Greetings!
It’s March, it’s springtime, time to move your clocks and watches an hour ahead on March 14th, time for new starts. Keeping with the theme of starting something new, I am very pleased to announce that the East Central Branch has embarked on two new endeavors.
The board of directors discussed and voted last month to start our new “Sustainability Committee”, which, in my opinion, is a necessity in this day and age. I would like to congratulate and welcome our first chairman of this committee, Steve Sommerfeldt, who in the short time since being voted as chairman, has already lined up a webinar for March 31st with guest speaker Anthony Kane (President and CEO at Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure). Look forward to the event invite in your inbox. I hope to see you all at this event. I would also encourage our membership to get in touch with Steve if you would like to be a part of the committee or just volunteer your time to help.
At this month’s meeting, the ECB board also approved the start of a Scholarship Endowment Fund, in partnership with the Florida Engineering Foundation, which will provide an annual scholarship, in perpetuity, to deserving civil engineering students. This will add to the number of scholarships the branch and its institutes already provide.
Talking of deserving students, last month we held a virtual panel discussion for students from UCF and ERAU. It was very encouraging to see a great turnout followed by some great questions. Thank you, not only to the panelists for taking time out of your busy schedules, but also to the students for making the event worthwhile.
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Also last month, we celebrated Engineer’s week in collaboration with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). Thank you to everyone who joined us for all the E-week events. A big congratulations to Mike Olka and Dr. Kevin Mackie for being voted ASCE ECB’s ‘Member of the Year’ and ‘Technical Contribution Leader of the Year’ respectively.
Moving ahead, we will have plenty of such events to keep you involved with ECB and I look forward to meeting you virtually (for now) at one of them.
Stay safe everyone.
Sincerely,
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Jignesh S. Vyas, P.E.
ASCE East Central Branch President
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This issue
- Annual Branch Award Nominations
- E-Week
- History & Heritage Committee
- Sustainability Committee
- Structural Engineering Institute
- Environmental & Water Resources Institute
- Younger Member Forum
- Student Activities
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ANNUAL BRANCH AWARD NOMINATIONS
Know a fellow ECB’er that is consistently going above and beyond, or an impressive project everyone needs to know about? Great! Because ECB is currently accepting nominations for the annual branch awards as listed below.
- Engineer of the Year Award
- Young Engineer of the Year Award
- Government Engineer of the Year Award
- Project of the Year Award
All nominations need to be received by April 16th, 2021.
After April 16th, ECB’s official nominations will be selected, and the formal application process will be initiated with the selected nominees.
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ENGINEER'S WEEK
This year to celebrate Engineer’s week, ECB teamed up with the local chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) to bring some great events throughout the week. The events included a virtual happy hour with trivia questions, a panel discussion, webinars on mentoring and negotiating, a virtual group viewing of Dream Big (each attendee uses their Netflix account to watch the film), and an awards ceremony to end the week. These events brought together engineers from a variety of professions and sectors. Even though the backgrounds of the attendees varied, everyone shared common bonds, enjoyed the challenges of our work, and pride in our profession. A big thank you to our Diversity chair Mike Olka for getting ECB involved in this collaborative effort.
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WELL'SBUILT HOTEL
By Rocío Rodríguez, P.E.
History & Heritage Committee Chair
Dr. Wells constructed this hotel in 1926. The masonry vernacular two-story brick building with flat roof (Figure 1) is located at 511 West South St. William Monroe Wells was an African American doctor who came to Orlando in 1920. He was a public figure, very active in his community.
The Wellsbuilt Hotel provided lodging to African Americans during segregation times when rooms were not available to them in other areas. The walls of the building were constructed of light weight, terra cotta hollow tile (a relative new material in 1926). They are stucco finished except for the rear façade. The first floor is divided into 3 bays that extend from the front of the building all the way to the back, each with their own entrance (Figure 2). The interior walls are constructed of virgin long leaf yellow pine, a hardwood type that is no longer available. In the second floor, a hallway goes around a light well. Through the hallway, other guest rooms can be accessed, the two rear exits, and the main entrance located on the east side of the building. Figure 3 shows drawings of the north and south facades.
Many famous black entertainers and athletes stayed in this hotel, including Jackie Robinson (a player for the Brooklyn Dodgers), the Kansas City Monarchs, and Ella Fitzgerald. Next door was Dr. Wells' South Street Casino, where many of the entertainers performed for the black community. Dr. Well’s South Street casino was demolished in 1987.
The building has also undergone some modifications during its lifetime, but maybe the biggest modification was the demolition of the east façade staircase, which was the main access to the second floor rear porch.
The hotel is now the Wells’ Built Museum of African American History and Culture, of Orlando’s African-American community with displays of the Civil Rights Movement in Orlando, and African art from local collectors.
When I visited the museum, I found out that it had been contained due to an unknown infestation (Figure 4).
The building was added to the Orlando Historic Landmarks, November 30, 1998[1].
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Figure 1: The WellsBuilt Hotel (https://www.wellsbuilt.org).
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Figure 2: Plan views of first and second floors of the Well’sbuilt Hotel[2].
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Figure 3: North and south facades.
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Figure 4: The building is currently contained due to an unknown infestation.
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[1] https://www.orlando.gov/Our-Government/History/Find-Historic-Landmarks/Wells-Built-Hotel/Wells-Built-Hotel
[2] https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm
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SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
Measuring Sustainability with Envision Webinar
When
Wednesday, March 31st from 12pm to 1pm
Please join the ASCE East Central Branch Sustainability Committee for our very first event and webinar! Guest speaker Anthony Kane (President and CEO @Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure) will be providing a discussion on the Envision program, which is becoming the leading methodology for delivering sustainable infrastructure. Envision is a comprehensive sustainability framework being used by engineers, planners, architects, contractors and other stakeholders in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry to improve the sustainable performance of infrastructure projects of all types and sizes. The presentation will include an introduction to Envision and its relevance to the industry.
