Future City Update
Congratulations to The Ellis School, for placing 15th in the National Future City Competition! The Ellis School was the winning team from the Pittsburgh Regional Competition, and represented Pittsburgh in the Nationals, held in Washington, D.C., over National Engineers Week. Overall, 44 teams competed in the national competition. For more information on Future City, click here: https://futurecity.org/pennsylvania-pittsburgh
Engineers Week News!
We just wrapped up a very successful National Engineers Week with lots of activity from ESWP and our affiliates! ESWP’s annual engineering awards banquet was held on February 15 with 400 guests in attendance, with a great response from our attendees. During engineers week ESWP played host to the annual banquets celebrating engineering from ASCE and PSPE, as well as played a part in a number of other engineers week activities promoting the profession including the annual Future City competition. Congratulations to all of the award recipients!
President’s Reception Highlights…….
Great turnout last night at the ESWP President’s Reception, in honor of incoming President Robert J. Ward, P.E. (CannonDesign) and the entire Board of Directors. Guests were treated to a sumptuous buffet filled with delicious items from Chef Kevin. Everyone at the gathering enjoyed great networking as well – it really has the feel of a homecoming – it seemed that no one wanted the evening to end!
ESWP’s Award Winners Announced!
ESWP Award Winners
The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania (ESWP) is pleased to announce the winners of our 2017 Awards of Distinction! The awards, along with the William Metcalf Award presented to J. Fred Graham, will be presented at ESWP’s 135th Annual Engineering Awards Banquet on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at the Westin [Convention Center] Hotel. Guest speaker is Jimmy Krenn, with Master of Ceremonies Rick Sebak. More information and reservations can be found here.
Engineer of the Year
Thomas E. Donatelli, P.E.
Currently Vice-President, Operations Manager/ Construction Services for Michael Baker International and former Director of Public Works for Allegheny County
Projects of the Year
Transportation Category
Beechwood Boulevard (Greenfield) Bridge Replacement
The Greenfield Bridge Project offered a unique opportunity to implement state-of-the art design practices while creating a landmark structure at the entrance to one of Pittsburgh’s most historic parks. This setting encouraged an innovative, context sensitive design that embraced the bridge’s role as not just a transportation facility, but as a part of the community. The reuse of architectural elements from the previous bridge in the new design reestablished the bridge as a grand entrance to the park. Additionally, innovative design concepts allowed the steel arch and floor system to be erected in just one weekend closure of the underlying Interstate.
Owner: City of Pittsburgh
Designer: HDR
Constructor: Mosites Construction
Commercial Category
Union Trust Building
The 11‐story Union Trust Building was built in 1915 and 1916 by coal and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick on a full block of downtown Pittsburgh. The Flemish‐Gothic Union Trust originally opened to much fanfare as a multi‐level shopping arcade with 240 shops on the lower levels and 700 offices above. The Commercial 667,000 square foot Office Building costs $36 million to renovate.
Owner: The Davis Companies
Architect: Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff + Goettel (PWWG)
MEP Engineer: CJL Engineering
Structural Engineer: Atlantic Engineering Services
Construction Manager: Mascaro Construction
Industrial/Energy Category
Shell Early Works Project
In 2017, the joint venture of Trumbull Energy Services and Mascaro completed the largest oil and gas project in the Commonwealth, the construction of the Shell Corporation’s 400-acre ethylene cracker plant in Monaca, PA. This is the first multi-billion dollar petrochemical plant investment associated with the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. We successfully moved 7 million cubic yards of earth, built 2 bridges, constructed 4 large retaining walls, and installed over 48,000 feet of underground piping while seamlessly deploying crews working around the clock. In addition, we are constructing a rail terminal, parking garage, and control building onsite as well
as an off-site parking facility.
Owner: Shell Corporation
Owner’s Rep: Jacobs Engineering
General Contractors: PJ Dick / Mascaro
Sustainability Category
Frick Environmental Center
The Frick Environmental Center is a new environmental education facility located in Frick Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The project is the first Living Building Challenge-targeted facility that is both municipally owned and free and fully open to the public.
Owner: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
General Contractor: PJ Dick
Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Others: H.F. Lenz Company, LaQuatra Bonci Associates, Barber & Hoffman, Nitsch Engineering, Atelier Ten, Ram-Tech Engineers (this includes design and engineering consultants.)
