BSCES has been very fortunate to have been recognized by ASCE nationally for its achievements. This year, BSCES received the Outstanding Section and Branch Award for Very Large Sections and Branches as well as the History & Heritage Citation. I am also happy to announce that two of our members have received individual recognition. Professor Jerry Hajjar of Northeastern University received the 2016 Moisseiff Award for co-authoring the paper, “Quasi-Static Cyclic Behavior of Controlled Rocking Steel Frames,” which was featured in the November 2014 issue of the Journal of Structural Engineering. Professor Steven Chapra of Tufts University was honored with the 2016 Wesley W. Horner Award for his paper, “Sed2K: Modeling Lake Sediment Diagenesis in a Management Context,” which appeared in the March 2015 issue of the Journal of Environmental Engineering. Congratulations to them and all of the ASCE award recipients.
Keeping with the theme of this newsletter, Water Infrastructure, BSCES has been instrumental in support of the statewide Climate Adaptation Management Plan (CAMP) legislation. Last month former BSCES president Peter Richardson of Green International Affiliates, Inc. and Chad Cox of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. spoke at a legislative briefing at the State House in support of this initiative. This legislation would require the state to develop a climate change mitigation plan and meet new long-term carbon emission reduction benchmarks. A few weeks later the legislation passed unanimously in the State Senate. To learn more about the legislation, please read Peter’s article on page 4 of this newsletter.
BSCES has been actively promoting legislation and regulations that support our profession and our infrastructure at the local and national level. BSCES Legislative Fellow Mike Sullivan serves as a technical resource at the State House and generally works with the Joint Committee on Transportation. You can read his monthly updates in BSCESNews. We also work with the other sponsor associations of The Engineering Center Education Trust (TECET) to develop materials for Engineers and Land Surveyors Day at the State House which will be on May 10. Click here to learn more about this event. At the national level, the ASCE Legislative Fly-In will be in Washington, DC on March 15-17. If you are unable to attend you can still be an advocate by becoming an ASCE Key Contact. Click here to learn more about these efforts or to become involved with the Government Affairs & Professional Practice Committee.
Our advocacy is not just limited to legislative issues. Our Public Awareness & Outreach Committee (PA&OC) is dedicated to educating the K-12 community about our profession. Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to be a judge at the BSCES Model Bridge Competition. The twenty-five teams of middle and high school students from across Massachusetts built 40” long bridges out of pasta. The bridges were limited to a maximum weight of three pounds, varied in form, and used every imaginable type of dried pasta. Bridges were judged on aesthetics and efficiency. Surprisingly, some bridges were able to support a 50-pound load. The event was a great success thanks to the efforts of PA&OC Chair Olivia Richards, former BSCES president and committee chair Reed Brockman, and all the mentors and volunteers. Special thanks to the other judges: Mike McGrath and Tony Ricci of MassDOT, Erik Stoothoff and Terry McCarthy of the MBTA, and Bill Egan from the City of Boston. We are also grateful to MassDOT for hosting the event.
In closing, I would like to thank all of our corporate sponsors, particularly this month’s featured sponsor, Kleinfelder. We are grateful for their support of BSCES and encourage you to read their featured article entitled City of Cambridge and MWRA Achieve Major Milestone in Boston Harbor Cleanup, which was written by John Struzziery, Kleinfelder, Duke Bitsko, Chester Engineers, and Emerson Olander, MWH Global. The Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) Boston Chapter is the featured group for this newsletter and I encourage you to read their page 6 article, which was written by the EWRI Boston Chapter Chair Matt Hodge of Hodge.WaterResources, LLC. To learn more about the EWRI Boston Chapter and the other technical areas click here.