The Georgia Engineer (Aug-Sept) 2011

Volume 18, Issue 4 August | September 2011

NATURAL RESOURCES & THE ENVIRONMENT

GeorgiaEngineerthe

RCC FOR DAMSAFETY…30 YEARS OF INNOVATIONSSee story on page 12

AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011 32 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

Publisher: A4 Inc.1154 Lower Birmingham Road

Canton, Georgia 30115Tel.: 770-521-8877 • Fax: 770-521-0406

E-mail: [email protected]

Managing Editor: Roland Petersen-FreyArt Direction/Design: Pamela Petersen-Frey

Georgia Engineering Alliance233 Peachtree Street • Harris Tower, #700

Atlanta, Georgia 30303Tel.: 404.521.2324 • Fax: 404.521.0283

Georgia Engineering AllianceGwen Brandon, CAE, Executive Director

Thomas C. Leslie, PE, Director of External AffairsCarolyn M. Jones, Outreach Services Manager

Georgia Engineering Alliance Editorial BoardJeff Dingle, PE, Chairman

GSPE RepresentativesSam L. Fleming, PE

Tim Glover, PEJimmy St. John, PE

ACEC/G RepresentativesRobin Overstreet

Carley Humphreys

ASCE/G RepresentativesDaniel Agramonte, PERebecca Shelton, PE

GMCEA RepresentativeBirdel F. Jackson, III, PE

ITE RepresentativesDaniel B. Dobry Jr., PE, PTOE

John Karnowski

ITS/G RepresentativesBill Wells

Shaun Green, PE

WTS RepresentativeAngela Snyder

ASHE RepresentativeEd Culican, PE

SEAOG RepresentativeKurt Swensson, PE

GeorgiaEngineerthe

The Georgia Engineer is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc. for the Georgia Engineering Allianceand sent to members of ACEC, ASCE, ASHE, GMCEA, GEF, GSPE, ITE, SEAOG, WTS;local, state, and Federal government officials and agencies; businesses and institutions. Opinionsexpressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the Alliance or publisher nor do they ac-cept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither do theyendorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Parts of this periodical may be repro-duced with the written consent from the Alliance and publisher. Correspondence regarding ad-dress changes should be sent to the Alliance at the address above. Correspondence regardingadvertising and editorial material should be sent to A4 Inc. at the address listed above.

54 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

THE GEORGIA ENGINEER AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

GSPE38

ASCE

ITE40

ACEC37

ITS42

ASHE

SEAOG

GMCEAGEA

GEF WTS46

6 Railroads and Atlanta’s Viaducts

12 RCC for Dam Safety…30 Years of Innovations

16 Chilean Mining Disaster Changed Lives, Including a NASA Engineer’s

17 An Old Church with New Ideas

18 Water Supply Reservoirs Meeting the Permitting & Implementation Challenges

24 The Future of Power

26 Westside Reservoir Park ~ Atlanta’s Next Great Green Frontier

28 The Final Launch

32 What’s in the News

36 Where the Heck Have I Been?

44 2011 MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament

45 2011 Summer Conference

GEORGIAENGINEERBLOG.

ADVERT ISEMENTSAECOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30AEI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Ayres Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Atkins/PBS&J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Atlanta Watershed Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Brown & Caldwell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 31Cardno TBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31CROM Prestressed Concrete Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Cummins Power South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Edwards Pitman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Engineered Restorations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Foley Arch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35G. Ben Turnipseed Engineers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31GCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Georgia Concrete Paving Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Georgia Power Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back CoverGeosyntec Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Golder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14GRL Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Hayward Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back CoverHazen and Sawyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4HDR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Heath & Lineback Engineers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39HNTB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36JAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Middleton-House & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21MidSouth Machine & Service Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28O’Brien & Gere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9PBS&J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Photo Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Pond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Power Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Prime Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3RHD Utility Locating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Rosser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9RS&H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Savannah Technical College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Schnabel Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Silt-Saver Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back CoverS&ME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Southern Civil Engineers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Southern Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Stantec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Stevenson & Palmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9T. Wayne Owens & Associates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Terrell Hundley Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21United Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front CoverWilburn Engineering LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Willmer Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Wolverton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

RCC for Dam SafetyIn 1980, the era of using roller com-pacted concrete (RCC) began for watercontrol structures with the constructionof the 120-foot tall Willow Creek grav-ity dam in Oregon. A small group ofdedicated engineers pioneered this newmethod of placing large quantities ofmass concrete in a short time frameusing typical earth moving equipment.Fast forward more than three decades.With hundreds of new dams and spill-way upgrades completed using RCC,design professionals have gained in-valuable knowledge in designing andconstructing the latest generation ofRCC projects. See story on page 12.


Railroads and Atlanta’s ViaductsBy Thomas C. Leslie | Director of External Affairs | Georgia Engineering Alliance

The existence of Atlanta is a direct result of decisionsby railroad companies and the State of Georgia. Itis not due to natural features such as a harbor ornavigable river; it is due to human endeavor.

Railroads were under construction in the 1840sfrom Augusta and Savannah to the interior wilder-ness of a land recently taken from Creek and Chero-kee Indians. Business and political leaders reachedan agreement that these two lines would meet at apoint, designated by the State, southeast of the Chat-tahoochee River where a state-owned rail line wouldbegin a route to the banks of the Tennessee River.The point where these three rail lines joined becameAtlanta and the point on the Tennessee River becameChattanooga. The line from Augusta reached theterminus point in 1845 and the Savannah line ar-rived in 1846. By 1850, the state line to Chat-tanooga was in service.

The initial survey for the state line (the Westernand Atlantic Railroad) was completed in 1837, andthe terminus point was near the current location ofHall A of the Georgia World Congress Center. In1842 the ‘final’ terminus was set at a point nearwhat is now the western end of the historic GeorgiaFreight Depot, the oldest structure in downtown At-lanta. A granite marker was set (much later) tomark the Zero Mile Post of the W. & A. R.R. Thismarker memorializes the ‘stake in the ground’around which Atlanta has grown.

Photo Credit: Edgar Orr

of railroads, which continued for decades.The automobile age began shortly after

the beginning of the twentieth century, andAtlanta embraced this new mode of trans-portation with gusto—a love affair that con-tinues today. The increase in automobiles inAtlanta, especially after World War I, pushedtraffic problems to the top of the priority list.In 1917, incoming Chamber of CommercePresident Ivan Allen (father of Atlanta’s1960s Mayor Ivan Allen) declared, “It is ev-ident that something must be done with thetraffic problems in Atlanta.” Three yearslater, a chamber report concluded, “traffic inAtlanta (has) become well-nigh unbearable.The breaking point is at hand.” By 1925Preston Arkwright, President of GeorgiaPower Co. (and also the street railway com-pany) declared, “TRAFFIC IS ATLANTA’SGREATEST PROBLEM.” Narrow, pre-au-

tomobile streets with odd intersections (likeFive Points) in downtown Atlanta weresurely part of the problem. Most observersalso concluded that there was a fundamentalconflict between scores of trains movingthrough the very heart of Atlanta and citi-zens in their cars trying to navigate at-graderail crossings.

The solution centered on the construc-tion of viaducts over the railroad tracks. Atfirst individual bridges were built; then a sys-tem of viaducts was proposed which, inshort, raised the street elevation of down-town over the rails by up to 40 feet. Theportion of the work constructed in the 1920s“proved to be the largest public works proj-ect that the city had ever undertaken.”

The Western & Atlantic Railroad ranparallel to, and just south of, Marietta/De-catur Streets through what is now downtownto within two blocks of the State Capitol,where it merged into the Georgia Railroadand continued to Decatur and on to Au-gusta. In 1853, the railroad lines werebridged by a wooden structure on BroadStreet, which was the only elevated crossingfor more than four decades. As more andmore trains rumbled through downtown At-lanta, street traffic was halted more fre-quently and for longer periods. The BroadStreet bridge was rehabilitated, expanded, orrebuilt time and time again (1855, 1858,

9AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 20118 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

!"#"$%&

!'()*&+#',)-&

../01.203444

56,,67'8&&

!'()*&+#',)-&

../09:90/929

+";"7$'&

<=>&?)##)'@7=,&

./20.A9029:.

B'(',,'%&

C)D%'6#&E#@6F&

9:A03430GGG4

HIJ6F)6,D6KF=()*67B=#"$)=,7L6=$6D%,)D'#&H,;),66F),;&M&H,()F=,@6,$'#&B6F()D67&

N=,7$F"D$)=,&C'$6F)'#7&H,;),66F),;&O&P67$),;&QDD"J'$)=,'#&R6'#$%&O&B'S6$T&M&B=#)*&?'7$6&H,;),66F),;

?'$6F&U67="FD67&M&N"#$"F'#&O&V'$"F'#&U67="FD67

W=F&'#@=7$&$%F66&*6D'*67&BOCH&%'7&>66,&JF=()*),;&&7=#"$)=,7&),&L6=F;)'0&N'##&"7&8)$%&T="F&JF=X6D$&&

D%'##6,;67&',*&J"$&="F&6IJ6F)6,D6&$=&8=FY&S=F&T="0

,HIJ6F)6,6)F6JIH

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

& & & & & & & && & & & & & & && & & & & & & &

6,D6D,

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

& & & & & & & && & & & & & & && & & & & & & &

JJ67KF=()*67*)(=FK,B=B=#"$)=,=)$"#B=

N=,7$F"D$)=,&C'$6F)'#7&H,;),66F),;&O&PL6=$6D%,)D'#&H,;),66F),;&M&H,()F=,@6,$'#&B6F

>7'%HCOB76*'D6*66F%$$7=@#'F=W

=$6D,6)F6JI6F"=$"J*,'76;,6##'%D=T%$)87"##'N0');F=6L,)7,=)$"#=7

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

& & & & & & & && & & & & & & && & & & & & & &

6767677,7,

67$),;&N=,7$F"D$)=,&C'$6F)'#7&H,;),66F),;&O&PN=,7$F"D$)=,&C'$6F)'#7&H,;),66F),;&O&P67$),;&()D67&L6=$6D%,)D'#&H,;),66F),;&M&H,()F=,@6,$'#&B6F

;&,)*)(=FJ,66

0"=TF=SYF=8$&D6X=FJF"=

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

& & & & & & & && & & & & & & && & & & & & & &

.:9209A.02/.

,=7@')##)?>=<

'$7";"+

929/09:90/..

-),'#+*)('!

8&''8&76,,65

444302.10/..

-),'#+*)(''(!

%$"#"!

'$6F&U67="FD67&M&N"#$"F'#&O&V'$"F'#&U67="FD67?'7$6&H,;),66F),;QDD"J'$)=,'#&R6'#$%&O&B'S6$T&M&B=#)*&?

N=,7$F"D$)=,&C'$6F)'#7&H,;),66F),;&O&P

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

&

& &

& & & & & & & && & & & & & & && & & & & & & &

4GGG03430A:9

F6@#E#6'%D)C

%',,'(''(B

.

,

'$6F&U67="FD67&M&N"#$"F'#&O&V'$"F'#&U67="FD67'7$6&H,;),66F),;

67$),;&

After a distinguished career as an elected of-ficial, former Governor Wilson Lumpkinwas serving as the disbursing agent for theW. & A. R.R, when the final terminus wasset for the converging railroads. He wrote aletter to his daughter on October 25, 1853,describing this location at the time of the se-lection: “ . . . (it) was in a perfect state of na-ture—a wild unmolested forest, not a fenceor cabin to be seen anywhere in sight of thelocation…“

Wilson Lumpkin was well qualified toplay a major role in railroad development inthe state. He was serving on the state Boardof Public Works in 1826 when he and Hamil-ton Fulton, the State Engineer, set out onhorseback to determine the best routes for a“systematic plan of internal improvements” inNorth Georgia. The elected leadership seemedto have envisioned a network of canals linkingthe Tennessee and Chattahoochee rivers,which would ultimately carry goods from theinterior (west of the Appalachian Mountainrange) to coastal ports. Lumpkin and Fultonconcluded that such a plan was simply notfeasible, but the same basic objective was

achieved several decades later by the develop-ment of the state’s railroads.

The state had taken land from theCreek and Cherokee Indians through a seriesof treaties (some with suspect validity). Thisland was given to European settlers by eightland lotteries held between 1803 and 1833.The fourth such lottery, which includedmost of metro Atlanta southeast of the Chat-tahoochee River, occurred from November 7to December 12, 1821. (Gwinnett Countywas in the 1820 lottery, but it was not untilthe sixth lottery in 1832 that land northwestof the Chattahoochee River was given to set-tlers). The 1821 land lottery involved adrawing for grants of a ‘land lot’ of 202-1/2acres. Eligibility for drawing principallyrested on being a European with three yearsof residency in Georgia. A bachelor of at least18 years of age got one draw, while a manwith a wife, or with a son under 18, or anunmarried daughter got two draws. Otherseligible for the land lottery drawing includedorphans, war veterans, and widows and chil-dren of war casualties.

Although the ownership of land in what

is now downtown Atlanta was distributed toEuropeans by the end of 1821, the first per-manent European settlers to live on the landhere were Sarah and Hardy Ivy, who built alog cabin in 1833 about two blocks west ofwhere Freedom Parkway intersects with In-terstate 75/85—about half-mile from theZero Mile marker.

As reference, the Georgia General As-sembly incorporated Lawrenceville in 1821(the area was in the 1820 land lottery), De-catur was incorporated in 1823 (part of the1821 land lottery), and Marietta was incor-porated in 1834 (part of the 1832 land lot-tery). It was not until 1847 that Atlanta wasincorporated.

It is hard to imagine that Atlanta hasgrown from a “wild, unmolested forest” to thecenter of a metro area with a population ofover five million people in the past 170 years.

