Spent today gathering 6.5 PDH with 600 other engineers deep in enemy territory (KU campus). The talks were far more interesting than the horrible lunch for a change.
One hour was dedicated to listening to a structural engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff explaining the process employed on the Skagit River Bridge replacement last year in Washington State. This was radically different from normal as cost was one of the minor factors used to award the bid. Number one was guaranteeing the minimum time that I-5 would need to be shut down. The penalty was $660,000 for each full 24 hour period of shutdown. A second penalty of $50,000 per day was also possible. The design-build bidders had two weeks to put together a final proposal. They managed to make it all happen on time and with only a 19 hour period of I-5 closure, thus avoiding any penalties.
Another hour was spent learning a great deal about the design and construction of The Oculus, the World Trade Center transportation hub. Many of you should recall photos provided here by Scott Zelenak showing us part of the process. It is nearly impossible to describe with words what The Oculus looks like. A Google search is recommended. The bizarre wings/feathers/ribs/thingies that shoot up to 170 feet into the air are a draftsman's nightmare. The presentation could have only been made better by having presenters whose first language is English. The photos and animations were great.
Interesting, I'm sure it applies to your practice. All my PDH's due end of month, 30 for the PE and 30 for the LS. I'm not sure this dual license thing is all that great. Have 4 left on the PS and 8 left on the LS. A couple days. All in all with the time, travel, conference fees, and online fees it makes a real dent in the budget for a solo part timer. With two licenses you can't spend full time practicing each, so half time PDH's should apply, right?
I'm not all that convinced the PDH's really improve the system other than drive some out of it. I suppose if a license is not a hassle it's not worth anything!
Our system is wacky. Nothing is pre-approved. You attend whatever you attend and keep certain records to prove attendance. A small sample of the total list of license holders are selected each year at random for proof of meeting the standard. Then a review committee looks at the records you submit. They have the option to accept everything or to say certain things do not meet their standard. If the total PDH count acceptable to them falls short of the requirement you have so many days to attend something else or do online courses or submit other things you neglected to list the first time because you thought you had plenty with the ones you submitted.
Like you, I must have both surveying and engineering hours although many would qualify for either one. As I also hold a real estate salesperson license I spend a lot of time gathering hours.
The Oculus under construction
Scott was gearing up to as-built" the anchor bolt plates soon after this picture.
Another view
for scale you can see somebody in a man lift in the middle center under the traffic light.
What about that flashdancers gentlemens club? Bad timing or great timing for the last photo.
I saw some photo's earlier of the project this week, it looks amazing.
