February 2009 AEG meeting

Dear AEG Members, Professional Colleagues, Students, and Friends:

The Arizona Section of AEG is pleased to announce that our next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at Pizzeria Uno in Tempe. The hosted social hour begins at 6 PM, dinner is usually around 7 PM and the talk will begin shortly after dinner. The presentation topic is "The Automated Train (AT) Project at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport" presented by John Niedzielski, P.E. and Jessica Humble, P.E., G.I.T. of Gannett Fleming, Inc. Please see below for the abstract and biographies. Hope to see you all there!

Please RSVP to me, Heather Hespeler, by e-mail by Monday, February 16th.

Abstract:

The Automated Train (AT) Project at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a passenger train system that will connect airport terminals and other ancillary facilities. The system will reduce the congestion on the internal roadway system throughout Sky Harbor International Airport. The AT will ultimately consist of a nearly 5 mile long transit corridor that will carry a dual guideway for driverless AT vehicles. The project consists of a predominately elevated guideway system with seven stations. The system connects three terminals, two parking areas, a rental car center, and a ground transportation center with a light rail transit interface. The project will be developed in two stages. Stage 1 is approximately two miles in length with three stations that includes both aerial and at-grade sections. Stage 2 is approximately three miles in length with four stations. This presentation will cover Stage 1 of the program, a 2 mile system with three stations that connects Terminal 4, the East Economy Lot, and the existing Light Rail station at 44th and Washington Streets. Stage 1 of the passenger train system has many unique components and engineering challenges, including construction of the Terminal 4 station adjacent to a busy terminal and concourses, a guideway crossing over an active taxiway, and several retaining walls, a bridge, and a tunnel associated with the 44th Street widening. Geologic issues for the site include dealing with the dominant site soil, Sand, Gravel, Cobble (SGC) deposits from the Salt River. Stage 1 of the Automated Train project at Sky Harbor International Airport is currently in various design and construction phases and is set to open in late 2013.

Bio:

John Niedzielski, P.E. John is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer with 24 years of experience providing geotechnical engineering services on local, state, and federal government projects involving highways, commuter rail, local and county streets, bridges, airports, sewers, water mains, treatment facilities, pumping stations, water and oil tanks, power plants, and other public and private works. He has also worked extensively on commercial, institutional, and industrial building projects. His experience includes design and analysis of foundations and retaining structures; preparing subsurface investigation programs; preparing and administering drilling contracts; designing pavement; providing construction support services; performing slope stability analyses; preparing specifications; and developing cost estimates. John has a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Toledo and studied for a master’s degree at the Ohio State University. John moved to Arizona in 2003 from Michigan where he was very active in ASCE as a committee chairman and Board of Director. He is the Geotechnical Group Manager at Gannett Fleming, Inc. in Phoenix and is currently serving as Geotechnical Task Manager on the Automated Train project at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Jessica Humble, P.E., G.I.T. Jessica is a Geotechnical Engineer with 7 years of experience and is responsible for performing field investigations, site characterizations, and geotechnical analyses and preparing reports for water resource, transportation, transit, and mining projects. Her experience includes design and analysis of foundations and retaining structures; preparing subsurface investigation programs; providing construction support services; and performing slope stability and rockfall analyses. Jessica has a bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla) and a master’s degree in Geological Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. Jessica has worked for Gannett Fleming, Inc. in Phoenix since her career began in 2003. She is a Geotechnical Engineer on the Automated Train project at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Jessica is an active AEG member and currently serves as a Director for the AEG Foundation. She led the efforts to start the Arizona Section of AEG (formerly the Phoenix Chapter) in 2005. Jessica is the proud mother of a 16 month old daughter, Retta.