The first years of Atlanta correspondedto the initial boom in railroad constructionthroughout America. There was clearly a set-back during the first half of the 1860s, butafter the Civil War and Southern Reconstruc-tion, the entire country entered the golden era


1865, 1895, 1931, and most recently in the1970s when the Five Points MARTA Stationwas constructed directly over the rail lines atthe Broad Street crossing). It was not until1893 that a second bridge was opened acrossthe rail lines to carry Forsyth Street. Thencame the Peachtree Street viaduct in 1901,the Peters Street viaduct in 1904 (connect-ing West End to downtown across the railline from Macon), and the WashingtonStreet viaduct in 1906. Washington Streetruns along the western side of the State Capi-tol Square.

The Spring Street viaduct, completed in1923, is by far the longest of any of thoseconstructed by that date. It spanned three fullblocks (1,900 feet) over the railroad yardsfrom Marietta Street to Mitchell Street. Ac-cording to Franklin Garrett, writing in At-lanta and environs, “Immediately theresprang a building boom on Spring, Marietta,Luckie, and other contiguous streets.”

A comprehensive program was pro-posed in 1926 to construct several newviaducts and rehabilitate several more exist-ing bridges. It is this program that createdwhat is now Underground Atlanta. Initialconstruction involved lowering the originalrail lines five to six feet from east of Pied-mont Avenue to west of Forsyth Street—about six blocks. By 1929, new viaducts werecompleted to carry Central Avenue andPryor, Wall, and Alabama Streets. A new, el-evated Plaza Park was built over the tracksbetween Prior and Peachtree Streets (now aparking lot). In addition, a new viaduct wasbuilt to carry Martin Luther King Jr. Driveover the rail line from Macon to help con-nect downtown to the west side, and theMitchell Street viaduct (originally built in1899) was rebuilt across the same tracks. Thework was completed and opened for servicein March 1929, just six months before BlackTuesday, October 29th, which marked thebeginning of the Great Depression.

This program of work, including “pre-liminary work” (presumably, including de-sign), construction, and “property adjust-ments” was funded as follows:

Atlanta bonds $1,000,000Georgia Power 400,000Fulton County 386,068 Georgia Railroad 230,600

N.C. & St. Louis Rwy. 167,075Bond sale premium 41,624

$2,325,367

At the time, Georgia Power owned the elec-tric street railways, and the viaducts providedfor new routes across the highly congestedareas around the original railroads. TheNashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Rail-way was a successor company to the originalline from Macon, which was constructed bythe Monroe Banking and Railroad Company.

The executive secretary for Mayor I. N.Ragsdale lists in the May 19, 1929, editionof “The City Builder” magazine the benefitsthat are derived from the recently completedviaduct construction program:1. Relieves downtown traffic congestion2. Abolishes two railroad grade crossings

(at Central Avenue and Pryor Street, formany years the busiest in the city)

3. Permits trains to proceed into and outof Union Station without halting andwithout uncoupling

4. Banishes hazard to motorists and pedes-trian which were formerly present at thegrade crossing

5. Does away with railroad and publicdelay

6. Remakes (a) large area into (a) more at-tractive district

7. Enhances property usefulness and prop-erty values

8. Completes the linking of north andsouth side

9. Provides improved approach to FultonCounty court house and new city hall

10. Opens new street car routes through city

Although the Broad Street Bridge over therail lines was the only elevated crossing for40 years (1853 to 1893), nine additionalcrossings were constructed during the next36 years (1893 to 1929). Freight trains con-tinue to pass through Atlanta on the samerail lines built by the state and two privatecompanies, which began operation in At-lanta by the 1850s. Even today, the viaductscontinue to allow the current railways unim-peded access through downtown, as was theiroriginal purpose.

The ‘front door’ of the Georgia World

Congress Center is on an elevated extensionof Andrew Young International Blvd. highover the rail lines, as is the extension of Cen-tennial Olympic Park Drive from the park,along the front of the Omni Complex, be-fore it lands again on Mitchell Street. Therail lines go under and around much of theGeorgia World Congress Center as they seektheir way to Chattanooga and points muchfarther north.

Building over the railroad yards doesnot appear to be completed. The GeorgiaDOT has selected a team to design and builda multi-modal passenger terminal (MMPT)in the railroad ‘gulch’ which is the samevicinity traversed by the first rail lines set inthe wilderness in the early 1840s. This timearound, the plan is to create Atlanta’s homefor access to intercity rail passenger service, aswell as rail rapid transit and bus connections.Above and around these transportation facil-ities will be dense multi-purpose develop-ments that knit into the fabric of thedowntown area. The 1920s’ viaduct con-struction program had much the same effectas anticipated by current plans for theMMPT. Many of the ten benefits listedabove in Mayor Ragsdale’s executive sSecre-tary’s 1929 article are not far off the mark ofcurrent aspirations for the MMPT.

Capital investments in transportationand associated facilities pay long-term bene-fits for the public. Trains, viaducts, and anMMPT shape our community, create eco-nomic vitality and efficiency, and have enor-mously long economic value and streams ofbenefits. They are game-changers and weshould embrace them.

Article sources:Atlanta and Environs, Franklin Garrett,Lewis Historical Publishing Company Inc.New York, 1954

Automobile Age Atlanta, The Making of aSouthern Metropolis, 1900 – 1935, HowardL. Preston, University of Georgia Press, 1979

Construction Photographs courtesy of FrankD. Nichols

12 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER 13AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

RCC for DamSafety…30Years of InnovationsIn 1980, the era of using roller compacted concrete (RCC)began for water control structures with the construction of the120-foot tall Willow Creek gravity dam in Oregon. A smallgroup of dedicated engineers pioneered this new method ofplacing large quantities of mass concrete in a short time frameusing typical earth moving equipment. Fast forward more thanthree decades. With hundreds of new dams and spillway up-grades completed using RCC, design professionals have gainedinvaluable knowledge in designing and constructing the latestgeneration of RCC projects.

Evolution of RCC Two main factors differentiate RCC from conventional con-crete. The first factor is the actual proportions of the concretemixture. The early RCC dam designs were generally based ona lean concrete mixture. The reduction in cementitious mate-rial was intended to lower costs and to minimize heat gain dur-ing the cement hydration process. The reduction in heat gainreduced the potential for transverse cracking, which can resultin uncontrolled seepage or transmission of water from thereservoir. While these types of mixtures still have a place inRCC construction, the more common approach utilized todayconsists of a medium to high paste mix to minimize cold jointsalong the lift lines. Mix designs that incorporate the replace-ment of up to 70 percent of the total cementitious materialswith fly ash and the use of retardants to keep a lift ‘live’ untilthe sequent lift can be placed and compacted are being in-creasingly used to reduce cold joints along lift lines.

The second differentiation factor is the method of con-crete placement. During the development of RCC, one goalwas to achieve high placement rates to reduce project costs.The use of high volume conveyor systems and dump trucks totransport the RCC from the mixing plant to the placementarea have resulted in very large placement rates. It is not un-common for larger projects to achieve daily placement rates inexcess of 10,000 cubic yards and monthly rates of over 100,000cubic yards. Achieving high placement rates is not only a func-tion of the RCC delivery system, but also a design that mini-mizes obstacles that impede placement and compaction. Anypenetration through the dam, such as pipelines, adits, and gal- Photographs produced by Georgia Aerial SurveysBy Randall P. Bass, P.E. | Schnabel Dam Engineering


leries, should be carefully planned such thatthe number of lifts impacted by the pene-tration is minimized.

Application of lift joint treatments is a

major impact on production rates. Projectsthat are located in moderate to high seismicareas require the horizontal lift joints, whichare generally located every 12 inches, to have

strength equal to the strength of the parentmaterial. If a cold joint develops due to adelay in the placement of a sequent lift, thetreatment of the lift joint typically consistsof pressure washing (green cutting) the liftsurface and placement of a thin layer of bed-ding mortar or grout just ahead of the nextlift placement. On large dams, the surfaceareas can be quite large and treatment of thelift surface commonly becomes a critical pathelement for the placement of RCC. Coldjoints can be minimized through the use of aricher mix that is also set-retarded tolengthen the period of time from placementto initial set. Designers often confer with ex-perienced RCC contractors during the de-sign process to find a balance between designrequirements and high production RCCplacement capabilities.

Georgia ExperiencesGeorgia has been aggressive in buildingnew water supply reservoirs and has an ac-tive Safe Dams Program. RCC has been akey component to the rapid and safe con-struction of 14 dam projects in Georgia.The largest project, Hickory Log CreekDam, was completed in 2008, and the im-pounded reservoir has reached full pool at411 acres. The dam was constructed utiliz-ing 213,000 cubic yards of RCC that wasplaced in five months.

More recently, RCC was utilized toconstruct the replacement dam for an exist-ing earthen embankment structure locatedon the Dobbin Air Reserve Base in CobbCounty. The construction of the replace-ment dam utilized approximately 6,000cubic yards of RCC.

A more frequent use of RCC in dam re-habilitation consists of providing additionalspillway capacity for extreme storm events.This additional capacity is provided by ar-moring the dam with RCC such that the

dam itself serves as an emergency spillway.Six dams in Georgia have RCC overtoppingprotection. Gwinnett County has five struc-tures that are armored with RCC. GwinnettCounty has been very pro-active in upgrad-ing the flood control dams that were de-signed and constructed by the SoilConservation Service (now known as theNatural Resources Conservation Service-NRCS) in the 1970s. These upgrades wereput to the test during the September 2009floods in North Georgia.

In September 2009, significant flood-ing occurred over portions of the YellowRiver watershed in Gwinnett County. Fourof the watershed dams with RCC overtop-ping spillways were activated. Three of theRCC overlays were covered with soil andgrassed due to aesthetic requirements.While the soil veneer was stripped away inplaces, the RCC performed as designed.Post flood studies found that if the originalearthen spillways had not been replaced withRCC, the spillways would have likely eroded

and failed, which would have led to the un-controlled release of the reservoirs. An un-controlled release of the reservoir would havemade a bad situation even worse by increas-ing downstream flooding.

What’s the Limit Very few large dams are being built in theUnited States in large part due to current en-vironmental laws and regulations. However,many other countries are experiencing arapid development of new dams for watersupply and hydropower. China and othersoutheast Asian countries are building verylarge RCC gravity and arch dams. RCC vol-umes for these projects are measured in themillions of cubic yards. Dams approaching700 feet in height are not uncommon andare being built in half the time that wouldbe required for a conventional concrete dam.

With now more than 30 years of per-formance and monitoring data, design andconstruction methods have evolved from thelessons learned from the RCC pioneers.Today, we can say there are very few limita-tions on when and how RCC can be used.


hen ClintCragg arrived in

Chile during Au-gust 2010 with two

NASA doctors,Michael Duncan and

James Polk, and a psychologist, Al Holland,from Johnson Space Center, 33 copper minershad been buried 700 meters deep for 22 days.

“The miners themselves, for the first 17days, were unsure if they would get out,” saidCragg, a principal engineer with the NASAEngineering and Safety Center (NESC) atNASA’s Langley Research Center in Hamp-ton, Virginia, who was included with theteam because of his background as a navalsubmariner.

The miners were buried for 17 daysuntil they were discovered as being safe un-derground. “When I got there, there was noquestion that they were going to get out,”Cragg added. The question was how.

The answer has changed the last year ofCragg's life, exposed him to the internationalmedia and sent him to the White House.

In January 2011, it had him in front ofa NASA Langley audience where he spokeabout his rescue experience. His introduc-tion, by NESC head Ralph Roe, includedthis from Cragg’s resume: “He was just in-cluded on Time Magazine’s list of ‘2010’s topnerds.’”

“And,” came Cragg’s rejoinder to aroomful of laughter, “Ralph didn't tell youthat I was the only person on that list whoisn’t a billionaire.”

Chile’s requirements for the escape ve-hicle for the miners were simply dimen-sional: 62 centimeters of diameter, 2.5meters of length and unlimited weight.Asked for input, Cragg assembled a group ofNASA consultants and came up with a morecomplete list of suggestions for the vehicle.

“That’s it,” said Cragg. “Nothing else.“There was no consideration for medical is-sues. No consideration for talking to the guysduring a one-to-four-hour period (in whichthey would be hauled to the surface).

“After talking with them, we said we canhelp you with this. NASA does design re-quirements all the time. They kind of nod-ded their heads and said ‘OK.’ They alsosaid, ‘we’re going to make design decisionswithin a week.’”

In that week, Cragg returned to theU.S., and over Labor Day weekend sent e-mails to assemble NASA experts fromthroughout the agency.

“We essentially had three days,” he said.“That team did a great job for us, and un-fortunately I got most of the credit. It was re-ally their hard work that put this together.”

Suggestions included that the vehicle beaccessible by a single miner without help,with an understanding that No. 33 shouldbe brought to the surface, too, after all of theothers had made it; that it should beequipped to bring up the injured; and that itbe equipped to deal with the miners preex-isting medical conditions.

“We also talked about friction, and thatwe ought to account for it,” Cragg said.

Suggestions included spring-loadedrollers, and that the sides of the vehicle bewithout protrusions that might hang up inthe shaft. Audio and video recommendationsfor communication with the miner as he wasbrought up were made, as was a harness tostrap him in.

“They told us that they accepted mostof our recommendations, which I thoughtwas pretty good,” said Cragg, a soft-spoken,understated sort who has had to learn to be-come accustomed to the limelight.

“As we all saw on TV, it was a successful,almost flawless operation,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, the media onslaughtbegan, and it remains mostly abated.

“I think, over time, I learned somethings about dealing with the press,” he said.“I think it became better. I got so I didn'tmind talking to Canadian TV throughSKYPE on my desk.”

He laughed at the way some of the newtechnology of social media is being employedby more traditional media. SKYPE—whichuses a camera in computing through a com-puter—has been a fixture at the Cragghousehold for some time, used so his chil-dren and wife can talk with her relatives inSwitzerland.

To some extent, the mine incident be-came personal, because he met with theChilean representatives on their turf and alsowith the miners’ families, who were skepti-cal at first and then warmed to the NASArepresentatives after speaking with them.

