Information from the Maine Section ASCE President

President's Message - A chronology of messages from the Maine Section President

December Message
Erik Wiberg, P.E.
President Maine Section ASCE &
Chief Geotechnical Engineer, R.W. Gillespie & Associates, Inc.

Within this months' issue of the Informant, you will find the Report Card for Maine Infrastructure, which is the culmination of the hard work, diligence, and perseverance of 12 Maine Section infrastructure champions, over 50 engineers and industry experts, and the leadership of Maine Section past-president Peter Merfeld. The Maine Section is hosting a meeting December 10th at the Senator Inn in Augusta, unveiling the Report Card to our state and national legislators, policy makers, stakeholders and the media.

The Maine Section did its best to assess the condition of our state’s infrastructure and provide tools and specific recommendations that the public, engineers, agencies, and legislative bodies can use to improve our infrastructure system. The Maine Section conducted its assessment with the first three canons of ASCE’s Code of Ethics in clear focus:

• Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development…
• Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence,
• Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner

While this is the end of the report card compilation effort, it is only the beginning of heightening public awareness of the less than adequate condition of our State’s infrastructure and the increasing risks to our communities. The risks are to our economic viability, public health, and to the environment. The report card provides a framework to understand the full scope of the problems that our communities and state face today and will encounter in the years to come unless we choose to tack and sail a new course.

I encourage each of you to contact your town office and legislator and offer to be a resource on infrastructure issues. By education and practice, you are qualified and should actively participate as a steward of infrastructure. Your community will value your outreach and input. Try it and you’ll see.

Outside the Report Card

The Report Card on Maine’s Infrastructure might perhaps be the Section’s single greatest undertaking in terms of effort and public contribution to our state. But it is only one part of the body of work of what we do at the Maine Section. Committees of the Maine Section continue to provide great opportunities and value to our members ranging from PDH opportunities at technical seminars and monthly meetings, hosting the Maine Transportation Conference, Engineers Week planning, researching and nominating History and Heritage sites, serving as student practitioners, volunteering and outreach to K-12 schools, holding the state-wide West Point bridge design contest, offering scholarships to student pursuing civil engineering studies, providing volunteer opportunities to help the neediest in our communities, enhancing diversity, publishing the Informant Newsletter, and mentoring programs for Students and Younger Members

On the technical seminar side, Sarah Ashley of S.W. Cole Engineering is heading up the Technical Seminar Planning Committee and is rounding the bend on planning…there is still time to suggest topics you would like to see covered or speakers you’ve come across and you think would be valuable to your peers, please contact Sarah at 848-5714 or at director2@maineasce.org.

As you can tell, the Maine Section is robust and active, but only because of the contributions of our members and the support of our employers. If you are an employer, take time and thank your employee for their active involvement in a professional organization that provides dividends by way of career development, networking opportunities, enhancing civil engineering profession, and enhancing the communities we live in.

If your are an employee, take a moment to thank your employer for encouraging you to attend ASCE meetings and seminars, assisting in the payment of local and national dues, and for partnering in your professional development. Please remember to renew your ASCE membership before the end of the year! You should have received a reminder by now, but if not, you can also register online at www.asce.org/.

Finally, I want to wish you a joyful Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, and peace on Eid ul-Adha. This is my favorite time of year as it brings family and persons of many faiths together for the common purpose of reflection, sharing, and renewal. Please be safe as you travel from place to place and I look forward to seeing you in January.

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November Message:
Erik Wiberg, P.E.
President Maine Section ASCE,
Geotechnical Engineer, R.W. Gillespie & Associates, Inc.

Infrastructure, Congress, and You

One of the goals of the Maine Section ASCE is to provide professional development and education opportunities for its members. Traditionally our monthly meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month, although we deviate from time to time for joint meetings with other organizations and when special opportunities arise. Both were the case this past October 17 when the Maine Section and the Maine Better Transportation Associate (MBTA) held a joint, morning breakfast meeting for a question and answer session with Representative Michael Michaud on the role of Congress in infrastructure related issues.

Representative Michaud explained how his office, other representatives’ office, and members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure gather and use information from technical experts such as civil engineers. Not surprisingly representatives often do not have particular knowledge about issues in front of them and rely to a large extent on constituents who contact them and offer to provide pragmatic and technical guidance on complex matters. Rep. Michaud encouraged members of ASCE and MBTA to contact his office with their guidance and perspective on infrastructure-related and professional issues that affect us as individuals and as a community.

Contacting Your Legislator

How would you go about contacting your Congressional representative? I was surprised to learn that most timely, desirable, and effective way is through e-mail. Scan your letters into PDF and e-mail it to your legislator’s office. Do not send it by postal service…it takes an act of Congress to get it to your representative!

With the anthrax contamination a few years back, all hard mail is now sniffed, irradiated, and opened offsite and often results in damage to the mail. Rep. Michaud’s assistant told of how those nice glossy brochures with clear plastic covers can end up as a fused together mess. Even if you mail, the front part is scanned and emailed for staff review to confirm it should be delivered. Stick to e-mail delivery!

When contacting your legislator, follow a few simple guidelines: be polite, identify yourself and reason for writing, be concise and informed, be honest and accurate, personalize your message, offer assistance and to serve as a resource, and be sure to follow-up.

ASCE makes it easy for you to stay abreast of legislative and policy matters in front of Congress through the Key Contact program (www.asce.org/pressroom/publicpolicy/keycont.cfm). As a Key Contact you’ll receive an ASCE published e-newsletter every Friday with the latest news and developments affecting civil engineering in Washington and Maine’s capitals. Through Key Alerts, you’ll know when specific grassroots action is needed to support civil engineering issues at the federal or state level. ASCE also provides ASCE's Click and Connect with Congress advocacy website so you can let your elected officials know how you stand on civil engineering related issues affecting your job, profession, and community.

Representative Michaud encouraged persons and groups with common interests to communicate with one another to identify common interests and develop a unified message. Through joint meetings with affiliated organizations like Society of Women Engineers, Structural Engineering Association of Maine, Maine Better Transportation Association, the Maine Section actively provides opportunities for you to conveniently meet with other professionals you may not come across on a day-to-day basis.

Like our recent meeting with MBTA, these joint meetings add value by providing networking opportunities and informal forums for you to learn of others perspective on matter’s affecting both individuals, firms, and other organizations. Be assured that the Maine Section ASCE will continue to reach out for joint meeting and educational opportunities that benefit you.

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Erik Wiberg, P.E.
President Maine Section ASCE,
Geotechnical Engineer, R.W. Gillespie & Associates, Inc.

The past six months or so have certainly been trying times for those in the financial industry. Companies worth billions of dollars: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, IndyMac, Lehman Brothers, and the latest, American International Group have slid rapidly from industry leaders to financial insolvency. Individual, institutional, and pension funds have lost substantial portions of their investment in the financial industry and employees of these companies face uncertain futures amid the collapse. Lending and borrowing has become more difficult.

These companies, lead by some of the most heralded financial minds in the world, at least prior to their demise, failed miserably and stumbled over the edge to near absolute ruin. As astounding it is to observe, the final outcome seems to be mostly about paper losses though admittedly it is having a profound effect on many individuals and businesses.

What happened? What is happening? Fundamentally it is very simple. The meltdown is the result of accumulated, unsustainable risk, which ultimately became intolerable and to put frankly was not worth the paper it was printed on. Fortunately the risks and extreme losses have not resulted in loss of life, damaged property, impaired public health, or caused environmental contamination.

Civil engineers should be so lucky. As members of ASCE and licensed engineers, we are obligated to safeguard the life, health, property, and welfare of the public. Civil engineering is a high-risk business and not for the faint of heart. We are called on to manage risk every day for the public, our clients, our employers, our peers, our employees, and ourselves.

How do we manage risk? First and foremost, we recognize the hazard itself, and then assess the consequences of failure. We mitigate risk by identifying and addressing the causes of the hazard and by informing the public and our clients so proactive measures can be taken and informed decisions can be made. On a societal level, our infrastructure represents a system with accumulated risk approaching the unacceptable.

The Maine Section, building on the leadership of ASCE, is proactively raising public awareness of the impact deteriorating infrastructure is having and will have on our lives. Through the Maine Infrastructure Report Card the Maine Section will inform the public of the risks and challenges ahead. The Section’s efforts will spur public and legislative awareness of the risks before us and help prioritize maintenance and capital improvement programs.

On a personal level, what are you doing to manage risk? We all know, at least I hope so, it is impossible to deliver the perfect, indestructible, maintenance free, facility whether it is for flood control, structural support, landslide avoidance, traffic control, or any other facility. Why so? Humans are fallible, we live in a dynamic environment, and we do not have perfect knowledge. We rely on judgment formed by experience, practice, and education including the school of hard knocks.

What are the risks we encounter every day and how can they be managed such that the consequences of occurrence are tolerable or at least acknowledged by interested parties? Here are a few of the risks engineers encounter and manage every day:

These are only some of the elements of risk and I am sure you can come up with as many and probably more. What are the tools we can use to manage risk in our professional lives?

The simplest and occasionally the most difficult at the same time is through communications with our clients and the public. Understand their needs and expectations and have them understand yours. Recognize along with your client that time, money, and space is finite, and ensure they understand the limitations of the design you can or are proposing to provide.

Other tools we need to use are continuing to develop our professional skills and staying abreast of developing trends and practices. ASCE is one of your most valuable partners and resources in risk management though their publications and continuing education opportunities. ASCE has programs for communication skills, leadership, project management, marketing, project scheduling, disaster mitigation and management, financial management, and many more soft and hard technical topics.

