios topredict the influence new methods and ma-terials can have on the life of a pavement. Itwill also allow GDOT to model new pave-ment types, like Inverted Pavements. An in-verted pavement is composed of a cementstabilized base and an asphalt surface layer,with a dense layer of aggregate base sand-wiched in between. An inverted pavementtest section was placed in Troup County in2008, and this section could be used to cal-ibrate the model for inverted pavements.The capability to model the use of novel ma-terials and methods during the pavement de-sign process should lead us to expand the useof novel materials and methods, while hav-

ing a higher confidence that they can per-form as promised.

With more accurate loadings, more ac-curate material inputs, more representativeweather conditions, and better models,Georgia should see benefits by using theright materials in the right locations at theright time, especially in rehabilitation of ex-isting pavements. So keep your eyes open,because changes are coming!

This optimization of pavement designwill save money for Georgia DOT and pro-vide benefits to Georgia taxpayers in the longrun, and is in line with the department’sstrategic goals to maximize and preserve ourexisting transportation infrastructure and toprovide outstanding stewardship of trans-portation funding and assets. v

GDOT Announces Coming Changes in Pavement DesignBy Georgene M. Geary, P.E. | State Research Engineer | Georgia Department of Transportation

D


epreciation plays amajor role in taxable in-come. Depreciation is anexpense that reduces tax-able income, so any time

a business can accelerate depreciation, taxsavings can occur in the early stages of theasset's life. The past four years providedsubstantial opportunities to accelerate de-preciation through expanded Section 179 ex-pensing provisions which allow businessowners to deduct rather than depreciate cer-tain assets. Opportunities were also availablethrough bonus depreciation provisionswhich allowed business owners to depreciatecertain new assets at a rate of 50-100 percentin the first year. Temporary provisions in theInternal Revenue Code also shortened thedepreciable life from 39 years to 15 years forcertain leasehold and restaurant improve-ments, allowing qualified improvements tobe depreciated more rapidly.

These temporary provisions and en-hancements in the tax code were passed in aneffort to stimulate the economy, but they areset to be significantly scaled back or expireafter 2012. With the expiration of these taxbreaks, business owners are looking for othertax saving strategies. This article discusseshow you can help those clients who are look-ing for tax savings through depreciation.

Cost Segregation remains a viable taxstrategy:Commercial buildings are generally depreci-ated over 39 years, but certain assets withinthe building may have a shorter useful anddepreciable life. Cost segregation is amethod to allocate the cost of a building intoits specific components and assign the properdepreciable lives to those components. Sub-stantial tax savings can result by ‘costing’ outthese components and applying a shorter de-preciable life to some of them. A shorterasset life gives rise to spreading the depreci-ation expense over a shorter period andthereby increases depreciation expenses earlyin the asset life. Greater depreciation ex-penses translate into lower taxable income.

Even though accelerated depreciationprovisions in the Internal Revenue Code arebeing scaled back or eliminated, there is stillopportunity to take advantage of tax bene-fits through cost segregation. Those whobenefit the most from cost segregation arecommercial real estate owners or investorswho purchase or construct commercial realproperty or who make improvements or ren-ovations to an existing property.

The depreciable life of an asset is deter-mined by the tax code. Since land has anunlimited life and cannot be depreciated,commercial building owners must separateland costs from building costs. Many own-ers or investors stop there, and do not sepa-rate out costs for components of thebuilding. Instead they apply one single de-preciable life to the entire cost of the build-ing and end up sacrificing the benefit ofshorter depreciable lives for certain assets.

Components of Commercial Real Estate:Generally the ‘structural’ components thatrelate to the operation of the building have alife for depreciation purposes of 39 years.These assets include:• Foundations• Interior and exterior structural compo-

nents such as floors, ceilings, load-bear-ing walls, windows, doors, stairs, andelevators

• Plumbing, electrical, and mechanical sys-tems that related to the operation of the building

• Roofing• Central HVAC systems

Assets that may qualify for a shorter 15-yeardepreciation period include:Land improvements such as:• Sidewalks and curbs • Parking lots, driveways, and roads• Landscaping and shrubbery• Fences, docks, and bridges• Site drainage

Certain assets that qualify as ‘tangible per-sonal property’ may be depreciated over afive-to-seven-year period. This is where sub-stantial opportunity exists for tax savings.These assets may include:• Fixtures involved in certain industries or

processes • Restaurants: kitchen equipment, exhaust

hoods, and walk-in freezers• Specialty plumbing or electrical compo-

nents that support process equipment(not the building)

• Movable walls, and free-standing parti-tions

• Lockers• Cubicles, movable reception stations,

and booths for seating• Cabinetry and countertops• Interior signage• Wall covering and window treatments• Certain floor coverings• Power and temperature control for com-

puter systems

There are several factors that determinewhether an asset can be classified as tangiblepersonal property or whether it is considereda permanent structural component. Some ofthese factors include whether it is capable ofbeing moved, the expected length of affixa-tion, how substantial it is to move it, and ifany damage would result from moving it.Professional tax advisors can help in classify-ing assets into the proper category to be incompliance with the tax code.

Cost Segregation Studies:Engineers, architects, contractors, and ac-countants are among those who typicallycontribute expertise necessary to conduct aproper cost segregation study and to allocatethe costs of a real estate project into their var-ious components. The end product of thestudy is a detailed report, documenting andbreaking out components of the real estate by

cost, classification, and depreciable life. Thegoal is to identify those assets that can be bro-ken out from the structural components ofthe building and to assign them shorter de-preciable lives. The report allows a client'saccountant to maximize the tax benefits byaccelerating depreciation on those assets thatqualify as five-to-15-year assets.

The other benefit of cost segregationcomes when a building component needs re-placement. A roof, for example, is depreci-ated over 39 years but may need replacementin 25 years. By having broken out the cost ofthe roof, the owner may deduct the remain-ing 14 years of depreciation in the year theroof is replaced. Without having segregatedthe roof, including it instead in one singlecost for the building, the owner would haveno basis by which to write off the remainingundepreciated cost in the year the old roofwas taken out of service and replaced.

The ideal time to conduct a cost segre-gation study is in the planning and con-struction stages of a building or renovationproject, when costs are more easily identifi-able and can be broken out. Involvement atthis stage also allows documentation, such asinvoices and photographs, to be preservedand included in the study.

The tax savings obtained through aproper cost segregation analysis can be sub-stantial, particularly on large projects or forclients in certain industries such as manufac-turing, hotels, restaurants, and hospitals whohave substantial process-type equipment andfixtures.

When approached with your next con-tract, consider proposing to assist in a costsegregation study. This extension of yourservices may result in substantial tax savingsfor your client and add value to your profes-sional relationship. v

Cost Segregation ~ An Opportunity to Add ValueBy Corrine Wooden | Senior Accountant | Deemer Dana & Froehle LLP

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ntrepreneurial skills are increas-ingly being taught in engineering

schools in the United States. In2011, the National Science Foundation

(NSF) awarded a $10 million grant to bespent over five years on a national center

based out of Stanford University to teach and en-courage innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering. Theincrease in emphasis may be attributed to the increase in tech-nology and a very competitive global market for engineeringservices. One way to make sure the US stays in the market isto promote the skills that will create jobs here in engineeringand in related science, technology, and mathematics fields.

While many of the readers of The Georgia Engineer are al-ready out of college, the reasons we are teaching our youngengineers entrepreneurial skills are just as relevant to an oldergeneration of professionals. To stay competitive, we must be in-novative; as an industry, as individual companies, and as peo-ple. Continued learning is a condition of licensure because thefield is constantly evolving. Each year new technologies andnew tools emerge for all disciplines. To promote the growth ofthe profession, it makes sense that we promote our entrepre-neurs as the innovators and risk-takers.

Finding entrepreneurs in the industry is easier said thandone. Engineers are good with numbers, and the odds of start-ing a successful firm are slim. Statistics vary, but it is expectedthat 50-80 percent of all start-up firms will fail within the firstfive years. A more common path to engineering ownership,and thus entrepreneurship, is through the purchase of an exist-ing company. Each year, however, some individuals ranging inage and experience from the newly licensed to the nearly re-tired choose to create new corporate entities, whether in re-sponse to career changes or economic changes, or to simplyfollow a dream.

The following will provide insights from business owners(including myself) representing four engineering firms in Geor-gia, each with a different focus and at a different stage in cor-

porate evolution. The profiles are meant to educate and inspirethe entrepreneurial spirit in each of us.

Taylor Anderson, PE is the President of Blue Landworks,LLC. Blue Landworks, LLC was founded at the end of 2008.The firm has seen close to 100 percent growth between 2011and 2012, and Taylor expects the upswing to continue in 2013.Taylor got his drive from his father who also owned his ownbusiness. He started the firm during a slow economic periodand was only able to do so when his wife went back to workfull-time to ensure the family could survive financially. Taylorcredits his mentors and co-workers Thomas Woodsmall, RLS,and Stuart McClimans, PE as making the firm’s success possi-ble. He has also found his clients to be an excellent source ofbusiness advice. His biggest challenge thus far is getting thework done. Taylor is pictured receiving a Gwinnett Chamber2012 Pinnacle Top 25 Small Business Award with Raymer Sale(left), 2012 Chairman of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce,and Jim Maran (right), President and CEO of the GwinnettChamber of Commerce.