“I think the Chileans really did it right,”he said. “They were talking with them andexplaining things to them as they went on.”

He has moved on to a large extent, help-ing fellow NESC engineers on testing the re-siliency of cylinders used to build rockets.“There has always been a fear that they couldbe crushed like a Coke can,” Cragg said, “sothey made them very strong, from the 1930sinto the 1960s. Some of that data, we don'tknow where it came from.”

The point is that the rockets could havebeen built too strong and, therefore, tooheavy in a business in which weight is critical.

But Cragg is willing to take time awayfrom that project to talk about an earlier onethat became an international news story be-cause it ended well. It’s a story that’s stillbeing told.

Chilean Mining Disaster Changed Lives,Including a NASA Engineer’s

By Jim Hodges | Staff Writer | Strategic Relationships Office | NASA’s Langley Research Center | Hampton, Virginia

Wow does a nineteenth

century church listed onthe National Register ofHistoric Places manageto go green in the

twenty-!rst century?Ask Central Presbyterian Church.

Central was founded in 1858, and thecurrent sanctuary was constructed in the1880s. Central is an urban church, locatedin Atlanta directly across the street from theGeorgia Capitol.

As Presbyterians, Central members dothings in ‘good order,’ take stewardship veryseriously, and take a long-term planning per-spective. Church members are open to ideasthat make good !nancial sense while pre-serving a tradition of service to the commu-nity and maintaining the architecturalintegrity of an historic house of worship indowntown Atlanta.

Because of activities throughout theweek, utilities are a major item in the budget."e Central Outreach and Advocacy Centeroperates !ve days a week to provide emer-gency services, MARTA cards, state identi!-cation cards, computer and job readinesstraining, and referrals to other agencies.Central hosts a night shelter in its gymna-sium during the winter months, Novemberthrough March, which provides up to 65homeless men with a meal, a shower, and aplace to sleep. In the summer months, thegymnasium accommodates visiting youthgroups every week from June to September."e Child Development Center o#ers pre-school child care to 70 children !ve days aweek on a year-round basis. And there arethe usual church activities associated withSunday services, weekday o$ce hours for the

sta#, and gatherings for a variety of occasionsand groups.

A substantial amount of hot water isneeded to operate the night shelter kitchen,laundry facility (for washing towels), show-ers, and the main kitchen that provides dailymeals for the Child Development Center,Sunday lunch for the congregation, andother meals as required. To reduce energyusage for heating water, Central recently in-stalled two sets of roof-mounted evacuatedtube collectors to provide solar hot waterheating. "e near-vertical evacuated tubesabsorb heat from the sun. Water located incopper piping inside the evacuated tubes isvaporized. "e vapor rises to a header thattransfers heat to the water supply passingover it. Condensate from the header fallsback into the copper piping and is reheated.Existing gas and electric heaters were left inplace to augment the solar heaters althoughtheir use appears to be minimal.

To reduce electric usage for lighting, all34-watt T-12 %uorescent tubes have been re-placed with 28-watt T-8 tubes. Ballasts werereplaced with low-power electronic ballaststhat restrict power to the lamps. "ere wasno need to replace !xtures. "e overall resultis improved lighting and a 40 percent energy

saving. "e total connected load of these %u-orescent !xtures had been 39 kilowatts. It isnow 23 kilowatts. Currently under consid-eration are plans to replace or modify someother lighting !xtures in order to achieve bet-ter optical design and to take advantage ofimproved lamps.

Because of concerns about the remain-ing life of a 150-ton chiller with a recipro-cating compressor (the chiller wassecond-hand when it was installed in 1989),Central began considering a replacement.Eventually, the entire heating, ventilating,and air-conditioning (HVAC) system wasevaluated. As a result, (1) fan coil units thatsupply conditioned air to individual roomswere repaired or replaced, (2) air handlingunits that supply conditioned air to largerareas were repaired or replaced, (3) air ductswere cleaned, (4) constant-speed drives formany of the fans and pumps were replacedwith variable-speed drives in order to sub-stantially reduce power consumption at re-duced heating and cooling loads, (4) the oldchiller was replaced with a new chiller with avariable-speed centrifugal compressor thatprovides substantial power savings at reducedcooling load, and (5) the entire HVAC sys-tem was optimized with a new computerizedbuilding management control system thatcan be manipulated locally or via Web sitefrom remote locations. Taking a proactiveapproach with the HVAC system versuslimping along with the old equipment untilaction is dictated by some emergency is fore-cast to yield an internal rate of return ofaround 12 percent per year.

Church members who are professionalengineers and architects volunteered theirservices to plan and oversee these projects.

"e only noticeable signs of change inthe appearance of this old historic church arethe solar heating units mounted on therooftop. Central members are hopeful thatthe sight of these energy-saving units, in fullview of the State Capitol, will encourage oth-ers to be good stewards of God’s creation.

An Old Church with New IdeasBy Mike Sizemore, AIA, Sizemore Group, and Jimmy St. John, PE

H

Solar Panels for Hot Water

Central Presbyterian Church, directly acrossWashington Street from the Georgia

State Capitol

NASA Engineering and Safety Center Princi-pal Engineer Clint Cragg (right) consults

with Rene Aguilar, deputy chief of rescue op-erations for the Chilean mine disaster. Credit:

Cecilia Penafiel, U.S. Embassy in Chile

evelopment of water supplyreservoirs is not for the faint ofheart. While the passage ofSenate Bill (SB) 122 on pub-lic-private partnerships for

water infrastructure develop-ment received a lot of attention during the2011 legislative session, it is only one moretool that local governments can use to helpaddress their future water supply needs.Clearly, the potential for collaboration withprivate investors will help address the lack oflocal government and utility funding forwater supply projects in the near term, butthe ultimate responsibility for funding theseprojects rests with the local community.Moreover, most private investors will requirethat the project be fully entitled and permit-ted prior to their participation, leaving all thewater supply planning requirements with theutilities and local governments. As the in-vestors and utilities begin working togetheron potential new reservoir projects, the im-portance of an integrated water supply plan-ning and implementation strategy becomesclearer and clearer.

The Georgia Environmental ProtectionDivision (GAEPD) and U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers (USACE) permitting processes areclosely linked and both require a detailed al-ternatives analysis and firm justification for

the construction of new reservoirs. Recently,the development of the Regional Water Planshas provided another linkage between re-gional and local water planning efforts thatmust be addressed during the permitting andplanning process. Furthermore, the eco-nomic slowdown has impacted local govern-ment funding availability and, to someextent, decreased the growth in water supplydemands that had been experienced over thelast decade. As a result, a thoughtful and ro-bust analysis of water supply needs and op-portunities must be completed before localgovernments and utilities embark on the ar-duous process of permitting and building anew water supply reservoir.

The Process Remains the Same (with afew new twists)In the last ten years, several new reservoirshave been built across north Georgia, in-cluding the Cedar Creek Reservoir in HallCounty, the Hickory Log Creek project inCherokee County, and the Tussahaw Creekproject in Henry County. In each case, thelocal sponsors followed essentially the sameprocess for development and permitting ofthe projects to meet both state and federalrequirements. This process, which was dis-cussed in detail in the GA Department ofNatural Resources (GADNR) North Geor-

gia Regional Water Supply Needs Assessment(CH2M&HILL, 2003), includes a water sup-ply needs assessment, alternatives analysis,studies for compliance with the National En-vironmental Policy Act (NEPA), GeorgiaEnvironmental Policy Act (GEPA) Endan-gered Species Act, and National HistoricPreservation Act, engineering design, con-struction, and public involvement activities.Although Figure 1 may suggest this is a lin-ear process, anyone who has been involvedknows that the reservoir permitting process isbound to take many twists and turns alongthe way. In the last couple of years, addi-tional focus has been placed on the watersupply needs analysis, water supply water-shed protection requirements, and projectfunding approaches.

Typical Water Supply Reservoir Permitting ProcessIntegration with Water Supply Planning—A Key to SuccessThe focus of reservoir permitting has typi-cally been on the Federal requirements forSection 404 (of the Clean Water Act [CWA])permits and specifically the Section 404(b)(1) alternatives analysis. This analysis re-quires an applicant to evaluate other practi-cable alternatives to meet the project purpose

Water Supply ReservoirsMeeting the Permitting & Implementation ChallengesBy Doug Baughman, Senior Environmental Scientist, CH2M!HILL | Brian Skeens, Senior Water Resources Engineer,CH2M!HILL | Rick Brownlow, Senior Consultant, CH2M!HILL D

Photo credit: Georgia Environmental Finance Authority


plished by targeting landscape irrigation, butalso applies to other outdoor uses, such aspools, pressure washing, and non-commer-cial car washing. Overall, the WCIP is a greatresource to help guide applicants in develop-ing or improving their water conservationand efficiency programs.

EPA Water Efficiency and AlternativesAnalysis Guidance-Adds New RequirementsAlthough USACE is the lead agency for im-plementation of the Section 404 permittingprocess for new reservoirs, the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a crit-ical review role in the permitting process; theagency essentially has the option to overrulethe USACE issuance of a permit (throughSection 404 c of the CWA)(http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/dredgdis/404c_index.cfm). This “veto au-thority” on Section 404 permits has recentlybeen used on some high-profile projects, in-cluding the Spruce Mine (mountaintop coalmining) operation in West Virginia. EPA hasused this authority only 13 times, twice onreservoir projects: the Lake Alma project inBacon County, Georgia and the Ware CreekImpoundment in Virginia, both in 1988. Sowhen Region IV EPA issued a new guidancedocument in 2010 on Water Efficiency Meas-ures for Water Supply Projects in the South-east, it got the attention of water utilities and

reservoir proponents across Georgia. In the guidance, EPA indicates that the

overall objective is to “ensure that alternativesthat support sustainable water resource man-agement and minimize environmental im-

pacts through water efficiency and waterconservation practices are employed to themaximum extent practicable…” Applicantsfor new water supply reservoirs will have todemonstrate they have taken specific actions,

and need (water supply in this case) thatwould not result in impacts to wetlands orwaters of the U.S. In addition, the applicanthas to provide a thorough and justifiabledemonstration of the ‘need’ for the project.This is where the linkage to the water supplyneeds analysis becomes important. Histori-cally, the demonstration of need for a watersupply project was based on the applicant’sevaluation of future water demands. Localgovernments or utilities would develop esti-mates of future population growth and percapita water use to determine the expectedwater demands. Often, these estimates of fu-ture demands were based on independentlyprepared population projections and percapita use rates that varied widely dependingon the applicant. In some cases, the evalua-tion of conservation or demand managementpractices was not included in this water sup-ply needs assessment process and it was cer-tainly not considered as an ‘alternative’ to thedevelopment of a new water supply project.

Regional Water PlansNow Provide the Basis for Water SupplyNeeds AssessmentsWith the development of the ten new re-gional water plans (http://www.georgiawa-terplanning.com/), statewide county-levelpopulation projections and per capita wateruse estimates are now available for watermanagers and utilities to use in developingwater supply needs assessments. Local utili-ties should assume that for future reservoirplanning, these population estimates, percapita use rates, and resulting water demandswill need to be used in the permitting processto justify the ‘need’ for new storage projects,and any deviation from these estimates willneed to have strong justification. Utilizingthis information should make the water sup-ply ‘need’ justification more straightforward

for utilities and, hopefully, expedite the ap-proval process for both the Section 404 per-mit and the eventual water withdrawalpermit from GAEPD.

Conservation and demand managementplanning are also becoming more importantin the process for water demand evaluations.In 2010, GAEPD published Georgia’s WaterConservation Implementation Plan(WCIP)(http://www.georgiawaterplan-ning.org/pages/technical_guidance/water_conservation_implementation_plan.php) toguide Georgia water systems, individuals,farmers, and business owners in the imple-mentation of water efficiency and conserva-tion measures. The WCIP includes specificgoals and benchmarks for each of the sevenmajor water use sectors: agricultural irriga-tion, electric generation, golf courses, indus-trial and commercial, landscapes, domesticand non-industrial public uses, and stateagencies. For each sector, best practices arelisted which should be considered in meet-ing the goals and benchmarks. Future appli-cants for water supply projects shouldassume that they will be required to demon-strate compliance with WCIP recommenda-tions to obtain approval of their water supply

needs assessments from GAEPD. Since ap-plicants are likely to be water systems, thedomestic section of the WCIP will be themost applicable, and includes five goals thatwill need to be addressed. The first goal isto implement an education and outreachprogram. This can be successfully imple-mented with the help of regional or state re-sources applied to the local service area. Thesecond goal is to maximize the efficiency ofwater systems. This goal refers to reducingwater loss and now matches up very wellwith the Georgia Water Stewardship Act(WSA) of 2009. The WSA requires all watersystems to complete a water audit of theirdistribution system and develop a loss con-trol program. The third goal is to implementconservation-oriented rates. Many progres-sive utilities have already done this, recog-nizing the potential benefits to their financialstability and increases in customer efficiency.The fourth goal is to maximize indoor waterefficiency. This is a category that has beenand continues to be thoroughly researched,and many resources and examples exist ofhow to achieve indoor water efficiency. Thefifth goal is to maximize outdoor water effi-ciency. This can most effectively be accom-


project. Governor Purdue’s Water Contin-gency Task Force put the range of costs at $4-6 million per million gallon per day (mgd)for expansion of existing reservoirs and $8-19 million per mgd for new reservoir con-struction ($5-11 million excluding pumpand pipe infrastructure connecting? to dis-tribution systems). While the total capitalcosts vary greatly depending on the size ofthe project, it is not unexpected for the costsof a reservoir and associated infrastructureto reach into the hundreds of millions.When the costs for annual operations are in-cluded (such as pumping power costs,O&M costs, and reservoir maintenance) thecosts can easily exceed $0.5 billion for a 40-to 50-mgd project (Water Contingency TaskForce, 2009).

