The Kronicle: September 2020

Kkthtehe rRoONnIiCcLleE September 2020 COVER STORY Project Profile: David Peterson shares about the 6 RODANTHE BRIDGE in Dare County, NC More on the Rodanthe The first cohort has Bridge with Pete Stafford completed the course 8 SEAGRASS 18 JHU PM PROGRAM Hear from your colleagues Learn how the Natural Resources about what they learned team created innovative solutions Prepping the offices for your Employee profile: In the Field safety 4 BEN MEYER 2 WORKING DIFFERENTLY What goes on here 14 IT Take a look at our Information Technology group

kron On the cover: The Rodanthe Bridge Design- Build Project. Read more about it on page 6.

IN THIS ISSUE 2 WORKING DIFFERENTLY: PREPARING THE OFFICE 4 IN THE FIELD: BEN MEYER nicle6RodantheBridgeDESIGN-BUILD 8 Seagr ass Mapping Beneath the Rodanthe Bridge 12 RK&K Summer Interns 14 WHAT GOES ON THERE >>> IT 18 CERTIFICATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT 20 IN MEMORY OF DAVE WOZNIAK 22 IN MEMORY OF DONNA SEILER 24 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 26 BABIES 27 CROSSWORD PUZZLE september 2020 | 1

WDIOFFREKRIENNGTLY PREPARING THE OFFICE FOR YOUR SAFETY Adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly been a learning curve for everyone. We hope that everyone is feeling well and staying safe during this challenging time. RK&K is monitoring information from health officials and doing what is prudent to protect our staff, clients, and communities. At the onset in early March, each other. We are proud of Phase Green. With the help we started a continuous our field staff for doing an of Environmental Health and procurement of PPE, sanitizer, excellent job following all CDC Safety Manager Steve Young, and wipes as they were guidelines while continuing and in accordance with CDC available. With most of our guidelines, we worked with our folks working remotely, we to support their projects – vendor, ARC, to put together focused on what our field staff without skipping a beat. a catalog of office signage needed to continue working With the majority of office that met guidelines for social in a safe environment along staff working at home, this distancing throughout the with any necessary steps and provided the opportunity offices. The signage includes precautions as required by to prepare the offices for a social distancing reminders, our clients. Our Safety group safe return to work during arrows to direct hallway had a supply of the orange Phase Yellow and eventually traffic flow, and more. Each bandannas that were used office selected the COVID-19 initially as face coverings. signage most appropriate for Additional items included their space. gloves, face coverings, and, in some cases, non-contact If you have returned to the thermometers. Field staff office, you have noticed office have also switched to bringing workspace environments their own water bottles to have been altered based on project sites and maintaining social distancing guidelines. six feet of distance between Work schedules are being adjusted, conference room 2 | tthheeKKRROONNIICCLLEE

capacity is limited, disinfecting surfaces, DO YOU and areas where social gatherings can occur have maintaining social NEED been closed off. Our goal SOMETHING? is to provide a safe and distance, and certainly comfortable workspace Reach out to FRED for the RK&K family. missing coworkers that (fred@rkk.com) or Facilities (facilities- As this is all new territory you no longer see in- for us, we have adjusted helpdesk@rkk.com) to the “new normal” – person on a daily basis. wearing facial coverings, with any needs On behalf of the Facilities, you may have Safety, and Business before returning Management Group, we to the office. hope to be seeing all of september 2020 | 3 you in the future. ■

IN FIELDTHE with BEN MEYER A behind the scenes look at life in the field and beyond for our CM/CEI staff Ben Meyer is a Project Engineer in the Raleigh Office who started with RK&K in December 2015. Kronicle Editor Merritt Davis recently sat down with Ben to get a firsthand perspective on what he does while at work and at the end of the day when work is done. Merritt Davis: Ben, thanks progresses and knowing that encouraged me to do a so much for taking the time you are a part of that. presentation at CMAA and a to talk with us! Let’s jump lunch and learn presentation right into it. Can you walk us MD: What is your proudest to the entire company. through what your specific achievement? duties are? MD: What makes RK&K what BM: Being the assistant it is? Ben Meyer: My specific resident engineer for the Surf duties are providing City Bridge in Surf City, North BM: It’s very supportive, like construction management Carolina, which was a high- family. Even with it being and contract administration rise bridge over there because such a big for NCDOT projects and, now of the waterway. I was currently, a VDOT project. fortunate enough to MD: What is your favorite part be part of of the job? this project from the BM: Getting to interact with beginning, all the different aspects of all the way construction and helping to through build some really neat and the end. cool projects. Also getting And Mimi to see the how that work 4 | the KRONICLE

company, you feel like don’t understand.’ I’d say MD: you are a part and another thing with that is to If you could meet have a meaningful understand your resources, three people who impact on what you whether that be specifications would they be? are contributing or construction manuals or to the company. even those peers that are BM: Jay Leno, That’s one positive above you ­— I’ve been in the Lionel Messi, and I’ve always seen is industry for a few years and Barack Obama. that they encourage have gotten to know them, you to pursue ways and don’t be afraid to dive into MD: What’s a fun fact to better yourself, something whenever an issue about yourself? whether that’s through comes up. certifications or BM: I played soccer in getting your PE or MD: What is the best advice Italy when I was younger. CCM. you’ve ever received? MD: What’s the best trip you’ve MD: What inspires BM: Try to understand ever taken? you? everybody’s expectations and their willingness to get stuff BM: A catamaran trip in the BM: Getting a job done done. A good leader is able to British Virgin Islands. Pretty well and knowing that step back and figure out how to sweet trip. you are integral to that get the most out of their team. job and what you’re doing is It’s more beneficial than trying MD: What’s your favorite helping to better the projects to do everything yourself. meal? and the work that you do will have important impacts for MD: What is your favorite BM: Pizza. I love years to come. activity away from work? all the different varieties of pizza MD: What are three traits that BM: I would say being on the and the toppings define you? water in some form, either in different boating, fishing, or surfing. combinations BM: Level-headed; meticulous; of toppings that leading by example. MD: What are three things on you can put on your bucket list? pizza. Locally, MD: What would you tell a new my favorite place is hire that you wish you knew BM: Surfing in Indonesia; then? cage diving with great Italian Bistro. ■ ■ white sharks; hiking the BM: For a new hire I would Appalachian Trail. say, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for help with something you september 2020 | 5