EngineeringEntrepreneurship

By Pamela Little | EcoWise Civil Design and Consulting Inc.

40 The GeorGia enGineer

I, Pamela Little, PE, am the President/CEOof EcoWise Civil Design and Consulting,Inc. (EcoWise). EcoWise was founded inlate 2009 and is a woman-owned business. Istarted the company after taking an entre-preneurial course called Plan for Profit fromThe Edge Connection, an SBA Women’sCenter based at Kennesaw State University.With The Edge Connection’s guidance, Iprepared a business plan and presentationthat allowed me to start my company withthe support of six silent partners. I alwaysdreamed of running my own company, andwhile the journey has been difficult, it hasalso been educational and rewarding. I creditmany people and organizations with helpingme get through the first three years andknow that I will continue to use their adviceand guidance in the future. As a ‘solopre-neur’ my biggest challenge has been manag-ing cash flow. I expect to find this challengegrows as the company grows. I am picturedin front of a recent project for which Eco-Wise provided civil site engineering services.

J. Al Pond, PE is a second-generationowner and the CEO of Pond & Company(Pond), an ENR top 500 firm offering a fullarray of engineering, architectural, planning,and construction management services. Albought into the company he was working for,Armour & Associates, in 1978 and becamepresident of the firm in 1988. The name waschanged to Pond & Company from Armour,Cape, & Pond in 1998. Since 1992 the firmhas grown from 25 employees to over 230employees. The company has always beenheadquartered in the metro-Atlanta area butnow also has offices in Texas, Arizona, Ala-bama, and Louisiana. Al credits his appreci-ation of hard work and risks versus rewardsfrom his early experiences growing up on aworking farm. Al has found his reward tocome from influencing the direction and suc-cess of a business. While the company hashad its ups and downs, he is always proud ofhis leadership team working together, butmore so during times of adversity.

Thuy-Kieu Chang, PE and Kieu-AnhTran, PE are sisters and co-owners of Q So-lutions Inc. Q Solutions was established in2002 as the result of a desire to control theirown destiny while delivering value to theirclients and working with teammates that

shared their values and passions. Q Solutionsis a minority, woman-owned business in theSBA’s 8a Program. Thuy-Kieu and Kieu-Anhbelieve the greatest reward for their hardwork is independence.Their challenges comein finding the right people for the right po-sitions, collecting outstanding account bal-ances, and finding great clients. Their family,friends, and colleagues have supported thestart-up and growth of the firm, offering ad-vice on where to grow the business and tostay focused on key issues and solutions.

Following are their answers to common questions:How did your engineering background helpand/or hinder your success as an entrepreneur?

“The largest number of engineering firmstoday were either started or grown success-fully by individuals who enjoy runningtheir own business. Engineering was thepath I chose to achieve my dreams.” ~ J. Al Pond, PE

“My personal business mentors have allbeen engineers ranging from a former col-lege professor to previous employers andcoworkers. I could not have gotten this farwithout the advice of a lot of other engi-neers.” ~ Pamela Little, PE

Are there any legislative changes that you canthink of that could improve the industry orwould promote entrepreneurship?

“President Reagan said, ‘The explorers ofthe modern era are the entrepreneurs, menwith vision, with the courage to take risksand faith enough to brave the unknown.These entrepreneurs and their small enter-prises are responsible for almost all the eco-nomic growth in the United States.’

Promoting entrepreneurship will reduce theunemployment rate, produce more tax rev-enue, and create leaders in innovation.” ~ Kieu-Anh Tran, PE

“Having a ‘fair tax’ implemented wouldsave companies time and money spent ontax forms, particularly on payroll taxforms.” ~ Taylor Anderson, PE

What advice would you give to new engineer-ing entrepreneurs?

“Don’t be afraid to explore what is outthere.” ~ Taylor Anderson, PE

“Find narrow market sectors where you canbe considered a leader or expert at whatyou provide. You can build on this withnew services of clients that match up withwhat you do well.” ~ J. Al Pond, PE

“Create, build, and maintain your networkof contacts before you start your own ven-ture. These people will be invaluable asyour mentors, clients, friends, and some-times informal therapists. Stay positive!” ~ Pamela Little, PE

“Understand your reason to start a business,because business ownership is not right foreveryone. As a business owner you will haveto wear many hats and balance them. It isgood to identify your ideal target client andthen focus on what you know. There are lotsof people willing to work with you, howeveryou have to find out who is best suited. Getstarted with the right staff and the right val-ues. Remember to make it fun for all be-cause starting your business is your passionto enjoy.” ~ Thuy-Kieu Chang, PE and Kieu-Anh Tran, PE v

uy-Kieu (left) and Kieu-Anh (right) are pictured in front of their office.


A wood podium is comprised of wood struc-tural panels supported by I-joists and gluedlaminated (glulam) timber beams, topped ingypcrete or other lightweight concrete.Under the International Building Code(IBC), it can be designed in one of two ways.The most common is to design the buildingas Type V Mixed Use Occupancy with sepa-rate occupancies for the wood-frame floorsand podium per IBC 508.3.3, which refersto Section 711 for the requirements of thehorizontal assembly. Section 711.2 states thefloor and roof assemblies shall be of materi-als permitted by the building type of con-struction which, in a Type V building,includes wood. The less common method isto go with Type IV Heavy Timber Con-struction, per Section 509.4, which allowsparking beneath Residential Group R.

“We’ve seen an increase in all-woodpodiums on the West Coast, mostly becauseof the cost savings but also because it’s thesimplest design solution,” said MichelleKam-Biron, SE, senior technical director forWoodWorks and the lead for mid-rise. “Hav-ing the same material from the foundationup lends itself to having one structural engi-neer design the entire building instead ofdifferent firms handling the wood-framefloors and concrete podium. Wood podiumsare just as feasible in Atlanta and provide thesame benefits, so it stands to reason that, asdesigners here become more familiar withthem, we'll start seeing some examples.”

In the southern US, durability of mate-rials is an important consideration. For woodpodiums, architects design the building en-velope so the wood members are not exposedto the environment. At the four-storyOceana apartment complex in California,designers chose to further protect the woodelements with drywall, sheathing, and stuccoon all subterranean surfaces including theshear walls. However, designers of the three-story Galt Place, also in California, took adifferent approach, leaving the glulam beamsexposed for the increased aesthetic appealand to monitor their performance over time.For the architects of both projects, cost wasthe main reason to use wood. “When deter-mining the cost of a structure, there are a lotvariables, including most notably time, ma-terial,s and labor,” said Karyn Beebe, PE, of

APA. “Using wood instead of concrete low-ers the mass of the building, which results inmore economical podium shear walls andfoundations. Using the same material for theentire structure may also mean lower designcosts, and the construction team experiencessavings in the form of fewer trades on site,which means less mobilization time, greaterefficiency because framing is repeated on allof the levels, easier field modifications, and afaster schedule.”

Architect Dan Withee, AIA, LEED AP,of Withee Malcolm Architects designed an85-unit wood podium project in SanDiego. He estimates that a concrete podium

can cost $15,000 per parking space com-pared to $9,500 for wood podium. “Manyapartment developers I run into tell me theyjust can’t afford concrete podium anylonger,” he said.

At Oceano, the design team estimatedthat the wood podium was approximatelytwo-thirds the cost of a concrete podiumeven with the learning process associatedwith a new system. Although a cost com-parison wasn’t done for Galt Place, the de-sign team noted soft cost savings resultingfrom faster construction time and the needfor fewer trades.

Beebe says wood podiums also offer

LowER CosT, LighTER

CARboN FooTpRiNT:Designing an all-wood Podium Building

WWith a ten-story wood building nearly complete in Australia and studies demonstrating the feasibilityof going higher still, wood highrises have been the subject of much discussion among architects and inthe architectural press. But while we’ve all been looking up, there has been a quiet revolution towardthe greater use of wood in mid-rise—because it offers higher density at lower cost than other materialsas well as a reduced carbon footprint. Podium structures, which include multiple stories of residentialwood-frame construction over a podium deck, have become especially common for architects seekingto incorporate retail, restaurants and parking into their designs. However, while the podium is typicallyconcrete, a handful of designers have lowered their costs even further by designing it in wood.

Submitted by WoodWorksAn initiative of the Wood Products Council, WoodWorks provides free proj-ect support and resources related to the design of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings. For projects in Georgia, contact Scott Lockyear, PE,at [email protected]. Questions regarding wood podiums can be sent toMichelle Kam-Biron, SE, at [email protected] or Karyn Beebe, PE,at [email protected].