Under certain conditions, significanteconomies of scale, regulatory advantages,and other factors may provide incentives forwater purveyors to join together to developnew water supplies. This can lead to consid-eration of issues relating to governance, tim-ing of additional water supply needs of theparticipants, and cost sharing that need tobe addressed, preferably throughout thereservoir development process.

Traditionally, the funding for watersupply reservoirs has come from a combina-tion of sources, including federal or stategrants, subsidized low-interest loans, watersystem revenues, general tax revenues,SPLOST (Special Purpose Local OptionSales Tax) funds, impact/tap fees, and tax-ex-empt general obligation (GO) or revenue

bonds. In rare cases, utilities have been ableto use capital improvement funds (‘cash inthe bank’) to ‘pay as you go.’ With the esca-lated costs for land acquisition, engineeringdesign, and project construction, and the re-duction in water revenues and tap fees, thisoption is less likely to provide the fundingrequired to develop new reservoir projects.

The Georgia Environmental FinanceAuthority (GEFA) has provided access tolow-interest loans, and many utilities havegone directly to the bond market to obtainfunding for these major infrastructure proj-ects. The favorable interest rates throughGEFA and tax-exempt status of GO andrevenue bonds have led most communitiesto rely on traditional sources of funding fortheir projects. With passage of the public-private partnership (P3) legislation (SB122), local governments and utilities nowhave an additional option that can providethe necessary funds before project comple-tion and the start of an additional revenuestream flowing from the project.&This maybe an attractive option for communities thatknow they will need this new water infra-structure in the future but do not currentlyhave the funding necessary to begin payingfor these projects.

The private funding support for localgovernment projects is similar to the situa-tion a student faces in taking out a loan forcollege and deferring the interest for the nextfour years—the interest ‘meter’ continues torun even though the student is not obligatedto begin payment for some time. So whilethese private funding options can help‘jump-start’ projects, there is an expectationof future return on the private investment.Historically, many projects have not pursuedprivate funds or partners because the tradi-tional options (GEFA, bond market) couldbe used at lower rates of return (typically fiveto eight percent), whereas the expected pri-vate-sector rate of return was higher (12 to15 percent). In recent months, this spreadhas closed somewhat, making private-sectorparticipation more attractive.

The development of a strategic financialplan for implementing and operating a pro-posed reservoir must consider making use ofa number of funding sources if the plan is tobe financially feasible. This allows the par-

ticipants to gain a better understanding ofthe magnitude and timing of the costs andbenefits, as well as the impacts of any poten-tial risks associated with the proposed plansfor development of the reservoir. This typeof planning also allows managers to forecastthe resulting charges to each purveyor andthe costs to their customers.

SummaryAs Georgia moves forward with addressingour long-term water supply needs, reservoirswill be an integral part of the strategy. Theprocess for planning and permitting, design-ing, building, and funding new reservoirs hasbeen and will continue to be challenging, atbest. And while the process is not for thefaint of heart, utilities and local governmentshave a much greater potential for survivingthe process if they consider the following:• Start with an integrated water resource

plan—incorporating water supply plan-ning with an integrated approach towastewater, stormwater, and water qualitymanagement will result in more cost-ef-fective strategies for meeting water re-source needs.

• Address water efficiency and demandmanagement early—Both the state watersupply withdrawal permitting and federalSection 404 permitting requirements arenow closely linked to the implementationand incorporation of water conservationand sustainable water use management.

• Consider the costs and funding implica-tions from the beginning—Collaborationwith adjacent jurisdictions and/or privatepartners may provide an effective strategyfor funding these expensive infrastructureprojects.

ReferencesCH2M&HILL. 2003. North Georgia WaterSupply Needs Assessment. Prepared for theGeorgia Department of Natural Resources.Water Contingency Task Force. 2009. FinalReport: Findings and Recommendations.Prepared for the Governor’s Office. Cedar Creek Water Supply Reservoir, HallCounty

to the maximum extent practicable, to im-plement sustainable water resource manage-ment practices. These practices include:

Effective management This practice is focused on development andimplementation of an “Integrated ResourceManagement Approach,” including collabo-ration between water, wastewater, andstormwater management programs.

Pricing for efficiencyPricing that encourages water conservation,such as increasing block rates, should be con-sidered.

Efficient water useThis practice includes many of the water ef-ficiency measures recommended in theWCIP, including leak detection programs,metering, water-efficient technologies fornew development, rainwater harvesting,retrofits for older buildings, and landscapingto reduce water use.

Watershed approachesWatershed-based strategies would look atways to improve water quality and enhancewater supplies on a watershed basis. Theseinclude groundwater recharge, wetlands/floodplain restoration, reuse, gray water use,and water supply protection measures.

Region IV EPA plans to implementthese new guidelines as part of its review ofenvironmental assessments, environmentalimpact statements, and Section 404 permits.Applicants should plan on providing docu-mentation (a water efficiency evaluationchecklist was provided with the guidance) onhow these measures have been included intheir water supply needs assessment or howthey will be implemented in the future tosupport the overall goal of sustainable watermanagement. Although this is only a ‘guid-ance’ document, applicants need to be pre-pared to document how these waterefficiency measures have been incorporatedinto their overall water resource managementstrategy for their service area.

Watershed Protection RequirementsNow Include Options for Local GovernmentsAnother requirement that has been a hurdlefor many communities in permitting new

water supply reservoirs and associated surfacewater withdrawals was the state requirementfor water supply watershed protection. TheGeorgia Planning Act Minimum Standardsof 1983 (Official Code of Georgia Anno-tated [O.C.G.A.] 12-2-8) provided localgovernments with specific criteria designedto protect water supply watersheds. Accord-ing to the Criteria for Water Supply Water-sheds (361-3-16-.07) and the Criteria forRiver Corridor Projection (391-3-16-.0),local governments were required to maintaina 100-ft undisturbed riparian buffer in allsmall water supply watersheds within aseven-mile radius of a water intake. In addi-tion, the law required a 150-ft impervioussurface setback (100-ft undisturbed riparianbuffer plus the 50-ft setback) where devel-opment activities and septic systems are pro-hibited. In water supply watersheds with anarea less than 100 square miles, the local gov-ernments were also required to protect trib-utaries outside the seven-mile radius with a75-ft impervious surface setback (50-ft ri-parian buffer and 25-ft setback). Local gov-ernments were required to have water supplyprotection ordinances in place before receiv-ing approval from GAEPD for a surfacewater withdrawal from these sources (in-cluding reservoirs).

These requirements were developedmore than 20 years ago and have been chal-lenged by many local governments as beingtoo restrictive and limiting potential new de-velopment within their jurisdictions. In2006, a legislative debate regarding property

rights and buffer requirements led GAEPDto re-evaluate these water supply watershedprotection requirements. As a result, in 2007GADNR amended the environmental plan-ning criteria (391-3-16) to allow more flexi-bility to local governments in developingwater supply protection strategies. Now localgovernments may adopt alternative mini-mum criteria for stream buffer requirements.A water supply protection ordinance is stillrequired, but there are now four options re-lated to stream buffers that include more re-strictive stormwater management practiceswith smaller stream buffer setbacks. The con-cept was that the smaller (narrower) thebuffer, the more measures the local govern-ments would have to require developers toimplement for stormwater management toprovide an equivalent level of water qualityprotection. The costs for implementation ofthese requirements will fall on local govern-ments (those entities responsible for land useplanning and site disturbance permitting).These new options for water supply protec-tion provide local governments with someadded flexibility. However, the requirementsinherent in these options are another set ofelements in the integrated approach to waterresource management that must be ad-dressed when considering development ofnew water supplies.

Funding StrategiesThe requirements for planning, permitting,design, and construction of new reservoirscan vary greatly depending on the size of the



With a growing focus on energy efficiencyand sustainability, it comes as no surprisethat consumers are expecting more fromtheir utility companies—and in turn, thesecompanies are investing millions of dollarsto overhaul their increasingly outdated gridsystems in an effort to operate more effi-ciently and maintain reasonable rates.

This sort of electrical evolution has aname: the Smart Grid. And simply put, it is“the convergence of information and opera-tional technology applied to the electric grid,allowing sustainable options to customersand improved security, reliability and effi-ciency to utilities,” as written by MikeBeehler, PE and Jim Cupp, PE, both withBurns & McDonnell, in a technical papercalled “Defining the Smart Grid for ElectricUtilities.”

Moving to a Smart Grid not only in-creases efficiency and adds more service andmonitoring options for electrical companies,

but also has ongoing political ramificationsas consumers demand lower rates and politi-cians, including President Barack Obama,continue to pledge the ongoing creation of aSmart Grid system.

Numerous justifications certainly existfor the Smart Grid, but it’s no easy project.Often costing millions of dollars—if notmore—the Smart Grid also requires a time-consuming upgrade of existing equipmentand infrastructure that can deliver enhancedservices and handle a huge amount of in-coming data that will provide consumptionand other pertinent information.

Leading the Smart Grid transformationSeveral electric companies have proactivelypursued this transition to a Smart Grid.Southern Company, one of the nation'slargest generators of electricity, has beenamong the leaders in this transition, pursu-ing a Smart Grid evolution that extends to

its operating companies, including AlabamaPower, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mis-sissippi Power. With the help of Kansas City-based architectural, engineering andconsulting firm Burns & McDonnell, Geor-gia Power is in the midst of several substa-tion projects, the goal of which, according toSouthern Company Services (the engineer-ing arm of Southern Company) Protectionand Control Supervisor Steve Campbell, is“to modernize or update protective relayingin a lot of our facilities.”

One of the primary components of theproject involves removing much of whatCampbell calls “the old technology,” or elec-tro-mechanical relays, in order to install mi-croprocessor-based relays. Burns &McDonnell is providing engineering servicesfor about two-thirds of these distributionfeeder projects, Campbell says.

Although updating the relays is a smallpart of the overall Smart Grid transformation

The Future of Power Southern Company continues to transition to a Smart Grid system that touts sustainability and innovationBy Steve Campbell, PE | Georgia Power; Oko Buckle, PE | Burns & McDonnell & Dotun Famakinwa, PE | Burns & McDonnell

process, Campbell says the project has sev-eral benefits as related to the company’sSmart Grid services, which are defined bySouthern Company as a two-way telecom-munication-enabled power delivery systemthat optimizes grid performance and relia-bility and creates customer-enhanced optionswith feedback provided by electronic dataand other technologies.

“One benefit is that these relays aregoing to be able to provide data to an auto-mated fault trouble response system,” hesays. “The goal is to automate and speed upresponse to outages, so we'll be able to getcustomer power restored more quickly anddo it in a more efficient manner.”

Secondly, Campbell adds, these new re-lays give Georgia Power employees “a betterhandle” on the health of the system.

“These relays monitor their own healthso we'll know when they’re operating cor-rectly,” he says. “To have that capability,we'll be able to extend our maintenance in-tervals out and that should reduce mainte-nance costs.”

Smart Grid may be the buzzword dujour, but there’s no mistaking that this is acostly, time-consuming transition. GeorgiaPower has significantly accelerated the relayupgrades, estimating that they'll be com-pleted by the end of 2012—a three-yeartimeline as opposed to the typical six-to-ten-

year period for this sort of project. Despite the significant costs in evolving

an electrical system to Smart Grid standards,an added benefit to these types of projects isa far-reaching economic impact. SouthernCompany applied for—and received—$165 million in stimulus funding from theDepartment of Energy to help fund South-ern Company’s three-year transmission anddistribution costcutting project. The recentwork has also had a positive economic im-pact on the involved parties.

For Burns & McDonnell, working withGeorgia Power presents an opportunity tobuild on the company’s renowned electricaltransmission and distribution expertise.Arnold Olender, Associate Vice President inthe company's Atlanta office, says these typesof projects will remain necessary as the tran-sition of the electrical system continues. “Ithas created a domino effect all the way fromGeorgia Power to the vendors who supplythe equipment to firms such as Burns & Mc-Donnell who provide the engineering,”Olender says. “We have had to increase staffas a result of the increased workload.”

What can the Smart Grid do?“The systems we’re working on now are reallygoing to impact the consumer, even if indi-rectly,” Campbell says. “The data from thesedevices is going directly into our control sys-

tems and, as a result will speed up the auto-matic restoration of power to customers.”

As this data collection is fine-tuned,these huge volumes of collected data can beapplied to a variety of electrical service com-ponents, creating information that not onlybenefits the consumer but also makes thecompany more responsive.

“A data-to-information action plan willdevelop as a better understanding of load fac-tors, energy usage patterns, equipment con-dition, voltage levels, etc. emerges throughanalysis and is integrated as functional infor-mation into usable customer programsand/or operation and maintenance algo-rithms that identify, trend and alert operatorsto incipient failure,” wrote Beehler andCupp.

Looking toward the futureAs the grid continues to evolve, a new

service landscape awaits consumers. Primarygoals include accurate meter readings, re-duced operating costs, and a technology plat-form that enables future customer services.

“There are smart meters being installedthat will, down the line, be able to commu-nicate cost points and cost information soconsumers can make intelligent decisions ontheir consumption,” Campbell says. “Thereare schemes being installed to automaticallyisolate and sectionalize portions of our sys-tem by adding communications capabilitiesand some logic to our distribution system.”

Simply put? The Smart Grid is not onlyefficient and innovative—it’s sustainable. Inan age when energy and resource consump-tion is of an increasing concern, GeorgiaPower, Southern Company, and Burns &McDonnell are among the leaders in in-stalling a system that brings a necessary effi-ciency to the country’s electrical grid, pavingthe way for other utility companies to adoptsimilar systems to transform the way we useand think about energy.

“The Smart Grid is expected to be fullyfunctional by 2030,” wrote Beehler andCupp. “Data collected, analyzed, visualized,and warehoused from the Smart Grid willcontribute to many new ideas and inventionsthat can improve the lives of people.”