RodantheBridge DESIGN-BUILD Dare County, NC by David Peterson On January 3, 2017, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) awarded the 2.5-mile long, $145.3 million NC 12 Rodanthe Bridge project to the Flatiron Construction Corp. and RK&K design-build Team. The opportunity of designing and constructing this unique Rodanthe Bridge on North Carolina’s scenic coast is a very exciting project, and when completed next year, it will be the ninth longest bridge in North Carolina! In 2016, the long-term solution The Rodanthe Bridge South Heading in June 2020 was identified and procured through a lengthy design- maintaining safe and reliable collision force of 200 kips, build pursuit. Partnered access for area residents and coastal limit state with wave with Flatiron, RK&K was visitors to southern Hatteras forces accounted for below EL. the Lead Designer for this Island. 17.0, future utility loads and extraordinary coastal bridge a design scour EL. of -52.0, project. By utilizing nearly The design included several as well as several corrosion every in-house engineering important elements: wind protection measures. discipline, RK&K’s design speed of 135 mph, vessel elevated this portion of NC 12 onto a 2.5-mile (12,986.79167 feet, for structural engineers!) bridge that extends from the southern end of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge over the Pamlico Sound into Rodanthe. RK&K’s design minimized impacts to the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), and the community of Rodanthe, while 6 | the KRONICLE

Construction began in Rail System” that would allow foot wide with bicycle safe November of 2018 with the gantry and platform cranes to rails and has a minimum assembly of the advancing rail straddle the newly constructed of 17 feet of clearance above system at the South Heading bridge, which substantially mean sea level (MSL). The in the town of Rodanthe. The decreased impacts to the superstructure consists of 72- North Heading within the inch Florida I-Beams (FIBs) Pea Island National Wildlife Finished Spans 1-16, South in the tangent section of the Refuge was started in March Heading in June 2020 main bridge and the edge 2019. Currently, construction girder system eliminates the has reached Bent 32 on the environment. While the new need for overhang falsework South Heading and Bent 94 on bridge is nearly 13,000 feet and allows for more rapid deck the North Heading. The bridge long, the rail system will only construction. The interior bent is comprised of 107 spans and be 3,000 linear feet at any one caps consist of cast-in-place is scheduled to be opened in time, as it uses previously (CIP) concrete delivered to the Fall 2021. constructed sections of the bridge site with a required bridge for access. concrete strength of 6.5 ksi. INNOVATIVE DESIGN AND Building the bridge using this CONSTRUCTION innovative system, also known The bridge utilizes 5-inch thick as the leap-frog technique, and precast deck panels supporting Due to the many environmental constructing the structure a 5.5-inch CIP deck for the main from both a North and South bridge. Stainless steel rebar constraints, magnitude of the Heading will accelerate the is used throughout the CIP project schedule and mitigate concrete in the deck to reduce project, aggressive schedule, potential delays. The details future maintenance costs and of this unique structure are extend the life of the bridge. and public sensitivity; described in the table at the The RFP required a 100-year bottom of the page. service life. the Flatiron/RK&K Team With a horizontal alignment that narrowly bypasses a This project also includes very thoroughly evaluated design historic sunken ship, the complex geotechnical design new two-lane bridge is 40- challenges as the Team works and construction techniques within the Pamlico Sound. The subsurface below the proposed that would best serve the bridge consists of various layers of sand and silt. Much many challenges and unique of the geotechnical activities and drilling at the bridge aspects of the project. Due to approaches were done using the geometry of the bridge, environmental limitations, and accelerated schedule, our Team developed a specific construction technique that would minimize the footprint of impacts to the environment. This method was an innovative “Advancing Section # Description Girder Type Length Width Spans Foundation 1 South Transition 24” cored slab 240’ 42.58’ 4 5 ea. 30” sq. Pile bents 2 2,142’ 42.58’ 22 3 ea. 54” dia. Piles & Cap 3 South Main Curve 4 ea. 45” FIB 6,853’ 42.58’ 50 3 ea. 54” dia. Piles & Cap 4 3,391.7’ 42.58’ 25 3 ea. 54” dia. Piles & Cap 5 Main Tangent 4 ea. 72” FIB 360’ 42.79’ 6 5 ea. 30” sq. Pile bents 12,986.7’ 107 North Main Curve 4 ea. 72” FIB North Transition 24” cored slab Total september 2020 | 7

