america society of civil engineers tennessee...

President’s Note

I N T H I S I S S U E :

President’s Note 1

Upcoming Events 2

West TN Branch 2

Knoxville Branch 3

Holston Branch 4

Nashville Branch 6

Chattanooga

Branch 7

Transportation

Forum 8

2015 ASCE

Convention 10

TNSAVE Report 10

Section Officers and

Committees 11

Branch Officers 12

America Society of Civil Engineers Tennessee Section 2 0 1 5 — S P R I N G N E W S L E T T E R

O F F I C E R S :

Thomas B. Lawrence

President

Brandie Cookston

President Elect

Ashley Smith

Vice President

Sandra Knight

Secretary

Ted Kniazewycz

Treasurer

Thanks to all of you who read the first TN Section newsletter of the year in March! In that

newsletter, I asked for one reason why someone should join ASCE. I received one

response, which was a great response from David Bayer who gave his reason as “leadership

opportunities that can directly impact your personal and professional life.” He also gave

several examples, such as committee memberships, being a Chair of a group, opportunities

for younger members, and being an officer at the local, state and national level. If asked to

give my own one reason, I would say that it is a great place to meet people you would most

likely not get a chance to meet otherwise. I have met and gotten to know well over 100

engineers through ASCE, many of whom I see outside of work and ASCE events.

On the subject of getting to know people, the 2015 Tennessee Engineers’ Conference is

scheduled for September 17th and 18th this year. This is a great place to meet new people

and to reconnect with others, all of whom are interesting because they are engineers! It is

also fun to meet people in person that you have only met by e-mail or over the phone. To

register or to find out more about the conference, go to the ASCE TN Section webpage at

www.tnasce.org or do a search for “Tennessee Engineers Conference” and click on the link

that goes to a Constant Contact page (starts with “events.r20.constantcontact.com”).

The TEC is also a great place to get professional development hours (PDHs) to help with

getting the total needed for your license renewal. There will be the opportunity to get at

least 12 PDHs and we are working hard to try to add some more into the packed schedule.

To go full circle, getting PDHs is another reason to join and stay involved in ASCE. Most of

the monthly Branch programs throughout the State are eligible for a PDH and a few

Branches offer additional education events during the year.

Also, I said last time that I would answer the question about the difference between an

ASCE Branch, Section and Region. ASCE is an international organization with 10 regions, 9

of which are in the United States. The 9 regions are geographic in nature and we are

included in Region 4, which includes 8 other states. Within Region 4, each State is a

Section (although the division of one Section per State is not necessarily the same in other

parts of the country). The Sections are divided into Branches, which is the local group with

which most of the members interact. Tennessee has 5 Branches and their Branch reports

are included later in this newsletter.

Until the 3rd Quarter Newsletter or until I see you at a Branch meeting…

Sincerely,

Thomas B. Lawrence, PE

President, Tennessee Section

[email protected]

901-237-4819

P A G E 2

“Should the

Engineer of

Record (who

has sealed a set

of plans) be

held responsible,

to any degree,

for injury or

death to

builders or

bystanders that

occurs during

the construction

of his/her

design?””

Upcoming Events September 17-18 —Tennessee Engineers’ Conference

(see page1)

October 11-14 — 2015 ASCE Convention (see page 10)

West Tennessee Branch Report The West Tennessee Branch Board met January 9th, February 13th, and March 13th

to discuss Branch business. The Branch hosted monthly meeting in Memphis for

the membership on various topics. Specifically:

On January 15th, Steve Hill of Powers Hill Design, LLC presented to 37

attendees on the Overton Square Parking Garage. The garage features

underground detention to reduce flooding in the City of Memphis Lick Creek

Basin.

On February 24th, as part of the 2015 Engineer’s Week festivities, the Branch

hosted an Order of the Engineer Luncheon with approximately 56 attendees

and 11 inductees going through the ceremony. The Luncheon included an

Ethics Panel Discussion based on the 2015 Daniel W. Mead Prize Topic “Should

the Engineer of Record (who has sealed a set of plans) be held responsible, to

any degree, for injury or death to builders or bystanders that occurs during the

construction of his/her design?” A series of case studies were used to facilitate

the lively and thought provoking discussion which was moderated by Joe Polk,

Retired Manager of Construction Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority,

and featured Tommy Sander, Co-owner of White Construction; Chad Stewart,

PE, Owner of CSA Engineering; Col. Jeffrey Anderson, CDR of USACE

Memphis District and Past President of SAME Memphis Post; Josh Flowers, AIA,

Architect & Attorney at Hnedak Bobo Group; and Don Hutcherson, VP of

Management Operations at Flintco.

