Volume 21, Issue 1

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING

G E O R G I A

ENGINEER®

2014 EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERINGAWARDS

DOWNTOWN WINDER’SINNOVATIVE RENOVATION OF BROAD STREET

2014 ENGINEER OFTHE YEAR AWARDS

http://www.coe.gatech.edu

GEORGIA ENGINEER4

Publisher: A4 Inc.1154 Lower Birmingham RoadCanton, Georgia 30115Tel.: 770-521-8877 | Fax: 770-521-0406E-mail: p.frey@a4inc.com

Editor-in-Chief: Roland Petersen-FreyManaging Editor: Daniel SimmonsArt Direction/Design: Pam Petersen-Frey

Georgia Engineering Alliance233 Peachtree Street | Harris Tower, #700Atlanta, Georgia 30303Tel.: 404-521-2324 | Fax: 404-521-0283

Georgia Engineer Editorial BoardThomas C. Leslie, ChairMichael L. (Sully) Sullivan, ACEC Georgia, PresidentGwen D. Brandon, CAE, ACEC Georgia, Chief Operating Officer

GSPE RepresentativesTim Glover, PE

ACEC/Georgia RepresentativesB.J. Martin, PELee Philips

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

ITE RepresentativesDaniel Dobry, PE, PTOEJohn Edwards, PE

ITS/G RepresentativesBill Wells, PEShaun Green, PEKay Wolfe, PE

WTS RepresentativeAngela Snyder

ASHE RepresentativeJenny Jenkins, PE

SEAOG RepresentativeRob Wellacher, PE

The Georgia Engineer is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc. for the Georgia Engineering Allianceand sent to members of ACEC, ASCE, ASHE, GEF, GSPE, ITE, SEAOG, WTS; local, state, andFederal government officials and agencies; businesses and institutions. Opinions expressed by the au-thors are not necessarily those of the Alliance or publisher nor do they accept responsibility for er-rors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products oradvertisements appearing herein. Parts of this periodical may be reproduced with the written con-sent from the Alliance and publisher. Correspondence regarding address changes should be sent tothe Alliance at the address above. Correspondence regarding advertising and editorial material shouldbe sent to A4 Inc. at the address listed above.

G E O R G I A

ENGINEER

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 5

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL GEORGIA ENGINEERING ALLIANCE

ASSOCIATION MEMBERS FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THIS YEAR'S

EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING

ADVERTISEMENTSAECOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41AEI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48AIA Contract Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Allied Energy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Anderson Corporate Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Ayres Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Cardno TBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management . . . . . . . . . 45Columbia Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41CROM Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21EcoWise Civil Design & Consulting Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Edwards-Pitman Environmental Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Engineered Restorations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Facility Design Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Georgia 811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Georgia Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back CoverGeorgia Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front CoverGeosyntec Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Hayward Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back CoverHazen & Sawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6HDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Heath & Lineback Engineers Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14ITE Winter Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Jacobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20JAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Keck & Wood Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Kennedy Engineering & Associates Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Mercer University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50MH Miles Certified Public Accountants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Middleton-House & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11North Georgia Technical College. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Photo Science Geospatial Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Pond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Prime Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Reinforced Earth Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49RHD Utility Locating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29ROSSER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48RS&H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36S&ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Schnabel Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Silt-Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Southern Polytechnic State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Stantec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Stevenson & Palmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33STV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Terrell Hundley Carroll Right of Way Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33T•H•C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28TTL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41T. Wayne Owens & Associates, PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27URS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Willmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Wolverton & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

GEORGIA ENGINEER6

ERRATUM: In the December 2013 | January 2014 edition of

the Georgia Engineer, the authors’ names were omitted in error

from the excellent article “Building Façade Inspection.” The au-

thors of that article were: Scott L. Weiland, P.E., Stephen L.

Morgan, E.I., and Trey Thomas, E.I., Innovative Engineering Inc.

T a b l e o f

CONTENTS GEORGIA ENGINEER February | March 2014

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 7

2014 Excellence in Engineering Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2014 Georgia Engineer of the Year Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Georgia Engineering News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Downtown Winder’s Innovative Renovation of Broad Street . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The Future City Competition | An Effective Middle School Outreach Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Foothills Parkway Bridge Two | Blount County Tennessee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

ACEC Georgia’s 2014 Legislative Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Dr. Sheldon Weinig | A Pioneer in Global Business, and Educator, and a benefactor for Future Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

In Appreciation of Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

The Value of an SPSU Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Tailor-made Work Approach Saved Texas Department of Transportation Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

The Mercer University School of Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

2014 EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING AWARDS 9

8 GEORGIA ENGINEER

2014 EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING AWARDS

9FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (TVA) Kingston Peninsula Disposal Siteis a repository for disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) generated by the

TVA Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) located in Roane County, Tennessee. The Sitewas originally permitted by Tennessee Department of Environmental Con-

servation (TDEC) to receive gypsum produced as a by-product from theKIF’s flue gas desulfurization system. Phase I of the Site was con-

structed and in operation when a subsidence of the underlying soils(called ‘drop-outs’) occurred in a localized area, due to the presenceof karst features in the subsurface. Consequently, TDEC issued aCommissioner’s Order for the investigation and remedy of the

problem and required TVA to cease disposal operations until thedrop-out investigation and mitigation efforts were completed.

GRANDAWARDGEOSYNTEC CONSULTANTS

TVA KINGSTON PENINSULA DISPOSAL SITE

10 GEORGIA ENGINEER

In a period of less than a year, Geosyntec identified the root cause of the subsidence,

developed a corrective action plan along with design improvements, received all

stakeholder’s buy-in, including multiple departments within TVA and TDEC, and

implemented the plan on a schedule that had no flexibility for delays, due to power

demand and operational constraints.

Through close coordi-

nation efforts, the TVA

and Geosyntec project

team overcame nu-

merous technical and

administrative com-

plexities utilizing inno-

vative engineering

practices. Regulatory

approval was ob-

tained, with minor

comments, to begin

disposal operations at

the Site as planned, in

December 2011, without any interruption beyond the planned plant outage. The Site

has been actively receiving—first wet and then dry—gypsum since December 2011. Al-

most two years after the successful completion of the project, no further drop-outs have

been observed at the Site while other systems are also functioning as intended.

Geosyntec Consultants (Geosyntec) of Atlanta was the prime consultant providing

engineering, design, permitting, and construction quality assurance services for the

Peninsula Site project located at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil

Plant (KIF).

The Peninsula Disposal Site (Site) is a repository for disposal of gypsum, one of the

coal combustion residuals (CCRs) generated by TVA’s KIF located in Roane County, Ten-

nessee. Gypsum is a by-product of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system installed at

the plant in 2010 to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions that result from the coal combus-

tion process. The Site was originally permitted in 2007 and then constructed in parallel

with the FGD system. The first 50 acre phase (Phase I) was completed in 2009 and

started receiving gypsum in 2010. Gypsum was sluiced as a slurry from the plant to the

Site with a typical water content of 70 to 80 percent by weight.

In December 2010, shortly after the Site started receiving the gypsum, a subsidence

of the underlying soils (referred to as a ‘drop-out’) occurred in a localized area due to the

presence of karst features in the subsurface. Consequently, a localized area of the ex-

isting liner system was compromised resulting in gypsum slurry being released into the

subsurface. Following the incident, the Tennessee Department of Environment and

Conservation (TDEC) issued a Commissioner’s Order for the investigation and remedy of

the problem and required TVA to cease disposal operations at the Site until the drop-out

investigation and mitigation efforts were completed.

Project complexities were both technical and administrative in nature, driven pri-

marily by challenging natural conditions, the schedule and operational demands of the

power plant, ongoing changes in the regulatory framework for CCR disposal facilities,

and heightened public interest at the KIF due to the 22 December, 2008, dated major ash

release. v

GEOSYNTEC CONSULTANTS

2014GRANDAWARD

20

14

GR

AN

D A

WA

RD

MA developed a number

of concepts, one of which

was to convert the I-285

at Ashford Dunwoody

partial cloverleaf inter-

change into a DDI. Each

alternative was modeled

to determine the travel

time benefits to compare

against impacts and costs

to determine the pre-

ferred solution. From

these results, the DDI was

then chosen as the inno-

vative alternative to carry

into the design phase by the PCIDs.

The project’s details included reconstruction of the ramp termini, the demolition

and reconstruction of the partial cloverleaf, and modifications to the existing bridge to

enable the operation of the innovative DDI. The DDI improves the interchange by removing the left turn phases from the traffic sig-

nals. Instead of stopping and waiting for the left turn lights, drivers cross over to the left side of the road and make free left turns

onto the interstate ramps.

A stakeholders’ group was formed and led by the PCIDS and Georgia Department of Transportation, Federal highway Adminis-

tration, State Road and Tollway Authority, DeKalb County, and the city of Dunwoody. This group worked together throughout the

entire design, public outreach, and con-

struction process to make the project a suc-

cess. Public outreach was a critical

component for this project. PCIDS created

an extensive “Can You DDI?” campaign that

included a test drive event, informational

booths, and media coverage.

The Ashford Dunwoody DDI project

succeeded in bringing an innovative solu-

tion to a problem that occurs throughout

metro Atlanta: how to get more capacity

out of the existing infrastructure at minimal

cost. The project was cost effective and sus-

tainable in the long term, using the existing

bridge structure and acquiring no right of

way. The project construction was fast, with

minimal impact to the users of the facility.

The commute times of drivers using Ash-

ford Dunwoody Road have been reduced,

and the pedestrian facilities crossing the in-

terstate have been brought into compliance

with the Americans with Disabilities Act. v

11FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

Georgia’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) was initiated by the Perimeter

Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs) in 2009 when they hired Moreland Altobelli

Associates Inc. (MA) to develop a cost-effective solution to the growing congestion on

Ashford Dunwoody Road between the I-285 interchange and Perimeter Center West.

MORELAND ALTOBELLI ASSOCIATES

ST

AT

E A

WA

RD

ASh

FOR

D D

UN

WO

OD

Y D

IVE

RG

ING

DIA

MO

ND

INT

ER

Ch

AN

GE

By integrating transit,

multi-use trails, green-

space, streetscapes, af-

fordable housing, econo-

mic development and

public art into a sustain-

able program to revitalize

Atlanta’s urban core, the

Atlanta BeltLine is creat-

ing new framework for

the region’s growth. First

conceived as a 1999 mas-

ter’s thesis by Georgia

Tech student Ryan

Gravel, the Atlanta Belt-

Line evolved from an idea, to a grassroots campaign of local citizens and civic leaders,

into a robust new vision of an Atlanta dedicated to an integrated approach to trans-

portation, land use, greenspace, and sustainable growth.

The Atlanta BeltLine utilizes an existing (mostly abandoned) 22-mile historic rail cor-

ridor that encircles the city of Atlanta as its foundation, bringing together 45 in-town neighborhoods and also linking them to the en-

tire metropolitan Atlanta region through a collection of transit offerings. In addition, the program will add 1,300 acres of park land

and a 40 percent increase in the city of Atlanta’s greenspace. The Atlanta BeltLine will also create 5,600 units of affordable workforce

housing and tens of thousands of permanent and temporary construction jobs.

The Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail is the first completed project where reclaiming and repurposing the old rail corridor was nec-

essary to implement a multi-use trail. Its impact—both economic and civic—has already been significant in recent years in anticipa-

tion of its opening in October 2012. It connects five neighborhoods directly to each other for the first time, integrates with a regional

trail network, and connects to four parks, two schools and several destinations. It has al-

ready become one of the most popular destinations in Atlanta. This project has increased

the demand for pedestrian and cyclist friendly transportation facilities and public spaces.

The Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail is more than just a two-mile trail and greenway proj-

ect—it is a glimpse into the urban future of Atlanta. v

The Atlanta BeltLine is one of the most transformational transportation and economic

development initiatives in the city of Atlanta’s history and will serve as a model for

cities across the country and the world.

AMEC ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

GEORGIA ENGINEER12

AT

LAN

TA

BE

LTLI

NE

EA

STSI

DE

TR

AIL

S

TA

TE

AW

AR

D

The Pleasant hill Road DDI

is the second operating

DDI in the state of Georgia

and one of only a dozen

that have been con-

structed in the United

States. The project has not

only improved the inter-

change’s geometric con-

figuration and operational

deficiencies but has also

increased capacity, and

provided safety improve-

ments for both pedestri-

ans and vehicles. An

interchange modification report (IMR), completed in 2007, recommended a single point

urban interchange as the preferred alternative. This alternative had a conceptual cost estimate of $56 million. The DDI has a cost es-

timate of only $7 million. The project saved Georgia tax payers $49 million while providing a 35 percent improvement in the level of

service, and improved safety for both pedestrians and vehicles. The Pleasant hill Road DDI at I-85 is also a recipient of a $1,000,000

grant by the Georgia State Road and Toll Authority (SRTA) through the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) program.

The Gwinnett Place Regional Center is a critical employment center within the county, region, and state, but recently has seen

an economic downturn. Current office space

vacancy rates hover around 19 percent. A

recent retail gap analysis indicates signifi-

cant mismatch between existing retail sup-

ply and demand. The Pleasant hill Road at

I-85 DDI project is one of several factors hav-

ing an immediate positive impact resulting

in several hundred new jobs for the Gwin-

nett Place area over just a few months.

The Pleasant hill Road/I-85 Interchange

was originally constructed in 1958 and

widened in 1984 with a tight urban diamond

configuration. Increased population and as-

sociated traffic growth over time has made

the interchange function poorly. To address

the problem, the Gwinnett Place Commu-

nity Improvement District (CID) in 2007

commissioned an interchange modification

report (IMR). The report’s recommended al-

ternative was a complete reconstruction to

create a single point urban interchange

(SPUI). v

This project consisted of the construction of a Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at

the interchange of Pleasant Hill Road and I-85 in Gwinnett County. A DDI, or Double

Crossover, is an innovative interchange type where the two directions of traffic on the

secondary road (Pleasant Hill Road) cross to the opposite side of the road, on both

sides of the bridge, to enter or exit the freeway below. It requires traffic on the

overpass bridge to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road.