specialized “marsh buggies” piles is 294 with a total length between 80 feet to 135 feet deep that minimized environmental of installed driven pile of into the bottom of the Pamlico impacts. approximately 12,000 linear Sound. The depth required for feet. Also, the transition spans each pile is equal to the height The bridge utilized precast utilized 30-inch square precast of a typical 15-story building 54-inch diameter concrete prestressed concrete piles. and the combined total length cylinder piles throughout the The total length installed was of piles needed for the entire length of the main bridge in almost 4,000 linear feet. The project is nearly three miles. order to decrease the number concrete piles (30-inch and 54- of piles required. The total inch, respectively) were driven The bridge also included number of 54-inch diameter almost 50,000 linear feet of BSeenaeagthrtahesRsodManatphepBirnidgge By Pete Stafford The seagrass habitat at the Rodanthe Bridge project site is special. It serves as a primary nursery area for many marine species and provides abundant recreational opportunities for residents and tourists from around the world. The NCDOT approached RK&K’s entire 2-mile span with a team of biologists and GPS biologists in 2017 with unique locating seagrass beds within the designed dripline. challenges: to map this seagrass, Previous attempts at remote sensing of commonly called submerged seagrass beds proved difficult. Imagery aquatic vegetation (SAV), and was not adequate in quality and to track any changes in may not have been collected the seagrass community during optimal conditions and throughout the course time of year. of the Rodanthe Bridge This was a monumental project from pre- challenge that had not construction through previously been completed post-construction. on a scale of this size For scale, the within North Carolina. Rodanthe Bridge will These mapping span approximately methodologies presented a two miles over open variety of issues. In addition waters of the Pamlico to the mapping challenges, Sound and nearly all Federal Agencies required that this area is seagrass NCDOT not only consider effects of habitat. Traditional methods the bridge to seagrass directly under of seagrass mapping were The Rodanthe Bridge North the bridge dripline, but also potential completed manually via GNSS/ Heading in June 2020 impacts that could be caused by bridge GPS receiver or by aerial imagery shadows and long-term indirect effects collected from a satellite or of bridge construction. With these requests, the airplane. The initial seagrass mapping for this Rodanthe Bridge seagrass study area grew from 42- project was completed manually by walking the feet wide to 1,000-feet wide for the full 2-mile span 8 | the KRONICLE

FIBs: 45” FIBs – 8,560 LF and T-intersection with existing NC reduced right-of-way costs 72-inch FIBs – 40,740 LF. CIP 12. Focusing on innovation and by avoiding retail property in Concrete included 18,470 CY in improvements to the original the area and traffic calming the superstructure and 8,120 design, our Team proposed a benefits due to lower speeds CY in the substructure and roundabout that will operate through the intersection. a total of 5 million pounds of at a Level of Service A in the stainless steel reinforcing. year 2040 compared to the This impressive 2.5-mile long T-intersection that would bridge over the Pamlico Sound ROUNDABOUT operate at Level of Service F. is the longest bridge ever The roundabout also provides The preliminary plans provided designed by RK&K. ■ by the NCDOT called for a over open water. Not only did the study area grow, but side is RK&K’s UAS imagery, which is able to reveal additional variables would be needed to accurately seagrass locations below the water’s surface. characterize the seagrass community during this This seagrass UAS imagery was collected during an pre-construction phase. With spatial rectification of optimal weather and species-specific time, further seagrass maps to determine occupied area of seagrass, optimizing image quality and data integrity. Having a density assessment was also required to fully the flexibility to collect imagery during optimal establish a baseline prior to construction. A manual times coupled with a proprietary technology/ effort would take too long, become too costly, and may methodology was the key factor in figuring out this damage seagrass during the process. Remote sensing piece of the puzzle. from satellite or airplane base imagery seemed to be a After imagery was obtained, a GIS-based image logical route but prior experience resulted in imagery classification methodology was successfully that was collected in poor conditions or the wrong deployed to extract seagrass polygons and locations. time of year. In addition, the seagrass mapping on- The goal of interpreting seagrass from the imagery site would need to be assessed two times per year will not only inform the project decision making to capture the various seagrass species during their and satisfy permit requirements, but also aid in the growing season. NCDOT asked RK&K to solve these development of a machine learning tool to evaluate issues and develop a cost-effective methodology to changes from one dataset to the next. This tool is in map seagrass for this project. development by RK&K’s biologist and GIS teams. Currently, the Rodanthe Bridge is nearing 40% The project team proposed a solution to NCDOT: completion. Over the next year, RK&K will continue Collect imagery with UAS (drone) technology, development of our machine learning models extract the seagrass beds via a GIS-based image and further implement UAS technology that was analysis technique, and ground-truth the data for developed specifically for this project. ■ accuracy and determine seagrass density. In theory it could work — but would it? If completed properly, Satellite seagrass imagery beneath the Rodanthe imagery data collection with UAS would solve some Bridge compared to UAS seagrass mapping. of the issues with imagery from satellite or airplane. Collecting the imagery data with UAS would also allow for quicker response to optimal weather events and species growing status. This strategy proved true as RK&K biologists successfully worked with in-house GIS teams to develop a UAS methodology to map seagrass. The image to the right is an example of RK&K’s UAS seagrass mapping; the left side is satellite imagery, which does not reveal any details, while the right september 2020 | 9

LOOKING BACK In 1971, RK&K was 121st on the ENR Top 500. It is incredible projects, like the Rodanthe Bridge, covered on pages 6-9 in this issue, and dedicated professionals like you, that have contributed to RK&K’s growth and success — leading to a move up 57 places over the last 39 years to 64th. Thank you for your passionate, responsive, and creative work.

IN 1971... First-Class Stamp US Population: 207,660,677 $0.08 Average Income Per Year: $10,600 Average Monthly Rent: $150 Movie Ticket Dozen Eggs $1.50 $0.53 The Microprocessor Invented Etch-A-Sketch Datsun 1200 Sports Coupe $2.83 $1,866 26th Amendment Ratified Idaho Potatoes 10 Lbs Gallon of Milk $0.98 $1.18 2-Quart Pressure Cooker Gallon of Regular Gas $7.77 $0.36