This year alone ASCE offers over 300 seminars and workshops on a variety of technical, management and regulatory topics. In addition to the on-site seminars and workshops, ASCE has over 100 interactive web/teleconference seminars in the next 6 months, and over 100 courses on CD, videotape, and audiotape. ASCE also publishes 30 journals and has over 28,000 searchable and downloadable articles on line. Not to mention your humble Maine Section has monthly meetings throughout the state and an annual technical seminar in March.

The resources ASCE brings to you through your commitment to ASCE and the profession are remarkable. It is there for you to take advantage of and I hope you do, because risk does not have to be a four letter word.

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Erik Wiberg, P.E.
President Maine Section ASCE,
Geotechnical Engineer, R.W. Gillespie & Associates, Inc.

I hope you have enjoyed the summer, as it is hard to believe how quickly it is passing by. Summer is a time to renew our friendships with neighbors and friends from away, visit places in our own backyard of Maine we have not been to before, and refresh our batteries for the fall that awaits us.

This certainly has been an odd summer with the rain we’ve received. The weather bug struck again to postpone the Younger Member’s Saco river canoe trip originally scheduled for August 10th. The rain in Maine and New Hampshire swelled the Saco River to the point where law enforcement was issuing evacuation warnings and urging folks to stay off the river. The flow on the Saco was nearly ten times the normal flow rate for August (8,000 cfs vs. 850 cfs) and about 1,000 cfs greater than the average maximum spring runoff flow! Never fear, the Younger Member Group has rescheduled the canoe trip for September 6th. Contact Lauren Swett (lswett@woodardcurran.com) to sign up for this sure to be fun event.

The extreme rainfall this month washed out culverts and roads and cast a broad light on how components of our infrastructure are interrelated. The washouts affected peoples’ ability to return home, travel to work, and emergency response access. It washed out potable water pipelines, contaminated wells, and disrupted commerce and travel between communities.

The efforts and investments made in the past created a robust infrastructure that is often taken for granted: that it will be there, whether were are speaking of roads, bridges, water supply, waterways, waste disposal and recycling, power supply, or flood control structures. As our infrastructure system ages and land use patterns continue to evolve, we must continue to assess the functionality, sustainability, and future needs of our civil engineering based infrastructure on behalf of the state and communities we live in.

The Maine Section, through the guidance of member Peter Merfeld, P.E., continues its work on the ASCE Report Card for Maine’s Infrastructure. The Report Card, modeled after National ASCE’s Report Card, will inform the public and our state legislatures on the state of our infrastructure and provide guidance on areas that should receive sharpened focus and concentration of limited resources. The national Report Card has established ASCE and as an unbiased, knowledgeable resource uniquely qualified to assess the condition of our infrastructure: the cornerstone of our quality of life. While that certainly is not the ultimate goal of our report card, we expect the Section’s Report Card will have the same positive effect.

In early fall the panel will reach out to organizations like the Maine Municipal Association, State Chamber of Commerce, and the American Public Works Association to advise them of the Section’s progress on this important body of work. The grades will not be released until December 10th at the Section hosted press/legislative ‘breakfast’ event at the Senator Inn in Augusta. Thank you to the Maine Section members who have volunteered their time and effort over the past 9 months researching and compiling information on the state of Maine’s infrastructure in 14 critical areas. Contact Peter (pmerfeld@maineturnpike.com) if you can help with the report card effort.

Each of us by education and practice are stewards of infrastructure, whether it is for our clients, the communities we live in, or our state. ASCE conducted a public opinion survey and found that the public views engineers as highly intelligent, solutions oriented, and credible. Civil engineers are considered more ‘people oriented’ than other engineering disciplines. Much like the medical community who educates the public on healthy lifestyle choices, we are exceptionally qualified and, I dare say obliged, to reach out and provide guidance and counsel to the public and our elected officials on matters of infrastructure.

I encourage you as an engineer and individual to get involved in the public education (no, not just K-12, I mean “the public”!) and the political process, too. Getting involved in the political process does not necessarily mean being political which many of us are adverse to. What I mean is get out and educate our community and political leaders in matters of engineering and infrastructure: contact your legislature and offer to be a resource on infrastructure issues, write a letter to the editor or an op-ed piece in your local newspaper (did you know that is the most read page in newspapers?), get involved in local town councils and planning boards, and take your engineering experiences in to your local school classroom. Opportunities abound and the next step is up to you!

Short Takes

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Erik Wiberg, P.E.
President Maine Section ASCE,
Geotechnical Engineer, R.W. Gillespie & Associates, Inc.

The summer season is off to a fine start with some warm lead-in weekends in May and June, the Boston Celtics winning the NBA championship over the Lakers, and one of the most riveting golf tournaments in recent history. No, I am not talking about the U.S. Open that went to extra holes; I’m talking about the annual A/E Golf Tournament held June 13 in Leeds!

The Founding Fathers, lead by Mark Hampton Associates, won by single stroke over Casco Bay Engineering, followed by Pinkham & Greer Team 1. Best of all, the tournament raised nearly $6,000 to the benefit of several worthy charitable organizations. Many thanks go out to Travis Noyes of Woodard & Curran who has lead the way over the past several years to organize this fun, relaxing, and well run event.

This past May at our annual meeting in Portland, I had the honor of being inducted as Section President to serve alongside our other dedicated officers and board members. The meeting took on a new format that included a trivia contest sprinkled throughout the evening and a member photography contest. Thanks to GZA Geoenvironmental, HNTB, The Maine Turnpike Authority, The Louis Berger Group, and Woodard & Curran for sponsoring and making it affordable to hold the meeting at such a nice venue.

Looking back, the Section has enhanced benefits, value, and opportunities for the 750 members of the Maine Section. The Maine Section is recognized by National ASCE year after year for the quality of its efforts and is often cited as an example for other sections in the country to follow. The Maine Section takes great pride in;

It is an amazing experience to be involved with such a great group of engineers who make it happen for the benefit of all of us.

Plans for 2008 and 2009

Looking ahead to 2008-2009 year, the Maine Section will continue to provide great value to our members and serve the communities where we live and work. The Maine Section will strive to elevate the stature and professional image of civil engineers among the public, provide leadership and resources on matters of infrastructure, and reach out to the public.

This includes educating young children on the importance and benefits of our profession. Member Jeremy Bragg of Cianbro Corporation is currently working on the "Engineers into the Classroom" initiative and is developing the Section’s “How-To” brochure for schools and engineers to encourage outreach into K-12 classrooms. The brochure is being developed with the input of engineering firms and state K-12 education leaders. Contact Jeremy at (207) 679-2569 FMI.

The Maine Section has also formed a task force to assess the condition of Maine’s infrastructure system and assembling an Infrastructure Report Card. The Section is assessing the condition of 15 components of the State's infrastructure including transportation, energy, water supply, recreation, and wastewater. Lead by member and past-president Peter Merfeld from the Maine Turnpike Authority, the Infrastructure Report Card will be completed and released to the public and state legislature by the end of 2008. The Report Card will invigorate discussion of infrastructure issues within Maine and will lead to a greater understanding of the current and future needs of our State’s infrastructure so important to our well being. Contact Peter at 871-7771 ext. 116 if you can peer review and comment this July and August on draft reports prepared by task force members.

Be an Active ASCE Member!

There is a place for every one of our members at any career level to take an active roll in the Maine Section at nearly any level of commitment with which you are comfortable. You can be a board member, sit on a committee, volunteer for one of our public service projects, speak to the students, write an article for the Informant, call or write a legislator, or just attend a meeting and network.

If you are a senior level member of your firm, an ASCE Life Member, or seasoned professional, bring your experience to an ASCE committee or the board; you are uniquely qualified to provide context to issues important to our membership and our communities. Be a mentor by example and a voice for advocacy…your judgment and experience will be heard and respected.

Our Annual Planning Meeting to welcome the new leadership members, appoint new committee chairs, and plan the coming year’s events and budget is tentatively set for Friday, August 8th from 12pm to 5pm at T.Y. Lin’s office in Falmouth. The Maine Section would like to hear about your efforts, ideas, and ways you can jump in. Please give me a call at 286-8008 or email me at ewiberg@rwg-a.com with anything you would like to share.

Have a safe and fun summer!

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April-May, 2008
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

Wow, hard to believe that the Maine Section ASCE season is almost behind us. It has been a fruitful year with many accomplishments. It’s always a pleasure to lead an organization or group that consists of dedicated, hard-working, focused people with common goals. I would like to thank the many volunteers on the Maine Section board and committees that routinely make it happen. We have won the Small Section of the Year Award 2 years running and I think our chances at a 3-peat are very good. Please take 5 minutes and fill out our membership survey on-line (link at www.maineasce.org), as your feedback is very important to us.

April 1st concluded our Younger Member Group’s PE review class with half a dozen or so attendees. Special thanks to the YM Group for organizing and to Stantec and Woodard & Curran for hosting these webinars in their conference room space.

Our April 16th joint dinner meeting with the UMaine student chapter was an absolute success. I believe it was a record attendance of 115 or so engineers and students for an annual April tradition. The students did an outstanding job organizing and running the meeting. In addition, the senior CE411 class showcased their capstone design projects and word has it that the judges were very impressed with the quality of the presentations. Congratulations to the winners. We were very honored to have ASCE Executive Director, Patrick Natale, attend this meeting all the way from Washington DC. Mr. Natale has been Director since 2002 and has been responsible for many new ASCE initiatives and has greatly increased the reaches of our organization geographically, politically, and publicly. I had the privilege of escorting Pat to Bangor from Portland and back. He was very impressed with the student chapter, the Section’s support of their efforts, and how much the Section is able to accomplish. Thanks to all involved for making this a success!

