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Archives: Monthly Archives: November 2016

Alumni News Series III

Ada Liz Gabancho-Soto (B.S. Environmental Engineering, ‘14) recently joined the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) as a conservation crew leader.   VYCC is a statewide nonprofit organization serving youth ages 16-24.  This summer, Gabancho-Soto is leading local teens restoring historical trails at the Gettysburg Quarry in the Dorset Town Forest.  Prior to joining VYCC, she was a Long Island Sound Water Quality Communication GLOBE Intern at The Nature Conservancy.

 

Jim R. Nichols (M.S. Environmental Engineering, ‘94) was selected as city manager for 

Des Moines, Washington.  He previously served as county manager of Douglas County in Nevada, Las Vegas deputy city manager, and assistant city manager in Midland, Texas.  Nichols has more than 17 years’ experience in local government management with expertise in public works, engineering, public safety, community services, parks and recreation and capital improvement programs.

 

 

Rebecca Ruitto Hall, P.E., (B.S. Civil Engineering, ‘09) recently earned her Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) certification from the Institute of Transportation Engineers.  A project engineer at Tighe & Bond offices in Middletown, this national certification recognizes Hall mastering the specialized knowledge, skills and abilities required for traffic operations engineering; she is one of only 21 PTOEs in Connecticut.  She serves on the Board of Directors for Women’s Transportation Seminar Connecticut Chapter

 

Keeping Connecticut’s Bridges Strong

By Josh Garvey

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has received a national award for a new bridge repair method, developed at UConn, that could significantly decrease the time, lane closures, and cost needed to repair a bridge.

The method of repair involves using advanced concrete as a cast over the end of a bridge’s steel girders, where corrosion from the elements and salt often occur.

“When tested in the lab, this repair method actually made the corrosion-damaged girder stronger than an intact girder,” says Arash Zaghi, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, who led the research. Zaghi worked with assistant professor Kay Wille in civil and environmental engineering and a team of graduate students. Both faculty members are also affiliated with UConn’sInstitute of Materials Science.

Zaghi says the technique also has the potential to significantly reduce the need for lane closures and cut the cost of repairs dramatically.

Brad Overturf, a transportation supervising planner with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), emphasizes the financial impact of the project.

“We see the potential benefits in terms of speed, cost, and not having to shut down the bridge for the repair,” Overturf says. “There’s enormous potential for cost saving.”

The process is about to be tested under real world conditions.

The award, called a Sweet 16 Transportation Through Excellence Award from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, recognizes 16 innovative transportation projects throughout the country. These ‘High Value Research Projects’ were selected from more than 120 projects submitted by state-level departments of transportation.

Currently, a bridge has to be jacked up to carry out repairs – the support structure of the bridge can’t hold any weight while it’s worked on. This process can account for up to 70 percent of a repair project’s cost and can close traffic lanes, increasing congestion.

The new technique developed at UConn involves welding shear connectors to the girder, then pouring ultra-high performance concrete directly around the metal, with the studs keeping the concrete in place. Since this can be done without jacking the bridge, this repair method could significantly shorten the time needed to fix support beams.

Many of the bridges throughout the nation were built in the 1950s and 60s, and are reaching the end of their estimated lifespan. The new repair technique could add decades to their useful life. Those aging bridges were often coated in lead paint, and require costly abatement before repair work can begin. The concrete cast simply seals the paint in place and covers it, allowing repairs to proceed with no environmental risk.

Zaghi says the CTDOT has been very supportive of innovative research.

“CTDOT is really one of the most progressive departments of transportation in the nation,” he says. “They’re strongly committed to research and innovation that address the challenges of aging bridge infrastructure.”

Ultra-high performance concrete, which is used in this repair method, is a new type of concrete that is reinforced with steel fibers and made from high-quality components. Zaghi says that, in addition to the impressive strength of the concrete, it hardens in only 12 hours and resists corrosion from bad weather.

“There’s been extensive research into the material – it’s very weather-resistant and water doesn’t get inside of it, as it does with traditional concrete,” he says. “The concrete will help protect the steel.”

Alumni News Series II

Christopher Granatini, P.E. (B.S. Civil Engineering, ’96), a project manager at Tighe & Bond Middletown, CT office, was promoted to Associate within the firm’s Stock Ownership Program.  With 19 years of experience serving state, local and private clients, last year Granatini assumed an expanded role as traffic and transportation services lead in Connecticut.  He is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and Urban Land Institute.

 

Antonino M. Leone, J.D., P.E. (B.S. Civil Engineering, ‘95) has joined the law firm of Hinckley, Allen & Snyder as a new partner in its Hartford office. Admitted to the bar in Connecticut in 2006, Leone has also worked as a licensed professional structural engineer. He previously worked at the New Haven-based law firm Garcia & Milas. As an engineer, Leone has been responsible for the design and analysis of structural systems and components.  As a lawyer, he routinely represents construction clients in litigation, contract drafting, negotiations and employment issues. Leone earned his law degree at UConn in 2006.

 

Mark I. Austin, P.E. (B.S. Civil Engineering, ‘93) has been appointed as a municipal engineer for Hamden, CT.  Most recently, Austin served as the director of public works for Southbury, CT and, previously, the town of Bristol, CT as both a civil and environmental engineer.  A member of the Connecticut Society of Professional Engineers for 22 years, he earned a Masters of Public Administration at Norwich University in 2012.

New Partnership to Bring Innovative Storm Outage Prediction Technology to Utilities

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, today announced an exclusive long-term partnership with the University of Connecticut (UConn) and Eversource Energy to combine the companies’ storm outage prediction technology to create one, more precise and accurate model. UConn’s unique analytics model will be integrated into Schneider’s WeatherSentry Online (WSO) platform, enabling utilities to better understand the expected impacts of storms on their utility infrastructure and to make smarter decisions in preparing for storms to minimize restoration time, cost and impacts to customer.

“We are very excited about this unique collaboration between three leading organizations to further enhance this ground-breaking technology,” said Jon Reifschneider, Vice President of Weather at Schneider Electric. “This project will also allow us to commercialize our comprehensive weather decision-support platform, taking it to new heights, fulfilling our commitment to provide innovative solutions for utilities to optimize their operations and better serve their customers.”

The project will be housed at the Eversource Energy Center on the UConn campus. The Center is a partnership between the university and Eversource to develop state-of-the-art approaches for delivering reliable power and responding to severe weather and security events. Becoming a member of the partnership, Schneider Electric will apply its top-rated weather technology, weather data and expertise in developing scalable solutions for utilities globally.  With this new project, Schneider and Eversource will expand upon their long-term relationship in supporting storm preparation efforts by combining UConn’s Outage Prediction Model (OPM) with Schneider’s WSO platform and other weather services.

“As a utility, we work year-round to ensure we’re ready for whatever Mother Nature brings our way,” said Peter Clarke, Vice President of Emergency Preparedness at Eversource. “This partnership will enhance the precision of our current storm damage forecasting tool, allowing us to plan more effectively and deploy additional crews and resources to areas expected to be the hardest hit. This will help speed the restoration process and minimize any customer inconvenience.” 

“We are excited to see the world-class research from our UConn team expand into the market,” said UConn Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Mun Choi. “We are confident that the utility industry throughout the country will see this technology as an opportunity to leverage their outage and infrastructure data with Schneider’s weather information to make informed decisions when severe weather strikes.”

In addition to providing new, marketable technology, the announced partnership provides new opportunities for UConn students and researchers interested in the meteorological sciences and utilities management.