Henry Hessing, PE

What is the Rush?

2009-11-08T09:48:00.001-05:00

Each man's interests are expressed by his values, his desires, his goals and their actual achievement. The rational man's values depend on the judgment of his mind. He is guided by his thinking and not his feelings or desires.

The man who chooses not to use his mind makes decisions based on feelings, emotions or whim which is illogical and/or irrational. He may desire an achievement but the mere fact that a man desires something does not constitute proof that the object of his desire is good.

The President urged Congress to pass health care reform before the August recess. What is the Administration's rush to reform health care? Is there a crisis? How did we arrive at this moment? What is our understanding of the predicament? Can we lift ourselves out of it? What must be done to recover from the "crisis"?

During World War II, government-controlled employer-based health insurance coercively imposed costs on others not the individual user. Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in 1965 and did the same thing. Thus government shifted costs from the individual user onto others that led to an explosion in spending. This inflated demand sent expenditures soaring, which led to more government controls, cuts to benefits and more government imposed regulation. Today, half of all spending on health care is by the government yet government "reforms" only expand government intervention. The Administration calls for massive government intervention, evading the government's manipulation of the free market that caused the "crisis".

How did government-controlled employer-based health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid affect the budget and national debt? Was decision making distorted because of government intervention. Was it the primary cause? Did government encourage the less competent and more reckless at the expense of the competent? A genuine explanation of the health care "crisis" must take into account all of the facts. Have we heard the President say that government manipulation of the health care industry had any role in the present "crisis"? Entertaining such questions is not on the President's agenda because the fundamental idea of taking government out of health care prevents future manipulation. The analyst, Alex Epstein said, "The Administration does not seek a genuine understanding. The wisdom and necessity of government intervention is self- evident to them. Regardless of the evidence, the "crisis" can only be solved by government". By proposing government take-over of the health care industry ignores that this industry is among the most heavily regulated. Thus the Administration's only motive is to elevate a non-value in order to nullify a real value capitalism.

The solution to the "crisis" is that government has to be phased out of health care. A free market in medical care has to be restored. Yaron Brook, Executive Director of the ARC for Individual Rights said, "The power of capitalism has to be unleashed in the medical industry. Competition motivated by profit to provide the best quality of services at the lowest prices would drive innovation and brings affordable medical care into the reach of all Americans".

While the President has not sought a real explanation of today's health care "crisis", Americans should. We should understand how free market capitalism works. If we do not, then we are condemned to the Administration's "solutions" that is government debt, recently cited as $12.8 trillion and growing by billions daily, government controls and government decisions on individual health care. Alternative free market explanations for the "crisis" exist, ones that consider the inconvenient facts the administration ignores. Rational men should take time to understand the facts and exercise their right to discuss them.

Yana's Road Trip

2009-11-08T09:44:00.001-05:00

Dear Diary

We're off again!

Joni and Hank want to see their friends who live in the wilds of western New Jersey. I love road trips. Hank drives, Joni plays country music and I sleep.

We check into the Marriott where the receptionist proceeds to give Hank a difficult time about pets. Hank explains that I am a guide dog and not a pet. He eventually gets his point across and we have a room! I really think they are afraid of me because I am a German shepherd but truth be known, I love people, places and even kids.

We go to meet our friends Rosanna and John in one of Clinton's fine restaurants over looking the river. What wonderful aromas so many things to sniff! I love sniffing. In fact, I'd rather do a sniff walk than any other kind of walk. Hank spots John and they do their traditional bear hug. We sit at a table where I can look around. Oh boy, the adjoining table has kids! Kids are about my height and always have stuff on their faces I love to lick.

Rosanna and John introduce us to two of their friends Lois and Pete. They've already eaten and have to get to the concert so we bid temporary adieu, as we'll see them later. Joni and Hank have dinner and I start to sneak over to the kids. Gently, I am reminded that I can't play with them as I'm working tonight.

The Raritan River Music Festival draws a huge crowd. Alternately, strings play, the author, Frank McCourt reads passages from his book, Angela's Ashes, and the audience applauds. Every time they applaud, I stand up and take a bow. After all, they are applauding me, aren't they? The evening events come to an end. We take a walk and retire for the evening.

Bright and early next morning, we visit Rosanna and John. The humans have breakfast in the dining area leaving the side door open to the deck. Joni gives me the command, "Free" which means I can do what I want on the deck and in the back yard. I investigate, running up the hill, running down the hill and running all around. I like running.

Why don't I just go out and sniff around a bit. They're talking and won't miss me if I leave for just a few minutes. There is a gate. Shall I jump over it? Don't have to. The gate is slightly ajar.

Wow all these smells! I smell a cat, chipmunks, deer, dogs and horses! I love deer, dogs and horses. Cats not so much. Joni likes to go horseback riding and once took me to the stables. Great sniffing opportunities at the stables

I love this. There is so much to see and sniff - where do I begin? Go up the hill? Visit the neighbors? Why don't I just meander across the road into the pasture below and make new friends?

Oh-oh! A human found me. Here we go up into the car back to John and Rosanna's. Wonder how she knew where to take me? There's Joni and Hank. Everyone is waiting for me. They are not applauding. I'll go right up and lick them! They're talking about me to Cindy, the nice lady who found me, as if I was lost. I put a scare into Joni and Hank but I wasn't lost. I was sniffing!

We must go back to Long Island. I think I'll sleep. Who wants to listen to country music anyway?

We're home now. There is Midnight the Cat chasing squirrels! I think I'll chase Midnight. Wonder if we'll take a walk on the beach or visit the deer along the trail to the lighthouse? I love the salty sea air, sniffing deer and chasing sea gulls! - Yana

test title

2009-11-08T09:38:00.001-05:00

Here is a test email post.

A Fish Story

2007-07-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

Fishing is a wonderful sport. I’ve always enjoyed going fishing regardless of the results and I’ve been lucky enough to pass that fun to our sons. We’ve had the opportunity to go fresh and saltwater fishing in many states and coastal areas. I’ve witnessed their fishing skills improve over the years, so much so that I can stand next to either of them or between them and never get a nibble while they catch the limit. Many, many times they’ve caught ten or twelve keepers each while, if lucky, I’ll catch one or two. Most times I’ve been skunked. The fish we bring home are what they’ve caught. There have been occasions when my wife, Joni, has joined us. I’m always amazed how fish seem to crawl up her line!

Several years ago, about the third week in August, I took Ted (9) and Matt (7) on a party boat out of Captree. We went blue fishing but the boat wasn’t having much luck. About two hours into the day, Matt, managed to catch an eleven-pound blue. His small arms tired but he pulled it in by himself. Afterwards, he sat on the bench. I asked, “Matt, aren’t you going to catch another?” Matt’s reply, I’m exhausted!” And he was but he eventually got back up and tossed his line in again. The hours went by and I only hoped his older brother, Ted, would catch one and indeed he did. They both caught eleven-pound blues that day and I said, “yes, there is a God ”!

The boys have grown to be men. Our fishing excursions are few and far between. Now it seems that the only time I catch fish is when I go with Joni who really isn’t into fishing. Her real purpose in going fishing is to needle me about all the fish she catches compared to all I don’t. If you bet who is going to catch dinner, bet on Joni. She’s caught tuna, maui-maui, and grouper off both coasts of Florida where there are many fine restaurants that will cook your catch any way you like them.

One of our vacations to Sanabel Island off the west coast of Florida found us fishing out of Captiva. It is a beautiful island with lush green foliage, serene charm and a funky spirit. We decided to catch a couple of grouper for dinner and had a delightful adventure. We hooked up with Jim, a son of a fishing family we know. He took us out to a spot over an old ship wreck where he knew we’d catch grouper and did we! It wasn’t long before we had a couple of good size fish. Using 14 or 15 lb line, we were just going to catch one or two more and then anything after that, we’d just catch and release - or so we thought.

Joni caught a couple of grouper and then on the third one, her line snapped. I thought I caught a grouper and started reeling up but I couldn’t. I thought I caught bottom or maybe part of the wreck. Jim said, “you got a big one on, bring him to the surface.” While I worked this fish, Joni caught a couple of more grouper and we had enough for dinner. After getting the fish on my line to start to rise from the depths, he’d go straight back down. It wasn’t long before my arms tired and I remembered how Matt, as a seven year old, felt landing his first blue. Getting this fish to the surface took at least 45 minutes. Jim said it was a Jewfish. The Jewfish is the largest member of the grouper family and one of the largest fish in the ocean. Some have weighed upwards of 750 lbs. The length of the fish depends on who is telling the story. This one was about five feet long and 250 pounds.

Jim said we had to bring the fish into the boat. He thought it was a record for 14 lb line. It was one oily fish to try and grab and bring onboard. With great effort, we accomplished this task and took pictures. Who would believe this fish story without a photo? After Joni finished taking pictures, Jim said we had to release it. Huh? The Jewfish is an endangered species having been fished almost to extinction. Again with great effort, back he went. Jim revived him by forcing water through his massive gills and he shot back down to the depths.

This fish wasn’t a record. We checked the line and it turned out to be 15lb test. If I had the other reel with 14 lb test line, it might have been a record but I might not have reeled the fish in.

It was a successful day. Joni caught some nice size grouper. They were wonderfully prepared at one of the local restaurants. Later we emailed the photos Joni took to Jim. And I had a fish story with photos to tell our sons about the one that didn’t get away!

The Barber Shop

2007-07-14T09:47:00.001-04:00

Usually it is a Saturday morning when I’ll mention to Joni that I’ve got to get a haircut. With reference to male pattern baldness or the Friar Tuck look, my wife laughs at the thought of me getting a hair cut. Sometimes she’ll ask, “Which strand might that be?”

All my life, at least that which I can remember, it seems I have been going to John’s Barber Shop to get a hair cut. It never mattered where I lived. The barbershop was always named “John’s”.

As a boy living in Farmingdale when there were farms, it was great adventure to ride my bike from our cape cod house, venture across railroad tracks and on toward Main Street. I would peer into the distance, looking for the barber’s pole. I’d park my two-wheeler in front, and if my younger brother Dave came along, we’d go to the library afterwards and borrow a couple of books before heading home. Yes, where a restaurant is located today, there once was a library.

My first visits had me wondering what the strap hanging from the side of the barber’s chair was used for until I saw John sharpen his razor and clean a customer’s nape. I was fascinated with the whole process, asking how did a razor get sharper by sliding it along the leather throng. On another visit, I eagerly watched with a little boy’s curiosity, John’s skilled hands shave a man’s beard. Later, when it was my turn, I’d climb up into that chair and John would take out his long thin scissors and make me more or less presentable.

Our family moved to West Islip in 1955. There was a farm and a wooded area behind our house – great place for my brothers and I to run around and play. There were flowers grown in rows, rabbits in the woods and birds a plenty in the trees. We’d climb those trees and looked into birds’ nests to see the different colored eggs of robins or blue jays. In fact, there were so many blue jays someone named the local grocery store Blue Jay Market. Near the market was a candy store that sold baseball cards and ice cream sodas. And next door was John’s barbershop! I frequented this barbershop until I was drafted into the Army and all hair was lost. Style wasn’t a major concern when you had no hair. Or as Joni phrased it, “You should have taken that as an omen for the future.”

Unfortunately, I never saw anything resembling John’s barbershop neither during basic or advanced infantry training nor in Viet Nam. Getting a hair cut in VN was an amusing situation wherein whenever our top sergeant got up on the wrong side of his cot, he’d yell at all of us and then tell me to get a haircut. The only place we were allowed to get a hair cut was at papa sans because having GIs get haircuts by the locals was supposed to help the Vietnamese economy. While wondering which whiz kid thought that one up, one of my buddies told me to take some bandages with me.

Papa san had a pair of scissors and a propensity to take a long break from cutting your hair. He took out what looked like a round white ceramic bowl decorated with blue trim, lit it up and smoked some weed not generally found on the open market before returning and snipping away. If your ear got clipped, well war is hell. After that first visit, I’d get lost when Top screamed about haircuts, as I wasn’t “into” getting a Purple Heart for losing an ear.

Some years later, I went to a barbershop located on the west side of Higbie Lane and Udall’s Road in West Islip. The proprietor’s name just happens to be John. This is an experience like a glimpse at a moment in time. There is a certain aura of nostalgia in his emporium. You’ll see scores of Frank Sinatra pictures – many are autographed! You’ll hear songs sung by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis. If that isn’t enough, John has a collection of baseball memorabilia that includes pictures of Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto and many New York Yankee stars, autographed baseballs and at least three baseball bats! It is more than a collection – it is life, as we once knew, lived and still exists.

I have always been a baseball fan. The Dodger’s were my favorite team. 1955 the Dodgers won the World Series but it seemed like the Yankees won all the rest. And in fact, they won the previous seven times the two teams met. For years I searched for a picture of the four Dodger sluggers – Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges and Duke Snider. When I finally got one, I thought about John, made a copy, framed it, and gave it to him to squeeze onto his hallowed walls of fame. The diehard Yankee fan had a puzzled look on his face when I handed it to him. I explained that those great Yankee teams had to beat somebody to win all those World Series rings and these are the guys they beat! John could accept that and he hung it. Another time, I gave him a picture of the four New York centerfielders – number 4, the Duke of Brooklyn, Duke Snider, number 5, joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, number 24, the Say Hey Kid Willie Mays, and number 7, Mickey Mantle. I think John took that one home for his private collection.

Hank Hessing

A 380

2007-07-11T17:05:00.001-04:00

A 380

JFK International Airport is divided between what is called landside and airside. To be allowed the privilege to drive airside, one takes training classes and one must have a security clearance. We went airside to Hangar 19 to see the new, large Group 6 aircraft, the A 380.

The plane is impressive because of its size. The wingspan is close to 300 feet. It takes 81,000 gallons of fuel that is more correctly described as taking on 100,000 tons of fuel. Can you imagine that? The front wheels of the aircraft landing gear have to be placed on a special tow vehicle so it can be towed from the ramp to the taxiway. On other aircraft, this is done with a tow bar that is simply hooked to it.

While driving airside you monitor the control tower. We knew that the plane was going to take off today, March 20, 2007 and went to see that event. The commands from the tower were to, "Lufthansa Super". The A 380 lumbered down the taxiway behind an American Airlines Boeing 767 - 300. Its wings seem very sensitive as you can see them rock a bit. The tower gave the 767 the option of taking off ahead or behind the A 380 and he chose to take off first. They taxied to runway 13 left which is the longest at JFK - 14,456 feet I think. The 767 took off as normal using about half the length of the runway. The A 380 waited its turn. I wondered how much fuel his Rolls Royce engines used while sitting at the end of the runway. The normal airside activities essentially came to an unofficial halt as many, many people watched. Operations sent two vehicles down the runway to scare off any birds and to ensure there was no debris that might get caught in the engines. The A 380 took off very easily at approximately 11:30 AM, using about 2/3 of the runway before lift.

We were drawn to this event. Ayn Rand observed the Apollo 11 launch on July 16, 1969. She described the significance as philosophical, specifically, moral-epistemological. Paraphrasing her thoughts and words to the A 380 rising:

“What we had seen was an abstraction made into reality. Engines unleashed energy that was controlled by man, ruled by his power to serve his purpose, i.e., causing a craft to rise. This was not a whim of nature, chance or luck. It was grandeur. Man’s purpose and a long sustained effort was succeeding!

We had a demonstration of man at his best. This was the cause of the attraction. No one could doubt the achievement of man, an achievement of reason, logic, mathematics, and of total dedication. The A 380 enacted a story of audacious spirit, purpose, execution, triumph and the means to achieve it. This is the story of man’s highest potential.”

Reflections on the Fourth of July

2007-07-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

“Honor: A History” is a book written by James Bowman that describes the loss of honor from the lexicon of 21st century American society. The author states, “Honor is stark and unrelenting” and “Americans do not like stark choices”. If one accepts the premise, the question is why has honor been lost from our vocabularies?

Observing those who would be President, Mr. Bowman may be correct. Pretenders to the throne rely on polls of the ill informed as a substitute for leadership. In contrast, our Founding Fathers did not rely on polls. They relied on the writings of John Locke, their conviction that they must stand up to the great British army and navy, and the courage to do so no matter the cost. If we are to survive as a nation in the 21st century, we should start with the definition of honor.

One may define honor as a sense of what is right, just and true. It is the finest sense of justice our minds can frame. Honor is exhibited by conscious exertion of one’s self esteem exhibited throughout the course of one’s lifetime.

As with our Founding Fathers, it is axiomatic that in each man’s life, in each nation’s there comes a time to decide between good and evil, truth and falsehood, decisive leadership or poll watching. The poem, “Once to Every Man and Nation” comes to mind. Written by James R. Lowell, this most quoted thought appeared in the “Boston Courier” on December 11, 1845. “...Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside...” We expect bravery and honor of our military leaders. We should expect no less from our civilian leaders because if we expect nothing of them, that is exactly what we will get. Reflecting on the conviction and courage of our Founding Fathers, the bravery of our military, we the people of the United States must define honor, first for ourselves as individuals and secondly, for those we elect. Never expect the converse to be true.

Ayn Rand once described to West Point’s graduating class that, “...the highest integrity and sense of honor exhibited by character, resolution, the persistence to do what is right despite the cost are virtues.” To lead the most moral country in the world, one must have an individual sense of earnestness, dedication and a conscientious awareness of honor. In order to be retained in the lexicon of the 21st century, honor has to begin with each of us, individually.
Hank Hessing
Babylon, NY

September 11th, 2006

2006-09-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

The site of the former World Trade Center where 2,749 innocent people died by passenger filled missiles on September 11, 2001 still haunts our soul. Some of our bravest - police and firemen - gave all that day. In the agonizing aftermath, emergency medical technicians, policemen and firemen began searching for survivors and restoring order. Construction workers stabilized the site. Together, these are the men who keep our city functioning everyday and particularly on that day of infamy. For months thereafter they continued the work that empty suits and talking heads cannot and never will. Others stood on the sides of the road cheering those who can as they kept returning for twelve-hour shifts. Religious services were held. We buried our dead.

Today, on the north side of Vesey Street, a sparkling 52-story high-rise structure replaces one of the buildings that collapsed. Deroy Murdoch, a columnist and senior fellow with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, said, “The barbarians crushed the gates, but we repelled them, with our beauty and prowess intact.” Those who can, private enterprise and capitalism, have reconstructed 7 World Trade Center. The hole in the ground where the twin towers once proudly stood remain a testament to incompetent government bureaucratic socialism and what it cannot do.

Five years have passed since the attack against freedom, individual rights, science, engineering and capitalism and yet, little has changed in our “fight” for the sanctity of our own lives. Our immediate response was to inconvenience every air traveler by making them pass through magnetometers and screening their luggage. The August 2006 foiled plot to destroy ten aircraft bound from England to the United States had us toss away water bottles and shampoo.

We sent soldiers into Afghanistan and Iraq. If we had not restrained our FBI, CIA and our military, it could have had a valid purpose as a first step in ousting the terrorist-sponsoring, anti-American regimes of the Middle East. Unmitigated restraint in the guise of political correctness is responsible for thousands of unnecessary American deaths in pursuit of the sacrificial goal of "civilizing" these countries. Totalitarian groups such as Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, and the countries supporting them such as Iran and Syria, are hell-bent on destroying capitalism and killing Americans. They sacrifice their young as suicide bombers to attack us. Golda Meir is quoted as saying, “We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”

Western civilization is facing an ideology that would subjugate every human being to Islam and murder everyone else. Would that our President take his own words to heart and that the vapid United States Senate, lacking moral certitude, understood that Islamic totalitarianism will be achieved if allowed to impose its religious dogma by use of force. It is a moral travesty that we do not destroy our enemy using unrestrained force and with everything in our arsenal including nuclear weapons. We should grant those who wish suicide their reward. When Islamists die rather than their victims will victory be achieved as no amount of baggage screening or tossing toothpaste will make us safe.

And if we use unrestrained force, what legitimate concern should we have for possibly harming Middle Eastern “innocents”?

In a lecture concerning “The Moral Factor” held in the Ford Hall Forum in 1976, a
similar question was posed. “Assume a war of aggression was started by the Soviet Union: assume also that within the Soviet Union, there were many that opposed the aggressive work of the ruling group there. How would you handle that type of problem?”
Ayn Rand’s response is quoted: “This question is so blatantly wrong that I cannot understand how anyone can entertain it seriously. It assumes that an individual inside a country can be made secure from the social system under which he lives and which he accepts (because he hasn't left the country). It is the idea that others must surrender to aggression--in other words, be goddamned pacifists, who won't fight, even when attacked, because they might kill innocent people. In Soviet Russia, there aren't very many innocent ones – and they’re mainly in concentration camps.

If you could have a life independent of the system, so that you wouldn't be drawn into an unjust war, you would not need to be concerned about politics. But we should care about having the right social system, because our lives are dependent on it--because a political system, good or bad, is established in our name, and we bear the responsibility for it.Nobody has to put up with aggression and surrender his right of self-defense for fear of hurting somebody else, guilty or innocent. When someone comes at you with a gun, if you have one ounce of self-esteem, you will answer him by force, never mind who he is or who is behind him. If he is out to destroy you, that is what you owe to the sanctity of your own life.”

It is in our own self-interest, for the sanctity of our lives and that of other free nations whose leaders aught to be urging us to do so, that we must inflict devastation on those who would destroy us. Islamic totalitarianism ceded all “rights” on September 11, 2001.

Honor

2006-07-04T21:17:00.000-04:00

“ Say, what is honor? 'T is the finest sense Ofjustice which the human mind can frame, Intent eachlurking frailty to disclaim, And guard the way oflife from all offense Suffered or done.” – William Wordsworth

Is there a consciencious awareness of honor in American society today? Is there an individual sense of earnestness, dedication and honor or is it virtually non-existent?

There are eleven definitions of the word “honor” that appear in Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913). The third definition is: “3. A nice sense of what is right, just, and true, with course of life correspondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege.”

In a recent World Street Journal article, Josiah Bunting III reviewed James Bowman’s “Honor: A History” which describes the loss of honor from the lexicon of 21st century American society. The author is quoted, “Honor is stark and unrelenting” and “Americans do not like stark choices”. The article referenced the “old hymn” - “Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside.”

The “old hymn” is a poem by James R. Lowell that appeared in the Boston Courier, December 11, 1845:

Once to Every Man and Nation
Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.

By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

In an address at West Point, the Objectivist philosopher, Ayn Rand stated, “We are the most moral country in the world.” She defined honor as “self esteem made visable in action. …the highest integrity and sense of honor exhibited by character, resolution, the persistence to do what is right despite the cost are virtues”.

Our poets, and philosophers understand what honor means. The point Mr. Bunting makes is: we must understand our own definition of honor, our enemy’s, and act honorably in confronting them if we are to survive as a nation.

Hank Hessing
Babylon

Memorial Day 2006

2006-05-25T15:39:00.000-04:00

Sand bags were stacked along the outside walls of Quonset huts - gray corrugated metal arches. The sun and rain took turns beating on them alternating between dry and rainy seasons. At any time of the year, they were hot and humid as hell. Who built them? I don’t know. They were there long before I arrived. This was “home” for most of my tour.

After all these years, what does one remember about Viet Nam? I remember Larry, Rick and Frank. Like hundreds of thousands, we were drafted and sent to Viet Nam.

Larry had an easy, gentle smile and Errol Flynn good looks. His home was San Mateo, California. He majored in computer sciences in college and went to work for a bank. But Larry said he “didn’t trust banks”. He kept his money under a mattress at home. Rick was high strung and smoked a lot. He had the ability to hold two cigarettes and a pipe in his hands simultaneously. A Pennsylvanian, Rick majored in computers and worked for a large company. Frank was from Maryland and had earned an electrical engineering degree. A gentle soul, Frank should never have been drafted. After graduating with a degree in engineering science, I had only worked for a civil engineering firm for four months before receiving my draft notice.

Our primary job was to run computers and the associated programs in the data service center but at night we either guarded the perimeter or went on patrol. In the Army, everyone is considered eleven bravo – infantry soldier. When the Army wasn’t getting their money’s worth out of us, we found other things to do.

Frank decided we needed electricity and began by running new wiring to each man’s hooch. Rick put his cigarettes away and wired outlets. Larry connected overhead fans to help cool the place and make it more livable. I installed a switch in each room for lighting and fans. We considered this a major accomplishment. I never asked where Frank got the materials.

Shortly thereafter, Frank’s mom passed away. The Army sent him home on bereavement. We all thought he got out before he got dinged and we cheered for him! Several months later, Frank returned. I couldn’t believe it. If the Army had to keep him, why not keep him state side, near his family? Frank experienced every soldier’s nightmare – he went to VN, he was sent home, and worst yet, he was sent back to VN. He had changed and so had we. To maintain his sanity, we decided Frank would not go on any patrols and he’d be our “official” photographer. I still have some of his pictures of our environs.

It was rare that Larry, Rick and I got together because as squad leaders, one of us went on patrol almost every night. We knew it was a numbers game. The more you went out, the greater the odds of getting zapped. No matter what happened, our code was we would bring all our guys back. We never talked about what happened unless there was something we had to report to our “superiors”. Any other talk served no purpose.

We were excellent marksmen and each had his individual preference. Before going home, Frank liked setting claymores probably because he liked to wire them. Larry preferred the grenade launcher and mortar but always carried a large knife. Rick carried a .38 and a .44 along with his M-16. My preference was the M-16 as I felt very comfortable picking targets between 75 and 200 yards. It was similar to the size and weight of the Anschultz I learned to use as a member of the West Islip High School rifle team. Dry socks and a full canteen were pretty good items to bring along as well.

