BSCESNews December 2023

Geo-Institute Boston Chapter/Geotechnical Practices

VOLUME 48 | ISSUE 4 | December 2023

By Scott Jacobs, PE, D.GE, Senior Engineer, Keller

With development projects moving into less suitable land, Keller and key leaders in the geotechnical design and construction industry continue to address how to navigate increasingly difficult site access conditions safely. Once the contracts are signed and the solution is selected, the working platform evaluation should begin in parallel with evaluating the subsurface conditions. Early-stage evaluations of soil type, bearing capacity, and the anticipated equipment types are key to a safe working platform program implementation. ... Read more

President's Report

By Michael R. Cunningham, PE, Senior Principal Engineer, Kleinfelder

Season’s Greetings BSCES Members! The special theme of this issue is Geotechnical Practices and Scott Jacobs, PE, from our Society Sponsor, Keller, has a great article perfectly aligned with this theme for you to read. Thank you to Scott and Keller! The Geo-Institute Boston Chapter Chair Scott Kibby, PE, from Mott MacDonald provided a summary article about his institute chapter. Lastly, we have a legislative update article from Bruce Jacobs, PhD, PE, our Legislative Fellow, and an Annual Awards announcement from BSCES Vice President and Awards Committee Chair, Anuja Kamat, PhD. ... Read more

Geo-Institute Boston Chapter Update

By Scott Kibby, PE, Principal Engineer/Senior Associate, Mott MacDonald and Geo-Institute Boston Chapter Chair

As one of the nine ASCE specialty institutes, the Geo-Institute’s goals are to promote leadership in public policy, professional practice and project decision making, provide technical and career opportunities for members, promote new technologies and innovation, and deliver value to our members through conferences and publications. There are more than 60 G-I Chapters across the country and the Boston Chapter typically organizes and leads several activities and events such as sponsorship of geotechnical lectures, courses, and seminars. ... Read more

December 2023 Legislative Fellow Update - Building Materials in the Crosshairs

By Bruce Jacobs, PhD, PE, BSCES Legislative Fellow

Building materials, principally steel and concrete, are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions due to the high-energy, carbon-intensive nature of their production process. These production-related emissions, referred to as embodied carbon, are the subject of several pending bills at the Massachusetts legislature that may impact how you use building materials in future projects. ... Read more

Nominate a 2024 BSCES Award Recipient by the February 23 Deadline

By Anuja Kamat, PhD, Associate Professor, Wentworth Institute of Technology, BSCES Vice President and Awards Committee Chair

Members of the 2024 BSCES Awards Committee would like to announce that you now have until Friday, February 23, to submit nominations for the 2024 BSCES Section and Employer Recognition Awards. Many individuals and organizations within our Section or communities are making a difference by taking actions that are having a positive impact on the civil engineering profession and the public welfare. We need your help in identifying and recognizing the actions of these distinguished individuals and employers. ... Read more

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BSCES Civil Engineering Practice Journal Needs Your Help

Are you working from home? You can use the time you're saving by not commuting to perform a household chore or better yet, write an article for the BSCES Civil Engineering Practice journal. ... Read More

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2023 - 2024 Society Sponsors

BSCES Newsletter Editorial Board

Chair: Michael T. Sullivan, PE

Michael R. Cunningham, PE

Anna Dastgheib-Beheshti, PE

Richard F. Keenan

Rishabh Iyer, PE

Angus J. O’Leary, PE

2023 - 2024 BSCES Board of Government

President: Michael R. Cunningham, PE

President-Elect: Christopher P. Hersey, LEED AP

Secretary: Rishabh V. Iyer, PE

Treasurer: Gregory L. Mirliss, STS

Assistant Treasurer: Vacant

Senior Vice Presidents: Kathryn Swanson, PE, Richard A. Matson, PE

Vice Presidents: Antonios Vytiniotis, PhD, PE, Anuja Kamat, PhD

Past President: Ronald K. Burns, PE, LSP, LEED AP

Western MA Branch Vice President: Vacant

Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Daniel B. Robbins, PE

Construction Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Edward G. Breed

Engineering Management Group Chair: Vacant

Environmental & Water Resources Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Yan Zhang, PhD, PE, CFM

Geo-Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Scott J. Kibby. PE

Structural Engineering Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Diego S. Arabbo, PE

Transportation & Development Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Anna Dastgheib-Beheshti, PE

Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute Boston Chapter Chair: Sean P. Donlon, PE

Younger Member Group Chair: James B. Gayle

2023–2024 BSCES Program Sponsors

Beals and Thomas, Inc. | Benesch | BETA Group, Inc. | CDM Smith

CHA Consulting, Inc. | Collins Engineers, Inc. | Dewberry | GEI Consultants, Inc.

Geocomp, Inc. | Green International Affiliates, Inc. | GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. | Haley & Aldrich, Inc.

HNTB | Howard Stein Hudson | Hoyle, Tanner & Associates, Inc. | Nitsch Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. | Skanska USA Civil | Stantec | Tighe & Bond | TranSystems

TREVIICOS | Tufts University - Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Vanasse & Associates, Inc. | VHB | Weston & Sampson | WSP USA Inc.

Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section/ASCE

One Walnut Street, Boston, MA 02108

Phone: 617/227-5551, Fax: 617/227-6783

Email: bsces@engineers.org, Website: www.bsces.org

The BSCES newsletter, BSCESNews, is designed to provide information and opinions in regard to the subject matters covered. BSCES and its Board assume no responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed in this publication. It is published with the understanding that the Board and the authors are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. The Newsletter Editorial Board encourages reproduction of BSCESNews with appropriate acknowledgment. © 2023 BSCESNews.