At the heart of this effort is the Atlanta BeltLine project, the largesturban redevelopment project currently under way in the UnitedStates. Using a 22-mile network of mostly abandoned rail lines, theAtlanta BeltLine is being built as a system of dense, live-work devel-opment that includes badly needed greenspace, parks, bike paths andsimilar recreational and lifestyle amenities. The vision for the AtlantaBeltLine originated in a Georgia Tech graduate student’s thesis andhas evolved into a sustainable redevelopment initiative that addressestransportation, parks and publicspaces, affordable housing, economicdevelopment and sustainable re-source management.

The Atlanta BeltLine will create22 miles of pedestrian-friendly railtransit, 33 miles of multi-use trails,1,300 acres of new parks, more than5,000 units of affordable workforcehousing, and 30,000 new jobs. Itwill also remediate more than 1,000acres of brownfields, addressstormwater runoff and use sustainable methods to manage resourcesand keep long-term maintenance costs low.

And, in its fifth year of development, the Atlanta BeltLine is al-ready making an impact on the City’s water infrastructure. Recently,the City celebrated the opening of a new Atlanta BeltLine park in theOld Fourth Ward community, the Historic Fourth Ward Park. Pro-viding the anchor for the new park is a two-acre stormwater deten-tion pond that can store stormwater from a 500-year storm, ifnecessary. The pond, construction of which was funded by the City’sDepartment of Watershed Management, will dramatically reducesewer overflows and flooding in the low-lying area.

“The detention pond represents what can happen when theCity and a dedicated community work together to resolve an issue,”

says Kimberly Parmer, who managed the project for the Departmentof Watershed Management. “Building the pond instead of pursuingalternative options for elimination of sewer overflows saved moneyand provided an aesthetic amenity that the community loves.”

A few miles northwest of the Historic Fourth Ward Park, an-other park, the Westside Reservoir Park, is envisioned as one of thesignature pieces of the Atlanta BeltLine. The park is a prime exam-ple of the BeltLine vision—a planned park that will be the largest in

the city. Built on the site of a formergranite quarry, the park’s centerpiecewill be a 1.9-billion-gallon waterreservoir.

In Atlanta, water has been acentral focus of residents, politicians,businesses and neighboring states fordecades. Even before beginningwork on the Atlanta BeltLine, theCity had undertaken a $4 billion,federally mandated effort to upgradeits aging sewer system. And, for the

last two decades, the state of Georgia has been at odds with neigh-boring states Florida and Alabama regarding the use of water fromthe Chattahoochee River, a primary source of water for the Atlantaregion.

The Bellwood Quarry, located in northwest Atlanta and for-merly managed by Vulcan Materials Co., provided granite for roadsand infrastructure for more than 100 years. In 2006, the City of At-lanta, Vulcan and Fulton County, which owned the massive property,negotiated a deal to sell the site to the City for construction of a new300-acre park with a drinking water reservoir in the old quarry pit.Since that time, Vulcan has transferred is operations off of the siteand started remediation activities. The site is now being managed bythe City’s Department of Watershed Management.

ike many cities across the country, Atlanta is grappling with aging infrastructureand increased competition from other cities to attract new residents, jobs and busi-nesses. In response to these challenges, the City is implementing strategies to im-prove quality of life, generate economic development and sustainably manage itsresources. L From 2007 to 2009, Atlanta BeltLine,

Inc., the organization responsible for theplanning and implementation of the AtlantaBeltLine project, and the City of Atlanta’sBureau of Planning created a master plan forthe area around the future park, using sig-nificant input from the community. Theplan included the 45-acre reservoir in thequarry pit, multi-use trails, hiking and bikepaths, multi-use sports fields and a largemeadow for passive recreational space. The reservoir will hold a 28-day backupwater supply, which will be critical to suc-cessfully addressing citywide droughts.

The future park is located just west ofMidtown Atlanta in one of the fastest grow-ing areas in the city. The area has already ex-perienced significant growth, and the park isexpected to generate some of the most robustdevelopment along the entire Atlanta Belt-Line. Its location near the ChattahoocheeRiver intake, from which river water is pipedto the City’s treatment plants, makes thereservoir well-positioned to benefit from anexisting water source.

Because of the park’s proximity to theAtlanta BeltLine corridor, alternative transitwill be another important component to thepark’s development. The park will be servedby three transit alternatives: the BankheadMARTA Station, MARTA bus routes andAtlanta BeltLine transit. The park will alsobe accessible via the Atlanta BeltLine multi-use trail system and the future extension ofthe Silver Comet Trail – a widely used trailextending from the Atlanta suburb ofSmyrna to the Georgia-Alabama border.

While significant progress has beenmade since the purchase of the property bythe city, much remains to be done beforeconstruction can begin. Approximately halfof the land envisioned for the park is nowowned by the City, and Atlanta BeltLine,Inc. is working with the various abuttingproperty owners to acquire the rest of theparcels. In the next five to seven years, theDepartment of Watershed Management willbegin work on the reservoir itself, and piecesof the park will be developed in phases asfunding becomes available.

While the site is not yet open to thepublic, people can access the future park aspart of the free Atlanta BeltLine tour,which runs every Friday and Saturdaymorning, and includes a stop at the quarrysite. People can reserve seats on the touronline at tours.beltline.org. The quarry isconsidered by many to be the highlight of

the tour. In its current state, the quarry pitis visually dramatic with large, juttingpieces of granite and a greening meadowadjacent to it where the quarry activitiesused to take place. The site also boasts ex-cellent views of the Atlanta skyline.

Cities rarely have the opportunity or theland necessary to develop 300-acre parks.Even rarer is acquisition of a site that can alsoserve as a water reservoir. Once WestsideReservoir Park is complete, it will be a na-tional model for how to repurpose industrialland to serve the needs of the public and im-prove quality of life.

“This park will not only provide recre-ational opportunities for Atlantans, it willalso help us address a critical infrastructureneed,” says Brian Leary, President andCEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “It providesa benefit not often seen in construction ofa park.”

WESTSIDE RESERVOIR PARKATLANTA’S NEXT GREAT GREEN FRONTIER

By Atlanta BeltLine Inc. & the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management


An incredible sight, over one million peoplecrowded around every nook and cranny atCape Canaveral on a sweltering Floridamorning to sneak a peak at what is likelyAmerica’s greatest engineering accomplish-ment. One amongst many, I was profoundlymoved by the massive explosion of liquid hy-drogen and oxygen as the Atlantis shuttletook off toward the International Space Sta-tion for the last time. The sound of its boom-ing exit to space caused the spectators tocheer in unison. Decidedly, one must expe-rience a launch in person to fully realize itsblazing splendor.

A vastly influential architect of the 20thCentury, Le Corbusier too was inspired byleading engineering ideas and materials of hisday when designing Villa Savoye, his mostfamous building. In fact, it was also withgreat appreciation that he wrote in Towardsa New Architecture, "Engineers unknown tothe world at large, mechanics shop and forgehave conceived and constructed these formi-dable affairs that steamships are. We land-lubbers lack the power of appreciation andit would be a good thing if, to teach us toraise our hats to the works of 'regeneration,'we had to do the miles of walking that thetour of a steamship entails." Like Le Cor-busier, how can we be inspired by NASA’sfeats of engineering and incorporate some ofits lessons into our own work?

An Exciting FridayAt 11:29am EST on Friday, July 8th, 2011,the long-awaited final shuttle mission At-lantis STS-135 launched from the KennedySpace Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. At-lantis held the small four-person crew ofChristopher Ferguson, Doug Hurley, SandraMagnus, and Rex Walheim. The day beforethe launch, many administrators from theKennedy Space Center (KSC) did not believethe launch would leave as planned due to thefollowing weather conditions. A small liquidnitrogen leak exposed to lightening from asfar as 25 miles away while fueling the shuttlecould result in an explosion. Low cloud covercould make an emergency landing impossi-

The Final Launch By Stephanie Aurora Lewis, NCARB, LEED AP

ble because of impaired visibility. Aware ofthese and other variables, the crowds watch-ing nearby were waiting on pins and needlesuntil just nine minutes before the expectedtarget launch time to find out if the shuttlewould indeed depart on time.

Fueling takes 12 hours and began on-time at the KSC launch site. Slightly aftermidnight, the astronauts were woken andfinal preparations made. Once inside theshuttle, air was pumped into their suits to re-move any wrinkles that may have existed be-tween their bodies and their seats as thiswould prove to be uncomfortable for theflight's force and duration. The astronauts fi-nalized preparations, were briefed with onelast weather report, and waited for two hoursbefore take off. The rocket boosters cause theshuttle to move backwards with the needlearcing to the rear, then it straightens up, andvibrates with insurmountable force as it be-gins to move off of the launch pad towardorbit. The magnitude of the ignition is such

NASA Shuttle Launch Stats:Fleet: 5 Space Planes—Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis

and EndeavourFirst Delivered: March 1979, Columbia

Expected Launches: 500Actual Launches: 135

Total Flight Time (as of January 2011): 1289 days, 36 minutes, 29 secondsShuttles Lost: 2 (Challenger, 1986; Columbia, 2003)

Total Passengers/Crew: 836Rollbacks from Launchpad: 19

Reason for Delay: Mechanical 10; Weather 5; Payload 2; Bird Damage 1;Hail Damage 1Fatalities: 14

Failure Rate: 1 in every 67.5 missionsRate of Liquid Fuel Consumption During Takeoff: 45,000 gallons of liquid

hydrogen per minute; 17,000 gallons of liquid oxygen per minuteRate of Solid Fuel Consumption During Takeoff: 660,000 pounds per minute

Speed in Orbit: 17,500 mphG-Force at Launch: 3 Gs

Time to Orbit: 8.5 minutesLanding Speed at Touchdown: 220 MPH

Space shuttle Atlantis lands for the final time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Page 28 photo: Space shuttle Atlantis, secured atop a mobile launcher platform, is moments from liftoff from Launch Pad 39A, overlooking the At-lantic Ocean at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff was at 11:29 a.m. (EDT) on July 8, 2011. Onboard are NASA astronauts ChrisFerguson, commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts for the space station. Atlantis also carries the Robotic Refueling Mission experimentthat will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pumpmodule to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight ofAtlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA


that a person standing within 800 feet of theengines would be killed instantly by just thesound of the explosion.

While on the STS-135 mission, therewill be repairs for within the ISS, scientificexperients, and a space walk for repairs onthe ISS exterior systems. The recent SpaceStation IMAX movie begins as an astronautfinds that he has lost contact with the ISSwhile working on a part on the ISS. He be-gins to drift off into space, no longer unat-tached to any hardware. Avoiding anastronaut's worst nightmare, he is able to fireup his jet pack from the controls on his chestto move in from abysmal space back to hispartner astronaut that reattaches him to theISS. On this mission, Magnus will controlthe space arm that will help Ron Fossum andMike Garan (who are temporarily residentson the ISS) make their repairs to the ISS dur-ing their dangerous space walk. The smallesterror on her part could be fatal for the astro-nauts and detrimental to the ISS. Her tech-nical experience, like her colleagues, is vastlyunderrated.

Over the past 30 years, the NASA shut-tles have supplied work on the Hubble SpaceTelescope and have helped conduct experi-ments in biology, physics, astronomy, andmeteorology on the International Space Sta-tion. Impacting earth, it was in this labora-tory that significant advances in breast cancerresearch, improved design of safe child carseats, and breakthroughs in research on mus-cle atrophy, bone loss, crystal formation, re-cycling water, plant growth, and much more

were realized. The Atlantis crew plans to re-turn to earth on the 42nd anniversary of theApollo 11’s touchdown on the moon on July20th, 2011.

The Most Complex Machine Ever BuiltWatching the launch made all of us take astep back and seize only a very, very smallglance into the kind of human ingenuity ithas taken to make it possible to send astro-nauts to space. The amount of people andintelligence backing these missions is hard tobegin to depict and describe. As a teaser, let's

look at some information about the shuttle'smain engine courtesy NASA.gov.

Developed in the 1970s by NASA’sMarshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville,Ala., the space shuttle’s main engine is themost advanced liquid-fueled rocket engineever built. Its main features include variablethrust, high performance reusability, high re-dundancy and a fully integrated engine con-troller. The shuttle’s three main engines aremounted on the orbiter aft fuselage in a tri-angular pattern. Spaced so that they are mov-able during launch, the engines are used, in

conjunction with the solid rocket boosters,to steer the shuttle vehicle. Each of thesepowerful main engines is 14 feet long,weighs about 7,000 pounds and is 7.5 feetin diameter at the end of its nozzle. The en-gines operate for about 8.5 minutes duringliftoff and ascent, burning more than500,000 gallons of super cold liquid hydro-gen and liquid oxygen propellants stored inthe external tank attached to the undersideof the shuttle.

The engines shut down just before theshuttle, traveling at about 17,000 miles perhour, reaches orbit. The main engine oper-ates at greater temperature extremes thanany mechanical system in common usetoday. The fuel, liquefied hydrogen at -423degrees Fahrenheit, is the second coldestliquid on Earth. When it and the liquidoxygen are combusted, the temperature inthe main combustion chamber is 6,000 de-grees Fahrenheit, hotter than the boilingpoint of iron.

In fact, one space shuttle main en-gine generates sufficient thrust to main-tain the flight of two and one-half Boeing747 airplanes. The space shuttle main en-

gine also is the first rocket engine to use abuilt-in electronic digital controller, orcomputer. The controller accepts com-mands from the orbiter for engine start,change in throttle, shutdown and moni-toring of engine operation.

