What grade would you give the infrastructure around your home?  Do you think it could withstand natural hazards such as flooding or extreme heat?

When hazards occur, our infrastructure can be greatly impacted.  David Wieller, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Lehigh Valley Section and the Water & Municipal Regional Leader for Borton-Lawson Engineering in Bethlehem, PA, presented on the many initiatives within ASCE to improve the resiliency of our infrastructure.  One of the most valuable resources ASCE provides is the Infrastructure Report Card, which is produced every four years on both a national and state level.  Mr. Wieller showed Pennsylvania’s Report Card which had low marks, especially for infrastructure related to water.  He discussed needs, resources and the outlook for the future, including the need for more students to go into civil engineering specialties.

A recording of the webinar can be viewed here.

About ASCE:

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is the oldest national engineering society in the United States.  It has a current membership of approximately 152,000 located across 177 countries.  Closer to home, the Lehigh Valley Section has more than 700 members.

About the speaker:

Mr. Wieller is a licensed Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and Iowa and has 17 years’ experience in a wide variety of water-related projects including drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and flood risk mitigation infrastructure.  He is active in promoting STEM and has participated in event for the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and ArtsQuest, among others.  Dave has a degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Delaware and spent the first 10 years of his career as an engineering consultant in Fairfax, VA.

This webinar is part of the CREATE Resilience project funded under award NA18SEC0080005 from the Environmental Literacy Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.  The statements, findings, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of NOAA or the U.S. Department of Commerce.