Larry discovered a source of lumber. We set about building a frame and shelves for stereo equipment even though we didn’t have any. We installed the left over plywood on the inside walls of our quarters for pinup posters. Larry wrote to his sister who sent supplies: a clasp and a lock for the cabinet, day-glow paint, posters and a black light. We thanked her via a letter. We painted the room black and threw white and occasionally yellow, orange or red dots on the ceiling. With the black light on at night, you could look at the ceiling and drift away into the stars. All we needed was stereo equipment.

Larry and I decided to buy stereo equipment however, on E-4 pay, we could afford just one component per month. We agreed to send half of our money home and the other half to fund the stereo cabinet. After a few months, we assembled a rudimentary system.

Before he left the states, Larry was married. I was standing next to him during mail call, when he received a “dear john” letter. Amazingly, he showed no emotion. He just shrugged and said, “She spent too much money, anyway.” I asked, “On what?” Larry’s one word answer was “clothes.” He never spoke of her again. Larry went on patrol that night. I think they made him soldier of the month for his actions which earned him a three-day R and R.

I told Rick and Larry about Joni, a girl I met in college. I didn’t say I missed her. I wondered out loud whether she would be there, if I got lucky and returned to the world in one piece. She was smart and pretty, a great combination. Rick said, if that were the case, she’d be dating and no doubt would get married, “for sure GI” using the Vietnamese expression. I think this had been Rick’s experience, though he never admitted it. He said he didn’t have any attachment back home so we didn’t dwell on the subject.

The day finally came when Rick’s year (tour of duty) was completed and he went back to the states. Three months later, Larry went home with half our stereo system. We had great parties on both occasions! I earned sergeant stripes and when it was my turn, I left and never looked back. And Joni did wait. We married within a year of my return.

Choose Logic

2006-04-12T20:37:00.000-04:00

Is there a difference in the basis of debate, whether pro or con, concerning immigration, tax credits or school vouchers, universal health care, social security reform or school prayer? If we review for example, the school prayer discussion we can apply the same logic to the other national concerns.

What is the difference between those who declare that prayer should be banned from school and those who propose its inclusion? How does one make these declarations? From whence comes the knowledge to aver what other individuals must do? Have declarers examined their philosophy to the depth required to goad, urge or prod academia, government or the individual to kowtow to fear of reprisal from one group or another with any moral authority?
Subjectivism holds that there are no absolutes or principles and judgment is relative. Hence, “truth is in the eye of the beholder.” However, “what is right for you might not be right for me”. Ergo, no one can have objective knowledge or objective grounds for evaluating another person’s beliefs or actions. An analogy might be, “On the premise that moral values are merely subjective preferences, there is no factual basis for moral judgment.” Those who believe that “anything goes” also avoid making any judgments.

Those who argue for school prayer dismiss the “truth is relative” or “anything goes” statements of the subjectivists. They espouse “unquestionable truth” and advocate absolute standards of right and wrong.

Are the positions and attitudes of the two opinions diametrically opposed?

It is only on the surface that the subjectivist is opposed to the religious proponent. The two share a fundamental similarity. In denying that there are any objective standards by which to choose how to think or act, the subjectivist makes clear that his choices are ruled by blind feelings. This is precisely the basic policy of the religious proponent as well.

Consider that there is an infinite number of opposing religious sects, how does the religionist decide which faith to embrace, which revelations to follow and which authority to obey? Does he scientifically gather evidence, carefully weigh it, and then adopt the conclusion to which reason and logic point? Obviously not. He feels it. He feels that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, astrology or whatever, is the right faith for him. While the religionist may claim to uphold absolute truths in his argument for school prayer, his beliefs are as arbitrary as those of the subjectivist. The difference between the two is that there is no difference, merely emotionalism.

What neither the subjectivist nor the dogmatist can fathom is the need for an alternate approach, a method of seeking truth, acquiring knowledge, and defining moral standards, not by indulging in emotions, but by the process of reasoning based on factual evidence. In every issue and area of life, our decisions must be based on logical arguments that are grounded in directly perceivable facts and not emotions, feelings or arbitrary whims.

Examine the rhetoric our public representatives espouse on national issues such as immigration and border security, tax credits or vouchers for school choice, social security reform, universal healthcare or any other of the myriad discussions and debates. We must ask what is fact and what is emotion, dismiss emotion and base decisions on facts alone. To avoid their rhetoric, our culture has to reject emotionalism whether in the form of anything-goes subjectivism or emotionally driven feelings, in favor of logic and reason.

Free Software

2005-12-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

That's right, free software!

Check out this free browser from FireFox. It is much better than Internet Explorer in terms of security, functionality, and ease of use. You know, the little things! Just click on the big blue link on the right!

Dancing at the New York Crystal Dance Studio

2005-12-20T17:08:00.000-05:00

Dancing at the New York Crystal Dance Studio

As boys growing up in West Islip, our favorite sport was baseball. We walked and talked baseball and often took our heroes names while playing. I remember my mother saying, “If you want to make the double play like Pee Wee Reese, you should learn to tap dance. That’s what Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges did!” I inquired, “Mom, what do you mean?” And mom said, “You have to have great foot work to make the double play at second base and to receive the throws at first base. They took dancing lessons to become better fielders.”

To my amazement, I learned mom knew what a double play was and thus knew the secret of my heroes’ success. This solidified in my mind for time eternal that mothers know everything! But I never took dance lessons and never learned to dance.

*****
Our friends Joan, Rich, Pam and Dennis love to go to dinner and dancing. As beautiful dancers, they know the subtleties of leading and following. My wife, Joni, always wanted to dance but I was a stick in the mud and preferred to sit out. After attending enough gatherings and weddings where you sit with people you don’t know, can’t hear, and watching our friends have so much fun, Joni put her foot down and said we were taking dance lessons. And as a dutifully “trained” husband I uttered the words all husbands know, “yes, dear.” There are three things you learn when you get married and they are, “Yes dear, anything you say dear and it is for the children dear.” Once you learn all three, you’ll have a happy wife and a happy life!

*****

The New York Crystal Dance Studio is located in West Islip at the intersection of Higbie Lane and Udall Road. Every conceivable dance instruction is available. Joni and I enrolled in ballroom dancing. At my age I figured I wasn’t going to play shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers and what the hell, they moved to LA anyway.

New York Crystal is a wonderful studio to learn ballroom dancing especially for someone who has absolutely no clue where to begin. The owner of the studio is Rosalie and our instructor’s name is Joe. Marjorie and Phyllis instruct group and individual lessons as well. And I need all their help. One is continually amazed with their patience, teaching ability, cajoling and sense of humor. You quickly conclude they love to dance and they impart their knowledge excellently.

I think Joe must have experience as a diplomat and could be the US representative to the United Nations. I am sure it has been very difficult for him, as he has had to teach me that I have to move both my left and right feet. Once you learn a step, store it in memory, Joe might say something like, “by the way Hank, you have to lead.” Oh, oh! To prevent utter panic from setting in, you must think like a chess player. You have to decide your next step ahead of time in order to lead it correctly. Two people should dance as one.

There are many people who take lessons at Rosalie’s dance studio. The more experienced dancers assure you that they too started not knowing how to dance when they joined. That is difficult to believe when you see how gracefully they glide around the dance floor whether doing foxtrot, Viennese waltz or tango at the Friday evening dance parties. It was at one of these events, we encountered my former West Islip high school world studies and economics teacher, Mr. William Angelos.

I reintroduced myself to Mr. Angelos and then introduced him to Joni. When we were in school, some classmates called Mr. Angelos, the big A. I always called him, Uncle Bill. He remembered me as one of his erstwhile students from many years ago. My favorite classroom lesson was when he explained the “Law of Supply and Demand”. His words were, “If there is a shortage of baseballs, what happens to the cost of a ticket to see a game?” Uncle Bill knew how to make me think. On this particular Friday evening, Uncle Bill explained he had been dancing for four years and said he wished he had started sooner. He then explained to Joni about being a kid growing up and that it was more important to play baseball than to learn to dance. Joni couldn’t believe hearing the same story that I had subscribed to for so many years, reconfirmed by Mr. Angelos.

This was the culture of our time. Both teacher and student never learned to dance because it was more important to play ball. The attitude transcended generations. I know I never gave dancing a thought but I should have. The teenage girls I would have wanted to impress would have preferred to dance rather than watch a baseball game. That attitude transcended generations as well, because wives are the same. Given the choice of attending a major league baseball game or going dancing, most wives will opt for dancing.

*****

Everyone who takes ballroom dancing starts by learning the basic Foxtrot steps. To maintain marital bliss, one tries to avoid stepping on your partner’s toes. You try to take two steps forward, two to the side and then and two steps back. I didn’t catch on to this very quickly. About twenty minutes into our first lesson, Joe said, “Hank, there is a pattern.” A light went off in my head. These words mean there is a plan! As an engineer I have the innate ability to count to four and because there is a plan, there is hope. Joni is elated because she knows that if there is a plan, I’ll figure it out. With Joe’s tactful instruction, and Rosalie acting as marriage counselor, we came back for another lesson. After a few lessons, Joni decided to place her toes way back so I wouldn’t step on them and that we better purchase dance shoes.

New York Crystal Dance Studio offers beginner’s group lessons on Saturday. Thus, we entered Marjorie’s world. It is not exactly the Eagles’ “Hotel California” or the rigors of basic training in the Army but more like tough love administered with the aim to make you as good a dancer as you want to be. Knowing she is dealing with an elementary school child’s mentality, Marjorie may use an expression like, “Simon says watch”! You may watch all you like but then you have to do what you were observing. It wasn’t long before I was in Marjorie’s doghouse.

Marjorie also teaches the Wednesday evening intermediate group. I told one of the fellows in that group that I’ve been in Marjorie’s doghouse for a while. With a smile in his eye he said, “We all are. Once you’re in, you never get out!” When summer arrives Marge takes vacation. Phyllis takes over her classes and uses another approach that doesn’t employ a doghouse. She’ll ask you to dance and she’ll follow your lead. If you lead well, all is fine. If you don’t, Phyllis will follow you just the same and very quickly you realize, “Oops, I should have done something!” If Rosalie is teaching you to lead a step, she’ll use an ample supply of abrupt exaggeration and/or imitation to make sure she gets her point across about what you did and what you should have done.

It is fun to observe the interplay between instructors. Rosalie holds court and gives as well as she gets. Sometimes Joe will needle Marjorie a bit and get her going. He easily makes Phyllis laugh and he does it all the time. Their laughter is light and contagious. The spirit and the enjoyment is all in fun and the result is fun for all!!! So if you want to have some fun and learn to dance, try New York Crystal Dance Studio.

Veterans’ Day 2005

2005-11-11T17:32:00.000-05:00

Veterans’ Day 2005
Henry W. Hessing

In autumn when leaves change colors and begin to fall, raking becomes a full time occupation. Football season is in full stride. Temperatures become brisk. Children and adults celebrate Halloween. Many look forward to Thanksgiving and warm holiday meals shared with family and friends. And between these holidays are muted days that inspire contemplation.

Veterans’ Day is one of those days. It is very deliberate in terms of historical fact - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – the time specified to remember those who have died for our freedom.

Who were they? Who were those who gave their lives?

They were the young. During a ceremony in 1985, our President said, “In a sense they gave up two lives, the one they lived and the one they never had the chance to live - the opportunity to be husbands, parents or grandparents.” Sometimes the remembered are honored with parades, ceremonies and speeches.

Maya Ying Lin’s concept for the Viet Nam Memorial was to create a quiet place within the Constitution Gardens. It has been described as, “Polished black granite reflecting the images of the surrounding trees, lawns, monuments and visitors. The walls seem to stretch into the distance towards the Washington Monument to the east and the Lincoln Memorial to the west.”

Some visitors trace the names of their loved ones from the polished walls. Others place flowers at the base. Silently we read the names and dates. Our mind creates images of their faces and smiles. On these ebony walls, we see their reflections. We remember their earnestness, dedication, sense of honor, and their valor. Through quiet radiance emanating from solemn experience, those of us who served in Viet Nam, sense an enormous grief. On the cheeks of the living, we see tears of sorrow.

We remember 58,178 gentle heroes. We shall always remember.

Public Service or Politics?

2005-10-19T11:05:00.000-04:00

Public Service or Politics?

It seems to me most elected officials have it backwards. Did our founding fathers have in mind making a career out of public office? Did they intend for our civil servants to ensconce themselves in a position, build power bases and parlay that support into higher, more powerful office? Did they intend for our leaders, at any level, to spend their time in office ensuring their own reelection rather than serving the constituency? I think not, on all three counts.

For those who believe in the electoral process and yet support the political games played by incumbents and challengers alike (a “necessary evil”), the following alternative may have appeal. What if we did away with the description of our government as a “democracy” and replaced it with what it truly is, “power politics”? What if we advertised for leaders the way major corporations advertise for CEOs? What if political office was qualification based rather than influence based? Imagine.

Major universities would offer degrees in public service. Just as an MBA or other advanced degree is now necessary for consideration to corporate leadership positions, our government positions would require doctoral equivalents. We would identify our future political leaders at an early age, train them for maximum effectiveness throughout the educational process, and pit them against one another in a manner that would allow the candidates to spell out exactly what they would do to improve our quality of life if elected. Then, we would hold them to their promises, exactly. There would be no tolerance for even minor deviation, as this would be considered just cause for dismissal.

The citizenry would cast their votes for the candidate who offers the most benefit for the lowest price. Much the same way we purchase goods and services in the private sector, we would be able to purchase the public services we desire by simply casting our ballot. Efficiency would be rewarded, while waste would be punished. Zap! Gone would be those $750 ball peen hammers the pentagon is so fond of ordering. Gone, too, would be pork barrel legislation and inefficient tactics such as filibustering, posturing and grandstanding. Our elected officials would have no need of these time-wasters. Budgets at every level would be drawn prior to election, and be voted in as a mandate along with the winning candidate. Taxes would be paid in accordance with the wishes of the majority of voters, and would cover the budget dollars, exactly. There would be no deficits, and no surpluses, no need for “creative accounting”, lying and cooking the books. We would get what we pay for.
From the standpoint of the citizen, if the power to rule were to be turned over to the voting public, politicians would become public servants. Their power would be diminished while the common man's power would be increased. If agreements were proposed prior to election, and those agreements were supported by a majority of the electorate, then we would be able to enforce the agreements as if they were binding contracts. The contracts would carry a provision whereby the terms must be adhered to exactly, or the "leader" (administrator) would be terminated. His whole function in office would be to carry out the terms of his agreement with the electorate. Failing this, someone else would be hired to complete it.
True leaders are people who recognize the need for free market mechanics. The problem with this is-where is the man or woman who will set aside his/her own ego and allow the forces of the market to act? We have had so many promising politicians who have attempted to tweak the system in order to get it to do what they think it should be doing, rather than recognizing the perfection of the system, non-interruptus. Alan Greenspan is a perfect example. He fiddles with interest rates many times a year, only to meddle instead of steer. Steering is impossible if the system is to work. Guiding is ego-driven, and will only stall, or prevent, the success we would enjoy were the market to fluctuate in its own way, in its own time.

The current disease in US politics is caused by the concept of "public interest." For example, an honest idealistic person is elected to congress. Day one, he is accosted by four lobbyists. The first demands a tariff increase on certain imports to protect his group's industry - which he claims serves the public. The second lobbyist asserts it will benefit the public if his group gets a subsidy to help its members survive "brutal competition." The third insists that it will help the public if members of his group are given license to be the exclusive providers of a certain service. The fourth says the public will be better off if unions are made illegal in his industry. The next day a new group of lobbyists asks for favors. These requests conflict with those of the first group, but are presented fervently as being in the "public interest."

How does the idealistic congressman decide between lower prices or more jobs for the public? There is no way. Anyone can claim to be public on any issue. "The public interest" has no meaning. It is empty rhetoric. Philosophical reform is required. Discard "public interest" and replace it with individual rights, which mean the freedom of each individual to pursue his own interests as long as he does not coerce or defraud others. This means real capitalism - no tariffs, no subsidies, no protection from competition, no favors. All of this can be eliminated if a true leader would say, "what buyers and sellers do is none of the government's business and I will take no part in interfering with the free market." Free market means the end of lobbying end of favor seeking, end of “guiding,” end of politics as usual.

When politicians have no power to offer other men's property - and their own souls - for sale in the name of "the public interest" will we have true philosophical reform.

Individual Achievement or Reparations?

2005-10-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

Individual Achievement or Reparations?

Think of all the amazing efficiencies that have been produced by innovators in the computer business. Production through creativity by software engineers enhances the lives of millions. Similarly, producing food, automobiles, houses, medicines, etc. – not giving them away- is what our economy and our very lives depend upon. We must learn the value of productivity.

Back in March, a cabal of lawyers formed the Reparations Assessment Group and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government and any corporation that was in existence prior to 1865. The lawsuit seeks damages to compensate today’s Black citizens for the wages lost by slaves. The idea is to punish one part of society in favor of another while denying the fact that the Civil War abolished slavery 137 years ago.

This action ignores fact. None of the victims of slavery are still alive after 137 years. None of the slave owners are alive. Individual and corporate fortunes have changed. It is impossible to trace any particular loss suffered by an individual to any gain enjoyed by another. So the demand for reparations takes the form of a blanket payment to all of today’s blacks at the expense of all of today’s taxpayers. Unfortunately, there is precedent for blanket lawsuits of this type. The United States Government paid $480 million to the displaced Seminole Indians who agreed to move from Florida to Oklahoma. Those Seminoles who chose to stay do not share in this windfall.

Liability law is meant to compensate specific individuals for specific wrongs. The Reparations Group wants to stretch that beyond the limits of absurdity. The cabal is not concerned with punishing or compensating individuals. Their focus is on a racial group. They rely on the view that Americans today are responsible for what some individuals (whites) did 137 years ago and that blacks today are owed compensation for whatever happened to other blacks in 1865, when most landowners practiced slavery. Racial collectives, not individuals, are the real parties in this lawsuit. The consequences are a series of battles. One group exacts endless revenge against the other for ancient wrongs. To use slavery as an excuse to exact wealth from members of one race and hand it to another disregards the responsibility of the individual. They want this to be done through the courts with abstruse legal arguments. This is dangerous to Americans both black and white.

The result of these efforts is not racial harmony or a colorblind society, but, rather, racial warfare. The idea of punishing white individuals who are not guilty of slavery, and rewarding black individuals who never endured slavery, is pure racism. Slavery reparations will not produce one computer, railroad, plane or building. They will not generate long-term growth. Americans should reject the notion of a collective guilt for slavery and uphold the idea of a colorblind society, based on individualism, with productive achievement as man’s noblest activity.

Infrared Aircraft Deicing System

2005-09-20T17:54:00.000-04:00

Infrared Aircraft Deicing System

Henry W. Hessing, PE
September 2005

Abstract

This paper describes planning required for construction and installation of an infrared aircraft deicing facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Introduction

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA) is located on the shoreline of Jamaica Bay. During significant winter storms, the airport encounters heavy, wet snows.
Some airlines perform deicing at remote pads within the apron area of the terminal: other airlines perform deicing at their gates. Cargo carriers deice at their respective cargo areas. Those aircraft that deice at remote locations must first perform a “preliminary” deicing, which could include deicing of gears and control surfaces in order for aircraft to maneuver. If the aircraft is to move under its own power, the engine inlets need to be clear. Aircraft where ice/snow presents a higher risk of being ingested into engines (e.g. MD 80 series and similar) typically complete their deicing and anti-icing at the gate.
Once receiving a preliminary deicing, aircraft taxi toward the departures runway. The anti-icing hold over time may be exceeded if the weather is severe or the taxi time is long. In this case, the aircraft would require a “secondary” deicing.
The PANYNJ decided to construct one radiant deicing facility on a vacant parcel of land adjacent to Hangar 12 at JFKIA.

Need for the Project

There is not enough ramp capacity at JFK to deice aircraft without causing delays. Temporary locations will be replaced by a permanent location. The new facility will provide airlines with a safe, convenient, centralized and efficient location to deice aircraft. The deicing facility will provide an additional area where aircraft can deice, essentially increasing “deicing capacity” at JFK.
The infrared aircraft deicing system will be housed within one clamshell type structure capable of deicing Group 3, Group 4 and Group 5 aircraft up to a 747 - 300. Use of this system provides an environmental benefit in that it employs infrared energy and only a minimum amount of glycol, a deicing fluid, to deice aircraft. This technique is an alternative to conventional glycol spraying which is commonly used in the deicing process.

History

In 2002, Radiant Aviation Services Incorporated (Radiant) sent an unsolicited proposal to the Port Authority offering to provide their patented Infra-Tek technology for use in an infrared radiant deicing facility at JFK. The Infra-Tek system is the only radiant deicing system that has earned FAA Flight Standards approval for deicing commercial aircraft. The Infra-Tek system has been installed for Continental Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport and earlier versions were installed at Rheinlander-Oneida County Airport in Wisconsin and Buffalo International Airport in New York.

The Site

John F Kennedy International Airport is located in the southeast section of Queens County, New York City, adjacent to Jamaica Bay. By highway, it is fifteen miles from midtown Manhattan. Equivalent in size to all of Manhattan Island from 42nd Street to the Battery, JFKIA consists of 4,930 acres. The 2.3-acre, infrared aircraft-deicing site is located on the ramp abutting Hangar 12 that was formerly operated by TWA.

Benefits

Benefits of increased capacity include operational performance by reducing airline delays and flight cancellations that could have been attributed to insufficient capacity.
Benefits to the Port Authority and airlines include: fewer equipment movements on the airside operating area during winter storms; a reduction in conventional infrastructure such as glycol storage, trucking and parking; a dramatic reduction in glycol use; and because of the potential to reduce delays, cancellations there is a potential for airline cost savings. This is a year round facility which may be used for maintenance during off-season.
Two principal objectives for the PANYNJ are improving utilization of airport infrastructure and providing adequate capacity to meet the level and distribution of demand on various components of the airport system including airside facilities. Providing necessary efficient capacity to allow the airlines to deice aircraft is consistent with Port Authority goals of enhancing JFK as a world-class airport.

Identification of Alternatives Evaluated

Site
In early 2001, the Port Authority conducted a study to examine the feasibility of a centralized deicing facility at JFK. Several alternate locations were examined for conventional deicing, but were found to be economically unfeasible and not operationally viable. This is the best site available that can be used to operate a new radiant deicing facility and still meet holdover times.
The no action alternative would result in operational delays and flight cancellations.

Sole Source

Why use RAS as sole source for a design, build, operate and maintain (DBOM) contract?

Radiant Aviation Services, Inc. (RAS) markets the Infra Tek Infrared Aircraft Deicing System. They are the inventor and sole supplier of the Infra Tek Infrared Aircraft Deicing System. RAS holds patent protection for: “Method of, and apparatus for, deicing an aircraft by infrared radiation.”
RAS has completed a successful operation of a single unit installed and operated at Newark Liberty International Airport for Continental Airlines.
In August 2003, the FAA approved a Grant Agreement with the Port Authority for construction of an Infrared Aircraft deicing Facility on the Hangar 12 ramp at JFKIA, which is to conform to FAA Advisory circular 150/5100-14C. The Infra-Tek system is the only known radiant deicing system approved by the FAA for deicing commercial aircraft.

Justification for Sole Source Procurement

FAA Advisory Circular 150/5300-14 (Change 2 issued Aug 31, 2000), “Design of Aircraft Deicing Facilities”, provides technical performance tests and related standards and recommendations for fixed type infra-red deicing technologies for aircraft. The FAA advised JFK Redevelopment (via e-mail 08 Sep 03) "the only fixed system that has earned Flight Standards approval to date for such applications has been the system that PANYNJ has in operation by Continental Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport." The system referenced is a radiant deicing system known as the InfraTek Infrared Aircraft Deicing System. It was invented by Radiant Aviation Services, Inc., which holds patent protection for "Method of, and apparatus for, deicing an aircraft by infrared radiation."
Since there is only one approved system/manufacturer, no other vendors currently are qualified.
On February 5, 2004 the FAA wrote a letter to the PANYNJ Aviation Planning Division stating, “Considering the reasons presented in the letter (September 18, 2003) and understanding the unique nature of this technology: we hereby concur with your request to proceed with a sole source contract with Radiant Aviation Services (RAS) for the Infra Tek Infrared Deicing System.”

How it Works

Studies dating as far back as 1948 have reviewed the use of infrared energy for heating and found it safe.
Combustion of natural/propane gas is controlled to create targeted electromagnetic waves. When energy reaches frost, snow or ice melting and evaporation occur. Infrared energy doesn’t reach the aircraft surface until it is exposed and then it reflects away. When a zone (e.g. a fuselage) is completed, it is switched to half power to prevent snow/ice re-accumulation.
The specification for the Energy Processing Units (EPUs) reads: "Each EPU burner is factory tested to a maximum of 50,000 BTU/hr (approximately 50 CFH) according to ANSI requirements for infrared gas heaters. Total rack consumption is a maximum of 200,000 BTU/Hr." Annual consumption can be estimated by summing total hours run time for each rack times maximum rack consumption.

Industry Acceptance

SAE G12 Deicing sub-committee included the use of infrared deicing facilities as a recommended deicing practice in ARP4737E “Deicing Methods” Section 6.1.3. G12 members include airlines, regulators and aircraft manufacturers. Infrared deicing facilities are currently the only reduced or zero glycol technology to be approved for inclusion in that document as a deicing method. It is the only FAA “approved for use” infrared deicing facility per AC150/5300-14 Change #2.

