[President Perspective] [Meet the Member] [Monthly Meeting]
Since the end of last October, I have been longing for March. Why? The 2005 season of the sporting event I am fanatical about, Formula One racing, will finally begin. For those of you unfamiliar with Formula One, my NASCAR brethren have described it as euro-snob auto racing. I usually retaliate that it is racing where the drivers know how to turn to the right (it is best to make this statement while quickly leaving the area - NASCAR fans are scarier, and there are more of them).
During our rainy season, I am always reminded of a race several years ago in Brazil. Some of the most hair-raising races occur in the rain, and this event had a continuous downpour. One curve in particular resulted in quite a bit of wreckage. It became evident (at least to an engineer) that a drainage inlet had malfunctioned: the concentrated water shot right past it to cross over the track. A simple inlet costing only a couple thousand dollars was able to destroy more than four racecars, each one costing well over a million dollars apiece.
As civil engineers, we know that small items left unattended can compound into very large problems. To illustrate this on a national level, ASCE created the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, which will have been released by the time this newsletter has been sent out. You can find it on National's website (asce.org), as well as some great pictures. My favorite one is of a man putting his entire head in a pothole.
A Report Card was done in 2001, followed by a 2003 Progress Report. Things did not look so good in 2001, and in 2003 most items got worse while the rest stayed the same. We shouldn't look at this information as criticism to our profession. Rather, we should use it to educate policy makers of the long-term consequences to their decisions. Not maintaining small items of our infrastructure will result in large future costs. If we keep putting off our infrastructure needs, the finish line will just keep getting farther away.
-Valerie Beard, P.E.
This month we meet Erin Westmoreland, a Civil Engineer for Cannon Associates. Erin is a local, having grown up in the City of El Paso de Robles. With her chosen profession, she finds it interesting to see the infrastructure improvements Paso has made, especially over the last several years.
Erin stuck around for college and graduated from Cal Poly in June of 2004. While at Poly, she was very active in SCE, serving as Vice President of Community Outreach for two years. During her term they actively implemented the "learn by doing" mantra by installing a sprinkler system at the Bradley school and constructing a footbridge in Reservoir Canyon. She also enjoyed sharing about civil engineering with the kids at Laguna Middle School and found that they had many creative ideas for their model bridge building activity. At the National Conference in Madison, Wisconsin she served as the survey captain for the team and had a lot of fun networking and meeting so many people that were as excited about civil engineering as she was.
Upon graduation, Erin was hired on at Cannon Associates after proving her worth for the previous two years as an intern with the company. She says she works with a lot of great people and is proud of the level of responsibility she is challenged with. Erin mainly works on land development projects, designing water, sewer, and storm drainage systems using AutoCAD and other modeling software. She was also recently appointed the CAD Standards Representative and is looking forward to attending conferences to continue to learn more about the field of civil engineering. Erin is working hard toward her next goal of applying for and passing the Professional Engineering exams.
Mrs. Westmoreland was married on September 4, 2004, and her husband, Reuben, will graduate from Cal Poly's Mechanical Engineering program in June 2005. They enjoy spending time with friends, having game nights, and going to the movies. They are also very active in the Johnson Avenue Church of Christ where they have been attending for the past five years. One of Erin's many talents is performing in the Cal Poly and Paso Robles High School Color Guard as a tall flag member since she was a freshman in High School. She looks forward to possibly coaching someday. And if you are in need of kitchen tools, give her a holler because she is your trusted local Pampered Chef Independent Kitchen Consultant. Makes for a great after work get-together!
by Courtney Howard
On December 22, 2003, the San Simeon Earthquake struck San Luis Obispo County and forever changed the way we view our quiet communities. Several structures throughout the County were damaged to the point that they were uninhabitable. One of those structures was the historic City of Atascadero Administration Building. This building, which has served many purposes through the decades, and most recently acted as the City Hall, will be the topic of this month's meeting.
Brent Nuttall, the Senior Vice President of Nabih Youssef and Associates, and Steve Kahn, the City of Atascadero Public Works Director will be our guest speakers. The meeting will be held at Hoover's Café in Atascadero, and will be followed by a tour of the damaged structure. Don't miss this opportunity to see the damaged structure up close.
Hard hats are required for the tour, and the number of hard hats available is limited, so please bring one if you can.