Another hallmark of the shuttle programis the outstanding display of teamwork andleadership that expands not only across ournation, but internationally. NASA has plansfor continued research even though the spaceshuttle program has expired. Nonetheless,one could have cut the emotion with a knife

there at Cape Canaveral on Friday before andafter Atlantis took off. "After the wheels havestopped and the displays go blank and the or-biter is unpowered for the final time ... therewill be a rush of emotion when we all finallyrealize that's it, that it's all over, the crowningjewel of our space program, the way we gotback and forth from low-Earth orbit for 30years ... we'll realize that's all over," Astronaut& Commander of Atlantis Chris Fergusonsaid before launch. "That's going to take a lit-tle while to deal with."

joined Thomas & Hutton as a part time em-ployee through a temp agency in January of1971 while attending Armstrong College.Boyce joined the team full time, March 29,

1971 and worked for three years on a surveyfield crew. Two of those years he served as achief. He has experienced duties as a con-struction inspector, designer of roads, streets,stormwater, sanitary and sewer systems. In1988 he took over the survey departmentwith four crews and one CAD tech. His de-partment then grew to 44 crews with 155employees in 5 different offices in 3 states.

It is impossible to sum up forty years ofBoyce in a few paragraphs, but General C.B.Cates, 19th Commandant of the USMC saidit best: "Leadership is intangible, hard tomeasure, and difficult to describe. Its qualitywould stem from many factors. But certainlythey must include a certain measure of in-herent ability to control and direct, self-con-


W h a t ’ s i n t h e

N E W SParsons Brinckerhoff, a global infrastruc-ture strategic consulting, engineering andprogram/construction management organ-ization, announces that Russell Merritt hasbeen named a project manager in the At-lanta office.

In his new position, Mr. Merritt isserving as Parsons Brinckerhoff ’s LiaisonProject Manager with the Georgia Depart-ment of Transportation (GDOT) for a con-struction engineering and inspectionprogram for District Two. Parsons Brinck-erhoff is providing engineering and inspec-tion personnel for transportation projectsin 24 counties in east central Georgia. Priorto joining Parsons Brinckerhoff, Mr. Mer-ritt served with the GDOT for over 32years. He retired as District ConstructionEngineer at Tennille District.

Mr. Merritt has a bachelor of civil engi-neering technology degree from SouthernPolytechnic State University in Marietta,Georgia.

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a leader indeveloping and operating infrastructure

Russell Merritt

around the world, with 14,000 employeesdedicated to meeting the needs of clients andcommunities in the Americas, Europe,Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia-Pacific regions. Parsons Brinckerhoff offersskills and resources in strategic consulting,planning, engineering, program/constructionmanagement, and operations for all modesof infrastructure, including transportation,power, community development, water andthe environment. Parsons Brinckerhoff ispart of Balfour Beatty plc, the internationalinfrastructure Group operating in profes-sional services, construction services, supportservices and infrastructure investments(www.pbworld.com).

(DURIP) Competition.SPSU and Georgia Tech were the only

two Georgia institutions to receive thefunding. DURIP supports the purchase ofstate-of-the-art equipment that augments orimproves the capabilities universities haveto perform cutting-edge defense research.The Department of Defense received morethan 800 proposals for the purchase of re-search instrumentation and awarded a totalof $37.8 million to 83 academic institutionsnationwide.

Dr. Veazie’s winning proposal made acase for the acquisition of a high-perfor-mance, thermal field emission scanning elec-tron microscope (SEM) to observe,characterize and analyze advanced engineer-ing materials.

“The acquisition of a thermal field emis-sion SEM will lead to significant transfor-mative materials research, design andfabrication,” he told DURIP officials. TheSEM, he added, is “an indispensable tool forstudent research training in materials” thatcan be used by research groups based atSPSU and also at Clark Atlanta University,and will be central to CAMRE’s instrumen-tation capabilities.

“Students will utilize the SEM to ac-quire skills in multiple material-related dis-ciplines, such as mechanical characterization,microfabrication, nanostructured and multi-functional materials, and material synthesis,"he said.

Boyce Young retires from Thomas & Hutton. With both joy and sadness we an-nounce the retirement of Boyce Young ef-fective Friday, June 24th. Boyce came toSavannah for the first time in December of1970, after serving a tour of duty in The Re-public of Vietnam in the Marine Corps. He

SPSU awarded $455,000 Air Force grantDr. David Veazie, director of the SPSUCenter for Advanced Engineering Materialsand Education (CAMRE) and a professorof mechanical engineering technology, hasbeen awarded a grant of more than$455,000 by the Air Force Office of Scien-tific Research in the 2011 Defense Univer-sity Research Instrumentation Program

Chad Grass, of Thomas & Hutton,recieves professional engineeringregistrationThomas & Hutton recognizes Chad Grassfor receiving his professional engineering reg-istration.

Originally from Huntingburg, Indiana,Chad migrated south to become a graduateof Georgia Tech. He has been with Thomas& Hutton for five years. During his tenure,

Grass has worked extensively with the Engi-neering Explorer Post program, an annualprogram dedicated to helping high schoolstudents experience engineering in the Sa-vannah area and learn about engineering ca-reer opportunities.

“We are extremely proud of Chad.& Hisattitude, technical capacity and profession-

Boyce Young

Boyce Youngin 1970

Chad Grass

Jennifer A. Roach, of Thomas &Hutton, receives professionalengineering registrationThomas & Hutton recognizes Jennifer A.Roach for receiving her professional engi-neering registration.

Jennifer Roach is a Project Designerwith five years of experience in planning, de-signing, permitting, and constructing waterresource related projects. She has been in-volved in both large and small scale projects

including stormwater drainage systems,flood control studies, and rehabilitation de-signs. Jennifer is experienced in several typesof hydrologic and hydraulic modeling sys-tems. Jennifer holds certification in Flood-plain Management.

A Georgia Tech graduate and native ofSavannah, Jennifer is also an advocate for theHumane Society of Chatham County andthe Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Founda-tion. Her charitable work in the communityis a direct reflection of her good nature andexemplary of the Thomas & Hutton culture.

“We are very proud of Jennifer. Herknowledge, professionalism, and ability toroll up her sleeves and get the job done, istop of the line.& We are proud to have Jen-nifer as part of the Thomas & Hutton team.”

Ray Pittman, PE, PH, CPSWO,D.WRE, Group Leader, Thomas & Hutton

fidence based on expert knowledge, initiative,loyalty, pride, and a sense of responsibility.Inherent ability obviously cannot be instilled,but that which is latent or dormant, can bedeveloped. Other ingredients can be ac-quired. They are not easily learned. But lead-ers can be and are made."

Boyce has been more than just a valu-able asset to the company, he is a greatleader, friend, and mentor to us all, and willbe greatly missed. His contribution and richexperience made many things possible. Hisleadership, loyalty to Thomas & Hutton,and tireless energy will be missed.

We thank Boyce for over 40 years ofoutstanding service and wish him well as heprepares for retirement. He will always be apart of Thomas & Hutton.“We wish you all the best, Boyce!”

alism, along with his ability to manage mul-tiple projects and do whatever it takes to getthe job done, makes Chad an invaluable re-source for Thomas & Hutton.& We are for-tunate to have him as part of our team.”Chance RaehnIndustrial Group Leader, Thomas & Hutton

JenniferRoach


t the Annual Meeting AwardsSession, ACCG leaders be-

stowed Bibb County Com-missioner Elmo Richardson

with the highest honor acommissioner can re-

ceive from his peers, the Emory GreeneLeadership Award. This award is named inhonor of the late Emory Greene, Chairmanof the Bibb County Board of Commissionersand former ACCG President, who was notonly an outstanding leader in his homecounty, but was also a statewide leader whoserved on a number of boards and commis-sions. Richardson was nominated by BibbCounty Chairman Samuel F. Hart, Sr.

“I am surprised and honored to receivethe Emory Greene Leadership Award,” saidBibb County Commissioner Elmo Richard-son. “Emory Greene was someone that I re-spected greatly and a good friend, and Iappreciate this recognition.”

Currently in his second term as acommissioner in Bibb County, Richardsonhas made many valuable contributions tothe county’s operations by applying his en-gineering expertise, problem-solving skillsand talent for negotiation. He has servedas Chairman of five committees and cur-rently serves as Chairman of the Con-struction Board of Appeals forMacon-Bibb County and Chairman of theState Board of Registration for ProfessionalEngineers and Land Surveyors. Since join-ing the Board of Commissioners, Richard-son has earned the respect of hisconstituents and his fellow county leadersby recognizing problems, leading efforts todevelop solutions and consistently seeingprojects through to their finish.

In 2005, knowing that the southernarea of Bibb County didn’t have convenientaccess to a public library, Richardson workedtirelessly to secure land, building approvalsand funding for a library which opened itsdoors in 2008. Following the Mother’s DayTornado in 2008, which destroyed much ofBibb’s Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area,

Richardson coordinated with the Engineer-ing Department to produce in-house con-struction work that rehabilitated the site andsaved hundreds of thousands of dollars. In2010, when growth in the northern part ofthe county had brought about a need for anew fire station to keep citizens protected,Richardson worked with the Fire Depart-ment and the Engineering Department todetermine a central location, and successfullynegotiated the land contract.

Richardson’s background in engineeringhas proven invaluable to his work in BibbCounty, and his business acumen has alsoserved the citizens well. Board of Commis-sioners Chairman Samuel F. Hart, Sr. be-lieves that Richardson, in his role asChairman of the Finance Committee, hasbeen “instrumental” in helping to ensurethat the Bibb County Fund Balance remainshealthy, even in a harsh economic climate.

Richardson has served his communityand his profession in numerous other capac-ities, including as Chairman of the GreaterMacon Chamber of Commerce, President of

the Consulting Engineers Council of Geor-gia, National Director of the Water Envi-ronment Federation and Director ofGeorgians for Better Transportation. He hasalso enjoyed the opportunity to contributehis expertise to state-level operations, havingbeen appointed by Governor Sonny Perdueto the State Board of Registration for Profes-sional Engineers and Land Surveyors, theBoard of Directors of the Georgia Environ-mental Finance Authority, and the MiddleOcmulgee State Water Planning Council.

“Elmo Richardson embodies the com-mitment to public service and the leadershipfor which this award was created,” saidACCG Executive Director Ross King. “Hehas used his time and talents not only tomake a real difference in the lives of the peo-ple in Bibb County, but also to the citizens ofGeorgia through his state appointments.”

Richardson is a graduate of the ACCGCertified Commissioners’ Training pro-gram, the Academy for ACCG Leadershipand the Certified Commissioners’ Ad-vanced Program.

2011 ACCG Emory Greene Award RecipientBibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson

Pictured below with Commissioner Richardson is Melvin Davis, Oconee County Chairman and ACCG President.

AMoreland Altobelli Associates Inc. (MA)announces the appointment of Joseph Mc-Grew, PE as vice president and manager of

the firm’s bridge and structures group.MA is a Norcross-based engineering, ar-

chitectural and program management firmwith additional offices throughout Georgia,Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee.

McGrew, a registered professional engi-neer in multiple states, has more than 35years experience in design of highway andrailroad bridges, parking structures and re-taining walls. He holds a B.S. degree in civilengineering from Louisiana State Universityand a M.S. degree from Tulane University.

Prior to joining MA, McGrew served in

multiple roles for a national engineeringfirm, including a position as practice/divi-sion manager for a structural engineeringprogram in the eastern U.S.

“We are excited to have Joe on our teamat Moreland Altobelli,” said Buddy Gratton,PE, president of MA. “He brings a strongtrack record of successful engineering proj-ects and programs to our team and to ourclients and future clients.”

Moreland Altobelli employs more than

325 professionals and support personnel intransportation engineering, program man-agement, land acquisition, surveying, envi-ronmental services, water and wastewaterengineering and architecture, among otherservices. The company has designed numer-ous “signature” projects in Georgia includ-ing the award-winning, I-85/State Route 316interchange in Gwinnett County and 14thStreet Bridge over I-75/I-85 connector inmid-town Atlanta.

The Internal Revenue Service today an-nounced an increase in the optional stan-dard mileage rates for the final six monthsof 2011. Taxpayers may use the optionalstandard rates to calculate the deductiblecosts of operating an automobile for busi-ness and other purposes.

The rate will increase to 55.5 cents amile for all business miles driven from July1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2011. This is anincrease of 4.5 cents from the 51 cent ratein effect for the first six months of 2011, asset forth in Revenue Procedure 2010-51.

In recognition of recent gasoline priceincreases, the IRS made this special adjust-ment for the final months of 2011. The IRSnormally updates the mileage rates once ayear in the fall for the next calendar year.

“This year's increased gas prices arehaving a major impact on individual Amer-icans. The IRS is adjusting the standard

mileage rates to better reflect the recent in-crease in gas prices," said IRS Commis-sioner Doug Shulman. "We are taking thisstep so the reimbursement rate will be fairto taxpayers.”

While gasoline is a significant factor inthe mileage figure, other items enter intothe calculation of mileage rates, such as de-preciation and insurance and other fixedand variable costs.

The optional business standard mileagerate is used to compute the deductible costsof operating an automobile for business usein lieu of tracking actual costs. This rate isalso used as a benchmark by the federal gov-ernment and many businesses to reimburse

their employees for mileage.The new six-month rate for comput-

ing deductible medical or moving expenseswill also increase by 4.5 cents to 23.5 centsa mile, up from 19 cents for the first sixmonths of 2011. The rate for providingservices for charitable organizations is set bystatute, not the IRS, and remains at 14cents a mile.

The new rates are contained in An-nouncement 2011-40 on the optional stan-dard mileage rates.

Taxpayers always have the option ofcalculating the actual costs of using theirvehicle rather than using the standardmileage rates.

IRS Increases Mileage Rate to 55.5 Cents per Mile&

Mileage Rate ChangesPurpose Rates 1/1 through 6/30/11& Rates 7/1 through 12/31/11&Business 51 55.5Medical/Moving&&&& 19 23.5Charitable 14 14

Joseph McGrew

This year will be unbelievable! It is indeed aprivilege serving as your president this year.I pledge to work very hard and I am lucky tobe surrounded by very smart and committedindividuals that are serving us all very well.My Dad said “surround yourself with thebest and some of it will rub off on you—work with people that are smarter than youand you will look smarter yourself.” Thesewords are very true. All members ofACEC/G are fortunate to be led by a robustand committed board and staff that workvery hard for you every day—even in thetoughest economy since the depression.