Project Costs

The project construction cost is estimated as follows:
Description Cost (in millions)

Design & Construction: $ 8.8
Planning and Engineering 0.3
Admin & General: 0.3
Contingency: 0
Financial Expense: 0.1

Total Project Cost: $ 9.5

Financial Analysis

The costs are fully recoverable through Federal Aid and operation payments received from Radiant. The level of commitment by airlines letters of intent indicates that this project will be self-sustaining.

Selected Alternative Description

The infrared aircraft deicing facility (System 2500) consists of an open-ended hangar type structure housing the patented Infra-Tek technology that transforms natural gas into infrared radiant energy emitted through “energy processing units” (EPUs) configured to efficiently melt snow and ice from aircraft surfaces. The proposed system is 262 feet long by 262 feet wide and approximately 82 feet high. It will contain approximately 430 EPUs and can treat ADG #5 aircraft up to the size of a 747-200/300.
The facility will be located on 2.3 acres of land on the Hangar 12 site that has been vacant since TWA ceased operations. Its proximity to the runways allows taxi times that meet FAA requirements. The site has been planned to assure that Hangar 12 can still be operational.

Critical Issues

Site and Land Use

The Hangar 12 site is compatible with existing and planned airside land use.

Environmental

The PANYNJ submitted an Environmental Evaluation Form for the proposed Infrared Aircraft deicing Facility at John F Kennedy International Airport, New York. The document described the project and that it involves construction and operations of an infrared, pre-flight deicing facility that would be housed in a clamshell like structure.
The FAA determined in a letter dated October 10, 2002 that this “project does not have the characteristics that require a formal NEPA environmental assessment nor does it contain the potential for causing an environmental impact. We have, therefore, determined that this project qualifies as a documented “Categorical Exclusion” and have executed this finding accordingly (signed 9/26/02). Please note that this represents the formal Federal Environmental Finding.”

Schedule

Critical Project Milestones

Board authorization was required and obtained in June 2004 to implement the project as sole source procurement for designing, building operating and maintaining (DBOM) an Infrared Aircraft Deicing System.

Design Start and Completion

With Board approval the DBOM contract was prepared and reviewed by PA Law.

Construction Start and Completion

It is anticipated that the facility will be operational for the winter season 2005 - 2006.

Key Third party Coordination and Approvals

Third party coordination includes Keyspan who will supply gas to the facility; the FAA who has approved AIP funding; the airline community who have been asked to complete letters of intent to use the facility.

Facility Certification

RAS will provide the equipment, assembly, installation and commissioning of the system along with warranty service. RAS will submit a Preliminary Acceptance Test Procedure for review by the Engineer approximately 30 days after award.

Conclusions

The JFK Infrared Aircraft Deicing facility will deice aircraft in less time and for a lower cost than conventional deicing. An environmental benefit is that it employs infrared energy and only a minimum amount of glycol. Airline delays and cancellations that could have been attributed to insufficient capacity will be reduced.

Coach Giuffre and the West Islip Rifle Team

2005-09-20T17:48:00.000-04:00

Coach Giuffre and the West Islip Rifle Team
-Henry W. Hessing

When taxpayers voted to construct the West Islip High School, the authorization included an indoor swimming pool and a rifle range. The rifle range is located southwest and at the same level as the pool. There is a locked door that can be opened. Just travel down one flight of stairs, make a left into a hallway and enter through another door on your left. It has been said that this range is the best or at least the second best range in Suffolk County. It was closed in 1999.

Boy Scout Troop 118 met in the Higbie Lane elementary school during the 1950’s and 60’s. The boys sold candy bars and raised money to purchase four (4) bolt - action open peep sight rifles. The rifles were kept in Scoutmaster James Badger’s house. If you were twelve years old, you could learn to fire a .22 rifle every Wednesday night at the West Islip High School rifle range. And many of us did. Under adult supervision, we fired at NRA targets positioned fifty feet down range.

The high school’s representative was present whenever the scouts met at the range. Mr. Ed Giuffre and the adult scout leaders instructed the lads. Many of the adults spent their time with youth because they had served in World War II and wanted to pass their knowledge and skills to the boys. We learned about safety. We learned to clean the rifles and sweep the range when we were done. We learned to fire from the four basic positions - prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. The most difficult position to master for most of us was the standing or off-hand position. I was an awkward teenager. I never felt comfortable in the kneeling position so I concentrated learning to fire from the standing position.

Jimmy Badger was a senior in high school. I was in awe of Jim just because he was a senior. Jimmy was taking physics because he wanted to go to medical school. Sometimes he’d stay home and study physics rather than come down to the range. At that time, I didn’t know what physics was but if Jimmy had to skip Wednesday nights to study, and miss all the fun shooting, it had to be important.

At the end of the year, our Boy Scout troop held a competition. Jimmy missed it because he was studying. Johnny Norton, a junior in high school, won with the best score. He was four years older than me. I gave him a good challenge but I was happy to come in second to him. I liked Johnny from the time on a campout when he got me up early to go fishing with him. He loved fishing and he caught quite a few. Johnny wanted to be a doctor. I sure hope both Jimmy and Johnny got their wish.

Our shooting skills were honed on the West Islip High School rifle range. From seventh to ninth grade, I shot with the Boy Scouts. In tenth grade, I tried out for the high school team. Mr. Giuffre, the high school coach, must have had a difficult time selecting from all of us who tried out. On a blackboard, he wrote the names of those who made the team. It was the first time in my life that I was elated to see my name on a blackboard. I thanked him.

Riflery was barely considered a sport by most Athletic Directors. Only a few recognized it as a character or citizen builder. Mr. Joe Sebasteanski, West Islip’s AD thought it was a full sport and more. Though his first love was football, Mr. Jack Braddish got the rifle team all it needed.

Nassau County had the most teams while Suffolk County had just a few so we fired against teams from near and far. High school teams fired from two positions – prone and standing. Six boys would shoot with the five highest scores counting toward the team’s total points. You had to be finished in twenty minutes, as these were timed competitions. You would try for a perfect score, 100 points or ten bull’s eyes out of ten while firing prone and the same while firing off-hand or standing. Shooting off-hand was more difficult than the other positions. We knew how quickly you could lose points in that position.

The rifle I used was an Anschultz with closed sights. It weighed about 7.5 lbs. The bull’s eye is about the size of an eraser on a pencil. To hit it consistently from fifty feet took practice so we practiced every day after school. We’d encourage each other to improve all the time. If you shot a bull’s eye, the spotter would tell you how much of it you took out. We loved to hear the spotter call out “pin-wheel” because it meant you took out the whole bull’s eye.

You must have excellent eyesight and you must be very steady to fire accurately. Riflery requires concentration. Coach suggested we do push-ups at home to build arm strength to hold the rifle steady and we did. We wore shooting jackets and used slings around our left arm when shooting prone. A spotter would tell you how you were doing or might suggest making an adjustment. We’d try to finish prone rather quickly, and then take off the slings in order to spend more time shooting off-hand. This is what separated the better shooters – how well you could shoot from the standing position. The total possible score was 200 points for an individual and since five scores counted, 1000 points for the team. After practice, we cleaned the weapons and the range before leaving. This is where we learned respect for and taking care of our equipment. These lessons have stayed with me my entire life.

For the first match of our sophomore year, Mr. Giuffre selected Flip Mueller and me to shoot with the upperclassmen. There after, and until we graduated, Flip and I fired in every competition for West Islip High School. I didn’t do well enough for my score to count in that first match because I was nervous; I wasn’t familiar with “match pressure.” We lost that one to Massapequa. I did better in the next match and we won. Coach added Pete Pauwels so there were three sophomores and three juniors shooting. I think we won half our matches that year, but with Pete shooting, we won all the matches during the second half of the season. This was the beginning of our winning streak.

With each win, our team developed confidence. The more we won, the more we expected to win. But none of us took winning for granted. We knew we had to shoot well to be victorious and we did. As an individual, I knew my score would count in every match so I wanted to do well. I didn’t want to let my team down. You can’t think about the pretty blonde in homeroom or French class. In fact, you can’t think about match pressure or anything else when you shoot. You cannot let emotion interfere with your concentration, controlled breathing and relaxation techniques because emotional shooters don’t shoot well. There was one practice when I put it all together and fired 99 out of 100 from the off-hand position. It was the first time any of us had done it. Mr. Giuffre stapled that target to the wall for all to see.

During our junior year, Mr. Giuffre, who we sometimes called Uncle Ed but never to him directly, decided that the best way to keep us sharp was to have a little internal team competition. If memory serves, I believe he awarded three trophies at the end of the year. I received the trophy for shooting the highest average score of 186 for the season. Another key thing coach did was in selecting Pete Gambaro and Steve Knobl and adding them into the mix.

Our high school principal, Mr. John O’Donnell made announcements every morning on the PA system. He‘d tell the student body how the various teams did in competition. When our swimming team beat Plainview, there was a roar heard throughout the school. Sometimes he’d say how individuals performed. And he did this for the rifle team as well. The kids in school started to ask about our winning streak. Riflery became very popular.

A boys’ rifle club already existed and a girls’ rifle club was created. Mr. Giuffre coached the clubs as well as the team. The West Islip High School Rifle Clubs and teams were open for all students. One of the best was a girl named Barby MacNeil who went on to earn national honors on the college level. In those days, the school administration was wary of any coed sport and unfortunately, Barby was not allowed to compete with the boys but she could still be a member of the rifle club. If Barby MacNeil had been allowed to compete with the boys, she would have been the best.

The core of our team in the winter season 1964 –1965, our senior year, was Pete Pauwels, Flip Mueller, Pete Gambaro, Steve Knobl and myself. Pete Pauwels and I were elected co-captains. It didn’t matter who the sixth shooter was. Coach knew he could put anyone in that slot and give them match experience because the five of us always shot well. We expected to win every match and we did. We had six league matches and 6 – 8 non-league matches. We beat Nassau and Suffolk, public, catholic and military schools. And most of all we had fun.

We set the Suffolk County league record firing 919 out of 1000. Steve fired 178, Pete Gambaro 182, Flip and I – 184, and Pete Pauwels led the team with an individual Suffolk County record, 191. He was hot that day! I will never forget when Coach Giuffre told us that we had set the county record!! How great that must have been for him. He had worked for years patiently teaching and encouraging us, and he got the results – a championship team.

In our final league match in 1965, we again broke 900 beating Deer Park 913 to 842. Steve shot 176, Pete P, Flip and Pete G all fired 184 and I fired 185. We beat them by an average 14 points a man. We beat other teams by greater margins. Most importantly, we completed the season undefeated in both league and non-league competition.

The following week, we won the Section Eleven Title. We were the Suffolk County Rifle Champs. Coach Giuffre said the school received a trophy in June 1965 but I’ve never seen it. I’m told that the trophy is locked in the range. It is the first championship trophy earned by the WIHS rifle team. The WIHS team next won again in 1988-89.

There were individual records set during the 1964 – 1965 season in league match competition. Pete Pauwels shot 92 off-hand when he fired the county record 191. Pete Pauwels and Pete Gambaro both shot perfect prone scores of 100. Flip Mueller shot 90 out of 100 in the off-hand position, three separate times.

Coach Ed Giuffre started a program to instruct kids who just wanted to have fun shooting rifles and created an opportunity where we learned what it takes to win. He set the example for us in manner and decorum. He was a positive influence, always using words of encouragement. Members of the West Islip High School rifle team learned to control emotion, concentrate and gain confidence. We learned from our coach that individuals could pull together as a team and to encourage each other just as he encouraged each of us to be the best.

We faced all competition. We learned to win, and to win consistently. The WIHS Rifle Team was undefeated for two and a half years because Coach Ed Giuffre taught us to believe in ourselves. With that spirit, it was natural for us to have fun.

If there was ever a coach who should be inducted into the West Islip High School Hall of Fame, it is Coach Ed Giuffre.

The Reasoning to Support a Million-Dollar Football Field

2005-08-19T10:53:00.000-04:00

The Reasoning to Support a Million-Dollar Football Field

By Henry W. Hessing

The Mayor of the Village of Babylon proceeded correctly in writing an open letter to the public, raising public awareness, and reiterating basic questions that proponents of a million dollar football field should be prepared to answer.

The reasoning presented in various letters to the editor of the Babylon Beacon for purchasing and installing a million dollar football field needs to be stated clearly and concisely. It would be helpful if proponents would prepare a clearly reasoned document that describes the proposed action; the specific authorization being requested; what contracts and procurement method would be implemented; what are the aggregate payments; what financing or investment is required; and what are the sources of funding.

This document should define what the background of the project is; what is the project duration; have there been prior authorizations? If the project is “for the children” has there been a study prepared comparing injuries to athletes on various types of playing surfaces included and thus validating what alternates have been considered and the viability of each? What are the benefits to the Village of Babylon and/or region; what other impacts are there; and what, if any, are the outstanding issues? For example, has there been a traffic study or is an environmental impact statement required?

A financial analysis is required. Whose budget is affected; what is its status; what is the expected cost recovery; and is there any anticipated future authorization from this action? What are the fees or fee schedule? What is the Village’s investment? What are the terms/escalations that have to be obligated to operate and maintain the project? What are the total aggregate payments?

Other comments might include: security requirements; life expectancy of the field and the cost of renewal. Who must sign an agreement? Who has rights to terminate an agreement? Who will be obligated to maintain insurance?

To evaluate the merits of a project, planning is required. By not knowing how to plan a project, by not answering basic questions involved with planning a project, no evaluation can be made.

One letter to the editor stated, “We should all remember that in a civilized society we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good of our friends and neighbors.” Unfortunately that statement does not answer the planning questions noted above. If a project is well planned, why does anyone have to make sacrifices? No answer.

Financial decisions for a football field should be based on intelligent planning and not “sacrifices.” The thinking that perpetrates the undefined term “sacrifices for the greater good” means sacrifices of one group are necessary not because they involve any evaluation of the proposed project but because they don’t. This view allows no discrimination between what is of value and what is a none-value.

This view is a full-scale renunciation of value. It believes that the individual has no value. It is paradoxical to proclaim the universal equality of all, while simultaneously invoking special privileges for certain groups. Thus, if the rational and the irrational are to be treated alike, the latter must be given objectively preferential treatment. The proponents preach an amoral equivalence – i.e., a system under which a value is never to be deemed preferable to a non-value because there is no evaluation.

In the name of justice, taxpayers should be demanding a tax cut that lowers their tax bill by a million dollars. The proponents of a million dollar football field do not want a tax cut and do not want justice. They want redistribution of wealth. They want to confiscate the income earned by the taxpayer and give it to people who have not earned it. It is but a twist on the Willy Sutton reasoning for eminent domain under the guise of altruism.

In an article written in February 2001, Edwin A Locke, a professor of management, defined altruism.

“The moral principal used to justify income redistribution is altruism. Altruism does not mean generosity or benevolent concern for the less fortunate. Altruism means: other-ism. It is the doctrine that it is your moral duty to live for others and to sacrifice your life, property and well being for theirs. It is the code of self-sacrifice. Under altruism the productive are the ones who must give and the non-productive are those who receive. The inability or the unwillingness of the non-productive to create wealth gives them a moral claim upon those who do.

The doctrine of altruism induces (and is meant to induce) guilt. It makes the successful feel they have no right to their achievements. The goal of altruism is to disarm the producers morally so they will not defend their right to their lives and property.

Altruism is the moral code that underlies Marxism. Marx’s credo was: “From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need.” Man has no right to exist for himself because he is a servant of the state or society to be disposed of as they see fit.

Altruism is the opposite of Americanism. An American has the “inalienable right “to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which includes property rights. It means that your life and property belong to you, not to the state or society. It means that the government’s job is to protect, not to violate, rights.”

The proponents of a million dollar football field would enforce altruism through coercion for a goal they desire. When the property of some people is seized and given to others, it is an injustice.

Acting in one’s own interest while respecting the rights of others is fully moral – it is the fundamental requirement of a successful and happy life. It means that you are not an object of sacrifice, but a sovereign being. It means that your property belongs to you. It means that every individual whether rich or poor, has the same rights. Self-reliance, not self-sacrifice, is the American ideal. Proponents of a million dollar football field should be self-reliant, plan their project, be able to defend it and seek private donations. Using tax dollars is a grave injustice. Reducing taxes by a million dollars is only a beginning on the road to a truly just society where each man keeps what he earns and has no claim upon the life and property of others.

An Argument to Repeal Eminent Domain

2005-07-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

An Argument to Repeal Eminent Domain
Henry W. Hessing

From an article written by Larry Salzman dated November 1999 entitled New Eminent Domain Assaults: Taking Private Property for Political Elite, “The fundamental principles of this country are that all men are created equal, that every man is an end to himself endowed with inalienable rights, including property rights, that each man be accorded equal protection by law and that no man be deprived of due process. Eminent domain contradicts these principles. It sacrifices the rights of some individuals in favor of the alleged “public interest” of others. We must choose one set of principles or the other- American tradition or arbitrary rule by official whim. They cannot coexist.” My algebra teacher might have quoted the Identity Principle – “A” equals “A” and “A” cannot equal “B”.

Herb Ladley, an associate editor for Cavalier Daily describes a case in Bristol, Tennessee, where residents defeated a government proposal to confiscate their land and give it to the local NASCAR track by posting signs reminding people of the Tenth Commandment: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s property.” Local officials accused the landowners of being “greedy” but did not accuse others of being greedy for wanting to use the power of the government to confiscate homes and make themselves wealthy.

In Kelo vs New London homeowners sought to challenge New London, Connecticut’s plan to take their homes for “economic development” via eminent domain. Landowners would receive compensation under the Fifth Amendment mandate. Their claim was that economic development could not be considered “public use.”

The Supreme Court ruled that eminent domain might be used for nearly any “public purpose” including economic development. Jonathan H Adler a contributing editor to National Review On Line noted, “It is not clear that the constitution’s text bars property transfer from A to B. The specific legal claim in this case was not strong enough to make a constitutional stand. The dissenting opinion did not prove that the Founders sought to limit the purposes for which eminent domain could be used.” The dissenting judges wrote, “The result is that government has power to transfer from those with fewer resources to those with more.”

A reporter once asked Willy Sutton, the 1930’s outlaw, why he robbed banks. Sutton replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” In an article entitled, The Willy Sutton Theory of Government” March, 2001 Robert Tracinski states, “The criminal’s mindset is that moral justifications and the rights of others are considered irrelevant.” The real issue in Kelo is how we look at government and how we regard basic moral issues.

According to Mr. Tracinski, “the Willy Sutton theory of government is when the left wants to achieve a goal, it doesn’t ask about morality or rights. It asks, ‘where is the money?’” In New London, the local government asked ‘where is the land.’

The theory that turns government into a bank robber or land grabber is the theory of “public good.” According to this theory, the “public good” is the only moral standard. Individual rights and property rights are dispensable. The Willy Sutton form of government means that if someone has land and someone else can argue that “the public” needs it, “then anything goes.” This is political amoralism. The disciples of Willy Sutton want to ignore the principle of individual rights.

Ayn Rand was right when she observed, “since there is no such entity as “the public” since the public is merely a number of individuals, the idea that “the public interest” supercedes private interests and rights can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.”

Mr. Salzman described a similar case in San Diego wherein he noted, “The local government is forcing a politically weak minority of citizens to sacrifice its rights to a well-connected few, in the alleged favor of the majority.” This is exactly what happened in New London, Connecticut. Forgotten and ignored is the fact that the market place works on voluntary transaction. Paraphrasing Mr. Ladley, “If someone refuses to give up his property voluntarily, that does not make it just to motivate him with a bulldozer.” Totalitarian central planning throws out the logic of the marketplace.

If judicial activists have their way, why bother with property rights or individual rights? It is already too late for citizens in New London. Your property could be next. The solution is to repeal Eminent domain entirely.

AirTrain JFK

2005-06-24T19:25:00.000-04:00

AirTrain JFK
Henry W. Hessing, P.E.

ABSTRACT: THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE LONGEST SEGMENTAL GIRDER CONSTRUCTION ERECTED IN THE NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONS.

Constructed: 1998 – 2003
Project type: Light rail line
Cost: USD 1 900 000 000
Location: Queens, New York
Owner: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Contractors: Skanska USA Civil and Bombardier Inc.
Design: STV Incorporated
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers
Figg Engineering Group
1. INTRODUCTION

The fully automated JFK Airtrain was designated a finalist in the competition for ASCE’s 2005 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. The $ 1.9 billion Airport Access Project connects John F Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA) located in Jamaica, New York with two major intermodal connections –Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and New York City Transit (NYCT).

2. DECISIONS

The reason to construct a light rail system was to meet JFKIA growth forecasts. Design/Build/Operate/Maintain (DBOM) project delivery method was selected in order to fast track the normal Design/Bid/Build process. Air Rail Traffic Consortium (ARTC) was determined to be the low bidder and consisted of the contractors and designers noted above.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued its Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Statement for the approval of JFK’s Light Rail System (LRS) in July 1997. Ground breaking took place in September 1998. The system opened on December 17, 2003 the centennial of the birth of aviation.

3. DEFINITION OF LIGHT RAIL

The Transportation Research Board Committee on Light Rail Transit defines light rail as “a mode of urban transportation utilizing predominately reserved but not necessarily grade separated rights of way. Electronically propelled rail vehicles operate singly or in trains. LRT provides a wide range of passenger capabilities and performance characteristics at moderate costs.”

4. LIGHT RAIL AT JFKIA

The light rail system at JFKIA is called AirTrain JFK. AirTrain makes frequent stops around the airport – including the airline terminals, parking lots, hotel shuttle areas, and rental car facilities.

4.1 STATIONS AND ROUTES

The JFK Airtrain stations are fully enclosed, heated and air-conditioned with platform doors, wide escalators, large glass enclosed elevators, moving walkways to airline terminals, and 240-foot platform lengths. Ten stations serve on and off airport.

The system consists of three overlapping routes:
· the Howard Beach route;
· the Jamaica Station route; and
· the Airline Terminal route.
The Howard Beach route starts at Howard Beach and stops at Lefferts Blvd, while the Jamaica Station route starts at Jamaica Station on the Long Island Railroad (this station stop is called Sutphin Blvd. on the subway). Both routes meet at Federal Circle, then loop counterclockwise around JFK Airport, serving 6 CTA environmentally controlled stations:
· Terminal 1 (the first station in the loop);
· Terminals 2/3;
· Terminal 4;
· Terminals 5/6;
· Terminal 7; and
· Terminals 8/9.
The Howard Beach and Jamaica Station routes return to Federal Circle, then split, going back to their respective termini. The Airline Terminal route serves 6 terminal stations, operating in a clockwise loop, in the opposite direction to the Howard Beach and Jamaica Station routes.

4.2 CONNECTIONS

4.2.1 Long Island Rail Road Connection

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) operates approximately 700 trains per day through the Jamaica train station. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world. Construction of the connection between Airtrain and the LIRR required nighttime and weekend work, and was accomplished one platform at a time. Access is provided to LIRR and the “E”, “J”, and “Z” subway lines.

NYCT Connection

The connection at Howard Beach, Queens included renovation of the “A” train subway station creating an intermodal station. Nighttime and weekend work were required as this heavily traveled subway line provides direct access to the west side of Manhattan.

5 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS

5.1 PERMITS

A review and analysis of the jurisdictions of over forty public and private agencies was performed and tabulated along with a description of their individual requirements. From this analysis, it was concluded that eleven (11) different types of permits were required from four (4) agencies.

For each permit, ARTC determined the name of the permit, issuing agency, described the permit, highlighted the application requirements, determined the permit fee, determined the regulations or stipulations with cost and schedule implications, estimated the permit due date and schedule duration. A schedule of required permits by location with application dates was prepared. Environmental permit applications were the first to be obtained.

5.2 CLEARANCE ENVELOPE

Definitions: The clearance envelope is the space in which no physical parts of the system, except the vehicles are placed, constructed or protrude. The static envelope is the outline of the physical dimensions of the vehicle in a stationary position. The dynamic envelope is the outline of a moving vehicle on tangent track experiencing normal body roll. The maximum vehicle dynamic envelope is the dynamic envelope that is modified for maintenance factors such as wear to both wheel and rail, freeplay between the two, and for primary and failed suspension. The maximum vehicle dynamic envelope considers lateral, vertical and rotational displacements under the required specified conditions of the design criteria on tangent track. All envelopes are normally referenced from the top of the (low) rail and the centerline of track.

Calculations were performed to determine the static envelope, dynamic envelope, maximum dynamic envelope which was based on Bombardier’s design vehicle, a future vehicle, the design vehicle, clearance envelope, effects due to curvature, effects due to superelevation, construction tolerances, seismic clearance, running clearance in order to determine minimum track clearances.

With minimum clearances known, horizontal and vertical alignments and clearances could be designed. As there are many factors that come into play, as design of alignments is an iterative process.

5.3 UTILITIES

5.3.1 Relocations

The typical guideway span varies between 80 and a maximum of 120 feet. This meant installing approximately 450 concrete foundations along the 8.3-mile route. As the Van Wyck expressway is a major north south arterial, primary relocations included drainage, electrical and communications. On the airport, utility relocations included drainage, sewers, force mains, gas, water, power electric, communication lines, and thermal distribution (chilled and dual hot water) lines used to heat and cool the airline terminals. Every effort was made to survey and identify all utilities in the preliminary design phase. Known utilities were marked in the field prior to excavation. Test trenches were excavated around the perimeter of each pile so utilities could be verified. The angle of every utility was measured, plotted and verified. Unknown utilities were encountered. These had to be identified for relocation design and construction.

