May 2008 Volume 54, Number 8
Turning on a New Airport Concourse
Speaker: Kenneth W. Brammer, P.E.
In the past ten years the number of passengers traveling through Dulles International Airport has increased by about 70% to a total of approximately 25 million passengers per year. By 2025, the Airports Council International says the number of passengers worldwide will double. In order to keep up with the current growth, and to prepare for the future, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has been hard at work providing new and larger facilities at Dulles. Projects currently under construction include an underground people mover system (including four stations, a maintenance facility, and over three miles of “train-sized” tunnels), a new runway, a new settling tank farm, access road improvements, and a 15 gate concourse expansion.
The majority of the concourse expansion opened in January of 2008 in a manner that was described as “seamless” by those first passengers who travelled through the building. This successful opening was made possible through an extended period of complex coordination activities. The whole process was actually fairly typical for an airport facility, with the complexity being generated by the large number of people involved with the design, construction, maintenance, and operations of the terminal overlaid with the fact that the concourse was a multiple tenant, public facility, located in the middle of an active, high security international airport. A lot of the coordination was captured by an activation process that the Authority has implemented to help achieve every operator’s goal, which is to realize that seamless opening, without having any negative impacts on schedule, budget, and construction quality.
The presentation will provide an overview of the extraordinary development program at Dulles International Airport, followed by a case study presentation of the Concourse B Expansion to illustrate what the Authority is doing to achieve the successful activation of these projects.
Kenneth W. Brammer, P.E., is a Vice President and Project Manager with Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. (located in Richmond, VA), who is in the midst of a five-year stint as the Facility Activation Coordinator for Dulles International Airport. He holds a BSCE and an MS-IEOR from Virginia Tech, and has been in the airport consulting business for 18 years. His home company, Delta Airport Consultants, Inc, is an eighty person, exclusively aviation, consulting firm serving both commercial aviation and general aviation clients (of all sizes) across the country. At the present he is committed to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, to coordinate activation activities that are associated with the Authority’s $4B development program at Dulles.
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Distinguished Local ASCE Member Awarded Conservation Medal
Albert A. Grant, P.E., F.ASCE was awarded the 2008 Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Medal. The Joan Hodges Queneau Palladium Medal is given by the American Association of Engineering Societies and honors an engineer’s outstanding achievement in environmental conservation. The medal underscores the vital importance of mutual understanding between conservationists and engineering professionals. Grant is a distinguished member of the local engineering community. His past accomplishments are impressive and are summarized below.
- Organized and chaired the Engineers Forum on Sustainability, in cooperation with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
- Elected to Board of Directors of the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation (RNRF) as a Public Interest Member and, in 2002, elected Chair of the Foundation and re-elected in 2004.
- Chaired the ASCE Sustainable Development Technical Activities Committee
- Led development of the ASCE National Policy Statement on the role of the Engineer in Sustainable Development.
- Led creation of ASCE’s Sustainable Development Action Plan, and Sustainability Guidelines for ASCE Sections, Branches and Student Chapters, to promote sustainability activities at the local level.
- Active in promoting environmental stewardship in the interfaith community for many years, he has helped prepare environmental policy statements and action guides for use by religious institutions in conserving energy and reducing carbon footprints at the institution and at home.
- Organized the DC metro area’s first regional ridesharing program and promoted telecommuting as strategies to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.
- Named 1988 Alumni of the Year in Engineering by the Catholic University of America.
- Has taught graduate courses in urban transportation at American University and Howard University.
- Has written extensively, including articles on telecommuting, strategic planning, engineering management and sustainability.
- Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and President of ASCE in 1987 – 88
- Chair of the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) in 1991
- Received Kenneth Andrew Roe Award for “strong support and leadership in making the concept of sustainable development a key element of AAES’ strategic plan, and enhancing engineering unity by promulgating the essential role of the engineer in sustainable development.”