Galt Place under construction Photo credit: MFMalinowski AIAGlulam, I-joists, OSB sheathing and lumber were used to construct the Oceano

wood podium. Photo credit: West Coast Aerial Photography, courtesy APA


other benefits. “Field modifications of awood deck away from the beam line are eas-ier to accommodate because it isn't necessaryto x-ray the slab for rebar and/or post-ten-sioned stand placement. The fact that awood podium is less massive than concreteis also beneficial in high seismic zones wherebuilding mass impacts lateral design loads."The wood podium design allowed bothOceano and Galt Place to use light-framedshear walls on the first level, as well as smaller

foundations than would have been neededfor concrete.

Design professionals who have builtwood podiums say the key to addressingchallenges is coordination among the entirearchitecture, engineering and constructionteam. For example, the Oceano design in-cluded a large amount of stacking structuralelements, which doesn’t tend to be the casewith concrete podium projects. The architectrecognized the challenge at the outset andbrought the team together early in theprocess to encourage collaboration. As theproject’s structural engineer, Tom VanDorpe,SE, noted, “Simple is good, as with the stack-able design, but this requires extreme coor-dination.” The team used BuildingInformation Modeling (BIM) to enhance thecollaboration process, which allowed themto address 80 to 90 percent of potential fieldissues prior to construction.

One challenge for any podium structureis placement of utilities. On a concretepodium, the utilities generally run in chasesbelow the 12-14-inch slab. Even on projectsthat stack, including concrete podiums, util-ities can be difficult to place. Options in-clude increasing the floor-to-floor height toaccommodate a deeper floor slab and utilitychase or designing holes in the glulam beams

for utility placement. Shrinkage is another challenge in any

wood-frame building over three stories andmust be taken into account so it doesn’t im-pact mechanical and plumbing systems orinterior and exterior finishes. Considerationis most important in designs that create anopportunity for differential change—suchas multiple wood-frame floors over a con-crete podium. “Shrinkage calculationsaren't complex,” said Kam-Biron. “How-ever, it’s an area designers often aren’t fa-miliar with and they need to accommodatefor differential movement if they’re usingdifferent materials. One of the nice thingsabout wood podiums is that the shrinkageand overall structural movement is consis-tent for the entire building.”

“Wood podium construction is simplyan extension of what designers have beendoing for almost 60 years—tucking carsaway under units in one-space depths di-rectly off concrete driveways,” said MichaelMalinowski, AIA of Applied ArchitectureInc., who designed Galt Place. “The use ofan all-wood podium has been called innova-tive—but in reality it’s a bit retro. It’s so com-mon to assume that a project will have aconcrete or steel podium that often the sim-plest solution is overlooked.” v

Oceano at Warner CenterPhoto credit: West Coast Aerial

Photography, courtesy APA


Unfortunately, few people receive formaltraining on how to conduct a great meeting,and this lack of training is apparent in cor-porate conference rooms across the country.Between meetings that ramble on with noagenda and no action steps to participantsfeeling bored and questioning why the meet-ing is even taking place, it’s no wonder thatso many people dread going to meetings.

In order to conduct a meeting thatboosts your credibility and helps you achievethe company’s goals, keep these top tenmeeting tips in mind.

Before sending the meeting invites, definewhy you’re having the meeting. Is it reallynecessary? Is there another way to accom-

plish the result? If you have a small depart-ment or group of attendees, perhaps a ‘standup’ meeting will suffice. In this case, yousimply get everyone to gather in the hall, saywhat they need to know, and then everyonedisbands within five minutes. It’s a quick,painless, and highly effective way to get amessage out.

If a meeting is indeed necessary, create theagenda and send it out prior to the meetingso people are clear on what’s going to be cov-ered. If multiple topics are on the agenda, in-clude a time allotment for each item. Alsolist a meeting adjournment time…and stickwith it. The more detailed you are, the moreprofessional you look.

The facilitator’s job is to keep the meetingrunning smoothly, to make sure everyonegets a say, and to lead people through areas ofconflict. Realize that no meeting ‘runs itself.’You need to lead people through each seg-ment of the agenda and work for a resolu-tion to each area of discussion.

As you facilitate, keep Parkinson’s Law inmind: ‘Work expands so as to fill the timeavailable for its completion.’ The same istrue for meetings. If you’ve set an hour forthe meeting, chances are the meeting willdrag on to fill that time slot. To keep thisfrom happening, announce at the onset, “Ifwe get through this agenda before the ad-

Top TenTips

journment time, we all get to leave early.”Make that the goal, not the posted adjourn-ment time.

If the goal of your meeting is to solve a prob-lem, then conflict is inevitable. Welcome it.A good facilitator will recognize when emo-tions get too high and will step in to keep themeeting on track. But don’t strive to avoidconflict. Nothing gets solved without firsthaving a conflict of ideas.

In a perfect world, people would 100 percentself-manage. We don’t live in a perfectworld. That’s why the meeting leader needsto wrap up the meeting by summarizing thekey points and then assigning the actionsteps. Decide who is going to do what andby when. Also determine how everyone willfollow up on the action steps. Who is hold-ing people accountable for doing what needsto get done? The more follow up and ac-countability you have, the more likely youare to accomplish the stated goals.

Just because you’re a department or com-pany leader doesn’t mean you have to leadevery meeting. Delegate some meetings toothers so they can gain experience in thiscritical skill. If you don’t feel comfortabledelegating the entire meeting, delegate a partof the meeting that’s focused on a specific

topic. Give everyone a turn to develop theirmeeting prowess.

When you do delegate a meeting, or whenyou’re attending someone else’s meeting, re-sist the urge to ‘take over’ the meeting. Ofcourse, you can be an active participant andstate your opinions, but let the other persondo their job and have the spotlight as theleader. They may not run the meeting ex-actly like you would, but it’s their meeting.Let their own leadership style shine.

Remember when you were a kid and theteacher let you out of class a minute or twoearly? Chances are you liked that teacher anddidn’t mind going back to his or her class.Adults are the same way. The minute youstart going over the stated adjournment time,people disengage and tune out. Instead, letthem out a few minutes early. If you’ve fol-lowed all the other points mentioned thusfar, an early adjournment should be possible.If your meeting topic still has loose ends, ad-dress those key items with the needed partiesprivately. Keeping everyone in the meetingto address final points that don’t pertain tothe group as a whole leaves people frustratedand bored—not the kind of last impressionyou want.

Meetings have a reputation for being boring

and uninspiring, so give people a chance toleave with something other than the agenda.For example, if the meeting takes placearound a holiday, put out some holiday can-dies or small decorations that people cantake. Or, if the topic is dull, like a produc-tion and drilling report meeting, give peoplesmall hand clappers (hand shaped noisemakers that you shake and they make clap-ping noises). Tell everyone, “If I say some-thing good, pick this up and make somenoise.” Do what you can to make a dullmeeting memorable and fun.

Meetings don’t have to be something peopledread. When you implement these ten tipsfor your future meetings, you’ll gain a repu-tation for being an effective meeting facilita-tor. And rather than being viewed as timewasters, your meetings will actually getthings done.

Jean Kelley, author and entrepreneur, is themanaging director of Jean Kelley LeadershipAlliance whose faculty and trainers havehelped more than 750,000 leaders and highpotentials up their game at work in the USand in Canada. For information onkeynotes, in-house programs, or customizedtraining, e-mail [email protected] or goto www.jeankelley.com. v

for Running a Great Meeting By Jean Kelley

Any meeting you conduct at work is a reflection of you. What kind of image are you portraying?Professional, on-target, and efficient? Or unprepared, unproductive, and ineffective?


Lake McIntosh Reservoir ConstructionComplete; 650 acre water supply willprovide ten million gallons of drinkingwater per dayConstruction of Fayette County’s new 650acre drinking water supply reservoir is com-

chemicals, pulp and paper, power generation,and automotive industries, with a full com-plement of skills on all major platforms.While Burton’s group embraces the automa-tion culture, they maintain the team focusthat is the hallmark of Hargrove. “Our over-riding commitment is to the driving princi-ple we share with Hargrove Engineers +Constructors,” he says, “which is being theright people, in the right place, at the righttime.” v

Newcomb & Boyd Consultants andEngineers Announces PromotionsNewcomb & Boyd announces the followingpromotions: Mechanical Engineer RobertW. Duncan, PE, LEED AP has become aSenior Associate in the firm.

Electrical Engineer Curt D. Bridges,Mechanical Engineer Juli C. Johnson,LEED AP, and Commissioning EngineerJeffrey P. Sears have become associates inthe firm.

Newcomb & Boyd is a multidisciplineconsulting and engineering firm providingcreative solutions for facility design, con-struction, and maintenance. The firm offersclients a single source for mechanical, elec-trical, plumbing, fire protection, energymanagement, building automation, com-missioning and retrocommissioning, systemstraining, acoustics, audio-visual, communi-cations, theatrical systems, security, andlighting needs.