As I am writing this, I am looking back at my 5 goals going into the Presidency. I believe that all five have been accomplished or are in progress.

• The Section has been very active with Infrastructure advocacy with efforts like the Infrastructure Report Card and general support of infrastructure legislative efforts through our seat on the A/E Legislative Task Force and working with organizations like MBTA. Peter Merfeld deserves a huge pat on the back for his Report Card efforts. He will forever be known as the father of the Maine Infrastructure Report Card. I will continue to support Peter in this effort over the summer and next fall.

• Our Public Outreach efforts are on the increase with our PR committee, E-week efforts, West Point Bridge Design Contest, Engineers in Classrooms campaign, and public service projects like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together. Special thanks to Jeremy Bragg, Erik Wiberg, and Be Schonewald for all their hard work. Our Engineers in Classrooms effort will continue to grow and will become a long term, perennial campaign.

• Our Section membership is probably at an all-time high and we are at the fore front of Sections for recruiting and retaining members. Peter Merfeld, our Membership chairperson, has been actively tracking our membership statistics and reaching out to organizations such Maine DOT via membership pizza parties. We are also presenting the recent UMaine CE graduates with a $10 gas card to encourage them to become full Section members after graduation. $10 of their national membership dues will go back to the student chapter.

• The Maine Section continues to build relationships with other organizations such as AGC, ACEC, MBTA, SEAM, MDOT, MDEP, MeSPE, SAME, SWE, etc. We had joint dinner meetings with both SEAM and SWE this year. We also worked with SEAM on the recent state building code legislation tracking and with MBTA on transportation funding advocacy.

• My last goal was to have fun and we certainly have done that. I have made many life long friends and there have been many laughs along the way.

Please join us for our last meeting of the season, our Annual Banquet on May 15th in Portland. We will have a tour of the Ocean Gateway Project followed by a great buffet dinner, an Order of the Engineer ring ceremony, our annual awards program, and new officer induction. The Section has worked very hard to make this year’s meeting more of a celebration with some fun-filled activities such as a trivia and photo contest. Take your spouse or significant other out for a night in the Old Port and celebrate your profession. I promise that you will both have a good time and some laughs.

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April, 2008
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

As I sat down to write this month’s President’s letter, I realized that the official start of spring is only a few days away. What a winter we have had! The municipalities and the State have had a hard time keeping up with all the snow removal and it has been a fiscally challenging year so far. Now they are faced with an above average spring road repair effort. Let’s hope the spring melt doesn’t happen too quickly in the County and any flooding is not too significant.

I would like to say thanks to those civil engineers that helped make another Maine Engineers Week a huge success despite the huge snow storm we received that day in the Bangor area. Special thanks to those on MEPC’s organizing committee, like Be Schonewald, Erik Wiberg, and Chet Rock. Organizing this event is a monumental effort each year and it seems to get better each year. We had over 800 kids and parents brave the weather this year. Jeremy Bragg deserves a pat on the back too, for kicking off our West Point Bridge Design Contest at E-week. Our booth, complete with 5 computers, was busy the whole day and feedback was very positive from kids, parents, and teachers. We already have over 30 bridge designs submitted for the contest. The banquet and the Nascar engineering presentation were well received as well.

March 20th, was our annual Technical Seminar in Lewiston. This year’s effort was another great success thanks to the hard work of the organizing committee. I would like to especially thank Patti Korbet and Sarah Ashley for leading this effort while juggling newborn mother and field assignment responsibilities, respectively. We had approximately 120 attendees (near record attendance) and preliminary feedback is that the event was well received. We were very fortunate to have high quality speakers, some of which traveled from areas like New York City and Baltimore. We also had 9 companies sponsor student attendees. Most of the presentations have been or will be posted on our web page.

Our next regular dinner meeting is on April 16th, which is our annual joint meeting with the UMaine student chapter. Dr. Dana Humphrey and Dean of Engineering at UMaine will speak on the role of engineers in the current and future Maine economy. In addition, ASCE Executive Director, Patrick Natale will be present at the meeting and will say a few words about ASCE’s national initiatives.

Plans are well under way for our May meeting which is our Annual Banquet. This year’s meeting will have some format changes and a few surprises to mix things up a bit and make it a more fun filled event for spouses and significant others. Our Younger Member group is actively involved in the planning as well, which is sure to add some energy to the event. We will be putting more emphasis on our annual Awards too.

May 3rd will mark our spring volunteering opportunity, Rebuilding Together. Last year was our first year and we had 20 people show up and put their hands to work to help a family in need. Our goal this year is to have at least that many volunteers and we would also like to sponsor the building materials for our house. The Maine Section has dedicated $500 to this effort as a budget line item. We hope that the employers of all our volunteers chose to support this effort by making a contribution in honor of their unselfish employees. In addition to that, if each volunteer raises say $100 from family and friends, we will be well on our way to a house sponsorship of $3,000. Please check out www.rtportland.org for more details and if you are interested in signing up please contact me. This is a great way to learn or polish your home repair skills and meet some new people. It is an event for all ages, including our Younger Member group and our Student Chapter.

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March, 2008
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

2008 is well underway and the Maine Section only has a few events remaining before the summer season will be upon us. Our February meeting was a joint meeting with the Society of Women Engineers and Charlie Hebson’s presentation on the Salt Water Marsh Restoration project at what used to be Sherman Lake was very interesting. We are seeing more and more “reverse engineering” on restoration projects, which has opened up a new niche for civil engineers.

Our Maine Infrastructure Report Card efforts are well under way. Look for an update from our chair, Peter Merfeld, in this edition. Our timeline is to have draft infrastructure briefings and letter grades compiled by May 17th, followed by a comprehensive peer review before our official public release in the fall. In the January ’08 edition of ASCE’s Civil Engineering magazine, there is an outstanding
article (“The Infrastructure Crisis”) on the condition of America’s infrastructure across the board for all sectors. I would also encourage people to read the book titled The Edge of Disaster by Dr. Stephen E. Flynn for another snapshot of our infrastructure dilemma. How America responds to this issue in the next 10 years is going to shape this country and our position in the global market place for the
next century.

The Maine Section has many exciting and worthwhile events coming up. Hopefully, by the time you read this, you were able to participate in some fashion in Maine Engineers Week and the events surrounding the Engineering Expo at the University of Maine on February 29th and March 1st. If you didn’t catch it on TV, please visit MEPC’s web site, www.engineeringme.com for a video of the
commercial they developed for EWeek. This event also is the official launching of the Maine Section’s annual West Point Bridge Design Contest for school children, see our web page for details. March 20th will be our annual Technical Seminar in Lewiston, with the morning sessions being on Energy and the afternoon on Infrastructure. I think the agenda is a great mix of topics that will interest many civil engineers. Please consider sponsoring a student attendee when registering for this event.

A few of us Maine Section board and committee members will be attending the Maine Handicap Ski-athon at Sunday River on March 29th. Please consider sponsoring the Maine Section team by going to www.firstgiving/scottgorneau or going to our web page for further details. This is a great event that allows some people to enjoy the thrill of skiing, who might not have the opportunity otherwise.

Our nomination deadline for our annual awards (Civil Engineer of the Year, Younger Civil Engineer of the Year, and Maine Citizen Engineer) is April 1st. Please take a moment and consider nominating one of your peers and giving recognition where it is due. We are also looking for a new Diversity Committee chairperson, as Jen Paul needs to step down due to the commitments involved in her new job at MaineDOT. The Maine Section also has a need for a History & Heritage Committee co-chairperson to assist Greg Blake with finding and nominating new Civil Engineering Historical Landmarks.

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January 24, 2008
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

Another month has passed and we are 1/12^th of the way through 2008 already! There are many valuable things in one’s life and time seems to be right near the top of the list. If you haven’t already, dust off your skis, ice skates, or snow mobile and get out there before winter is gone.

I am amazed at how much our Maine Section board, committees, and members accomplish each month while juggling their professional and family lives. Late December and January were very good months for the Section. We received word that we had won 3 awards from National ASCE. The Outstanding Section Web Page Award, an Honorable Mention from the Committee on Diversity and Women in Civil Engineering, and the Small Section of the Year Award. We recently accepted the awards at a regional conference in Baltimore. Maine Section was one of the few sections or branches that received multiple awards and we have won the Small Section of the Year Award 2 years in a row. Outside of Maine, people were impressed and took notice. Please take some time and read our application for the Small Section of the Year award.. This document best illustrates what the Maine Section does as a whole and the value that our members get for their $10 Section dues each year. If you don’t pay local Section dues with your renewal each year, please reconsider. It is money well spent on your profession. Congratulations to all those that played a part in these awards, especially Ralph Nelson, our webmaster.

