ASCE Richmond Branch Newsletter

Volume 7 Issue 2

February 2015

Important Upcoming Dates

In This Issue

February Event - How GIS Can Achieve Your Business Goals

February 12th, 11:30 AM, The Westwood Club

President's Message

President's Message

Exciting Upcoming
Events and PDH
Opportunities
Government
Relations

February is an exciting month for engineers,

with a whole week (February 22-28) dedicated
to celebrating our profession. Our branch
celebrates EWeek by hosting the annual
Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition (March 14)
to support our local middle and high school
students. I encourage you to volunteer at the
event this year, as it is a great opportunity to
share the importance of STEM careers to
students and parents. We have had over 200 students signed up in the
past years, and we anticipate just as many students this year. It is
personally one of my favorite ASCE events of the year, and it makes me
proud to be a part of an organization that promotes student outreach to
ensure growth and understanding of our profession. Please see the
Education Outreach section for more information and contact Ryan
Abalos rabalos@Dewberry.com for more information.
A big thank you to those who came out to support the Legislative Meet
and Greet at The Jefferson. We think it was a huge success, and we
were able to share our love and passion for infrastructure with Virginia
legislators. If you were not able to attend, it is not too late to get
involved and show support to our legislators and profession. There are
resources in the Government Relations section that can help start or
reignite your involvement.
Our next PDH opportunity is just around the corner. We are hosting GIS
Project Manager Matt McCraken from Timmons, which one of the leaders
in using GIS technology in Richmond. This is a topic that most engineers
encounter on a daily or weekly basis either internally for deliverables or
externally from clients sharing data. Whether your specialty is in land
development, roadway design, traffic engineering, water resources, or
many other related fields chances are you have been exposed to GIS. If
this is not you, this would be an ideal time to discover how GIS can help

Educational Outreach
News

Meet the Board

and Chair
Members!

Click here for our bio's

and contact
information

President - Brooke
Jackson
President Elect - Ashley
Johnson, P.E.

Vice President - Jonathan

Oliver
Secretary/Treasurer Shannon Kerrigan
Past President - Austin
Clarke, P.E.

your career and business.

Thank you for your continued support of our organization, and as always
we are looking for comments on how to better serve you through
technical meetings and outreach. Please email me at
brooke.jackson@kimley-horn.com if you have questions or comments. See
you next Thursday!

Exciting Upcoming Events and PDH Opportunities!

ONE WEEK until February Branch Meeting. Sign-up today!!

February Event - How GIS Can Achieve Your Business

Goals
We will be hosting Matt McCracken from Timmons Group. Matt is a
Project Manager in the Geospatial Solutions Division, and he focuses on
local and state level enterprise solution projects. Matt has been with
Timmons for the last 5 years, and is a graduate of the University of
Richmond. He specializes in implementing solutions to help
organizations solve business problems, create value, maximize growth
and improve business performance. Matt will give an overview of GIS
and how it can help organizations achieve their goals. His presentation
will showcase a number of case studies that have provided benefits to
state and local governments using GIS. Contact Jon Oliver by phone at
804-672-4723 or by email at jonathan.oliver@kimley-horn.com for

more information. Please register on our website.

When:Thursday, February 12, 2015, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
*Food will be served at 11:30 AM with opening remarks and presentation
to start at 12:00 PM.
Location: Westwood Club, 6200 West Club Lane, Richmond, VA 23226
Cost:$25
PDH:1 credit
Menu:A buffet style lunch will be served.

Communications Chair Melanie Leckey, P.E.

Education Outreach Chairs
- Justin Watson & Ryan
Abalos
Government Relations
Chair - Loai El-Gazairly
Membership Chair Jeremy Craft

Website Chair - Kevin

O'Neill, P.E.

Young Member Chair Chris Friend & Carolyn

Desrochers

Connect with
ASCE Richmond
on our
LinkedIN Page!

March Event - Bridge Scour Using GIS Integrated Storm

Serge Hydrodynamic Modeling for the Lesner Bridge
Replacement Project, Virginia Beach, VA (2008)
Gamal Hassan of HWR will present
about the unique hydraulic modeling of
the Lesner Bridge in Virginia Beach. A
1550-foot long signature bridge at the
Lynnhaven Inlet off the Chesapeake
Bay, the Lesner Bridge is subjected to
some of the fastest recording tidal and
storm surge currents in Virginia.
When: Thursday, March 4, 2015, 11:30
AM - 1:00 PM
*Food will be served at 11:30 AM with
opening remarks and presentation to
start at 12:00 PM.
Location: Westwood Club, 6200 West Club Lane, Richmond, VA
Cost:$25
PDH:1 credit
Menu: A buffet style lunch will be served.
The Lesner Bridge Replacement Project in Virginia Beach, VA, presented
several technical challenges that were compounded by an accelerated
design timetable and major revisions to the proposed bridge design. The
proposed substructure units for this 1,550-foot long signature bridge at
the Lynnhaven Inlet off the Chesapeake Bay will be subjected to some of
the fastest recorded tidal and storm surge currents in the
Commonwealth. A signature bridge for the City of Virginia Beach, VA,
Lesner Bridge experiences the full strength of Atlantic Hurricanes,
Nor'Easters and daily tidal forces. Calculating the scour depths for this
signature coastal bridge is compounded by VDOT's request to simulate
the storm surge effect throughout the entire Lynnhaven River Basin.
Causing several fatalities in recent years, the 45 square mile Lynnhaven
River basin produces the fastest flow currents in the vicinity of the
Lesner bridge location. The scour depth study is further complicated by
the diverse bathometry data sources, on-going revisions to the proposed
bridge's location and the configurations of the substructure units, and
the accelerated design schedule.
Contact Jon Oliver by phone at 804-672-4723 or by email
at jonathan.oliver@kimley-horn.com for more information. Please
register on our website.