Innovative Category
PennDOT’s Innovative Public-Private Partnership CNG Transit Fueling (P3) Program
In 2016, Larson Design Group (LDG) teamed with Trillium CNG to design, build, finance, operate and maintain a program of CNG fueling stations in Pennsylvania. The stations will supply locally sourced compressed natural gas (CNG) to more than 1,600 public-transit buses at 29 agencies across the Commonwealth to save fuel and operational costs at a net zero development cost to taxpayers.
Owner: PennDOT
Contractor: Trillium CNG
Designer: Larson Design Group
ESWP Holiday Luncheon
Thank you to all who supported of our Chinese Auction, held in conjunction with our December 20 Members Holiday Buffet. From your support, a donation was made to the Red Door Program at St. Mary of Mercy Church, in downtown Pittsburgh. ALL monies received through the auction ticket sales were donated directly to this worthy cause, and was received with graciousness on the part of the recipients. Thanks also to the many donors who allowed us to present so many attractive prizes on the auction – your generosity is much appreciated!
DiscoverE News!
For 2017, DiscoverE, presenters of Future City, was awarded the “Most Hands-On Project” Award by US2020 STEM Mentoring Awards! Most Innovative Hands-On Project celebrates experiential and project based learning and recognizes programs that are implementing unique and promising practices. DiscoverE asks its students, “How can we make the world a better place?” “Future City”, a transformative project-based learning program where teams of middle school students, an educator, and a STEM mentor imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future. ESWP was the founding sponsor of the Pittsburgh Region Future City Competition, dating back to 1996. Congratulations to all of the mentors and volunteers from the Pittsburgh Region who help make Future City such a big success!
ESWP News!
Fall has been a busy season at ESWP, and a very successful one!
Most recently, ESWP’s International Water Conference (IWC) took place in November in Orlando, FL. More than 900 attendees participated in the conference, with more than 40 states and 20 countries represented. This was the 78th Annual IWC presented by the ESWP. Many thanks to all who participated and most especially the members of the IWC Executive Committee for their efforts in planning the program. The 79th IWC will be held in the Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ area in November, 2018.
Additionally, the ESWP Program Committee presented several continuing education events, including updates on the proposed PAT/City of Pittsburgh BRT, the expansion at the Allegheny County Airport, and the FHWA. Before we finish the year, there are several more events scheduled in 2017, including the Women’s Forum on November 30, and the Members Holiday Buffet set for December 20. The ESWP has several events already scheduled for 2018 – please check the event webpage for details.
All of these events are produced largely through the volunteer efforts of the ESWP membership. If you would like to become active on any of the different committees of ESWP, please contact us!
ESWP Scholarship News
Thank you to all who applied for the 2017 ESWP Members Scholarship.
We had a great response this year, making the selection more than difficult for the Selection Committee. Congratulations to Varun Sharma and Gillian Schriever upon being selected as the 2017 ESWP Members Scholarship. Varun is majoring in Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University, and Gillian is a Chemical Engineering major at the University of Pittsburgh. Each will receive a $2,500.00 scholarship.
ESWP Golf Outing
What a great day on the golf course for those who participated in ESWP’s annual golf outing this week! The weather was spectacular, as was the golf course at the Butler Country Club, in Butler, PA. Following golf, participants enjoyed a delicious dinner buffet and interesting presentation by guest speaker Jerry DiPaola, Sports writer for the Tribune Review, who recounted stories from his time covering the Pitt football and basketball teams and Pittsburgh Steelers. Prizes were awarded for team scores and individual skills. The first place team was sponsored by Ames & Gough; second place was Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineers; and third place was claimed by the team from CDM Smith. Thanks to ESWP Director Wayne Johnson for chairing the event. Pictures from the day will be available soon! Make plans now to join us for the 2018 outing!
ESWP Dining News!
Thanks to ESWP officer Bob Ward (CannonDesign) and Jamie McMaster (Westinghouse) for serving YOU at the July “The Board Serves You Luncheon.” We had a near-full Dining room, with many happy diners! This monthly event has become very popular, with some members supporting each of this years monthly luncheons. However, for the month of August we are debuting a new member FLASH SALE promotion….to help with the parking crunch you may encounter when coming to the ESWP, we are offering a $5 discount at select downtown garages when you have lunch at the ESWP. One discount per table, valid only in August. Don’t let parking get in your way of a great lunch!