From one office in Atlanta, Newcomb& Boyd serves clients throughout the

United States and internationally. The firmwas founded in 1923 as Robert S. Newcomb,Consulting Engineer; the name was changedto Newcomb & Boyd in 1931 when SpencerW. Boyd became a partner. v

W h a t ’ s i n t h e

N E W S

Golder Acquires Contracting andConstruction Firm InterGEOGolder Associates Inc., the US subsidiary ofglobal engineering and environmental serv-ices organization Golder Associates, has ac-quired the assets of geo-environmentalcontracting company InterGEO Services,Inc. This enhances Golder’s design/build of-ferings in the geo-environmental industry inareas that already align well with Golder’score practice, including linings and geosyn-thetic materials, ground improvement, me-chanically stabilized earth, and sedimentremediation.

A 12-year-old firm based in thePhiladelphia area, InterGEO has the diver-sity to operate as design/build, general con-tractor, specialty contractor or constructionmanager and serves the same primary indus-tries as Golder including waste management,manufacturing, power, oil & gas, transporta-tion, and mining.

Golder and InterGEO have workedclosely together in larger remediation proj-ects at Superfund sites as well as within theMarcellus Shale, designing and installing sur-face water impoundments.

“InterGEO’s field operations and man-agement staff provide a variety of construc-tion capabilities with a strong commitmentto safety, quality, and technical excellence,”said Rick Keenan, Golder’s Construction Di-vision Leader. “This experience complementsthe existing contracting services we providein the US, especially in the Northeast Regionwhere construction management and othercontracting services are a strong and growingportion of our business. InterGEO’s capabil-ities and clientele are well suited for growthbeyond the Northeast, allowing us to enhanceour construction services across the US.”

InterGEO’s focus on safety is parallel toGolder’s culture of safety first and has af-

forded it the ability to be pre-qualified bysome of the largest companies in the country,including being named as one of only twocontractors building mechanically stabilizedearth (MSE) berms for key clients in thewaste management industry.

InterGEO provides many specializedservices that are consistent with Golder’s coreconsulting and design capabilities, including:ground improvement, brownfield redevelop-ment, sediment remediation, vapor barriers,stormwater management, reservoirs andwater treatment lagoons, and erosion control.

“We are pleased to be joining Golder asboth of our organizations have a passion forinnovative yet cost-effective technical solu-tions within the design/build community,”said InterGEO President Archie Filshill, whowill be Golder’s Construction OperationsManager, Northeast Region. v

Hargrove Engineers + ConstructorsAnnounces Formation of HargroveControls + Automation, LLC.Hargrove Engineers + Constructors an-

nounced the formation of Hargrove Con-trols + Automation, LLC., on Friday, De-cember 14th. The new Controls +Automation division offers creative solutionsin advanced technology engineering, safetyinformation systems (SIS), and DCS/PLCconfiguration. Like its parent company, thenew venture is an employee-owned, rela-tionship-focused team dedicated to servingindustrial clients with responsive engineer-ing, programming, panel construction, andcustomized training. Division and TeamLeader Matt Burton, P.E., has over twentyyears of experience in technology, automa-tion engineering, and information systems.“This division employs an automation cul-ture,” says Burton. “It’s a different dynamicfrom the EPC culture. Our roles are fluidand our interaction with the client is inten-sive. It’s a collaborative space that can adjustrapidly to the needs of each client with anenvironment where teammates are allowedto succeed and grow their skills.” Market sec-tors serviced by the division include oil re-fining, natural gas processing, specialty

Jeffrey P. Sears

Robert W. Duncan

plete and officially coming on line. The newwater source will ultimately provide ten mil-lion gallons of drinking water per day to cur-rent and future residents of Fayette County.A 35 foot tall, 850 foot long dam impoundsthe reservoir. The dam was designed by engi-neering firms Piedmont Geotechnical Con-sultants of Alpharetta and Mallett ConsultingInc. of Fayetteville. Once the reservoir is suf-ficiently filled, a pump station will convey thewater to the Crosstown Water TreatmentPlant for distribution throughout FayetteCounty. Lake McIntosh, as the reservoir isknown, is owned and operated by the FayetteCounty Water System and will provide addi-tional flood control for a 70 square mile wa-tershed.

With three ‘Engineers of Record’ as cer-tified by the Georgia Safe Dam’s Program,Piedmont Geotechnical Consultants is a pre-eminent dam engineering firm. PGC engi-neers have over 80 years of combined HighHazard and other dam design and construc-tion monitoring experience in Georgia andsurrounding states which includes in excessof 250 dam projects. The Lake McIntoshDam and reservoir is one of their most recentHigh Hazard Dam projects. v

l-r: Aykut Urgen (Parsons), Genetha Rice-Singleton(GDOT); Russell McMurry (GDOT); and Shawn Reese(Parsons).

Parsons TransportationGroup was presentedthe GPTQ Award forBest Rural Design Projectat the TransportationSummit.

Reflections on Engineering as a Career I have had an unusually diverse engineeringcareer. It has included design and projectengineering in industrial research anddevelopment and later private practiceconsulting engineering. Assuming myreaders will include fellow professionalengineers, students heading towards a careerin engineering, and young engineers, I wouldlike to share some of the perspectives I havegained on engineering as a career and theparticular career path of consultingengineering.

My first two jobs were with majorinternational conglomerates. My major wasmechanical engineering, with early careerexperiences in heat transfer, machine design,and mechanical system analysis for theplastics and electronics industries. I actuallyused calculus!

The last two jobs, including my currentposition, have been with small-businessengineering consulting firms as an owner.Consulting engineers work under acontractual relationship to provideengineering services for businesses,governments, or institutions when they don’thave permanent staff to perform certaintypes of work or lack specialized knowledgeor staff resources for a particular need. Thereare consulting engineers in all the specialties,like civil, mechanical, and electrical. Formany years now I have managed multi-disciplined projects that were mostly ‘publicworks’ oriented.

It has been my experience thatengineering is a great career choice for peoplewho can tolerate math, and enjoy science.Many disciplines/professions study someform of science but don’t do much with it

except be better informed on issues when ascientific principal is involved, as frequentlyhappens in day-to-day life. However,engineers of all disciplines use that scientificknowledge to solve problems and developsolutions instead of just adding to humanity’sknowledge-base. We want to feel we haveaccomplished something useful in our workendeavors, rather than just earn a pay check.The National Society of ProfessionalEngineers uses a catchy phrase:“Engineering: Turning Ideas into Reality.”

Settling on a Field of Practice andChoosing Your Future JobI have been in conversations with fellowengineers when the question came up, “Whydid you decide to major in ________engineering?” Sometimes it was because of athoughtful decision making process thatinvolved examination of skills and interests.However, the range of answers usuallyincluded some less than thoughtful reasonslike: “I heard it had easier labs.”; “It had theshortest line at registration.” or “I had afriend in the same major!”

There are a number of questions toconsider in choosing your technical specialtyor branch of engineering. Is the field relatedto your personal interests? Does it fit yourpersonal mission in life? Does the field havea positive outlook in the economy of thefuture? Are you driven solely by making asmuch money as possible, or are you lookingfor career involvement with something thatimproves public health and safety, protectsthe environment, or otherwise improves thequality of life?

Early in my career I had job offers fromdifferent companies that would haveinvolved designing machines that packaged

panty hose, equipment to manufacturepotato chips, packaging machines for candybars, and production of cigarette filtermaterial. I could never get comfortable withaccepting those jobs. They did not fit mygoals for work satisfaction that I eventuallyfound in consulting engineering even thoughthey were often higher paying.

The two characteristics of consultingengineering that appeal to me the most are(1) the variety of work assignments, and (2)the satisfaction of seeing important needsbeing satisfied in an enduring way, and everyonce in a while with a ‘monumental’ result.As you evaluate your engineering careeroptions, consider how you would answer thisquestion from your grandchildren,“Granddad, what did you do in your job?”

Help is available for making careerdecisions. I have found that practicingengineers are almost always willing to spendsome time mentoring interested students toprovide insight into what they do in theircareers and what types of engineering issuesthey work with on a daily basis. Many firmsoffer internships and co-op opportunitiesthat are extremely useful in deciding on acollege major. Published data suggests thatengineers who had an internship or co-opopportunity as an undergraduate notedhigher job-satisfaction in their careers. Takethe initiative and contact several firms.

Trends, Past and FutureWe talk a lot about ‘Emerging Trends’ thesedays. There are many speakers (also sellingtheir books) offering their insight intoopportunities and challenges that lie aheadfor engineers. We should pay close attentionand use the available information as best wecan in moving forward.


Edgar G. Williams, PEPresident ACEC/G

ACeCNewsConsistent with the worn-out saying,

my hindsight is 20-20. I wish I had had moreinsights available to me earlier in my career.Below are several things I did not foresee, butborrowing a quote from fellow SouthCarolina native, Darius Rucker (formerly ofHootie and the Blowfish), “Thank God forall I missed ’cause it led me here to this.”1. The enjoyment I would receive from

the human-interaction involved in solv-ing engineering problems and manag-ing business issues.

