Articles

Technical Sessions - July 2020

Construction Institute

Topic: ASCE Standards and Best Practices for: 1) Managing Utility Infrastructure in Public Right of Way, and 2) Mitigating Risk for Projects

Speakers: Philip J. Meis, P.E. - Utility Mapping Services, Inc.

Phil has been directing utility engineering services on a national level since 1996 and in 2002 co-founded UMS specifically to address and execute SUE as a rigorous geophysical and engineering discipline.  Phil served on the 2^nd National Research Council Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) initiative, R-15B, to standardize usage of utility conflict matrices.  He currently chairs the committee for the ASCE Construction Institute (CI) and Utiltiy Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) Standard Guideline for Recording and Exchanging Utility Infrastructure Data, a utility “as-built” standard which will be published in 2020.  He also serves as vice-chair for the Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) Utility Risk Management Division, is a committee member for the ASCE/CI 38-02 Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data committee, is a member and former chair for the UESI Utility Investigation Committee, and is active with the Transportation Research Board Utilities Committee (AFB70),

Phil’s is obsessed with fixing the utiltiy conundrum faced by public agencies.  He recently oversaw UMS’s implementation of a 3-D digital utility data repository for  the Montana DOT.  He co-authored a 3-D Utility Surveying Practices report for the Wisconsin DOT, and presented those findings at the Iowa DOT sponsored 3-D Design Workshop. He has presented digital 3-D utility data acquisition and management practices to nationwide audiences for the FHWA Every Day Counts webinar series.

Environmental & Water Resources Institute

Topic: What Water Planning Can Teach Flood Planning

Speakers: Scott Hubley & Adam Conner - FNI

The flood planning effort passed by the Texas Legislature in 2019 represents a new, essential and ambitious undertaking for the state. But the framework looks familiar: It follows the structure of the state water plan, a successful model that over the past two decades has enabled Texas to integrate the disparate needs of our sprawling state into a long-range plan. That two decades-plus of experience has taught valuable lessons in innovation, collaboration and data analysis that can be applied to flood planning.

Adam Conner is a Project Manager at the Freese and Nichols Austin office. He has 12 years of experience in water supply and demand planning, and is engaged in various Regional Water Planning Groups, including Regions A and H. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a master’s degree from Texas A&M University.

Scott Hubley is a Freese and Nichols Vice-President and manages the firm’s North Texas Stormwater Group.  He has 14 years’ experience in the planning and design of stormwater infrastructure.  He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Structural Engineering Institute

Topic: Loop 375 Design Build Project

Speakers: Annus Ahmed, P.E. - Stantec

Annus Ahmed is a Structural Engineer in Dallas, TX office of Stantec.  He has experience in design-bid build projects and design-build projects. He has designed steel and post tension straddle bents on design build projects in Texas and designed several curved steel bridges with complex geometry. He is currently working on a Railroad via-duct for a fast-paced design build project in Chicago. He did his undergraduate work from National Institute of Technology, Trichy and masters at University of Texas at Arlington.