RK&K Summ Our summer interns were busy these last three months helping to support projects for clients, from Pennsylvania down to Florida. This year, RK&K had 14 interns in seven different offices. We caught up with a few of our interns to learn what they have been up to this summer and their favorite moments. Baldo Perez, an Emily Jannace, an intern in the intern in Roanoke, Miami office, worked on many VDOT assisted project projects, including engineers with an on-call contract field reviews with the Lynchburg and contract District. She also compliance. worked on projects He helped along I-81 and US- track contract 460 which are Emily Jannace roads she travels time and Baldo Perez along daily, adding money as well as assist with a personal element to her work. administering monthly payments to contractors. Emily remarked her favorite opportunity this Baldo says his favorite thing during his internship summer was learning new software such as SIDRA wast to “watch the progress of the construction. and Microstation. Emily has previously worked Being on such a fast-paced project really allows with NYCDOT standards and was interested to see me to appreciate the hard work that everyone how they compared to VDOT. Emily also enjoyed has been doing out on the field and watching the Friday morning catch up calls with the Roanoke roadway transform for the better.” office saying, “They were a nice way to still be able Emidio Bucci in Baltimore learned about the to interact with everyone while working remotely wastewater treatment process, specifically anaerobic digestion. He assisted the group with and to end the work week.” organizing spreadsheets, finding information, and other tasks to help on projects. Emidio’s favorite John Walsh in Baltimore part of the internship was visiting the Sod Run worked on a design-build Wastewater Treatment Plant. This was his first pursuit for a part-time visit to wastewater treatment plant, and he enjoyed shoulder use lane on the seeing what the treatment process looks like in Baltimore Beltway. John practice. helped to determine the number of inlets and length of pipes necessary John Walsh for the project. His favorite task over the summer was the Picture Spring Remediation project out in the field shoveling 12 | the KRONICLE

mer Interns pollutant-degrading microbes from a boat into a and driver experience. Nicole was able to see an contaminated pond. immediate result from her work since the findings of the study led to the implementation of certain Nicole Russo interned in the traffic department improvements. in Baltimore this summer and worked on several Luke Boland in Raleigh has been doing the projectsthatfocusedonintersectionsandroadways drainage summary on multiple projects and has throughout Maryland. She had the opportunity to been in the field to help analyze the drainage on Six use programs to analyze intersections, run traffic Forks Road. Luke’s favorite task over the summer simulations, create maps and design graphics. was going out in the field with a coworker and Nicole says, “I am very grateful for this experience getting some hands- and I am excited to see what else is in store for on experience. the remainder of the summer!” One of Nicole’s Thank you to all favorite projects was conducting a site visit for an RK&K interns for great work this intersection in order to summer! ■ determine if there were Luke Boland certain attributes that could be changed in order to increase safety Nicole Russo september 2020 | 13

WHAT GOES ON THERE >>> IT department The RK&K IT Department consists of two main groups: Support and Infrastructure. In this edition of WHAT GOES ON THERE we take a dive into what each of these groups does and who the awesome team members are that provide the firm it’s Information Technology services. SUPPORT from simple hardware fixes to “ servers can talk to each other, Support represents the face complex problems. Infrastructure is constantly of the IT Department and challenging itself to improve is charged with supporting INFRASTRUCTURE our processes and is the our people. The team works center of our efforts to protect together to keep our staff “Infrastructure maintains the the company. operational and respond to The IT team was employee requests. Support FRED. Fully Responsive, tries to fully understand passionate Employee Dedicated. the needs and priorities of While FRED is not really an employees and implement about ensuring IT asset (really, they belong solutions that meet their to you), IT’s interactions with technology needs as efficiently I-495 & I-270 Managed them are near constant. as possible by translating FRED is one of the best problems into solutions. Lanes Study Public implementations of what could be called a “Help Desk” Support takes initial requests Hearings were a that isn’t. FRED advocates from FRED and attempts to for employees — taking on investigate, troubleshoot, and technological success. the problems, issues and resolve incidents or issues concerns of the RK&K family that employees encounter critical infrastructure we rely — and routes them as needed, during the course of daily use on to work — like maintaining ensuring response and of our technology, ranging the systems that provide your tracking tasks to completion. from support for machines ability to log onto a computer, This is a massive undertaking and devices, to programs, connect to the VPN, file and for two employees who execute software, and other hardware. data access and storage, this with both passion and Our staff keeps the path backup and restore, and Deltek compassion. FRED is really of communication open, and Office 365 support. They the forward-facing element gathers as much information also manage and maintain for IT. They compile and as possible to understand the hardware the technology analyze data that can be used staff issues, and frequently rides on, as well as the to identify trends and react to communicates within our communications needed need issues reported by employees. own team and stakeholders. to access the technologies. Often these analyses are used The gamut of needs serviced It is near impossible to to improve processes and by IT support really has no document everything in practices within IT and HR. limitations (at least not that which Infrastructure is we have found yet) and run involved. From setting up servers to making sure the 14 | the KRONICLE

WHO IS THE TEAM AND WHAT ARE THEY RESPONSIBLE FOR? What makes the SUPPORT IT group at RK&K George Demers Lead Support Analyst special? 26 YEARS at RK&K » Smart people that are genuinely passionate Back in 1985, George met Eric Crawford during their about technology freshman year of high school. Five years later, he worked for MD Telephone for one year when Eric » “Creative solutions” called, saying RK&K was looking for an entry-level IT exemplar; team tech. Twenty-six years later, George is now the environment encourages support team lead and has led the company’s ideas from the entire team changes in phone systems, including migration to a cloud-based phone system, the switch to GoToMeeting and » Can handle any standardizing our video conferencing. Other responsibilities include problems in the changing managing the company’s software licenses, purchasing IT equipment, and transforming managing IT invoices, and supporting RK&K’s IT needs. George environment graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2002 with a Bachelor’s in Information Systems. » Works collaboratively to tackle new problems Steve Weddington Senior Support Analyst » Constantly improving 32 YEARS at RK&K to better serve RK&K and innovate our IT solutions Steve began working in engineering in 1980 and worked for three different engineering firms in the first » 200 Years of Experience eight years. Steve joined RK&K 1988 as a senior – and those are just the designer in the Virginia Beach office and moved to years at RK&K! Including the Richmond RK&K office in 1992. Some of Steve’s all experience, our work includes water treatment, wastewater treatment, IT team is equipped and transmission systems, as well as gas main projects with over 300 years of with RK&K until 1998 when he transitioned to full time IT. experience in the IT field. To quote an ad we see on George Parks Engineering Support Analyst II TV “We know a few things because we’ve seen a few 34 YEARS at RK&K things” During his 34 years at RK&K, George worked within the september 2020 | 15 Transportation Department on numerous projects including both Camden Stadium Projects and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement Project. In addition, he has also worked extensively with both the Graphics and Reproduction Departments. For the last 20 years, George has been with the IT Department supporting a wide range of applications used for CADD, Graphics, and Reproduction within RK&K, and is currently supporting our new Engineering Support efforts. Jacintha Quamina Support Technician II 16 YEARS at RK&K Jacintha earned a Bachelor’s in computer science from the University of Maryland. Before coming to RK&K, she worked maintaining servers and designing websites. Her first job with RK&K was working on the Woodrow Wilson bridge as a systems admin. From there, she moved on to the ICC project, after which she worked on databases, including Deltek. Jacintha has the ability to maintain computer systems, perform preventive maintenance, install software, resolve database problems, and do backup and recovery functions.

