compass feb march 2016 - pspe march 2016.pdfbuilt by the delaware, lackawanna and western railroad...

VALLEY FORGE CHAPTER

PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS P.O. BOX 585 WORCESTER, PA 19490-0585

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

THE COMPASS Volume 50. Number 3. February/March 2016

(Read the COMPASS online at www.pspe.org/valleyforge)

President’s Message By: Randy Cleaver, P.E. The 2016 Valley Forge Chapter activities are well underway. In January, VFC State Director, Tony Dougherty, organized a very successful tour of the CHOP Specialty Care Center & Surgery facility in King of Prussia. This state of the art medical center includes over 60 exam rooms, sport medicine gyms, Pediatric Imaging Center, Sleep Center, Urgent Care Center, Ambulatory Surgery Center, and more. Each day an average of 400 children visit this CHOP facility for medical service. Our tour took us to view the technical areas, HVAC, water handling, electrical distribution, data storage and more. After the tour, the 20 attendees convened at Ralph’s of South Philly for awesome appetizers and beverages. Moving onto February, the 4th Annual Joint VFC and NSPE Villanova Chapter Meeting took place on Thursday, February 4th, at Villanova University’s Dougherty Hall. Conversation at the buffet dinner was stimulated by both students and PEs. “What do you do? Which engineering discipline are you studying? Why do you want to be an engineer?” And the questions and answers went on and on until it was time for the evening speaker, Zeyn Uzman, a Villanova University professor and a professional engineer licensed in 49 states. Zeyn spoke on PE license thievery. He highlighted two personal experiences which made it very evident that all professional engineers should be aware of the ease to reproduce one’s license stamp. The illegal use of a PE stamp can have legal repercussions and most importantly jeopardize safety. Stay tuned for future Valley Forge Chapter activities. Upcoming Events (visit www.pspe.org/valleyforge for more details) Mar 16: Bucks Chapter Membership Meeting; Borghi’s Restaurant @ 5:30 PM (see attached flyer) Mar 30: Delaware Valley Science Fairs; Greater Phila. Expo Center at Oaks Mar 31: Delco Chapter Membership Meeting; Sligo Restaurant & Pub @ 5:00 PM (see attached flyer)




PSPE Legislative Activity: Senate Transportation Committee Holds Hearing on Delivery of

Transportation Projects

On February 2, the Senate Transportation Committee conducted a public hearing on the delay and delivery of transportation projects since the passage of Act 89. Leslie Richards, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) told committee members, “The enactment of Act 89 in November 2013 has contributed to the completion of 1,217 projects worth $2.3 billion and provided funding for 559 projects that are currently underway,” She added, “PennDOT now sustains a construction program between $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion annually.” Sec. Richards explained, “This funding allowed for 607 construction contracts to be let in 2015, and we anticipate that 750 contracts (representing nearly 800 projects) will be let for construction in 2016.” According to Sec. Richards, “The Corbett administration over-promised projects by at least $6 billion compared to projections of available revenue for the next 12 years following Act 89.” She cautioned, “Absent a legislative solution, a number of these projects many not advance in the next 12 years.” Sec. Richards reported that the 2017 Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) and the 2017-2018 Twelve-Year Program (TYP) are currently under development. She noted “The federal funds available to programming have increased due to the passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.” Sec. Richards pointed out that “a significant potential reduction in available state Motor License Fund (MLF) resources has limited the ability to reach as many projects as hoped for.” She explained to lawmakers, “Funds from the MLF needed to support the State Police mission to keep our transportation network safe are competing with the vast demand for projects and this means some tough decisions lie ahead.” Sec. Richards went on to discuss the project delivery challenges faced by the department. She commented, “The biggest risks to our project schedules come from entities outside the PennDOT organization and occur when our project efforts require coordination and collaboration with other agencies and stakeholders.” Sec. Richards explained that these interactions occur in four major categories including property owners/right-of-way acquisitions; environmental clearances; utility coordination; and railroad coordination.

In concluding her testimony, Sec. Richards said, “We are proud of our project delivery process at PennDOT.

However, the number one issue we have today is unfunded committed projects and to fund those projects a legislative solution is needed,” She went onto say, “From our perspective, utilities are the biggest remaining area where we currently need assistance in order to make substantial improvements to continue to improve project delivery.” Sec. Richards asserted that “additional revenue is the unavoidable factor that underwrites how far we can advance on pending projects.”