5.3.1 Electrical

27 kV feeders, along with one main substation distribute power to seven substations for traction power and nine substations to operate the passenger terminals.

5.3.2 Drainage

The New York City environs receive approximately 44 inches of precipitation per year. As most of the right of way required for the light rail system passed over paved areas, introduction of the elevated guideway would not increase runoff.

The original cross section indicated individual plinths to support track. During design, this was changed to a continuous concrete plinth for ease of constructing and removing formwork. Determining the low points in the vertical alignment and collection before expansion joints became the basis of locating scuppers. Runoff went from the scuppers through 12 - inch diameter plastic pipe installed in the center of concrete columns to the existing below grade drainage systems.

6.0 CONSTRUCTION

6.1 Construction Staging Maintenance of Traffic

Construction staging and maintenance of traffic meetings were held twice a week for this project and once every two weeks for coordination with other on- airport projects which included reconstruction of Terminal 4 – the International Arrivals Terminal and reconstruction of Terminal 7 – British Airways Terminal.

Construction staging in an operating airport meant temporary and permanent loss of parking spaces. This was a major concern of the airport as customer satisfaction is of high importance. To mitigate these losses, every effort was made to minimize the construction area and length of time required.

Construction along the median of the six - lane, Van Wyck Expressway required maintaining three lanes of traffic during peak hour traffic. Existing roadway lighting was removed and a travel lane was constructed in the shoulder areas. This required adjustments to the on and off ramps and retaining walls along with new drainage installation. New lighting fixtures were installed. This allowed traffic to be diverted to two of the existing and the new right lane constructed in the shoulder areas in order to maintain three lanes of traffic in each direction.

Daytime work was performed in the median and the abandoned left lanes in both directions during off-peak hours when one additional lane could be taken so long as two lanes were maintained for the traveling public. Night work required three full lanes in operation in both directions at all times.

6.2 Pavement Restoration and Reconstruction

ARTC prepared a summary of pavement design criteria, in accordance with design standards used by the agency having jurisdiction over each roadway, for the expressway mainline, ramps, service roads, local streets and airport roadways, and vehicle types. This was the basis of the Pavement Design Criteria for restoration and reconstruction.

7. SUBSTRUCTURE

7.1 Seismic Design Considerations

Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. Liquefaction and related phenomenon have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world.

Liquefaction occurs in saturated soils, in which the space between individual particles is completely filled with water. This water exerts a pressure on the soil particles that influences how tightly the particles themselves are pressed together. Prior to an earthquake, water pressure is relatively low. Earthquake shaking can cause water pressure to increase to the point where soil particles can readily move with respect to each other. When liquefaction occurs, the strength of soil decreases and the ability of a soil deposit to support bridge foundations is reduced.

Deep loose sand characterizes the soil conditions at JFKIA. Soil borings indicated the potential for liquefaction up to a depth of 20 feet under a seismic event with peak rock acceleration of 0.15g. Additionally, the water table is high.

Besides calling for conventional design for forces and displacements, the seismic design criteria also required that additional limitations be met by the foundations and superstructure in order to allow the system to return to operation shortly after a seismic event meaning repairs would be limited to track work only.

7.2 Piles

Piling is an arrangement of beams installed in the ground that provide a foundation for substructure units. These beams for the most part consist of either steel H beams (H-piling) or hollow steel tubes that are filled with concrete and sometimes reinforcing steel (Cast-in-place piles). When piles are used, they are designed to carry the entire load of the substructure unit under which they are placed.

For years, experts in the pile foundation profession have recognized the advantages of a uniformly tapered pile over a vertical-straight-sided pile. "It may be concluded that the taper has a substantial beneficial influence and that for piles of equal embedment in a given sand, a tapered pile will have substantially greater ultimate bearing capacity than a straight-sided or cylindrical pile." Special Report 36— Highway Research Board

“Underpinning & Foundation Constructors, Inc. was awarded a contract to install more than 5,500 150-ton and 200-ton capacity piles to support the 8.3 mile long guideway. Underpinning invented a new pile type using a tapered steel lower section (25 feet) with steel pipe upper section (45 – 75 feet) and called it the Tapertube. These piles are 50 percent thicker than monotube piles, which allows them to be driven to higher driving resistances at lower stresses. The heavier steel also allows piles to be driven quicker once underway. The work was performed using hydraulic driving equipment built in Finland. The high mobility of the pile rigs, combined with highly efficient hammers, allowed for rapid installation in the tight confines of the active airport roadway system and in the center median of the heavily traveled Van Wyck Expressway.” – Underpinning & Foundation Constructors, Inc. web site

Piles were topped with 20 foot by 20 foot by 5 to 8 foot deep concrete footings. Cast in place concrete piers sat upon the footings and varied in size up to 45 feet in height and six (6) feet in diameter.

8.0 SUPERSTRUCTURE

Segmental Girders

The Request for Proposals (RFP) required the successful bidder to prepare the final design. Preliminary design envisioned single and twin – box concrete girders. The alternate was a composite steel box with a composite reinforced steel deck slab.

The final design for the guideway superstructure was precast segmental construction utilizing seismic isolation. The primary defining features are single-cell or dual cell box girders with cantilevered deck slab. Tendons are arranged in top and bottom slab for cantilever construction, match-cast joints between segments, and multiple shear keys. The single cell box supports a single tract while the dual box cells support a dual track configuration. Post tensioning tendons were applied across span closures to create multiple span continuous units.

Seismic isolation was achieved by using lead-rubber bearings that allow the superstructure to “float” during a seismic event. For non-seismic loading the bearing was fixed laterally relative to track centerline with movement limited to 1/8 inch. The contractor developed an elastic restraint system that would withstand non-seismic loads with a factor of safety but would fail at design level seismic loads, thus freeing the structure to float and avoid damage from seismic forces.

Preliminary design envisioned overhead launching trusses in the form of erection gantries. Most of the guideway was constructed span by span with cranes and erection trusses for safe maintenance of vehicular traffic. Portions on tight curvature or longer spans were built in balanced cantilever.

9. TUNNEL

Cut and Cover Tunnel

It was required that the elevated light rail system descend approximately 35 feet below grade to pass underneath the airport’s taxiways. It then has to rise to pass over the VanWyck Expressway, one of two arterial highways that provide ingress and egress to the central terminal area (CTA). Cut and cover construction was implemented. Since eighty percent of the tunnel was below the water table “bathtub” construction utilizing chemical grouting was employed in constructing the foundation. Pumps are required twenty-four hours per day.

10. TRACK

The track way features running rails, safety walkways, traction power, and communication ductbanks. The track that AirTrain JFK cars ride on is a combination of direct fixation track and ballasted track. Direct fixation track was originally developed for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Since that time, direct fixation has become the most popular method for installing track on elevated concrete structures and in underground tunnels. This system uses two steel plates with a thick rubber layer between, which creates a sandwich-type configuration. The sandwich assembly is called a direct fixation fastener, or DF fastener, because the DF fastener is bolted directly to the concrete, forming the track bed. The DF fastener uses a Pandrol Clip to secure the running rails in place. A Pandrol Clip is a G shaped piece of metal used to attach the running rails to the crossties. Pandrol is the manufacturer’s name and their rail fastening products are used worldwide.

The DF fastener is bolted to a raised concrete pad known as a plinth pad. The concrete forms for the plinth pad are set to the final elevation needed for the running rails and also provide superelevation of the tracks on curves. Superelevation means that one rail is set higher than the other rail in curved areas. Raising one rail allows the train to bank into turns much like a car on a highway. This allows the train to negotiate turns with greater passenger comfort.

Ballasted track is the conventional method of constructing at grade track and consists of using railroad ties to securely connect the two sections of running rail upon which cars travel. The ties and rails are held in place by crushed stone called ballast. AirTrain JFK uses the most modern version of ballasted track. Instead of using wooden railroad ties, AirTrain JFK uses precast prestressed concrete ties. The running rail is 115-pound rail, which is one of the standard rail types used throughout the railroad and transit industry. Instead of using railroad spikes to connect the running rail to the tie, AirTrain ballasted track also uses Pandrol Clips to attach the running rails to the concrete ties.
The distance between AirTrain JFK running rails, referred to as the track gauge, is the United States standard of four feet, eight and one half inches. AirTrain JFK ballasted and direct fixation track meet US Federal Railroad Administration requirements.

Slattery Skanza’s tract division assembled and installed1 500 foot long continuous rail strings and placed direct fixation tract, linear induction motor rail and power rail.

11. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF TRAIN OPERATIONS

11.1 Driverless System

AirTrain JFK is designed to be a fully automated driverless system. Computers control train movements using a moving-block signaling system. AirTrain JFK has two modes of operation: automatic train operation, utilizing the computer system, and manual operation which allows a driver to move trains for maintenance activities at a maximum speed of 15 mph, which is controlled by a speed governor. When operated in either of these modes, a train is controlled to ensure a safe speed on all sections of track including all curves. During the testing phase, some tests were run in manual mode with the speed governor disabled. In this situation, there is no speed restriction. The train speed is controlled solely by the train operator similar to manual train operations at other railroad and transit properties. Operating a train beyond the maximum15 mph speed, requires a higher level of operational skill and a more detailed knowledge of the track alignment.

11.2 Cars

Each car has four pick-up shoes to obtain power from a 750-volt, direct-current power rail comparable with NYCT and LIRR systems. AirTrain JFK has a fiber-optic communication network, which links all of the stations and terminals to the Operations Center (OMSF). This allows for station dynamic signage, full public address and closed circuit television. AirTrain JFK cars have two linear induction motors (LIM) and two propulsion inverters (conversion of direct current to alternating current). Braking is performed by regenerative dynamic service brakes, which are supplemented by electro-hydraulic disc brakes. AirTrain JFK vehicles are also equipped with emergency track brakes.

The cars have been constructed with steel underframes and aluminum roofs, sidewalls and bulkheads. Each car has two self-steering steel trucks with four wheels per truck. A linear induction reaction rail is located between the running rails. The reaction rail is an aluminum and iron plate that carries no electrical current. It reacts with the linear induction motors on the AirTrain JFK cars to produce an electro-magnetic force that propels the cars.

12. SUMMARY

DBOM shortened design and construction time by several years. The shortened time duration was reflected in lower overhead costs and a reduction in overall project costs. In the first year of operation, the PA estimated that 2.6 million passengers used AirTrain JFK.

In Flanders Fields

2005-05-27T19:20:00.000-04:00

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae,

MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Memorial Day 2005 – Henry W. Hessing

Memorial Day is the time we set aside to honor Americans who gave their lives in war to defend the essence of our country, freedom and individual rights. Before ceremonies and parades, workers install American flags along our streets. This weekend, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts around the country place small flags “where valor sleeps,” at each gravesite of our 120 beautifully landscaped and austere national cemeteries.

On Long Island, amongst the quiet trees, is Calverton where there are 146,000 graves. Engraved headstones tell us name, age, branch of service, military rank and war. If it were possible, what stories could they tell? For the families of these soldiers, Memorial Day arouses deep emotions because they know these stories. Professor Edwin A. Locke of the University of Maryland described these emotions as, “solemnity for the veterans who defended our country, sadness because so many have lost their lives and pride because they fought so well.”

Our Founding Fathers envisioned a government that existed to protect the freedom to think and act on one’s thinking. The American Revolution defined our independence and the American spirit. America became “the torch” of light to show the world’s oppressed a way to escape poverty and dictatorship, to live their own lives, where they aren’t owned by the gang, the commune or the state.

The philosophy that created our country is: we were the first to declare that government exists to serve men; men do not exist to serve government. We were the first to proclaim that all men are equal, to declare that men have individual rights – the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson at Philadelphia and George Washington at Valley Forge pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” for the moral right of an individual to live his own, independent life as he sees fit, that one’s life belongs to oneself, not to others to use as they see fit. We defined the right to liberty to mean the right to freedom of action, to use one’s own judgment and not to be forced to do what someone else demands. We defined the right to pursue individual happiness to mean that an individual may pursue his own happiness and not exist as a tool to serve the goals of others. Our “democracy” was built on the limitation of State power over the citizen and the possession of “rights” which may not be violated by the State. Personal liberty depends on the concept of the person. For the Founding Fathers the person was the “end” and the State the “means”; meaning the State exists for the person and not the person for the sake of State. The logic follows that if human beings were unable to reason or to think for themselves, there would be no autonomy or independence for a government to protect. This is the concept of American liberty and our freedom.

Mr. Andrew Bernstein, a writer for the Ayn Rand Institute wrote, “To fully appreciate the virtue of our soldiers we must remember what freedom means – that we can choose our fields of study, our own careers, our own spouses, the size of our families and our places of residence. It means we can speak out without fear regarding any issue, including government policy; choose our values, without interference from the state. Freedom is based on the inalienable right of each individual to pursue his own goals and his own personal happiness.”

Mr. Bernstein quotes two of our greatest generals who knew that freedom is sacred: George Washington said to Joseph Reed, “The spirit of freedom beats too high in us to submit to slavery.” Douglas MacArthur explained his efforts after World War II to Congress, “from the ashes left in war’s wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty…freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice.”

Many of us have stood in the stillness of our cemeteries, stared at field after field of white gravestones, all in perfect rows, each marked with a name and a war. We felt gratitude and respect yet were overcome by the immense claim of war on the living. Today, we honor the virtue of moral courage of those who fought, gave their blood and died in defense of America’s freedom.

In Flanders fields the
Poppies blow
Between the crosses,
Row on row.

AirTrain JFK Light Rail System

2005-03-07T19:18:00.000-05:00

AirTrain JFK Light Rail System

Abstract

This paper describes the AirTrain JFK Light Rail System that was nominated as one of five finalists for the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Outstanding Civil Engineering Award.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) constructed an elevated, 8.3 mile (13.4 km), fully automated Light Rail System at a cost of $ 1.9 billion to provide safe, fast, comfortable and convenient means of traveling to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA) and between terminals at the airport.

AirTrain uses light rapid transit technology. It draws power from a third rail. A linear induction motor pushes magnetically against an aluminum strip in the track center.

More than 5,500 150 ton and 200 ton capacity piles were driven to support the 8.3-mile (13.4 km) long guide way structure. The piles support 515 poured in place concrete columns, which support precast-segmental girder guide way on which AirTrain runs. . 6.3 miles (10.1 km) of single-track box girders and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of double track box girders were constructed incorporating more than 5,000 segments. Seismic isolation was required if the system was to remain readily operable following the design earthquake event. A portion of the light rail system was constructed using cut-and-cover techniques under the airport’s taxiways. Eighty percent of the tunnel is below the water table.

To maintain pace with anticipated growth at JFKIA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) decided to fast track the project. This has been described as the largest scope of work utilizing precast segmental box beams and the Design Build Operate and Maintain (DBOM) project delivery method ever contracted in New York City.

November 11 - Veterans’ Day

2004-11-11T11:50:00.000-05:00

November 11 - Veterans’ Day by Henry W. Hessing

World War I was called, “the war to end all wars.” Joining the Allies whose soldiers suffered trench warfare, bombardment, starvation and poison gas, the United States entered the war in Europe in the autumn of 1918. Thereafter, Germany’s defeat was a matter of time. November 11, the date we remember the Armistice is called Veterans’ Day.

America witnessed the horror of war on our native soil three years ago when 3,000 innocents died. Death came at the hands of the primitive savagery of militant Islam. We have seen Osama bin Laden and his barbarians squatting in caves, invoking their “prophet” from the literal Dark Ages. As with all dictators and tyrants, their inculcation of hatred against America is a necessary tool of tribal rulers who need scapegoats to blame for the misery of their own subjects. They believe that this world is evil, that man must surrender his mind, and that true life begins after the grave. The enemies of man’s life renounce reason in favor of mysticism and death worship. They reject thought and demand blind obedience. Our enemies are anti-mind which means anti-life.

In a lecture given in October 2001, Dr. Harry Binswanger made, parenthesis mine, this analysis: “Compare that (primitive barbarism) to the moral meaning of the World Trade Center as a symbol of what capitalism is: individual freedom, the freedom to use one’s mind to produce prosperity, a rising standard of living and individual happiness. Freedom, wealth, happiness and life are our values and the reason America is under attack…. The enemy is also defined by an idea – the idea that man is depraved, that the mind is to be jettisoned, that life is a waste.” Has hatred of life reached so low a level to demand to return to living as a primitive in a cave?

In September of this year, Andrew C. McCarthy wrote in National Review about the mentality, parenthesis mine, that: “espouses and supports an interpretation of Islam that calls for violent jihad against the United States and our allies. It would supplant our Constitution, our rule of law, (with barbarism.) It is dedicated to our destruction and must be eliminated…we are at war with militant Islam because we stand for life against the apostates of death… The war on militant Islam is about eradicating a mortal, global threat to the United States. Our enemies have demonstrated that they will not be rehabilitated. We must permanently neutralize them because if we don’t, they will kill us. Those who help militant Islam function as a lethal force that abets killing Americans and our allies in the most brutal fashion imaginable.”

A free country has a great responsibility: the right to use force as an instrument of a free nation’s self-defense, which means: the defense of a man’s individual rights. It is individualism that lies at America’s freedom. Militant Islam would have us renounce individualism and bow to theocratic dictates.

Antiwar activists say it is okay to go to war if the UN sanctions war but not if we go to war to defend our sovereignty. They want the individual to subordinate his freedom to their collective will and the government of a free people to subordinate the liberty of its citizens to the collective known as the United Nations. Their rational is the same as militant Islam as they want the same type of capitulation.

To prevail, we must resolutely act on our moral right to defend ourselves, regardless of the wishes of any other nation. Our purpose in this war is to preserve American national security. We must be willing and able to go to those places where militant Islam derives support whether at home or abroad. But we are not obliged to stay in a war zone until nirvana has arrived. We need to stay until we eradicate the enemy and his ideas based on the premise of death. We must annihilate the anti-life, anti-mind forces responsible for barbarism, beheadings, and bombings.

The United States of America is the greatest, noblest and in its original founding principles, the only moral country in the history of the world. Our soldiers preserve qualities of character typical at the time of America’s birth - earnestness, dedication and a sense of honor made visible in action. They defend our country because they personally are unwilling to live as slaves. This is an enormous virtue. The choice is clear: freedom, justice, progress and man’s happiness or primordial morality, slavery, brute force, terror and death. Ours is the morality of life. Theirs is the morality of death.

Vandalism

2004-10-19T10:59:00.000-04:00

Vandalism

Babylon Village is blessed with the natural scenery of Argyle Park, our canals and waterways, and the efforts of so many who make our places of public assembly and houses of worship visibly enticing to neighbors, friends and visitors. Homeowners take pride in reconstructing their residences. Holiday decorations enhance our village every year, all year long. Our merchants prepare bright and cheery displays highlighted with flowers and plantings in both storefronts and the alleyways to parking. The Village Beautification Society has made so many things happen, with the installation of lampposts, brick sidewalks, and plantings all around to enhance the appeal of the Village and create a wonderful atmosphere to raise our children. Our unsung heroes are the Village work crews who, every morning, tend the flowers hung on lampposts and keep Argyle Park a place where brides want to have pictures taken, and young families bring their children to play. All use creative minds to enhance the place where we live and work.

But here, as in many places around the country, are those whose goal is not to improve our Village but to disrupt and destroy. They are called vandals. They are a small gang who "express themselves" by forcibly imposing themselves on others.They’re actions of wanton destruction and/or desecration are not benevolent manifestations of the freedom to express ideas.

Freedom of speech is the right to communicate ideas, information and values. It includes, in the words of the First Amendment, the right to "petition the government for a redress of grievances" and to assemble "peaceably" for that purpose. Freedom of speech protects debate and dispute. It does not protect coercion, nor does one person's freedom of speech authorize him to force others to listen. No one has the right to violate rights.
Yet that is precisely what vandalism does. The vandal smashes car windows, destroys trees planted in schoolyards, tosses trashcans into Argyle Lake, and throws Christmas trees into waterways and canals. What is the cost of vandalism? Is it only physical damage, police overtime, lost wages and productivity for the besieged?
The goal of vandals is to impose their emotional tirades on a public that does not agree with them, and to do so by forcibly disrupting the lives of village residents, merchants and those who labor to make the Village a garden sanctuary. They spread their message not through persuasion, but by smashing property. Their goal is not peace and brotherhood.
The issue is not merely that vandals resort to violence and destruction. There is a fundamental difference between rational persuasion and destroying other people’s property. Their crime is that there is a crucial distinction between ideas and actions, between holding obnoxious views and forcibly imposing them on others. If the vandal has a rational mind, he should exert his effort in an expression of peaceful protest. His expression of dissatisfaction must not consist of a refusal to respect the rights of others. The vandal views freedom of speech not as a right to debate, but a right to violent disruption.

Robert Garmung wrote an essay in March 2003. Paraphrasing his thoughts: “For them, "democracy" becomes what it meant in its origins in Ancient Greece: the absolute right of the screaming masses to dispose of the individual's life, liberty and property.
The fundamental basis for freedom of speech is a respect for the rational mind, which requires the freedom to weigh the evidence, to dispute and debate, without fear of coercive interference. By their reliance on violence and brute force of mob gatherings, the vandal shows contempt for the mind. It is confession of intellectual and moral bankruptcy, a confession that, for them, rational argumentation does not matter: all that matters is that their opponents are cowed into submission.

The banner of free speech is reserved for those who respect the rights of others and offer arguments addressed to our minds. It does not protect the mindless rabble that clog the streets of our Village proclaiming by their unlawful acts, a fraudulent "right" to destroy the peace and harmony created by rational minds.”

Has respect for other people’s property and their rights been lost or is it simply not fostered? Is the attitude, “so what, whatever is damaged can be replaced (by the owner not the vandal,) based on a lack of guidance in the home? If these actions are tolerated, when does the vandal take responsibility for his actions? When does he learn to respect the rights of others and the peace and harmony created by rational minds?

Initiative - Labor Day 2004

2004-09-01T11:13:00.000-04:00

Initiative

On Labor Day we celebrate in Ayn Rand’s words, “Productive achievement as man’s noblest activity.” In August, 2000, the objectivist writer, Edwin A. Locke, wrote that, “each man gets what he earns and has no moral claim on the property of others…man at his best is a man who is free, independent, responsible for his own life, proud of his achievements and unwilling to be sacrificial fodder for those who would enslave him.”

Our friend is a single parent who has raised three children. Her youngest, a daughter, did well academically in high school. Upon graduation, she told her mother she doesn’t want to go to work or go to college. She arises at 3 PM and hangs around the house. She doesn’t go anywhere or do anything in particular. Has the parent made life so easy that the child knows she does not have to make it on her own? Will mom continue to struggle and work two or three jobs to support her daughter and the house in which they reside?

The dictionary definition of the word initiative, a noun, is 1) the power or ability to begin or to follow energetically with a plan or task: enterprise and determination. 2) A beginning or introductory step; an opening move; took the initiative in trying to solve the problem. Where is the daughter’s initiative?

In mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals in their dark caves. The gift of divine fire unleashed a flood of inventiveness and productivity. The name Prometheus means “Forethought.” Where are the young girl’s fire, inventiveness and productivity?

Another Prometheus is the protagonist in Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Prometheus comprehends that to exist is to possess identity. He discards the collective “we” and uses the word “I.” He realizes he is responsible for his own education. Our friend’s daughter has not learned about Prometheus in either mythology or philosophy. She is oblivious to her mother’s struggle for their survival. A comparison can be drawn to Emma in Jane Austen’s Emma wherein the fictional character’s schemes and perceptions prove false.

Our friend faces a moral crisis. She has been conditioned by years of sacrifice for her children yet her daughter’s stated aim in life is to do nothing. Are parenting and initiative mutually exclusive or mutually dependent? If the parent solves all problems, provides for her daughters every need, does that reduce initiative in the offspring? Is it counterproductive to independence or does it foster a desire to retain the quality of life to which one has become accustomed?

The mother queries, “What happens if I am not here?” That is a false argument. The mother isn’t facing reality. She hasn’t taught her daughter a whit about productive achievement. The daughter demands that her mother produce while she, herself, produces nothing. The daughter exhibits a cardinal sin – greed. What criteria motivate the offspring for a better life? Why has the desire to achieve been diminished? Is this an isolated situation? Are there few achievers? Is it that producers are just a quirk?

One is reminded of John Galt’s speech in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. Paraphrasing, “We are bombarded with dictates - that you are to serve the welfare state but not to serve your life or your pleasure. You have been taught that any moral code must be designed against you, not for you, not to further your life but to drain it. The unceasing creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties created this moral crisis. This moral duplicity is based on the claim that the good is self-sacrifice for the sake of the incompetents. A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality. Man’s life is the standard of morality, but your own life is its purpose. Your life belongs to you. The good is to live it.” The mother should have taught her daughter to hold her life as a value; she must learn to sustain it by initiative and choice. This Labor Day, know that if one believes that “productive achievement is man’s noblest activity” then one must live life for oneself, not others and not the welfare state.

Men and Bridges

2004-07-07T11:23:00.000-04:00

Men and Bridges
by Henry W. Hessing

We’re blessed with the most beautiful beaches in the world. Today, you can drive to them by taking Wantagh or Meadowbrook Parkway to Jones Beach, Loop Parkway to Point Lookout or Robert Moses Causeway to Captree, Oak and Fire Islands. There are fifteen bridges along these routes. The men who rehabilitate them are some of the finest you’ll ever encounter.