URS CORPORATION

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 13

ST

AT

E A

WA

RD

PLE

ASA

NT

hILL R

OA

D O

VE

R I-8

5 D

IVE

RG

ING

DIA

MO

ND

INT

ER

Ch

AN

GE

The existing road network that served the

Augusta Medical Center Complex was

inadequate for employees, patients, and visitors

of the complex and for emergency vehicle

access. Separating the Medical Center campus

from Riverwatch Parkway is the Augusta Canal,

John C Calhoun Expressway, several City streets,

and a CSx railroad line.

Prior to completion of the project, traffic was

forced onto the existing, substandard 15th

Street Bridge to cross the canal and to reach

Riverwatch Parkway at a signaled intersection

after crossing the railroad at a grade crossing. CSx Railroad operated heavy volumes of

long, slow moving trains through the crossing—essentially severing connectivity for all.

The new facility offers a solution to all the pre-existing operational failures and ensures

that access is excellent during all traffic conditions.

A major component of the success of the project was finding a roadway solution that

fitted seamlessly with the existing infrastructure and significant cultural and historical

resources. The location of the project offered potential impacts to the Augusta historic

Canal, the historic Enterprise Mill, Broad Street historic homes, and CSx Railroad.

The Augusta canal, built in 1845, served Georgia and South Carolina as the hub of a new cotton industry by providing hydro

power through a series of ‘levels’ taking the

water through a 30 foot drop back to the river.

The entire canal system was chartered as a

National heritage Area in 1996. The canal’s

first (upper) level is a seven mile feature that

leaves the Savannah River at a weir upstream

of the City and enters the downtown area as a

broad and navigable waterway. ‘Petersburg’

style canal boats now serve a tourism industry

offering viewpoints of the canal features,

including the old mill buildings.

15th Street crosses the canal on the Butt

Memorial Bridge. Built in 1914 and dedicated

by President William howard Taft to his good

friend and political colleague Major Archibald

Willingham Butt, the bridge is a unique and

elegant stone arch structure. It is adorned

with corner pillars and ‘guarded’ by four stone

lions. In 1994, when it was scheduled for

demolition in an earlier plan to improve

connectivity to the Medical Center, it was

saved by massive public outreach culminating

in a popular ‘Save our Butt’ campaign. It was

eventually protected by a specific Act of

Congress. v

This project is the design and construction of a new roadway to connect the downtown

Augusta Medical Center Complex with the existing Riverwatch Parkway, a four-lane

divided road that accesses directly to I-20, in the City of Augusta, Georgia.

ST.

SEB

AST

IAN

WA

Y |

GR

EE

NE

ST

RE

ET

Ex

TE

NSI

ON

S S

TA

TE

AW

AR

D

GEORGIA ENGINEER14

HEATH & LINEBACK ENGINEERS INC.

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 15

The Ken Byers Tennis Complex at Georgia Tech is home to one of the top collegiate tennis programs in the nation, which is no

surprise since the university is Engineering News-Record (ENR) Southeast’s 2013 Owner of the Year. When the university wanted

an elite tennis venue that would enhance the Georgia Tech tennis brand and compete with facilities at other NCAA and Atlantic

Coast Conference (ACC) universities, it chose a team that included Woolpert Design. The new complex completely replaces the old,

outdated facility and includes indoor and outdoor competition courts, locker rooms and team facilities, expanded spectator

seating, and landscaping.

WOOLPERT Ken Byers Tennis Complex, Georgia Institute of Technology

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

This $10 million project’s many updates to the facilities improve players’ and

spectators’ experiences and include:

• The expansion of the indoor competition courts from three to six

• The upgrade of the six outdoor courts with ample spectator seating

• A new, modernized lobby in the tennis center to receive guests and recruits

• A high level of connectivity with the rest of campus, including the other

neighboring sports facilities

• Men’s and women’s team locker rooms and team room

As one of the nation’s top ten public universities, Georgia Tech is a diverse client

with multiple stakeholders, each with different objectives; meeting the variety of

needs on this project was a challenge that was tackled head on by the designers

from the beginning. The complex site also challenged the design team, with

barriers restricting the site on all four sides, and encouraged the creation of

innovative design plans to circumvent issues.

Due to the tennis complex’s location on campus, Woolpert ensured that the

tennis complex offers a high level of connectivity with all other parts of campus and provides an entryway to the heart of the

university. The tennis complex was designed to meet LEED® Silver certification requirements, which is consistent with the university’s

mandate that all new projects be designed for sustainability.

The tennis complex provides Georgia Tech with a new cornerstone that, along with the basketball arena, anchors the northwest

campus entry. v

The development of the new Caserma Del Din military installation in Vicenza, Italy, transformed an unused and deteriorated

Italian Air Force Base into “the greenest base in the world.” A high performance, sustainable complex with 32 buildings (27 of them

new) on 145 acres, the $310 million installation supports soldiers of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the U.S. Army Africa

and the 506th Signal Battalion. It officially opened on July 2, 2013.

As part of the design/build team, Rosser International Inc. provided the mechanical,

electrical, and plumbing engineering for the Central Energy Plant (and 15 other

buildings) that generates power for the entire base. The design of the Central

Energy Plant combines energy recovery and thermal storage systems in a single

facility, reducing energy consumption as well as cost. The complex is expected to

experience a reduction in annual energy consumption by 23.8 percent (as compared

to AShRAE requirements) and to reduce energy cost by 50 percent.

The Central Energy Plant generates electricity, steam for absorption

refrigeration, hot water for building heating and domestic water heating, and chilled

water for building cooling. By recovering waste heat from the electric generators,

the plant can simultaneously produce chilled water for cooling and supplement the

hot water system. The facility also houses the cogeneration equipment and the

medium voltage switchgear necessary to distribute electrical power throughout the

installation. The five Megawatts of generated electrical power parallels and

supplements the limited electrical availability from the local utility.

The design of the Central Plant helped the project meet a required goal for the

entire complex to achieve a Silver LEED rating. While still in the USGBC LEED process, the complex has the potential to achieve a Gold

certification because of the energy efficient design and other sustainable elements. v

ROSSER INTERNATIONAL Del Din Brigade Complex Central Plant

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

GEORGIA ENGINEER16

The city of Glenwood, Georgia, provides sanitary sewer service to approximately 359 customers, including a hospital and a nurs-

ing home. By 2003 the original 1960s-era oxidation pond had reached the end of its effective life. Wastewater monthly flows typ-

ically averaged 75 percent to 80 percent of the permitted 0.110 mgd (million gallons per day) flow rate with some months exceeding

100 percent, and the treatment performance had deteriorated.

HOFSTADTER & ASSOCIATES INC. Glenwood Wastewater Treatment Plant & Land Application System

Reconstructed in 1970, the second bridge carrying Paper Mill Road over the facil-ity routinely violated effluent permit limits for discharge into Peterson Creek, soGeorgia EPD issued a Consent Order which required the city to construct improve-ments to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in order to expand capacity andto meet discharge permit limits.

In order to minimize total construction costs, the existing oxidation pond andPeterson Creek outfall pipe were retained, along with the existing 0.110 mgd NPDESdischarge permit. however, Georgia EPD at the time either had restricted, with-drawn, or denied discharge permits for several of Glenwood’s neighbors in theOconee / Ocmulgee / Altamaha River basins. Therefore, the facility expansion wasdesigned to dispose of the additional flow capacity at a new 118.5 acre hay spray-field land application system (LAS) site located a mile south of the WWTP. The cur-rent LAS site is rated at 0.100 mgd, but can be expanded to 0.210 mgd in the future.Total creek and LAS discharge flows are permitted at 0.210 mgd.

The treatment portion of the oxidation pond was converted into a 0.210 mgdthree-cell complete mix system with aerators. The treatment pond also includes a

two-day settling cell. A new dam, or dyke, was constructed across the pond to create a hydraulically separated holding cell. The hold-ing cell stores water during wet periods and is an integral part of the LAS irrigation operations. The facility’s flexibility allows the op-erator to spray hay during dry conditions, to discharge to the creek during wet weather, or to temporarily store water as needed. v

Cherokee County wanted to provide its citizens with its first full function aquatic center that is a destination for all things aquatic:

an outdoor water recreation park complete with all the latest amenities including slides, lazy river, dumping buckets, etc., as well

as year round indoor facilities for everything from recreational swimming, aqua therapy, and practice to full-fledged competition

swimming.

UZUN & CASE ENGINEERS Cherokee County Aquatic Center

To serve all of these water-related functions, the center also had to include pump

and filter rooms, administrative offices, locker rooms, an observation lounge,

concessions, pavilions, party rooms, and grandstands for the competition pool

seating 700. The design delivered by the team provided all of these features and

did it with a beautiful and elegant structure with curved, steel trusses spanning 128

feet and soaring fifty feet above the pool surface below.

The project also took advantage of the existing grade to allow for a second floor

entry (at the top of the grandstands), while providing graceful glass curtain walls

opening the space to natural light on the opposing side.

In order to deliver all of the diverse programming requirements, the structural

system changed as needed to meet the specific needs of each function. For the

competition pool area openness was key, and a long-span, deep steel deck was

coupled with the long-span trusses to keep the space open and costs down. At the

practice pool, conventional long-span steel joists sized up to the task. Elsewhere,

cast-in-place concrete and structural steel met the challenges of the shape and use

of the structure.

In every aspect, the challenge was met to provide the owner with maximum flexibility, functionality, aesthetics, and durability,

and has ensured the owner and the citizens a successful project for many years to come. v

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 17

The new ECCO Tapas and Wine Bar Restaurant is a unique one-of-a-kind structure within a structure at the world’s busiest airport.

To accommodate a sharp increase in international travel, the city of Atlanta constructed the new Maynard H Jackson Jr. Interna-

tional Terminal. To offer the discerning international traveler some of Atlanta’s local flair, the Fifth Group partnered with HMS

Host to duplicate a mini-me of their popular Midtown restaurant. The new restaurant had to be constructed structurally inde-

pendent on the club level mezzanine of the international terminal with a 50 ft roof/ceiling structure depth limited to 8 inches. In-

novative Engineering used a unique combination of long spanning tube steel to simulate timber framing while concealing the

lateral system moment frame within the walls.

INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING INC. ECCO Restaurant, Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal

The new ECCO at the airport is a 4,365-square-foot, free-standing restaurant lo-

cated in the Concourse F, Club Level, of the new international terminal. The con-

struction budget was $2.5 million and construction was completed in February of

2013. Innovative Engineering Inc, the structural engineer-of- record, worked for

the architectural firm of ASD, the project architect-of-record.

ECCO is the cornerstone restaurant of the food court in the new international

terminal awarded Best Airport Food Court by the Moodie Report in October. The

casually elegant design and sophisticated atmosphere coalesces with the soaring

glass entrance, alluring indoor patio, stunning over-sized bar, modern dining room,

and compelling exhibition kitchen.

The design for the build-out is a unique one of a kind structure within a struc-

ture. The restaurant was constructed on a mezzanine designed for only patio style

seating. The new structure had to be structurally independent with the exception

of reinforcement of the floor structure to support the new super-structure. Due to

height restrictions, the almost 50 foot wide restaurant structure depth was limited

to eight inches. And, due to the number of architectural door and window open-

ings, the lateral system had to be concealed around the wall openings. A unique combination of long span tube steel and a concealed

lateral system moment frame was required to engineer the project, which was successfully completed within an expedited two week

timeframe. v

The Georgia Army National Guard needed a better facility than the former pharmacy building it occupied. The 20,000-square-foot

space was too small and inadequate to support the personnel in the 420th Signal Company, the 230th Support Company, and the

560th Battlefield Support Brigade. The Georgia Department of Defense selected Burns & McDonnell to develop a new permanent

Regional Readiness Center (RRC) on a challenging 14-acre site granted by the city of Cumming, Georgia.

BURNS & MCDONNELL Regional Readiness Center Project

Burns & McDonnell provided comprehensive planning, design, and construction

support services for the 106,200-square-foot RRC. The design team combined

efforts to create a facility that enhances standard military design while maintaining

the required functionality, making a home the Guard could be proud of and

improving the units’ readiness posture.

The site posed challenges because of its steep grade—it has an elevation

difference of almost 100 feet from front to back—and because it is bounded by a

state highway, a prominent creek, and a local access road. Burns & McDonnell

ultimately turned the challenges into positives, using the topography to enhance

force protection. The team designed underground stormwater detention vaults as

large as a quarter of a football field to control runoff on the site.

The facility incorporates numerous energy-conserving features, including

daylight harvesting and occupancy sensors, energy management control

systems, and water-saving fixtures, making the high-performance facility even

more efficient than originally planned. The RRC was designed to earn LEED Silver

certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and to meet Energy Policy Act

(EPAct) of 2005 criteria. v

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

18 GEORGIA ENGINEER

North Avenue has served as the main gateway to the Georgia Institute of Technology campus since the university was founded in

1885. As Georgia Tech and the city of Atlanta have grown over the last 128 years, North Avenue has become a main thoroughfare

not only for students traversing campus and excited Yellow Jackets fans celebrating on game day, but also commuters driving to

businesses, industry, and residences in the Midtown Atlanta area.

POND & COMPANY North Avenue: Re-Opening Georgia Tech’s Historic Gateway

As part of an overall campus master plan, Georgia Tech invested in improving

pedestrian safety and creating a unifying visual identity for the North Avenue

portion of campus. To meet Georgia Tech’s form and function goals for the North

Avenue revitalization, Pond removed physical barriers, widened sidewalks, and

opened up views to popular campus destinations. This visually opened up the

historic campus and increased pedestrian security. Another big success was

implementing the first high-Intensity Activated Crosswalk (hAWK) signal in the

city of Atlanta, which made a mid-block pedestrian crossing much more visible to

drivers and reduced jaywalking.

The project consisted of the demolition and replacement of existing stairs,

bridges, sidewalks and the relocation of many under and over ground utilities to

provide a safe environment for students, visitors, and fans alike. v

Barrett Parkway Thoroughfare Improvements is a 3.5 mile widening project from Burnt Hickory Road to US 41/Cobb Parkway. The

project addresses the need to boost capacity, improve safety, minimize environmental impacts, reduce delays, and provide

pedestrian connectivity to the county-wide trail system.