Before I go further, I wish to thank TomGambino for an outstanding job asACEC/G President this past year. Accord-ing to Abraham Lincoln a great thinkingleader does three things well:• Solves problems• Creates opportunities• Enriches the human condition

Tom did all three of these for ACEC/G. Ourancient dues structure was finally revised toprovide a terrific planning tool to empowerour organization for decades to come (prob-lem solved). A terrific five-year plan was de-veloped during his term (opportunitiescreated). ACEC/G was enhanced throughTom’s emphasis on the Value Proposition,Heightened Communication and encour-aged participation at all levels (human con-dition enriched). Tom made a difference anda lasting one. He sets a great example for meto follow and that is a huge benefit.

Like Tom, I invite you to join us as weare at a key turning point. You can be a partof the committees and task forces and realizethis picture of success. Imagine a date in thenot so distant future when everything is per-fect for your business. This is how ACEC/G

created that perfect day:• ACEC provided the structure, guidance

and training that member companiesneeded to collaborate in new ways.

• ACEC/G’s communication to membercompanies and to the public was inform-ative and ahead of the curve.

• Individual members met people and firm’swhose support they needed throughACEC/G.

• Thanks to ACEC/G’s political radar itkept members and the public informed ofrelevant political and legislative develop-ments in time to prepare and take action.

• ACEC/G not only reports on politicaland legislative developments, it impactedthem.

• The Emerging Trends Task Force (ETTF)kick-started by Doris Wilmer is a solidpart of the ACEC/G culture.

• Members of ACEC/G are successfulemerging trend followers as they makekey business decisions from ETTF’s intel-ligence. Their continued success is in-evitable.

• Armed with ETTF information ACEC/Gfirms attract the attention of decision

makers which affect their businesses intime before they can be influenced byothers.

• ACEC/G firms make more money thannon ACEC/G firms.

This is our vision and your future as anACEC/G member firm. If you are not in-volved in our organization—join us now!This year ACEC/G will add four key ele-ments to focus our implementation:Value Proposition: members will clearly seea return on investment at the end of this year.Communication: members will see a robustcommunication programChange: ACEC/G will be a strategic issuesdriven organization as ETTF is a solid partof our cultureOrganize: we will enhance the organizationstructure of ACEC/G to be the best organi-zation for member firms.

I thank you again for the opportunity toserve you and look forward to working witheach of you throughout this year.All the best,James R. Hamilton, PE

James R. Hamilton, PEPresident ACEC/G

ACECNews

To view the entire ACEC/G Strategic Plan withdetailed action items please visit the ACEC/G

Web site at www.acecga.org.


Where the Heck Have I Been?I watched my son Sam the other day as hestood at the fence inside of the baseball fielddugout, analyzing why the ball he hit endedup being a pop fly to center field for an out.He was mad, and completely oblivious towhat was going on around him. During thepost game conversation on the way home,Sam shared that he indeed was mad and was“just keeping his head down and staying fo-cused”. I reminded him that he’s a long wayfrom the end of his journey through baseballand life but that his mindset is a great wayto handle tough times. But I did advise himthat he can’t “check out” and just think abouthis tough times and forget the bigger pictureof supporting his team.

I’ve been mad too! And I admit thatI’ve “checked out” a bit too on some things,like Sam standing in the baseball dugout.My focus has been on dealing with the chal-lenges of two teenagers at home, maintainingas much peace in my house as possible, andhelping my company survive this tougheconomy as we attempt to position ourselvesto do well when things get better aroundhere (Yes I said “WHEN”). In the meantime, I haven’t written this column for severalmonths, my schedule has caused me to missa few Editorial Board Meetings, and I can’teven remember when I attended my associ-ation’s monthly meeting. Not good!

I’m sure many of you have done the

same thing as you continue to work dili-gently and make the tough decisions thattimes like these require. Associations are suf-fering with membership, and the associatedreduction in dues revenue, because leadersare placing the payment of dues as lower andlower priorities. In reaction, associations aredoing their best to show value and encouragecontinued participation. Consequently,many of us have cut ourselves off from theconnection we had to our peers and industrytrends that made and kept us all personallysuccessful and professionally “in the know”.We’ve come to believe that times are too hardand we don’t have time or money to spendon what we thought were valuable organiza-tions when life was good and capital im-provement budgets were robust. We’vechecked out!

Well I’ve decided to snap out of it!Time for me to fiercely defend and articulatethe value of my association membership in

our corporate budget. I also must protectthe portion of my calendar that is supposedto be allocated to the Georgia EngineeringMagazine Editorial Board meetings, as wellas the monthly meetings of my association,and other industry events that I used to valueso much. You guys must do that as well. Re-member, those young engineers coming upbehind us are watching how we navigatethrough these waters!

Face it folks, our professional associationsneed our time, talents, and dues. Time toget out from behind the dugout fence andback on the field! Better Days Are Ahead!

Jeffery G. Dingle, P.E.Chairman, Editorial Board

Where the Heck Have I Been?


!"#$%&'()*&+!,-.&,/0%12304&-%$03/1!"#$%&#'()*+,$-(*#.&/$-*0#123&4$/

555673#%6(*8912#&&&&&&&&&&&&12#:/(;73#%6(*8

Serving Georgia from...

North Carolina .704.593.0992

!"#$%&'()*+," ..216.831.6131

)$-"%(.*+,"/(#&$0.#102"

345(&//"//"/(the integrity 6&#2(2"7$-8(.*(,.#,%"$"(*.9#2&$0.#/( :(*&/$;

&/$-*0#123&4$/!"#$%&#'()*+,$-(*#.!"#$%&#'()*+,$-(*#.&/$-*0#123&4$/

345(&//"//"/(the integrity

&/$-*0#123&4$/

673#%6(*8912#&&&&&&&&&&&&12#:/(;73#%6(*8

Serving Georgia fr

olinaNorth Car

!"#$%&'()*+,"

)$-"%(.*+,"/(#&$0.#102"

the integrity 6&#2(2"7$-8(

"$"(.*(,.#,%*.9#2&$0.#/(

673#%6(*8912#&&&&&&&&&&&&12#:/(;73#%6(*8

om...Serving Georgia fr

olina.704.593.0992

!"#$%&'()*+,"..216.831.6131

)$-"%(.*+,"/(#&$0.#102"

Together what can we contribute that bene-fits our communities as well as our profes-sion. As professional engineers we arecharged with protecting the health, safetyand well being of the public first. There aremany ways we go about performing theseduties, and some of them are not as recog-nizable as you might think. One of the waysis through participation in the Georgia Soci-ety of Professional Engineers. The volunteerswho make up our organization go about thedaily tasks in an effort to make Georgia abetter place to be. Much of the future of ourstate will be crafted by our professionthrough support of the economic competi-tiveness in our industries as well as quality oflife through infrastructure.

I am humbled that our membership hasfound me worthy to serve, and look forwardto the honor of representing our organiza-tion as president for the next year. One of thethings that attracted my participation in thisorganization was the selfless efforts of themembership and leaders across the state. Theindividual efforts of our members at thechapter level, coupled with the coordinationand support of our state officials, are cer-tainly a recipe for success.

What is it that we do in support of ourmembers and ultimately the public? GSPE isactive in our legislature and the board of reg-istration protecting and supporting the rightto practice engineering in our state. We pro-vide opportunities for engineers across thestate to improve their skills through chaptermeetings, technical sessions, and state-ledprofessional development sessions. Ouryouth outreach programs, such as Math-counts, provide opportunities for more than1,000 middle school students each year toparticipate in mathematics competitions,and begin to see what engineering offers

them. Through the student chapters in ourengineering schools, we encourage future en-gineers to become leaders in the industry.Our annual New Engineers RecognitionDinner is provided to congratulate and men-tor those who have passed their professionalengineers examination. These initiatives areinstrumental to the future of Georgia.

This past May GSPE held its annualplanning session to review our current sta-tus, and our goals for the coming year. Lastyear’s leadership team, as well as those ofprior years, provided our organization awealth of positive initiatives. Our chaptersare flourishing, and this past year our activeparticipants grew by nearly ten percent. It isthrough the active growth of our member-ship that we will be able to provide the great-est impact to the communities of Georgia.The state leaders highlighted in this articleare committed to improving the value ofmembership. This year we will be workinghard to provide leadership opportunities foryoung engineers at the state and chapter lev-els, provide additional education opportuni-ties, improve member communicationsthrough multiple media options, and expandactive chapter participation across the state.These initiatives are important to our organ-ization, but will require participation by allof our members to make them happen. Weencourage and appreciate all volunteers whowish to contribute, and welcome recom-mendations for improvement.

In closing I would like to personallythank all those actively participating in ourorganization, and encourage all professionalengineers across the state play a vital roll inthe future of Georgia through participationin the activities of the Georgia Society of Pro-fessional Engineers.

GSPENews

William G. Wingate III, P.E. President Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

40 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER 41AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2011

July 1st marked the beginning of certain lawsin Georgia passed by the 2011 Legislature andsigned by Governor Deal. While most of themedia attention has focused on HB 87 dealingwith illegal immigration, there are a coupletransportation related bills that have becomelaw, two of which are discussed below.

House Bill 101 requires motorists to yieldto bicyclists traveling in a bicycle lane, as wellas leave a safe distance of three feet when pass-ing a bicyclist on any roadway. As a casual cy-clist, I am glad to see such legislation passed.This law mirrors a similar law passed severalyears ago that requires motorist to changelanes or slow down when approaching astopped emergency vehicle on the shoulder.

As the Atlanta area continues to grow,we need to work toward providing moretransportation options for our residents, in-cluding bike lanes and bike paths. Fortu-nately, more road widening and shoulderimprovement projects are incorporating bikelanes or ‘bicycle friendly’ lanes. The City ofRoswell has taken great strides to become aBicycle Friendly city, with over 43 miles ofbike facilities. Much of the metro area’s bikefacility network is still discontinuous, buthopefully the gaps will be filled as fundingbecomes available to provide connectivity be-tween recreational facilities, employmentcenters, shopping centers and residentialareas. With more bicycle facilities, more ve-hicle interactions will come, and this new lawwill help provide safer conditions for cyclists.

While I do not commute to work by bi-cycle, I do take advantage of many of thebike facilities in the metro area. Biking pro-vides a great way to exercise and spend timewith your kids. Below is a list of some of myfavorite paved bike trails in metro Atlanta:

Silver Comet Trail—this trail runsfrom Smyrna to Anniston, AL, a total dis-

ITENews

Mike Holt, PE, PTOE, PresidentGeorgia Section, Institute of Transportation Engineers

tance of over 100 miles. There are several ac-cess points in Cobb and Paulding Counties.At Floyd Road (MP 4) you can stop at theSilver Comet Depot bike shop for suppliesor an ice cream snack. The PumpkinvineCreek Trestle, over 750 long, is located atMP 23, just west of Rambo Road in Dallas.For those who want to get away from thebusy traffic on the east end of the trail, driveout to Coots Lake (MP 33) in Polk County.You can bike 2 ' miles east to the BrushyMountain tunnel, then turn around and bikewest to Rockmart (MP 37) and stop intoFrankie’s Italian Restaurant for lunch (besure try the breadsticks), where you can signyour name on the wall.

Roswell Riverwalk—this trail systemruns for about five miles along the Chatta-hoochee River from Willeo Road east to EvesRoad. Much of the trail is an off-road path be-tween Azalea/Riverside Road and the river.The trail runs past three parks, and there’seven a hard packed gravel path that wandersthrough a wooded area called the Wells Tract.

Big Creek Greenway—this eight-miletrail runs between Big Creek Park in Roswelland Marconi Drive in Alpharetta. The trailhas several connections to neighborhoodsand office parks near North Point Mall.There are plans to connect this trail with a 7-mile greenway section in Forsyth County.

Arabia Mountain/Rockdale RiverTrail —this little known trail runs fromdowntown Lithonia through south DeKalbCounty for 11 miles into Rockdale County,passing through the Davidson-Arabia Moun-tain Nature Preserve. Unlike the trails above,this trail has some topography to it and is abit more challenging to ride. I always seewildlife along this trail, including deer,turkeys, snakes and turtles.

Senate Bill 88 increases the age require-

ment for the use of child passenger restrain-ing systems in vehicles from age 6 to 8. Anychild under 8 or under 4’ 9” must be securedin a booster seat or car seat (age 4 andunder). Any child age 8 and over must be se-cured with a seat belt.

According to the CDC, motor vehicleinjuries are the leading cause of death amongchildren in the United States. Many of thesedeaths and injuries can be prevented by usingage appropriate car seats and booster seats.The CDC also recommends that any childages 12 and younger should ride in the backseat. This places children in the safest part ofthe vehicle and eliminates the injury risk ofdeployed front passenger-side airbags. Addi-tionally, seat belts are designed to secureadults, and if not properly adjusted, they cancause injuries or death when strapped acrossa child’s neck in the event of a crash.

I know some parents are eager for theirchildren to grow up and ride in the front seatwith them. Other parents give in to theirchildren’s complaining about having to usebooster seats. These are unsafe practices, andour new law makes an attempt to reinforcethe safety of child restraining systems. Pleasebe sure to follow these guidelines with yourown children to ensure their safety.

In addition to the legislative actions dis-cussed above, other efforts continue, partic-ularly in transportation planning, to lay thefoundation for a safer more efficient networkthat can reduce congestion and delay pluscontribute to continued economic growth.Supporting this effort, on June 8th theMetro Atlanta Northern Crescent TransitSummit was held at the Cobb Galleria Cen-ter. The purpose of the Summit was to edu-cate metro elected officials, governmenttransportation administrators and businessleaders on the benefits and best practices of

high capacity rail. An overview of efforts todate and those to be undertaken in the fu-ture along the three major northern corridorswere presented by Faye DiMassimo, CobbDOT Director, for I-75; Brandon Beech,North Fulton CID, for GA 400; and BrianAllen, Gwinnett DOT Director, for I-85.