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Civil aviation, the non-military component of air traffic, is an essential part of our economy and a major employer of civil engineers. The newly reopened America by Air Exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and our next monthly meeting provide opportunities to learn about the role of civil engineers in aviation. The NCS May 20th meeting will be sponsored by the Air Transport Committee and will include a talk on the new 15 Gate Concourse B Expansion at Dulles International Airport. A certificate for 1 CEU will be given to all attendees at the end of the presentation.
Our May meeting will be the last regularly monthly meeting until September; however, there will be several National Capital Section events this summer that members can participate in. In July (date to be announced) the annual NCS Planning Meeting will be held at the Sheraton in Crystal City. The annual planning meeting provides a format for ASCE members to suggest new activities and improvements to our existing activities for the upcoming year and get more involved in the Section. At the planning meeting, suggestions and recommendations can also be made for the NCS budget. Our budget process gets underway at that time and July is the best time to request a budget line item for an event, activity or cause. Speakers for the 2008-2009 season will also be lined up starting in July. The July Planning Meeting is open to all NCS members, supporters and friends. The date and time for the July Planning meeting will be announced after the May 20th meeting. If you want to make a suggestion but are unable to attend, please send an e-mail to any Board member, Committee Chair or other NCS officer.
Also in July, a Saturday picnic and tour will be held in Fairfax County at Woodglen Lake, Lake Barton and Huntsman Lake dams. These dams are currently awaiting funding for spillway upgrades and sediment removal. Because of the need for rehabilitation and because of their location in urban areas, these dams are rated as relatively high risk by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Representatives from the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Control will be in attendance to talk about the dams. Look for more information via email after the May Meeting.
This will be my last President’s Corner and Fernando Pons will take over the National Capital Section Leadership in September for the 2008-2009 season. It’s been fun being President and the job was made easy because of the help of the NCS Board members including Vice-President Fernando Pons, Past Presidents Khaled Alamdeen and Greg Prelewicz, Newsletter Editor Mark Leeman and Treasurer Fady Afif. Special thanks also go to Jerry Crosby, our Web Master who will be stepping down after this season.
Sincerely,
Dean Westman, PE
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Exhibit Features Civil Aviation and Civil Engineering Accomplishments
Civil Aviation contributed $1.37 Trillion to the United Sates economy in 2004 and is an essential component of the world economy. Most people naturally think of planes and pilots when they consider Civil Aviation but Civil Engineers and Civil Engineering play an essential role in Civil and General Aviation. The recently refurbished and expanded “America by Air” exhibit on the first floor of the main building of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall recognizes the role of Civil Aviation and especially Commercial Aviation (passengers and freight) in the United States. The role of the Civil Engineer is also recognized in the exhibit.
The first commercial airline service took off in 1914, just 11 years after the Wright brothers demonstrated practical flight by heavier than air vehicles. Transport of mail by air for the United States Postal Service began on May 15, 1918, with 140-pounds of mail going 250 miles. Although passenger travel and freight delivery by air was not practical, safe or efficient at first, a nationwide and worldwide system of Civil Aviation infrastructure was soon in place.
The new Smithsonian America by Air Exhibit is now open and is part of the permanent exhibitions. The museum is open every day except Christmas. The exhibit can also be visited virtually at: http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/ga1102/index.cfm
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by David Dajc, P.E., Water Resource Committee Chair
Dinner Meeting – Edmonston Flood Control Pumping Station Technical
May 13, 2008 @ 6:30 PM, $20.00/Person
David J. Rigby, P.E., President of Waste Water Management, Inc. will speak on the recently completed 266 MGD stormwater pump station for Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation. The station is designed to mitigate flooding in the Town of Edmonston which is divided by the Anacostia River. The design includes three, 10’ diameter x 50’ long Archimedes Screw Pumps.
The dinner and presentation will be held in the Board Room of Delon Hampton & Associates, Chartered, 900 7th St NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC, 20001. Parking is available for approximately $15 at the building. The office is Metro accessible via the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro stop, exit station using 7th & H St and walk 1 block north on 7th Street. You will need to sign in at the guard desk. Dinner details will be provided later.
