L'shanah tovah!

Missouri River flooding

Operation Mighty Mo: The (Ongoing) Flood of 2011

For the past 90 days, Missouri has experienced record flooding as the result of heavy snowmelt in the West. The flooding along the Missouri River continues to cause levee breaks, interstate closings, and damage to towns and farms north and east of the metro. Join Jud Kneuvean, Chief of Emergency Management at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to learn about the Corps’ response to the flooding and how Kansas City has been prepared to handle the increased water flow.

Noon to 1:00 pm on Thursday, September 8 in the Auditorium of Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry Street, KC MO 64110

Free and open to the public

Acoustic design & Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

In honor of the opening of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, we rebroadcast the interview with acoustics designer Christopher Jaffe from earlier this year. As promised, here is a link to Kyle McQuiston's interview about the construction of the Kauffman Center. Deb also announced that "Building Kansas City" is taking a break for September and will return later this year. Listen to the podcast.

Explosives and fireworks

Dr. Paul Worsey from Missouri S&T University joined the show from the studio of KMST in Rolla. Dr. Worsey is an explosives and fireworks expert, so we talked about blowing things up! He helps run a high school explosives summer camp, too. Listen to the podcast.

Water park design

Dave Schwartz, P.E. from Water's Edge Aquatic Design joined the show to discuss the behind-the-scenes details and hydraulic engineering of water park rides. We talked about everything from the swirl-bowl conical ride to supercritical flow! Listen to the podcast.

Johnson County Crimalistics Lab design

Randy Braun, P.E. from Walter P. Moore and Tony Achity, R.Arch. from PGAV joined the show to discuss some of the design constraints for the Johnson County Crimalistics Laboratory in Olathe. The building has special isolation for vibrations, stormwater handling, and had to interact with the neighboring communications building. Listen to the podcast.

Global warming skepticism

Dr. Deb took the opportunity to share some technical questions about the causes of global warming in this live show. She commented on the survey of climate scientists and meteorologists, and shared some audio from the 2011 Heartland International Conference on Climate Change from Dr. Nicola Scafetta (Duke University) and Dr. Willie Soon (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). The link is to the full video lectures which include their graphs and slides. It's good to ask questions! Listen to the podcast.

Gulf oil spill recovery

Professor Terry Richardson from the University of North Alabama joined the show by telephone to discuss the field of ecology and the impact and recovery of the Gulf Coast from the oil spill. He was instrumental, as authorized by the State of Alabama, to ensure good conduct by the clean-up volunteers in protecting the coastal ecosystem of Alabama. Listen to the podcast.

Hunt Midwest

Mike Bell and Dick Ringer from Hunt Midwest joined the show to discuss the history of the development of the Hunt Midwest properties in the northland, the Hunt Midwest Business Center, and the outlook for industrial properties in the Kansas City area. Listen to the podcast.

Missouri River race

Scott Mansker returned to talk about the races on the Missouri (MR340) and the Kansas (Kawnivore 100) Rivers. Listen to the podcast.

Rollercoaster design

Bruce Nelson, a mechanical engineering designer with S&S Worldwide discussed rollercoaster design. S&S has two rides in the Kansas City area: Space Shot at Worlds of Fun (opened 1996) and Double Shot at Celebration City in Branson (opened 2003). He discussed new design directions, and how they determine allowable accelerations on people so that the design is thrilling but not causing great discomfort. Deb also did a quick overview of rollercoaster history. Listen to the podcast.

July 4th - Independence Day

Call-in show

Your host, Dr. Deb, discussed the Kansas City Water Garden tour, and gave away tickets, gave a brief recap of the recent Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, and read the list of signers of the Declaration of Independence. Listen to the podcast.

Highway interchange designs

Tom Evans, P.E. from the Missouri Dept. of Transportation District 4 joined the show to discuss some new developments in highway interchanges. Listen to the podcast.

Brookside history

LaDene Morton is the author of The Brookside Story: Shops of Every Necessary Convenience and joined the show to talk about J.C. Nichols and the history of Brookside. She also discussed her recent experience in Joplin, MO (tornado damage). Her book is available from Amazon.com. Listen to the podcast.