The Maine Section also got good news on the two State Public Affairs Grants (SPAG) that we applied for. A SPAG for $3,000 was approved to assist in our Infrastructure Report Card creation, launching, and distribution, including a formal Legislative Reception at the Capitol with all our state and federal legislators. Our task force is well under way and we are targeting completion and public issue in the late fall of ’08, just prior to the January ’09 legislative session. The second SPAG was approved for $7,000 for a new grassroots student outreach effort titled Engineers in Classrooms headed up by Jeremy Bragg, our Student Outreach chair person. This effort is a long-term campaign that will include many facets including our usual Engineering Week efforts in late February, our annual West Point Bridge Design Contest, and a concentrated effort to team up engineers with educators. A lot of us have gone into schools and spoken about engineering or hosted students at work for job shadowing. However, this is generally on an individual basis with little guidance and is a somewhat random event. We hope to develop a database of engineers that are willing to volunteer to speak or work with students, as well as educators that are looking for more information on what civil engineering is. Jeremy then plans to hold a series of brainstorming sessions around the state with the members of this database to better facilitate the overall process of getting engineers in classrooms. A by-product of this effort would be some how-to brochures for engineers that may be interested in volunteering and for educators who may have a need. Jeremy has already had several meetings with key educators, Department of Education staff, and people from other organizations with parallel efforts. If you have volunteered or want to volunteer, let Jeremy know (jbragg@cianbro.com). Virtually all of us know a student or a teacher and if each one of us volunteered just one time, then civil engineering would be understood by many students and teachers as a valid and noteworthy career choice. Jeremy also needs Student Outreach Committee members.

The annual MDOT/MBTA Transportation Conference in December at the Augusta Civic Center was another huge success. I believe the attendance was up a little from last year and municipal attendance was also on the rise. Casey Dinges, ASCE Managing Director of External Affairs, gave an outstanding morning keynote which highlighted the nation’s infrastructure condition, ASCEs’ role, beltway politics, and how we all can make a difference. Eva Lerner-Lam, another speaker that the Maine Section helped secure, gave a great presentation on transportation in China and she won the Max Wilder Speaker Award for best presentation.

Please see the announcement for our next dinner meeting on February 21^st in Augusta, which is a joint meeting with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Our annual Technical Seminar will be on March 20^th in Lewiston, with the morning sessions being on Energy and the afternoon will be slated for general Infrastructure topics.

My term as President is more than half over, but a new objective comes to mind for me. If there was one thing I could change, it would be for more members to get involved in voting on our general election each year. You should see the ballot in the next Informant and on the web page soon. We are currently looking for a nominee for 1^st Year New England/Region 1 Delegate, which is our entry level, voting, board position. Our ballot this year will include a member survey of sorts in order for us to get feedback on meetings, topics, and our efforts. I also wish that more members would nominate their peers for our annual awards such as Engineer of the Year and Younger Engineer of the Year Award. We are accepting nominations now, so take a few minutes and recognize somebody deserving. We are also adding a Community Service/Citizen Award this year and we are working on the criteria as we speak.

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November 26, 2007
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

I hope everybody enjoyed their fall season and you are getting prepared for winter and the holiday season. By the time you read this, we all will be in the middle of another gift shopping mission and recovering from too much turkey.

The Maine Section completed its Annual Report to National ASCE recently and we have applied for 3 State Public Affairs Grants (SPAG) from National. One Large Grant for a revamped "Engineers in Classrooms" campaign which will be a more concentrated effort to team up engineers with educators and get engineers into K-12 classrooms. This campaign will also include our highly successful E-week and West Point Bridge Contest efforts. The other two were Small grant applications for our new Infrastructure Report Card effort and a legislative reception that will launch the report card next fall.

I had the pleasure of attending the ASCE National Conference in Orlando, Florida the first weekend in November. This year’s theme was “Infrastructure for all Generations, Plan, Design, Build, and Manage.” Outgoing President William Marcuson highlighted the need to re-instill and preserve public trust in civil engineers after tragic events like Hurricane Katrina, the Big Dig Tunnel ceiling collapse, and the I-35W bridge collapse. The public eye is on us more than ever. He also called all civil engineers to get involved in politics and lobbying efforts. If we don’t speak up on our own behalf, nobody else will. Mr. Marcuson discussed the future civil engineer and urged all current and future civil engineers to read ASCE’s “Vision 2025”.

“Vision 2025” is the culmination of a national summit of leading civil engineers from around the globe that met in June 2006. This book highlights the findings of that summit and has some interesting insights into the future of the world and our profession from engineers’ and non-engineers’ perspectives. Civil Engineers will need to take a more holistic approach to our industry in the future, as the aging infrastructure and natural disasters continue to be prominent issues. We will need to be “master integrators of projects and programs” with increased political activism and creative financing, while exhibiting sustainability and adaptive management of infrastructure. Technical expertise will still be needed, but it will not be the driving force of our industry. More and more civil engineers will go on to become politicians, attorneys, lobbyists, developers, etc. One article in the book by a professional futurist (not the crystal ball kind) that discusses how the future of the computer hardware, software, telecom, and electronic sensor industries will continue to affect global markets is particularly interesting. If interested, you should be able to secure a copy of “Vision 2025” from national ASCE’s web page.

Incoming President David Mongan was installed. He was the Project Manager for one of the largest design/build projects in the U.S., the Baltimore light rail project. President Mongan stressed the “power of one” and the need for all us to get involved. He also highlighted the need for diversity in our industry, infrastructure advocacy, and “Vision 2025.” National ASCE plans to revamp its current web page over the next 18 to 24 months, which is a welcome improvement. President-Elect Wayne Klotz’s focus will be civil engineering advocacy, benefits to the membership, and promoting positive change. He seemed to have a lot of great new ideas and I believe he will be taking ASCE to a whole new level.

The conference general sessions were on planned growth and transportation planning in the Central Florida region. There are currently 3.5 million people in that 7-county region. Projections are for another 4 million people to move into the area by 2050, making it the right venue for these topics. It is ironic that Walt Disney was dismayed by the urban sprawl that followed his creation of Disneyland in California, which drove him to a new utopian vision for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) in Florida (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epcot#History if you want to learn more). He died a year after securing land in Florida, but his vision was carried through on a much smaller scale by others. There are some amazing planned or smart growth efforts in Central Florida such as the cities of Celebration, Reunion, and Baldwin Park. Another session highlighted the "save the Everglades" effort and the reverse engineering/water management to correct what was done there decades ago.

Next year’s conference will be in Pittsburg, PA, November 6-8.

Have a great holiday season and I hope you enjoyed the Transportation Conference. See details for our January meeting by clicking here and hope to see you there.

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August 26, 2007
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Stantec Consulting Engineers

I trust that everybody is enjoying the baseball playoffs while enduring the tension and the associated lack of sleep. Baseball is a sport made for civil engineers. It’s a game of statistics, calculated risk, abundant strategy, and physics. At least until the impossible happens leaving us all baffled and perplexed in our worlds of logical and methodical analysis. As you can see, I have been up late too.

These are busy times for the Maine Section. Many events and deadlines are pending with the end of the 2006-2007 fiscal year and the beginning of a new one. We are currently working on our application for 2007 Small Section of the Year in hopes of repeating last year’s feat, so wish us luck. We have already applied for the Newsletter Award. Speaking of awards now is a good time to remind people to nominate Maine Section members for our annual Engineer of the Year and Younger Engineer of the Year Awards which we present at our Annual May Meeting. We know that there are many deserving individuals that go unnoticed because nobody takes the time to nominate them. Our application process is quite painless, so check out the information below and on our web page and be thinking about who to nominate. What better way to recognize one of your subordinates, your boss, or your clients!!

For those that missed it, our October dinner meeting on Volunteering, Disaster Response, and Good Samaritan Laws was well attended with over 60 people including many UMaine students. This topic was not technical in nature, but something germane to us all. Many of us volunteer and many more of us would likely do it as well if the associated liabilities were better understood. Brent Cross of the Cross Agency highlighted some of the protection and coverage available under current Good Samaritan Laws and some of the pitfalls. My conclusion is that there is decent coverage while providing layman services, but there is a fair amount of liability when providing volunteer professional engineering services. To fully protect yourself and your employer who provides your general liability coverage, you should consult with your employer and their insurance underwriter on a case by case basis to determine the best course of action before volunteering. When volunteering for a federal agency such as FEMA, you may be covered under federal tort law for instance. Vinal Applebee, Dave Kamila, and Steve Bolton provided a great summary of Habitat for Humanity and their need for professional services in site selection and permitting. Alan Fisher provided a summary of his volunteer efforts with the Urban Search & Rescue branch of FEMA in response to disasters such as the World Trade Center 9/11 bombings. Hopefully all who attended were inspired to volunteer some of their time for some worthy cause. By the time this goes to press, many of us will have volunteered for Habitat on 10/27 in Brewer and Portland.

The Maine Section kicked off its Maine Infrastructure Report Card effort on 10/26 at Maine Turnpike Authority. This effort will take over a year to complete and will require many minds and hands, so if you are interested in getting involved contact Peter Merfeld. On November 1-3, I will be representing the Maine Section at the 137th Annual ASCE Civil Engineering Conference in Orlando. Infrastructure planning, sustainability, management, and advocacy are all on the agenda, so should be a good one.

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09/24/2007
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Neill & Gunter

As I sat down to write this, the weather report for tomorrow was for an 80 degree day near the end of September. Good news for all of us that are still scrambling to get outside house chores done or get that last visit to the beach in.

Our 2007-2008 ASCE season is now in full swing with many events being set in motion and several board and committee meetings already occurring. Our September dinner meeting was a good one. For those that couldn’t make it to Bath Iron Works, you missed a great tour of some amazing work. The magnitude of what they do there is mind boggling and makes me proud to be a Mainer. The shipyard is on the cutting edge in many respects, as it sets out on building a new class of ships for the U.S. Navy. Thanks to Stephen Tarpy, P.E., Kenneth Severy, P.E., and Ian Pillsbury, E.I.T. for a great presentation as well.