Ashley Tackett Support Technician I INFRASTRUCTURE 1 YEAR at RK&K Eric Crawford Senior Systems Analyst Ashley recently celebrated her 1-year anniversary 27 YEARS at RK&K with RK&K. Ashley came to RK&K after four years of IT with the Navy and 1.5 years as a contractor with Nearly 27 years ago, Eric joined RK&K the Army in Aberdeen. Among her accomplishments are hardware builds, as well as leading our efforts as a Tier I Support person and building our Software Center for self-service software installs, as well as patch management. quickly became known as the go- Randall Dickerson Support Technician I to primary data systems 1 YEAR at RK&K management representative, Based in Raleigh, Randall is a North Carolina native ensuring the health and well-being with more than 22 years of experience in IT Support, including many with Fortune 500 companies, such as of your server systems. Outside of the IBM, Microsoft, BASF, and Siemens. office, Eric is the President of the Friends of Patapsco Davon Gilmore Support Technician I Valley State Park, where he leads thousands of park 1/2 YEAR at RK&K users in designing, building, and maintaining more Davon joins us from Columbia, MD and has 10 years of experience in than 220 miles of natural surface trail for the park’s 1.5 the IT field with a focus on IT support. Davon attended the million annual visitors. When not leading, Eric is still University of Central Florida and has extensive experience with likely there on a mountain bike, or hiking, running, different systems and programs, working as a contractor for the last seven years paddling, or climbing —stopping from time to time to before joining RK&K in March. Davon describes himself as super friendly even though he looks like the nap and listen to the forest and snack on whatever incredible Hulk — his favorite comic hero. He loves working out in his leisure time and comes from a Pearce brought along. background of pro football, having played a little for the Washington Redskins. Pearce Miller Senior Systems Analyst Greg Dextor System Architect 14 YEARS at RK&K 18 YEARS at RK&K Pearce’s time at RK&K coincided with the InterCounty Connector Project, Greg has been in the IT world for the where he spent seven years as the past 22 years, 18 with RK&K. He IT Coordinator setting up the started out in this field as Support offices and software. After Technician at the Social Security returning to the office, Pearce was Administration, where he quickly discovered he enjoyed writing the assigned to the Deltek Vision software and being innovative and Financial System Migration team. Pearce has stayed creative. From there, he briefly worked for a active in Vision finding ways to improve the benefits it telecommunications company developing IVRs brings to the company. For fun, Pearce enjoys learning (phone tree algorithms), which finally led him to RK&K. the intricacies of SharePoint, Teams, and much of Once here, he felt at home where he could see there Microsoft’s cloud platform. When not at work, you was core belief to push the envelope and really find may find him roaming the city on his bike in search of new and innovative ways to solve problems. the perfect taco. Brad Furches Senior Network Analyst 2 YEARS at RK&K Brad joined RK&K in 2018 and brings over 20 years of experience in IT and proficiency in a wide range of technologies. He previously worked for Whitman Requardt & Associates LLP, Gill-Simpson Inc., and Reliable Technology Services. Over the past two years he has overseen the rapid expansion of the company’s footprint into new physical locations and the cloud, developing a robust and reliable network to pave the way for the future of technology services at RK&K. 16 | the KRONICLE

LEADERSHIP Behind the scenes Brian Dial Manager, IT Infrastructure RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS • Moving entire workforce from working in-office 22 YEARS at RK&K to primarily working remotely/from home, and Brian joined RK&K in the dark ages when transitioning to phased return to office the email server was still running on an old CADD workstation. Since then, • Moving data to the Cloud-based Panzura Brian helped with and led RK&K’s system to consolidate data access, organize transformation of our network into a our network across many groups, and establish modern hybrid-cloud environment more robust previous versions/recovery that continues to evolve to the ever- options changing needs of the company. Brian received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Information Systems from the • Established Workspot as an alternative for University of Maryland Baltimore County. folks with Work from Home challenges Charles Fish Manager, Information Technology • Supporting requests for 1,300+ employees remotely with intermittent office visits 2 YEARS at RK&K • Improved security by adding multi-factor “Fish”, as he introduces himself, joined authentication, self-service password resets RK&K in 2018, coming from and enhancements in protecting equipment Oceaneering International Inc., and the organization where he worked as the Information Systems Security Manager. Prior to WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE FOR RK&K IT? that, Fish was a publishing systems Technology is an aspect of the company that analyst and Manager of Information staff rely on to do everything. The intent is to Technology with the Baltimore Sun, Manager with a make it easy to use, fast and reliable, and safe. nationwide roofing firm (PC Support Technician and We strive to continue to learn and adapt to new eventually Manager of IT and Communications). Fish technologies and opportunities as the needs of maintains a Certified Information Systems Security our firm change over time while ensuring that Professional (CISSP) certificate, as well as several we continue to protect the staff and information others. At RK&K, Fish implements smart technology the company depends on. solutions while protecting our systems from outside threats. Outside of work, Fish enjoys camping and Work from Home: More teleconferencing? getting in his Jeep and heading to the boonies. We continue to conduct ongoing analysis of tools for teleconferencing and meeting remotely, such James Nash Chief Information Officer as Teams, GoToMeeting, and Webex (not Zoom). COVID-19 gave us the opportunity to really test 4 YEARS at RK&K what we envisioned as true Business Continuity. Prior to RK&K, James worked for an Updated technology engineering firm focused on Oil & Gas We are working to phase out outdated/ and US Government Defense unsupported versions of programs to ensure folks initiatives. There, James gained more are producing the best results possible for each understanding that things like program, improving the ability to collaborate security, remote access, and data amongst different teams relieving the need to availability were critical for the engineers’ support applications that often become security success. Prior to that, James worked as a technology leader for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. It is here that problems. ■ things like business continuity and disaster recovery were the focus of his team and the company’s obligations to deliver a daily newspaper, on time, even during the great Baltimore fire. Here at RK&K, James’ team provides you with the technology that will give you a reliable, consistent advantage in achieving RK&K’s goals. september 2020 | 17

& CERTIFICATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT First Ever RK&K/Johns Hopkins Project Management Course Complete In our continued dedication to project quality, client care, and employee development, RK&K has teamed with the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering to provide project management training for selected RK&K Project Managers. This masters-level course is based upon the University’s Project Management for Engineers 100 level class that serves as the basis for subsequent Technical Management program requirements. This past winter, 18 RK&K staff from across the • Leadership and Portfolio Management firm participated in the inaugural cohort that consisted of 14 modules spread across a 24- • Responding to the Market / Customer week term. Each module was entirely on-line and was comprised of professor instruction, • Project Closeout readings, as well as graded individual and group assignments. The focus of these modules The principles taught in each lesson were included: emphasized by working through a semester-long project scenario that was built upon each week. • Project Lifecycle Several presentations of the project progress were made to JHU and RK&K leadership. Of great • SOW and WBS benefit was a series of “Application Sessions” in which the students were able to interface with • Scheduling and Estimating the leadership of RK&K and learn how what was taught could be used to better manage projects • Finance, Contracts, and Risk/Opportunity here at RK&K. • Design Reviews and Configuration Feedback received from the students and leaders Management that participated was very positive and has led RK&K to commit to another class in the winter • Directing, Monitoring, & Control of 2021. The following quotes are from several • Communication and Quality members of this inaugural team. ■ • Project Progress Reviews “CIPRIANA ECKFORD, PE, PTOE PROJECT MANAGER DC “ I wanted to participate in the program because it was a great opportunity to gain more insight and knowledge around the various facets of project management. It also promised to be an opportunity to work with other colleagues in the company that I may not ordinarily team with on projects. 18 | the KRONICLE

“MARY MAYS YAHL, PE PROJECT MANAGER RALEIGH “ My goal moving forward is to implement some of the project control tools we “ discussed in class as part of my project plans and schedules such as lessons “ learned meetings and risk assessments. This class also emphasized the important connection between a project’s scope, schedule, and cost and how an impact to one of these three items can significantly impact the other two. I plan to make sure that in the initial project plan, all three of these elements are strongly connected so that all items in scope have the appropriate budget items and are tied to the appropriate schedule items. More involvement with all disciplines in the initial project plan should result in a reasonable schedule and budget for the project. “AMANDA GLYNN, PE PROJECT MANAGER ORLANDO I have spent a great part of my career managing projects and other personnel from a leadership standpoint, but have felt that I may have missed out on many of the basics of managing the actual project. I didn’t quite fit the mold of a “new” project manager, but I certainly wasn’t “seasoned”, either. I felt somewhere “in-between” and hoped that the Johns Hopkins Program could help me to fill in some of the gaps. Plus, I love to be a part of a pilot program and help shape the experience for future participants. “ANDY LYNCH, PE MANAGER, TRANSPORTATION BALTIMORE It reinforced the fact that every project needs to have a plan in order to be successful, and gave us a formal framework on how to develop and articulate/ communicate that plan. I also really appreciated how the class approached risk/ opportunity assessment and gave us some ideas on how to plan for and quantify risk/opportunity, and also how to manage risks as they occur during the project development process. I really learned to appreciate the importance of developing contingencies and keeping them in reserve at the project manager level as necessary in case certain disciplines or tasks go over budget. I also learned to appreciate the importance of communication, including establishing protocols or ground rules for the team to follow regarding who should communicate with the client and top management, and what types of communication can be handled at the project team level among the project team members. september 2020 | 19

IN MEMORY OF DAVE WOZNIAK Dave Wozniak — or “Woz” as he was known by most of RK&K — suddenly passed away May 22, 2020. Dave was part of the RK&K family for over 30 years, and in those years, made a lasting impression on those who had the pleasure of working with him. Dave was hired in the Transportation Most importantly, Dave was a great Department to help support the coworker and friend to many Baltimore Light Rail Project throughout the firm. Those that where he worked for several interacted with Dave recall years honing his CAD and his incredible humor and design skills. He subsequently willingness to do whatever it transferred to the Site took to get the job done. Development team where he supported the group with Those who worked with Dave utility design on many projects closely recall happy memories including Oriole Park and Ravens together that will last a lifetime. Stadium. For the last seven years, Dave was a key part of our Plats and Surveys group, What follows are just a few of the supporting plat production for our clients. many memories of Woz. CHRIS KRUPINSKI Dave stepped up in so many ways. Most notable for me is when I was called to active duty in 2004- Woz was the personification of the things I 2005 and sent to mobilize with a unit in Texas. I thought about when asked, “What do you like was concerned about my wife and 1-year-old about Baltimore?” Things like his relentless work son not having a local support group during a ethic, gritty stories, sports loyalty, and love of stressful time, but Dave made sure that was not food. the case. I was relieved to get the many messages from home about the office parties and events Dave led the charge in founding RK&K’s indoor organized for my family. Dave was at the center soccer team. Unfortunately, we were not very of it all, and it was another demonstration of one good because we could not keep Dave off the IR of his best qualities — his “big heart”. list. I only had one time when someone smoked in my car…it was Dave…on our way to the hospital Lastly, I’ll remember how important family was to after he broke his leg in a grueling match in north him. He spoke with great pride about Baltimore. his childhood days up through the many accomplishments RK&K has been a go-to consultant for Johns of his son David. Dave will Hopkins at their Homewood campus since 1999. be greatly missed by many It all started with Dave’s tireless efforts on the JHU including me, and we are Open Space Phase I contract. This was a major thankful for the memories he campus site renovation with a schedule so has left us. aggressive that it scared away our competitors. It was a huge success thanks to Dave’s technical skills and his willingness to put in long days and weekends in the office. 20 | the KRONICLE