On March 26th, James Yates, Senior Vice President Engineering and Technical

Support Manager of Barnhart Crane and Rigging spoke to approximately 20

members about mobile crane safety. The excellent presentation included

several examples for discussion and covered some of the ASME B30 standards

and OSHA regulations.

Other highlights:

Former Branch President Stephanie Ivey was nominated by the Branch for the

Memphis Joint Engineering Council (MJEC) 2015 Award of Excellence. We are

pleased to announce that on February 25th, MJEC presented her with the

Award of Excellence for her “outstanding achievements and devoted service to

the community, her commitment to the engineering profession, and her

continuous dedication and contribution to the engineers and scientists of

tomorrow.” At the same event, Wes Goodnight, was honored for his service

to ASCE.

Branch Director Drew Cohn participated in the ASCE 2015 Legislative Fly-In.

A M E R I C A S O C I E T Y O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S

T E N N E S S E E S E C T I O N

Knoxville Branch Report

The Branch recognizes that it may be difficult for engineers outside of Memphis to attend

regular meetings. The University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) has teamed with ASCE,

TSPE, and West TN STEM to offer free lunchtime engineering presentations in the Jackson, Tennessee area. On

January 27th, Nick Cammack from Big R Bridge presented to 20 attendees. On March 24th, Justin Gosa and Mara

Ryan from Contech presented to 23 attendees.

The student branches continued to prepare for the Deep South Conference while the Younger Member Group

fundraised for the annual Canstruction competition.

West Tennessee Branch Report (cont. )



The Knoxville Branch of the Tennessee Section had an active second quarter. In February, several

members and the officers attended the TSPE/ACEC/ASCE All Engineer’s Banquet that was held at the

Marriott Hotel in Knoxville. In March, the Branch held our Continuing Education Seminar and had six

speakers:

Andy Powers and Fran West of the University of Tennessee Facilities Services group presented “UT Campus

Transformation: Top 25 Vision Becoming Reality.”

David Draper with Lewis, Thomason, King, Krieg & Waldrop, P.C. presented “Copyright Protection of

Engineering Drawings and Document Retention.”

Francis Lennox with Buzzi Unicem USA, Signal Mountain Plant, Chattanooga, TN presented “Roller-Compacted

Concrete”

Robert Campbell, P.E., East Tennessee Member of the Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering

Examiners, and John Cothran, P.E. Executive Director of the Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering

Examiners presented “Qualifications-Based Selection and Board Policies Update”

Shannon Lambert, P.E. Vice President of BWSC presented “Nashville Waterfront Development” to explain the

flood control project to protect downtown Nashville from another terrible flood like the one in May 2010, and,

Tim Kuhn, GIS Manager of the Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission presented “Indicators

of Regional Economy, Quality of Life and a New Regional Development Framework for East Tennessee.”

Through the Seminar, the Branch offered three Professional Development hours for the morning session and three

for the Afternoon session. In April, the Branch had a joint meeting with the Student Chapter to install newly elected

officers for the new school year. The students provided a report on their participation in the annual ASCE student

conference. The meeting was held in the new Engineering Building (Tickle Building), and about 20 members from the

Branch attended.

The Branch officers met with the Student Officers, the Student Advisor, and the Practitioner Advisor in April to

discuss organizing a younger member’s chapter. Both the Branch and the Students committed to help with that goal

and set a date for a first function. Every year, after exams the students play the faculty in a kickball game at the

World’s Fair Park. The Branch committed to invite the Branch members and provide a meal for after the game. The

game was held on the afternoon of April 24, and although not many branch members were able to attend, a grand

time was had by all.

P A G E 3

P A G E 4

“...we were able

to introduce over

50 young boys to

the diverse and

exciting opportunities…”

Holston Branch Report The Holston Branch held its February meeting on February 3rd at the Beef

O’Bradys in Johnson City. Ron Crockett, PE, VP-Engineering at American

Bridge Co. gave a presentation on his experience with the construction of the

Las Vegas High Roller Ferris Wheel. Located across from Caesars Palace, the

High Roller which opened in March 2014 is a 550 ft. tall, 520 ft. diameter giant

Ferris wheel. Ron’s presentation led the group through the intricate details of

the wheel’s construction.