On October 18th, we will have our next dinner meeting in Bangor. It will have a different type of topic for us, but one that is greatly needed. We have discussed volunteering and public service on many occasions, but we have never presented the many local and national opportunities that are available along with testimonials from our members that have participated in these. The one subject that comes up time and time again, is what is a volunteer’s exposure to liability when providing both laymen type labor or professional services as an engineer? We hope to shed some light on this stumbling block by having somebody from the legal and/or insurance arena discuss these concerns both at the state and federal levels. So, come out and join us to see what some of our members are doing as volunteers and how you can get involved yourself without exposing yourself to legal harm. See the full meeting announcement in this issue. Our first volunteer opportunity of the season is on October 27th with Habitat for Humanity. We will have house building projects in both the Portland and Bangor areas on the same day in order to allow everybody to attend. Please contact Erik Wiberg for details.

Jen Tooley and Scott Gorneau, our New England Delegates recently attended the Region 1 Assembly in West Point, NY. ASCE National is currently making a transition from smaller Districts to larger Regions. We are now in Region 1 which encompasses New England, New York, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico. However, the New England Council will still remain as a subset of Region 1 for the immediate future until its need can be determined under the new organization. Tony Puntin, from Louis Berger in Manchester, NH is our Region 1 Governor.

We are happy to report that our amended Maine Section Constitution & Bylaws were well received by the general membership and National has approved them. The final version is available on our web page. Many thanks to those members that took the time to vote and special thanks to Past President, Peter Merfeld, for spear-heading this effort and his painstaking attention to details.

See you at the October meeting and go Red Sox!!

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08/22/2007
Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Neill & Gunter

I trust that everybody has been enjoying their summer with family and friends despite the odd weather we have experienced at times. Hard to believe that September is upon us, evening temperatures have already begun to dive, and the baseball play-offs are only a few weeks away. Let’s hope a big cold front sweeps through New York any day now.

Another Maine Section season is about to begin and it is shaping up to be a good one. The first dinner meeting is scheduled for September 20^th, see the enclosed meeting announcement. Although we are largely inactive during the summer, there are still several noteworthy items. The A/E Charity Golf Tournament held on June 15^th at Springbrook Golf Club in Leeds, Maine was another huge success. 20 teams enjoyed great weather while donating $5,700 to various charities. For further results, see our Summer Edition posted on the web page. Special thanks to Travis Noyes, from Woodard & Curran –Bangor, for planning and organizing the event. The UMaine concrete canoe team had a very strong showing at the national competition in Seattle, WA, placing 16^th among 22 teams. Even some UMaine alumni living in that area came out to cheer on the team. The Younger Member group held several events this summer including a Portland Sea Dogs game on July 26^th, a camping BBQ on August 11^th, a happy hour on August 16^th, and a white water rafting trip on the Penobscot River on August 18^th (do these people ever work?). I personally attended the rafting trip and I can ensure you that fun was had by all. Some of us got wet and some of us didn’t. On July 20^th, the Maine Section Board and Committees held the annual Summer Planning Meeting with at least a dozen people attending. The group drafted an annual budget, set a rough meeting schedule for the year, planned our public outreach and volunteer projects, and each committee discussed its plans and needs for the year. It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to draft and approve a budget, as we have added many events and efforts in recent years. Stay tuned for planning meeting minutes that will be posted on our web page.

Unfortunately, this summer has also brought a grim reminder to the global civil engineering community with the tragic I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, MN on August 1, 2007. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the families of the victims and to those that witnessed and survived this event. It serves as an illustration of the great responsibility that we carry as civil engineers and the potential negative impact of our daily decisions. Although the cause of the structural failure is unknown at this time, I think it is safe to say that both the condition of the bridge and some of its non-redundant features played into its demise. Many people and the media are pointing the finger at the system that is responsible for inspecting and monitoring bridges nationally. That is not the problem. The procedures for inspecting bridges, collecting the data, establishing condition ratings, reporting the data, and updating the data are well established nationally and have been for years. There is substantial uniformity in these ratings across the country, especially given the number of individual state and local government jurisdictions and the human subjectivity involved. The establishment of the National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) by the federal government and the widespread training of bridge inspectors have led to this by design. In that regard, the bridge industry is light years ahead of other sectors of civil engineering infrastructure, such as dams for instance.

The problem is that the need for bridge rehabilitation and replacement has far outgrown the dedicated government funding set aside for it. This forces state and private transportation agencies to do more with less and sometimes make less than ideal decisions. All while inflation, material, and labor costs have all raised dramatically over the years. There are many other new or increased secondary costs associated with projects now as well, such as environmental mitigation, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, and maintenance of traffic. Combine this with the vast number of bridges that were built in the 1920’s/1930’s and then during the Interstate hey day of the late ‘60’s and early 70’s. A huge percentage of bridges nationally are in the 40 to 80 year old range, while funding levels remain constant or decline. Why is it that politicians completely understand the Baby Boomers reaching retirement age and the subsequent depletion of Social Security problem and they don’t get the general infrastructure condition and funding problem?! This problem exists across all or most infrastructure sectors.

Infrastructure advocacy is one of ASCE’s primary focuses and will continue to be, both nationally and locally. Ironically, the Maine Section stepped up our efforts in this arena about a year ago and we are looking to step things up again with the establishment of a Maine Infrastructure Report Card. This will give a letter grade statewide to 15 critical infrastructure areas. For those looking to get involved in this effort, please contact Peter Merfeld, the chair of our newly formed Infrastructure Report Card Task Force. We are looking for champions in each of these 15 areas to assist in pulling together data and the establishment of the letter grade. We all need to work together to prevent any tragedies from happening in our home state.

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Tim Merritt, P.E.
President, Maine Section ASCE & Structural Engineer, Neill & Gunter

I would like to take a few moments to reflect on the outstanding year we have had, before preparing for the coming year. First of all, thanks to the many members and guests who attended the Annual Meeting on May 17^th in Brewer. The presentation and tour of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge was well attended and the weather cooperated despite the forecast. The bridge is truly an amazing feat with many new innovations. It was the first time in many years that the annual meeting has been held in the Bangor area and it was a great success. Special thanks to Vice President, Erik Wiberg (now President-Elect) for all the planning that went into this meeting along with the regular monthly meetings for the past year. Many thanks to our meeting sponsors, MaineDOT, Figg, Cianbro, Reed & Reed, Haley & Aldrich, Maine Turnpike Authority, and UMaine Engineering. I made many comments regarding Peter Merfeld’s service to the Maine Section and the profession at the May meeting, but one can not truly say enough in that regard. Since my involvement with the Maine Section began some six years ago, I don’t think any individual has had more of an impact on the operations of the Section than Peter. Under his leadership, our volunteers committed many hours and made many sacrifices to make the Section what it is today. Please take a minute to thank any board or committee members that you may know, it means a lot to hear feedback from the membership (positive or negative). The following is a sampling of recent Maine Section achievements:

Accomplishing all of that and contributing to several scholarships, awards, and charities while maintaining local Section dues at $10 and dinner meeting registrations at $25-$35 is a major feat.

Well, now for the year ahead. I feel like I just inherited a Cadillac in perfect operating condition. All I have to do is keep it gassed up, clean it, maybe replace the tires, and add some trim. The first step is to have our summer planning meeting to welcome the new leadership members, appoint new committee chairs, and plan the coming year’s events and budget. The meeting is tentatively set for Friday, July 20^th from 12pm to 5pm (location TBD). We welcome all to attend and if you have any suggestions or are interested in joining the leadership team, please give me a call at 883-3355 or email me at tmerritt@nginc.com.

1) Infrastructure advocacy-It is apparent in these times of fiscal spending cuts and growing budgetary competition that we, as civil engineers, need to speak up on the importance of infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation. We understand the challenges and costs associated with this and what postponing this means better than anybody. While promoting funding of critical infrastructure needs, we need to also promote responsible government spending to ensure future needs are also met. Peter Merfeld has volunteered to spearhead an effort to develop a statewide Infrastructure Report Card. This concept has been used with great success at the national level and in many states including New Hampshire. The Report Card would rank some 15 critical areas such as roads, bridges, dams, schools, hospitals, wastewater treatment, water supply, power generation, etc in Maine. It then serves as a great education and public outreach tool, as well as getting politicians’ attention. Peter will be looking for champions in these infrastructure areas to help achieve this multi-year project. The Maine Section also plans to continue its efforts on staying aware of legislative affairs and informing the membership of these issues.

2) Public Outreach & Civil Engineering Promotion-With the newly formed Public Relations Committee taking the lead, we need to continue to find new ways of reaching out to the public in order to define and promote civil engineering. We also need to educate young children on the importance and benefits of our profession. We plan to increase our press involvement via media alerts and press releases and continue efforts in getting engineers into classrooms and participating in job shadowing programs. The West Point Bridge Design Contest and our E-Week activities are great examples of our efforts and we plan to continue those programs. We need to continue designating State Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks and distributing our Landmark brochures to the general public. Our Rebuilding Together event this past April was a great success, which we plan to do every spring now and I personally plan to get more involved with that organization. We also have plans for a Habitat for Humanity project in the fall.

3) Membership-Not only do we need to attract new members, but we need to get current members more involved. There are so many volunteer opportunities, especially with the volume of programs that we now have underway. No matter how little time you have to spare, there is something you could do to help our cause. You can be a full fledged board member, sit on a committee for a year, volunteer for one of our public service projects, speak to the student chapter or school kids, write an article for the Informant (while promoting your employer or a client), call or write a legislator, or just attend a meeting and network. We need to recognize our new members and recognize the accomplishments of our existing members. We need to provide diverse educational opportunities and quality PDH’s for our membership. We hope to get more state and federal engineers active in our Section as well.

