November 2023 President's Report

Michael R. Cunningham, PE, Senior Principal Engineer, Kleinfelder

The theme of the November issue of the newsletter is Structural Design. From my review of this newsletter’s articles and what I hear from colleagues, structural design is becoming increasingly challenging, but advancements in technology continue to aid our profession in solving the most complex problems. Design of structures, whether it be buildings, bridges, or something else, are especially complicated in this area of the country due to the age of the infrastructure, the dense urban environment, unique subsurface conditions, and evolving codes and regulations. These articles exemplify how our structural engineering community continues to find solutions to overcome constraints and deliver new or upgraded structures that provide long lasting service for their users.

Our featured BSCES group this month is the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) Boston Chapter. SEI Boston Chapter Chair Diego S. Arabbo, PE, from Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc., has authored an article about the chapter and its activities. Diego’s article summarizes the mission of the SEI chapter and its three subcommittees for which most members volunteer. His article mentions last year’s successful activities and the topics of the upcoming lecture series planned for spring 2024. This will be the 27th BSCES Structural Lecture Series and it’s sure to be a great event!

This issue includes the following interesting articles reflecting this month’s theme:

1. Crescent Street Over Millers River Bridge Replacement, by Michael Cruz, PE, and Tiffany Card, PE, from Green International Affiliates. The article describes the many site constraints that required unique and innovative design and construction techniques to make this project a success.
2. Basics of Silo Design Engineering, by Jesus Chavez Sagarnaga, PhD, from Jenike & Johanson, Inc. This is an interesting and lesser-known topic about how bulk solids behavior affects design of silos and notes many of the associated standards and codes.
3. Bridge Alternatives Analysis: via Artificial Intelligence, by Brian Brenner from Tufts University. In this article, Brian explores whether artificial intelligence can prepare a conceptual design of a bridge if given certain basic information. Brian uses ChatGPT for this exercise and shares some interesting results.
4. Accelerating the Rehabilitation of a Masonry Arch Bridge, by William Goulet, PE, from STV Incorporated. This article is what you would expect when hearing about unique challenges when dealing with some of the country’s oldest structures. The subject bridge in Northfield, MA is a single-track, single-span masonry stone arch that was originally constructed in 1848!

Our technical groups, institute chapters, and committees continue to be active this fall. During the months of September and October, the Continuing Education Committee sponsored our recurring Professional Engineer Refresher Course, the Transportation and Development Institute Boston Chapter held the 2023 Bertram Berger Seminar, and our Younger Member Group organized another volunteer activity at the Friday Night Supper Program.

Lastly, BSCES recently kicked off our annual STEM Outreach Program Sponsorship drive with two ways to support our programs – as a STEM Outreach Program Sponsor and/or as a STEM Outreach Friend. Funds from our STEM sponsors are used to support BSCES’s long-standing efforts to help advance and promote STEM education. Led by our Public Awareness & Outreach Committee, BSCES has a group of over 100 regular volunteers that mentor students, run student activities, talk at schools, conduct tours, take in job shadows, and perform many other activities. BSCES also runs two major STEM events – the New England Regional Future City Competition and Model Bridge Competition. These two events bring together hundreds of students from all over New England to learn and compete! To learn more about becoming a sponsor or volunteering at our events, please visit www.engineeryourfuture.org. You can also go to Become a 2023-2024 STEM Outreach Program Sponsor and/or Become a STEM Outreach Friend.