RICK ADAMS FRED GREIM Two things stand out to me about Dave. One, was On my first day in the Survey Department at RK&K, that he always gave max effort to everything he I met Dave and quickly learned he was a person did – like on the company softball team when he who was happy and energetic. He would make went diving for a fly ball and tore up his shoulder, work enjoyable for the team around him, even landing him on the sideline for most of the season when we were under pressure and up against a or on the job when he worked many a late night looming deadline. Working on a project with Dave shift to meet our project deadlines. Second, he always seemed to make the day or week even always did this with a great sense of humor – like better. making jokes while agonizing on the ground about the pain in his shoulder or keeping everyone loose He was an excellent source of RK&K’s history, under high pressure deadlines. He had a deep having celebrated over 30 years with the firm. He love for his job and the people at RK&K that will be would often tell me stories of the past, including sorely missed. his previous projects, along with the managers and partners he worked under. If you had the JOHN D’EPAGNIER opportunity to talk with Dave, you knew he enjoyed talking about his son Dave Jr., who worked at RK&K Dave worked for me in the Site Development before deciding to go onto college. Dave always group for many years. He loved working on kept us updated on how Dave Jr. was doing. During the high-profile projects such as Main Street our conversations over the years, you could hear Annapolis, Oriole Park and Ravens Stadium. Dave how proud he was of his son. was very devoted to helping the team meet our deadlines. I recall a few all-nighters that Dave Dave will be missed by his RK&K family who knew was involved in to get drawings completed. him and had the opportunity to work with him. He He also took tremendous pride in his work and had a great sense of humor, a great work ethic always enjoyed seeing the finished product after and was a great co-worker to so many of us construction was complete. throughout RK&K. He will be missed. ■ september 2020 | 21

IN MEMORY OF DONNA SEILER Donna Seiler passed away suddenly on August 18th. Donna started with RK&K in 2015 and was assigned to MDOT SHA’s Structures Inspection and Remedial Engineering Division as a bridge construction inspector. Her absence is a tremendous loss, felt deeply the field and was eager to get involved in field by those who worked most closely with her. inspection work. Joe Pupa, Chief of Construction Section at SHA recalled her interview many years ago. Recently, Donna was assigned to manage “I remember her interview”, he said. full construction contracts requiring daily “She walked in with the biggest smile on her face; she was communication with the contractors jubilant.” The interview and managing inspectors, as lasted an hour and well as conducting a half, and after constructioninspections. the interview, Joe She had completed turned to his an area-wide bridge assistant and expansion joint said, ‘She got the modification job!’ contract and was managing There were two bridge maintenance three more contracts in District 6 at people who were the time of her passing. supposed to Donna was a interview, but Joe team player and did everything that was knew there was asked of her to a ‘T’, often going above and beyond. She something special had great ideas and often thought outside of the box. Donna was the first about Donna. She was in their group of inspectors to pilot the use of eMCMS, a cloud-based computer software positive and personable, program, to track work and make progress payments to the contractor. They used iPads and carried herself well. Joe for full electronic document preparation and document control, making paper obsolete in remembered thinking, ‘This girl their administration of construction contracts. is going somewhere.’ Her initial work duties were administrative, and gradually, she was exposed to work in the field by assisting with final inspections at completed structures to ensure that all the prescribed work in the job packets was completed at each location, and that the work sites were restored to their original condition. She enjoyed being in 22 | the KRONICLE

Donna was instrumental in training inspectors in the use of their iPads and eMCMS, so that all new contracts after July 1 would be administered electronically. Donna was also known to decorate her coworkers’ cubicles for their birthdays. She was thoughtful and would include figurines and other decorations that were important to them. “She would light up the room when she walked in, and would always brighten your day,” Joe said. Donna was an asset to the RK&K family and will be dearly missed. ■ Thank you to Joe Pupa and Duane Bernard for their contributions to this article and memories of Donna. september 2020 | 23

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! May RW Ernie Disney Fred Schutte Sandy Hartzell Keith Skinner Al Grubb Rick Wiley Joseph Tack 47 Y 47Y 37Y 31 Y 27Y 25Y 25Y E E E E E E E A A A A A A A R R R R R R R S S S S S S S Dan Neal 23 Vinod Rajput 16 Maggie Berman 14 Jim Beers 12 Eric Mellor 23 Ryan Sless 16 Xiaorong Lai 13 Kevin Nash 12 Thuy Schroeder 22 Shilpa Kodkani 16 Jeffrey Bainbridge 13 Michael Dyer 11 Joe Chalk 20 Matthew Lamy 16 Scott Berkheimer 13 Juan Cano 10 Gail Freyman 20 Mitch Scott Kelly Duffy 19 Andrea Kohlman 16 James Schmidt 13 Michael P Smith 10 15 Stacy Barefoot 12 Leslie Grant 10 John Cole 19 Rachel Green 15 Patricia Ortega-Depaz 12 Mitch Manchester 10 Michael Freyman 17 Michael Griffith 15 Andrew Halliday 12 Andy Lynch 10 Donnie Tusing 17 Andrew Suter 14 June David Wallace George Parks Rick Adams Brian Horn Mark Hanson Bob Dunning Lori Magoon 47Y 34Y 34Y 32Y 32Y 28Y 28Y E E E E E E E A A A A A A A R R R R R R R S S S S S S S Brian Peeler 23 Stephen McCarthy 19 Kevin Oberheim 15 James Niewodowski 10 Ed Horn Tina Swiezy 23 Ronald Myers 19 David Garshell 15 Allan McBride 11 Albert LeBlanc Ryan Masters 23 Mark Agee 18 Brian Grandizio 14 Andy Moy 11 Rhonda Cathell Hobart Hesse 22 Danielle Hankins 17 Brandon Felton 14 Andrew Young 11 Dave Vanscoy Greg Vanscoy 21 Bill Snyder 17 Jeffrey Grow 13 Mike Lausier 11 Marcel Klik 21 Ralph Dixon 16 Zachary Scholl 13 Benjamin Snyder 10 24 | the KRONICLE 21 Lindsey Glavin 16 Gersey Valdes 12 Grant Howerton 10 21 Jacintha Quamina 16 Harper Kudler 12 James Niewodowski 10 21 Steve Kolarz 15 Mohammed Aziz 11 Kenroy Tavernier 10 21 Danielle Brock 15 Grant Howerton 10 Grace Benn 10