Please RSVP by May 9, 2008 to Daniel Fréchette, P.E., M.ASCE at 202-787-4078 or via email Daniel.Frechette@dcwasa.com.
Technical Tour – Edmonston Flood Control Pumping Station
May 17, 2008 @ 12:30
An approximately 1.5 hour tour of the 266 MGD Edmonston Stormwater Pumping Station will be held on Saturday May 17, 2008 at 12:30 PM. The tour will include observation and discussion of watershed and retention pond, existing levee and existing pump station, new bar screen, pumps, discharge channel, and electrical system along with discussion of construction dewatering, sheet piling, crane set-up.
Tour participants will meet at southwest entrance to the pump station located at 4923 Taylor Road, Riverdale, MD 20737 and should wear sturdy shoes or boots and long pants. Those wishing to attend the tour should RSVP by May 12th to Daniel Fréchette, P.E., 202-787-4078 or via email Daniel.Frechette@dcwasa.com.
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ND SEED Undertakes Footbridge Project in Honduras
ND SEED (Notre Dame Students Empowering through Engineering Development) was formed in February 2008 at the University of Notre Dame when six civil engineering students decided to combine their academic interests with service. Working through the non-profit organization Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) and following the example of Continental Crossings, a team from the University of Iowa, ND SEED’s main goal is to empower a rural Honduran community by providing it with a footbridge.
The team will be responsible for fundraising the entire cost of the project and for designing the bridge with the help of B2P and the faculty of the Civil Engineering department at the University of Notre Dame. The six team members will also be responsible for on-site surveying and material selection. As part of the design process, the team will create drawings and an erection manual for bridge replication. The project will entail traveling to Honduras twice: first for a site inspection and then for the construction of the bridge in the summer of 2009. The team members will work with the local community to build the bridge.
Due to the unique nature of the project, all travel costs and construction materials must be personally funded for the initial prototype, with a proposed budget of almost $20,000. Although ND SEED is actively pursuing financial assistance, any technical advice or similar work experience would also be greatly appreciated.
To contact ND SEED, please email ndseed@nd.edu or send mail to the following address:
ND SEED
156 Fitzpatrick Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Also, check out ND SEED’s website: www.nd.edu/~ndseed.
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The ASCE-NCS provides the Employment Clearinghouse as a free service to its membership. The Clearinghouse allows members to post short (50 word maximum) notices for available positions or candidates seeking employment. If you have questions or would like to post a position, please email mark.leeman@feapc.com.
By submitting a “Position Available” notice, all employers are certifying that they are equal opportunity employers.
Civil Engineer: Lorton, Virginia: provide environmental technical support to include the following but not limited to preparation of site permits, project schedule/proposals/cost estimate, assure site compliance with environmental laws and requirements, including State, Federal, and Local, conduct site surveys to ensure the site meets the intent of the plans and specifications of sensor equipment. Contact John Lucas, Sr. Recruiter, at Chenega Technology Services Corp., 5911 Kingstowne Village Parkway, Alexandria, VA 22315, john.lucas@chenegatechnology.com Tel: 703-822-2773; Fax: 703-822-2865
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June 2-5, 2008, St. Louis, MO
Come to St. Louis for the SAME-ASCE Midwest Levee Conference for design, methodology, and operational practices that you can put to work. Get ready for recertification and learn methods to improve your flood protection system for greater security behind your levees.
If you attended the ASFPM-NAFSMA Levee Safety Summit in February, you learned about levee certification, FEMA requirements, and liability. Now come back to St. Louis to get the latest tools necessary to tackle those issues!
If you have any questions, contact us at info@MidwestLeveeConference.com. We look forward to having you join us for this feature-packed event! For more information and program details, visit the website at http://www.midwestleveeconference.com.
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Robert B. Flowers to Speak at June Event
The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) will hold its June Breakfast Speaker Series event on Thursday, June 19, 2007 from 8:00 to 9:30 am at the Army & Navy Club, 901 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC. Robert B. Flowers, P.E., Chief Executive Officer, HNTB International, will be the featured speaker. His presentation will focus on HNTB activities related to critical infrastructure resilience.