Thanks to Andy Derenski of URETEK Holdings Inc. for hosting our Branch’s

March meeting on the 25th at Beef O’Bradys in Kingsport. URETEK is a

geotechnical construction company that specializes in foundation leveling, soil

stabilization, chemical grouting and sewer rehabilitation. Mr. Derenski shared

information about their services and projects that they’ve completed. Later in

April Branch Members were invited to a site visit at the Mountain Home VA

Medical Center, where URETEK was treating the soils below existing column

footings to meet the increased bearing capacity requirements of a vertical

addition that is being constructed.

On Saturday April 11, the branch hosted Webelos Engineering Day at

Northeast State. Webelos were given the opportunity to learn about

engineering and earn the Webelos Engineering Badge. Thanks to Jan

Lewenczuk, our contact at Northeast State, and the following individuals for

helping with the event.

Surveying –Jerry Taylor & Dr Marian Young, PLS

Bridges – Ron Crockett, PE & Gina Long, PE

CADD – Jennifer Moore, PE & Richard Allison

Catapults – Brian Johnson, PE & Maggie Johnson

Chemistry –Ed Hicks, PE

Registration, lunch, and photos – Judy Manis and Brandi Clark

Thanks also to American Bridge, Stacy Date Engineering, and Qk4 for helping

sponsor this event. Through this event we were able to introduce over 50

young boys to the diverse and exciting opportunities that engineering provides

and hopefully a few have been inspired to pursue careers in engineering.



The Branch’s next lunch meeting is scheduled in September (exact date TBA) at the Bristol Public Library.

We are in the process of coordinating with Tennessee Valley Authority to discuss the sinkhole found at

Boone Dam. We are hoping that by September they will be able to discuss their lessons learned.

All of the latest Branch events can be found on the website calendar @ www.asce-holston.org. If you

would like additional information about our branch or upcoming meetings please contact us at

[email protected] (goes to the current President).

Holston Branch Report (cont. )


T E N N E S S E E S E C T I O N P A G E 5

mailto:[email protected]

Nashville Branch Report

In January, we had our Branch Lunch meeting, where John Hastings with the TDOT Structures

Division and Brian Hall with AECOM presented an overview of the design and construction

challenges encountered during the rehabilitation of the Wolf Creek Bridge, a historic concrete arch

structure located in Cocke County, TN.

February was a very busy month for the Nashville Branch. The Younger Members Group has

organized a P.E. Civil Exam Review Course for the last five years. This year’s course kicked off on

February 2nd. There were 20 participants in the course. We do not have a regular Branch Lunch

meeting in February. Instead, we encourage Branch members to participate in the activities that

occur around E-Week. The snow in February caused some of the activities to be rescheduled, but we

still had some good participation. The Younger Members Group sponsored a table at the Adventure

Science Center’s annual Engineering Day where children of all ages were introduced to the Civil

Engineering profession. On February 24th, we held our 14th annual Bowling Tournament, which

raised approximately $1,500 toward our Scholarship Fund. Despite the snow and school closings, the

Nashville Branch once again hosted the Music City Bridge Building Competition for high school students. Eleven students from three different schools participated. The E-Week School visits had to

be postponed due to the snow.

The Nashville Branch was awarded a SPAG grant. We used our grant to host a Transportation

Infrastructure Forum at the Adventure Science Center. The Forum served as our Monthly Lunch

meeting. The panelists included State Senator Jim Tracy (R- Shelbyville & Chair, Senate

Transportation and Safety Committee), State Representative Courtney Rogers (R – Goodlettsville &

Vice Chair, House Transportation Committee) and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer. Over 100

people attended and heard the panelists discuss transportation investments and funding, transit, failing

infrastructure, freight, economic development and its relationship to transportation and the like.

Nashville Branch Past President Monica Sartain also gave a great summary of the Tennessee

Infrastructure Report Card from 2009 and ASCE’s “Failure to Act” initiative. Finally, in March we

accepted applications for our annual scholarships and Branch awards. Scholarship and award winners

will be announced at our April Awards Dinner.

Our Branch continues to hold regular monthly meetings which are typically the third Thursday of the

month and Board meetings are the following Wednesday. Everyone is encouraged to visit our

website at www.nashvilleasce.org to learn more about the Branch’s upcoming events and activities.

P A G E 6 A M E R I C A S O C I E T Y O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S


http://www.nashvilleasce.org/






P A G E 7

“Several ASCE

branch members

and offices

volunteered as

judges and in

other roles to

support the UTC

students and

faculty with the

conference

Chattanooga Branch Report First Quarter 2015 Report

The Chattanooga Branch has several priorities and goals for the 2014-2015 term, and

the first quarter of 2015 demonstrated strong progress toward achieving our goals. We

continue to host and build on our monthly program. Over the year, this program

consists of eight technical presentations, two social events, and participation in E-week

and the annual Section meeting. Monthly meetings are currently held at The

Chattanoogan Hotel. Monthly events for the 1st quarter of 2015 were:

City of Chattanooga Councilman Ken Smith spoke to our group about the

importance of infrastructure and issued a challenge regarding increasing the

exposure to our deteriorating infrastructure.

