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Second
General Meeting Wednesday,
October 15th The meeting
will feature a presentation by Sashi Mahtani, of Tucker Alan Inc. as
well as free pizza!
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CrAzY
for the new CrAnE As
you all may have noticed, a new crane was installed in the crane bay.
Tim Prunkard, NCEL’s very own machine shop supervisor, recently
took time out of his busy schedule to give us a little information on
Newmark’s new 40-ton Friend. 1. Why do we need
the new crane? All of the physical testing in the crane bay keeps getting
larger. One of the biggest
reasons why we needed the new crane is for the National Science Foundation
N.E.E.S. Project. The project
involves building a large reaction wall and studying how it behaves under
different earthquake simulations. The
testing involves a reaction wall measuring 5 feet thick, 27 feet tall and
40 feet long. Three 33-ton
boxes will be attached to the reaction wall and used to simulate different
earthquake behaviors on the reaction wall.
This is a much more accurate way to perform earthquake tests.
Cameras will be installed in the crane bay, so it will be possible
to perform physical testing on the reaction wall in our facility from
other locations. 2. How much did
the crane cost? The cost of the crane was roughly $140,000, and funding was
provided through the N.E.E.S. project. 3. Who was involved in the installation of the crane? The crane was purchased from the manufacturing company,
Illinois Crane Company. Kristy
Foltz was subcontracted to install the crane. 4. Were any
problems encountered in the installation of the crane? Yes. The
installation was only supposed to take two days, but it ended up taking a
week. This was due to
clearance problems with the ceiling. There
was a miscommunication between the manufacturers and the subcontractor on
the clearance issue. Big
equipment had to be hauled in from other places to allow for installation,
and this took time. 6. Who will be
operating the crane? Machine shop workers and Greg Banas. Illinois Crane Company
conducted a specific training seminar for the employees on how to operate
and maintain the crane. There
are specific weekly, monthly, and annual tests that will be performed in
order to maintain the crane and ensure its safety and compliance.
The tests are both physical and visual, for example from checking
loose bolts to making sure the cables are okay, it can be compared to
maintaining something like a roller coaster.
*Member
of the Month: John Bignell* John is ASCE’s October Member of the Month.
John’s recognition has been long over due for his extensive
work on the design and fabrication of the Nationally Ranked Steel Bridge
last semester. The Bridge
team, along with the rest of ASCE, is extremely grateful we have Steve
on our team. John has
recently joined another ASCE team—the co-ed Flag Football team, and he
has been making some great plays on that as well.
Congratulations John, and good luck at the next game!
If you would like to nominate someone to be ASCE’s November
Member of the Month, just email Kevin (khatcher@uiuc.edu) with the name
of the person and why you think he or she deserves to be recognized!
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Looking for a Break from Class? ASCE will be taking a field trip to the Advanced
Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory on Thursday, October
23rd. Professor Roesler will give us a tour and show us IT’S
BAR CRAWL TIME!!!! This
semester's first Bar Crawl coming up on Thursday October 16th
. T-shirt design is on the web The Bar Crawl Schedule will be: For
those of you who ordered bar crawl T-shirts, they will be available
for pick up on October 15th at Donut Day in the morning or
at the general meeting. Email
Dan (swiatek@uiuc.edu)
if you have questions. Canoe Update: Currently, all the cross-sections for the canoe have
been milled out. The next major task will be the mold.
Insulation foam for the mold has been ordered, and as soon as it
arrives steady work sessions will start taking place in order to get the
mold completed by Thanksgiving. Paddling practices will be held on
Saturday mornings at Nice
Day for a Donut? Donut day is Wednesday October 15th.
Stop by the north end of the crane bay for some free donuts and
juice on your way to class. Donuts
Day will begin at Flag Football Fans Wanted! The perfect study break this time of year is to
get outside and enjoy the fall weather, so how about coming to cheer on
your fellow ASCE members while they kick butt in flag football?
Both of our intramural teams are off to a rocky start, but they
are definitely hungry for some wins. The men's team is 0-2 due largely
to a lack of knowledge of certain rules (like no tackling in flag
football). The co-ed team is 0-2 as well, with losses at the end of two
very close games. Come cheer on the guys team at
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