Event has been approved for 1.0 PDH through the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.
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STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE
The Structural Engineering Institute turns 25 this year! SEI at the national level was established in 1996 to advance the careers of SEI members, stimulate technological advancement, and improve professional practice.
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EYSTUROY TUNNEL
By Michael Olka, P.E.
Structural Engineering Institute Chair
Eysturoy tunnel in the Faroe Islands opened to traffic on December 19, 2020. The tunnel connects the islands of Streymoy and Eysturoy in a network 6.8 miles (11km) long and includes the world’s first undersea roundabout. The tunnel reduced travel time between the Capital Torshavn and Runavik by almost one-fifth (1 hour and 14 minutes to just 16 minutes). The lowest point in the tunnel system is 613ft below sea level. To ensure ease of use, the grades within the tunnel system were limited to a maximum of 5%. The large “jellyfish” structure within the roundabout is the natural stone that was left in-place during tunnel construction. The Faroese artist, Tróndur Patursson, used paint, the accompanying sculpture, and lighting effects to give the impression of an underwater scene.
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The Faroe Islands, consists of a series of 18 islets in the North Atlantic located halfway between Iceland and Norway. The islands operates as an autonomous region of Denmark.
Tunnel construction commenced in January 2017 and breakthrough occurred in June 2019. Construction of the tunnel was performed by NCC, a construction company that operates in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.
For additional information for the tunnel can be found at the links below:
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CALL FOR PROJECTS
The Structural Engineering Institute is seeking submissions from fellow structural engineers about their past or present projects. The submission is to quickly discuss the project's highlights, uniqueness, and/or challenges the structural engineer encountered during the project. This will provide ASCE-ECB members and aspiring student engineers with insight into the current structural engineering practices, and provide an opportunity for local or regional structural engineers to showcase their work. The submittals must include the following:
- At least one photograph of the project location.
- A summary of the project setting and background, such as location, new construction/restoration, private/government, etc.
- A summary of the challenges and/or unique aspects of the project, such as new design technology or use of new construction material not typically used in similar designs.
The submittals shall be sent to Michael Olka (molka@lakecountyfl.gov) in which we will review and prepare for presentation in a future ECB newsletter.
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ASCE has opened the Bridges Photo Contest. They are accepting submissions until March 15, 2021.
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ENVIRONMENTAL & WATER RESOURCES INSTITUTE
SAVE THE DATE
Look for exciting information regarding our ASCE EWRI Extended Doubleheader Webinar to be held on May 7th and 14th from 12-3pm. Speakers include representatives from FDEP, SJRWMD, and Streamline Technologies to name a few. Sponsorship details and registration information to follow soon.
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2021 ASCE - EWRI SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
ASCE - EWRI is committed to support Central Florida’s brightest minds for their future careers in water resources and environmental engineering. This scholarship is open to undergraduate and graduate students who are currently registered as a full-time student majoring in Civil or Environmental Engineering at the University of Central Florida, Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (Orlando Campus), and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Complete application package must be submitted by April 16th, 2021.
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PE REVIEW
There is still time to join the ASCE YMF PE Review!
We would like to invite you to attend the twice weekly online ASCE YMF PE review. This course is designed to provide you with the knowledge you will need for the breadth portion of the exam at a fraction of the cost, $90 for each remaining week, compared to other online reviews which can be well over $1,000. The classes will cover construction, geotechnical, transportation, and water and environmental. Additional depth review classes for both Transportation and Water and Environmental afternoon portions of the exam are available for an additional cost of $45 and $90 respectively.
Remaining Schedule
March 9 (Tuesday) – James Hill Geotech
March 11 (Thursday) – James Hill Geotech
March 16 (Tuesday) – Ayman Mohamed - Transportation
March 18 (Thursday) – Ayman Mohamed - Transportation
March 23 (Tuesday) - Benjamin Fries - Waters and Environmental
March 25 (Thursday) - Benjamin Fries - Waters and Environmental
March 30 (Tuesday) – Jeff Tuell - Construction
April 1 (Thursday) – Jeff Tuell - Construction
April 6 (Tuesday) – Ayman Mohamed - Transportation Depth
April 7 (Wednesday) – Benjamin Fries - Waters and Environmental Depth
April 8 (Thursday) – Benjamin Fries - Waters and Environmental Depth
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MARCH UPDATE
Throughout the semester, we have been continuing to hold our officer meetings to go over the roles of everyone and their responsibilities. Although the format of this year's conference is a little different than the past, we still try to work as hard as possible to provide our new and current member the best possible experience as possible.
On February 4th. We had our guest speaker from Michael Baker International to give us an insight on some of the cool projects such as the bridge connecting to the Kennedy Space Center that they've been working on as well as some of the UCF alumni who both work as intern in the company and now have a full time position with the company after graduation.
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On February 18th, we held a General Body Meeting with ASCE East Central Branch and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. The meeting is a good opportunity to network since it involves two different universities and also a chance to ask professional engineers some question/concerns they may be having regarding the industry.
On February 19, our officer and member had an amazing experience participating in the Central Florida Field trip this year. As we get to see construction of tunnels of bright line stations at the Orlando International Airport. This will give our members an insight about the real world application of the materials they are studying in school actually in front of their eyes. The following are some pictures from the field trip!
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Sincerely,
Khanh Olka, E.I.T.
Communications Chair
East Central Branch
Florida Section
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