No monthly meeting was held in February in observance of Engineer’s Week..

Several members participated in E-Week activities, and our local branch awarded

$1,500 scholarships to two UTC students, Bethany Griffin and Jacob Kuchenbecker,

at the annual banquet. These students were selected by our Scholarship Committee

among a pool of applicants this year. Additionally, our Nomination Committee was

responsible for submitting several nominations (a couple resulted in awards) for

local engineers for E-week.

For March, Mike Morrison with TVA spoke to our group about the Chickamauga

Lock.

Southeast Student Conference

Among our goals for this year was to support UTC with the ASCE Southeast Student

Conference, which was held at UTC from March 19 – 21. Feedback from participants

indicates that the conference was a raging success. Twenty-six schools from the

southeast participated with the University of Florida scoring the highest overall score.

Several ASCE branch members and offices volunteered as judges and in other roles to

support the UTC students and faculty with the conference.

The final overall rankings and individual competition results are available here:

http://www.utc.edu/college-engineering-computer-science/asce-sestudentconf-2015/

Pictures from the conference can be found here: http://www.utc.edu/college-

engineering-computer-science/asce-sestudentconf-2015/gallery.php

Our activities include the following:

May social event to a Chattanooga Lookouts game.

June’s presentation will be on a wetlands mitigation bank project.

A stream cleanup is planned for the fall.



Transportation Forum

On Thursday March 19th, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Nashville Branch hosted a

State-Level Transportation Infrastructure Forum at the Adventure Science Center in Jack Wood

Hall, part of the Tennessee Engineering Center. Distinguished panelists included State Senator Jim

Tracy, State Rep. Courtney Rogers, and TDOT Commissioner John Schroer. Over 100 individuals

attended the meeting to discuss transportation investments and funding, transit, failing infrastructure,

freight, economic development and its relationship to transportation and the like. The event marks

the first of what engineers hope to be many other conversations on these issues to raise awareness

and ensure continued investment in our nation’s infrastructure.

The meeting opened with an overview of Tennessee’s infrastructure grades by Monica Sartain,

Region 4 ASCE Governor, based upon the latest release of the Tennessee Infrastructure Report

Card from 2009 in which Roads received a grade of D- and Bridges had a C. Sartain recapped efforts

both locally and nationally by ASCE and others related to infrastructure awareness as well as key

legislative milestones related to infrastructure improvements. Of note is the ASCE’s series of

economic studies entitled “Failure to Act” which addresses transportation and other sectors. The

“Failure to Act” report on transportation identified an estimated need of $94 billion per year

investment to put our nation’s transportation infrastructure in acceptable condition by the year

2020.

Additionally, ASCE released a national-level report card on infrastructure in 2013 identifying

national needs for transportation and other sectors (http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/).

Tennessee is just one of many states grappling with the difficulty in securing funding to address

infrastructure needs. Among considerations discussed at the meeting were HOV and HOT lanes

with optional fees for use by for non-carpooling drivers, public-private partnerships for

infrastructure projects, and user fees. On the national level, ASCE and its members are supportive of

a gas tax to fund the ongoing need for maintenance and repairs to our nation’s transportation

systems which are currently performing beyond design lifetimes and at or near capacity. At present,

it appears that there is no intention at the federal level for a gas tax to be imposed or leveraged

according to Senator Tracy, who also supports investment in infrastructure as a means of economic

development and jobs and sees the solution as a holistic approach. Other considerations discussed

were user fees based upon vehicle miles traveled, which likely will not be pursued any time soon.

Other questions posed to the panel from the moderator, Bill Moore, chairman of the Tennessee

Infrastructure Alliance, included issues such as the viability of federal funding to assist with local and state infrastructure, HOV and HOT lanes to reduce congestion on the highways in the area,

investment in transit, leveraging economic development coupled with improved freight access, and

red light cameras. Attendees were urged to continue the conversation with their legislators and

the public to improve awareness about the issues related to transportation.

P A G E 8 A M E R I C A S O C I E T Y O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S


http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

Transportation Forum (cont. )

P A G E 9



Other questions posed to the panel from the moderator, Bill Moore, chairman of the Tennessee

Infrastructure Alliance, included issues such as the viability of federal funding to assist with local and

state infrastructure, HOV and HOT lanes to reduce congestion on the highways in the area,

investment in transit, leveraging economic development coupled with improved freight access, and

red light cameras. Attendees were urged to continue the conversation with their legislators and the

public to improve awareness about the issues related to transportation.

