INDUSTRY News & EVENTS

You are invited to attend Professor Greg Deierlein's 2016 EERI Distinguished Lecture “From Performance-Based Engineering to Earthquake Resilience” on Thursday, May 4^th, 2017. Please register ASAP by email at nyne@eeri.org as our space is limited. Registration will close by 4/20/17.

Event: EERI Distinguished Lecture “From Performance-Based Engineering to Earthquake Resilience”

Speaker: Greg Deierlein, NAE – John A. Blume Professor, Stanford University

Date: Thursday May 4, 2017, 5:30-7:30 pm (5:30-6pm networking, 6-7 pm lecture)

Organizer: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), NYNE Chapter 

Location: WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, 1 Penn Plaza (34^th St, 7^th-8^th Ave), Room 2313AB (2^nd Floor)

Cost: Free, registration required due to limited space (nyne@eeri.org) and will close by 4/20/17 

PDH:  1 PDH (PDH certificate cost is $0 for NYNE members and $25 for non-members)

Winning design team to construct an architectural pavilion out of recycled aluminum cast into cracked clay for Governors Island 2017 Summer Season

A distinguished jury has selected the winning design in the seventh annual City of Dreams Pavilion Competition: Cast & Place by Team Aesop (Josh Draper from PrePost/RPI-CASE, Lisa Ramsburg and Powell Draper from Schlaich Bergermann Partner, Edward M. Segal from Hofstra University, and Max Dowd from Cooper Union). Pending approvals and fundraising, this temporary art structure will be assembled on Governors Island and open to the public for the summer 2017 season.

The annual competition is hosted by FIGMENT, the Emerging New York Architects Committee (ENYA) of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY). The City of Dreams Pavilion, so named for its focus on the future of a world that faces strains on both economic and natural resources, aims to promote sustainability-oriented thinking amidst the architecture and design communities, and requires designers to consider the environmental impact of their designs in everything from materials sourcing to disposal (or ideally reuse) of waste at the end of the season.

Cast & Place re-imagines waste as a transformative resource for our New York City future. Soil dredged from the East River, the material also used in the construction of Governors Island, is laid out to dry and crack. 250,000 aluminum cans are melted down and poured into the cracked dredge. The results are light, strong panels that provide structure and shade, assembled into spaces for performance and play. Rain-soaked reflecting pools of dredge reveal the pavilion’s formwork as they dry and crack in the summer heat, inducing meditations on time, materiality, and the sources of our city.

Cast & Place by Team Aesop (Josh Draper, Lisa Ramsburg, Powell Draper, Edward M. Segal, and Max Dowd)

Team Aesop will work with FIGMENT, ENYA, SEAoNY, and Governors Island to select the exact site for Cast & Place, refine the design, obtain necessary approvals, and fabricate and install the pavilion on the island.

The project has launched a Kickstarter campaign to support the fabrication, installation, and maintenance of the pavilion on Governors Island for the 2017 summer season. Donations can be made by clicking here. 

Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY) is working to better represent all of the Structural Engineers throughout the state of New York. This year we plan to start by beginning a new chapter in Syracuse, New York.

Our goal is to introduce our organization to upstate professionals in order to advance the profession and foster forums that allow professionals to meet and exchange ideas and experiences. This will be facilitated through seminar events as well as opportunities to participate in various SEAoNY committee discussions, including but not limited to, codes & standards, future seminars and promotion of diversity in the field of structural engineering.

We also aim to promote the art and science of structural engineering and excellence in engineering education by reaching out to local colleges and universities. This will allow us to foster the next generation of structural engineers.

Joining the Upstate New York - Syracuse Chapter of SEAoNY will include several membership benefits, including:

• For first year of organization, membership will carry through until Aug 31^st, 2018.
  
• Goal of 4 seminars per year including 1 half-day seminar, 2 afternoon or evening seminars & participation/collaboration in the full day Central NY Engineering Expo
  
• 1 free NYC seminar per year.
  