2015 RJEC Engineers' Week Banquet

When:Thursday, February 26, 2015, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
5:00 - 6:00 PM (Social with Cash Bar)

6:00 - 9:00 PM (Dinner, Awards, and Keynote Speaker)

Location:The Jefferson Hotel (101 West Franklin Street, Richmond, VA)
Cost:$65
Complete form online at www.rjec.org

Government Relations
Report Card Release and Legislative Meet and Greet Recap
On January 20, 2015, the Richmond Branch and the Virginia Section
hosted the Fifth Legislative Meet and Greet for the General Assembly at
The Jefferson Hotel. The reception took place to celebrate the release
of the 2015 Virginia Infrastructure Report Card, which was release at the
State Capitol earlier in the day.
At the media event and reception, Report Card Chair Don Rissmeyer,
P.E., presented the new Virginia grades, resulting in a G.P.A. of C-,
along with Virginia Section President Christina Ammens, P.E.. Chairman
Thomas D. Rust, P.E., M.ASCE, of the House Transportation Committee,
as well as Delegates Bloxom, Simon, Ingram, Bulova, Lopez, Murphy,
DeSteph, Filler-Corn, Carr and Marshall were in attendance along with
ASCE members from across the state. The event was a great opportunity
for members to interact with legislators. There were also many
representatives from other organizations who represent civil engineers
or are relative to the field. The Report Card earned a variety of media
mentions, but most notably the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Charlottesville Newsplex, Roanake Times, and WTOP-DC.

A special thank you to all BOD members that helped to make the event
possible!

Delegate Tom Rust addressing ASCE Members on Infrastructure Issues

in Virginia
Additional Resources
Virginia Report Card
ASCE Legislative Training
General Assembly Civil Engineering Related Bills
Find your Legislative Representative

Education Outreach News

2015 Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition
March 14th - Free and Open to the Public
ASCE Richmond is also gearing up for our annual Popsicle Stick Bridge
Competition for our future engineers (middle school and high school)
that will be held on March 14th at the Science Museum of Virginia. We
have posted the 2015 competition rules, and registration is open on the
ASCERichmond.org homepage. The competition is open to all greater
Richmond area Middle School (grades 6th-8th) and High School students
(grades 9th-12th). Students may submit entries as individuals or as a
team. If you have a child or know someone in that age range please
encourage them to sign-up! If you have any questions, comments, or
would like to volunteer at this year's competition please contact Ryan
Abalos rabalos@Dewberry.com. You can also support the competition by
purchasing a t-shirt available on our website.

FIRST Robotics Competition Virginia Regional 2015

March 20th and 21st - Free and Open to the Public
Join in the fun and cheer on over 60 high school teams from around the
world as they compete for two days at VCU's Stuart C. Siegel Center.
"The varsity Sport for the Mind," FRC combines the excitement of sport
with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited
resources and time limits, teams of 15-25 students or more are
challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills,
and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field
of competitors. Each year, the FRC challenge is as close to "real-world
engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend
their time and talents to guide each team. All teams received the same
components, but NO INSTRUCTIONS to accomplish their engineering
challenge. Teams have just six weeks to design, program and build their
robots. The FRC game challenge and rules are new each year.
Hands on activities will be available for younger children and Tech Row
will highlight the latest in technological advances.

Annual ASCE Golf Tournament to support ASCE's Annual

Scholarship
TBD (April anticipated), stay tuned for more information posted to the
website!

Thanks to our Sponsors this Month!

Interested in advertising in this newsletter and being seen by

hundreds of local engineers and companies within the Greater
Richmond Area? Email Melanie at mleckey@dewberry.com for more
information!
If you have any comments regarding this newsletter, please don't
hesitate to contact me at mleckey@dewberry.com.
Thanks!
Melanie Leckey
ASCE Richmond Branch Communications Chair

This email was sent to Kevin.ONeill@VDOT.Virginia.gov by communications@ascerichmond.org |

Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe | Privacy Policy.

ASCE Richmond | 4180 Innslake Drive | Glen Allen | VA | 23060