2. That I was not going to be the source ofall knowledge and that almost everyproblem has been studied by someone,somewhere, sometime.

3. That there are non-engineers out there,including public-minded elected offi-

cials, contractors, and tradesmen forexample, who are very savvy, dedi-cated, and effective in dealing withcomplex issues.

4. That computerized automation andcontrol would become thoroughly inte-grated into all engineering disciplines,radically changing how we designthings.

5. That getting my Professional Engineer-ing license (even though I was initiallyin an exempt industrial job), would addmuch flexibility in my career path.

6. That so many of my early-career refer-ences are retired or deceased now that Iam finally applying for National Councilof Engineering Examiners registration.

I did guess correctly on one thing, thatbeyond the satisfaction of ‘giving somethingback,’ volunteer involvement in serviceorganizations and professional/technicalassociations would be extremely valuable indeveloping my personal skill-set and makingsignificant business contacts. As with theother engineering associations featured inGeorgia Engineer, ACEC/G’s forums,committees, and programs provide ‘soft-skill’development to its members in a very costeffective way. As an engineering employer, Ihave used these opportunities to enhanceleadership development, net-working skills,and public speaking skills for myself and mystaff. I believe the time committed willpayback dramatically in staff developmentand new business. v

Edgardo Aponte, Development Planning & Engineering

Robert Askew, Keck & Wood Inc.Bruno Barros, Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc.Matt Calak, Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc.Joseph Davis, Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.Tyler Denning, ARCADISWilson Dent, NBP Engineers Inc.Julie Doyle, Wolverton & Associates Inc.Ali Ebrahimi, Geosyntec ConsultantsMark Edwards, Pond & Company

Sarah Fick, Geosyntec ConsultantsJosue Gallegos, Geosyntec ConsultantsRyan Graves, ARCADISAdam Hanley, S&ME Inc.Michael High, Wolverton & Associates Inc.Shae Hoschek, Golder Associates Inc.Jennifer King, HNTB CorporationWhitney Law, Geosyntec ConsultantsCaroline Nelson, Geosyntec ConsultantsKatherine Parks, Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc.Sunil Puri, Walter P Moore and Associates Inc.

Maureen Roth, Geosyntec ConsultantsJesus Sanchez, Geosyntec ConsultantsBobby Shayan, Wolverton & Associates Inc.Joseph Sura, Geosyntec ConsultantsAndrew Swift, Pond & CompanyWill Tanner, Geosyntec ConsultantsKal Vencill, Golder Associates Inc.Justin Watzman, HNTB CorporationLisa Woods, Jacobs

ACEC/G 2012-2013 Future Leaders Program

ACEC/G is pleased to introduce its 2012-2013 Future Leaders Program participants. The Future Leaders Program is targeted to all risingindustry professionals who are employed by an ACEC/G member firm and nominated by its owner or principal. The 2012-13 Program runsfrom September 2012 to May 2013 and includes a commitment to eight sessions and a recognition program at the ACEC/G May GeneralMembership Meeting. The value this program provides participants includes the opportunity to mingle with other like-minded peers in theprofession, gain insight into various aspects of successful firm operations, and learn leadership concepts.


AsCeNews

Lisa S. Woods, P.E., PresidentAmerican Society of Civil Engineers, Georgia Section | e-mail: [email protected] | www.ascega.org

PresidentLisa S. Woods, [email protected]

President-Elect Katherine McLeod Gurd, [email protected]

Vice President Rebecca Shelton, P.E.Gwinnett County [email protected]

Treasurer Dan Agramonte, P.E.O'BRIEN & [email protected]

External Director Keith Cole, [email protected]

Internal Director Christina Vulova, P.E.URS [email protected]

Secretary Ernie Pollitzer, MS P.E.

Sierra [email protected]

Technical Director Richard Morales, M.Sc., P.E. LB Foster Piling [email protected]

Younger Member DirectorJulie Secrist, P.E.Lowe [email protected]

Savannah Branch Director C. J. Chance

NE Georgia Branch Director Matthew Tanner, P.E.Breedlove Land Planning Inc. [email protected]

South Metro Branch DirectorGreg A. Wombough, P.E.Universal Engineering [email protected]

Past-PresidentJames R. Wallace, Sc.D., P.E.AMEC (retired)[email protected]

ASCE/GEORGIA SECTION 2012 - 2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Greetings!The theme for this year’s Engineers Week isCelebrate Awesome!! Hopefully, you hadthe opportunity to volunteer during E-Week.If not, don’t worry, we are celebrating awe-some and volunteerism all year long!!

Volunteer OpportunitiesWe have many volunteer opportunities to getyou involved throughout the year. Our‘What Do Civil Engineers Do?’ contest urgeskids to be creative and offers cash prizes!

We are so excited to be partnering withSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,and Mathematics) schools around Georgiawhere we participate in workshops and edu-cation—our schools so far—Marietta Cen-ter for Academic Achievement (MCAA),Marietta Middle School (MMS), and LibertyElementary in Canton. We will be partici-pating in STEM events throughout the year.We also participate with GSPE in Math-counts and for the last several years, we haveparticipated in the SkillsUSA Career Expo at

the convention center near Hartsfield. Please contact our Director of External Af-fairs, Keith Cole, to volunteer!

Exploring Engineering Academy atGeorgia TechNeeded – Professional Engineer Volunteers andStudents in 10th, 11th, and 12th Grades!The Exploring Engineering Academy (EEA)at Georgia Tech in June is an awesome pro-

gram put together by the Learning for Life Di-vision of the Atlanta Area Council of the BoyScouts of America and the Georgia Engineer-ing Foundation and championed for ASCE byRichard Morales! ASCE has been honoredand excited to participate for many years.

Participants explore engineering as a ca-reer by engaging in hands-on engineering ac-tivities, touring engineering facilities, andinteracting with engineers and students from

all major engineering disciplines. The fiveday program consists of a different engineer-ing theme each day. The program not onlyfocuses on the important skills needed forsuccess in the field of engineering and sci-ence such as math and science but also looksat problem solving, design and analysis, teambuilding, project management, and commu-nications.

For the last 11 years running, the Ex-ploring Engineer Academy has brought to-gether talented students to the GeorgiaInstitute of Technology campus to exposethem to the world of engineering. Studentstour state-of-the-art engineering sites allaround metro Atlanta, in the hopes that theywill pursue an exciting engineering careerand to open their minds that they too maybe able to obtain an engineering degree.

It is through our volunteers’ efforts thatthe EEA program has excited and exposedthese bright youths with practical knowledgeof, and experience in, the rewarding and ex-citing career field of engineering and science.

Come join us in support of our highlysuccessful 2013 Academy held at GeorgiaTech from June 2 – June 7, 2013: Sunday, June 2GT Registration, Team Building Monday, June 3Civil Engineering & Astronomy Tuesday, June 4Transportation & Electrical Engineering Wednesday, June 5Architectural, Mechanical, Micro-Electron-ics & Bio-Med Engineering Thursday, June 6Aerospace & Robotics Engineering Friday, June 7

Industrial Engineering & GT AdmissionsSuccess/Co-Op

Please contact Richard Morales at 404-275-6430 or [email protected] for moreinformation.

Report CardWe are ramping up to begin another updateto our Georgia Infrastructure Report Card,slated for a January 2014 release! RebeccaShelton and Dan Agramonte are leading thiseffort so please contact them if you’re inter-ested in getting involved.

On that note, we are hosting a ‘PR Uni-versity’ in Atlanta this spring. This is aworkshop that ASCE National conducts andoffers a hands-on introduction to public re-lations for civil engineers and gives attendeestools and tips for implementing public rela-tions into their local activities and profes-sional work. Contact Keith Cole to sign upand stay tuned for more information!

Remember…Please join us at one of our remaining sec-tion meetings this year! March 1, April 5,May 3, and June 7. Please check out our

new Web site, www.ascega.org, for more in-formation. New this year! We will be hold-ing raffles at select meetings for items likeFalcons tickets, etc. Please bring cash. Allmoney collected goes directly to our schol-arship fund. We are also looking for items toraffle if you or your company would like todonate.

I would like to extend a sincere thankyou to our sponsors—RWC Hardscapes,Belgard Hardscapes, JACOBS, HaywardBaker, AECOM, Heath and Lineback,ASCE Region 5, ASCE Foundation and LBFoster, and Evonik. Please contact me if youare interested in becoming a sponsor.

In closing, please email me at any timeif you have questions, concerns, suggestions,or would like to volunteer! Take care! v

Scholarship. Mellissa Allardyce and DavidPeters were the winners. Both studentshave outstanding academic, work, and ex-tracurricular records and both students alsoexpressed a strong interest in continuing towork in the transportation field after theygraduate. Congratulations to Mellissa andDavid.