HNTB Barrett Parkway Throughfare Improvements

As part of the project, the existing four-lane highway with 20’ raised median and

grassed rural shoulders was widened to accommodate six-lanes, a grassed urban

shoulder, and a ten-foot mutli-use trail.

In 2007, hNTB Corporation (hNTB) was awarded this design contract by the

Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT). This $21.7M widening

project was funded entirely through the 2005 Special Purpose Local Option Sales

Tax (SPLOST). hNTB’s scope of services included concept alternatives analysis,

environmental permitting, preliminary and final design, right-of-way plans, and

shop drawing reviews during the construction phase.

The existing four-lane configuration of Barrett Parkway had become heavily

congested, particularly during peak travel times. As a result, CCDOT sought to

widen the road to six-lanes, and employ any innovative measures to reduce travel

delays while minimizing impacts to the environment, which included Noonday

Creek and numerous streams and wetlands. Ultimately, the design team

developed solutions which included lengthening left turn lanes at signalized

intersections to alleviate delays caused by traffic queuing into the travel lanes.

The most innovative solution proposed was the construction of an ‘Indirect Left’ or ‘Michigan Left’ intersection at Burnt hickory

Road. This configuration requires vehicles turning left from Barrett to Burnt hickory to travel several hundred yards past the actual

intersection to a U-turn lane, then backtracking to make a right turn onto Burnt hickory.

Construction began in July 2011. The six-lane roadway is currently open to traffic and the overall project was completed on

October 31, 2013. v

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

19FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

Built in support of the adjacent Paper Mill, the original crossing of Sope Creek was a covered bridge dating back to the 19th cen-

tury. On March 29, 1964, the covered bridge, one of only two left in Cobb County at the time, burned to the ground, leaving be-

hind only the steel shanks and masonry piers.

AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES Paper Mill Road Bridge over Sope Creek

Reconstructed in 1970, the second bridge carrying Paper Mill Road over Sope

Creek was a five span concrete bridge which incorporated one of the original ma-

sonry piers. After 42 years of service, the deterioration and functional obsoles-

cence of the structure was reflected in the sufficiency rating, which had fallen

below 50. In 2010 and 2012, the Cobb County Department of Transportation per-

formed emergency repairs to the pier foundations, which were undermined by

scouring of the creek bed. During the 2012 emergency repairs, Cobb DOT elected

to replace the bridge.

This project is a true reflection of AECOM’s corporate vision—to create, en-

hance, and sustain the world’s built, social, and natural environments. The design

enhances the safety of the traveling public with the elimination of a substandard

bridge with scour critical foundations, improved roadway geometrics, and the ad-

dition of pedestrian friendly sidewalks with trail connections. v

The Gwinnett Medical Center, Lawrenceville Campus Strickland Heart Center Expansion Project is a new 39,600 square foot facility

that includes two Catheterization Labs, two Operating Rooms, supporting spaces, and provisions for future growth. The MEP

systems installed were designed to meet today’s needs and be expandable to meet future requirements.

HPD CONSULTING ENGINEERS Gwinnett Medical Center Strickland Heart Surgery Expansion

The design and construction teams were tasked with providing a facility that would

create a high quality patient environment utilizing sustainable design and

construction practices. The facility is predicted to achieve 24 percent energy

savings over a similar building built to AShRAE 90.1 standards for construction and

energy usage. The project achieved the reductions by utilizing the following:

• high efficiency heating and cooling equipment

• Airflow volume reduction control in the Operating Rooms and Cath Labs

• Low flow plumbing fixtures

• Daylight harvesting, sophisticated lighting controls, and LED lighting fixtures

• Innovative DDC controls and operations

The completed project provided Gwinnett Medical Center with a new Open heart

Surgery Center that met the owner’s stated goals and their dedication to meet

the healthcare requirements of the community and to be good stewards of the

environment. The facility opened on time and under budget and is U.S. Green

Building Council, LEED Silver Certified. v

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

HO

NO

R A

WA

RD

20 GEORGIA ENGINEER

21FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

2014 Georgia Engineer of the Year Awards

Al Pond, P.E., RLS

2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

CEO Pond & Company

Mr. Pond has a Bachelor of Science de-

gree from Virginia Military Institute

(1969) amd a Masters of Engineering

from the University of Virginia (1971). he

is a Registered Land Surveyor in Georgia

and won the Professional Engineer in

Georgia and Virginia.

Mr. Pond serves as Chief Executive

Officer of Pond & Company, a multi-dis-

cipline architecture, engineering, and

planning firm headquartered in Metro At-

lanta. Based on revenues for design firms,

Pond & Company has been consistently

ranked by the Atlanta Business Chronicle

in the Top 25 in Metro Atlanta (Number

five in 2012); and by Engineering News

Record in the Top 500 nationally (#294 in

2012).

Prior to joining Pond & Company,

Mr. Pond served in the US Army (Cap-

tain), then worked for the Georgia De-

partment of Transportation, and Paul E.

Lee Consulting Engineers.

Mr. Pond has over 42 years of expe-

rience in management and civil engineer-

ing for a variety of projects in the gov-

ernment and private sectors. In his

diverse and lengthy career, he has been

instrumental in the development of facil-

ities for hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Inter-

national Airport, MARTA, the 1996

Olympics Rowing & Canoeing Venue and

numerous federal and corporate clients

nationwide. his experience includes

working with every branch of the De-

partment of Defense on every project

type. Al has contributed his expertise and

leadership to thousands of projects over

a very long career.

Mr. Pond currently serves on the

Board of Directors for First Landmark

Bank, and previously served on the Board

of Directors for Chattahoochee National

Bank, First Capital Bank, and Flag Bank.

he has previously served on the Planning

Commission (including Vice Chair) and

Board of Appeals (including Chairman) for

the City of Sandy Springs, and on the Ad-

visory Board for Trust for Public Land. he

is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, an

urban leadership development program.

Mr. Pond has been active in many

professional organizations. he is the past

President of the American Council of En-

gineering Companies of Georgia, and the

past President of the Georgia Chapter of

the Society for Marketing Professional

Services. he has been recognized as Engi-

neer of the Year in Metro Atlanta, and En-

gineer of the Year in Private Practice by

the Georgia Society of Professional Engi-

neers. Mr. Pond has participated in vari-

ous community activities. he spear-

headed fund raising campaigns inside his

firm during the last four years for the

Wounded Warrior Project and Operation

homefront raising over $100,000 to help

support our military service members

and their families. he has been active in

United Way, heart Association, and Buck-

head Baseball (both a board member and

community coach). he is a member of

Northside United Methodist Church. v

Al Pond, P.E., RLS

2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

Al Pond, P.E., RLS | 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award

GEORGIA ENGINEER22

Jeffery Dingle, P.E.

2014 Georgia Engineer of the Year

Jeffery George Dingle, P.E. is a profes-

sionally registered Civil Engineer in Geor-

gia as well as seven additional states. his

technical expertise includes extensive

project and program management, proj-

ect engineering, and construction man-

agement experience on roads and

bridges, airports, water and wastewater

treatment, and conveyance facilities. he

currently serves as a Principal Engineer

and East Region Sales Manager for Jacobs

Engineering Group, one of the largest and

most successful engineering companies

in the world.

After the first decade of his career as

a Bridge Engineer for the California De-

partment of Transportation (CALTRANS),

Mr. Dingle served as a principal within

three small engineering firms in the At-

lanta area, as well as Washington D.C.

For the past five years, he has brought

perspectives from those experiences to

Jacobs’ teaming and sales strategy as a

member of their executive leadership

team. As he leads Jacobs’ efforts to be re-

sponsive to clients, he is ever mindful of

the company’s obligation to be good cor-

porate citizens and community partners.

Throughout his career, Mr. Dingle

has been active in various civic and pro-

fessional organizations, including ascend-

ing to the office of President for the

American Council of Engineering Compa-

nies of Georgia, and The Georgia Engi-

neering Foundation. As a youth baseball

and football coach, math tutor, science

fair judge, and speaker at various middle

and high school events, Mr. Dingle gives

back to the community and promotes ca-

reers in engineering and science, as well

as the importance of high moral stan-

dards and patriotism. v

Jeffery Dingle, P.E.

2014 Georgia Engineer of the Year

Jeffery Dingle, P.E. | 2014 Georgia Engineer of the Year

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 23

24 GEORGIA ENGINEER

William ‘Trey’ Wingate, III | 2014 Engineer of the Year in Private Practice

William ‘Trey’ Wingate, III

2014 Engineer of the Year in

Private Practice

After completing high school in Augusta,

Georgia Trey was awarded an academic

and athletic scholarship to attend Andrew

College in South Georgia and continue his

passion for athletic competition. Upon

completing his Associates Degree in

Chemistry and Physics he attended North

Carolina State University majoring in Civil

Engineering.

Upon graduation, he began as an

entry level engineer in water resources

with W.K. Dickson & Co. Inc. in Charlotte,

North Carolina. Little did he know at the

time that this first job was his next team

sport that would lead his professional de-

velopment for the next 25 years of his ca-

reer. At that time, the firm was a two

office organization with about 40 em-

ployees based out of Charlotte, North

Carolina. This small regional firm was be-

ginning to understand its purpose and

identity in becoming a regional public in-

frastructure consulting firm.

After a few years, Trey was given the

opportunity to team up with three other

members in the development of a new

regional location in Columbia, South Car-

olina. It was here that he began to learn

the aviation consulting side of the firm’s

business and was fortunate to help the

team serve general aviation clients

throughout the Carolinas during that

tenure. It was also in Columbia where he

completed his professional examinations

and became registered in the engineer-

ing profession. Over the next 20 years he

was challenged with helping the firm de-

velop two more regional offices in hick-

ory, North Carolina and Augusta, Georgia.

William ‘Trey’ Wingate, III

2014 Engineer of the Year in

Private Practice

Joshua M. Orton, P.E.

2014 Young Engineer of the Year

Joshua M. Orton, PE, is a Senior Struc-

tural Engineer, Project Manager, and

Manager of Construction Engineering

Services at heath & Lineback Engineers

Inc., a transportation consulting engi-

neering firm in Marietta, Georgia. he is a

licensed professional engineer in the

states of Georgia and Alabama. Joshua

joined heath & Lineback in 2004. his ex-

perience since has been varied and pro-

gressive. his transportation structures

design experience includes various types

of walls, pedestrian bridges, and vehicu-

lar bridges. he was the lead engineer for

the bridge carrying Broad Avenue over

the Flint River in Albany, Georgia. This is

a continuous segmental concrete box

girder built in balanced cantilever—a first

in Georgia. he is the Engineer of Record

for a complex, continuous, curved, long

span steel girder bridge with heavily

skewed supports that is part of the Cor-

ridor x at I-65 interchange in Birming-

ham, Alabama.

Joshua works tirelessly to advance

the role of engineers in society. he is also

active in the professional development of

himself and others. he regularly teaches

in-house development sessions at heath

& Lineback. he has presented to Georgia

ASCE-SEI and various groups and classes

at local universities. he teaches a bi-an-

nual SE Exam review class on AAShTO

LRFD on behalf of the Structural Engi-

neer’s Association of Georgia. Joshua has

served as the vice-chairman for the Geor-

gia Chapter ASCE Structural Engineering

Institute and previously served as its sec-

retary. Joshua worked with the Alabama

Chapter of the American Institute of Ar-

chitects and other volunteers to perform

ATC-45 rapid evaluations of residential,

commercial, and civic buildings as part of

the emergency response in Tuscaloosa,

Alabama, after the April 2011 tornado.

Joshua was selected as the Georgia ASCE

2012-2013 Young Engineer of the Year. v

Joshua M. Orton, P.E.

2014 Young Engineer of the Year

Joshua M. Orton, P.E. | 2014 Young Engineer of the Year

25FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

C. Dean Alford, P.E.

2014 Engineer of the Year in Industry

Mr. Alford is President and Chief Execu-

tive Officer of Allied Energy Services and

is currently responsible for over $5 billion

of energy projects in Central and North

America. Mr. Alford also served as co-

chair of the Pine 2 Energy Coalition.

Mr. Alford is known nationally for his

entrepreneurship and strategic planning

expertise. he has been personally re-

sponsible for the formation of six startup

companies. In addition, Mr. Alford has

published numerous articles and lectures

throughout the United States and Canada

on the subject of energy policy and util-

ity issues. Prior to joining Allied, Mr. Al-

ford was President and CEO of A&C

Enercom, a full service utility consulting

firm that employed over 700 people with

31 offices nationwide. he founded A&C

Enercom in 1978, and it grew to be one

of the most respected utility service com-

panies in the utility industry. Mr. Alford

has served as consultant to the U.S. Con-

gressional Office of Technology Assess-

ment on energy policy issues.

Mr. Alford earned his Bachelor of

Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Today he serves on several boards at

Georgia Tech; Past Chairman of the Board

of Advisors for the College of Engineering,

the School of Electrical and Computer En-

gineering Advisory Board Past Chairman,

the Executive Advisory Board of the Eco-

nomic Development Institute, member of

the Board for the Georgia Tech Founda-

tion, and Past Chair of the Board of

Trustees for the Alumni Association and

was awarded the Dean Griffin Award for

Community Service in 2001. This year he

and his wife were inducted into the hill

Society for the philanthropic work at

Georgia Tech. In l997, Georgia Tech in-

ducted Mr. Alford into the Academy of

Distinguished Engineering Alumni. he is a

licensed professional engineer and in

l989, the Georgia Consulting Engineering

Council named him Engineer of the Year

in Private Practice.

From l983 until l993, Mr. Alford was

a five-term member of the Georgia house

of Representatives. he served as Chair-

man of the Energy Subcommittee, Chair-

man of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid

C. Dean Alford, P.E.

2014 Engineer of the Year

in Industry

In the process of helping the team

achieve its goals, so too was he able to

develop as a professional and assist mu-

nicipal clients throughout the three state

region to address key challenges that

they faced.

Throughout his professional devel-

opment, he always found it fulfilling to

make sure he found time for his passions

in the professional societies, civic and

church organizations.