4) Build relationships-In recent years, we have reached out to many sister organizations, such as ACEC, ACM, SEAM, MBTA, MTSC, MDEP, MDOT, NSPE, AIA, SAME, UMaine student chapter, other state ASCE Sections, etc. With the relatively small civil engineering community here in Maine, it is critical that we continue to find ways to do this. All of us have benefited from these efforts through joint meetings and seminars, a stronger common voice on issues that affect us all, and general sharing of resources.

5) Have Fun- Sometimes we get too caught up in the seriousness of our business as engineers. The Maine Section offers many opportunities for casual interaction whether it is at a regular monthly meeting social hour, a Younger Member happy hour or outing, a public outreach project like Rebuilding Together, or attending a Red Sox game (put in an order for better weather next year). We appreciate any and all suggestions for any other fun filled events for the future.

April 23, 2007

Where has time gone? My year as your Section President will come to a close on May 17th. We have had a very busy year, one that I am extremely proud of. I would like to thank the many active members including the other members of the Leadership Team, whom the success of Maine Section ASCE relies on. ASCE Maine Section was the Section of the Year for smaller sections in 2006 and I believe we will be a repeat in that category come fall 2007. Great job everyone.

I had the honor of attending my first Civil Engineering Association meeting this past week. The CEA is an advisory group for the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Maine. We should all be proud of our University and the outstanding programs they provide, but did you know that even though Civil Engineering program has more then doubled enrollment in less then 10 years, the same number of faculty are budgeted? There is currently no tie between student enrollment and the university department budgeting process. The real problem is not now as the faculty/staff are doing an outstanding job and the program continues to be a success. The problem will come in 5 years when the new recruitment efforts have paid off and the enrollment has doubled again. Maine has a real need for engineering graduates as we currently rank #49 in nation in number of BS degrees granted in engineering. Given our infrastructure needs in the long run, the need for engineers will continue to rise. A new model needs to be developed that connects department budget with student enrollment so that the University can improve the State’s ability to produce the needed engineers. Dr. Dana Humphrey (currently acting Dean of Engineering) will be asking for your help in near future. Increased Recruitment, increased retainage/graduation rates, and the appropriate number of budgeted faculty are the goals. Improving the classroom and research spaces are part of the plan. Two major hurdles are needed in the short term in order to realize these goals. One, companies such as Gorrill-Palmer coming forward and endowing the geotechnical laboratory (Congratulations and thank you to Tom Gorrill and Al Palmer for stepping up). Two, the University needs to finalize their search for a new Dean and select Dr. Dana Humphrey. I have known Dana for more then 20 years and feel he has the energy and skill and a plan to go forward. If anyone has the opportunity to provide the search team with a reference for Dana, please feel free to contact President Kennedy at Robert.Kennedy@umit.maine.edu or Provost Szymanski at Edna.Szymanski@umit.maine.edu. The process ends in early May so do not procrastinate like you did in school!

The Maine Section was pleased to have Robin Kemper, our Region 1 Director join us for the Student Chapter joint meeting on April 19th in Orono. Robin came up from New Jersey to share with us the latest news from the Region as well as nationally. The meeting with the students was somewhat somber though as we recognized the tragedy that occurred earlier in the week at another college campus, Virginia Tech. Several of those people killed had direct ties to ASCE which made the events that much more close to home. Steve Curtis of Tetra Tech and President of the ASCE Institute Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers presented the Hurricane Katrina Damage Assessment that the Institute performed on behalf of ASCE. The timing of this presentation was relevant as most of Southern Maine was still reeling from our own natural disaster with the Patriots Day 2007 flooding and power outages.

The events of the recent storm as well as storms last year that caused intense flooding and road damage remind us again and again how vulnerable our Infrastructure is. Though it has been several weeks since we announced hearings on bills still pending in our Legislature to deal with the funding crisis for transportation it is still not too late to call your legislator and spread the word about making Infrastructure spending a priority.

In closing, several of my goals as President have been met while several others will become projects that I will work on as a very active Past-President. I hope to have enough votes counted on the Constitution & Bylaws by the May 17th Annual meeting so that we can have the drawing for the 3-$100 gift certificates. At last count we had close to 100 voting, but need over 200 to make count! If you have not voted, please take the 5 minutes needed to review the changes (one page) and click the send button! The information and ballot is located on our web site at www.maineasce.org.

My other area of focus is on Infrastructure funding. We had a good start this year, getting involved in good policy level discussions regarding Transportation. My goal for next year is the lead the way for a Report Card. Again, if interested in participating with me, give me a call or send me an email at pmerfeld@maineturnpike.com.

One last thing, congratulations to the MaineDOT, Cianbro/Reed & Reed LLC and Figg Engineering for having their recently opened Penobscot Narrows Bridge named one of four finalists for the ASCE OCEA (Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award). Good luck at the April 25th OPAL awards dinner in Washington, DC!

Have a safe summer and hope to see you on the links or at the ball park!

Peter S. Merfeld, PE
President, Maine Section

Spring arrived this morning with a few icy spots due to temperatures still in the teens overnight. According to the forecast this should be the last “lows in the teen” for a while- maybe even until next winter. Spring is in the air and as usual that means the Legislature is in full bloom. Activity is brisk as our elected officials debate over 2000 bills. As with every year, ASCE Maine Section keeps informed through our association with the A/E Task Force, a group of associations that share services of a full time lobbyist. Our monetary input to participate is small but the knowledge we gain from participating is invaluable. Be Schonewald, PE, Past President and a Senior Project Manager at GZA Geo-Environmental, Inc.in Portland has taken the lead again this year as the Chair of ASCE Maine Section’s Legislative and A/E Task Force committee. Typically is a committee of one, though this year a few of us have chipped in to help. Be is providing an update in this month’s Informant as to the bills we are most involved with as a society, so please check it out. In addition, Be will be writing 2 possibly 3 letters on behalf of the Board giving the Legislative Committee of jurisdiction ASCE’s opinion of the matter. We as a society have debated more about several bills and issues in Augusta this year then in any previous year I have been involved. Thank You, Be for continuing to be very active in the society. If anyone is interested in participating on this committee going forward please give Be a call or send her an email.

Phil Dunn, PhD, PE, Past President and a Professor at U. Maine in Orono represented Maine Section recently in Washington, DC as part of ASCE’s Governmental Fly-in. In fact, Phil had a chance to sit down with Congressman Mike Michaud from Maine’s 2^nd District (and most impressive a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure committee) to discuss matters of importance to ASCE. Congratulations and thanks to Phil for taking the time to get involved. Phil put together a report on his trip (a requirement from the Board for allowing him to attend). That report is included as well in this month’s Informant. This Fly-In occurs every year, and Maine section has the opportunity to send someone every year (and Nationals pays for most of it). Preference goes to active members who participate in committees. If interested in joining one of our committees contact the current chair (see the web site under the committees tab) or next year’s President, Tim Merritt. Tim will need to nominate next year’s committee chairs and the Board will need to approve the committee members this summer at our annual planning meeting.

As evident above, this year we as a society and as a Board have spent a few minutes extra discussing the issues at hand in Augusta. As suggested on the home page of ASCE Nationals, and due to our knowledge base and expertise, we have gotten involved and received more information in several key issues around Infrastructure funding and prioritization.

Given all that, we have tossed the idea around of developing an Infrastructure Report Card similar to ASCE National and the New Hampshire Section. In fact, Congressman Michaud recommended we prepare a report card, as it would be a great tool for ASCE Maine Section to provide information to policy makers and elected officials. NH Section has spoken to us about their Report Card and the instant access they gained into both key government officials as well as lawmakers. This tool could broaden ASCE’s credibility and standing and serve many purposes for the year’s to come. As this is a daunting task, and as we are a volunteer organization, there needs to be a strong commitment of volunteers who can represent each of the 15 areas of Infrastructure. I am willing to lead this effort for a late 2008 completion (in order to present to new legislature in winter 2009). If interested please send me your name, contact info and your area of expertise. The national list can be found at http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=103.

The national web site does include information for Maine:

As a section we should make sure that this page on the National web site is up to date and includes all 15 categories. NH report card can be found at http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=69.

This particular year, as promised in my President’s Letter back in August 2006, as a Section we focused on Transportation Infrastructure as the issue was ripe for the picking. The legislature did not pass a bond package in 2005 or 2006 and MaineDOT’s budget was cut by over $100 million for this current bi-ennium. The gas tax revenues are not meeting needs, and no other funding mechanism has been identified. A legislative mandate in 1999 for a 10 yr modernization of the major arterials is only 33% complete 8 years into the program. Under the current scenario, the number of 80 year old or older bridges in Maine will quadruple in 30 years. MaineDOT would need to more then double its bridge replacement schedule in order to keep the number of 80 yr old bridges from climbing. As Civil Engineers we have the ability to recognize the issues and facts and provide valuable insight. In this case, I believe it is our responsibility to recognize a pending problem well in advance and attempt to cut it off. Construction costs are not going down, and deferring needed maintenance and safety improvements can no longer be an option. I believe the facts presented on our web site are clear which is why I sent out the March 12^th email asking for member support in the effort to effect change in Augusta and get our Transportation System back on the priority list. This is not about self-preservation for those Civil Engineers who perform work on Transportation; this is about Public Safety for the citizens of Maine who use the system, as well as minimizing the potential cost to the taxpayers in the future.