We have a full calendar of spring eventsincluding our ever popular poker and golftournaments as well as our second annualASHE/WTS tennis tournament, so checkthe Web site (www.ashega.org) regularly forwhat’s coming up.

We look forward to seeing you soon,

Ron Osterloh, P.E., PresidentAmerican Society of Highway Engineers, Georgia Section v


As spring approaches and 2012 is over, theASHE membership renewal period hasended, and I want to thank all the ASHEmembers who have renewed and welcome allof our new members. The ASHE member-ship is a strong as it has ever been and thanksto the wonderful programs put together by our programs committee, our excellent so-cial events organized by our social commit-tee, and the hard work by our membershipcommittee we continue to grow. In additionto our full membership, our new ASHE stu-dent section is also growing strong. We cur-rently have over 25 new members and theyhave elected a student ASHE board that isvery energized and active.

The fall and winter has brought usmany great ASHE events, from bowling to

a few great ‘standing room’ only lunchmeetings. These were highlighted by a veryin depth presentation and a great lesson onliability in highway design by Dr. Parson-son and a peak at what the future may bringafter the unsuccessful T-Splost vote inMetro Atlanta. In addition to our generalmeetings, ASHE celebrated our fourth an-nual holiday social. Our holiday social wasattended by the ASHE National President(Charlie FLowe) and proved to be anothergreat success, collecting over 100 toys fortoys for tots and allowing us to thank ourmembership and our volunteers for anothergreat year. Another great program that hashad an overwhelming success is the InRoads Users Group that meets everymonth. InRoads users from GDOT, local

cities and counties as well as consultantshave been able to come together and sharegreat ideas and help overcome any of thenew software’s challenges.

ASHE has also been working closelywith our colleagues at ITE to hold our firstjoint ITE/ASHE winter conference. Theconference will be held on February 24-25at the University of Georgia Continuing Ed-ucation Conference Center in Athens. Wehave a great program as well as an opportu-nity to collaborate, learn, and socialize.

Scholarship WinnersThrough our continued success at our GolfTournament and our other events, ASHEwas fortunate to be able to award two morestudents with our 2012 Jim McGee ASHE

AsHeNews

Ron Osterloh, P.E., PresidentAmerican Society of Highway Engineers / Georgia Section

President ~ Ron Osterloh, Pond &Company

First Vice President ~ Michael Bywaletz,Gresham Smith and Partners

Second Vice President ~ Brian O’Connor,Gresham Smith and Partners

Secretary ~ Karyn Matthews, GDOT

Treasurer ~ Richard Meehan, LoweEngineers

Past President and Regional Rep ~ TimMatthews, GDOT

Director ~ Shawn Fleet, Heath and Lineback

National Director ~ Nikki Reutlinger,Atkins

ChairsNominating Committee Chair ~ TimMatthews, GDOT

Program Chair ~ Rob Dell-Ross, city ofRoswell

Membership Chair ~ Scott Jordan, CobbCounty

Scholarship Chair ~ Sarah Worachek,Gresham Smith and Partners

ASHE Student Chapter Liason ~ KevinRiggs, Gresham Smith and Partners

Technical Chairs ~ Dan Bodycomb,AECOM; Chris Rudd, GDOT

Communications Chair ~ Jenny Jenkins,McGee Partners

Social Chair ~ Elizabeth Scales, ThompsonEngineering

Golf Tournament Chair ~ Ashley Chan,HNTB

Web site Chairs ~ Mindy Sanders, HatchMott MacDonald; Pervez Iqbal, HNTB

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

February 24-25, 2013ITE/ASHE Winter Conference (Athens, Georgia)

March 21, 2013Poker Tourney

April 12, 2013General Meeting (Athens, Georgia)

April 24, 2013Tennis Tourney

May TBD, 2013Golf Tourney

June 21, 2013General Meeting

Fourth Annual ASHE Holiday Social

Use A CompAny

yoU CAn trUst witH yoUr

trAnslAtion projeCt,

because a little mistake

in another language

can have unpleasant results.

“Gort! Klaatu Borada nikto.”

(770) 521-8877


GspeNews

David W. Simoneau, P.E.,. President Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

“I don’t know what your destiny will be,but one thing I know: the only onesamong you who will be really happy arethose who have sought and found how toserve.” ~Albert Schweitzer

When you read this, the chapter competi-tions for 2013 MATHCOUNTS chaptercompetitions will probably be over and thestate competition will be right in front of us.This sets the stage for a call for you to vol-unteer. As engineers, we often get too fo-cused on our work and we forget to give backto the community. With the economy af-fecting the amount of work we have, our jobsare often busy trying to move the project for-ward. As a result, we seem to have less timefor our personal lives. So we just leave outthose things that we see as non-essential,such as volunteering.

However, the competitions and pro-grams that we skip over may be the best hopeto encourage someone to achieve greaterthings. We may even plant the idea in a stu-dent’s mind that will encourage him or her tobecome an engineer. While I have a specialplace in my heart for the MATHCOUNTSprogram, there are several other programsthat encourage the next generation to thinkabout science, technology, engineering, andmath (STEM) careers. Among these are Sci-ence Olympiad, Future Cities, Exploring En-gineering Academy, other state and regionalmath competitions, and presentations inclassrooms across the state.

The MATHCOUNTS program hasnumerous aspects that are usually originatedand pursued by the schools and students.However, the annual competitions in Geor-gia are primarily the responsibility of theGeorgia Society of Professional Engineers.

We hold competitions at the local level byour chapters. Each chapter is responsible forcontacting the participating schools, secur-ing the venue, gathering volunteers, request-ing sponsors, and providing awards for thewinners. The size of these competitionsvaries greatly. However, the Atlanta MetroChapter has been so successful at this effortthat they hold the competition on more thanone day to accommodate all of the studentsthat want to participate. Their competitionis one of the largest in the nation. Your nextchance to participate in this wonderful eventis the state competition held at Georgia Techin March. If you want to volunteer, send mean e-mail and I will forward your informa-tion to our coordinator.

This unashamed plug for the MATH-COUNTS competition by no means indi-cates that the other programs are not equallyimportant. As a matter of fact, you shouldconsider finding areas that might require youto ask if you can help rather than them ask-ing you. In years past, I have been a judge ata local school’s science fair. They are thrilledto have engineers as judges. Last year, mypredecessor invited me to join him at an el-ementary school to encourage youngsters inusing their minds. We gave them tape andcraft sticks and told them to build a bridge.They were very inventive. By the time wewere finished, each student had participatedand learned a little bit more about the designprocess. Two years ago I made a presenta-tion at a STEM Night program on what en-gineers do. You would be amazed at howmany students, and parents, do not knowwhat we do. In years past, I went to mywife’s class to explain how the science theywere studying could be used in practical ap-plication. The purpose of this list is not to

establish my credentials, but rather to en-courage you to find new avenues to give backto your community in a way that will buildfuture engineers.

While you are thinking about how youcan participate, encourage those around youto do the same thing. You may build newfriendships that encourage you. So investi-gate opportunities to show the communitythat you care and that being an engineer canbe fun. Find a place where you can make acontribution that highlights your engineer-ing skills and expertise. Be a mentor, teach aclass, make a demonstration, or volunteer tohelp an ongoing program. You will make adifference in someone’s life. v

iteNews

Dwayne Tedder, PEGeorgia Section, Institute of Transportation Engineers

Hello, Georgia Engineer Magazine readers.This is the first of several installments of thisyear’s President’s Message from the GeorgiaSection of the Institute of Transportation En-gineers (GA ITE).

As I begin, I would first like to thankthe members and leadership within GA ITEfor allowing me to serve as President thisyear. I would also like to thank a couple ofmentors in my career and involvement inGA ITE; specifically Scott Mohler withURS, and Harry Rice with Atkins.

Next, I would like to congratulate ourPast President, John Karnowski, for his lead-ership as the President for 2012. GA ITEwas able to accomplish many goals in 2012including strengthening our membership,providing training and networking opportu-nities, and hosting meetings and seminars tokeep our membership at the top of the pro-fession. I offer congratulations to all of GAITE’s 2012 leadership and committees on ajob well done for last year. We had our an-nual meeting in December to recognize ouraccomplishments and award winners, thankthose who worked hard, and enjoy an out-standing social event that even worked insome comedy. Some of the comedy was

planned, and some was not planned.I am one who likes to focus on priori-

ties. My vision for GA ITE in 2013 is to alsofocus on priorities that are important to ourcurrent and prospective members. Several ofthese priorities are:1. Services and Benefits of Membership

a. Technical and Professional Trainingand Development ~ GA ITE livesand breathes on our ability to pro-vide our membership with the lat-est technical training.

b. Networking ~ We have monthlymeetings, seminars, and workshopsthat provide our members with nu-merous opportunities to networkwith clients, peers, employers, can-didates, etc.

c. Furthering the Transportation En-gineering Profession ~ GA ITEshould be engaging our member-ship in promoting the professionthrough media, seminar presenta-tions, and technical workshops.

d. Volunteer Opportunities ~ GA ITEgets involved in several opportuni-ties every year to ‘give back’ to ourprofession and surrounding com-

munity. GA ITE has many com-mittees that give our members op-portunities to serve theorganization and further their ownexperience and career. GA ITE alsohas committees that focus on serv-ing our community like river clean-ups, food bank volunteering, andworking with our local schools.

