Topic: City of Athens Capital Improvement Plan Update
with Optional Tour of recently upgraded Wastewater Treatment Plant

(Online registration and payment available, see bottom of page.)

City of Athens Capital Improvement Plan Update and presentation of largest CIP project in City history.

Afternoon tour of the City of Athens Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades.

Dinner meeting presentation of Athens Capital Improvements update and presentation of largest CIP project in Athens' history. OU and OSU Student Chapters to give updates on their projects and teams.

2016 Spring Seminar

Water Quality

Water Quality remains to be a hot topic in Ohio with algal blooms in surface waters as well as issues with drinking water quality. What can we do to improve our waters? Learn from knowledgeable speakers about HABs, water/wastewater treatment, resource recovery, groundwater, stormwater BMPs, drinking water quality and more!

Earn 6.0 Professional Development Hours (PDHs)

We are planning a group outing to another Blue Jackets hockey game. Tickets are $10 per member and $15 per guests. We're accepting pre-payment using PayPal. As these tickets usually sell for $50 face value, it's a great deal.

Before the game, we’ll meet at Brother’s, so even if you don’t want to go to the hockey game, please come out for drinks, food and fellowship!

You can pick up the tickets from Matt Baxendell at Brother's before the game. Please contact Matt at mbaxendell@primeeng.com for more info or any questions.

Engineering Bentonite-Polymer Composite Materials for Extreme Environmental Applications
By Dr. Craig Benson, PhD, PE, NAE
Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia

Abstract

Topic: insight2050

(Online registration and payment available, see bottom of page.)

insight2050 is a community-wide effort to provide important data and analysis to help Central Ohio communities proactively plan for our Region’s growth and development over the next 30+ years. In many ways, this growth is expected to be dramatically different from the past, with an unprecedented 81 percent of our region’s future household growth being households without children. The rapid acceleration in both the aging and diversity of our population, along with changing preferences among key segments of our community, will also have profound impacts on the nature and location of our region’s growth.

As insight2050 clearly demonstrates, the manner in which our region grows over the coming decades clearly matters. The region’s predominant growth patterns and types of development will have significant impacts on our future plans for, and investments in, public infrastructure. It will impact the quality of the air we breathe and therefore the health of our residents. It will most certainly affect the amount of land we continue to consume to accommodate this growth, and perhaps most importantly it will likely have substantial impacts upon the long-term economic competiveness of our region.

• Offered for free to Central Ohio Section ASCE Members
• Seating is limited to the first 25 people
• Bring your own lunch

Purpose and Background
Carbonate and evaporite geologic formations underlie a large portion of the world. These formations contain soluble compounds that result in portions of the formations dissolving over time to produce cavities, conduits, enlarged joints, caves, etc. The landforms resulting from these features are referred to as karst. Karst poses many geotechnical concerns such as subsidence, sinkholes, uneven structural support, high groundwater production, and groundwater sensitivity to contamination.

Locating and characterizing karst features at depth is a challenging task. Even large features can easily be missed by conventional borings and may not be detectable by some geophysical methods. This makes it necessary to employ a specially focused investigation that incorporates geological, geotechnical, statistical, and geophysical approaches to evaluate risks and determine the appropriate level of investigation.

This presentation includes a brief introduction to karst and the associated geotechnical issues. The instructor discusses and provides examples of methods and strategies for investigating and characterizing various aspects of karst.

• Offered for free to Central Ohio Section ASCE Members
• Seating is limited to the first 25 people
• Bring your own lunch

Purpose and Background
Recent advances in bicycle facility design guidance have led to increased demand from government agencies and the public to implement many of these innovative treatments. As more of these facilities are being implemented, users are recognizing the host of safety benefits and greater comfort level generated from the increased separation from automobile traffic and enhanced intersection treatments. Agencies throughout the country are using the design guidance recently issued within the National Association of City Transportation Officials Urban Bikeway Design Manual in association with the guidance set forth in the established US manuals such as the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and MUTCD to implement these facilities.

The Central Ohio STEM Expo is a free educational outreach event for students grades K through 8 to explore the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. At the 2015 event, the ASCE Central Ohio Section welcomed 367 students to participate in over 30 STEM related interactive activities and exhibits. The ASCE Central Ohio Section is pleased to announce the 3rd Annual Central Ohio STEM Expo will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at Thomas Worthington High School from 9 AM to 1 PM.