Through the years, he has held key

leadership roles in multiple organizations

that are helping shape the next genera-

tion of professionals. his involvement

with youth and education programs such

as MAThCOUNTS, Boy Scouts, Little

League Baseball, and engineering advi-

sory councils have been central to his

contributions to the profession.

Also along the way he has held mul-

tiple leadership positions in the Georgia

Society of Professional Engineers and the

Georgia Engineering Alliance. v

C. Dean Alford, P. E. | 2014 Engineer of the Year in Industry

26 GEORGIA ENGINEER

LEE J. HARROP, LEED AP, PE

Engineer of the Year in Construction

Lee J. harrop is the Program Manage-

ment Officer for Atlanta BeltLine Inc. As

PMO, Mr. harrop oversees the imple-

mentation of the overall Atlanta BeltLine

Program and ensures that the appropri-

ate resources are available. Mr. harrop

coordinates with Project Managers from

ABI, the City of Atlanta, and outside part-

ners (Trust for Public Land, Trees Atlanta,

PATh Foundation, etc) to ensure that

projects are properly supported and mov-

ing forward as scheduled. Mr. harrop

acts as the lead resource on environmen-

tal- and sustainability-related issues and

serves as the liaison with the Environ-

mental Protection Agency and the Geor-

gia Department of Natural Resources.

Since joining the Atlanta BeltLine,

Mr. harrop has overseen the transition of

the project from a new-start planning en-

deavor into design and construction of

some of Atlanta’s most innovative and

award-winning new public amenities in-

cluding historic Fourth Ward Park, D.h.

Stanton Park, Northside Trail, and East-

side Trail.

Historic Fourth Ward Park

Project Recognition to Date

ACEC Engineering Excellence Award

(2011)

Georgia ASLA Merit Award Winner

(2012)

ULI Atlanta: Project of Excellence (2013)

AUDC: Award of Excellence (2013)

Eastside Trail

Project Recognition to Date

ACEC Engineering Excellence Award State

Finalist (2013)

Atlanta Business Chronicle: Land Deal of

the Year (2012)

ARC Development of Excellence (2013)

FIABCI-USA: Grand Prix Award (2013)

EPA Smart Growth Project of the Year

(2013)

Working closely with project partners,

Mr. harrop has also managed the devel-

opment of a strategic implementation

plan that will serve as the framework for

delivering the remaining program ele-

ments of the Atlanta BeltLine including

parks, trails, transit, streetscapes, and af-

fordable housing.

Prior to joining the Atlanta BeltLine,

Mr. harrop worked as a Civil and Envi-

ronmental Engineering Consultant in At-

lanta and New Orleans. While working

in the private sector, he specialized in

community improvement, infrastructure,

and environmental remediation projects

throughout the Southeast and in the

Caribbean.

Mr. harrop studied at Georgia Insti-

tute of Technology and the University of

New Orleans. he holds a BS in Civil and

Environmental Engineering as well as a

Masters of Business Administration from

Georgia State University. v

Lee J. Harrop

Engineer of the Year in

Construction

Lee J. Harrop, LEED AP, PE | 2014 Engineer of the Year in Construction

Transit Authority Oversight committee

and was Chairman of the DeKalb and

Rockdale County Legislative Delegation.

The city of Conyers presented Mr. Al-

ford the Community Spirit Award in 2001

and 2004. The Conyers-Rockdale Cham-

ber of commerce presented him with the

2001Vision Leadership Award for his

leadership and service to his community.

The United Way Advisory Board of Rock-

dale County named Mr. Alford Volunteer

of the Year for 2000. In 2002, Mr. Alford

was presented the Dr. Martin Luther King

humanitarian Award from Georgia

Perimeter College and the Jefferson

Award from the American Institute for

Public Service for his work in the national

expansion of the Miracle League.

Mr. Alford currently serves on sev-

eral corporate boards of directors that in-

clude the United Community Bank Board

of Advisors, Southern Retirement Serv-

ices, and previously served as the Chair-

man of the Rockdale hospital and health

Systems Inc.

Of all his activities and accomplish-

ments, Mr. Alford’s most enjoyable and

important role is that of husband and fa-

ther. Mr. Alford and his wife Debbie

(President & CEO of the Georgia Lottery)

have five children and three grandchil-

dren. v

27FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

28 GEORGIA ENGINEER

Stephan A. Durham, Ph.D., P.E.

2014 Engineer of the Year in Education

Stephan Durham is an associate profes-

sor and program coordinator for Civil En-

gineering in the University of Georgia

College of Engineering. he received his

B.S. in civil engineering and M.S. and

Ph.D. in civil engineering, with a struc-

tural engineering emphasis, from the

University of Arkansas. Upon graduating

in 2005, he joined the Department of

Civil Engineering at the University of Col-

orado, Denver.

While there, Dr.Durham was successful

in his instructional and research activi-

ties, having developed a strong concrete

materials research program that gradu-

ated 20 M.S. and Ph.D. students.

In addition, he received numerous

teaching accolades, including the 2009

University of Colorado, Denver Teacher

of the Year Award, the 2010 Walter P.

Moore Jr. Faculty Achievement Award

from the American Concrete Institute,

and the 2011 University of Colorado

President’s Teaching and Learning Col-

laborative Award. Further, the University

of Colorado, Denver, received an Ameri-

can Concrete Institute Outstanding Uni-

versity Award in 2010 and 2011.

With the opportunity to develop a

new undergraduate degree program in

civil engineering at a land-grant institu-

tion and move closer to family, Dr.

Durham joined the faculty in UGA’s Col-

lege of Engineering in January 2012.

Since the college is without depart-

ments, the management of the degree

programs occurs through program coor-

dinators, and Dr. Durham serves in this

capacity for the civil engineering degree.

In this role, he has been instrumental in

the development of the curriculum, lab-

oratories, student recruitment, class-

room instruction, and industry collabo-

ration for the program. In 2012, Dr.

Durham was presented the 2012 Univer-

sity of Arkansas College of Engineering

Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Later that year, he was selected to

participate in the highly competitive Na-

tional Academy of Engineering Frontiers

of Engineering Education Symposium.

In addition, the American Concrete Insti-

tute presented the Outstanding Univer-

sity Award to UGA’s civil engineering

program in only its first year of existence.

Recently, Dr.Durham was notified of

his selection for the 2013 American Con-

crete Institute Young Member Award for

Professional Achievement. he is a mem-

ber of the American Society of Civil Engi-

neers, American Concrete Institute and

the American Society for Engineering Ed-

ucation, and he participates on the Geor-

gia Engineering Foundation and locally

on a K-5 school STEM Certification Steer-

ing Committee. he is the proud husband

of his wife, Jenny, and the father of two

young sons, Jackson and Parker. v

Stephan A. Durham, P.E.

2014 Engineer of the Year in

Education

Stephan A. Durham | 2014 Engineer of the Year in Education

Jo Ann J. Macrina, P.E.

Engineer of the Year in Government

Jo Ann J. Macrina, Commissioner of City

of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed

Management (DWM), was appointed by

Mayor Kasim Reed in April 2011. Com-

missioner Macrina leads one of the

largest water resources departments in

the country which serves a daytime pop-

ulation of 1.2 million with estimated rev-

enue of $585 million and a capital budget

of more than $1 billion. Under her lead-

ership, the department is resposible for

the integrated management and opera-

tion of water, wastewater, and

stormwater systems overseeing the pro-

duction and supply of drinking water,

and the collection and treatment of

wastewater for the Atlanta service area.

Responsibilities also include billing and

collection and treatment of wastewater

for the Atlanta service area, customer

service, regulatory compliance, engineer-

ing design and construction, safety, secu-

rity, and financial administration. The

department is staffed by more than 1,400

people committed to delivering excellent

customer service, providing quality drink-

ing water, protecting and improving our

water resources, complying with federal

and state regulations, promoting team-

work and accountability, building part-

nerships, and creating a safe and enjoy-

able work environment. Commissioner

Macrina has accomplished several signif-

icant achievements for the city. Under

her administration, the city obtained an

extension for the Federal mandated Con-

sent Decree issued to the city in 1998

with a 2007 mandated completion date;

the city received an upgrade by three

major credit agencies for the water and

sewer revenue bonds, there has been a

40 percent reduction in sewer overflows,

increased efforts in reducing the city’s

carbon footprint efforts, evaluated and

replaced old meters with advanced me-

ters that reflect a 99 percent billing accu-

racy, and implementation of designs that

create greener neighborhoods when

building new infrastructure.

With more than 25 years of experi-

ence in the area of water resources, Com-

missioner Macrina has worked both in

the public and private sectors, including

Southwest Florida Water Management

District, the US Geological Survey, the city

of Roswell, and DeKalb County as well as

several engineering consulting firms

where she managed departments, major

projects, and programs. She has also

worked in the transportation arena and

residential and commercial development.

Ms. Macrina received several project

awards for environmental excellence and

has more than 40 articles and technical

presentations.

Commissioner Macrina holds a Bach-

elor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the

University of Texas and a Master’s degree

in Public Administration from the Univer-

sity of South Florida. She was appointed

by Governor Perdue to be on his Stake-

holder Advisory Board for Erosion and

Sedimentation Control in Georgia, which

she has served since 2004 and she is a

member of the Chattahoochee River

Basin Advisory Council. Commissioner

Macrina served as President of the Amer-

ican Society of Civil Engineers for the

state of Georgia 2010-2011 and was

awarded Engineer of the Year in 2006.

her professional affiliations have also in-

cluded the American Water Resources

Association (AWRA) Georgia Chapter

(served as President 2002-2004), Georgia

Association of Water Professionals

(served on Board of Directors), National

Association of Clean Water Agencies, and

Association of Metropolitan Water Agen-

cies. She holds a professional engineering

license in Georgia and Florida. v

29FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

Jo Ann J. Macrina, P.E.

Engineer of the Year in

Government

Jo Ann J. Macrina, P.E. | 2014 Engineer of the Year in Government

30 GEORGIA ENGINEER

Zachary Scott Ganster | 2014 Engineering Technology Student of the Year

Zachary Scott Ganster

2014 Engineering Technology Student

of the Year

From the moment his parents handed

him his first Lego set at age five, it be-

came obvious that Zach was destined to

create. Throughout high school, Zach’s

zealous excitement for math and sciences

furthered his desire to become an engi-

neer. he joint-enrolled at Kennesaw State

University his senior year as a Dual En-

rollment honors Student and maintained

a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, earn-

ing the distinction of valedictorian of his

class. Accepted to Southern Polytechnic

State University’s MET program, Zach hit

the ground running. At SPSU, Zach earned

a position on the Dean’s List each semes-

ter. he never lost determination, spend-

ing countless nights and weekends study-

ing in the basement of the Engineering

building. Zach maintained a GPA of 3.91,

putting him at the top of his class. Dur-

ing his senior year, all this hard work

began to pay off. Zach was awarded with

the 2012-2013 Arnston Award for having

the highest GPA among his class. Addi-

tionally, Zach was nominated for and

awarded the Enplas Scholarship, which

highlights high GPA, integrity, and lead-

ership. To top it all off, Zach passed the

2013 April Fundamental Engineering

Exam. During his junior year, Zach landed

an engineering co-op position with Pan-

duit Corporation. At Panduit, Zach was

able to work in three different engineer-

ing departments, leading numerous engi-

neering projects.

Zach is unique in that he has not

spent all his time studying or working, but

has also given of his time and money to

help others in need. In June of 2013 Zach

travelled to Europe, spending two

months doing philanthropic work. he

spent time in Poland renovating apart-

ments, adding electricity, running water,

and heat to run-down flats. Additionally,

he served at a youth camp for troubled

teens in Wales, doing maintenance work.

he dug trenches, built a stage, and cre-

ated a sound booth, while also interact-

ing and mentoring the teen campers.

During his time in Europe, Zach also ran a

sports camp for grade school children in a

school in Birmingham, England. v

Zachary Scott Ganster

2014 Engineering Technology

Student of the Year

A spectacular 2013 GEF Scholarship Ban-

quet was held on November 14th, 2013,

at the Dunwoody Country Club. GEFhosted the Annual Scholarship Awards Ban-quet giving 39 Engineering Students$66,200 in scholarships! e guest speakerwas Michael ‘Sully’ Sullivan, President &CEO of the American Council of Engineer-ing Companies, Georgia (ACEC-G).

e Georgia Engineering Foundationwas chartered in 1971 to benefit young peo-ple desiring engineering or engineering tech-nology careers. Special legacy gifts startedwith a sizeable contribution in memory ofLawrence (Chip) Robert and now includethe David Smith Memorial, Doris LavoieMemorial, Paul Weber Memorial, Mr. Si-mons Honorarium, and the Kenneth TaylorMemorial. GEF’s assets now total over$760,000, and GEF is looking forwardthrough an aggressive fundraising campaignto soon exceed the $1 million mark in en-dowed scholarships.

In addition to the legacy gifts GEF re-ceives each year, scholarships are also pro-vided from GEF Life Members, ProfessionalEngineering Societies, Engineering Compa-nies, Corporate Businesses, and individualswhich GEF awards in the name of the donor.Obtaining, selecting, and evaluating applica-tions each year is a huge task headed this yearby John H. Boneberg, PE, Chairman, of theScholarship Committee. e GEF Scholar-ship Committee reaches out each year to theengineering community for volunteers to as-sist with this energizing effort. is past year220 applications were received, screened forqualifications, and then the 110 top studentswere personally interviewed by ScholarshipCommittee volunteers at Mercer University,Southern Polytechnic State University, theGeorgia Institute of Technology, plus a fewby telephone. en, based on applicationsand interview input, the Scholarship Com-mittee met and selected 39 awardees. ecommittee must insure that the awardeesmatch the award criteria established by the

scholarship donors. is gets very difficult assome Scholarships have very specific and spe-cial criteria set by the scholarship sponsors.Applications for 2014 Scholarships can be

obtained at www.gefinc.org beginning April1, 2014.