Most important though, don’t forget to Vote for the update Constitution & Bylaws (on the web site) and to check out our bridge contest. Great job to Jeremy Bragg at Kleinschmidt Associates in Pittsfield for coordinating this effort. At last count we had over 40 teams registered.

March 12, 2007

Please see the following important message from ASCE regarding funding for transportation projects in Maine and how you can be involved.

To: ASCE Maine Section Members

I wanted to call your attention to a very important matter that I believe ASCE Maine Section should get involved in. The Maine Legislature is currently debating many bills and some of those are in regards to funding transportation in Maine. I would like to point out that Maine Section ASCE’s web site now contains updates about what the Maine Transportation Funding Coalition is doing (go to www.maineasce.org and on the home page, click on the Transportation Funding Crisis- Legislative Action needed by ASCE for the report). I have attached the report as well. In addition, in the most recent ASCE newsletter, the Informant we included an article provided by MBTA that discussed the results of the recent Statewide scientific survey that was conducted on behalf of the coalition. The polling data supports the notion that Maine people think we need to act and establish a safe, modern transportation system in Maine. To accomplish this goal, statewide policy makers need to establish a sustainable funding mechanism to supplement the gas tax which is not keeping up with demand. A PowerPoint presentation is being used by the Coalition to present that case (go to http://www.mbtaonline.org/publications/CampaignForReform.pdf to view the PowerPoint). Senator Dennis Damon’s bill which MBTA and the Coalition are being asked to support, An Act to Secure Maine’s Transportation Future, will be heard at the Transportation Committee in the upcoming weeks. A summary of the bill’s language is available within the MBTA report contained on the ASCE web site. The final language of this bill is being worked on and should be available soon. In addition, a Transportation Bond for Maine DOT’s capital program is being discussed by the Legislature, the MaineDOT and the Governor’s office. Various numbers are being floated around, but some believe that a substantial bond package- possibly over $200 million for highways & bridges- is needed to get back on track. We encourage all of ASCE’s Maine Section members to voice an opinion on this important issue.

The Leadership Team of the Section will be meeting on this Thursday, March 15th in Portland at 5 PM at the offices of the Turnpike on Riverside St to discuss these bills/issues and well to conduct routine Board business. Please join us or provide comments by email or phone.

Thank You,

Peter S. Merfeld, P.E.
President, Maine Section

I am writing this letter today under a bit of pressure. This week was Engineer’s Week and today is the annual Engineering Conference with a full Banquet in the evening and the Kid’s Expo on Saturday (of which I plan to attend). I am a bit torn as what to do, as I have the conference to attend, this letter to write, and I also have the Grand Opening of the Children’s Discovery Museum in Augusta later today. Over the past several weeks and months a small group of dedicated and energetic volunteers have been working very hard to get the Museum ready for re-opening after being closed for approximately 13 months. With 3 weeks remaining, my wife got involved with the museum and noticed that the original ‘Construction Zone’ section of the museum was in need of a face lift. Back in the late 1990’s, the Associated Constructors of Maine and their members built this section and did a wonderful job. They included a real skid steer in the middle of the room, a sandbox, construction signs, a slide made out of a large piece of pipe and a building display that show-cased all aspects of building a house. The section had become run down and needed someone to give it a fresh look. As President of ASCE, a Board Director at ACM, a member of MBTA, and an employee at Maine Turnpike, I was a perfect choice of my wife to give this task to (My 15^th anniversary gift to her of painting the living room would have to wait).

In less then 3 weeks the space was transformed. With the help of ACM staff and the generosity of several very active ACM members including K&K Excavation out of Turner, Floor Systems out of Lisbon, CCB of Westbrook and Sebago Technics of Westbrook the area received a new floor that looks like roads and grass to cover the old worn wooden floor; a new drafting table and engineering display area, as well as safety updates and other new additions to the Skid Steer. ASCE member’s companies such as T.Y. Lin, GZA, and HNTB also came through with items and financial contributions to make the section a success. MBTA is coordinating a new Audio Visual display with a monitor and digital player to add a high tech look to the space. In the end, 31 individuals, companies, agencies or associations got involved in this one section and contributed or pledged something. Today is the grand opening, but the museum has been open all week for the kids to use during school vacation week. Hundreds of kids came through the doors each day this week and they love it. Though the museum is so much more then just Engineering and Construction, what an opportunity to showcase Civil Engineering, Construction, and Transportation to kids ages 2 to 12. How fitting that this occurred during Engineer’s week? What a difference one person can make (my wife that is). Contributing to the community while promoting your industry that you are proud of was exciting and a great opportunity.

I have more work to do over the next few weeks for the museum, but not as back breaking and intense as the last 3. I also plan to volunteer April 28^th for the Rebuilding Day program that our Younger Members Forum has put together. Please join me.

January 22, 2007

Letter from the President

I was recently reminded why my job as a Civil Engineer and manager of public infrastructure is so important. The decisions we make as Civil Engineers every day can impact so many people beyond our imagination, and impact those people in ways that are life changing or quite frankly life saving. I recently received several very touching voicemails at work from people I did not know, based on an article written in the newspaper regarding some upgrades to the Maine Turnpike that I am involved with. On the same day, I was asked by someone what the silver ring on my pinky finger of my right hand was for. In addition I had just finished my monthly ‘Letter from the President’.

My monthly letter was uninspired, repeating some of what was said in the last 2 or 3 letters. I spoke of getting out the vote for Section’s new Constitution & By-laws (see ballot and instructions in the February Informant newsletter), the importance of getting involved with Transportation Funding reform (article forthcoming in February Informant), and of a new discussion within the Maine Section regarding Diversity (a new working group being formed). Three crucial and very important topics that I plan to emphasize during my last 5 months as your President. So you will hear more from me on those issues in the upcoming months.

For now though, my decision to change my monthly letter, was a direct result of the impact that the voicemails had on me in combination of responding to the question about the steel ring on my right hand. The steel ring on my right hand symbolizes the commitment of an engineer to the “Obligation of an Engineer” that I had originally read when I was inducted into the Order of the Engineer. The ‘Engineer's Ring’ in the United States is a stainless steel ring, worn on the fifth finger of the working hand by engineers who have accepted the Obligation of an Engineer in a Ring Ceremony. For more info on the Order of the Engineer, check out www.order-of-the-engineer.org. If interested in participating in a ceremony, please contact me at pmerfeld@maineturnpike.com. For those of you unfamiliar, here is a portion of the Obligation:

The phone calls I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, were from relatives of a young women who had been killed many years ago because of the actions of a careless driver. The article in the newspaper caused them to re-live that tragedy, and quite frankly inspired them to call and to simply say thank you for upgrading and modernizing the highway. “Thank you immensely for what you are doing, it is extremely important…thank you.” Though Engineering by itself is only part of the overall solution, Education, Enforcement and Emergency Response complete the 4 E’s of Highway Safety; in this case Engineering was providing a solution that would drastically reduce the chance of a similar crash and another tragic fatality in the future. These engineering decisions and resulting actions, regardless of which Civil Engineering discipline you practice, are being taken every day by everyone of us. For that I want to just say thank you to all of you, follow members of ASCE, for all the important work you do.

Buckle Up & Be Safe.

December 14, 2006
Peter S. Merfeld, PE
President, Maine Section ASCE

Happy Holidays! I want to say something else, but I need to be politically correct. This time of year is a special one in my house. I have three kids, a wife with a big family and for most part our house is the gathering point for those who have moved away and return for any celebration. Thus, I need to take special care in designing and decorating my house so is appropriate for the season (picture Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation…). We spend a great deal of time baking treats for our friends and co-workers. Of course we need to go shopping for gifts, not only for family but also for food baskets, toy drives and those in need. Many people are getting stressed out at this point, but not me. I organized and planned my activities for 2006 starting in January with sales at Home Depot on lights. I started installations beginning the day after Thanksgiving. A few hours every weekend is dedicated toward a Holiday related task. I apologize as Holiday Cards seem to be last on the list and might not go out until week of Christmas (but according to books of etiquette this is OK).

I am a little upset that Christmas has become like work, but if managed well, the rewards are very fulfilling (through the joy in my kids faces). Even so, I was reminded recently, as many of us are, that this is the time of Advent, a time of reflection. If we spend every waking moment planning, organizing, working or dreading certain aspects or expectations of the holiday season we miss the whole point. Even if you are not Christian, Christmas is still a day that celebrates the Birth (and life) of Christ. The spirit of Christmas should be year round though. This can be attributed to both Life and Career as well. Once and a while give your self a break to re-charge and reflect on what is important. As they say, stop and smell the roses.

Now, an important matter is before the Maine Section ASCE. We need your vote! The section has been working to update our bylaws and constitution. According to the existing constitution we need a majority of our members (over 350 of you) to actually VOTE to make any modifications to the C & B. So following the holidays, please check out the web site for the changes we are recommending and VOTE!!!!

Before I take a break I must congratulate Patti Korbet and Walter Fagerlund for what a great job they do on the Informant. Congratulations to them for winning Best Newsletter for a small section. Also, I am happy to announce we recently heard back from National on our two SPAG applications and the Maine Section will receive approximately $7,500 in grant money to go toward Engineering-week activities and to assist in the Section’s participation with MBTA for a Campaign for Transportation Funding reform. Congratulations to all, now we need your help to make those efforts worthwhile and effective.

Be Safe & Buckle Up!

