FALL ISSUE Nov 2011 NORHTERN COLORADO BRANCH BRANCH WEBSITE this issue The Branch maintains a website to assist you in contacting an officer or committee chairperson to requests information, help with presentations, nominating a peer for an award, finding what activities and events are on the agenda for this year, contacting the CSU Student Chapter and other chapters throughout the country, connecting with National s database of available job opportunities, how to recommend a future community service project to the Branch, and other items that will assist you and your employer be more active in the northern Colorado engineering community. If you are interesting in accessing the Branch s website go to www.asce.org/membershi p & Community/Regions, Sections, Branches/... If you would like to add to this site, contact Mae Benvenga at Mae.Benvenga@tetratech.com NORTHERN COLORADO BRANCH INSTALLS NEW OFFICERS Northern Colorado Branch Installs New Officers P.1 Upcoming Northern Colorado Branch Meeting P.2 Wanted: Corporate Sponsors P.2 Virginia Dale Stage Station P.3 Successful Engineering Outreach Day P.4 ASCE Student Chapter Newsletter P.5 ASCE Student Chapter Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament P.9 The Northern Colorado Branch of ASCE installed a new slate of officers on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland at the first General Branch meeting of the year. Vaughn Griffiths, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, the ASCE Region 7 Director, installed the Branch officers before 38 members who were in attendance. Cort Nickel, P.E. was introduced as the new President of the Branch. Cort served as Vice-President last year and is a Principal at Clearwater Solutions in Fort Collins. Taking over as Vice-President is Jason Andrews, P.E., a graduate of CSU and an engineer with Engineering Analytics, Inc. of Fort Collins. Jason Cumbers, P.E., with MWH Americas, was elected Secretary for the Branch and also serves as the Branch Liaison with Engineers Without Borders. Robin Dornfest, C.P.G., with Brierley Associates, is a member of ASCE and will serve in the position of Treasurer for a two-year term. Robin is also a member of CAGE (Colorado Association of Geotechnical Engineers) and has been instrumental in establishing a Northern Branch of CAGE over the past few years. Jim Brady, P.E. will continue to serve on the Board as Past-President, and Don Silar, P.E., last year s Past- President, will continue to serve on the Executive Committee as Student Advisor, fostering communication and interaction between the Branch and the CSU Student Chapter of ASCE. We welcome the new officers and look forward to another year of providing essential value to our members and partners, and advancing civil engineering in Northern Colorado. Left to Right: Vaughn Griffiths, Cort Nickel, Jason Andrews, Robin Dornfest, Jim Brady, (Jason Cumbers - not pictured) 1
UPCOMING NORTHERN COLORADO BRANCH MEETING The next Branch meeting will be a joint meeting with the CSU Student Chapter and will be held on November 10, 2011 at 5:45 p.m. The meeting will take place at the newly constructed Academic Village on the CSU campus. Rather than the typical format of having a presentation, this meeting will include a tour of the Academic Village. There will also be a brief presentation on the Virginia Dale community service project the Chapter is undertaking. Dinner will be available for members at a cost of $5.50. Watch for the upcoming announcement for more details, a location map, and RSVP information. Please plan to join us and meet the students of ASCE. There will be no meeting in December. The January meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2012, and the presentation will feature design and construction of an inlet tunnel underneath Lake Mead. This meeting will be a joint meeting held with the Northern Branch of CAGE (Colorado Association of Geotechnical Engineers). The remaining meeting topics and locations for this year are shown on the Chapter website. Contact Caleb Stock at Caleb.Stock@tetratech.com, or any member of the Executive Committee if you have any questions about upcoming programs. WANTED: CORPORATE SPONSORS Sponsor an ASCE Meeting for the Northern Colorado Branch! For a $50 donation, you ll be given the opportunity to address the general meeting with a 5 to 10-minute presentation on your company, service, or product. An area for displays or brochures can also be provided for use during our social hour. Your donation will be used first to offset the cost of meals for any students who attend the meeting. If available, part of your donation may be used to offset the cost of our presenter s meal. Any remaining portion of your sponsorship will be provided as a donation to the CSU Student Chapter to assist in their efforts at maintaining an active and vibrant chapter in ASCE. So come, join us! Let us know who you are and what you do. Our meetings average 30 to 40 engineers from all walks of life: public, private, constructors, designers, geotechs, traffic, water, buildings, roads, bridges and many others. Contact our Program Committee Chairman, John Skogman at jaskogman@terracon.com, or any member of our Executive Committee if you d like to join us at one of our meetings as a Corporate Sponsor. 2
