Letter from the Editor
By Katie Swanson, PE, Water Resources Engineer, CDM Smith, BSCES Vice President and BSCESNews Editor
Geotechnical engineering may be one of the most “underground” aspects of civil engineering, but it’s nonetheless important despite being often unseen. Geotechs ensure that we have proper foundations for all our structures, hold back soils while we complete our construction jobs, harness the power of the earth to heat our buildings, and undoubtably do much more than I am aware of. I like to think that Geotechs were the type of kids who really liked to play around in dirt and dig holes…. much like my puppy, Scout. A mud puddle? Glorious. A day spent digging in the sand at the beach? Paradise.
BSCESNews Puppy Scout Channeling her Inner-Geotechnical Engineer
If you haven’t already caught on, this month’s theme is Geotechnical Practices. Check out Geo-Institute Boston Chapter Group Chair Mike Flynn from GEI’s Group Report for updates on committee events and activities. Our featured article comes from two David’s – Mazzei and Finocchio – from Keller North America. Their article describes the “stack” of geotechnical solutions employed in the ongoing construction of the new Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University. Dig deep with Jerry Wang from CDM Smith’s article about the use of geothermal energy technology in Boston-area schools. And read David Manugian (Town of Bedford)’s member profile of Professor Lewis Edgers – a titan in the geotechnical field and newest BSCES Honorary Member.
Our articles expand slightly beyond our theme with a project description of a pop-up park in Portland, Maine, by Gary Sorge (Stantec). Mike Sullivan (CHA) “checks our privilege” and reminds us about the sometimes-herculean efforts required to move goods in the early days of our country in his description of the South Hadley Canal construction for his Historic New England Infrastructure series. BSCES President Bruce Jacobs gives us a brief description of the MA Coastal Flood Resilience Design Guidelines, which has an upcoming event on January 7th, 2021. He also tackles the issue of pricing webinar events in his President’s report this month. Please give this a thoughtful read.
Looking forward, our theme next month is Innovative Technologies. We’re excited about the articles already in progress, but if you’d like to showcase a project or contribute an opinion piece, we’re always open for submissions! Email me at newsletter.board@BSCES.org for more details on how to apply. Upcoming themes and submission deadlines are shown in Figure 2.
Upcoming BSCESNews Themes and Article Submission Deadlines
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts as you read through this issue of BSCESNews. Send me an email at Newsletter.Board@BSCES.org, or engage with BSCES on our social media pages (LinkedIn: BSCES LinkedIn Group or Twitter: @BSCESNews or @BSCES).
Happy Reading!