Presentations were given by two of thenation’s communities leading this effortthrough the advocacy, planning, and imple-mentation of their successful high-capacity

transit projects. Steve Banta, CEO ofMETRO Light Rail, spoke on the system inPhoenix and their continued expansion andchallenges associated with operations. For-mer Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory spokeabout their city’s efforts to put their light railline into service. Each of the speakers sharedfrom the wealth of their experiences withsome of the more telling insights being thatimplementing a high-capacity rail system isnot a project but a process; when defining

the vision for the system that it has to iden-tify the multiple components for a trans-portation investment to include land use andeconomic development; and that the opera-tions staff has to be included in the planningon the front end. The Summit concludedwith ARC Chairman Tad Leithead moder-ating a panel discussion of elected officialsthat also fielded some very pointed com-ments and questions from the attendees.


Marion Waters, P.E.ITS President

ITS News

DIAMOND SPONSORTemple

PLATINUM SPONSORSWorld FiberUtilicomURSPBS&JGS&PArcadisSercoDelcanSensys

GOLD SPONSORSControl TechnologiesAECOMTransdynKimley-HornIterisTraficonGarrettcom

SILVER SPONSORSSouthern Lighting & Traffic SystemsMultilinkMaxcell

DaktronicsCambridge SystematicsIntelligent DevicesMidascoGrice and AssociatesVideolarmGannett FlemingQuality TrafficCitilog

OUR SPONSORS Thanks to our sponsors, who provide valuable financial assistance to the organization:

It seems like an enormous understatement,but a lot of things are happening right now. The picture of our lives today, as I paint it inmy mind, is of a passenger riding in the backseat of a fast moving car. We are not exactlysure where we are going, but we are gettingthere very fast. Our view is somewhat re-stricted (by being somewhere other than inthe driver’s seat). We are straining to lookthrough the windshield into the far distanthorizon while glancing every once in a whileout the side window at the blurred landscapeflashing by so fast that only a small portionof the roadside details can be seen.

The present flashes by, and most often itis difficult to comprehend the warning signsand other important things that are rightunder our noses. The distant future is ap-proaching so rapidly that unless we concen-trate on the horizon, we may fail to act intime to navigate to our desired destination.Even worse, the winds are blowing hard, andwhoever is driving the car seems to be having

a heck of a time keeping the car on the road.Fortunately, we in Georgia have a good

opportunity to both slow down and smellthe flowers, (also some fresh air, and goodcooking) while sharing the wisdom of in-dustry leaders to see a clear vision of the fu-ture of ITS at the Georgia Chapter meeting.

In just a few days, (September 18 – 20)the Georgia ITS Chapter will be having itsannual meeting at the Reynolds PlantationResort where we will be focusing on a clearervision (20/20) of the future at a time when somuch is happening that it is tough just keep-ing up with where we are now.

A few most fortunate will have the op-portunity to go to the combined ITSA An-nual meeting and ITS World Congress inOrlando Florida next month (October 16th– 20th) to see even more of what is happen-ing in Asia and Europe as well the U.S.These opportunities present us with knowl-edge to help us change and to do so wisely.

In a recent conversation with Russell

McMurray, one of the senior staff at theGeorgia Department of Transportation, thesubject of making wise change came up. Thechallenges seem to be• avoiding the mistakes made in the past,• but at the same time having an open

mind about attempting to do whatcould NOT be done in the past.

Today, new materials and advancements intechnology are enabling the transportationindustry to do what would have been con-sidered impossible just a couple of decadesago. Some of those products will be shownat the EXHIBITOR’S displays at the ITSGeorgia Annual meeting.

Ms. Shelley J. Row, Program Directorof the Intelligent Transportation SystemsJoint Program Office in the Research and In-novative Technology Administration (RITA)has agreed to be our keynote/opening sessionspeaker for our Annual Meeting. Ms. Rowhas only recently returned from an extensive

stay in southern Europe and has extensive un-derstanding of how ITS can make our livesbetter.

Please visit our Web site(www.ITSGA.org) for information about ourmonthly meetings for 2011 and our annualmeeting to be held September 18 – 20, 2011at the Reynolds Plantation near GreensboroGeorgia.

PresidentMarion Waters, Gresham, Smith andPartners

Vice PresidentMark Demidovich, GDOT

SecretaryKristin Turner, Arcadis

TreasurerChristine Simonton, Delcan

Immediate Past PresidentAnthony Bradford, GDOT

Ex OfficioGreg Morris, Federal Highway AdministrationJamie Pfister, Federal Transit AdministrationDirectorsMarwan Abboud, ArcadisRonald Boodhoo, GDOTSusie Dunn, ARCJohn Hibbard, PBS&JCarla Holmes, Gresham, Smith andPartnersPatrece Keeter, DeKalb CountyScott Mohler, URSTom Sever, Gwinnett County DOTKenn Fink, Kimley-HornBayne Smith, URS

State Chapters RepresentativeKenny Voorhies, Cambridge Systematics Inc.

ITS GEORGIA CHAPTER LEADERSHIP

Take a look at "e Georgia Engineer Blog.

Enjoy a new video every day.

GEORGIAENGINEERBLOG.

GeorgiaEngineerthe


The Georgia Society of Professional En-gineers hosted the 8th Annual MATH-COUNTS Golf Tournament to raiseawareness of the importance of theMATHCOUNTS Competition and fundsfor the MATHCOUNTS Endowment. Anew venture for the tournament waslaunched in 2011, the tournament was heldin conjunction with the Georgia EngineersSummer Conference. The collaboration leadto one of the largest MATHCOUNTS Golf

Tournament that has been held to date. The Georgia Society of Professional En-

gineers was able to host the MATHCOUNTSGolf Tournament in 2011 due to the gener-ous financial support from the followingcompanies and individuals.

MATHCOUNTS Golf Tournament Hole Sponsors

Florence and Hutcheson (2)Golder Associates (2)Mallett Consulting, Inc. (2) Associates Engineering ConsultantsColumbia EngineeringCranston Engineering GroupDewberryGeorgia Concrete Paving AssociationGeotechnical & Environmental Consult-antsMark Kilby, P.EMathcounts Fund Raising CommitteePiedmont Geotechnical ConsultantsPortland Cement Association, SE RegionSouthern Civil EngineersSteve Skalko, P. E.Tensar United ConsultingWillett Engineering

2011 MATHCOUNTS Golf TournamentHosted by the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers

MATHCOUNTSGolf Tournament Sponsors

Gold SponsorsSchnabel Engineering, LLCPavestone Company

Silver SponsorsSouthern Company Hydro Generation

Bronze SponsorsInfratec Consultants, Inc.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011MATHCOUNTS Golf Competition!

he theme Georgia Engi-neers In Action was just

that with over 200 in attendanceat this year’s 2011 Georgia Engi-neers Summer Conference heldon June 19th through June

22nd at the beautiful RitzCarlton Reynolds’ Plantation Lodge on LakeOconee, Georgia. The conference washosted by the Georgia Engineering Alliancewith partnering associations, ACEC Geor-gia, ASCE Georgia Section, GSPE, andSEAOG.

The conference kicked off with a Spon-sor/Exhibitor Appreciation Reception in theexhibitor hall where attendees networked withsponsors, exhibitors and fellow engineers.

On Monday morning the Opening Ses-sion Breakfast featured three speakers, Stacey

Kalberman, Executive Secretary for theCampaign Finance Commission of Georgiaon Vendor Lobbyist laws and requirements;Elmo Richardson, PE, Chairman, GeorgiaState Board of Registration for ProfessionalEngineers and Land Surveyors reviewed up-dates with the Board of Registration and JimCole, Board Member, State TransportationBoard of Georgia on Transportation Fund-ing, HB 277.

The conference offered two days of 4educational tracks featuring business prac-tices sessions, and technical sessions in whichengineers could earn up to 12 PDHs. The conference highlight was the Mondaynight Gala Dinner where the keynotespeaker Clint Cragg, Principal Engineer ofNASA Engineering and Safety Center gave apresentation on how he as a member of afour-person NASA team assisted with theChilean miner’s rescue. Following thekeynote speaker the entire crowd had a goodtime kicking up their heels with music fromthe only engineering band in Georgia. OddMan Out is a rock band with musicians thatare engineers by trade!

To close the conference there was aBBQ cookout for the whole family. Lots offun! We at the Georgia Engineering Alliance

hope all the attendees enjoy this conferenceas much as we did and hope to see you allnext year! Be on the lookout for the 2012Georgia Engineers Summer Conference an-nouncement of the location and dates com-ing soon!

2011 Summer Conference

We would like to thank our sponsors andexhibitors for making this a successfulconference! A Special Thank You to ourPlatinum Sponsor Deemer Dana &Froehle, LLP

A4 Inc. - The Georgia EngineerACEC Business Insurance TrustApplied SoftwareAuburn University College

of EngineeringBoss Environmental Green SolutionsCardinal Systems, LLCCrow Friedman GroupDelta Environmental ProductsFood & Drug Administration Ctr for

Devices & Radiological HealthGEL Geophysics, LLCGeorgia Concrete Paving AssociationGeorgia PowerGreylingIMSPavestone CompanyPhoto SciencePritchard & Jerden, Inc.Southern Polytechnic State UniversityT Wayne Owens & AssociatesThe Miller Group, Inc.Tidewater Environmental Services Inc.United ConsultingWolverton & Associates

Platinum Sponsors Rick Deemer and ArthurDana (Deemer Dana & Froehle, LLP) net-

work with engineers at Sponsor/Exhibitor Ap-preciation Reception.

Jim Cole, Board Member of the State Trans-portation Board speaks at the Opening SessionBreakfast on the Transportation Investment Act

Engineers get down to business in the educa-tional session

Georgia Engineering Alliance President,Gwen Brandon rocks with band members

Travis Riker and Sammy Powell (Odd ManOut Band)

Lily Claire Herman (granddaughter of GEAStaff Kathy Belcher) presents GEA Drawingwinner Neil Davies (Geosyntec) with Ritz

Carlton Gift Certificate

T

46 THE GEORGIA ENGINEER

WTS National ConferenceIn May of this year, the WTS Annual NationalConference was held in San Francisco, wheremany of the international organization’s 4,100members gathered to explore the technical, pol-icy, financial, and political aspects of emergingtransportation issues in virtually every sector.United States Department of Transportation(USDOT) Secretary LaHood was a specialguest at the WTS 2011 Annual Conference,where he helped launch Transportation YOU,a joint initiative of the USDOT and WTS topromote education and careers in the areas ofScience, Technology, Engineering and Mathe-matics (STEM), and for the advancement ofwomen in the field of transportation. Trans-portation YOU will introduce younger girls,ages 13(18, to the broad array of transportationcareers through hands(on interactive activities,mentoring programs, field experiences and anational ‘virtual’ community. This initiativealso provides specific attention to STEM andcareer exploration in a variety of transportationrelated fields. For more information aboutWTS and the Transportation YOU initiative,contact WTS President and CEO Marcia Fer-ranto, [email protected],302(545(7292.

WTS Atlanta members in attendance atthis year’s national conference included MarshaAnderson Bomar, Claudia Bilotto, JenniferKing, Laurie Reed, Beth Ann Schwartz andMarcia Steele. In addition, one of our Georgia

Tech affiliate members, Josie Kressner, was inattendance to accept the WTS President'sLegacy Scholarship. This $3,000 scholarshiprecognizes women who demonstrate leadershipin the transportation industry and a commit-ment to community service. Ms. Kressner wasrecognized for her work in co-founding ReviveAtlanta, a non-profit organization that seeks toconvert underutilized properties into commu-nity parks and gardens. Josie represented theAtlanta Chapter well and we are very proud tohave her as part of our chapter.

Breakfast with CommissionerOn June 16, WTS hosted a breakfast withGDOT’s Commissioner Vance Smith and theState Transportation Board. The breakfast, heldjust prior to their monthly Board meeting, wasattended by over 80 WTS members, corporatepartners and GDOT employees. The purposeof this meeting was to recognize and thankGDOT for their continued support of and in-volvement in the WTS chapter and to providean opportunity for our members and corporatesponsors to interact with these key statewidedecision-makers. We want to extend ourthanks again to the Commissioner and Boardfor attending this event. We look forward todoing it again next year.

WTSNews

Jennifer King, PE, PresidentWomen in Transportation Seminar

President Jennifer King, [email protected] HNTB

Vice President-Programs Laurie Reed, [email protected] HNTB

Vice President-Membership Tonya [email protected] MARTA

Secretary Angela Snyder, [email protected] and Assoc

Treasurer Marissa Martin, [email protected] Smith Partners

Director at Large Beth Ann Schwartz, [email protected] The LPA Group

Director at Large Heather Alhadeff, [email protected] + Will

Director at Large Jennifer Harper, [email protected] Corporation

Director at Large Helen McSwain, [email protected] PBS&J

Immediate Past PresidentEmily Swearingen, PE URS [email protected]

Platinum LevelGold LevelCubicEdwards-Pittman

EnvironmentalHNTBJAT ConsultingThompson

Engineering

Silver LevelCroyPSIURS

Bronze LevelAtkins&CH2MHillKimley Horn KYS CommunicationMcGee PartnersReynolds, Smith &

HillSoutheastern Engineering, Inc. (SEI)StantecSTV/RalphWhitehead

AssociatesWolverton &

Associates

Thanks to our 2011 Corporate Sponsors:

Upcoming EventsPlease Save the Date for:Joint Golf Tournament with ITE – September 12, 2011Annual Scholarship Luncheon – October 18, 2011

Documents

The Georgia Engineer (Aug-Sept) 2011