Men who work on bridges over water are very observant. As an example, there was one morning on a clear August day when the men working on top of the Captree Bridge observed a large moving ripple on the water surface. Terns and gulls were diving for baitfish. Blue fish were chasing the baitfish to the surface.

Other days you may get a good laugh from the obvious. One such occurrence was when a speedboat went through one of the Captree Bridge spans. Three young girls were topless and elicited hoots and howls again, first from the guys working up top, and then the rest on the barges and floats. The girls must have liked the attention as they passed by three times!

One of my all time favorite people is Scotty, a dock builder foreman. Scotty was from Scotland. He worked for a contractor responsible for doing concrete pile repair and steel jacket replacement on the Captree Bridge piers. A number of different trades and skills are required but most important is the man who is in responsible charge of doing the work. Scotty had a lifetime of experience.

Weather never seemed to faze Scotty. One brutally windy, rainy, cold, bone-chilling day saw white caps on the Great South Bay. Scotty described the weather conditions as, “just a summer day in Scotland, laddie!”

The repair work on the Captree Bridge required removing deteriorated concrete from each pile of several piers. In some cases reinforcement was exposed and had to be replaced or splices added before rectangular fiberglass stay-in-place forms were installed. The forms have to be set in place and stiffened, usually with timber struts, so they don’t move. This gives the repaired pile a neat and finished appearance as well as ensuring uniform and continuous concrete adherence between old and new concrete and to the reinforcement.

Construction materials such as concrete, aggregate, and rebar are stored on a huge flat rectangular barge, approximately forty feet wide by sixty feet long. The divers and tenders equipment are stored in a shanty on board as well. The barge is brought to the bridge by a tug. After a series of piers have been completed, the tug comes back to move the barge. Scotty decided to try something different. He figured the tides and currents around slack tide. He ordered the rope ties released from one end of the barge just before slack tide. The barge drifted a bit. As the tide ran, he ordered certain ropes tightened. The barge made a full 180-degree turn and came in place so the next few piers could be repaired. This was an elegant, inexpensive solution for moving a barge.

The sky was blue and the water an even darker blue on another bright sunny day when a compressor operator fell over board. Since there was no bluefish chasing bait fish or topless girls motoring by, there was no known distraction. Most thought the operator went for a swim with his clothes on just to cool off. None believed he was drowning. But Scotty thought differently and quickly removed his boots, took out his wallet, and dove into the water. Scotty pulled the operator back to the barge. One would think that everyone who works over water would know how to swim but this man didn’t. Later, the operator admitted he never learned how to swim. Scotty said he enjoyed the swim and everyone went back to work.

*****

Loop, Meadowbrook, Wantagh and Robert Moses Parkways all have one moveable, or “draw” bridge. The ones used on these routes are called bascule bridges. Some have two leaves and some have four depending on the number of lanes of traffic the bridge carries.

Men who do steel repairs are called ironworkers. Joe is an ironworker foreman who looks like he had been chiseled out of a chunk of granite. Sometimes Joe would fish off one of the bridges early in the morning well before daylight and the beginning of the workday. I don’t know that he ever caught any fish but I believe he liked the quiet just before dawn. It gave him time to think. Like most people in heavy construction, Joe was a man of very few words. He planned his day and the work got done. Nothing deterred him.

It is one thing to indicate on a set of design drawings, removal and replacement of structural steel and another thing is to do it on a bridge over water. One repair was taking a lot of time. It required replacing individual lacing bars (latticework) in one of the beams that is embedded in the concrete counter weight of the bascule leaf. Joe summoned John, the structural steel detailer, to the job site. Joe asked John to detail a complete replacement, and have it manufactured in the shop, brought out to the site so the whole assembly could be installed at one time. When it was all said and done, Joe’s thinking saved a lot of time.

Critical to the safety of the entire project is keeping the span balanced. The weight and location of all members removed and added to the bascule span are recorded in specific detail. This should be performed each day. In doing so, the span is kept in balance throughout the entire project to the extent that a range of 1,000 to 10,000 lbs. weights are kept at each corner at all times. Balancing a moveable bridge becomes a daily occurrence. If a leaf of a bascule span doesn’t come down, there is concern.

Joe worked on bridges long before balancing was done with gauges. Because he planned his work, he always anticipated what ever might happen well ahead of time. One of the ironworkers was a fellow who weighed about three hundred pounds. His name was Tiny. To balance one of the leaves of the bascule, Joe motioned to Tiny to walk out toward the end of the span. Tiny started plodding his way with hammer and spud wrench dangling. Seeing Tiny waddle is a wonder to behold. Joe called out to Tiny, “Go out a little further.” Tiny eventually made it to the end, and the leaf slowly descended. Once in place, the bridge tender (who operates the controls) threw the pins to lock the span in place. Joe told the men to remove one thousand pounds of lead weight from the counter balance. He didn’t need any strain gauges. All he needed was Tiny.

*****

In navigable waterways, timber fenders, wales and dolphins are used to protect bridge abutments and piers from misdirected boats, floating debris and/or ice. Over time, they need to be replaced. This work is usually coordinated with the tides so that there is access to do the repair or replacement. One man who does this work is a fellow named Tony. Most refer to him as “Captain Tony.”

Tony owns all the equipment, boats, barges, compressors and tools necessary to do any kind of marine work. He learned his craft from his father. Captain Tony didn’t rely on charts because he “knew” the water. He didn’t rely on equipment to do the work as much as he did on manpower. He had a crew that knew their jobs and worked smart. Tony had his own way of doing things based on his many years of experience and what he had learned from his dad. When he got to working on fenders or dolphins, he really did nice work. But every once in a while, Tony would get diverted.

Tony had an old, bare bones, heavily plated steel tugboat. The keel was large so it drew a lot of water. When the winter months came on, he decided to insulate the barge. But he didn’t just insulate it. He installed tongue-and-groove clear oak over the insulation and attached it to the steel walls. He took special care around the portals. His tug started to take on the look of a fine colonial styled house. The more he worked at it, the better it looked and the more he fell in love with installing, mitering, sanding, finishing and varnishing clear oak. He wire wooled and varnished it until he could see his face in the light’s reflection so he could shave.

All of this was a great and necessary diversion because sometimes, Captain Tony would loose track of the tides. Since you have to work with the tides in daylight hours, some days were short and others were long. On a given day when Tony decided that he had accomplished enough work, he’d head back to the marina with the tug, and his barge and whatever else he had taken out. Most of the men would head to any other piece of equipment or boat. They didn’t want to stay on the tug because every once in a while, Tony would run aground. That is why they called him “Captain Tony.” There is no way you can get this tug off a sand bar so you would have to wait for high tide. Tony didn’t care. He loved his boat and he loved installing oak, and if he had some time, he’d scarf timber and install new wales on your bridge.

There are sunny days when the sky is blue and the water an even darker blue. Those are the days you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but with some of the best people you’ll ever meet, the men who work on bridges over water.

Independence Day 2004

2004-07-04T11:34:00.000-04:00

Independence Day 2004
by: Henry W. Hessing.

John Locke discovered the moral foundations and America’s Founding Fathers established the political institutions necessary to create a free society that recognizes each individual is capable of rational self-government. Their thinking created our Declaration of Independence, our written Constitution as our fundamental law and the Bill of Rights. Our Constitution stands above government as a “higher law.” It creates, defines and limits the power of government. It protects the rights of the individual. It curbs abuse of power through checks and balances. The Constitution forever guarantees our liberty.

On Flag Day, 2003, Edwin A. Locke wrote an article that discussed the core values of reason, rights and science. He noted that 18th century Enlightenment’s indispensable achievement was the concept of individual rights. “John Locke dramatized that individuals do not exist to serve government, but rather that governments exist to protect individuals. The individual, said Locke, has an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This was the founding philosophy of America.”

Later that same month, Michael Berliner wrote an article concerning the meaning of Independence Day. He described the American Revolution as unique in human history: “a revolution – and a nation - founded on a moral principle, the principle of individual rights. Jefferson at Philadelphia and Washington at Valley Forge pledged their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.”

“Jefferson and Washington fought a war for the principle of independence, meaning the moral right of an individual to live as he sees fit. Independence was proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence as the rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Mr. Berliner further explains: “Political independence rests on…the independence of the human mind. It is the ability of a human being to think for himself and guide his own life that makes political independence possible and necessary. The government as envisioned by the Founding Fathers existed to protect the freedom to think and to act on one’s thinking. It is this independence that defines the American Revolution and the American spirit.”

We need to rediscover our individual morality. Our youth and the youth of other lands must learn that thinking is an act of choice. A code of values accepted by choice is our code of morality. When we illustrate that man’s life is the standard of morality, that life is its purpose, and the purpose of morality is to teach us to enjoy our lives and ourselves, we will defeat the evil we faced on September 11, 2001 and we continue to face today. Ayn Rand once described the essence of evil in Atlas Shrugged, “…those anti-living objects who seek, by devouring the world, to fill the selfless zero of their soul. It is not your wealth that they are after. Theirs is a conspiracy against the mind, which means: against life and man.”

What matters then is a set of rules and values that we the people, our leaders of today and tomorrow, and our nation may live by so that we may set the example for other rulers and nations so they can learn and live by them as well. The rules and values we accept by choice, i.e., our moral code is founded in the philosophy of our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. Its principles created the only moral country in the history of the world. America was liberated from tyranny, and established the first government ever based on individual rights. These rights are protected by our written Constitution. The moral preconditions of free society are our own two hundred year old documents!

For the purpose of our self-preservation, we need this moral code. We need to teach it in our schools and education systems, in all lands oppressed by dictatorships, communism, totalitarianism, and the radical Islamic fundamentalist states that harbor terrorism. American statesmen should proclaim that the principle of individual rights is our morality. It is the basis of our Declaration of Independence. We need to emphasize the importance of these documents at home and distribute them abroad. They are free for all to read and represent what liberty and individual freedom offer - achievement, value, grandeur, goodness and joy as the morality of life.

Memorial Day 2004

2004-05-31T11:17:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day 2004

Like 2,600,000 others, I served in Viet Nam. Our effort to save the Vietnamese people from what ultimately became their fate, an existence under totalitarianism, was belittled and described as a “police action,” an “interdiction in a civil war” or as a mere “conflict.” 58,000 Americans died for the right of the Vietnamese to individual liberty and freedom. We, the living, can attest that those, who died, knew the horror of war.

During my tour, I learned how much I loved freedom. I thought that when war was over, and there was peace, the United States could and would help the Vietnamese. We stood for the good in mankind. Our engineering and technology could help harness rivers and create hydroelectric power. We could triple their rice production. We could build schools and housing and help create a society that believed in individual freedom and the right to own land just as we do. This is only possible where freedom exists; where people have individual rights and only if they have the right to own property.

Since September 11, 2001 our safety, liberty and freedom have been ensured by the effort of our armed forces. Concurrently, fifty million people have been liberated and now experience freedom, many for the first time, in a very troubled area of our world. This is not the fate of the North or South Vietnamese. They do not have the same future. For our security and for those who cherish life, we must continue this initiative. We must protect America from the evil we experienced on 911. In my opinion, it is worse than what we fought in Viet Nam. It is anti-mind. It wants to kill and destroy. Death, not life is their goal. It has no other purpose. There is no reasoning with those whose purpose is anti-life and anti-mind.

During this time of peril, Americans and non-Americans must realize that man has individual rights that cannot be conquered or enslaved by any enemy, foreign or domestic. This peril does not originate in America. It comes from without, not from within. It must be met. It is for our freedom that we fight terrorism. I do not believe this can be stated often enough. It must be declared unequivocally so every living soul comprehends we fight for individual freedom and the joy life offers.

I believe most people understand the use of military force but I do not believe everyone understands that there is no “knight in shining armor” to lift this peril from us because he doesn’t exist. We choose to use force because force has been used against us. We did not initiate the use of force against radical Islamic fundamentalists. Their state funded attack is against civilized society and morality.

We are at a point wherein we need to define the end game, that is, a life of confidence not fear, individual liberty and not nihilism. General Douglas MacArthur is quoted as saying, “There is no substitute for victory.” There is no alternative in war if we cherish liberty, individual freedom and what they offer - achievement, value, grandeur, goodness and joy as the morality of life.

Einstein’s Birthday is March 14; Lets Celebrate!

2004-03-14T10:37:00.000-05:00

Einstein’s Birthday is March 14; lets celebrate!

Man's mind is his tool of survival, from the harnessing of fire to the discovery of electricity. Albert Einstein’s birth date is March 14. Why is Albert Einstein considered a genius?

Last year at this time and as a matter of interest, I searched the web and found a very good reference document. Recently, I went back to find the author’s name in order to give him full credit, however I was not able to find the site. That web search found the following: He worked forty hours a week in a patent office and concurrently created the Special Theory of Relativity in 1905. The theory illustrates time and space vary as an object moves relative to anything else and that time and space are not absolute. In the same year he created the quantum theory of light - that energy and matter are discrete. Light consists of photons or particles. He invented a method of counting and determining the size of an atom and the phenomenon called Brownian motion. This was the proof that atoms exist. He then completed the special relativity theory describing light as a wave and a particle. Later in 1905, he proved that energy and matter are linked, that is the famous equation, E = mc2. Not a bad year for anyone but consider what else he did.

In 1907, Einstein had the insight that gravity and acceleration are equivalent. Every first year physics student learns this as a fact, never having to know who figured it out. He recognized the coexistence of particles and waves. This is significant if you want to know the difference between AM and FM radio transmission and reception. In physics, this is called dualism. Scattering of light by individual molecules in the atmosphere is called critical opalescence. Thus, his 1910 paper answers every child’s question, “Why is the sky blue?” In 1911, he recognized that dualism is fundamental in nature.

In 1915, he completed the General Theory of Relativity. Matter and energy actually mold the shape of space and flow of time. Space is no longer the box that the universe comes in; space and time, matter and energy are. This can be graphically shown in three dimensions. Imagine a large mesh net similar to what commercial fisherman use. Now toss a ball into and see how the mesh is moved. The net is molded or shaped around the ball by the force or energy of the toss.

Cosmology is the study of the behavior of the whole universe. In 1917, Einstein’s paper used general relativity to model the behavior of the entire universe. He took his theory and applied it to the entire universe! What is even more amazing is that he did it eight years prior to the invention of quantum mechanics, the theory of waves and particles. Prior to the Theories of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, the world could be described only in terms of Newtonian physics which was not adequate to define large objects moving at great speeds or subatomic particle movement needed for inventions like semiconductors.

Albert Einstein recognized that there might be a problem due to the dual nature of quanta as waves and particles to define causes and effects because sometimes particles act like waves and waves act like particles. (Quantum mechanics helps to clarify this blur.) This led to a new idea concerning the forms of matter - solid, liquid and gas. In 1919, the Bose-Einstein condensate was postulated. In the mid-1990s, the condensate was created at very low temperatures.

Einstein spent the rest of his career working on what is today called “String Theory.” He was not able to prove his theories of forces through multi-dimensional space. But the problems he could not solve are described as the cutting edge of physics today.

Albert Einstein transformed our understanding of nature from the smallest (atomic) scale to the extent of the cosmos. Culture thrives to the extent that it is governed by reason and science. The spark of genius in the scientist who first identifies a law of physics, in the inventor who uses that knowledge to create a new engine or telephonic device and in the businessmen who daily translate their ideas into tangible wealth must be acknowledged, recognized and celebrated. Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!

National Engineers’ Week

2004-02-18T19:12:00.000-05:00

National Engineers’ Week

In 1827, Thomas Tregold defined engineering as “the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man.” The Egyptian pyramids, the Grecian temples, the Roman roads, bridges and aqueducts, are the products of the engineering mind. “Civil Engineering,” the magazine of the American Society of Civil Engineers, November-December 2002 issue highlighted 40 civil engineering landmark and notable projects. Several of these are in the New York region.

Construction began on the Erie Canal in 1817, and was completed in October 1825. It exemplifies determination and skill required to construct a 363-mile long waterway connecting the Great Lakes to New York City.

In 1842, the 41-mile long Croton Aqueduct was completed supplying New York City with a gravity fed, safe potable water supply. It is highlighted by the fifteen masonry arches crossing called the Harlem River High Bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883. It is a magnificent suspension bridge. The center span of 1596 feet was the world’s longest. The side spans are 930 feet and the total length is 5,989 feet. It may be the most photographed bridge because of its beauty.

Today’s New York City subway ridership is estimated at 1.3 billion rides per year. The Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) line opened in October 1904. Within a year, the 9.1-mile route was accommodating 600,000 riders. One of its greatest challenges was rerouting water, gas, sewer, electrical and other utility lines.

Construction of the Holland Tunnel began in 1920 and was completed in 1927. Parallel tubes 8,371 feet and 8,558 feet long were designed to include innovative mechanical ventilation buildings housing 84 fans, each 80 feet in diameter. The tunnel was the longest underwater automobile tunnel in the world.

The Empire State Building opened in May 1931 just 14 months after construction began. The art deco architecture consists of limestone, granite, aluminum, and chrome –nickel steel. At 102 stories or 1,250 feet, it stood as the world’s tallest building for 41 years until the construction of the World Trade center towers.

Construction of the George Washington Bridge began in 1927 and was completed in 1931. It is the first suspension bridge to carry fourteen lanes of traffic and today serves 50 million vehicles per year.

The John F Kennedy International Airport originally called the Municipal Airport at Idlewild, and then New York International Airport began in April 1942. Today its four runways serve over thirty million passengers annually as well as air cargo. A recent addition is the introduction of light rail service.

Another suspension bridge is the 7,200-foot long Verrazano Narrows. It opened in 1964 connecting the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. The 4,260 foot main span was the longest in the world. To resist dynamic wind action, the double deck structure acts as a single, rigid, rectangular tube due to two vertical stiffening trusses between the decks and two lateral trusses, one in each plane of the deck.

The World Trade Center twin towers were completed in 1973. At 110 stories and heights of 1,362 feet and 1,368 feet achieved global acclaim as engineering landmarks.
Paraphrasing Fredric Hamber, “Several centuries ago, providing the basic necessities for one’s survival was a matter of daily drudgery for most people. Today we enjoy conveniences undreamed of by medieval kings. The high standard of living we enjoy, our relative affluence is based on brainpower. Man’s mind is his tool of his survival. Americans should celebrate the spark of genius in the scientist who first identifies a law of physics, in the inventor who uses that knowledge to create a new engine or telephonic device, and in the businessmen who daily translate their ideas into tangible wealth.” Thomas Tregold would include the engineer who harnesses the power of nature for the benefit of mankind.

Ayn Rand stated, “Productive achievement is man’s noblest activity and reason is his absolute.” It is the engineer’s ability to use his mind, to reason, invent and create that has given us canals, aqueducts, subways, vehicle tunnels, airports, buildings that soar 100 or more stories, and majestic long-span bridges. Lets recognize these achievements and celebrate February 20 through the 26, 2005, National Engineers’ week!

Henry W. Hessing, PE

"December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy"

2003-12-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

“ December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy”

Just off the coast of the island of Oahu, in the Hawaiian Islands, is the USS Arizona Memorial. If you visit this World War II shrine you will learn that 2388 United States personnel were killed and 1,178 were wounded in an unprovoked attack. Twelve US ships were sunk or beached and nine were damaged. On the ground, 164 US aircraft were destroyed and 159 were damaged.

Two governments were negotiating their differences and one decided to choose war. The deliberate, planned strategy was to immobilize the US Pacific Fleet so that the United States could not interfere with the aggressor’s invasions throughout the Pacific.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech to the Congress of the United States begins: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The President describes severe damage and loss of American lives. He went on to state that simultaneous attacks were launched against Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island and Midway Island

As Commander in Chief, the President had no choice but to defend “the very life and safety of our nation.” He stated unequivocally, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory…I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.” President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war based on the unprovoked, premeditated and “dastardly attack.” We went to war.

Take time to reflect on the events that led to December 7, 1941 and the President’s speech the next day. Attend a ceremony and watch seven men raise rifles to their shoulders and fire three volleys, a 21gun salute. Hear the bugler play his mournful tune, Taps. See the American flag folded. How often has the bugler played those notes that penetrate solemn, earthy stillness and quiet?

See the tears come to the veteran’s eye. What is it he remembers? What has he seen? Which of his buddies’ faces comes back to him as the bugler plays Taps? He does not want his sons or their sons to experience the carnage of war. Isn’t that why he served? Has he shown them his Combat Infantry Badge or his Bronze Star? Has he said anything to them about the horrors he has experienced?

Does your mother have a shadow box containing medals and ribbons of her brother who died after a lifetime in military service to his country? Do you understand the significance of his Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Clusters and his Silver Star?

Our Founding Fathers were armed with the conviction that political freedom is an ideal worth fighting for. Their moral certainty gave them the courage of their convictions. President Roosevelt realized our survival depended on our moral certainty and courage to use our might to defend our freedom. It is no different today. Listen to the bugler. Look into the eyes of a veteran. If we cannot see why we fight for our freedom, and therefore all people’s freedom, we are blind to the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. On December 7, remember that eternal vigilance and the will to exercise our strength is the price of freedom.

Withdraw from the UN

2003-11-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Withdraw from the UN

In 1974, Ayn Rand addressed the graduating cadets at West Point. An abridged version of her remarks follows: “Our armed services have preserved three characteristics that were typical of America’s birth, but are virtually non-existent today. They are earnestness, dedication and a sense of honor. Honor is self-esteem made visible in action. The army of a free nation has the responsibility to use force as an instrument of self-defense, which means the defense of a man’s individual rights. The principle subordinating might to right is to use force only in retaliation against those who initiate its use. The highest integrity and sense of honor are required for such a task. No other army has achieved it. ...To all the men of West Point, past, present and future: Thank you.” Ayn Rand came to this country from the USSR, a country guilty of the worst tyranny on earth. She expressed her appreciation for the supreme value US soldiers would defend.

The September 11 attacks led us to ask why do terrorists hate the U.S.? We can pose the same question to those who oppose war with Iraq. The anti-war view is not a demonstration against military aggressions of Russia or Iraq. It is solely America, retaliating against the threat of aggression that evokes widespread hostility. It is anti-American because our country has declared a moral right to uphold its self-interest. Protestors oppose individualism that lies at America’s foundation. They despise capitalism where the individual is sovereign, free to live his own life and pursue his own values. They despise the idea that America has the sovereign right to defend its self-interest, irrespective of the wishes of the international community.

Anti-war protestors are not against an invasion of Iraq, if authorized by the U.N. They don’t want the decision to be made by the United States. They seek America’s deferral to the UN, as “a higher power.” But it is one’s moral right to uphold one’s self interest. Undercutting America’s sovereignty by surrendering the principal of individualism to the principle of collectivism is their motive.

Islamic terrorists seek that as well. They want us to renounce individualism and bow to theocratic dictates. “Anti-war” activists want the individual to subordinate his freedom to the collective of his community. They want the government of a free people to subordinate the liberty of its citizens to the collective of the international community.

Peter Schwartz wrote on March 17, “We are smeared as “unilateralists” if we defend our interests by engaging in military action ... We are smeared as “isolationists” if we defend our interests by not sending troops on altruistic, “peacekeeping” missions. Every refusal to sacrifice ourselves to the demands of others provokes the same essential response.”

The United States will not capitulate to anti-American protestors. We will not mollify the U.N. We will act on our moral right to defend ourselves, regardless of the wishes of any other nation. The choice of how the United States defends itself is not to be made by the collective called the U.N. Can any American believe that cynical France, resentful Russia, and the enlightened powers of Angola, Cameroon and Chile should decide our security? The only thing that gives the U.N. legitimacy is the United States, i.e., our money, our might and our moral sanction.

We should withdraw from the U.N. and let it fail as a debating society. This would permanently unshackle U.S. foreign policy from the debilitating consensus of the corrupt collection of regimes that run it.

Volunteerism

2003-10-19T10:57:00.000-04:00

Volunteerism

A few years ago, President Clinton called for hundreds of thousands of volunteers to teach children how to read because schools weren’t. One year later, President Clinton continued to call for mandatory “volunteer” service for all school students. The President went even further by saying it would be good for fourth and eighth graders to learn the “joy and duty” of service. President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have made similar statements.

None of our leaders explained how “public service” is morally uplifting to students. If few are getting around to teaching students how to read, what were the government and schools doing with the world’s largest expenditure on education?

Some defend mandatory service by saying: “If we can require English and math, why shouldn’t we require public service?” If the purpose of education is moral indoctrination, compulsion and punishment, this is a good point. If the purpose of education is to teach skills that help individuals to produce achieve and build their own lives the focus should be teaching students to read, think clearly and solve basic arithmetic problems.

The purpose for volunteerism is service for its own sake and not whether it helps the recipient. Why else mandate public service for nine year old fourth graders? What would nine year olds be required to do? Read to the elderly? Ooops! Can’t be that – these children can’t read, remember? Have nine year olds in the past succeeded where $5 trillion in government expense (War on Poverty) has failed? Are nine year olds expected to learn to live for others and surrender their lives and their values to the government at the earliest possible age? If they surrender the right to live for themselves, they will serve the purpose of those who want to exercise power over every detail of their lives.

Mandatory volunteerism forces Americans to serve those who do not produce, achieve, invent or create. We were liberated from that thinking when the Founding Fathers proclaimed the inalienable right of each individual to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If our presidents, secretaries and the education establishment continue to focus on their goal of teaching “every young American” the “joy and duty of service” - that they have no moral right to pursue their own happiness but a duty to pursue everyone else’s – our freedoms recede into history. Then it will make no difference if anyone can read or not.