• Current technical and professional news through the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations’ (NCSEA) monthly STRUCTURE magazine
  
• Access to NCSEA website and resources
  
• Access to SEAoNY website and resources
  
• Local industry news and ideas through SEAoNY’s quarterly publication, Cross Sections
  
• Participation in downstate SEAoNY committees and support for local committees
  
• A forum for networking and socializing with fellow industry professionals in upstate New York as well as networking opportunities in the New York City area
  
• Opportunities to promote the profession at local colleges and universities
  

The membership of this chapter applies to the regions of New York State that are north of, excluding Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess County. 

Join Today!

MARCH 9 & 10, 2017

The Rise of the Skyscraper City: ​
All the Tall Buildings in Manhattan, 1874-1900 ​​​

In conjunction with its current exhibition ​​TEN & TALLER, 1874-1900, The Skyscraper Museum presents symposium that explores new narratives of the first decades of high-rise history. Organized into four sessions, on Thursday evening, March 9 and on Friday morning and afternoon, March 10, the symposium brings together a range of scholars and authors who have studied nineteenth-century New York from the perspectives of architecture, engineering, and urban history. 

New York’s first “skyscrapers” were erected in 1874, initiating the city’s ascent into the vertical. The all-masonry Tribune and Western Union buildings were ten-story office buildings that lifted their decorative towers to 260 and 230 feet. By 1900, the steel skeleton of the 30-story Park Row Building – tallest in the world–topped out at 391 feet. 

In the last quarter of the 19th century, Manhattan added 250 buildings of ten or more stories – more than triple the number of Chicago. Elevators and new methods of construction enabled this rise, but it was the phenomenal growth of the city itself, whose population swelled from less than a million in the 1870s to more than 3.4 million in 1900, that drove New York into its vertical expansion. ​

In particular, the symposium will explore a new narrative of “All vs. Tall” that considers other uses beyond office buildings, including apartments, hotels, and lofts, and emphasizes the commercial motive of high-rise development. The comprehensive survey of every building in Manhattan of 10 or more stories from 1874 through 1900 that is the subject of the TEN & TALLER exhibition and the three interfaces – the GRID, the MAP, and the TIMELINE – offer new ways of viewing the architectural and urban development of the period that will be a focus of our symposium.

To register and for more information Click Here 

Location: New York Athletic Club, 59th & 7th Avenue – 180 Central Park South

Topic: 90 Minutes to Discharge a Concrete Truck Is This an Outdated Requirement?

Event Flyer

Most specifications require a ready mix truck to discharge the concrete within 90 minutes after the

cement had been mixed with water. This requirement is given in ASTM C-94, the standard for ready mix concrete.

This standard has existed for over 30 years. Concrete technology has changed significantly over these years.

The cement of today is not the cement we had 30 years ago. Today, we have admixtures that can delay the

cement hydration process for hours, and we have admixtures that can extend the desired slump life of a concrete mix.

The issue of how much time should be allowed to discharge a truck is not a simple answer, like 90 minutes.

This seminar will present:

 The latest in concrete technology to extend the working time for a concrete mix;

 Test data on plastic and hardened concrete that was not discharged in 90 minutes;

 What others are specifying as a required time or criteria to discharge concrete.

Cas Bognacki will be the seminar moderator. There will be three presenters

• Dr. Mohamed Mahgous
  
• Dr. Charles Nmai, PE, M.ASCE
  
• Henry Prenger
  

Click here to register. 

EERI NYNE -GEER Mini - Symposium

The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen

February 2, 2017 

3:30 PM - 7:30 PM

The Mini-Symposium will have 2 parts: (1) A series of four talks by the foremost seismic experts involved in the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquake sequence and the 2016 Kaikoura, NZ earthquake in the fields of infrastructure and liquefaction assessment, reconstruction planning, rebuild, and code modifications; (2) a panel of international and NYC code seismic experts will discuss with the speakers key aspects of the NZ practice modifications and implementations as they relate to protection and resiliency of the critical infrastructure of our metropolis and our nation at large.