Peter S. Merfeld, PE
President of Maine Section, ASCE

October 20, 2006

Peter S. Merfeld, PE
President, Maine Section ASCE

I sit here typing this letter reflecting mostly on an application that I have been working on that would nominate the Maine Section for the 2006 Outstanding Section Award. I believe the Section deserves recognition as I feel strongly that we are a Section that plays an important role for Civil Engineering in Maine. The application is broken out into 8 sections. The first one is Communications. For the most part, the Maine Section does a good job. We have a monthly Informant that goes out to the entire membership. The Informant could be stronger though if more people or organizations participated in providing material or articles. Our Web site has improved over the past several years and is a useful tool. Let us know if there is anything you would like to see on our web site to make it useful for you, our members.

The second category is Professional Activities/Scholarships/awards. Again, Maine Section has a great deal to place in this section. We give out several scholarships each year (letters just went out to all Maine High Schools). Every year in May we recognize our piers with Engineer of the Year or Younger Engineer of the Year (Contact Phil Dunn to find out how to nominate someone for this year!).

Third area is Technical activities. We provide 9-10 great learning/networking opportunities every year across the state for our members (monthly meeting/programs). The Maine Section I feel is especially strong in this area. We sponsored the International Cold regions conference in Orono this past summer as well.

Fourth area is Membership. We have one of the strongest percentages of Section membership in the country. There are still many non-member Civil Engineers that are riding on our coat-tails though. If you know any Civil Engineer that is not a member, talk to them and get them involved. We need to make a much better effort at talking ourselves up and promoting membership in this great organization.

Fifth area is Public Outreach/Education activities. Our activities in 2005 with E-week brought Maine national recognition as we won a National ASCE award for Public relations. We need to keep the momentum going in this area. We are working on several new ideas for outreach to Middle and High School students including possibly having a West Point Bridge Design contest. At our November Board meeting we will have a brief presentation to review. This area needs all of us to get involved with kids and promote Civil Engineering as a profession. Good news here is that UMaine enrollment in Civil Engineering is up over 100% over past several years. Faculty and infrastructure though are stretched to the limit with no new funding in site. They need your help as well. The Section will continue to strongly support both the Department of Civil Engineering and the Student Chapter of ASCE at U. Maine.

Sixth category is special events. Maine had several of these this year including Portland Observatory & Interstate 50th anniversary, as well as Cold regions conference. We continue to produce and distribute brochures of our designated Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks. Transportation Funding, which I have written about earlier, should be our focus in 2006 & 07. In fact as soon as I finish this letter (due today, October 20th), and finish the application for the Section Award (due October 30th), I will muster up enough energy to put a Grant application in to Nationals for a SPAG (State Public Affairs Grant) due November 3rd to assist Maine Section in its efforts in this area.

Last category besides Other, is Diversity. This is a new category this year. This category is given equal weight in the scoring to the other 8 categories. I am not sure what to put in the application in this section. Other then the fact that we have had many women participate on the Leadership Team over the past few years including 3 out of the past 7 Presidents and I would think our membership/leadership represents Maine pretty well, I have no idea. This is an area I will need to explore further with the Leadership Team and with your help.

Don’t forget to Vote on November 7th!
Buckle Up and be Safe.

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September 20, 2006

Peter S. Merfeld, PE
President, Maine Section ASCE &
Chief Operations Officer, Maine Turnpike Authority

Getting Involved. What does this mean? To some, getting involved means running the show and diving in head first, all guns blazing. All or nothing. To others, getting involved means showing up to a few events or programs when it fits the schedule. Then there are many who show up regularly and on occasion take on a special project or are vocal on a particular issue. All three are acceptable and benefit both the organization as well as the profession. Only 10% of dues paying members on average are active members. In addition there is a large group of Civil Engineers out there that are not even members of ASCE. I am a member of several organizations where I pay my annual dues and read my monthly journal (skim is more like it), but I do not actively support those organizations.

We all have priorities, and family, work (paycheck) and possibly our religion need to be top 3 in our lives (these are not in any particular order). What time do you have to spend at another meeting or going to another educational program after work hours? Some of us with children in school that are becoming active in after school activities are realizing there is only so much time and something has got to give! Those other organizations I spoke of prior do not fit in my priorities right now. That is OK. Balance is important in our lives and we must all find a balance. BUT, I have decided that being active in Maine Section ASCE is so important and so necessary that I continue to make the time available and make it work (on average 4-6 hrs per month is considered ‘active, while being President takes 12-15 hrs/month). Being active in ASCE, Maine Section fits with my top 3 priorities in Life.

So remember, just being a member of ASCE is not enough, get involved, make a difference, build a better life for all of us! We need your help. I am writing this letter with ‘Active Membership’ as my key theme because I realized that the agenda of activities and projects that the Maine Section would like to take on for this year is unattainable if members do not step up to the plate. There is a core group doing all the work. WE need to expand that core group. Specifically, if anyone is interested in leading the charge regarding an ASCE Infrastructure Report Card for the State of Maine let me know (my contact info is pmerfeld@maineturnpike.com or call me at 871-7771 x116). There are 15 categories and each category needs a champion to really make the drafting of the report attainable.

Check out ASCE’s national report card at www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/index.cfm Speak to your boss, get your company involved. Show them why this project is important. The report card will be used in the legislature and at local jurisdictions to justify spending level increases in Infrastructure Investments. A worthy cause. Maine Section ASCE has an exciting year planned. Check out our web site for more info and latest updates on meetings and programs. Buckle Up and Be Safe!

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I hope you all have enjoyed your summer as fall is fast approaching. Hard to believe that the kids are going back to school again. For us adults the summer ‘vacations’ are too short! My summer was a mixed bag of work, fun and ASCE (which I consider to be a bit of both). I was not able to play this year, but he annual A/E Charity Golf Tournament held in June was a great success again. Thanks to Jim Wilson of Woodard & Curran for coordinating the event. The total raised for charity this year was $6,167. Congratulations to all and thank you.

In July, I had the pleasure of attending a great international conference right here in our back yard- Orono, Maine. The 13^th International Cold Regions Engineering conference brought speakers and attendees from around the world including Finland, Japan, and Russia. Phil Dunn and the rest of the local organizing committee did a fantastic job coordinating with Nationals to pull off 5 fun-filled days of events. I would like to thank the many corporate sponsors of the conference as well as the conference would not have been as big a success without their participation and support.

Again this year, the Board got together this July and spent a day reviewing the past year and planning for the next. If you would like to review the draft minutes of the meeting just check it out on our web site at www.maineasce.org. As always, if you are interested in participating in a committee or taking on a future leadership role in the Section, please give me a call at 871-7771 x116 or email me at pmerfeld@maineturnpike.com. For a complete listing of existing committees/chair positions please check out our web site. In addition the Board agreed to a general outline of events planned for the year. This is also available on the web.

On August 7^th, I had the opportunity to attend a “Dialogue” on Transportation Infrastructure funding with members of the legislature as well as the Transportation community. I learned that the state of Maine’s Transportation network is deteriorating at an increasing rate. Even though we have increases in traffic and demand on the system and calls for adding new bypasses and building new infrastructure, with the unsuccessful struggle in the legislature last year to get a transportation bond on the ballot, the MaineDOT has substantially reduced needed road/bridge reconstruction and repairs on EXISTING highways for the next couple of years. The economic growth of our State is heavily dependent on good transportation network. The number of bridges in the next 10 years that will be due for major rehabilitation exceeds the funds available to fix them (65% of all of Maine’s minor spans- approximately 500- will reach their useful life in next 10 years). Maine’s Interstate system just turned 50 years old. Though much of the system was actually built in the 1970’s and early 80s’, in the next 10 years many of the Interstate bridges will have elements that require major rehabilitation.

According to the ASCE Board of Direction in 1961, the following is the definition of “civil engineering”: “Civil engineering is the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences gained by study, experience, and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the materials and forces of nature for the progressive well-being of humanity in creating, improving and protecting the environment, in providing facilities for community living, industry and transportation, and in providing structures for the use of humanity.” ASCE Maine Section web site.

As citizens of this great state we are at a crossroads. ASCE, Maine Section must act. As the experts who better then anyone would understand this issue, must insist that our elected leaders put in place many policy and fiscal reforms that respond to these growing challenges. We must support those that are working hard on these issues. Over the next 6 months Maine Better Transportation Association (MBTA) will be taking the lead and providing a framework and outline of ideas and solutions for this issue. ASCE will be looked upon for both financial support of this effort as well as long-term coordinated advocacy. For more information on this issue please go to MBTA’s web site at www.mbtaonline.org and check out their publications section. In 2005, they published “Losing Ground A report on the State of Maine’s Highway Fund.”

“To meet the challenges before us, a team effort will be required that engages all levels of government and brings the private sector into the deliberations and crafting solutions. This is not an impossible task, but will take a public commitment to transportation comparable to that displayed between the onset of the Great Depression and the completion of the Interstate.” Losing Ground, MBTA, July 2005

My intention is to stay informed as to the progress of MBTA’s continued policy research, coalition building, public information campaign creation and on-going advocacy efforts with policy makers. I will continue to keep the ASCE membership informed as well in this area and look for your support. In addition, I also attended (as well as Erik Wiberg in my place) several Planning meetings in July and August for the 56^th annual Transportation Conference to be held on December 7^th in Augusta. The issue of funding transportation will be a major focus of the conference.

To cap the summer off, August 17^th, Maine Section ASCE Younger Members committee led by Jennifer Tooley at GZA coordinated a group to attend a Portland Sea Dogs game. Go Sea Dogs! I close with great anticipation of the upcoming year. I look forward to seeing you at one of the many events ASCE Maine Section has planned. B