Engineering Accreditation - Phil Borrowman, P.E.

Phil Borrowman is the president-elect for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Phil and Deb discuss the importance of accreditation for engineering programs, and ABET's progressive assessment of educational outcomes (learning vs. teaching). Listen to the broadcast.

Dick Champion

Dick Champion from the City of Independence Water Pollution Control Department shared a variety of water-related topics close to his heart, including the Indendendence EcoFest (see photo of EcoElvis) and the Clean Water America Alliance. Listen to the podcast.

Rising Tide book review by Jerry Richardson, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE

Jerry Richardson from UMKC Civil Engineering gave a book review of Rising Tide: a book about the 1927 flood on the Mississippi River. He divided his comments into three areas: the key engineers, the regional politics, and the effects of the flood. Deb gave a dramatic introduction to Jerry's interview (you've got to listen!).

Waterfront construction - Steve Hague, P.E.

Steve Hague, PE, SE from HNTB shared the technical differences between suspension bridges and cable-stayed bridges (Steve designed the Zakim Bridge in Boston shown in the figure). He also shared how cable-stayed bridges are constructed. Listen to the podcast.

Blue River restoration - Tim Fobes from HDR

Tim shared the efforts to restore normal aquatic and riparian habitats to a section of the Blue River from 53rd Street to the confluence with Brush Creek in eastern Kansas City. The project has two purposes: flood control/conveyance and habitat restoration. Learn about some of the construction and design methods, and what benefits have already been seen. Listen to the podcast.

Rick Besancon, P.E. -- sewer bats

Rick Besancon, P.E. of Burns & McDonnell explained about the grey bats (Myotis grisescens) in the Pittsburg, KS storm sewers. Grey bats are an endangered species. Burns & McDonnell worked with bat ecologists from Missouri State University to modify the new box culvert installation for bat habitation. Listen to the podcast.

Book reviews by Jerry Richardson, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE

Jerry Richardson will be a returning guest on the show to share his passion for nonfiction books about rivers and water. Here is a list of possible radio interview subjects:

• Rising Tide: the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America, by John M. Barry.
• Down the Colorado: diary of the first trip through the Grand Canyon, 1869, by John Wesley Powell and Eliot Porter.
• The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard.
• The Blue Nile, by Alan Moorehead.
• The White Nile, by Alan Moorehead.
• The Journals of Lewis and Clark
• Sources of the River: tracking David Thompson across western North America, by Jack Nisbet.
• Cadillac Desert: the American West and its disappearing water, by Marc Reisner and John Lust.
• Longitude: the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time, by Dava Sobel.