LA's ZERO solid waste plan

Ruth Abbe from HDR's San Francisco office joined the show by telephone to talk about the work she has done on crafting Los Angeles' zero solid waste plan. She shared the reason for LA's move: citizen interest in reducing waste, rather than a crisis decision because the landfills were full. She discussed the variety of wastes and their final destinations, including large item waste (furniture, appliances, etc.) Listen to the podcast.

Call-in show with Jerry Richardson

Dr. Jerry Richardson, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE and Dr. Deb were available to take your calls. Jerry spoke about past floods on the Mississippi River and what's going on this spring/summer on the Missouri and Mississippi. Listen to the podcast. Dr. Richardson spoke at length in an earlier interview on the 1927 Mississippi flood - listen here to that archived interview.

Memorial Day

Our favorite meteorologist

Andy Bailey from the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, MO discussed weather safety and the weather patterns that caused our spring weather. Please note that the interview was recorded before the severe tornadoes in Joplin, MO and Oklahoma City during May 22-24, 2011. Listen to the podcast.

Lafarge Concrete

Steve Kidwell and Jarrod Huntley from Lafarge shared how cement dust is made, and how industrial byproducts like coffee grounds, construction debris, and brewery waste are used as fuel in the Lafarge plant. Listen to the podcast.

Highways and sewers

Jay Wunderlich from MODOT joined the show to talk about the need for the reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU in the first half of the show. The second half of the show is a discussion with Rob Pennington, P.E. from CDM in Edison, NJ. Rob told us about how brick sewers were rehabilitated. Rob's article in the ASCE Civil Engineering magazine has photos and details. The figure here depicts tours of the Paris sewers. Listen to the podcast.

Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge

Christian Brown, P.E. from HNTB joined the show to share the story of the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge design. This laterally-curved, cable-stayed bridge links Omaha, NE and Council Bluffs, IA for pedestrians and bicyclists by crossing the Missouri River. Listen to the podcast.

Call-in show with Christie Martin

Christy Martin, Executive Director of the Concrete Promotional Group, joined the show. The director, Randy Wistoff, of the Kansas City Zoo called in to discuss what's new at the zoo and the novel use of concrete in the new construction. We talked a lot about the polar bear habitat. Listen to the podcast.

"River Miles" TV Show & an author interview

Scott Mansker and Vicky Richmond joined the show to help launch their new TV series on KCPT (as well as a few other nearby public television stations) titled "River Miles." The locally-produced show highlights aspects of the Missouri River in Missouri. The people involved in the show's conception and execution are all active in the MR340 race, so they are intimately familiar with the Missouri River and the banks and tributaries. There are six, half-hour episodes in season 1, and they will debut on 5/22/11 at 1:00 on KCPT. The show also includes an interview with Dr. Vlad Bevc, who authored The Energy Primer for Kids, which is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Listen to the podcast.

Pesach

Subtropolis

Connie Kamps, CPM joined the show to discuss the history, and business advantages of Hunt-Midwest's Subtropolis. She manages the annual Groundhog Run which takes place inside the Subtropolis (would a 65º run in January appeal to you?) The Subtropolis complex has natural ventilation from its access doors, is located north of the Missouri River within KCMO, and is underneath Worlds of Fun, Oceans of Fun and part of I-435. Listen to the podcast.

Dave Claflin from RED Development

Dave Claflin, Esq. joined the show to share how RED Development chooses the stores for its shopping center developments, and what the different types of shopping areas are. Listen to the podcast.

Call-in show with Mike Kelly

Mike Kelly, P.E. and Dr. Deb discussed SmartGrids, microgrids, the power situation in Japan, surge arrestors, and fielded calls from our listeners. Listen to the podcast.

Hoover Dam Bridge

Bill Dowd, P.E. from HDR (retired) was the design team project manager for the Hoover Dam bridge. Listen to the unusual construction methods for this 1900 foot bridge that is 900 feet above the canyon floor. Watch the time-lapse photographic record of the construction. Listen to the podcast.