The cost to attend is $40 per person for TISP members and $60 per person for non-members. Seating is limited and preferred participation is available to paid TISP Contributing Members and Corporate Sponsors. Pre-registration is required and must be received by 12:00 pm EDT on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. For further information, contact Catherine Tehan at ctehan@tisp.org.
Organizations interested in sponsoring future TISP Breakfast Speaker Series events should contact TISP at 202-789-7855.
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Second Annual Awards Gala Recognizes Local Achievements
On February 23, 2008, the Metropolitan Washington Chapter of the Structural Engineers Association (SEA-MW) hosted its second annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards (ESE) Gala at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC. The event was held to recognize structural design excellence in new construction and renovation projects accomplished by structural engineering design firms local to Metropolitan Washington. Eight projects were honored with Outstanding Project or Merit Awards, and a local structural engineer was honored with an Outstanding Achievement Award. The event was a grand success, attracting more than 140 structural engineers, construction contractors, and specialty manufacturers.
The Outstanding Achievement Award was given to Doug Elliott, retired Professional Engineer and former Principal of Elliott LeBoeuf & McElwain of Springfield, VA for his significant contributions to the structural engineering profession. During a career of more than 40 years, Mr. Elliott was involved with the design of more than 2,000 projects. He was a founding member of SEA-MW and remains very active in the structural engineering community, both locally and nationally. His passion has been to educate engineers in strategies to identify and manage risk. On the national scene, Mr. Elliott has served in leading roles in risk management councils for the Design Professionals Insurance Company, American Council of Engineering Companies, and the Council of American Structural Engineers.
Outstanding Project Awards and Merit Awards were given in five categories, which were based on the type of work and total cost of construction. The five categories were New Buildings Under $10M, New Buildings Between $10M & $25M, New Buildings Over $25M, Structural Renovations Over $1M, and Transportation/Bridge Structures.
To qualify for an award, a construction or renovation project had to have been completed after January 2005. Participating firms were required to submit an application form, project photos, and relevant structural and architectural drawings. The deadline for submitting entries was September 14, 2007. Winning projects were announced at the Gala.
Project entries were judged based on the creativity and technical ingenuity and the execution of the structural design. The Judging Committee was comprised of five distinguished judges selected from outside of the Washington, DC area to avoid any conflicts of interest during the judging process. The Committee consisted of three licensed Professional Engineers, one construction contractor, and one structural engineering professor – all from the Chicago area. Committee members included the lead structural investigator into the September 11, 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center’s twin towers, the chair of the Civil and Architectural Engineering Department at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a member of the structural engineering design team of renowned projects such as the 110-story Sears Tower and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
The Outstanding Project for the New Buildings Under $10M category was the Church of the Resurrection in Montgomery County, MD, designed by Structron Engineering of Rockville, MD. The new Washington Dulles Airport Traffic Control Tower by Jacobs Facilities of Arlington, VA was recognized as the Outstanding Project for New Buildings Between $10M and $25M. Cagley & Associates of Rockville, MD won the Outstanding Project Award for New Buildings Over $25M for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, MD. Cagley & Associates won a second Outstanding Project Award in the Structural Renovation Over $1M category for the Pentagon Library Conference Center in Arlington, VA. The final Outstanding Project Award was given to the Washington, DC office of Thornton Tomasetti for the Station Place Loading Dock Access Ramp adjacent to Union Station in Washington, DC (Transportation/Bridge Structures).
Merit Awards were presented to Thornton Tomasetti for the Duke Divinity School Expansion – Westbrook Building (New Buildings Between $10M and $25M), the Washington, DC office of Weidlinger Associates for the new U.S. Department of Transportation Headquarters in southeast DC (New Buildings Over $25M), and Rathgeber/Goss Associates for the renovation to the existing Ballston Mall parking garage for the addition of the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, VA (Structural Renovations Over $1M).