Click here for event flyer and registration information

Industry veteran Don Allen provides insights, photos, and details from projects that have worked, and some that have not. With over 25 years of both Engineer-of- Record and CFS specialty engineer experience, Allen will show both design examples and field photos / repairs where problems have been avoided / created / resolved on CFS framing projects. Allen will discuss each specific design challenge, why a certain approach was taken, what went right with the design and construction, and what could have been done differently for conditions that did not work. Allen will also discuss some of his recent work overseas, and how innovations worldwide are shaping CFS construction in North America. 

For additional information, click here and here to register. 

Concrete Industry Board Educational Seminar: The Key to a Successful Project - Collaboration between the Engineer and the Contractor

Tuesday, January 31, 2017 - 12 noon

Speaker: Mike Schneider - President, American Concrete Institute (ACI) SVP, CPO, Baker Concrete Construction, Inc., Monroe, Ohio

Location: New York Athletic Club, 59th & 7th Avenue – 180 Central Park South

We have all been involved with good and bad projects. One of the key differentiators between successful and unsuccessful jobs is the communication and collaboration (or lack thereof) between the engineer, contractor and other team members. This live presentation will discuss a number of items that can effect budget, schedule, quality and the safety performance of a project. The end game is to have a satisfied owner that would like to use the same project team on the next job.

The earlier the contractor is involved in the design process the more impact he can have on the project cost curve. It is imperative that the expectations of all parties are identified early and hopefully there is congruency. How do we balance the issue of design optimization versus constructability. Constructability ultimately impacts the schedule and budget. How are the tolerance interfaces between various trades (elevators, curtain wall, floor coverings) discussed before they become an issue? We will discuss the importance of a pre-construction conference that is an open discussion of the potential issues. We will look at case histories where collaboration has helped to guarantee project success.

Mike Schneider is a veteran of the concrete industry. He started with Baker Concrete Construction (Monroe, Ohio) as a Project Manager in 1978, and is currently Sr. Vice President/Chief People Officer. He also serves as the company champion of Baker’s Incident & Injury Free (IIF) Program and is responsible for safety within Baker on a Global basis. Mike has been a member of ACI since 1981 and currently serves as ACI President. He’s also an active member and past President of ASCC (American Society of Concrete Contractors). Mike is involved with the Boy Scouts of America and serves on numerous boards throughout the Cincinnati community.

Professional Development Hours (1.0 PDH accredited)

Reservation deadline: 1/25/17

Reservations not cancelled by 1/25/17 will be billed.

$75 Members with payment received by 1/25/17

$85 Nonmembers with payment received by 1/25/17

$95 No admittance without payment @ the door (seating not guaranteed)

$200 (to sponsor educational seminar (seat not included)

Business attire required (Jacket and tie - No jeans or sneakers)

Click here to register

The Infrastructure Summit at the New York Build Expo 2017 - 15th & 16th March, Javits Center is the leading construction and design event for New York.

This market leading two day event is a must attend for: Architects, Brokers, Developers, Planning Managers, Government, Contractors, Financiers, Construction Managers, Builders, Tradesmen plus many more.

Click here to register. 

The Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, in collaboration with the Applied Technology Council (ATC) has released a report on the reconnaissance findings of the April 2016 M_w7.8 Muisne, Ecuador earthquake, available here.

The event and report were co-led by SEAoNY members S. Nikolaou and R. Gilsanz with participation from other SEAoNY Members from GMS and WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The event and its aftershocks led to hundreds of fatalities, thousands of injuries, tens of thousands of people homeless, serious damage and collapses to buildings and infrastructure, and economic impact estimated at 3% of the national GDP. The performance of the natural and built environment was documented in the geotechnical, structural and nonstructural aspects by the GEER-ATC reconnaissance team that visited the most affected areas. The reconnaissance has yielded datasets, lessons, and suggestions for future research on:
(i)       seismological and recorded strong ground motions;
(ii)      application of US rapid assessment methods;
(iii)    geotechnical and infrastructure performance;
(iv)    site amplification and liquefaction;
(v)     structural and nonstructural effects and correlation to geotechnical effects;
(vi)    critical facilities and seismically-isolated structures response;
(vii)   use of advanced 3-D technologies to map drone and photo observations;
(viii) case histories documentation of successful behavior in addition to failures; and
(ix)    community/government response and awareness aspects. 

View report here.