Where has it been proven that service in slums and nursing homes is a moral ideal that will galvanize our youth, adding value and significance to their lives? The young are not motivated by the prospect of selfless service at a homeless shelter. They are motivated by budding careers in business, law, medicine and computer science. They need a vision of man the hero, the bold individual, who holds his own values, sets his own goals and pursues his own happiness. This inspiration is especially important to the poor, the handicap, and immigrants, for they face great obstacles to achieving personal success. An Oprah Winfrey who rises from poverty, succeeds by her own effort and becomes the wealthiest woman in America will offer more hope to our young than indentured servitude offered by President Clinton.

There is nothing wrong with an individual doing charity work, if it is not a sacrifice for him. Charity is not a moral ideal, nor does human life depend on it. Achievement is the moral ideal because man’s life does depend on it.

The sight of Michael Jordan soaring through the air, winning championships, earning millions, then flashing his brilliant smile – his extraordinary success – has inspired far more young people to strive for their own dreams. Certainly far more than an army of social workers could ever think possible. As Ayn Rand wrote in “Atlas Shrugged,” “The sight of an achievement is the greatest gift that a human being could offer others.”

Is your home your castle?

2003-07-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

Is your home your castle?

The July 10, 2003 Beacon editorial states, “A recent supreme court ruling has turned upside down the right of the municipalities over zoning matters making it now the obligation of the community to show why they shouldn’t approve applications from property owners for overbuilding, over extending and otherwise violating local building and (sic) code laws.” Just to clarify some of these thoughts, zoning laws describe land use. Building codes describe minimum structural requirements for construction and fire code compliance. If used effectively, they can be risk management tools that save lives. What is important is to identify whether a municipality or planning board is attempting to regulate whether your property is yours or the government’s to control through zoning. The specific case in question involved the height of a decorative wrought iron gate. The municipality claimed its “right” to limit the height to four feet that was out of proportion to the scale of the property. The owner desired an eight-foot high, ornately gated entrance to his mansion.

Using a theoretical example, a municipality’s zoning laws tell an owner that he can or cannot build a single-family home on his land, even if it is adjacent to other suburban homes. Laws establishing “historic districts,” “landmarks,” or “improvement zones” vex owners who are consequently unable to erect fences, change rain gutters, add rooms, paint their houses, remove trees or install a gate. It is estimated that these regulations are responsible for nearly thirty percent of the cost of a home and are a major cause of soaring home prices – effectively restricting who can buy a home and where.

These government regulations demand the sacrifice of the property owner’s rights to the esthetic “preferences” of random strangers. What is the reason? The planning agency has not said that the construction of a new home is a hazard to others. It has not said that construction will cause pollution to flow from one property to someone else’s property. Should esthetic opinions dominate? The government essentially wants power to control the design choice of the property owner in the name of the non-property–owning public.

This sort of power abuse is an inversion of the very purpose of government. There is no such thing as a “right to a pleasing view.” If one owns property, one has the moral right to control it – even if that conflicts with the esthetic tastes of a passerby. One has the right to acquire property, and once acquired, to use it without interference from others. An owner must not interfere with the rights of his neighbors to do likewise, but there is no moral basis for demanding that an owner alter his property to make the view more pleasing to an onlooker. Your life (and property) belongs to you and not to others.

The Declaration of Independence reminds us that it is only “to secure these rights” that “governments are instituted among men.” A legitimate government agency would not try to “protect” the view – it should do all that it could to protect the property of (home) owners from interferences of tourists and neighbors who claim to have a view that they are unwilling or unable to pay for. Planning agencies do not have the right to plan away the rights of property owners in order to satisfy the preferences of others.

The authors of the Declaration of Independence warned about incursions on our rights, writing, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” In our villages and towns, the basic notion of the right to property is under attack. The court ruled correctly for individual rights.

Memorial Day 2003

2003-05-31T11:44:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is special to all who love freedom. It is a day set aside to remember the bravery, sense of duty, honor and ultimate sacrifice of those who have protected our freedom and those who do so today.

Do you remember the Big Band sound of the Glen Miller Orchestra? Can you remember the World War II tune “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else but Me?” The West Islip High School dance band often played it in the 60’s. We learned the music but not the lyrics. Play Glen Miller’s version today and listen to the lyrics. The male singer asks his girl friend to remain faithful while he’s away. She responds by asking him to remain faithful to her and not place a girl upon his knee while he is on foreign shores. They join in the reprise and promise not to sit under the old apple tree until you come marching home. The words are light-hearted emotions shared by many thousands who were separated by war.

Baseball was our favorite sport in my neighborhood in West Islip. We spent many childhood hours playing baseball and stickball. Some of the guys could really hit a baseball or a Spalding. We’d pretend we were our favorite baseball heroes. We learned to field the short hop and make the pivot for the double play at second base. We walked, talked and read about baseball. There was an illustration in the 1957 sport pages of Ted Williams trying to land a fish, which was inscribed “. 400 batting average.” Could he land that title again? And Mickey Mantle was fishing with him. Conversations were about how many home runs Ted might have hit if he had not served in WWII and rejoined the service to fly missions in the Korean War. After serving in two wars, Ted Williams hit .388 in 1957.

As kids growing up during the Cold War, we practiced air raid drills in elementary school through high school. The fear and threat was that communist Russia would launch an attack of intercontinental ballistic missiles or missiles with nuclear warheads. The theory was if the US matched the USSR, the threat of retaliation implied total destruction of life on earth. Therefore, no one would ever be foolish enough to “press the button.”

Some of the victims of the Cold War included men who died on the Scorpion, a nuclear submarine. One of those was Joe Miller from West Islip. Joe could hit a baseball a long way. We played pick up games, for example, Arcadia Drive vs. Roderick Road. If you played on Joe’s team, you’d anticipate him hitting a long beautiful arc, like Ted Williams. If you played against him, you’d hope you could run like Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle and catch his line drive. If you get a chance, stop at the intersection of Higbie Lane and Montauk Highway in West Islip. Look for a granite block with Joe’s name on it. Remember a kid who played baseball and became a member of the “silent service.”

Some volunteered and some were drafted and went to Viet Nam in the sixties and seventies. Others went into the National Guard. One who played stickball and baseball on Arcadia Drive wrestled for West Islip High School. Bill Richter was a scrapper with undefeatable spirit, who appeared in the state finals in the 98 lb class one year and the 105 lb class the next. As a Marine, Bill went to Viet Nam. During a patrol, the point man stepped on a land mine. Bill was injured, sent home and died a year later. His name does not appear on the Wall in Washington but we, who knew him, remember. Over 58,000 Americans died in VN.

My first night on a bunker near the perimeter of Long Bihn, a former rubber plantation, was in August 1971. It was cooler on top of the bunker than in it. Before dawn, there was movement on the nearby highway. As light pierced the dark sky, Vietnamese could be seen walking, carrying their children and belongings. They were refugees. Some had carts with wooden wheels drawn by water buffalo. I wondered if we had gone back in time 5,000 years? There were other nights and situations when fear gripped our squad. Men cried out to God, others for their mothers. And I wondered why a West Islip kid, who played baseball and stickball, was away from home, half way around the world.

Today, we remember those who perished on September 11, 2001. The attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center was an attack on civilization. When the WTC was attacked, we were shocked and could not comprehend the depth of evil, the evil that worships death and the subjugation of our consciousness to the destruction of existence. This evil is worse than anything we feared in Viet Nam. That initiation of force ended any thought of morality because we do not place moral sanction on murderers. Terrorists do not wish to live. Their morality is death. Death is their value system and their chosen goal. Today we are in a fight for freedom and our way of life. Paraphrasing John Galt’s speech in “Atlas Shrugged” written by Ayn Rand: “Reason, purpose and self-esteem are our values. Reason is man’s only tool. Purpose is the choice of happiness. Self-esteem is man’s certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living. Our morality is life while the terrorists’ is the antithesis.”

Remember the men and women of our armed services who are fighting this war against evil today. Understand their act of service for this country is to preserve our freedom and our choice to live. Let the world know that America stands for freedom for all people.

Nobel Peace Prize 2002

2003-01-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

Nobel Peace Prize

The 1973 Nobel Peace Prize winner was Le Doc Tho, the North Vietnamese Communist, who, along with Ho Chi Minh and other Party leaders, imposed a vicious Communist dictatorship in North Vietnam that slaughtered at least 50,000 Vietnamese in the 1950s and then invaded South Vietnam. The death toll by that Communist dictatorship totaled 2 million. The 1994 prize went to Yassar Arafat, the brutal dictator of the Palestinian Authority, who imposed a despotic regime on his own people and initiated a murderous war against the free citizens of Israel. This years Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former President Jimmy Carter. The five member committee, solemnly intoned: “In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power, Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and international development.” Was this the criteria in 1973 and 1994?

During President Carter’s term of office: The Sandinistas seized Nicaragua and used it as a base to assist anti-American guerillas in El Salvador. Iranians overthrew the pro–American Shah, installed a revolutionary Islamic regime, and in an egregious violation of human rights and international law seized U.S. diplomats and held them as hostages. The USSR installed SS-20 missiles in its then satellites and invaded Afghanistan. These were not years of peace and tranquility.

All told, Carter’s “principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law” created a world that was far more unstable than the one he inherited. If that achievement is the one the Nobel Prize Committee wants emulated, they would have been well advised not to make the award. Carter did manage to convince Egypt to recognize Israel’s right to exist but he did not receive the award for this notable effort. (We support his legacy to the tune of $2 billion a year.) Jimmy Carter won the prize for his intervention with the North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung. At the time, Carter said about the brutal Stalinist dictator, “I found him to be vigorous, intelligent, surprisingly well-informed about the technical issues and in charge of the decisions about this country.”

The police state of North Korea is a dictatorship that starves its people while feeding its million-man army. It sells ballistic missiles to our enemies and it builds nuclear weapons. Jonah Goldberg described Carter’s intervention in the May 15, 2002 issue of the Washington Times as “bollixing up then-President Clinton’s efforts to stop nuclear proliferation in North Korea.”

On October 25, 2002 Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post, “One of the proudest achievements of the Clinton administration was the Agreed Framework with North Korea. Clinton assured us that it froze the North Korean nuclear program. North Korea gave us a piece of paper promising to freeze; we gave North Korea 500,000 tons of free oil every year and set about building – also free – two huge $ 2 billion nuclear power plants that supposedly could be used only to produce electricity. Japan and South Korea were induced to give tons of foreign aid as well…” Eight years later, we learn that a signed agreement has been ignored.

Paper diplomacy such as the North Korean fiasco or the Oslo “peace” between Israel and the Palestinians mean nothing when a dictator renews violence. Written agreements with Kim Il Sung, Yassar Arafat, or Saddam Hussein are worthless. When it comes to al Qaeda and terrorism, to Iraq, to North Korea, no accommodation or negotiation is possible. Political courage, a.k.a. leadership, the will to use force against those who initiate the use of force, is required.

The committee may have looked at the imams and mullahs around the world however the voices of high religious authority in Muslim communities have been deafening silent in the wake of 911. In the 1990s America rescued a beleaguered Islamic people: Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo. We have just liberated a fourth – Afghanistan. Who should be soul searching? Who should be atoning? Who should be reaching out for religious tolerance and acceptance? Carter may not be the worst choice in history for the Nobel Peace Prize. The question is who should have earned it in 2002?

Veteran’s Day

2002-11-11T11:14:00.000-05:00

Veteran’s Day

We graduated West Islip in 1965. A few of us went to Stony Brook University. A classmate recently asked: “Isn't it strange how other people at that time took similar experiences and became anti-war activists? Did you ever wonder why you didn't? What was different about your experience that kept you from joining the mainstream at Stony Brook who were protesting the war?”

Are you asking, "Why wasn't I an antiwar protester?" The direct answer to your question is, I believed in the individual’s right to freedom. I still do. And it is worth fighting for when you understand the alternate is totalitarianism in today’s guise of terrorism.

In the thirty years that have passed since I served in VN, there have been some good times. If I were able to talk to the boys I grew up with, played stickball and baseball with, and who are no longer here, I'd talk about those times. And I am sure we would talk about baseball.

I don't think I'd tell them that one newspaper columnist described VN veterans as "either suckers or psychos, victims or monsters." Nor would I tell them the secretary of defense they fought for back then has now declared that he was not a believer in the cause for which he assigned us to our destiny. I wouldn't tell them about a draft-age kid from Arkansas who hid out in England to dodge his duty while we were fighting and dying eventually became commander-in-chief. And I wouldn't tell them we lost that lousy war. I can't even tell them we were winning when I left.

My friend, who was the quarterback of our high school football team, has written about his visit to “the wall” in Washington. I too visited "the wall". I remember taking a step back and trying to view the entire work. I tried to wrap my mind around the violence, carnage and ruined lives that war represents. I didn't have that knowledge when we attended college. I doubt that those who protested, with all respect toward their idealism, knew. I believe they cared only about themselves.

I don't feel it necessary to justify to a newspaper columnist that VN veterans have been productive members of society since we left VN. I am proud that I answered the call, and I am proud of my friends - heroes who voluntarily, enthusiastically gave their all. They demonstrated no greater love to our nation. If I could communicate with them, I'd want them to know that God, Duty, Honor and Country will always remain the noblest calling. Revisionist historians and elite draft dodgers trying to justify their own actions will not change that.

West Islip Rifle Range

2002-10-19T10:54:00.000-04:00

West Islip Rifle Range

I am the West Islip rifle range. You never heard of me? I am part of the West Islip High School. When taxpayers voted to construct the high school, I was there and I still am. I am located southwest and at the same level as the indoor swimming pool. There is a locked door that can be opened. You travel down one flight of stairs make a left into a hall way and another door. It has been said that I am the best or at least the second best range in Suffolk County.

I was open for pistol clubs and boy scouts. You see anyone who is twelve years old can learn to shoot a rifle in New York State. Obviously, the adults who voted for the school including the swimming pool and rifle range thought it was wise to have their children learn to swim and to learn respect for the use of a .22 rifle with adult guidance and supervision.

Boy Scout Troop 118 met in the Higbie Lane elementary school during the 50’s and 60’s. The boys sold candy bars and raised money to purchase four- (4) bolt action open peep sight rifles. The rifles were kept in Scoutmaster James Badger’s house. The school had a representative who was present whenever the scouts met. Mr. Ed Guiffre and the adult scout leaders would open the range and instruct the lads in safety courses, shooting positions, firing and cleaning target rifles. Many of the adults spent their time with youth because they had been in World War II. They passed on their hard earned knowledge to these boys.

Mr. Guiffre coached the West Islip Rifle Club and the Rifle Teams for many years. Sometimes, he’d let the members of the rifle team come down at night to watch the pistol team shoot. The boys saw and learned that competitive pistol shooting is an adult sport. Sometimes the boys would get in some extra firing. It seemed that they were more relaxed at night than when they normally practiced after school.

The West Islip High School Rifle Clubs and teams were open for all students. One of the best was a girl named Barby MacNeil who went on to earn national honors on the college level. Of course, in those days, the school administration was wary of any coed sport and unfortunately Barby was not allowed to compete with the boys but she could still be a member of the rifle club.

The West Islip High School Rifle Team won a lot of matches against other schools. Principal John O’Donnell announced the scores the next morning on the school PA system. The 1964 – 1965 team was undefeated and the school received a trophy. These young men fired a Suffolk County record 919 and were led by Pete Pauwels who fired a Suffolk County and school record 191 out of a possible 200. He was hot that day! Some of these boys were drafted or volunteered and saw action a few years later in Viet Nam. I witnessed the skills that were taught and passed on to them and know that what they learned saved at least one of their lives.

Yes, I saw all of these events and many more. I saw the hallway used as a weight room. You see our football coach, Charles Skiptunas, wanted to change WI football from a bunch of kids who just wanted to have fun playing football into a program where a bunch of kids would learn what it takes to win.

But I am closed now. The favorite excuses to keep me closed are the need to improve the ventilation system, while the next is to clean out the spent lead. Obviously, ventilation and lead removal were not problems when boy scouts, pistol teams, rifle clubs or teams used me for sport and recreation. Nor was ventilation considered an insurmountable problem for weight lifters. The board is just too afraid. I am afraid as well. I am afraid that some kid from WI could have had the opportunity to learn riflery in his own high school but was denied the chance and ends up dying in some foreign land when he could have been taught the basics right here at home.

The Palestinian Election

2002-09-19T11:07:00.000-04:00

The Palestinian Election

President Bush told the Palestinians, “You deserve democracy and the rule of law. You deserve an open society and a thriving economy.” The hope is that decent men and women in the Palestinian world can see an alternate to rule by martyrdom, suicide bombings and terror.

Can Palestinians do better than autocracy of the Maximum Leader in the Ramallah? Pollsters tell us that 60% of the Palestinian population approves of suicide attacks against Israeli civilians. President Bush has come to the conclusion that people who approve of suicide bombing need new leadership. Palestinians are taught from kindergarten to seek the extermination of Israelis and their Western, secular allies. These are the people who would be “voting” for new leadership.

It is irrelevant that President Bush may be asking the current crop of killers to step down. Palestinians widely endorse Arafat’s bloody campaign. His opposition comes from those who believe he is not militant enough in his terrorist tactics.

If elections were held, the leading candidates to reinvent Palestinian government would be The Joker and Sauron.

You may recall The Joker. He is a character out of Tim Burton’s “Batman.” The Joker cackled and used goofy weapons, but he was a serial killer and a heretic, not a clown. The Joker didn’t want to get rich. He went to museums just to defile artwork. He didn’t want to convert Batman to a life of crime. He tried to kill Batman and as many civilians as he could just for the joy it gave him. The Joker looked and sounded cartoonish. He had a black heart.

The fullest and best depiction of evil comes from the villain, Sauron, in the “Lord of the Rings.” Sauron wants to conquer Middle Earth, enslave its inhabitants and ruin everything of beauty. To accomplish this, he pours his malice and cruelty into a ring of power, which controls and corrupts all who touch it. Sauron is not the equivalent of communism or fascism. He is a totalitarian of the first order. His think tank is evilness. Sauron’s evil is real.

Both candidates promise “on a certain day, everything will be obliterated and instantaneously reconstructed. The new inhabitants will leave as if by magic carpet. The land they despoiled will be returned to the true believers. Justice will be dispensed to the victims. On that day, the presence of God shall again make itself felt.”

These candidates show us things that are rooted in basic moral precepts. Palestinians are at a crossroads. Are they eager to embrace The Joker or Sauron and see real evil? Do they wish a starring role on the broadcasts of al-Jazeera? When the dust settles the stark choice will be, shall the Palestinians repeat the past or commence a new sober society? Will they step back from the brink and walk away from terror and war? Will they take the chance to return to the world and the work of real nations?

Henry W. Hessing

Rebuilding the World Trade Center

2002-09-17T11:24:00.000-04:00

Rebuilding the WTC
The American public has been led by our government and the media to believe that the perpetrators of the evil act of 911 was organized and well financed by those who would strike again. Yes, they are capable, but not because they are well organized, or because they have unlimited funds. They are capable because we are allowing them to be so.

The evildoers are thugs. They deal in fear and terror, and they got our attention by murdering innocent civilians while destroying the most famous symbol of our capitalist society, the World Trade Center’s “Twin Towers”. The monsters that conceived, planned and carried out this affront to all humans got lucky, in the most perverse sense of the word. The buildings collapsed into a pile of rubble, changing the “skyline” known throughout the world. They gloat and celebrate death, destruction, and the elimination of our proud symbol.

Current plans for the former site of the World Trade Center Towers are a capitulation to terrorism, as none of the proposals matches the height and grandeur of the original buildings. We appear to be giving up, and this is why the murderers feel they are capable of another horrific event. We are telling them they have won. We are allowing them to think like victors. This is a mistake of monumental scale on our part, and we will pay for it with the lives of more of our citizens. Our course of action is clear. We should set aside some of the area as a memorial, and then use the remainder of the 16 acre site to construct a larger, more beautiful structure than the ones we lost.

History is our teacher. Persia attacked Athens 2500 years ago and destroyed the original Parthenon. After repelling the invaders and soundly defeating them, the Greeks decided to replace the ruined temple on a grander scale. Originally made of limestone, the leaders decreed that white marble, the finest building material available, would be used for the new structure. Artists immortalized Grecian heroes in magnificent sculptures, and these were incorporated into the finished product. The Parthenon became the greatest Greek temple ever constructed, generally accepted as the marker for the beginning of the Athenian Golden Age. The Greeks replaced grand with grander, and created a symbol to the rest of the world that they would survive and thrive.

The War of 1812 brought British warships to our shores. Enemy soldiers were successful in burning the Presidential Mansion. Our leaders repaired and enlarged the charred building, painted it, and today, The White House stands at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave as a symbol of American pride.

A fire burned our nation’s Capitol Building in 1850. Shortly thereafter, the country was torn by the Civil War. Yet, during this war, with limited funds, The Capitol was rebuilt and enlarged. President Lincoln’s resolve to rebuild the Capitol demonstrated confidence that the Union would be preserved.

The Athenians didn’t decide they were guilty of offending their enemy. They didn’t make a smaller temple. They didn’t leave a barren site to commemorate the men whom died fighting Persians. Our ancestors who rebuilt the White House and the Capitol didn’t either.

We must declare to the world that we, the American people, have chosen to keep building. We have not given up. Our culture shall achieve even greater heights, and our society will prosper and thrive. Our symbols will be rebuilt larger, stronger, and grander. Like the Athenians, we will use the attack of would-be conquerors to usher in a new Golden Age.

Robert W. Chalich
Henry W. Hessing

AirTrain JFK

2002-05-20T17:38:00.000-04:00

AirTrain JFK
Henry W. Hessing, P.E.

ABSTRACT: AIRTRAIN JFK - THE LONGEST SEGMENTAL GIRDER CONSTRUCTION ERECTED IN THE NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONS.

Constructed: 1998 – 2003
Project type: Light rail line
Cost: USD 1 900 000 000
Location: Queens, New York
Owner: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Contractors: Skanska USA Civil and Bombardier Inc.
Design: STV Incorporated
Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers
Figg Engineering Group

1 Introduction

The fully automated JFK Airtrain was designated a finalist in the competition for ASCE’s 2005 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. The $ 1.9 billion Airport Access Project connects John F Kennedy International Airport (JFKIA) located in Jamaica, New York with two major intermodal connections –Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and New York City Transit (NYCT).

2 DECISIONS

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) decided to construct a light rail system to meet JFKIA’s growing transportation demands. Design/Build/Operate/Maintain (DBOM) project delivery method was selected in order to fast track the normal Design/Bid/Build process. Air Rail Traffic Consortium (ARTC) was determined to be the low bidder and consisted of the contractors and designers noted above.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued its Record of Decision on the Environmental Impact Statement for the approval of JFK’s Light Rail System (LRS) in July 1997. Ground breaking took place in September 1998. The system opened on December 17, 2003 the centennial of the birth of aviation.

3 DEFINITION OF LIGHT RAIL

The Transportation Research Board Committee on Light Rail Transit defines light rail as “a mode of urban transportation utilizing predominately reserved but not necessarily grade separated rights of way. Electronically propelled rail vehicles operate singly or in trains. LRT provides a wide range of passenger capabilities and performance characteristics at moderate costs.”

4 LIGHT RAIL AT JFKIA

The light rail system at JFKIA is called AirTrain JFK. AirTrain makes frequent stops around the airport – including the airline terminals, parking lots, hotel shuttle areas, and rental car facilities.
4.1 STATIONS AND ROUTES

The JFK Airtrain stations are fully enclosed, heated and air-conditioned with platform doors, wide escalators, large glass enclosed elevators, moving walkways to airline terminals, and 240-foot platform lengths. Ten stations serve on and off airport.
The system consists of three overlapping routes:
· the Howard Beach route;
· the Jamaica Station route; and
· the Airline Terminal route.
The Howard Beach route starts at Howard Beach and stops at Lefferts Blvd, while the Jamaica Station route starts at Jamaica Station on the Long Island Railroad (this station stop is called Sutphin Blvd. on the subway). Both routes meet at Federal Circle, then loop counterclockwise around JFK Airport, serving 6 CTA environmentally controlled stations:
· Terminal 1 (the first station in the loop);
· Terminals 2/3;
· Terminal 4;
· Terminals 5/6;
· Terminal 7; and
· Terminals 8/9.
The Howard Beach and Jamaica Station routes return to Federal Circle, then split, going back to their respective termini. The Airline Terminal route serves 6 terminal stations, operating in a clockwise loop, in the opposite direction to the Howard Beach and Jamaica Station routes.

4.2 CONNECTIONS

4.2.1 Long Island Rail Road Connection

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) operates approximately 700 trains per day through the Jamaica train station. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world. Construction of the connection between Airtrain and the LIRR required nighttime and weekend work, and was accomplished one platform at a time. Access is provided to LIRR and the “E”, “J”, and “Z” subway lines.

4.2.2 NYCT Connection

The connection at Howard Beach, Queens included renovation of the “A” train subway station creating an intermodal station. Nighttime and weekend work were required as this heavily traveled subway line provides direct access to the west side of Manhattan.

5 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS

5.1 Permits

ARTC analyzed the jurisdictions of over forty public and private agencies and tabulated a description of their individual requirements. From this analysis, it was concluded that eleven (11) different types of permits were required from four (4) agencies.
ARTC determined the name of each permit and issuing agency. ARTC prepared a report describing the permit, highlighted the application requirements, and determined the permit fee, regulations and/or stipulations. ARTC estimated permit due dates and required time to obtain them. ARTC prepared a schedule of required permits by work location with application dates. Environmental permit applications were the first to be obtained. ARTC incorporated this information into its critical path method (CPM) schedule and examined cost and schedule implications to the project. Environmental permits took precedence.