Planning for the third annual Gala in February 2009 is already underway. Additional information is available at the SEA-MW website: http://www.sea-mw.org.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Section Meeting. “Turning On a New Airport Concourse” – A case study presentation of the behind-the-scenes activity that must occur in order to activate a facility, in this case the 15 Gate Concourse B Expansion at Dulles International Airport. The presentation takes a look at the complex coordination activities that occurred to activate a multiple tenant, public facility, located in the middle of an active, high security international airport. The speaker will be Kenneth W. Brammer, P.E. He is a Vice President and Project Manager with Delta Airport Consultants, Inc. (located in Richmond, VA), who is the Facility Activation Coordinator for Dulles International Airport. He holds a BSCE and an MS-IEOR from Virginia Tech, and has been in the airport consulting business for 18 years. Where: Sheraton Crystal City (Metro: Blue/Yellow lines, Crystal City) is located at 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington, VA (one block from the Metro). Registration and networking will begin at 6:00 pm, with a buffet dinner beginning at 6:45 pm and the program from approximately 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm. Reservations can be made by e-mailing Fernando Pons at asce-ncs@haleyaldrich.com. Please RSVP by close of business on May 14, 2008. The cost is $30 for members and non-members and $5 for students, which includes a buffet dinner.
Where: Sheraton Crystal City (Metro: Blue/Yellow lines, Crystal City), located at 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington, VA (one block from the Metro). No free parking is available at the hotel for the meeting. However, free parking is generally available on the street.
Tuesday and Wednesday, July 22 and 23, 2008
Explosion Effects and Structural Design for Blast. A 2-day training course at the Holiday Inn Washington Dulles Airport. Engineers have an opportunity to improve their skills in understanding explosion effects and designing facilities that are safer to occupants by understanding and minimizing the effects of explosive detonations on structures.
Most new government buildings now require some level of blast resistant design and many facilities require retrofitting to meet anti terrorism bomb protection criteria; this training will address those requirements. Each participant will receive a certificate indicating 15 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) that can be used to meet continuing education requirements for professional engineers. The course will focus on the fundamentals of explosion effects, determining blast loads on structures, computing structural response to blast loads, and the design and retrofit of structures to resist blast effects. The emphasis will be on terrorist threats from vehicle bombs, but the fundamental concepts can be applied to other explosive scenarios.
Currently available software and publications for blast effects and design guidance will be demonstrated and discussed. Much of the design guidance is restricted distribution to government agencies and their contractors, however specific information on how qualified users may obtain the software will be provided. Several computer programs for blast effects and blast design have recently been developed by the government for general release and those programs will be discussed along with instructions on how to obtain the software. All of the software and references discussed in this course is available free of charge to qualified users.
Participant will gain an understanding of how to compute explosion effects like overpressure and impulse; blast loading on a structure; how a structure responds to blast loading; and practical methods for designing and retrofitting structures to resist blast effects. Participants will be provided a complete set of class notes.
Participants may check in beginning at 7:30 am on July 22 and the course will run 8am to 5pm each day. Lunch and coffee at breaks will be provided for participants each day.
For more information about the instructors, the course, and accommodations visit http://www.blastdesigntraining.com.
Secure on-line registration is available. Questions should be directed to Dr. Sam Kiger at 573-882-3285, KigerS@missouri.edu or Dr. Stan Woodson at 601-636-4429, woodsoneng@netzero.net. For room reservations call 800-HOLIDAY (800-465-4329) and mention Explosion Effects Training for the $141 course room rate. The hotel web site is at www.hidullesairport.com.
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Mark Leeman, P.E., Editor
Facility Engineering Associates, P.C., 11001 Lee Highway, Suite D, Fairfax, VA 22030
Work: 703-591-4855
Fax: 703-591-4857
mark.leeman@feapc.com
September 2008 Issue Deadline: August 1, 2008
Published monthly except July, August, and December
To Submit Articles:
Email: mark.leeman@feapc.com
Fax: 703-591-4857
Address Changes:
Call 1-800-548-ASCE, email member@asce.org, go to www.asce.org/myprofile/, or write: ASCE - Membership, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Include your membership number.
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