VIRGINIA DALE STAGE STATION Community Service Project The Northern Colorado Branch-ASCE has selected, via its competitive application process, the renovation of the Virginia Dale Stage Station for its next Community Service Project. The Virginia Dale Community Club (VDCC) owns, operates and maintains two closely adjacent buildings located in Virginia Dale, Colorado, a small community located north of Fort Collins and centered just east of U.S. 287. Virginia Dale Stage Station built in 1862, was designated on the National Registry of Historic Properties in 1985. The Club House (Hurzeler House) was built in 1909 and officially donated to the VDCC in 1950 by Fred and Maude Maxwell, who purchased it for that purpose. Both buildings are on the Overland Trail and the Stage Station is the only such station still in its original location on the unpaved original roadway. Both buildings are of like historical log construction and generally in poor to average condition, i.e., they have significant structural, architectural and building code needs. In 1982, the Stage Station received a grant from the Fort Collins Historical Fund to fund a roof replacement. In 1996, a $30,244 grant from the Colorado Historical Society/State Historical Fund (CHS/SHF) provided for emergency, stop-gap stabilization of the building and replacement of some main foundation logs. As the building has since extensively and seriously deteriorated in various ways, the Club undertook an Historical Structural Assessment (HSA) funded by the CHS/SHF in accordance with the detailed template of CHS/SHF and the Secretary of the Interior s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Buildings. The HSA will provide qualitative descriptions and broader descriptions of the numerous repairs, retrofit, preservation, etc. needs and suggested ideas for solutions, not actual engineered solutions. Thus, developing specific solutions and, where possible, implementing some of them is the main thrust of the Community Service Project that the Branch will undertake. Overall, the result will be a master plan for further work and a basis for pursuing additional CHS/SHF grants to allow for competitive bids for ensuing work. During the past summer Dr. Richard Gutkowski, Emeritus Professor at CSU, has led efforts to initiate the Northern Colorado Branch s (NCB) investigation of the condition of the structure. These efforts included a kick-off meeting that occurred simultaneously with the VDCC s Open House in June, which was attended by then Branch President, Jim Brady and Project Engineer, Chris Kendall with KL&A. Richard and Chris have made additional visits, and in September students from the CSU Student Chapter of ASCE spent their Saturday making critical measurements and preparing detail drawings of the structure. On October 25, the VDCC hosted an organizational meeting to begin coordination of the ASCE efforts with the goals of the Club and community and establish a timetable for the project. Investigative and design work will continue through this fall and winter with hopes to have a recommendation on the method of rehabilitation by mid-year 2012. Stay tuned for updates as we continue to work on this unique and exciting project. Dr. Gutkowski will also be speaking about the project at the general meeting of the NCB on November 10 (please see the announcement elsewhere in this newsletter). Should you wish to become involved, contact Cort Nickel (2011/2012 Branch President) at cort@clearwatercolorado.com. Present day view inside Stage Station South face / front of Stage Station Commemorative plaque CSU students performing community service, September 2011. (Pictured with students are Chris Kendall, Dr. Gutkowski and Don Silar (ASCE), Vicki (Moen) Uthmann (VDCC Treasurer), Paul Matosky (VDCC Project Manager) 3
SUCCESSFUL ENGINEERING OUTREACH DAY The ASCE Northern Colorado Branch organized and produced another very successful Webelos Engineering Badge Day in mid-october. More than 150 5th graders spent a few hours at Colorado State University rotating through a series of stations to complete all their requirements for the engineering badge. The stations were staffed by more than a dozen ASCE Northern Colorado Branch professional engineers, with support from more than 30 current CSU engineering students. Attendees built and tested catapults, constructed working circuits, undertook outdoor survey tasks, drew floorplans, and designed bridges in the computer lab. Very favorable feedback was received from attendees. This partnership event wouldn't be possible without both Colorado State University and the ASCE working professionals. Thanks to all who participated in bringing an engaging engineering program to our youth. For anyone that is interested in participating next year, look for notices for volunteer opportunities in early September. "I would like to say thank you to all the volunteer professionals and students who provided Engineering Day for our scouts. It was Fantastic "This was a very valuable and educational experience for my son." "I never once during the day heard 'I'm bored' from my boys. That must tell you something!" 4
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