When I first met Tony Giancola, he was wandering through the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) annual conference’s exhibit hall…and he was wearing a bathrobe, slippers and shades. This ostentatious passing wasn’t a nod to The Big Lebowski, though. And as NACE’s Executive Director for more than 17 years, it certainly wasn’t the hallmark of someone who doesn’t work very hard. As I recall, he was participating in a charitable dunk tank–though I can’t be entirely certain I remember this correctly. This was years ago and in Orlando, and it was my first introduction to NACE and its membership. This year, NACE has arrived in my neck of the woods (Minneapolis, Minnesota) for its annual conference. Though it is Tony’s last conference as Executive Director–he’s retiring–neither he nor his colleagues at NACE are mailing this one in.
The conference got underway yesterday (Sunday, April 17) with registration, multiple committee meetings, an exhibit hall grand opening reception, and numerous hospitality events to close out the day, including the NFL Dinner (NACE Former Leaders). The theme for this year’s gathering is "Guiding with Vision"–a nice nod to the North Star State.
Today, Monday, delivered a general session on Transportation Authorization issues in the morning and a packed afternoon of concurrent sessions heavily linked to public safety and the integrity of infrastructure. Finding efficient, economical engineering strategies with which to achieve goals of safety and long-term service were also deeply incorporated. These are primary needs of any county engineering office, and NACE’s event serves its members well in this capacity. The first block of concurrent sessions addressed pavement preservation, rural ITS/dynamic curve warnings, signage and “complete street” strategies. The second concurrent session block, however, presented a clear choice for anyone with exposure to geosynthetics: GRS (geosynthetic reinforced soil) bridge abutments.
More about that session can be found in this article.
Other highlights from Monday have included the corporate members reception, a large reception to give attendees and exhibitors another chance to connect, and a night of NACE hospitality activities.
IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU
 |
A lot of conversation was had, and it’s impossible to highlight it all. But I would like to take a moment to thank NACE’s Bonnie West for arranging my visit, and strong recognition is certainly due to her NACE colleagues (including Minnesota’s chapter member volunteers and NACE member leaders) for organizing this year’s gathering and keeping things moving.
It was also nice to see Geosynthetics magazine’s editor Ron Bygness and the Geosynthetic Materials Association’s (GMA) Executive Director Andrew Aho. Like me, they benefited from NACE’s decision to locate the conference here. After all of the travel Andrew has been involved with this year–10 trips!–a home-based event seems to be quite welcomed.
And from the exhibit hall, it was great to meet Jim Howley of Tensar International Corporation and Kevin Hooley of Fibrwrap®. Jim had Tensar geogrid materials (and some other offerings) prominently on display, and it was not easy to catch him in a free moment. I saw many people stopping to talk to him about the products he’d brought. Fibrwrap® was new to me. Essentially, the material uses a carbon, glass or aramid-fiber geotextile material that is dipped in an epoxy and installed somewhat like wallpaper. This technology is being used to repair/protect columns, beams, pier caps, box girders, and more.
More notes from today can be found here.
Chris Kelsey is the editor of Geosynthetica. He can be reached at chris@geosynthetica.net.