GEF depends upon new donors eachyear to be able to grow and financially sup-

31FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

ENGINEERING NEWSGeorgia Engineering Foundation - Spectacular 2013 GEF Scholarship Banquet

GEORGIA

l-r : Steven Poole, PE, Arthur Bendelius, PE, Michael horwitz, CCE, David Lips. PE,

John Prien, Jr, PE, JD, Jeff Dingle, PE

32 GEORGIA ENGINEER

port the scholarships, engineering clubs, andengineering, math, and science programs itworks with. New scholarships and programsneeding support are identified annually.Contributions by engineering firms, corpo-rations, and individuals as small as $10 permonth are gratefully accepted and increaseGEF’s ability to help more students in thestate of Georgia seek accredited engineeringand technology degrees. If you can givemore, GEF can help more students. Go towww.gefinc.org to get information on howto contribute. All contributions are tax de-ductible.

GEF wishes to thank all the volunteersthat participate each year in this tremendousmentoring opportunity, especially StevePoole and Beth Harris of the Banquet Com-mittee. Many volunteers come from the or-ganizations that follow:Member Organizations

• Association for the Advancement of CostEngineering

• American Council of EngineeringCompanies of Georgia

• American Society of Civil Engineers,Georgia Section

• American Society of Heating,Refrigeration, and A/C Engineers

• Georgia Power Engineering Association,Atlanta Branch

• Georgia Society of Professional Engineers(State)

• Georgia Society of Professional EngineersChapters: Metro-Atlanta, Augusta,Cobb, NE, NW.

• Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers, Atlanta Section

• Society of American Military Engineers,Atlanta Post

Associate Member Organizations

• Georgia Institute of Technology• Mercer University• Southern Polytechnic State University• University of GeorgiaWe would like to thank all and invite youto come join us to help us reach our $1Mendowment goal. www.gefinc.org

GEF Scholarship Recipients

2013

A&G Consultants Scholarship:

Rachael Stark

American Council of Engineering

Companies of Georgia

R. Berl Elder Memorial Scholarship:

Clara Jennings

American Council of Engineering

Companies of Georgia Scholarship:

Jason Gerrits

American Society of Civil Engineers

Georgia Section Scholarships:

Julius Doan and Jeremy Wetherford

American Society of heating,

Refrigeration & Air Conditioning

Engineers – Atlanta Chapter, George B.

hightower Scholarship: Jessee Turcotte

Applied Technical Services Inc.

Scholarships: Dorian Henao and

Jonathan Richey

Association for the Advancement of Cost

Engineering Scholarship:

Peyton Lingle and Christopher Trammel

Dan Duwell Memorial Scholarship:

Ryan Humble

Daniel Alford McEachin, P.E. Memorial

Scholarship: Kyle Todd

David L. Smith Scholarship: Andrew Smith

Doris Lavoie Memorial Scholarship:

Jaci Carithers

GEF honorary Directors Scholarship:

Richard Huckaby

GEF Life Members Scholarship:

Austin Ladshaw

GEF Life Members Anthony L. Tillmans

Memorial Scholarship: Edward Drake

GeoRay Inc./ASCE Scholarship:

Alicia Ashburn

George W. Bankston Memorial

Scholarship: Nolan Easterbrook

2013-2014 OfficersPast President:

Dr. James R. Wallace, P.E., PhD

President:

James R. Crowder, P.E. (shown)

President-elect:

Raymond J. Wilke, P.E. (shown)

Treasurer:

Roseana D. Richards, P.E. (shown)

Vice President:

Mark G. Cundiff, PSP (shown)

Secretary: Theresa Brunasso

2013 GEF BANQUET SPONSORS

33FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

Georgia Power Engineering Association

Scholarship: Matthew Deremer

Geosyntec Consultants Scholarship:

Ann Ruengvivatpant

Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers - Atlanta Section Scholarships:

Amexiane Hadjaz, Nicole Harris, Daniel

Mackowski, and Joe Simpson

Joanne Frances (Eppard) Prien Memorial

Scholarship: Sallie Lu

Kenneth G. Taylor, P.E. Scholarship:

Xiaotang Du

Marilou Ray Memorial Scholarship:

Courtney Miller

Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Consultants

Scholarship: Chance Beaver

Paul Weber Scholarship: Denise Tran

Pond & Company John W. Cummings

Scholarship: Austin Kretschmar

Rogers, Dusenbury, Wylder (RDW)

Scholarship: Kathryn Green

Simons Environmental Scholarship:

Andrew Wohlrabe

Society of American Military Engineers –

Atlanta Post Scholarships:

Jennifer Lamere and William Nettles

Society of American Military Engineers –

Georgia Scholarship:

John Kaffezakis and Iris Lu

Steven DeLaTorre Memorial Scholarship:

Bradley Richards

United Consulting Scholarship:

Brandon Dumbuya

Scholarship Winners:

Some Fascinating Facts

Rachel M. Stark completed half-Iron-

man for Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

Jason Gerrits has been bitten by the

theater bug and served as a grip build-

ing theater sets.

Jeremy Wetherford is an avid ping pong

player using his special ‘Pencil Grip.’

Bradley Richards was State Champion

at Ultimate Frisbee.

Richard Huckaby is founder of the Bro-

Re-Me musical group that raises money

for charity.

Jonathan Richey was a full time glass

artist for five years.

Ryan Humble ran with the bulls in

Pamplona (no injuries!).

Ann Ruengvivatpant is a skilled archer

and has been president of an archery

club for two years.

PLATINUM SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

ADDITIONAL SPONSORS

Feature

34 GEORGIA ENGINEER

hat do you do when main street needs major maintenance and it cannot beshut down to truck traffic or patrons of downtown businesses? Call on SuperSlab! That was the innovative call made by Georgia DOT to rebuild five blocks

or about 1,600 feet of Broad Street through the heart of downtown Winder with precast con-crete panels.

BY ThOMAS C. LESLIE

35FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

State Routes 53, 11, and 211 run through

Winder on Broad Street and carry rela-

tively high truck traffic as a prime connec-

tion between highway 316 and I-85. As

was the case with many towns in the early

days of the first paved streets, Broad

Street was cast-in-place concrete. In the

following decades, Broad Street received

asphalt resurfacing that accumulated to a

depth of four to eight inches. Severe rut-

ting of the road surface was created by

heavy truck traffic, and the asphalt was

‘squished’ out from under the tires as they

pressed on the layers of asphalt on top of

the original concrete pavement. Broad

Street was on the Georgia DOT work pro-

gram for a major maintenance project.

GDOT Chief Engineer Russell McMur-

ray participated in a FhWA Streets for Life

‘showcase’ of innovative projects that re-

ceive special funding from FhWA. he con-

cluded that precast panels might be just

the trick for Broad Street even though this

technology was typically applied to inter-

state maintenance projects.

Concurrently, Winder was working on

a Transportation Enhancement Project for

Broad Street. They received two TE grants

that amounted to $1 million to build wider

sidewalks that met ADA accessibility re-

quirements, tree planting, LED street light-

ing, and associated landscaping. As the

Broad Street projects evolved, it became

clear that they should be combined into

one. An effective partnership developed

among GDOT, Winder, Keck & Wood (de-

signer of the TE project), and the Down-

town Development Association, which

was especially concerned about the im-

pact on Broad Street merchants during

construction.

Winder City Manager Bob Beck and

Mayor Chip Thompson were advocates for

the project and built support among citi-

zens and businesses in the city. Tragically,

Bob Beck died in April of 2010 before his

vision for downtown could be realized.

Winder’s Planning Director Barry Edgar

says that the project is part of a much

larger strategy to ‘rebrand Winder’ as a

pleasant place for business or pleasure all

day long. The ‘enhancement’ parts of the

project will make Winder pedestrian

friendly and extend street activity well

after typical ‘closing’ time. In many places,

large malls and big box retailers have

sucked the life out of older city centers.

The Broad Street project signals that

Winder is reinventing itself.

Edgar also points out that GDOT did a

‘mill and overlay’ maintenance project on

Broad Street about every seven years,

which caused disruptions for adjacent

merchants. The Super Slab project, with a

50-year pavement life, will dramatically re-

duce this periodic disruption.

GDOT performed LiDAR, mobile

laser scanning surveying, to collect

three-dimensional data for the design.

Eddie Williams, President of Keck &

Wood, says they developed the geome-

try for the street plan, sidewalks, and the

underground storm drainage system.

Their design geometry was used by

GDOT to prepare the plans for the travel

lanes. Keck & Wood worked closely with

GDOT’s design staff to merge the plans

into a consolidated set of bidding docu-

ments.

The combined $4.9 million project

was let to G.P.’s Enterprises of Auburn,

Georgia, which used the precast panel sys-

tem of Fort Miller Company of New York.

Foley Products Company manufactured

the panels at its nearby, controlled-envi-

ronment, indoor facility. While the Fort

Miller Company has a patent on their par-

ticular system and licensed it to Foley

Products, it was not specified in the bid

documents, and there are other pre-cast

panel pavement systems that meet

GDOT’s spec.

Construction was like fitting a jigsaw

puzzle together. The 11’ x 18’ panel

(weighing about 20,000 pounds) is cast

with a particular shape and is designated

for a specific location. As Chief Engineer

McMurray remarked, “Each piece had its

place.” They account for drainage require-

ments, grade, and the configuration of

cross streets.

Because the panel construction in-

cludes substantial steel reinforcing and is

36 GEORGIA ENGINEER

Super-Slab pavement section being lowered into place.

37FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

38 GEORGIA ENGINEER

extremely difficult to penetrate for utility

repairs, Winder opted to abandon its 100-

year-old gravity sewer beneath Broad

Street as well as some water lines and nat-

ural gas lines. It was possible to relocate

these utilities to side streets and back al-

leys with careful planning and hydraulic

modeling. Casings for crossing street

bores for water and gas lines were in-

stalled prior to beginning the street con-

struction.

GDOT’s bidding documents restricted

panel installation to dusk-to-dawn hours

only to mitigate traffic disruption. Typi-

cally, the contractor did demolition work

to remove the old asphalt and 1920s con-

crete for a targeted stretch of eight to 12

panels. A subgrade bed of granite sand

was placed and precisely leveled using the

proprietary leveling equipment provided

by Fort Miller. A crane, advancing along

previously placed panels, lifted panels

from the truck and placed them in line in

proper sequence and orientation. Dowels

connected the panels to each other. At

the end of the night shift, temporary

crushed stone transitions back to the old

asphalt surface allowed the street to be

opened for the morning traffic peak. Usu-

ally the next day, a proprietary grouting

process was used to fully bed the panels,

seal the small gaps, and provide a strong

mechanical, panel-to-panel connection.

Any excess grout was grinded off to give a

smooth driving surface (no thump-thump-

thump). The project includes 310 panels.

Another advantage of the precast

panel system is that there is far less vibra-

tion than with conventional construction,

and the risk of damage to adjacent, his-

toric, brick and mortar buildings is re-

duced.

Teri Pope, GDOT communications of-

ficer for District 1 in Gainesville, began

working closely with Winder stakeholders

in October 2012 to ensure that there was

a full understanding of the implications of

the project. She delivers weekly e-mail

project updates to over 500 people. She

adds, “GDOT has earned the respect” of

the community by being intentional in try-

ing to mitigate adverse impacts and com-

municating with those impacted.

According to Pope, “the best is yet to

come” when the enhancements will be

completed. There is ‘a lot of pretty’ which

Winder can expect in the final months of

construction.

In September of 2013, the Broad

Street project was the ‘showcase’ for

Streets for Life for a gathering of 60 engi-

neers from around the Southeast to ob-

serve the installation of panels. Such

demonstrations make innovative technol-

ogy less intimidating to implement in

other locations. Seeing how it works is im-

portant, but discussing the details with

professional peers enhances innovative

technology transfer.

The Winder contract provides for the

project to be completed in July 2014, but

the panel work was completed before the

Christmas shopping season and only the

streetscape components remain. The con-

tractor predicts that the work will finish

ahead of schedule.

So what of the future for Super Slab

pavement technology? Chief Engineer

McMurray believes that the vast majority

of its application in the future in Georgia

will be for maintenance projects on major

highways and interstates. The work can

be done quickly with far less disruption to

traffic flow. he adds, however, “If we can

make this work in Winder, then it can

work anywhere.” Based on the response

in Winder, it seems well on its way to

broader applications for maintenance

projects. v

Narrow sidewalks are being widened and made more accessible.

39FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

40 GEORGIA ENGINEER

ith the increased importance oftechnical professions comes theneed to develop effective out-reach programs that promoteparticipation and learning inthese fields. Since its inceptionover 20 years ago, the Future

City Competition has gained national ac-claim for its role in encouraging interest inscience, technology, engineering, and math(STEM), and related fields like Architectureand urban planning in young people. A Na-tional Engineers Week Foundation program,it is an effective, project-based learning ex-perience where teams of middle school stu-dents imagine, design, and build cities of thefuture.

The program asks students to applymath and science concepts to real-worldproblems, flex their problem-solving skills,develop good teamwork habits, and exploreengineering career options. Over a fourmonth period, students research an impor-tant urban issue and write essays describingtheir solution; design a virtual version oftheir city using SimCity software; build amodel of its key features using recycled ma-terials; and present their vision to a panel ofjudges.

The Future City program is a success,and they have the data to prove it. A 2012Survey by the Concord Evaluation Groupfound the effectiveness of the program inseveral key areas of learning outcomes andskill sets.

After participating in the program a ma-jority of students became more interested inSTEM fields. These findings are in line witha recent study by the National Academy ofEngineering that found exposure to engi-neering education boosts youth interest inpursuing an engineering career and may in-crease student ability in math and science.That same NAE report noted that studentswho study engineering design learn ‘engi-neering habits of mind’; defined as systems

thinking, creativity, optimism, collaboration,communication, and attention to ethicalconsiderations.

One of the program’s highest successrates is in problem solving skills, with 86 per-cent of teachers seeing improvement. That’sbecause the program gives students an op-portunity to do the things that professionalsin the engineering, architecture, urbanismand construction industry do; identify prob-lems, brainstorm ideas, design solutions, test-retest, build, and share their results.

