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Home arrow News arrow LIB Transportation Luncheon Kicks Off the Holiday Season
LIB Transportation Luncheon Kicks Off the Holiday Season Print E-mail
Commissioner Ray Ribeiro, P.E. of the Nassau County Department of Public Works (NCDPW) and Commissioner Gil Anderson, P.E. of the Suffolk County Department of Public Works (SCDPW) were the invited guest speakers at the Long Island Branch's Annual Transportation Luncheon. The event was held on Friday, December 4, 2009 at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York.

More than 150 guests attended the luncheon at Carlyle on the Green, which included a reception and a three-course meal. Many attendees admired the picturesque view from the windows of the grand conservatory ballroom overlooking the first and eighteenth holes of the famed Black Course, the site of the 109th United States Open Golf Championship this past June.

The commissioners spoke about the vast system of county-owned infrastructure on Long Island. Collectively, the NCDPW and SCDPW design, maintain, and operate a system of public works that includes:

  • 920 miles of roadway;
  • 192 bridges;
  • 2,330 traffic signals;
  • sewer systems,
  • wastewater treatment facilities;
  • groundwater recharge basins, monitoring wells, and remediation facilities;
  • waterways, streams, drainage ditches and culverts; and
  • buildings, docks, and marinas.

Of the 2.75 million residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties, few people are aware of the work done by the employees of the Department of Public Works, as well as the services provided by the consulting engineers working on County projects. Most take for granted the system of public works each day when they turn on the faucet, flush the toilet, or drive to work. Unfortunately, people only think about the need to invest in public infrastructure after disasters, such as the failures of the levees during Hurricane Katrina or the bridge collapse in Minnesota.

Commissioner Ribeiro stressed that civil engineers need to do a better job at marketing the type of work that we do and the needs of our infrastructure. One of the Commissioner's goals was to make people aware of the hard work and dedication made by the Department, and how their work directly benefits Nassau County residents.

The Met Section provided attendees with a brochure summarizing the grades for fifteen categories of infrastructure in the 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, which was released by ASCE on March 25, 2009. A committee consisting of Steve Kaufman, Bill Marman, George Moglia, Craig Ruyle, and Jason Stern is currently developing a similar report card for Long Island's infrastructure. If you are interested in working on the development of the Long Island infrastructure report card, contact Steve Kaufman at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Everyone attending the luncheon was also provided with a complimentary copy of the Guide to Civil Engineering Projects In and Around New York City, a 140-page booklet that provides an overview of the major civil engineering projects in the New York City area. The Met Section originally published the guide in 1997 and the expanded second edition was released earlier this year.

The Long Island Branch wishes to thank GEB/HIRISE, VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C., Parsons Brinckerhoff, LKB, GPI, deBruin, LKMA, Cashin Associates, P.C., AECOM, and Arora and Associates, P.C., for their support in sponsoring the Transportation Luncheon and helping to make this a very successful event.

See the Met Section photo gallery for more pictures from this event.

 
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