5.2 Clearance Envelope

The clearance envelope is the space, in which no physical parts of the system, except the vehicles are placed, constructed or protrude. The static envelope is the outline of the physical dimensions of the vehicle in a stationary position. The dynamic envelope is the outline of a moving vehicle on tangent track experiencing normal body roll. The maximum vehicle dynamic envelope is the dynamic envelope that is modified for maintenance factors such as wear to both wheel and rail, free play between the two, and for primary and failed suspension. The maximum vehicle dynamic envelope considers lateral, vertical and rotational displacements under the required specified conditions of the design criteria on tangent track. All envelopes are normally referenced from the top of the (low) rail and the centerline of track.
ARTC did calculations to determine the static envelope, dynamic envelope, maximum dynamic envelope which was based on Bombardier’s design vehicle, a future vehicle, the design vehicle, clearance envelope, effects due to curvature, effects due to superelevation, construction tolerances, seismic clearance, running clearance in order to determine minimum track clearances.

With minimum clearances known, horizontal and vertical alignments and clearances could be designed. As there are many factors that come into play, design of alignments is an iterative process.

5.3 Utilities

5.3.1 Relocations

The typical guideway span varies between 80 and a maximum of 120 feet. This meant installing approximately 450 concrete foundations along the 8.3-mile route. As the Van Wyck Expressway is a major north south arterial, primary relocations included drainage, electrical and communications. On the airport, utility relocations included drainage, sewers, force mains, gas, water, power electric, communication lines, and thermal distribution (chilled and dual hot water) lines used to heat and cool the airline terminals. Every effort was made to survey and identify all utilities in the preliminary design phase. Known utilities were marked in the field prior to excavation. Test trenches were excavated around the perimeter of each pile so utilities could be verified. The angle of every utility was measured, plotted and verified. Unknown utilities were encountered. These had to be identified for relocation design and construction.

5.3.2 Electrical

27 kV feeders, along with one main substation distribute power to seven substations for traction power and nine substations to operate the passenger terminals.

5.3.3 Drainage

The New York City environs receive approximately 44 inches of precipitation per year. As most of the right of way required for the light rail system passed over paved areas, introduction of the elevated guideway would not increase runoff.
The original cross section indicated individual plinths to support track. During design, this was changed to a continuous concrete plinth for ease of constructing and removing formwork. Determining the low points in the vertical alignment and collection before expansion joints became the basis of locating scuppers. Runoff went from the scuppers through 12 - inch diameter plastic pipe installed in the center of concrete columns to the existing below grade drainage systems.

6.0 CONSTRUCTION
6.1 Construction Staging Maintenance of Traffic

PANYNJ held construction staging and maintenance of traffic meetings twice weekly for this project and once every two weeks for coordination with other on- airport projects including reconstruction of Terminal 4 – the International Arrivals Terminal and reconstruction of Terminal 7 – British Airways Terminal.
A major concern of the PANYNJ is customer convenience and satisfaction. Construction staging in an operating airport meant temporary and permanent loss of parking spaces. This directly affects the traveling public. To mitigate parking space losses, PANYNJ limited the size of construction areas. ARTC expedited completion by working day and night shifts.

Construction along the median of the six - lane, Van Wyck Expressway required maintaining three lanes of traffic during peak hour traffic. Existing roadway lighting was removed and a travel lane was constructed in the shoulder areas. This required adjustments to the on and off ramps and retaining walls along with new drainage installation. New lighting fixtures were installed. This allowed traffic to be diverted to two of the existing and the new right lane constructed in the shoulder areas in order to maintain three lanes of traffic in each direction.
Daytime work was performed in the median and the abandoned left lanes in both directions during off-peak hours when one additional lane could be taken so long as two lanes were maintained for the traveling public. Night work required three full lanes in operation in both directions at all times.

6.2 Pavement Restoration and Reconstruction

ARTC prepared a summary of pavement design criteria, in accordance with design standards used by the agency having jurisdiction over each roadway, for the expressway mainline, ramps, service roads, local streets and airport roadways, and vehicle types. This was the basis of the Pavement Design Criteria for restoration and reconstruction.

7. SUBSTRUCTURE
7.1 Seismic Design Considerations

“Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking or other rapid loading. Liquefaction and related phenomenon have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world.
Liquefaction occurs in saturated soils, in which the space between individual particles is completely filled with water. This water exerts a pressure on the soil particles that influences how tightly the particles themselves are pressed together. Prior to an earthquake, water pressure is relatively low. Earthquake shaking can cause water pressure to increase to the point where soil particles can readily move with respect to each other. When liquefaction occurs, the strength of soil decreases and the ability of a soil deposit to support bridge foundations is reduced.” Washington 2005

AT JFKIA, soil is deep, loose fine aggregates. Soil borings indicated the potential for liquefaction up to a depth of 20 feet under a seismic event with peak rock acceleration of 0.15g. Additionally, the water table is high.

Besides calling for conventional design for forces and displacements, the seismic design criteria also required that additional limitations be met by the foundations and superstructure in order to allow the system to return to operation shortly after a seismic event meaning repairs would be limited to track work only.

7.2 Piles

The pile foundation profession has recognized the advantages of a uniformly tapered pile over a vertical-straight-sided pile. "It may be concluded that the taper has a substantial beneficial influence and that for piles of equal embedment in a given sand, a tapered pile will have substantially greater ultimate bearing capacity than a straight-sided or cylindrical pile." Special Report 36— Highway Research Board

All structures at JFKIA are piled supported.

“Underpinning & Foundation Constructors, Inc. was awarded a contract to install more than 5,500 150-ton and 200-ton capacity piles to support the 8.3 mile long guideway. Underpinning invented a new pile type using a tapered steel lower section (25 feet) with steel pipe upper section (45 – 75 feet) and called it the Tapertube. These piles are 50 percent thicker than monotube piles, which allows them to be driven to higher driving resistances at lower stresses. The heavier steel also allows piles to be driven quicker once underway. The work was performed using hydraulic driving equipment built in Finland. The high mobility of the pile rigs, combined with highly efficient hammers, allowed for rapid installation in the tight confines of the active airport roadway system and in the center median of the heavily traveled Van Wyck Expressway.” Underpinning & Foundation Constructors, Inc. 2005

Piles were topped with 20 foot by 20 foot by 5 to 8 foot deep concrete footings. Cast in place concrete piers were constructed on the footings and varied in size up to 45 feet in height and six (6) feet in diameter.

8.0 SUPERSTRUCTURE
8.1 Segmental Girders

The Request for Proposals (RFP) required the successful bidder to prepare the final design. Preliminary design envisioned single and twin – box concrete girders. The alternate was a composite steel box with a composite reinforced steel deck slab.

The final design for the guideway superstructure was precast segmental construction utilizing seismic isolation. The primary defining features are single-cell or dual cell box girders with cantilevered deck slab. Tendons are arranged in top and bottom slab for cantilever construction, match-cast joints between segments, and multiple shear keys. The single cell box supports a single tract while the dual box cells support a dual track configuration. ARTC applied post-tensioning tendons across span closures to create multiple span continuous units.

“Seismic isolation was achieved by using lead-rubber bearings that allow the superstructure to “float” during a seismic event. For non-seismic loading the bearing was fixed laterally relative to track centerline with movement limited to 3mm (1/8 inch). The contractor developed an elastic restraint system that would withstand non-seismic loads with a factor of safety but would fail at design level seismic loads, thus freeing the structure to float and avoid damage from seismic forces”. Englot, etal. 2004

Preliminary design envisioned overhead launching trusses in the form of erection gantries. Most of the guideway was constructed span by span with cranes and erection trusses for safe maintenance of vehicular traffic. Portions on tight curvature or longer spans were built in balanced cantilever.

9 TUNNEL
9.1 Cut and Cover Tunnel

It was required that the elevated light rail system descend approximately 35 feet below grade to pass underneath the airport’s taxiways. It then has to rise to pass over the VanWyck Expressway, one of two arterial highways that provide ingress and egress to the central terminal area (CTA). Cut and cover construction was implemented. Since eighty percent of the tunnel was below the water table “bathtub” construction utilizing chemical grouting was employed in constructing the foundation. Pumps are required twenty-four hours per day.

10 TRACK

The track way features running rails, safety walkways, traction power, and communication ductbanks. The track that AirTrain JFK cars ride on is a combination of direct fixation track and ballasted track. Direct fixation track was originally developed for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in San Francisco in the late 1960s. Since that time, direct fixation has become the most popular method for installing track on elevated concrete structures and in underground tunnels. This system uses two steel plates with a thick rubber layer between, which creates a sandwich-type configuration. The sandwich assembly is called a direct fixation fastener, or DF fastener, because the DF fastener is bolted directly to the concrete, forming the track bed. The DF fastener uses a Pandrol Clip to secure the running rails in place. A Pandrol Clip is a G shaped piece of metal used to attach the running rails to the crossties. Pandrol is the manufacturer’s name and their rail fastening products are used worldwide.

The DF fastener is bolted to a raised concrete pad known as a plinth pad. The concrete forms for the plinth pad are set to the final elevation needed for the running rails and also provide superelevation of the tracks on curves. Superelevation means that one rail is set higher than the other rail in curved areas. Raising one rail allows the train to bank into turns much like a car on a highway. This allows the train to negotiate turns with greater passenger comfort.

Ballasted track is the conventional method of constructing at grade track and consists of using railroad ties to securely connect the two sections of running rail upon which cars travel. The ties and rails are held in place by crushed stone called ballast. AirTrain JFK uses the most modern version of ballasted track. Instead of using wooden railroad ties, AirTrain JFK uses precast prestressed concrete ties. The running rail is 115-pound rail, which is one of the standard rail types used throughout the railroad and transit industry. Instead of using railroad spikes to connect the running rail to the tie, AirTrain ballasted track also uses Pandrol Clips to attach the running rails to the concrete ties.

The distance between AirTrain JFK running rails, referred to as the track gauge, is the United States standard of four feet, eight and one half inches. AirTrain JFK ballasted and direct fixation track meet US Federal Railroad Administration requirements.

Slattery Skanza’s tract division assembled and installed 1,500-foot long continuous rail strings and placed direct fixation tract, linear induction motor rail and power rail.

11 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF TRAIN OPERATIONS

11.1 Driverless System

AirTrain JFK is designed to be a fully automated driverless system. Computers control train movements using a moving-block signaling system. AirTrain JFK has two modes of operation: automatic train operation, utilizing the computer system, and manual operation which allows a driver to move trains for maintenance activities at a maximum speed of 15 mph, which is controlled by a speed governor. When operated in either of these modes, a train is controlled to ensure a safe speed on all sections of track including all curves. During the testing phase, some tests were run in manual mode with the speed governor disabled. In this situation, there is no speed restriction. Similar to manual train operations at other railroad and transit properties, the train speed is controlled solely by the train operator. Operating a train beyond the maximum15 mph speed requires a higher level of operational skill and a more detailed knowledge of the track alignment.

11.2 Cars

Each car has four pick-up shoes to obtain power from a 750-volt, direct current power rail comparable with NYCT and LIRR systems. AirTrain JFK has a fiber-optic communication network, which links all of the stations and terminals to the Operations Center (OMSF). This allows for station dynamic signage, full public address and closed circuit television. AirTrain JFK cars have two linear induction motors (LIM) and two propulsion inverters (conversion of direct current to alternating current). Braking is performed by regenerative dynamic service brakes, which are supplemented by electro-hydraulic disc brakes. AirTrain JFK vehicles are also equipped with emergency track brakes.

The cars have been constructed with steel under frames and aluminum roofs, sidewalls and bulkheads. Each car has two self-steering steel trucks with four wheels per truck. A linear induction reaction rail is located between the running rails. The reaction rail is an aluminum and iron plate that carries no electrical current. It reacts with the linear induction motors on the AirTrain JFK cars to produce an electro-magnetic force that propels the cars.

12. SUMMARY

DBOM shortened design and construction time by several years. The shortened time duration was reflected in lower overhead costs and a reduction in overall project costs. In the first year of operation, the PA estimated that 2.6 million passengers used AirTrain JFK.
Parking demand in the Central Terminal Area (CTA) decreased substantially because of the convenience JFK Airtrain provides. Comparing air passenger growth (in non-connecting flights) to increase in CTA parking demand, there is a net decrease in parking demand of 6,200 vehicles per day.

12.1 References

Transportation Research Board Committee on Light Rail Transit, 1976
Special Report 36 – Highway Research Board
Underpinning & Foundation Constructors, Inc. Website 3/3/2005
Washington, ce 2005. What is soil liquefactions?
Englot, J., chan, Y., Tse J. 2004 The Elevated Guideway Structures at JFKIA: Design
Process under ProBOM project delivery

2002-02-20T17:33:00.000-05:00

RESIDENT ENGINEERING INSPECTION FOR
MOVEABLE BRIDGE REHABILITATION

Henry W. Hessing, PE
Senior Project Officer
O’Brien Kreitzberg

Key words:::: Resident Engineer Moveable Bridge, Construction Inspection

Abstract: This paper describes resident engineering and construction inspection services for bridge rehabilitation projects to insure compliance with plans and specifications.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
· Using a hypothetical example, an owner intends to rehabilitate a moveable bridge that was constructed sixty or seventy years ago over a navigable waterway in New York City. The cross section has narrow lanes, some of which are out of service. The multi-span structure can be described as having concrete cellular spans, deck trusses, through trusses and a moveable, lift span. Similarly, the moveable part could be bascule, lift or swing bridge design. The owner wants a proposal for construction inspection and/or construction support services for deck replacement.

As consulting engineers, we can develop an approach to by identifying the key issues:

· What does the bridge link? What are the traffic characteristics? What is the vehicular and pedestrian maintenance of traffic scheme caused by construction rehabilitation?
· Will commercial or recreational marine traffic require planning and coordination? What are the Coast Guard requirements for maintaining marine traffic?
What are the Coast Guard’s material handling requirements?
· Does the bridge have several layers of lead/chromium based paint? The removal process must adhere to current environmental regulations, sensitivity to the waterway and the surrounding community.
· Rehabilitation of the bridge structural members including the moveable span will require expertise and manpower familiar with and capable of performing the required tasks in the bridge environs and the above constraints outlined.

Typical construction monitoring and construction support services are well defined by practice, the owner’s request for proposal and the consultant agreement. The technical approach presented herein will focus on the most important and critical issues involved in constructing the project.

2.0 TECHNICAL APPROACH

2.1 Construction Monitoring and Construction Support
To accomplish construction, a consultant will provide Construction Inspection and Construction Support services to the owner. The most important and critical issues are:

· An organization with a clear-cut chain of command and responsibilities;
· Qualified and sufficient staff;
· Quality Control/Quality Assurance (QA/QC) program;
· Complete familiarization with the construction documents and references, the work plan, construction schedule, and staging environs, and client expectations;
· Inspection, documentation, and Construction schedule; Long lead items; Community affairs/relations; Lift span balancing; Electrical installations;
Lead/chromium based paint removal and new coating.

2.2 Maintenance and Protection of Traffic (MPT)
For each construction stage, the MPT scheme is prescribed. Daily and holiday restrictions along with information and directional signs and protection devices to be used are included in the contract documents. The Resident Engineer will assure that lane closures signs and protective devices are installed, maintained and used as required to be effective. Any deviation or unsatisfactory results, such as excessive queuing, accidents or complaints will be recorded and analyzed. The owner will be notified immediately and the appropriate action(s) will be taken to correct the problem, first by the field staff, and if necessary by engaging construction support services.

2.3 Marine Traffic
Working over water requires sensitivity to two items. Is the bridge over a navigable waterway? Is there a possibility of water contamination resulting from the contractor’s operation?
Marine traffic must be maintained according to the mandates of federal law, which state that at no time can a navigable waterway be closed or restricted or can a horizontal clearance be reduced or altered without written permission. The consultant will monitor the contractor’s compliance with government regulations and see that he secures all permits. Other steps may include reviewing and making recommendations concerning the contractor’s “fail safe plan” to prevent debris from entering the waterway; posting an observer to notify workmen of a vessel’s approach; the installation of battery or power operated lights if the permanent bridge or fender navigational lighting cannot be maintained; and posting warning signs to mark the location of work platforms.

2.4 Construction Schedule
The contractor has primary responsibility for developing the detailed construction schedule. The Resident Engineer will review the schedule for conformance with the lead contract documents as to level of detail; activities included, i.e., procurement, delivery, and submittals; conformance and milestones. He will look for the schedule to recognize MPT stipulations, shop drawing status, and long lead items, seasonal weather conditions, and the contractor’s capabilities to complete the job. He will also review the schedule for a logical sequence of events, reasonableness of goals set, and opportunities for getting back on track. He will make recommendations for improvements.

2.5 Long Lead Items
Beginning with his initial review of the contract documents, the RE will identify long lead items including material and fabrications that take a long time to be delivered to the construction site as well as other intangible items that may have the potential of delaying construction. Such items may include permits; requests for information (RFIs) design changes, disputes, and undefined agreements, and the like. Potential long lead items will be closely correlated with the CPM schedule.

2.6 Community Affairs
To minimize the impact to the surrounding area, the RE will be proactive, monitor the project schedule, review actual progress made vs. the CPM, and assess deviations. He will communicate his findings with the Resident Engineering’s liaison Officer who will keep the public appraised of the project’s status.

2.7 Bascule, Lift or Swing Span Balancing
Before construction commence, the balance of the bridge must be verified, using strain gauge testing and electrical current readings on the drive motors. This will establish a benchmark accomplishing two objectives: 1) if the bridge is not balanced, immediate action can be taken to balance it; and 2)a reference will be established against which the bridge will be checked through all phases of construction. When the movable span is out of balance there may be serious effects on the operating systems; i.e., the bridge was originally designed to be slightly span heavy (the mass of the span is slightly more than the mass of the counter weight). This allows the bridge to remain firmly seated under live load. The mechanical and electrical systems were sized according to the designed imbalance. The electrical drives and motors are sized to overcome the AASHTO wind and Ice loads, friction forces, and the imbalance of the span. The counter weight ropes and sheaves were designed to withstand the forces generated under these conditions (the same is true for other components of the mechanical and electrical systems). When the span is further out of balance than intended, more force must be used to open and close the span. This translates into heavier loads on the operating machinery and the electrical system. If the bridge becomes too far unbalanced, it may not be possible to operate the movable span at all. The existing circuit breakers, drives and electric motors that move the bridge have an overload rating. If the forces to move the span exceed the overload ratings the electric drive system could fail. It will be the Resident Engineer’s responsibility to make sure that the contractor stays within safe operating limits of the drive system and within the specified ranges of the contract.
Critical to the safety of the entire project is keeping the span balanced. The contractor must record the weight and location of all members removed and added to the lift span in specific detail. This should be performed each day. The Resident Engineering staff will review this data on a daily basis and will confirm the information provided by the contractor with data supplied by the strain gauge system. In doing so, the span will be kept in balance throughout the entire project to the extent that a range of 1,000 to 10,000 lbs. weights will be kept at each corner of the lift span at all times. Within 24 hours of receiving such data from the contractor, the RE will assess the implications and confirm it by means of strain gauges if openings occur. He will advise the contractor of any adjustment he must make to bring the imbalance within the appropriate range in each location. Any serious situation, which cannot be quickly and easily addressed by the contractor, will be brought to the attention of the client’s Engineer immediately.

The post tensioning of the trunnion shafts must be performed in an accurate manner to ensure tension is gradually and evenly applied to the tensioning studs. This will ensure that the load is evenly distributed in the bearing plates and the trunnion shaft is properly post tensioned to minimize cycles of extreme fiber tension to prevent fatigue. The RE will oversee the entire post tension operation at each trunnion shaft, document each operation with listings of personnel present, sequences followed, problems encountered, and dates and times of each occurrence.
In addition to balancing the bridge, it is necessary to check that the total mass of the movable span does not exceed the limitations of the operating systems of the bridge. There will be many modifications to bridge structure under this contract i.e., addition of a median barrier, replacement stringers, grating, and other structural members. It is vital that the new dead load of the bridge remains within the safe operating limits of the operating systems.

2.8 Electrical Installations
Attention to detail and rigorous closeout of non-conformances are key to the success of an electrical system for it to be safe, complete and in a maintainable condition. The RE will ensure that all electrical work meets the established standards and codes, and progresses on schedule in a safe and orderly manner. The RE staff of inspectors must be familiar with the National Electric Code, and AASHTO Standards for Highways and Bridges.

In the hypothetical example, electrical work includes new 5,000-volt feeders, a manual transfer switch, a 5,000-volt switch gear, street lighting, new traffic gates, traffic gate bypass switches, a new traffic signal system, and the removal and reinstallation of limit switches on counter weight sheaves. To safely install the new lighting and gantry systems successfully, the RE will:

· Approve a construction sequence that removes conflicts between work items
· Review the contractor’s demolition work to prevent damage;
· Review the contractor’s pre-installation preparations;
· Monitor the receipt and storage of equipment in safe, secure and clean spaces;
· Monitor that the correct tools, equipment and method are used for handling
and installation of new systems;
· Inspect and check all work to monitor nonconformance;
· Work with the contractor during testing to ensure completeness; and
· Control the energizing of systems from source to load in set steps.

The RE will give particular attention to the manual operation of all operating mechanisms to make certain that they operate freely. He will monitor nicks or rings in conductors due to insulation stripping; grounding; conduct a cleanout and pull through test for conduit; expansion fittings across expansions joints; data sheets for installation materials; protection of cables during pull-in; identification of wire, cable, and terminations. The RE will monitor safety clearances around equipment; check the tightness of connections, insulation resistance testing; ensure protection of personnel from access to live equipment, and safety interlocking for the movable bridge control system. Balanced and smooth operation of new traffic warning gates; the incorporation of a traffic warning system with bridge controls; correct setting of cams and mounting of the removed counter weight sheave limit switches will be monitored. The RE team will check foot-candle illumination levels at roadways and sidewalks after new street lighting has been installed. The RE will monitor the safe transfer of main power with the new manual transfer switch; and will perform a complete functional test of the movable bridge interlocking and control system, utilizing normal and out of sequence testing.

Prior to testing the electrical-mechanical work of the span, it will be necessary to have permanent traffic gates operating. Additional MPT requirements may be required to provide for testing and debugging the mechanical, power and control systems.

2.9 Lead/Chromium Paint Removal and New Coating
The locations and extent of lead/chromium paint removal will be identified via visual inspection, sampling and testing. The RE will ensure the contractor is removing the lead/chromium paint in accordance with the contract documents, applicable laws, codes, rules and regulations, the OSHA lead in construction, standard 29CFR 1926.62 and applicable waste disposal regulations. He will oversee the lead/chromium removal process to ensure that all lead/chormium material is contained within the work area and that the contractor’s activities do not result in contamination with dust of any surrounding areas.

November 11th Reflections on September 11th

2001-11-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Subject: November 11th Reflections on September 11th

The destruction of the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, and the partial destruction of The Pentagon, in Washington, D.C. by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001, was correctly labeled by our government an "act of war" against the American people. The method of attack, simultaneous hijackings of civilian aircraft, and the subsequent crashing of the aircraft into these targets, was an act of such unthinkable brutality that most Americans cannot fathom the degree of evil involved. We are not programmed to accept that human beings can be capable of imagining, planning, and then carrying out the mass-murder of thousands of men, women, and children who were guilty only of going about their daily routines. These victims were civilians, they never had the opportunity to defend themselves, and they never saw the faces of their killers.

In war, the participants who wage the battles must be prepared to die for their beliefs. Their families and loved ones must understand that the soldier is in danger at all times, during conflict. In Vietnam, over 58,000 soldiers, both men and women, gave their lives in service to America.
Another 2000 are listed as "Missing in Action". All of these men and women understood and accepted their roles as front-line participants in armed conflict. They have been recognized (belatedly) for making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. They have been memorialized on "The Wall" in Washington, D.C.

But what of the innocent delivery person, the stockbroker, the restaurant worker, the mother, the father, the maintenance person, the client, the secretary, the security guard, and the child who now lay buried beneath uncountable tons of concrete and steel in lower Manhattan and Washington, D.C.? What of the innocent airplane passengers whose lives were extinguished simply because they occupied space on planes converted to missiles by monsters who wanted to make a statement? What is their due? How do we reconcile their accounts? What sense do we make of the senseless? There is no "fair" way to compensate their familys' or our grief. There is no "nice" solution to the challenge that has been issued from the shadowlands that give birth to these monsters. Yes, there are places on our planet that gleefully support random slaughter of innocent men, women, and children. The causes that these cowards espouse vary, but, all of them have one central goal; to murder as many Americans as possible; to disrupt, and eventually, destroy the American way of life. We must respond. We must hold them accountable for their atrocities. We must not be "fair", and we must not be "nice". An "act of war" requires that we respond in kind. We must be warriors. We must be resolute and have the courage of our convictions. We must reconcile the accounts of our dead citizens.

Terrorists deal in fear, and unfortunately, many of us are fearful. They have turned our openness against us, using our resources, our technology, and our willingness to accept all people into our society, as weapons of fear. They dressed as we do, they studied at our learning institutions, and they blended into our daily lives. We must respond, but, who is responsible?

Terror cannot exist in the light. It will not grow in the open. Terror must be clandestine, faceless, and amorphous. It requires a host to spew its seeds, and we know who the hosts are, and where they are located. We know about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Libya. We know that the seeds of terror have been welcomed by the murderers who control these pieces of our planet. We know that these murderers nurture and cultivate terror in order to maintain power over the hapless minions who comprise their populations. Terror is as effective within their borders as it is within our own.