2. Value of Membership ~ GA ITE seeksincreased membership, more network-ing, bigger and better conferences. IfGA ITE provides significant value withour membership, other goals of the sec-tion like membership growth and spon-sorship increases will take care ofthemselves. A few of the key items thatprovide value that come to mind are:a. eBlast e-mail to our members to

keep them up-to-date with ourplanned activities, provide links toonline registration and payment formany of our events. Transportationengineers in Georgia in the publicor private sector need to keep upwith the latest innovations andprogress of the profession. GA ITE

Southern Polyand Georgia

Tech Scholar-ship Award

Winners

GDOTCommissionerKeith Golden

receivingTransportationProfessional of

the Year Awardfrom Mike Holt

strives to fill up the calendar withinteresting and beneficial events.

b. The GA ITE Web site atwww.gaite.org, which helps localaffiliate members keep their contactinformation current. The Web sitealso provides information on themany events, committees, and pro-grams that GA ITE provides.

c. GA ITE membership provides adiscount to our monthly meetingsand many of our seminars andworkshops. If you attend a few ofour meetings or seminars, the costfor the affiliate membership willmore than pay for itself.

3. Continuing to make efforts to partnerwith other organizations. ~ GA ITE haspartnered with ASCE, ASHE, ITSGA,WTS, and others over the years. We

want to continue and enhance thosepartnerships and we want to explore op-tions for partnering with other organi-zations. Joint meetings and seminarsprovide our membership with evengreater opportunities for collaborationand networking.

4. Propelling the Transportation WinterWorkshop to a higher status by partner-ing with the American Society of High-way Engineers (ASHE) – GeorgiaChapter. Save the date for February 24– 25. Registration opens soon.

3rd Annual Transportation WinterWorkshop ~ An Interactive Learning Ex-perience | Athens, Georgia | Universityof Georgia Hotel & Conference Center.Session Topics were: Highway engineer-ing,Traffic engineering, Transportation

planning, Environmental processes,Georgia DOT’s Plan DevelopmentProcess, Problem‐solving exercises

5. Continuing the success of the GA ITESummer Seminar – Save the Date forJuly 21 – 24. This is GA ITE’s premierevent of the year with three days of tech-nical presentations, networking, and so-cial activities, and at a St. Simons Island,Georgia location that can’t be beat.

6. Working with the Academic Member-ship ~ Our organization should be pro-viding the cutting edge of research inour profession. Our professors and re-searchers at Georgia Tech and SouthernPoly are ‘hands on’ with the state of thepractice of transportation engineeringand planning.

7. Branching out to areas of Georgia out-side of Atlanta ~ GA ITE was born inthe city of Atlanta, but for many yearsour membership has included membersfrom outside of Atlanta. We need toprovide opportunities for training andeducation to our non-Atlanta members.In the past we have provided TechnicalExchanges and Workshops in Rome,Dalton, Columbus, and other cities.

If all of this talk of ITE is new to you, ormaybe you are getting this magazine becauseyou just joined one of the member organi-zations for e Georgia Engineer Magazine,then I’ll provide some background informa-tion on ITE ~ from the ITE Web site(www.ite.org): The Institute of Transporta-tion Engineers is an international educa-tional and scientific association oftransportation professionals who are re-sponsible for meeting mobility and safetyneeds. ITE facilitates the application oftechnology and scientific principles to re-search, planning, functional design, imple-mentation, operation, policy development,and management for any mode of groundtransportation. Through its products andservices, ITE promotes professional devel-opment of its members, supports and en-courages education, stimulates research,develops public awareness programs, andserves as a conduit for the exchange of pro-fessional information. v


Board Position Member E-mail PhonePresident Dwayne Tedder [email protected] 404.406.8791Vice President Jonathan Reid [email protected] 404.364.5225Secretary/Treasurer Andrew Antweiler [email protected] 678.639.7540Past President John Karnowski [email protected] 770.368.1399District Representative David Low [email protected] 770.594.6422District Representative Carla Holmes [email protected] 678.518.3654District Representative Jim Tolson [email protected] 404.635.2849Affiliate Director Patrick McAtee [email protected] 404.574.1985

Committee Activities Chair(s) E-mail PhoneAnnual Report Jim Tolson [email protected] 404.635.2849Audio/Visual Mark Boivin [email protected] 404.374.1283Awards/Nominations John Karnowski [email protected] 770.368.1399Career Guidance Brendetta Walker [email protected] 404.364.5235Clerk Elizabeth Scales [email protected] 404.574.1985Comptroller Jim Pohlman [email protected] 770.972.9709Engineers Week Steven Sheffield [email protected] Engineer Magazine Dan Dobry [email protected] 770.971.5407Georgia Tech Liaison Paul DeNard [email protected] 404.635.2843Historian Charles Bopp [email protected] 678.380.9053Host Vamshi Mudumba [email protected] 770.423.0807Legislative Affairs Bill Ruhsam [email protected] 678.728.9076Life Membership Don Gaines [email protected] 404.355.4010Marketing Shannon Fain [email protected] 770.813.0882Membership Sunita Nadella [email protected] 678.969.2304Monthly Meetings Jonathan Reid [email protected] 404.364.5225Newsletter Vern Wilburn [email protected] 678.423.0050 Past Presidents Todd Long [email protected] 404.631.1021Public Officials Education Scott Mohler [email protected] 678.808.8811Scholarship Mike Crawford [email protected] 678.333.0319Southern Poly Liaison Bryan Sartin [email protected] 678.518.3884Summer Seminar Sean Coleman [email protected] 404.419.8781Technical/Website France Campbell [email protected] 678.518.3952Winter Workshop Larry Overn [email protected] 770.813.0882

Your ITS Board of Directors recently held ameeting to review our progress in 2012 andplan for what we believe will be an exciting2013 for our members. It will be hard to top2012, our 15th year of operation and theyear we received our second ITS AmericaOutstanding State Chapter of the YearAward.

We held eight chapter meetings in 2012with an average registered attendance of al-most 55 per meeting. We also held our firstlegislative reception, and we had an informalafter-work social event. Our annual meetingwas a great success with a 97 percent ratingof meeting or exceeding expectations.

Other highlights from 2012 annualmeeting include:• 125 registered attendees• 24 exhibitors and 17 sponsors• 5 technical sessions and 22 speakers• 7.5 professional development hours for

Professional Engineers

Following closely with our Mission State-ment, we plan to build on 2012 with moreopportunities to network, learn about newsolutions, educate decision makers about thebenefits of ITS, and further our members’professional growth.

In 2013, we plan on having moremonthly meetings, a half-day technical train-ing session, a meet and greet with state law-makers (co-branded with Georgia ITE) and

a return to Callaway Gardens for our 2013annual meeting September 14-17.

Please join us at these meetings andbring a friend. We’ll keep you posted ontimes and locations on our Web site and bye-mail. If you are not on our email list, thenvisit www.itsga.org, or scan the QR code andenter your information via smartphone.

I also want to welcome new members to

our board whose two-year term begins in2013. Winter Horbal, Temple Inc.; MichaelRoberson, Georgia Department of Trans-portation; David Smith, DeKalb CountyDepartment of Transportation; and PrasoonSinha, ACRADIS, join the board and offi-cers listed below. v

Scott Mohler, P.E.ITS President

its News

OUR 2013 SPONSORSControl Technologies

MetrotechTempleArcadis

Gresham Smith and PartnersHNTB

World Fiber TechnologiesAtkinsDelcan

Kimley-Horn and AssociatesSensys

Southern Lighting and Traffic SystemsURS

TelventCambridge Systematics

Grice ConsultingWolverton & Associates

PresidentScott Mohler, URS Corporation

Vice PresidentTom Sever, Gwinnett DOT

SecretaryKristin Turner, Wolverton

and Associates Inc.

TreasurerChristine Simonton, Delcan

DirectorsMark Demidovich, GDOT

Susie Dunn, ARCEric Graves, City of Alpharetta

Carla Holmes, Gresham Smith & PartnersWinter Horbal, Temple Inc.

Keary Lord, Douglas County DOT Michael Roberson, GDOT

David Smith, Dekalb Co. TransportationPrasoon Sinha, ARCADISGrant Waldrop, GDOT

State Chapters RepresentativeKenny Voorhies, Cambridge

Systematics Inc.