July Sharon Scheurer Jim Kiladis Leslee Kitchings Lucy Noya Greg Robertson Andy Hefler 45Y 33Y 32Y 26Y 26Y 25Y E E E E E E A A A A A A R R R R R R S S S S S S Debi Adkins 24 Steve Phillips 19 Dennis McMahon 15 Edem Kunutsor 11 11 Chris Krupinski 24 David Ward 19 Robert Bielawski 14 Sean Yeager 10 10 Linda Strickler 24 Abdul Tahir 17 Leanne Kay 13 David Roberts 10 10 John Cooper 23 Tara Cutillo 16 Robert Amtower 12 Matt Hayek Christopher Darber 20 Samone Smith 16 Margarette Castro 12 Karl Hellmann Rob Linthicum 20 Bill Schmersahl 15 Christopher Hicks 12 Matt Dockins Pat Martino 20 David Peterson 15 August Earl Leach Carey Webb Keith Eysaman David Morsberger Mike Merritt 27Y 27Y 27Y 27Y 25Y E E E E E A A A A A R R R R R S S S S S John Koch 24 Jeff Roberta 19 Masood Ahmad 15 Kate Gordon 11 Elford Jackson 24 Stephanie Workman 19 Robert Filippi 14 Gretchen Gusmano 11 Bob Limbacher 24 Vance Tsiamis 17 Samuel Rasnick 13 Mahmood Shehata 10 William Stafford 23 Chris Bauernfeind 16 Rafael Pulles 12 Kevin Younger 10 Bahram Sadjedy 20 Tim Bollinger 16 Larry Sumpter 12 Bryan Badey 10 David Stengler 20 Shannon Jamison 15 Patricia Ahumada 12 Kevin Bisby 10 september 2020 | 25

BABIES! BABY ELLA BABY CHARLOTTE BABY ROSEMARY Blake Kirby (Nashville) and his wife, Brent Huskey (Raleigh) and his wife, Tyler Black (Raleigh) and his wife, Joy, Maggie, welcomed daughter Ella Sarah, welcomed daughter Charlotte welcomed their daughter, Rosemary, home on May 18th, weighing in at 8 home on May 22nd, weighing in at 8 home on June 3rd, weighing in at 5 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. lbs. 3 oz. and 21 inches long. lbs. 13 oz. and 18.5 inches long. BABY NATHAN BABY MADELINE BABY KATALINA Andy Young (Baltimore) and his wife Charlie Mitchell (Baltimore) and his Congratulations to Jimy Chavarria, welcomed their new son, Nathan, wife, Elisa, welcomed their daughter, an Inspector out of our Baltimore home on June 24th. Both mom and Madeline, home on June 3rd, weighing office, who recently welcomed baby are doing great. in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches long. home a new baby girl. BABY JAE BABY HALEEMA BABY ADA B.J. Song (Wilmington) and his wife Raghib Qureshi welcomed daughter Scott Beasley (Raleigh) and his wife welcomed their new son, Jae, home Haleema (which means gentle, welcomed their new baby girl, Ada on July 10th. Both mom and baby (and patient), born on July 22, 2020! Ray, home on August 18th, weighing jealous big sister) are doing great. in at 10 lbs. 3 oz. and 21.5 inches long. 26 | the KRONICLE

THE RK&K KROSSWORD 1 2 34 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 17 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ACROSS: DOWN: 3: Junction by which parts or objects are linked together 1: Having little elasticity 6: A conduit that carries water over a valley 2: Alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a 8: Weight to be borne or conveyed result of the application of stress to it 10: Resistance of a liquid to flowing 4: A masonry support that touches and directly receives 13: Applying scientific knowledge to practical problems thrust or pressure of an arch or bridge 14: The property of relative size or extent 5: A device that moves fluid or gas by pressure or suction 15: Mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake 7: Lacking fixity or firmness 21: Solid unweathered stone beneath surface deposits of soil 9: The amount of 3-dimensional space occupied by an object 22: A twisting force 11: The distance around the outside of a shape. 23: A type of bridge that has a roadway supported by 12: Basic facilities needed for the functioning of a country cables that are anchored at both ends 16: Influence that results in motion, stress, etc. when applied 25: An artificial reservoir for storing liquids 17: Ability of a material to return to its original shape 27: A turning force produced by an object acting at a distance. 18: A weakened state caused by long stress on a material 28: The act of lengthening something 19: A metal plate used to strengthen a joist 29: A structure taller than its diameter 20: A projecting horizontal beam fixed at one end only 24: A barrier constructed to contain the flow of water 26: Incapable of or resistant to bending Answers to this puzzle can be found on the Intranet using the following URL: september 2020 | 27 https://info.rkk.com/documents/krossword-puzzle-answers-september-2020