Future City students learn about theimportance of location and geography andexplore basic city services, features, and in-frastructure as well as the important deci-sions that go into designing and placingthem in a city. They also learn that these de-cisions have consequences that affect thegrowth and prosperity of their city. 85 per-cent of our participants claim that FutureCity helped them to learn and appreciateeverything that goes into planning andmaintaining a city is one sign of the pro-grams success.

The Essay components of the programare designed to strengthen problem-solvingskills. Students research a theme like energy,transportation or water runoff and how it af-fects cities. They identify what kinds of tech-nologies are used to manage or address thetheme, what kinds of engineering those tech-nologies require, and how they can imple-ment those technologies in their city.

Math, imagination, and creativity skillsare strengthened in the construction of aphysical model. Here students are exposed tothe concept of scale, and the program in-cludes learning blocks that explore math,ratio, and scale both experientially and ab-stractly. A budgetary restriction of $100 anda requirement to use recycled materials in-troduces the concept of recycling and sus-tainability but also forces the students to beimaginative and creative in how they repur-pose found material.

The success of the program in reinforc-ing creativity is noted in the 81 percent ofparticipants who claimed that the competi-tion taught them they could create some-

The Future City Competition An Effective Middle School Outreach ProgramBy Tony Rizzuto Ph.D. | Associate Professor & Chair | Department of Architecture | School of Architecture and Construction

Management | SPSU | Regional Coordinator | Future City Competition Georgia Region

W

41FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

thing on their own without the direction ofa teacher. The same percentage 81 percentclaimed Future City gave them an outlet fortheir creativity and imagination.

Public speaking and presentation skillsare important professional skill sets. Theseare addressed in the final component of thecompetition, the team presentation, wherethe students use their physical model, propsand visual aides to help illustrate their pointsin a formal presentation to a panel of judges.

While the survey found noticeable im-provements in learning outcomes, it also foundimprovement in general study habits and abil-ities. 74 percent of our educators saw improve-ment in their student’s project managementskills and 71 percent claimed they saw im-provement in their student’s ability to work in-dependently after participating in the program.

There was also notable improvement inanother professional skill; collaboration. 82percent of participating students reportedthat Future City made them realize the im-portance of working with others to solveproblems with 85 percent saying they likedworking in teams.

One of the challenges of a successfuloutreach program is engaging the right stu-dents. In the STEM fields, college participa-tion by women and minorities hastraditionally been low with female enroll-ment in engineering and science fields aver-

aging around 18 percent.Future City overcomes the gender eq-

uity gap in the STEM fields particularly witha 46 percent female participation rate.

Promotion of STEM fields is a high pri-ority, but success is often limited in minorityand lower income school districts. The Fu-ture City program does not rely on superiortechnology, instead it focuses on buildingskill sets using proven teaching tools, pro-viding teachers with all the tools they needand the basic computer software free ofcharge. This levels the playing field, allowingengagement with schools in lower incomeareas. Minority enrollments, most notablyAfrican Americans, stand at nine percent,higher then the current 5.5 percent rates ofundergraduate enrollments.

In January of this year, over 33,000 stu-dents in 37 regions around the country par-ticipated in the Future City program. Alongthe way, they strengthened the skills neces-sary to be successful in the 21st century andbecame better citizens in the process. v

GEORGIA ENGINEER42

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 43

he Foothills Parkway was author-ized by Congress in 1944 to pro-vide beautiful vistas of the GreatSmoky Mountains National Parkfrom the Tennessee side of thepark. The ‘missing link’ of theFoothills Parkway is a particularly

rugged 1.6 mile stretch of the Foothills Park-way traversing steep mountain sides thatoverlook Wears Valley, Tennessee.

Foothills Bridge Two is located inBlount County, Tennessee, approximatelyten miles west of the north entrance to theGreat Smoky Mountain National Park. Con-struction of this bridge is instrumental tocompleting the Missing Link in that itcrosses the most difficult terrain and isneeded to access the construction of theMissing Link.

Innovation of Design and/or Construction

Site access only from the beginning of thebridge, and steep terrain along the entirelength of the alignment required a new ap-proach to construction that allowed variousaspects of construction to be performed con-currently.

The resulting construction methodol-ogy incorporated a unique temporary worktrestle that provided access along the entirebridge alignment. The work trestle wasunique in that it could be reconfigured aswork shifted from foundation and pier work,to superstructure segment erection.

In the superstructure erection configu-ration a specialized segment ‘walker’ placedsegments in balanced cantilever, significantlyincreasing erection speed over one-directionprogressive placement methods. The seg-ment walker moves by sliding pairs of sup-port feet, with one of the sliding feet in eachpair always tied to the work trestle. This con-tinual fixity greatly improved the safety ofconstruction on the steep bridge grade.

Foothills Parkway Bridge Two Blount County, Tennessee

T

Photo Credit: Eastern Federal Lands

highway Division, Federal highway

Administration.

The supports of the work trestle were rigidframes comprised of two steel pipe columnsand a transverse steel girder. Each pipe col-umn was supported by three, seven-inch di-ameter micropiles and a precast triangularconcrete footing. Longitudinal members ofthe temporary work trestle consisted of tworows of paired steel girders. The girder pairswere closely spaced and cross braced for tor-sional stability. The transverse spacing of thegirder pairs was adjusted depending on theconfiguration of the work trestle.

During trestle construction, the girderpairs were spaced closer together to supportthe tracks of the Manitowoc 777 crawlercrane that erected the gantry. The spacing ofthe girder pairs was increased during super-structure segment placement to support thesegment walker designed to walk past alreadyconstructed portions of the bridge.

Bridge construction began with the

building of Abutment One. From there, thetrestle erection crane placed drilling equipmentat the first work trestle support and micro pileswere installed. The crane then placed the pre-cast footings, support frames, and longitudi-nal girders. Crane mats were placed over thelongitudinal girders to form the deck of thework trestle. The crane then crawled forward,and this sequence was repeated until the 22spans of the trestle were complete.

When work trestle construction had ad-vanced beyond Pier One, sections of the cranemat over Pier One were set to the side and asecondary, tire mounted 60 ton crane loweredexcavation equipment to make the tiered cutfor the sub-footings. When complete, the sub-footing was formed and cast. The secondarycrane then lowered the equipment to drill thetwenty, 9-5/8” micro piles that support thepier. The micro piles were drilled through thesub-footing concrete. Inclined tie-backs, used

to provide slope stability were also drilledthrough the sub-footing (Piers One and Twoonly). Footing construction followed the in-stallation of the micropiles and tie-backs.

The secondary crane also placed the seg-ments of the pier. Individual segments wereepoxy-joined and stressed together with four,1-3/8” diameter 150 ksi post-tensioningbars. All segments of the pier with the ex-ception of the pier cap were erected at thistime. Piers Two, Three, and Four were con-structed in similar fashion as construction ofthe work trestle was sufficiently advanced.

Pier cap placement and balanced can-tilever construction began once all typicalsegments of Pier One were placed. The cranemat deck was removed and the longitudinal

GEORGIA ENGINEER44

CREDITS

Owner: National Park Service

Owner’s Engineer: Eastern Federal Lands

highway Division of FhWA

Contractor: Bell and Associates

Construction

Bridge Designer: Corven Engineering Inc.

Construction Engineer: Corven

Engineering, Inc.

Construction Engineering Inspection:

Corven Engineering Inc.

Formwork for Precast Segments:

Southern Forms

Construction Estimating Services:

Armeni Consulting Services, LLC

Erection Equipment: VSL

Post-Tensioning Materials: VSL

Bearings and Expansion Joints: Watson

Bowman Acme - A BASF Company

Civil Engineer: Palmer Engineering

Geotechnical Engineer: Dan Brown

& Associates

Segment Erection: VSL

Post-Tensioning Bar Supplier: Williams

Form Engineering

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 45

erection girders shifted outward to supportthe segment walker. The segment walkerthen placed the pier cap at Pier One and pro-vided support for installing and stressing thefour vertical 12 x 0.6” diameter 270 ksi post-tensioning tendons.

The segment walker next placed thefour-legged cantilever construction stabilitytower on the footing of Pier 1. A stabilitytower separate from the work trestle was usedfor improved safety. The superstructure piersegment was then placed on the pier cap,supported by shims, and stressed down withtemporary post-tensioning bars. Segments1Up and 1Down were then placed and thecantilever stability towers engaged by sup-porting jacks.

Cantilever construction continued untilall 20 of the 8’-8” precast segments of thebalanced cantilever were erected. The seg-ments were epoxy-joined and stressed to thecantilever with three, 1-1/4” diameter 150ksi post-tensioning bars. Two of the barswere anchored in blisters cast with the seg-ments, and could be removed and reused.

The bottom bar was internal and became apart of the permanent post-tensioning sys-tem. Once each segment was assembled, thecantilever post-tensioning consisting of two12 x 0.6" tendons were stressed.

Superstructure continuity was made be-tween cantilevers with a series of cast-in-place concrete closure joints and continuitypost-tensioning tendons. Ten, 12 x 0.6”strand were stressed across each closure joint.End spans were completed by placing threeadditional typical segments and the abut-ment segments, casting closure joints, andstressing continuity tendons.

The diaphragms were designed withdesignated future jacking points for bearingmaintenance or replacement. The segmentsalso provide room for future tendons, ifneeded, by providing additional post-ten-sioning blocks.

Rapid Construction

Though pier and superstructure constructionprogressed as for a typical balanced cantileverbridge, the use of the temporary work trestle

and segment walker shortened the overallconstruction by one year when compared toprogressive segmental construction.

Aesthetics and/or Harmony

with Environment

To protect the fragile mountainside, con-struction from above was utilized. Trees thatwere directly in the path of the bridge weretopped. Root balls and top soil remainedthroughout the project except in the locationof temporary and permanent foundations.The concrete of the piers and superstructuresegments were tinted with pigment to matchthe natural rock outcroppings in the region.The abutments and footings were faced withgranite, consistent with parkway standards.The project concluded with plantings and re-forestation components.

Jury Comments

A perfect blend of functionality and con-text sensitive construction. The bridge is apart of, and compliment to, the surround-ing terrain. v

GEORGIA ENGINEER46

he Georgia General Assemblyconvened for the first week of the2014 legislative session on Mon-day, January 13, 2014. This year’slegislative session promises to beone of the shortest since the dayswhen Speaker Tom Murphy was

wielding the gavel and making sure that hislegislative duties were concluded in time tobe in Savannah for the St. Patrick’s Day cel-ebrations.

This ‘fast and furious’ session is a resultof a federal judge’s order that the primaryelections be held on the earliest date in mod-ern Georgia history, May 20, rather than theusual July primary dates. That means earlyvoting will begin in April. Combine thatwith the Georgia law prohibiting legislatorsand statewide elected officials (such as thegovernor) from accepting campaign contri-butions while the General Assembly is in ses-sion, and it’s not hard to figure out whyeveryone is in such a hurry to adjourn andget back on the campaign and fundraisingtrail in an election year.

Legislative leadership has set a goal ofcompleting the legislative session sometimeon or before March 14th. The GeorgiaConstitution limits the legislative session to40 days but does not prohibit the GeneralAssembly from adjourning earlier than the40th day (hint-hint…if any legislators arereading this).

Some lobbyists have been told by legis-lators that unless a bill is of absolutely criti-cal importance, to not expect any action onit this session, as legislative priorities will befocused on passing the amended FY2014budget and the FY 2015 ‘big budget’ (theonly tasks they are required by the GeorgiaConstitution to accomplish in the 40 days).Several legislators and lobbyists that are in-troducing bills are acknowledging that ‘noth-ing is going to happen this year’ on their bill,but they are just trying to ‘start the conver-sation’ for action in 2015.

Nevertheless, ACEC Georgia will beworking with legislative leaders this sessionon potential legislation in three main areas.

Structural Engineer Licensing

The first area is the proposal for legislationto create the ‘S.E.’ designation for licensedstructural engineers in Georgia. There hasbeen much discussion of this issue within theengineering industry. Currently, all structuralengineers sitting for the professional engi-neer’s exam in Georgia are required by theProfessional Engineers and Land SurveyorsBoard (PELS Board) to take the 16-hourstructural engineers exam, rather than theeight-hour exam all other types of profes-sional engineers take. However, they get noadditional certification or licensure recogni-tion for that more stringent examination re-quirement. Moreover, many Georgiastructural engineers feel that they are at acompetitive disadvantage when trying tocompete against licensed structural engineersin other states.

The Structural Engineers Association ofGeorgia (SEAoG ) has proposed legislationthat would:• Create licensed ‘Structural Engineer’ of

‘S.E.’ licensing designation for struc-tural engineers in Georgia. Structuralengineers would use the style ‘John Doe,P.E., S.E.’ to denote that they are pro-fessional engineers and structural engi-neers.

• All currently licensed Georgia profes-

sional engineers would be ‘grandfa-thered in’ and would be licensed asstructural engineers by the PELS Boardand be able to utilize the ‘P.E., S.E’ des-ignation by filing a simple affidavit thatthey practice structural engineering.

• In the future, only those engineers whochoose to sit for the 16-hour structuralengineer examination would receive theP.E., S.E. designation.

• Transportation related structures wouldbe exempted from the list of ‘designatedstructures’ that would require a P.E.,S.E. and ‘designated structures’ for non-transportation related vertical construc-tion would be defined by the PELSBoard.

ACEC Georgia is supporting the SEAoGS.E. licensing effort by working with engi-neers in the legislature to create a legislativestudy committee that would work betweenthe end of the 2014 legislative session andbeginning of the 2015 legislative session tostudy the proposed legislation as well as bestpractices from other states to determine thebest way to address this important profes-sional licensing issue in Georgia.

By Michael ‘Sully’ Sullivan | President & CEO | ACEC Georgia

T

ACEC Georgia’s 2014 Legislative Agenda

Michael Sullivan

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 47

48 GEORGIA ENGINEER

Qualifications-based Selection

Since 1972, the Brooks Act has requiredQBS (selection “on the basis of demonstratedcompetence and qualification”) to be used asthe selection method for architectural andengineering services where federal funding isinvolved. Georgia has similar laws relating toprocurement for transportation projects andfor architectural and engineering servicesprocurement by state agencies.