Ex OfficioGreg Morris, Federal Highway

AdministrationAndres Ramirez, Federal Transit

Administration

ITS GEORGIA CHAPTER LEADERSHIP

February 28March 28April 25May 23June 27

July 25August 29September 14-17

Annual MeetingOctober 31

Our monthly meeting dates for theremainder of 2013 are:

ITS Georgia Mission

We believe that ITS is a valuable tool for im-proved management of any transportation sys-tem, regardless of the inherent complexity ofthe system. ITS can help operate, manage, andmaintain the system once it has been con-structed.

We believe that ITS should be systemati-cally incorporated into the earliest stages ofproject development, especially into the plan-ning and design of transportation projects.

We believe the best way to achieve this sys-tematic incorporation into the process isthrough a coordinated, comprehensive pro-gram to ‘get out the word’ on ITS to con-stituencies that might not other consider therelevance of ITS to their transportation system.


First of all, I would like to publicly thank theBoard of Directors of WTS Atlanta that I haveserved with over the past two years for all oftheir support: Jennifer King, President; TonyaSaxon, Vice President of Membership; LaurieReed, Vice President of Programs; MarissaMartin, Treasurer; Helen McSwain, Director-at-Large; Beth Ann Schwartz, Director-at-Large; Jennifer Harper, Director-at-Large;Heather Alhadeff, Director-at-Large; andEmily Swearingen, Immediate Past President.

I am very excited about the new boardthat I am serving with for the 2013-2014term and appreciate their enthusiasm:Marissa Martin, Vice President of Member-ship; Tonya Saxon, Vice President of Pro-grams; Jennifer Stefan, Treasurer; KirstenBerry, Secretary; Helen McSwain, Director-at-Large; Beth Ann Schwartz, Director-at-Large; Regan Hammond, Director-at-Large;Shelley Lamar, Director-at-Large; and Jen-nifer King, Immediate Past President.

Since there may be some new readers tothe magazine or others that may need a re-fresher, WTS, or Women’s TransportationSeminar, is an international organization thatis dedicated to the advancement of women inthe transportation industry. Locally, the WTSAtlanta chapter, founded in 1978, continuesto be one of the largest chapters in the south-eastern United States. Our membership cov-ers all modes of transportation both in thepublic and private sector. A common mis-conception about WTS is that it is a ‘women’sorganization’; in actuality, male membershiphas increased significantly just in the past yearand men consistently attend events and sup-port the mission of the chapter.

One of the main goals of our chapter, aswell as WTS International, is to award mul-tiple scholarships each year to deserving fe-

male high school and college students whoexcel in their academic pursuits in the field oftransportation. On a local level, some of

these recipients win cash, while others arerecommended to win a scholarship at the na-tional level during the annual WTS Interna-

wtsNews

Angela Snyder, P.E.President, WTS Atlanta

WTS ATLANTA 2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Angela Snyder, P.E. President [email protected] Wolverton & Associates Inc.Marissa Martin, P.E. Vice President, Membership [email protected], Smith and PartnersTonya Saxon Vice President, Programs [email protected] Berry Secretary [email protected] CorporationJennifer Stephan, EIT Treasurer [email protected], Smith and PartnersBeth Ann Schwartz, P.E. Director-at-Large [email protected] Baker CorporationHelen McSwain, P.E. Director-at-Large [email protected] Hammond Director-at-Large [email protected] Regional CommissionShelley Lamar Director-at-Large [email protected] Atlanta International AirportJennifer King, P.E. Immediate Past President [email protected] Corporation

We are looking forward to the 2013 year atSEAOG, as there are a lot of interestingthings going on.

The following membership meeting topicsare planned for the spring:

January 17: Lateral Stability of OpenWood Structures

February 21: Use of Laser Scanning andSurveying

March 21: Quality Assurance Plan Guid-ance to Firms

April 18: Shape-Memory Metal Alloys forStructural Uses

May 16: Design for High Winds andEmergency Shelters

Thanks to Wilbur Bragg and the ProgramsSubcommittee for their vital work in organ-izing these opportunities for education.

In addition to the membership meeting pre-sentations, SEAOG will begin providingtraining for the new 16-hour licensing examrequired for structural engineers. We willhave four classes ready for the spring:

Wood DesignDate TBD, from 4:00-7:00 pm AASHTO DesignDate TBD, from 4:00-7:00 pmMasonry DesignDate TBD, from 4:00 – 7:00 pmIBC Code Review ClassDate TBD, from 4:00 – 7:00 pm

Both classes will be held at the offices ofUzun & Case Engineers, 201 17th Street

NW, Suite 1200, Atlanta, Georgia 30363.More details will follow, however the costs ofthe classes will be kept at a minimum.

SEAOG will also be offering a full day springseminar on the major changes in the up-coming ASCE7-10 code. The seminar willbe conducted by Dr. S. K. Ghosh, who is aknowledgeable authority on this topic. Thiscode change will incorporate very significantchanges to the way we calculate wind andseismic loads, so it is an opportunity not tobe missed for structural engineers. The datefor this seminar is tentatively in April 2013.

Our subcommittees to coordinate ac-tivities in the separate areas of service are:Structural Engineering EmergencyResponse (SEER)Structural Engineering Licensing (SE)Programs (for monthly membershipmeetings)Liaison with the Board of RegistrationLegislative CouncilYoung Members GroupLiaison to the NCSEA 2013 Convention(in Atlanta, September, 2013)Awards Program (for winter 2013-2014)

Each subcommittee includes a member ofthe board and a separate chairman. Sub-committee meeting notes, subcommitteepurpose, and active members can be foundon the SEAOG Web site. Please visit the siteand volunteer !

Mark on your calendars that theNCSEA National Convention will be in At-lanta, September 18-21, 2013 at the Westin,Buckhead.

In summary, the Structural EngineersAssociation of Georgia of continues to offer

quality continuing education and profes-sional networking. We encourage you tokeep tabs on our events and activities atwww.seaog.org. Please consider getting in-volved with one or more of our subcom-mittees. Your involvement will keepSEAOG effective in service to the profes-sional structural engineers of Georgia longinto the future. v

seAoGNews

Rob Weilacher, PE, SE PresidentThe Structural Engineers Association of Georgia

Solving Subsurface

Problems Since 1981

• Subsurface Utility Engineering (SuE)

• Underground utility locating

• Subsurface mapping and profiling

• Concrete imaging and inspection

• Geophysical exploration

• 3D subsurface imaging

• Geophysical borehole logging

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NC: 919-406-1808 www.gel.com


tional Conference. WTS Atlanta has sub-mitted several candidates in the past thathave gone on to become national winners. In addition to scholarships, WTS Interna-tional as a partner with USDOT, has devel-oped a program called Transportation YOU,launched in 2012, that seeks to provide ahands-on, interactive, mentoring programthat offers young girls ages 13 to 18 an in-troduction to a wide variety of transporta-tion careers. WTS Atlanta has teamed upwith Grady High School Robotics team toparticipate in this exciting opportunity.High school students and WTS Atlantamembers have paired up as Big and LittleSisters to foster a mentor protégé relation-ship. One pair will be chosen in March toattend the DC Summit in Washingtonwhere the girls will meet high level officialswithin USDOT and learn how they can im-pact their world through STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Math) fields.

Another successful program that WTSAtlanta offers every other year is the Mentor-Protégé Program. This program pairs youngfemale professionals with experienced men-tors in the transportation industry. On amonthly basis, these pairs get together anddiscuss ways to advance in their career. Weare currently seeking both protégés and men-tors to participate in this rewarding programfor 2013. If you are interested, please con-tact Tonya Saxon, [email protected] orLaurie Reed, [email protected], co-chairs forthe Mentor-Protégé program.

Other programs that are anticipated for

the spring are Engineers Week, Heels onWheels, an Atlanta Bicycle Coalition event,and a joint program with Young Profession-als in Transportation. It is anticipated thatwe will again co-host a joint Tennis Tourna-ment with ASHE in late spring. And it isnever too early to begin gearing up for theannual Scholarship Luncheon that is held inthe fall. Planning for the event requires timefrom the generous volunteers within thechapter and that will begin at the end ofspring or the beginning of summer.

2013 is shaping up to be an eventfulyear for WTS Atlanta. Many of these pro-grams are not possible without the help ofour corporate partners. We would like tothank all of the 2012 corporate partners andhope that they will continue to support the

mission of WTS through their sponsorshipfor 2013:Platinum Level: Jacobs; HNTB; MARTA

Gold Level: Edwards-Pitman Environmen-tal, Inc.; JAT Consulting Services Inc.

Silver Level: HJAIA; Atkins; Croy Engi-neering; GeoStats; PSI

Bronze Level: Atlanta Regional Commis-sion; Georgia Department of Transportation;Gresham Smith Partners; Kimley Horn andAssociates; McGee Partners Inc.; Reynolds,Smith and Hill; Stantec; STV/Ralph White-head & Associates; Wolverton & AssociatesInc. v

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Georgia Engineer (Feb - Mar) 2013

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