Literature with Dr. Deb

Dr. Deb read from Thoreau's Walden - the chapter on Spring. And the theatric "Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. The music clips were from the Phil Ochs song. Listen to the podcast.

Honeywell's big move

Rick Lavelock from the Kansas City Plant (Honeywell/DOE/NNSA) joined to the show to discuss the history of the plant (Bendix, WWII airplane engines, Allied Signal), and the plans to move the plant from 95th & Troost to South Kansas City, near Richards Gebaur. Rick and Deb also discussed some of the technical capabilities of the Kansas City Plant. Listen to the podcast.

Call-in show with Dave Landis

Dave Landis, P.E. from Walter P. Moore Engineering joined the show to discuss the design of sports stadia. Listen to the podcast.

NEID Sewer Improvements

Matt Schultze, P.E. from Black & Veatch, returns to "Building Kansas City" to discuss the improvements to the combined sewer system in the Northeast Industrial District. The plans include a zone of green solutions in the NE section of downtown KC and a sewer separation along Chouteau Traffficway north of Front St. View the detailed plan here. Listen to the podcast.

Engineers' Week

18 Broadway

Chris Devolder from 360° Architecture joined the show to discuss the stormwater treatment plans, the garden, the stewardship and the neighborhood impact that the 18th & Broadway development is having on the west edge of the Crossroads District of KCMO. Listen to the podcast.

Happy Valentine's Day

Turkey Creek Sewer Improvements

Matt Schulze, P.E. from Black & Veatch shared the plans for the combined sewer improvements in the downtown Turkey Creek drainage basin. This drainage area includes most of Kansas City's downtown, is bounded on the north by the Missouri River, and by the Kansas River on the west. The drainage basin goes as far south as Union Station, and, of course, includes Southwest Boulevard. Read more about the details of the plan here. Listen to the podcast.

"Oh, what a lovely war"

UMKC Theatre, in collaboration with the Kansas City Actors Theatre (KCAT) and the National World War I Museum, will present Oh What a Lovely War from February 11 through 27 at the Museum, located at Liberty Memorial.

Call-in show with Tom Kimes

Tom Kimes, P.E. from HDR, and who is an adjunct instructor at UMKC joins Dr. Deb to discuss Liberty Memorial, engineering education, and answer your calls. Listen to the podcast.

Acoustical Design

Christopher Jaffe, a giant in modern acoustical design, joined the show to share his understanding of historic performance halls, and modern performance spaces, including outdoor venues. His resume is impressive, and he has encouraging insights into our own Kauffman Performing Arts Center His book is available, and is written for a generally-educated reader. It's ideal for music lovers. Listen to the podcast.

World War Museum

Doran Cart, the curator of the World War Museum, returns to discuss the history of the museum and the Liberty Memorial, the museum redesign, and the current special exhibits. We also gave away several pairs of tickets to lucky listeners. Doran brought some popular music from the war that brightened up our interview.

Jerry Richardson on Longitude

Prof. Jerry Richardson, P.E., D.WRE shares his love of nonfiction, engineering-related literature by unpacking Longitude by Dava Sobel. His storytelling is enhanced by some audio clips from the A&E "Longitude" movie. Solving the longitude problem was key to successful transoceanic travel, and helped ensure England's place in naval superiority in the 19th century. Another web resource. Listen to the podcast.

Second Anniversary

"Building Kansas City"/"Water, Water Everywhere" has been on the air for two years now. Wow.

Power industry insights

Mike Kelly, PE, an adjunct professor at UMKC and former power plant designer, joined Building Kansas City to discuss power generation and transmission line capacity. Listen to the podcast.

Call-in show with John and Samantha Kevern

Dr. John Kevern, LEED from UMKC and Samantha Kevern from Genesis Structures joined Dr. Deb for the first hour show of "Building Kansas City." We talked about concrete, construction engineering, and answered calls from the audience (which were about concrete). Listen to the podcast.