However, there has been a worrisometrend during the lean funding years of theGreat Recession toward a ‘low bid’ mentalityin the procurement of professional servicesand an overall commoditization of engineer-ing and architectural services. Local govern-ments have been the most aggressive inpursuing the commoditization view but thetendency exists in some state agencies as well.It is vitally important that the selection offirms providing engineering and/or architec-tural services be separate from the negotia-

tions about the cost of those professionalservices.

ACEC Georgia will be working with theengineer members of the General Assemblyto create a legislative study committee tolook at the issues surrounding QBS procure-ment as well as the possibility of expandingthe applicability of Georgia’s existing QBSlaws to apply to all levels of government inGeorgia where appropriate.

Transportation Funding

While many legislative leaders are still suf-fering from ‘transportation funding fatigue’from the efforts surrounding the Transporta-tion Investment Act (TIA) referendum in2012, leaders within Georgia’s transportationcommunity believe that the time has cometo focus on the future rather than dwellingon the past. While most understand that the2014 session may not be the time to intro-duce transportation funding legislation,many believe that the time to start workingon our transportation funding ‘Plan B’ isnow, so that we will be in a position to in-troduce comprehensive transportation fund-ing proposals in the 2015 session.

The Georgia Transportation Alliance(GTA) is the transportation policy arm of theGeorgia Chamber of Commerce. GTA ranthe campaign in the three regions that ap-proved the TIA referendum in 2012 and isnow laser focused on “supporting efforts toimprove transportation funding and improve

our state’s transportation infrastructure.”GTA represents a broad coalition of compa-nies and organizations that are invested inGeorgia’s transportation and infrastructurefuture; from Delta Airlines, to CSX andNorfolk-Southern Railroads, UPS, GeorgiaPower, highway contractors, CIDs, ACECGeorgia (of course), and many, many more.

ACEC Georgia will be working withGTA to create a joint House-Senate studycommittee that would be tasked with study-ing all of the different options for creatingnew funding for transportation and withmaking a recommendation on those fundingoptions to the governor and General Assem-bly by the end of 2014.

Many of those ‘Plan B’ discussions arealready occurring and a range of funding op-tions are being discussed. ACEC Georgiawill continue to be a leading participant inthose discussions and to be a strong advocatefor turning those policy discussions into re-ality in 2015 and beyond. v

r. Sheldon Weinig has spent hislife as a pioneer in engineeringmaterials, a professor of metal-lurgy and business, and a philan-thropist. Dr. Weinig had amodest start in Brooklyn, NewYork. His mother was from

Brooklyn and his father immigrated to thiscountry when he was 14. His father’s suc-cess inspired him. Weinig’s interest in engi-neering was initially sparked while serving inthe US Army at the end of World War II—the Army had a shortage of engineers,medics, and linguists—to determine whereyoung Shelly Weinig would serve best theyadministered a test with the results sendinghim into engineering. After completing hisservice he obtained his Bachelor of Sciencedegree at New York University (NYU)through the GI Bill and discovered his pas-sion to lie within the field of metallurgy. Dr.Weinig went on to obtain his master’s degreeand PhD at Columbia University with fi-nancial assistance provided by the New YorkRegents Scholarship program and the Camp-bell Fellowship. He taught for a few yearsand had successful consulting engagementsbefore founding Materials Research Corpo-ration (MRC) in 1957, a company thatwould become a global manufacturer andsupplier of highly specialized semiconductormaterials and equipment.

Dr. Weinig realized early on that alltechnological advancements were going torequire special materials. This realization,along with his innate business acuity, helpedto build a company that supplied a widerange of customers, including large corpora-tions such as Texas Instruments and IBM aswell as the federal government. MRC hadoperations in the US, Europe, and Japan.Sony America bought MRC in 1989 for ap-proximately $55 million to provide the com-pany with a much-needed capital infusion tocontinue its research and technological ad-vancements. Dr. Weinig transitioned to therole of Vice Chairman of Engineering andManufacturing at Sony America until his re-

tirement in 1996.MRC was an innovative company not

only for the products that its team of scien-tists and engineers produced, but also for thebenefits to their employees. MRC offeredlifetime employment to its employees for thefirst twenty-five years it was under Dr.Weinig’s control. Weinig said he “had a sensethat if people respect you and they have se-curity they will give you 110 percent.” Dur-ing lean times, employees might betransitioned to roles typically held by con-sultants (landscaping, janitorial services, etc.)but for years the policy worked and the com-

pany avoided layoffs. Another progressivepolicy was in place for educational reim-bursement. MRC would pay any employeeto take any class whether it was related totheir work or not so long as they passed thecourse. The name of the policy was simply,‘You Pass—I Pay.’ Engineers could take lit-erature courses, administrative staff couldtake scientific classes and MRC would payfor them to learn. Dr. Weinig proudly re-layed to me the story of a former US Navymachinist turned MRC employee turnedjournalism editor through this educationalpolicy.

Education is something Dr. Weinig hasbeen particularly committed to throughouthis lifetime. He was a lecturer at Columbiawhile finishing his doctorate then an assis-tant professor at NYU for several years, andafter starting MRC, he taught nights atCooper Union to ‘pay the rent.’ Followingretirement from Sony, he accepted adjunctprofessor positions at Columbia Universityand the State University of New York(SUNY), Stony Brook where he continues toteach courses on bridging the gap betweenengineering academics and business. He said“without education I don’t know where Iwould be.” That commitment is proven inhis generous sponsorship of scholarships to

49FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

Dr. Sheldon Weinig A Pioneer in Global Business, an Educator, and a Benefactor for Future Engineers

D

50 GEORGIA ENGINEER

engineering students at Columbia Universityand SUNY, Stony Brook. He estimates thathe has provided 12-15 scholarships per yearfor the past 18 years. That means he hashelped between 100-250 engineering stu-dents earn their degrees. In addition to theengineering scholarships, Dr. Weinig and hiswife Mary Jo offer financial assistance to stu-dents at Syracuse University and Loyola inRome. The Weinigs’ started the Weinig Trav-eling Fellowships for students who studyabroad but do not have the money for morethan the basics during their international res-idence. The money is meant to help studentsget out of the university environment to ex-perience the culture of Europe and to en-hance their scholarly pursuits. The Weinigshave also provided financial assistance for arthistory doctoral students to study art in off-beat places.

Dr. Zvi Galil, the former Dean of theFu Foundation School of Engineering andApplied Science at Columbia University, andnow the John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Comput-ing at Georgia Tech, said, “Shelly Weinig hasbeen teaching his course for Columbia forthe last 10-15 years. He does it for free. I

used to joke that we doubled his salary eachyear. He is a very popular teacher. He hasfunded the Weinig Scholars programs andlikes very much to meet ‘his’ scholars, tokeep in touch with them and to follow their

progress. Sometimes he meets with themyears after they graduate.”

Dr. Weinig is an inspiring figure for en-gineers and entrepreneurs. When asked forthe advice he would give younger engineer-

51FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

ing professionals he said, “Loosen up. Tastethe rest of the world. There is so much there.With the training and discipline you receivedthrough technical education you have thepower to do whatever you want. GET OUTOF THE SILO.” He compares engineers

who are completely focused on their owntechnical niches to people in a silo with nowindows. He practices what he preaches byengaging in his hobbies of tennis, fly fishing,and cooking while being involved with hiswife’s interests of art history and her Weinig

Foundation Program called Read a Recipefor Literacy which promotes communica-tion. As a parting piece of advice he said,“Do less, better,” but admits he is unable todo it personally as he has more interests thanhours in the day. v

hink, for a moment, about howAmerican engineering has tri-umphed over some of the mostvexing challenges known to man: • How could a remote energy

source bring electricity to a living room lamp?

• How might people see and talk with each other across the planet?

• How could massive amounts of infor-mation be stored on a single microchip?

• What’s needed to land a man on themoon?

The problem is that engineering is widelymisunderstood. Everybody agrees that welive in the era of “high tech.” We all knowthe buzz words—4G, iPad, broadband, nan-otechnology, etc. But the individuals thatconceived, designed, and built these thingsare faceless and nameless. When we speak ofengineering, most people relate this to con-struction and mechanics—associations thatput the profession into the role of building orfixing things rather than design, innovationor creativity.• Thirty-five percent of Americans have

no idea how engineers spend their timeor think we work in boiler rooms or runtrains.

• It has been a long time since ThomasEdison was said to be the most admiredAmerican by the New York Times. Inour popular culture engineering is nowtaken for granted.

• In some cases, engineering is evenviewed outright negatively. We are ei-ther nerds or power-hungry mad scien-tists.

Those of us in the profession need to take onenhancing its public perception, shake off

our outdated legacies, and help rebrand en-gineering from the inside out. We need toconvey how engineers help people and com-munities and that engineering can be a ful-filling, exciting career choice for youngpeople.

Students need to understand how engi-neers make a difference in their neighbor-hoods, communities, and the world by solvingproblems using science and technology, andthat they too can join in those efforts. Fromsafer drinking water to new medical devices,from electric cars to the grandest skyscrapersand bridges, engineers use their knowledge ofscience and technology to improve people’slives in meaningful ways.

When you think about what the worldwould be like without engineers, the pictureis pretty bleak: It would be a world withoutlaptops and tablets, the Golden Gate Bridge,cell phones and televisions, the molecularscope of nanotechnology, and the massivescale of the Panama Canal.

The problem is the percentage of U.S.undergrads enrolled in science, technology,engineering and math (STEM) programs isnow down to its lowest level in recent mem-ory—14 percent. Of those who do enroll,four out of every ten of them quit these pro-grams after the first year. This is not just amatter of numbers. The disappearance of

students from engineering programs poses arisk to America’s global competitiveness at atime when a competitive edge is more im-portant than ever.

Last year, Mark Elbourne, General Elec-tric's UK President and CEO spoke about thelack of status of, and lack of respect for, engi-neers. He pointed out that such low publicesteem influenced children’s perceptions andthat schools are not sufficiently geared to cor-rect their attitudes to the subject.

We have to find better ways to make en-gineering part of the popular culture in orderto have a large and steady supply of engi-neers. If we want our profession to grow,flourish and be equal to fields such as medi-cine or law, engineering must be widely un-derstood, appreciated, and esteemed. Weneed to communicate the ‘wow factor’ of en-gineering. All of us need to talk about theuniqueness of the ideas that engineers dealwith and the power of engineering to makea positive change.

Engineering is a profession of greatwonder and rich reward. In communicatingthe appeal of our profession, we must tapinto what young people value most in theirlife’s work—flexibility, connectivity, visibil-ity, and above all else, the chance to use tech-nology to make a real impact on our nationand world and to change our society for thebetter.

The quality of our lives depends on thequality of our engineering, so we must attractthe very best minds to the profession. Butdrawing talented people to our field meanswe need to raise our own profiles and publi-cize our work. It’s not enough to simplycomplete routine tasks—we need to bringinnovations into the public eye, placing our-selves at the forefront of public discourse. Weneed to tell the world we're proud of whatwe do. Mentor, engage, inspire and inform.These are ways we can all change perceptionsand generate appreciation for the field. v

In Appreciation of EngineersBy Gary S. May | Dean | College of Engineering | Georgia Institute of Technology

T

degree from Southern PolytechnicState University offers great valueto students, graduates, employers,the region, and the state. In2012, the University contributed$222 million to the state’s econ-omy. Students studying engi-

neering and engineering technology are amajor contributor to this; in spring 2014,52 percent of SPSU’s undergraduate studentsare majoring in these fields, so they representa significant part of this economic impact.

Southern Polytechnic was originallyfounded in 1948 at the request of businessand industry as “The Technical Institute,” atwhat is now Peachtree-Dekalb Airport inChamblee. The school’s purpose was to helpveterans returning from World War II trans-late their military experience into practicalskills that would help them enter the Geor-gia workforce as quickly as possible. The in-stitution has grown dramatically, from thefirst 116 students to over 6,500 today. Thecampus moved to Cobb County in 1961,and since then the school has added new de-gree programs that include civil, electrical,and mechanical engineering, mechatronicsengineering, construction engineering, soft-ware engineering, and systems engineering.These programs expand SPSU’s academicscope well beyond the original strengths inengineering technology fields and maintainthe institutional heritage of applying knowl-edge to solve problems.

A number of recent reports have high-lighted the value of a degree from SouthernPolytechnic. A leading source of data aboutthe return on investment of a college degreeis the Web site, Payscale.com. This Web sitelists the 2013 Return On Investment (ROI)for colleges and universities across the UnitedStates, comparing the total cost of attendingan institution with the total average earningsover a 30-year professional career. For South-ern Polytechnic, the cost of attendance (tu-ition and fees, room and board, books, andsupplies) was measured at $79,290—and the30-year return on that investment was

$934,500, for an annualized net ROI of ninepercent.

BestColleges.com ranks the top 50 pub-lic ‘Colleges With the Best Return on In-vestment’—and SPSU placed 25th on thisnational list for 2013. (Only one otherGeorgia institution made the list.)

Affordable Colleges Online (Afford-ableCollegesOnline.org) ranked all collegesin the state of Georgia, measured the lifetimesalary in comparison with the salary thatwould have been earned by someone with ahigh school diploma, minus the cost of edu-cation at that school. SPSU ranked NumberTwo among ‘high ROI’ colleges.

Southern Polytechnic’s unique aca-

demic focus is a major contributor to thehigh value and ROI of the degrees. So is theway courses integrate technology with otherskillsets, including design and communica-tion. Other important factors include apractical focus, excellent laboratory facilities,a strong emphasis on internships and co-opexperiences, and faculty with industry-re-lated backgrounds. Academic programshave advisory boards with representativesfrom companies that employ SPSU gradu-ates, so that the curriculum has a strong con-nection to what employers are seeking intheir workforce of the future.

The demand for highly qualified SPSUgraduates is reflected in the starting salariesthey are offered. The average starting salaryfor a Southern Polytechnic graduate whocompleted a bachelor’s degree in 2012 was$52,326, and it ranged up to $120,000 foran electrical engineering graduate. The av-erage starting salary for a student complet-ing a master’s degree was $66,732, withinitial salaries as high as $125,000 for engi-neering graduates.