For further PSPE legislative updates, visit: http://pspe.org/about-pspe/legislative-activity/




23rd Annual Valley Forge Chapter “Day at the Races” By Harve Hnatiuk, P.E., F.NSPE

On December 13th, myself and my wife Cyndee once again hosted the VFC “Day at the Races” at PARX Casino & Racetrack in Bensalem. We missed some of you who almost always come. Others who did not join us at the track missed out on “Springtime in December in Bensalem”! We welcomed three “first time participants” Tom and Joan Hoenninger and Nicole Wilson. The new “venue” in the “Cotillion Room” was fine but we sure did miss the “table service”. Congratulations to our VFPSPE 2015 Handicapper of the Year Champion, Tom Hoenninger and to Joan Hoenninger, who finished second in our annual contest! Here are the final results of this year’s contest:

Member/Guest Total Points Tom Hoenninger 53 Joan Hoenninger 46.5 Kurt Leininger 44.4 Lindsay Musselman 35.5 Harve Hnatiuk 8.4 Nicole Wilson 0 Cyndee Hnatiuk 0

Note that 3 of the 7 contestants had “positive ROI” (with points higher than 40). Another came oh so close. Great job of handicapping all! As always, it was a lot of fun…and Cyndee and I look forward to the 2016 Day at the Races next December and hope that we are all blessed to be together again with some of the other “missing suspects” (you know who you are!).




2016 Bucks/Valley Forge Chapters MATHCOUNTS Competitions By Sandy A. Koza, P.E., PTOE, Bucks County Coordinator

On Saturday, February 20th, the Bucks and Valley Forge Chapters held their local MATHCOUNTS Competitions. Assisted by numerous volunteers, the competition hosted 17 schools from Bucks County with 111 students and 23 schools from the Valley Forge Chapter (Montgomery County) with 167 students. Advancing to States from the Bucks County Chapter is the winning team from Charles Boehm Middle School coached by Emily Coffey with team members Ellen Zhang, Ohm Shah, Quinn Terry, and Sutirth Mannikeri. The Top Four Individuals from Bucks County advancing to States are as follows: First Place - Ellen Zhang from Charles Boehm Middle School; Second Place – Jasmine Zhang from Newtown Middle School; Third Place - Forest Ho-Chen from Pennwood Middle School; and Fourth Place - Robbie Olynick from Pennwood Middle School. Also joining them at States will be Aaron Wang from Holicong Middle School. Advancing to States from the Valley Forge Chapter Sandy Run Middle School coached by Trish Callaghan with team members Noah Siraj, Lucas Lin, Peter Liu, and Annie Cheng. Also advancing to States this year is the Second Place Valley Forge, whose score was high enough to qualify for one of two Wild Card Spots. The Wissahickon Middle School is coached by Troy Deckeback with team members Evan Qiang, Aditya Sardesai, Luigi Soriano, and Jasmine Han. The Top Four Individuals from Valley Forge advancing to States are as follows: First Place –Samuel Lee from Pennfield Middle School; Second Place – Evan Qiang from Wissahickon Middle School; Third Place – Alex Zhang from Bala Cynwyd Middle School; and Fourth Place – Annie Liang from Bala Cynwyd Middle School. The Bucks and Valley Forge Chapters are very proud of the accomplishments of all of the students and the dedication that their coaches put into training them every year. We would like to thank our volunteers and sponsors, who made this year’s event a success, including our host school, Christopher Dock Mennonite High School. Without their generosity and support, the competition program would not be possible. If you are interested in becoming involved with the MATHCOUNTS Competition program, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. We wish all of our teams and individuals advancing to States on March 18th and 19th the best of luck!

Bucks County First Place Team: Charles Boehm Middle School

Valley Forge First Place Team: Sandy Run Middle School




Picture of the Month: Tunkahannock Creek Viaduct

The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct (also known as the Nicholson Bridge and the Tunkhannock Viaduct) is a concrete deck arch bridge that spans the Tunkhannock Creek in Nicholson, Pennsylvania. Measuring 2,375 feet (724 m) long and towering 240 feet (73 m) when measured from the creek bed (300 feet (91 m) from bedrock), it was the largest concrete structure in the world when completed in 1915 and still merited "the title of largest concrete bridge in America, if not the world" 50 years later.

Built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W), the bridge is owned today by Norfolk Southern Railway and is used daily for regular through freight service.

The DL&W built the viaduct as part of its 39.6-mile (63.7 km) Nicholson Cutoff, which replaced a winding and hilly section of the route between Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Binghamton, New York, saving 3.6 miles (5.8 km), 21 minutes of passenger train time, and one hour of freight train time.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunkhannock_Viaduct)




2015-16 VFC Board of Directors

President Randy Cleaver, P.E. Chapter Director Kurt Leininger, P.E. President-Elect Michael Fischer, P.E. Chapter Director Paul Dugan, P.E. Vice President Phil Gonski, P.E. Chapter Director (vacant) Treasurer Jim Thompson, P.E. Chapter Director (vacant) Secretary Lindsay Musselman, E.I.T. Chapter Director (vacant) Past-President Dan Humes, P.E. State Director Tony Dougherty, P.E. You can now follow our Chapter on LinkedIn and Facebook. Check us out!!




THANK YOU TO OUR ADVERTISERS!

compass feb march 2016 - pspe march 2016.pdfbuilt by the delaware, lackawanna and western railroad...

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