The event was supported by a ASCE State Public Affairs Grant (SPAG) that was awarded to the

Nashville Branch. The SPAG is a competitive grant and intended to foster the conversations and

engagement of Thursday’s meeting.

The American Society of Civil Engineers is an international organization focused on issues that impact

infrastructure; the Nashville Branch maintains over 1,000 members in the Middle Tennessee area. For contact information, please email Eric Gardner, Branch President at [email protected].

For more information, check out the following websites:

http://www.asce.org/failure_to_act_economic_studies/


http://www.asce.org/surface_transportation_report/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.asce.org/failure_to_act_economic_studies/


http://www.asce.org/surface_transportation_report/

2015 ASCE Convention

Registration is Open

Civil engineers from across the country and around the world will converge on New York City in

October for the first ASCE Convention. Explore the state of the industry and profession via a thought-

provoking, multidisciplinary program that can earn you as many as 24 PDHs. You'll be inspired by opening

keynote speaker Luke Williams, an authority on business innovation leadership. Registration is open. Get

details on the inaugural ASCE Convention.

(To register click here)

P A G E 1 0 A M E R I C A S O C I E T Y O F C I V I L E N G I N E E R S


TNSAVE Report The Tennessee Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation (TNSAVE) Coalition is a group of

professional organizations whose objective is to help the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency

(TEMA) develop and maintain a post-disaster building inspector program. TNSAVE serves TEMA and the

State of Tennessee to identify and recruit, train and organize, and mobilize building inspectors following a

disaster.

Check out the website at www.tnsave.org for more information or to sign up.

http://www.asceconvention.org/

http://asceconvention.org/

http://www.southtipton.com/

Tennessee Section Officers and Committee Chairs Josh Corum

Thomas B. Lawrence

Brandie Cookston

Ashley Smith

Ted Kniazewycz

Sandra Knight

Matt Caskey

Chris Triplett

Alvin Cook

Vanessa Bateman

Ray Tant

Ken Berry

Ashley Smith

Z John Ma

Joe Deering

Brian Reynolds

Clint Camp

Eric Gardner

Monica Sartain

Ashley Smith

Ashley Smith

Wesley Goodnight

Mark Harrison

TN Section Past-President

TN Section President

TN Section President-Elect

TN Section Vice-President

TN Section Treasurer

TN Section Secretary

Awards Chair

Engineering Management Discipline Chair

Environmental Discipline Chair

Geotechnical Discipline Chair

Government Affairs Liaison

History and Heritage Chair

Student Discipline Chair

Structural Discipline Chair

Transportation Discipline Co-Chair

Transportation Discipline Co-Chair

SAVE Coalition Representative

Membership Chair

Report Card Chair

Website Manager

Younger Member Chair

Student Discipline Co-Chair

EWB Liaison

P A G E 1 1



Check us out on the web:

http://tnasce.org/

Tennessee Branch Officers Ric Gibbs

Andrew Romanek

Will Witcher

Maria Elizabeth Price

Benjamin Edwin Byard

Jennifer J Moore

Stacy Date

Stacy Date

Brian Johnson

Nathan Babelay

Helen Hennon

Sam Mayes

Nathan Earl Mathis

Nancy Roberts

Monica Sartain

Eric Garnder

Kevin Scott McAlister

Blake Anthony Turner

Nitaya Chayangkura

Dustin J. Scruggs

Wesley Goodnight

Nicole Craven

Matthew J Odom

Larkin Myers

Dr. Roger Meier

Chattanooga Branch Past-President

Chattanooga Branch President

Chattanooga Branch Vice-President

Chattanooga Branch Secretary

Chattanooga Branch Treasurer

Holston Branch President

Holston Branch Vice-President

Holston Branch Treasurer

Holston Branch Secretary

Knoxville Branch Past-President

Knoxville Branch President

Knoxville Branch Vice-President

Knoxville Branch Secretary

Knoxville Branch Treasurer

Nashville Branch Past-President

Nashville Branch President

Nashville Branch President-Elect

Nashville Branch Vice–President

Nashville Branch Secretary

Nashville Branch Treasurer

West Tennessee Branch Past-President

West Tennessee Branch President

West Tennessee Branch Vice-President

West Tennessee Branch Secretary

West Tennessee Branch Treasurer

P A G E 1 2



Check us out on the web:

http://tnasce.org/

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