But SPSU’s contributions are not justabout money that graduates earn, althoughthe salaries are reinvested in the communi-ties where graduates live and work—and weknow that 80 percent of SPSU graduates stayin Georgia. These engineers contribute to

By Lisa A. Rossbacher, Ph.D. | President | Southern Polytechnic State University

A

The Value of an SPSU Degree

Lisa A. Rossbacher

GEORGIA ENGINEER52

our state’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, andpipelines. They create maps. They designbuildings. They program software. They in-tegrate systems. They find practical, sus-tainable solutions to real-world problems.They make the state of Georgia a better placefor all its citizens.

Southern Polytechnic also contributesto workforce diversity in the state of Geor-gia. SPSU is ranked #1 in the United Statesfor the number of African-American stu-dents earning bachelor’s degrees in engineer-ing technology fields. Overall, 49 percent ofthe students enrolled at SPSU in spring 2014were from underrepresented groups. Thesestudents are in strong demand by savvy com-panies who understand that a diverse work-force contributes to creativity, productivity,and job satisfaction.

Over the last 65 years, Southern Poly-technic has been a vital contributor to Geor-gia’s economy, to the careers of its graduates,and to the advancement of the businessesand industries that have hired alumni. Al-though the University System of Georgia’sBoard of Regents has decided to consolidateSouthern Polytechnic with Kennesaw State

University, effective in January 2015, the en-gineering and engineering technology pro-grams, along with SPSU’s range of otherdegrees, that have been so important to the

state of Georgia will continue. The ‘New U’will build on the strong foundations in thesefields, and these graduates will continue tobenefit our state. v

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 53

54 GEORGIA ENGINEER

ith a little creativity, teamwork,and technical know-how, acontractor and its segmentalbridge construction engineerwere able to develop an alter-nate approach to the MarbleFalls Bridge replacement proj-

ect that won the contract and ultimatelysaved construction costs and time.

Started in December 2010, the $28.65million demolition and new bridge replace-ment project is already ahead of its expectedfour-year construction schedule. The first oftwo new segmental bridges carrying US 281over the Colorado River in Marble Falls,Texas, just outside of Austin, Texas, openedto traffic in December 2012. The twin Mar-ble Falls bridges will carry two lanes each inopposite directions to replace a functionallyobsolete steel truss bridge that was built in1936. Designed by Texas Department ofTransportation (TxDOT), the crossings willinclude six-foot-wide sidewalks for pedestri-ans and will be featured at nighttime with afully lighted substructure and surface light-ing, creating a beautiful backdrop to down-town Marble Falls residents and visitors.

US 281 is a major north-south highwayfrom Wichita Falls to San Antonio and servesas an important evacuation route and emer-gency services access for the area. Designedby TxDOT’s Bridge Division, the 958’ long,straight bridge on a vertical grade of 1.286percent consists of a three-span (274’-410’-274’), variable depth, cast-in-place segmen-tal superstructure with a 47-foot-wide deck.

There were several factors leading to se-lecting a segmental design: 1) the nearestriver crossing detour option being locatedmore than 30 miles north, 2) a very limitedsite in terms of adjacent operating businessesand utilities restricting an alignment change,3) active recreational lake traffic in the area

that is reliant on tourists, and 4) high localregard for the look of the old truss bridge.

Project Information

There are 24 concrete segments per can-tilever, with 48 segments total per bridge.Each segment measures 14’ to 16’ long and47’ wide. The variable segments sport aunique tapered boat hull design in the bot-tom slab, an aesthetic treatment that matchesthe community’s focus on recreational boatracing. The segments have a box depth thatranges from 23’ at the interior piers to 9’5”at the end spans, with a variable supereleva-tion up to 5.5 percent. Each segment weighsa maximum of 150 tons.

It will be the second longest main spanfor a segmental bridge in Texas, and the onlysegmental bridge with no approach spans.Each crossing will carry two 12-foot travellanes and a ten-foot shoulder.

The bridge crossing had to remain con-tinuously open, requiring that constructionbe phased. Phase 1 involved building thenorthbound structure. Phase 2 shifts the twonorthbound traffic lanes to finish roadwaywork, and Phase 3 shifts the two southboundtraffic lanes to construct the southboundstructure. With the completion of Phase 3,southbound lanes are moved back to thesouthbound structure for the final lane con-figuration.

Creative Approach

Upon reviewing the bid from the contractor,TXDOT considered its proposed means andmethods that aligned in a more efficient wayfor that particular contractor’s crews andequipment to do the job. This solution of-fered TXDOT a nearly $2 million cost sav-ings under the construction estimate.

“We knew we were very well equippedand capable for this project,” said Eric

Hiemke, project manager with Archer-West-ern Contractors, “but the means and meth-ods outlined in the RFP made it timeintensive and cost prohibitive for our team.We had ideas on other ways to get the jobdone, but needed a bridge design expert toconfirm our thinking and prove that theideas were safe, sound, and effective.”

Working together, the engineer-con-tractor team reviewed the design, discussedvarious ideas, conducted additional research,and performed numerous calculations. Thefinal alternative design and the means/meth-ods not only built on the contractor’sstrengths, but it also shortened the construc-tion schedule and reduced the amount offalsework and number of props required toget the job done. The initial concept of thealternate approach was presented to TxDOTin December 2010 and the final design ap-proved just two months later.

“TxDOT includes in our segmentalbridge specification three options for con-struction alternates that the contractor canpropose for our consideration. The allowablealternates are post-tensioning layouts, seg-ment lengths, and erection methods. Sowhen Archer Western and FINLEY ap-proached us with their proposed changes, wewere happy to work with them to make ithappen,” said Amy Smith, P.E., Design En-gineer with the TxDOT Bridge Division.

The major changes were to revise thepier table design, segment layout, and post-tensioning specifications. While the originaldesign called for an even, balanced pier table(extending 30’ to each side from centerlineof column), the new design called for an un-balanced design (22’ x 14’ from centerline ofcolumn). The innovative approach requiredless length of pier tables, and, therefore, lessfalsework. The revised segment layout al-lowed for only two temporary supports (sta-

Tailor-made Work Approach Saved TexasDepartment of Transportation Money and Ramped Up Construction Schedule on Marble Falls Bridge Replacement

W

By The Finley Engineering Group Inc.

55FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014

bility props) during construction, as opposedto the four required with a balanced piertable. This shaved approximately 12 weeksoff the construction schedule.

Temporary shoring for the prop in-volved two 30-inch diameter pipes foundedon 20’ deep, 36-inch diameter drilled shaftsdesigned to stop at the mud line. Tie backs tothe column were set approximately six feetabove the water line. An added benefit is thatthe prop was incorporated into the pier tablefalsework.

The transverse and longitudinal posttensioning was also modified. The RFPcalled for three strand transverse tendons at2’-1” spacing. The alternate design utilizedfour strand tendons at 2’9-1/2” spacing. Thismodification saved on duct, heads, grout,caps and more. The original longitudinalpost tensioning specified 15 strand tendons,while the alternate design outlined a combi-nation of 19 strand and 12 strand per ten-don. This modification allowed for smallerstressing anchors in some areas.

While reducing the length of each seg-ment required more segments, the process ofpouring each segment in the air using theform travelers was optimized and requiredless labor-intensive falsework to be built. Theoriginal design called for a 16’ typical seg-ment, 16’ closure pours, 60’ pier table, and77’4” end segment section. The alternate de-sign specified a 14’ starter segment, 16’ typ-ical segment, 10’ closure pours, 36’ piertable, and 55’ cast-in-place on falsework end-span segment. The concrete stressingstrength/mix design was 4,000 f ’c at 24hours.

Another important piece to the alter-nate design was the knowledge that two formtravelers that met the specifications of theMarble Falls Bridge project were becomingavailable from another job site just at thetime the team would need it for their project.Typically, a form traveler of this type wouldhave cost approximately $750,000 each andadded several months to the schedule to de-sign and fabricate.

The use of a precast footing box formsystem was an additional innovative methodemployed on this project. A large amount ofrock at the bottom of the lake, close prox-imity to the existing bridge, and the need to

maintain an open water channel for recre-ational/tourist boating traffic precluded theuse of typical cofferdams to dewater the areain preparation to build forms and pour foot-ings. Instead the alternate design called fordrilling shafts into the rock riverbed and low-ering an on-site precast concrete footingform to accommodate the forms and thework platform.

Aesthetics, Drawings and Controls

For this project, the TxDOT wanted a min-imal column and footing footprint in thewater to minimize boat collisions and todeter vandals from climbing on the piers foraccess. A flared column design with a seam-less transition between the pier and pier tablewas chosen. The flared columns required acustom built form poured in two pieces, withsix feet of column base three feet under thenormal water level. The bathtub dewateringdesign allowed the entire column pour in dryconditions and included the ability for a two-pour column (column base and column).The vertical steel had a tendency tostraighten during the pouring of the concretebecause of the flared design, so the concretemix had to be altered to allow for a slowerpour rate to maintain stability of the steel. Inaddition, permission was given to the con-tractor to splice the column steel to minimize

the cantilever length at the column base foreasier installation.

Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM)made it possible to develop details quickly tomeet the demanding schedule, including in-tegrated segment drawings combining rein-forcing bars, bolt inserts (for utilities),electrical conduits, etc., all into one draw-ing. A time-dependent, staged analysis of thestructure was conducted to monitor stressesand anticipated deflections during construc-tion so that adjustments could be made inthe field if necessary.

The structures are being built using bal-anced cantilever construction to cross theriver, with end segments constructed onfalsework.

A detailed construction manual, whichincluded the sequence of activities and de-

GEORGIA ENGINEER56

FEBRUARY | MARCH 2014 57

tailed descriptions, was provided to the con-tractor. The geometry control manual gavean introduction to the construction method,guidance on typical methods based on expe-rience with similar type bridges, and anoverview about camber theory. The comple-mentary geometry control software allowedthe contractor to record actual camber meas-urements during construction so that modi-fications could be made immediately ifneeded. Stringent control of geometry andsuccessive correction of minor casting devia-tions was required to ensure that the geome-try of the bridge is maintained as eachsegment is added. The construction engineerand contractor’s surveyor coordinated almostdaily to ensure the geometry of the bridgewas behaving as predicted in the analysis andto make minor adjustments when necessary.

Almost any construction project canbenefit from looking at ways to improve themeans and methods to match the strengthsof the contractor and the materials andequipment that are readily available. Some-times, as with the Marble Falls Bridge proj-ect, additional design, cost, and scheduleefficiencies can be uncovered.

“In any new project, including this sig-nature bridge for Marble Falls, TxDOTlooks to balance design, function, operations,maintenance and most importantly, safetywhile still providing the same product or bet-ter,” said Howard Lyons, TxDOT AreaBridge Engineer. “The public was very sen-sitive to the aesthetics of this bridge, sincethe lake is also used for recreation. Archer-Western Contractors put together a greatteam, and the alternative concepts developedby Archer-Western and FINLEY helped tomeet the expectations of TxDOT and thepublic.” v

ercer Engineering is about im-proving the world through ed-ucation, research, discovery,inspiration, empowerment,and service. Our graduatesenter their professional careersequipped with real-world edu-

cation and experience, and a commitment toserving their communities.

With 32 full-time faculty members andover 700 students in both undergraduate andgraduate programs, the school prides itselfon an environment where everyone matters,and student success is priority one.

The Mercer School of Engineering pre-pares students to serve the rapidly changingtechnical demands of a new century. The ac-ademic programs provide breadth across en-gineering core skills and depth in technicalspecialties. Faculty and students combinetechnology and research with service throughopportunities like the popular Mercer onMission program where outreach projectsserve the needs of under-developed placesaround the world.

At Mercer, the ABET accredited Bach-elor of Science in Engineering (BSE) degreetakes an interdisciplinary path that includesa core curriculum in electrical, mechanical,and industrial engineering. Integrated

within the curriculum is study of technicalcommunication—a communication-en-hancing focus on the written and spokenword. Specialties can be completed in oneof six engineering discipline areas: biomed-ical, computer, electrical, environmental, in-dustrial, and mechanical. Mercer offersMaster of Science degrees in eleven areas:biomedical engineering, computer engineer-ing, electrical engineering, engineering man-agement, environmental engineering,environmental systems, mechanical engi-neering, software engineering, software sys-

tems, technical communication manage-ment, and technical management.

The School of Engineering offers an ac-tive honors program where gifted studentsdesign, build, and test solutions to challengesthat they select and share in conferences andposter sessions. Every undergraduate studentparticipates in a team to complete a year-long senior design project with an externalclient, many of which are corporate or gov-ernment entities. A distinctive for Mercerstudents is that the School of Engineeringprovides its undergraduates with a private labspace for their design projects. Many engi-neering students take advantage of the pop-ular ‘5th Year Program’ where juniors canapply to the graduate school to completetheir undergraduate and master’s degree inengineering in a total of five years.

Research is a vital component of Mer-cer’s engineering program, and its partner isthe 150-member Mercer Engineering Re-search Center (MERC), an operating unit ofMercer University devoted to the perform-ance of sponsored scientific and engineeringresearch for governmental, industrial, andcommercial markets. Research efforts withinMercer Engineering include rapid prototyp-ing, autonomous vehicles, machine intelli-gence, modeling of the human airway formedication delivery, coding algorithms,prosthetic design and manufacturing, soft-ware development methods, logistics supportfor aircraft maintenance, water filtration sys-tems, and healthcare delivery quality.

It is an exciting time to study and prac-tice engineering and be part of a disciplinethat brings tremendous benefits to ourworld. The last two years recorded the largestfreshman classes in our history. Our labs arebusy with design projects and creative inno-vations on the cutting edge of technology.The key ingredient is the people—faculty,staff, and students, who translate the needsof clients into design problems that challengeour skills as engineers. We like to say thatMercer Engineering is ‘Different by Design’and we like to explain why that is so! v

By Dr. Wade h Shaw | Dean | Mercer School of Engineering

M

Mercer University School of Engineering

Dr. Wade Shaw

GEORGIA ENGINEER58

http://www.georgiapower.com/aande

http://www.haywardbaker.com/