We have the resources to turn the lights on in all of these areas. We can make the darkness that terror needs to thrive disappear instantly. We have the power to eradicate terror completely; and we must employ this power decisively.

Most importantly, we must ensure that such atrocities never occur again. A hostile group has initiated the use of force against our nation; we have a moral obligation to respond to this act. We must not hesitate to defend ourselves; we must not allow our humanity to stall our response. A world absent terror is a world of life. We have the power to ensure life on Earth and we must exercise this power now. Illuminate the darkness, eliminate terror, and move on with our lives. This is the right course of action.

A Search to Understand

2001-09-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

A Search to Understand

Every morning I drive over the Great South Bay bridge, cross the State boat channel bascule bridge and head west along Ocean Parkway towards Meadowbrook and eventually JFK Airport. On Tuesday morning, September 11, the sun made the sky and water blue. The radio announcer said it was a top ten, meaning one of the ten best weather days we would have all year. There were two boats on the bay. I remembered back to years ago when there were hundreds of clam boats on the bay.

As Tuesday's events unfolded, it became obvious that our world has changed forever. F15 fighter jets from McQuire Air Force Base circled JFK Airport. Armed security officers searched roofs of buildings. All types of road closures made travel almost impossible. When I got home, I put up the American flag.

Wednesday morning I saw an aircraft carrier with F 18s not far off the shore of Gilgo Beach. I have never seen an aircraft carrier at sea so close to shore. The next day a Navy destroyer joined it.

Todd, my next door neighbor, a NYC fireman was called to the Trade Center to search for bodies. He has only been home a few hours in the past week.

I listened to the National Day of Mourning Services held in Washington on Friday afternoon. Reverend Billy Graham spoke and reminded the congregation that God is with us through these troubled times. At Sunday’s church service at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Babylon, Pastor Bond’s sermon expressed similar thoughts and prayers. We sang Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”

The terrorist’s attack on civilization has caused the President of the United States to declare war. Personally, I have struggled to fathom the depths of evil, the intense hatred that not only planned, but also carried out the atrocity perpetrated on the innocent.

The fictional character, John Galt has a soliloquy, in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” I have paraphrased the author’s words from pages 930 to 970 and offer them herein, as I search to understand this act of evil.

In part, Galt states, “ The question to be or not to be, is to think or not to think. Man must obtain his knowledge and choose his actions by a process of thinking.

A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality. There is only one price that pays for man’s survival: reason. Every man is an end of himself, he exists for his own sake, and the achievement of his own happiness is his highest morale purpose. “

“It is for the purpose of self-preservation that man needs a code of morality. The only man who desires to be moral is the man who desires to live. No, you do not have to live, you must live as a man-by the work and judgement of your mind.

Man can not survive except by gaining knowledge, and reason is his only means to gain it. Reason is the faculty he perceives, identifies and integrates the material provided by his senses. The task of his senses is to give him the evidence of existence, but the task of identifying it belongs to reason; his senses tell him only that something is, but what it is must be learned by the mind.

My (Galt’s) morality, the morality of reason, is contained in a single axiom: existence exists-and in a single choice: to live. The rest proceeds from these. To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason - Purpose - Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge-Purpose, as his choice of the happiness which that tool must proceed to achieve-Self esteem, as his inviolate certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living. These three values imply and require all of man’s virtues, and all his virtues pertain to the relation of existence and consciousness: rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness and pride.

…To withhold your contempt from men’s vices is an act of moral counterfeiting, and to withhold your admiration from their virtues is an act of moral embezzlement-that to place any other concern higher than justice is to devalue your moral currency and defraud the good in favor of the evil, since only the good can lose by a default of justice and only evil can profit-and that the bottom of the pit at the end of that road, the act of moral bankruptcy, is to punish men for their virtues and reward them for their vices, that is the collapse to full depravity, the Black Mass of the worship of death, the dedication of your consciousness to the destruction of existence.

Whatever may be open to disagreement, there is one act of evil that may not, the act that no man can commit against others and no man may sanction or forgive. So long as men desire to live together no man may initiate-do you hear me? No man may start-the use of physical force against others.

Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins. …And death by a process of gradual destruction is all that you (the terrorist) and your system will achieve.”

“I do not want to grant the terms of reason to men who propose to deprive me of reason. I do not place any moral sanction upon a murder’s wish to kill me. When a man attempts to deal with me by force, I answer him-by force.

It is only as retaliation that force may be used and only against the man who starts its use. No, I do not share his evil or sink to his concept of morality: I merely grant him his choice, destruction, the only destruction he had the right to choose: his own. He uses force to seize a value; I use it only to destroy destruction. A holdup man seeks wealth by killing me; I do not grow richer by killing a hold up man. I seek no values by means of evil, nor do I surrender my values to evil.

Our terms and our motive power are antithesis of yours. You (the terrorist) have been using fear as your weapon and have been bringing death to man as his punishment for rejecting your morality. We offer him life as his reward for accepting ours.

Building is not done by abstaining from destruction…. It will not raise one single girder. …And now you (the terrorist) cannot say to me, the builder: “Produce and feed us in exchange for our not destroying your production.” I am answering in the name of all your victims: Perish with and in your own void. Existence is not a negation of negatives. Evil not value is an absence and a negation; evil is impotent and has no power but that which we let it extort from us. Perish, because we have learned that a zero (terrorist) cannot hold a mortgage over life.

You (the terrorist) do not wish to live. … The only act that can save you: thinking. Yours is the morality of death.

Death is the standard of your values, death is your chosen goal, and you have to keep running, since there is no escape from the pursuer who is out to destroy you or from the knowledge that the pursuer is yourself.

Damnation is the start of your morality; destruction is its purpose, means and end.”

To the reader - “it is your mind they (the terrorists) want you to surrender.”

“Those irrational wishes that draw you (enlistees) to their (terrorist’s) creed, those emotions you worship as an idol, on whose alter you sacrifice the earth, that dark incoherent passion within you, which you take as the voice of (your) god or your glands, is nothing more than the corpse of your mind. An emotion that clashes with your reason, an emotion you cannot explain or control, is only the carcass of that stale thinking which you forbade your mind to revise.

As they (the terrorists) seek, not to build, but to take over industrial plants (or destroy the World Trade Towers), so they seek not to think, but to take over human thinking. They are attempting to take us back to darker ages then any our history has known. Their goal is not the era of pre-science, but the era of pre-language.

Make no mistake about the character of terrorists. To undercut your consciousness has always been their only purpose throughout the ages-and power, the power to rule by force, has always been their only lust.”

This is why the President said we must retaliate.

Henry W. Hessing, PE

Why China?

2001-08-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

Why China?

Should being selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games honor China?

Baron de Coubertin’s purpose in creating the Modern Olympic Games was based on a belief of rights of the individual. He said: “The Olympiads have been reestablished for the rare and solemn glorification of the individual athlete…” Individuals could strive for moral as well as athletic excellence.

China’s Communist government contradicts the Baron’s purpose. Can individualism be achieved in a totalitarian state in which an individual has no rights?

Andrew Bernstein, Ph.D. wrote an open letter to the IOC. His comments are paraphrased as follows:

“China’s law mandates one child per family. Those who break the law abandon children to state orphanages by the tens of thousands. According to Human Rights Watch/Asia “China’s official policy is one of nutritional and medical neglect with the intent of inducing death. The Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institute, China’s most prestigious orphanage has a child mortality rate of 90 percent during the late 1980s and 1990s.”

Have we forgotten news coverage and photographs of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-freedom activists? Is life any better for Christians and other religious denominations in China today?

Harry Wu survived 19 years in forced labor camps. The author and human rights activist points out that these camps hold between 4 and 6 million prisoners. “Many of these slaves are political and/or religious dissidents, held without due process. Their transgression was opposition to their Communist rulers.”

In the 1999 Harvard University Press release, The Black Book of Communism, researchers established that Mao Zedong and his successors murdered 65 million Chinese. Indiana’s state representative Jim Atterholt referred to China’s political leaders as the “Butchers of Beijing.”

“China is not content with slaughtering and enslaving its own people. China supported the murderous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia,” North Viet Nam against South Viet Nam, North Korea against South Korea, “brutally conquered Tibet and threatened Taiwan.”

“If China does not protect the rights of its own citizens and openly commits aggression against foreign countries, should it compete or host an Olympics? Why should the International Olympic Committee (IOC) legitimize Beijing’s power over its own subjects? Why do civilized countries deem China worthy of the honor to host the Olympics? China is a murderous dictatorship. It kills its children.” What propaganda can legitimately mask this carnage?

Apologists will say, “that the Olympic games will not be interpreted by China’s leaders as a reward for past misdeeds, but as an incentive to increase their toleration of dissent. The political pressure of being in the Olympic spotlight will help to open up China.”

Exactly how is this going to happen? Is there a precedent? Did the IOC use this leverage to stop Soviet tanks from rolling into Afghanistan during the 1980 Olympics?

Bob Tracinski, a columnist for Creator’s Syndicate wrote, “The tragedy of the IOC’s decision is not so much the reward that has been granted to China’s dictatorship: it is the fact that, just as in the years leading up to World War II, the free nations of the world have lost the moral confidence to judge, to condemn, and to ostracize the world’s dictators.”

The Olympics celebrate man at his best. The IOC did not stand tall for moral principles and the dignity of man when they selected China, to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Henry W. Hessing

Microtunnel

2000-09-20T17:50:00.000-04:00

Microtunnel
H. Hessing, P.E.

INRODUCTION
STV Incorporated (STV) has been involved with a $200,000,000 utility restoration program being performed at Co-op City, Bronx, New York for River Bay Corporation and New York State Housing Finance Administration. The work spanned a period of twelve years. STV provided comprehensive mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil engineering services for in-depth investigations and testing of all underground utilities, mechanical and electrical systems, and subsequent design and construction support services for the upgrade of systems and complete rehabilitation at the site.

Detailed investigations of all building systems and utilities on the 350-acre site were performed to de-termine existing conditions and the extent of damage due to the settlement of structures of up to three feet. The complex consists of 35 hi-rise buildings ranging from 24 to 33 stories with 15,372 apartments and seven groups of 472 townhouses presently housing 60,000 people.
The “Co op City Housing Project Repair Program” consisted of replacing the dual temperature and high temperature hot water distribution system; electric ductbank distribution system; reconstruction and repairs to underground utilities and appurtenant structures including gas, water, sewer; site settlement repairs including grading, drainage, paving and landscaping; and miscellaneous repairs to building interior mechanical and electrical systems, structure, and interior finishes, and replacement or repairs to building envelops and roofs.

The Hutchinson River and the Hutchinson River Parkway separate the southern section of the site from the power plant. STV Incorporated prepared a study to bring the new dual temperature system and electrical system to the south site.

Soil borings were taken and STV prepared plans and specifications entitled “TES-221” for installing five tunnels consisting of 54 “ reinforced concrete casing pipe under the Hutchinson River Parkway in the vicinity of the intersection of Bartow Avenue. The work included excavating and backfilling of jacking and receiving pits and temporary surface restoration in the work areas. The Contractor was not limited as to the method to accomplish the installation other than the fact that open cut and cover was not permitted because traffic could not be interrupted on the Parkway. The size and type of equipment was the Contractor’s choice.

Study Report

The heating, cooling hot water and electrical power for Co-op City’s housing complex are supplied to the buildings through three central underground sys-tems that emanate from the central Power Plant lo-cated at the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Bartow Avenue and Co-op City Boulevard. The power plant services both the North and South sites of Co-op City.
Heating or cooling, depending on the season is supplied through a two-conduit (supply and return) Dual Temperature (DT) system. Similarly, hot water is supplied through a two-conduit High Temperature (HT) system. Electrical power is supplied through cables in multiple conduits, encased in concrete forming an electrical duct bank (EDB) system.

For over a decade, severe problems had been ex-perienced with all three systems resulting in frequent service disruptions, efficiency degradation, exces-sive maintenance repairs costs and general incon-venience to the tenants and the administration. The decision was made to reconstruct all three systems.

STV prepared a report entitled “The Routing of the Dual Temperature, High Temperature and 15 kV Duct Bank Systems from MH #1 to the South Site” in April 1993. The purpose was to identify alternate routes and determine the most suitable and acceptable alternative for reconstruction of a portion of the systems, namely, from MH # 1 to the beginning of the South site east of the Hutchinson River Parkway (HRP).

The need for the study was precipitated by the lack of a clear unimpeded corridor to construct the new systems while the existing systems remained in ser-vice. The roadway bed of Bartow Avenue/HRP east is highly congested with various underground utilities including the existing DT/HT/EDB systems. The northerly shoulder area of Bartow Avenue/ HRP East (area north of the northerly curbline) is limited in width and is immediately followed by the bank of Hutchinson River. The southerly shoulder area of Bar-tow Avenue/HRP east is extremely narrow and is con-stricted at the Hutchinson River Parkway’s bridge abutment and embankments. The physical restraints dictated the need to consider various alternative routes and to perform careful research, study, assessment and evaluation before a selection was made.
Three corridors were identified as suitable for the crossings of the HT/DT/EDB systems. Within the cor-ridors, four possible schemes were possible. Based on the findings of the study an above ground scheme along the shoulder area requiring steel support struc-tures was recommended.
Plans & Specifications

The study recommendation was not approved. There were many meetings and discussions with several agencies including but not limited to: the New York State Parks Department, New York State Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Environmental Protection, New York City Department of Transportation, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, New York City Department of Parks and recreation and the U.S. Coast Guard. It was decided that microtunneling would be permitted to be constructed through the embankment of the Hutchinson River Parkway.

STV prepared plans and specifications for the mi-crotunnel project. The drawings indicated the layout of piping, size, dimensions, grades and other details. Coordinates of the center tunnel were given with horizontal offsets shown for the remaining tunnels. Preliminary specifications were prepared in Febru-ary 1994 and final specifications completed in April 1996. Research entailed obtaining literature from di-verse sources including New York City Department of Environmental Protection- Bureau of Sewers, New York State Department of Transportation Stan-dard Specifications, ASTM C76 – 85a Standard Specification for Reinforced Concrete Culvert, Storm Drain, and Sewer Pipe. Design requirements determined that Class IV Reinforced Concrete Pipe would be specified.

Subsurface Investigations at the Hutchinson River Parkway
A subsurface investigation program was performed by Warren George, Inc. for Riverbay Corporation between September 18, 1995 and October 18, 1995. Ten soil borings were taken. Nine were directly on top of the embankment of the Hutchinson River Parkway Bridge and one on Bartow Avenue near the southwest abutment of the bridge. The depth of borings into bedrock ranged from 53 feet at Boring B-40 on Bartow Avenue to 70 feet at Boring B-43 on top of the embankment. Ground water readings were not recorded. The ground water table fluctuates with rainfall. It is higher or lower based on a dry or wet season.

There were five basic layers of soil strata encountered. They are as follows: A) Embankment Fills, overlaid by B) Gray, c-f Sand, little to some Silt, with Cobbles, overlaid by D) Gray, weathered rock (Mica), overlaid by E) Gray Schist with Quartz Lens.

Embankment Fills
The embankment fills ranged from a depth of 27 feet on the southbound side to 19 feet on the northbound side of the HRP. The soils consisted of a brown c-f Sand with little to some silt, containing pieces of cinder ash, brick chips, glass, uniformly distributed. The material may have been placed in concurrent lifts from the same stockpile. The fill is essentially a medium dense soil as per the blow counts. Some blow counts were higher because the split spoon sampler may have hit pieces of cobble causing a higher reading. These cobbles could be penetrated using a roller bit. In one instance a large cobble had to be cored. This occurred at a depth of 10.0 feet at Boring B-50. The toe of the embankment on the southbound side is at approximate elevation 8.0 feet and on the northbound side it is at approximately 12.0 feet.

Gray, c-f Sand, little to some Silt, Cobbles
These soils underlay the embankment fills and are nine feet in thickness on the southbound side. On the Northbound side of the HRP, this soil was approximately ten feet thick. The soil may be considered Medium density. Cobbles of Mica were encountered; however, the cobbles could be penetrated using a roller bit.

Gray Clayey Silt
This soil underlies the Gray c-f Sand, little to some Silt with Cobbles. Based on the N value, (number of blow counts per foot) the Clayey Silt is very stiff. The soil was essentially Silt turning to clay.

Gray Weathered Rock (Mica)
This stratum is under the Gray Clayey Silt. The soil consisted of medium density soil of weathered mica and cobbles.

Gray Schist with Quartz Lens
Bedrock was encountered at a depth of 48 feet below Bartow Avenue, Boring B-40. Core recovery ranged between 49 inches and 60 inches. Due to the high percentage of Clear Quartz found in the rock, it may be considered a soft through hard rock.

Observations
Although clusters of cobble were found during observations, it seemed feasible that concrete pipe could be installed in the Gray c-f Sand with little silt, underlying the embankment fills. No borings had to be moved due to an inability to penetrate cobble. One boring had to be moved due to equipment failure.

54" RCP JACKING PIPE (3)
STV performed a plant inspection at the pipe manufacturer’s facility on September 16, 1997. Vianini Pipe, Inc. is located in Somerville, New Jersey. STV witnessed the manufacturing of 54-inch diameter reinforced concrete jacking pipe required for the Microtunneling project at Co-op City. On the day of inspection weather conditions were sunny and 80 F.
STV met the plant production manager who showed us the areas used for manufacturing the 54" RCP. He introduced us to the inspection staff and Mr. Kevin Brown who was a great source of information.

It was explained that Vianini Pipe, Inc. has production and engineering divisions. Quality control is part of engineering.

Quality control of the manufactured pipe follows the procedures submitted for approval on 7/21/97. The inspector uses the form entitled "Quality Assurance Jacking Pipe Report." A form is completed for each pipe and cross-referenced by production number and date cast. The inspector marks the pipe with the appropriate designation. The form is filled out as the pipe goes through the various stages of construction. It can not be completed at one time or in one day.
Quality control (QC) has a testing laboratory on site. They have the capability to test aggregate, run sieve analysis, take concrete slump and concrete cylinder samples. They have curing boxes. They can break the cylinders to determine compressive strength. They have separate steel tapes of each diameter pipe to measure circumference.

Aggregates are stockpiled. Certain clients such as New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) require separate stockpiles labeled for their use only. The stockpile next to it may be the same material but they are separated just the same.

Woven wire fabric (WWF) reinforcement arrives at the site in rolls. In one plant it is unrolled through a machine and set in the shape and required diameter. The Class D round pipe required for the TES 221 Project had two layers of reinforcement which were two different diameters.
The inner reinforcement is placed around an inner steel form. The form and WWF are set vertically on a round, level plate in an outdoor, open area by a Manitowoc crane. The outer cage reinforcement is lifted and lowered into place. Spacers are used to maintain the required cover. The outer form is lifted and lowered into place. Vibrators are permanently attached to the outside jacket. The entire assembly is checked for alignment before the pour.

A preset computer controls the aggregate, cement and water. An operator can adjust the mix based on his experience and his observations of the water content of the aggregate as it enters the hopper. The material goes into a mixer and then onto a conveyor belt. The concrete mixture is placed into a crane bucket, placed in the forms from the top and vibrated. Two men climb on top to verify the height of the pour. Two pipes are poured in the morning and two in the afternoon after which the crane places a tent over them. On site steam generation allows for curing. The allowable ambient temperature range is 90 to 130 degrees. The setting was 110 degrees.

After the initial set the forms are removed. The pipe is transferred to another area. Excess concrete is removed from both ends of the pipe. The inspector takes preliminary measurements of the wall thickness and inside radius. These are not recorded as it is performed just to eliminate any pipe which is out of round or otherwise does not meet the specification.
Tremendous effort is made to ensure that the bell and spigot ends are flush, round and manufactured to the required depth and tolerances of the acceptance criteria. Each man has a square (tool) to measure the depth of the bell and spigot ends. A hand held jackhammer is used to get the bell and spigot to the correct depth. A smooth section is roughened in the same manner. Sika 123 is applied by hand trowel to prepare a smooth surface. This can only be done in 1/8 of an inch layers. Excess material is removed. Half the pipe is done and then the pipe is rolled so the other half can be done. Air holes are patched. Exterior "gate" refers to the area where the forms come together. If it is greater then 1/8 of an inch it is ground smooth. The inspector uses a caliper, a square, and a tape to verify acceptance of all of the above and then places a check mark on the form for each item.

When the results from the concrete cylinder breaks come back they are recorded on the inspector's form.

The ends of the pipe are sounded with a Swiss hammer. This is done to check for voids, which are not observable. A weak section is cause for pipe rejection. Rejected pipe is removed from the production line and stored in a separate location. I did not see this test performed on the day of my inspection but I was shown a pipe rejected on that basis.

External load crushing test is performed by the three-edge-bearing method in accordance with ASTM C76-85a, 11.3.1. The three-edge bearing test machine is located in another area. This is a destructive test in which a load is applied on the top of the pipe. A crack usually develops on the bottom inside radius. A feeler gauge is used until 1/100th of an inch can be measured. The reading on the pressure gauge indicates the strength of the pipe. If the ultimate strength is required the pressure is continued until the pipe destructs. This test was not performed the day STV visited the production site.

Gaskets are sent with the pipe for the Contractor to install.
STV asked Kevin Brown if there was an independent quality assurance person or group who implements the quality control program and sees to it that QC is being performed correctly. He said that this is not done for reinforced concrete pipe in the industry. It does exist for pressure pipe and Vianini follows the same quality control procedures with RCP as they do for pressure pipe with the only difference being the material. He said that they are the only manufacturers in the northeast who has an independent agency perform quality assurance of their quality control program. The independent QC auditor is Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance. STV asked for and received copies of this certification.

STV was told that NYSDOT, NYCDOT, NYCDCC as well as NJDOT have approved the plant.
In conclusion, the fabrication facility and the QC exercised in the plant met all the requirements of the TES 221 Specifications.

Concurrent Projects
Although not all inclusive, the following is a listing of the major work whose time frame spanned the same time the Housing Project Repair Program was underway at Co-op City. The Contractor for the microtunnel project was expected to coordinate his work with these and other work contracts.

RIC/EDB-250
Under this contract, the thermal systems and electric distribution system servicing the entire north site was replaced. This included Buildings 1 through 25 as well as townhouses and shopping centers in the area. A limited amount of surface restoration was performed under this contract.

SIT-207
Under this contract, the domestic water, fire, gas, storm and sanitary sewer lines were replaced in the vicinity of Buildings 12, 13 and 14 of the north site. Surface restoration was performed in the area following this work.

SIT-205
Under this contract, the domestic water, fire, gas, storm and sanitary sewer lines were replaced on the eastside of the north site, except for Buildings 12, 13 & 14. Surface restoration was performed in the area following this work.

TES-220
Under this contract, the thermal and electric distribution system servicing the entire south site was replaced, except for work performed under contract TES-222. The domestic water, fire, gas, storm and sanitary sewer lines were replaced. This included Buildings 26 through 35, except Building 29, as well as townhouses in the area and Shopping Center 3. Surface restoration in the work area was performed under this contract.

TES-222
Under this contract, thermal and electric lines were run from the proximity of the Power Plant through the casing pipes installed under contract TES-221 and into the south site and Building 29. Surface restoration in the work areas will be performed under this contract.

ASB-252
Under this contract, asbestos abatement to support all construction work within the north was performed, except for asbestos abatement within Buildings 12, 13 & 14.

ASB-SOU
Under this contract, asbestos abatement to support all construction work within the south site was performed.

GARAGE REHABILITATION
Contracts were to be issued for the repair, renovation and/or replacement of garages. The work scope was unknown at the time. A garage consultant was engaged to do all investigation and engineering work to accomplish this work.

EMERGENCY/PRIORITY REPAIRS
Repair work to the existing piping and electrical systems servicing Co-op City. This work was ongoing throughout the life of the Housing Project Repair Program.

POWER PLANT WORK
The Power Plant required various contracts to rehabilitate the facility. Some of the work entailed roof replacement and exterior brickwork to the existing facility.

MICROTUNNELING PROJECT
Microtunneling is a term used to describe methods of horizontal earth boring. It can be subdivided into two groups: slurry method and auger method. The tunnel boring machine is laser guided, and remotely controlled to permit precise line and grade installation to an accuracy of +/- 1-inch.

The low bidder was disqualified as he submitted an improper bid. He had tried to qualify his bid by tying it into his anticipated production rate. This was unacceptable. The second low bidder for the TES 221 Contract was Northeast Construction Inc. (NCI) of New Jersey. Their bid was accepted. They chose the Microtunneling method to install the casing pipe. The boring span of each tunnel was 230 feet. Work was started in January 1998 and completed in March 1998. One bidder chose the jacking method rather then microtunneling but his bid was not competitive.
Based on his interpretation of the boring data NCI chose the Harrenknecht AVN 1200 tunnel-boring machine (TBM) which utilizes the slurry method. As it was known that there were boulders in the fill, NCI was questioned about the capability of the TBM to bore through the anticipated soil layers. NCI gave verbal assurances of the same. The slurry method involves jacking pipe and simultaneous cutting of soil at the face of the machine by a cutting head. The tunnel was supported at the face by pressurized slurry. The spoil was removed hydraulically in the form of slurry. The conveying fluid is simultaneously used to counteract hydrostatic forces created by ground water pressure at the face of the as well as spoil removal.
Construction Procedure

1 A reinforced concrete jacking pit was constructed on the southwest side of HRP. The back wall was thicker then the other walls, as it had to absorb and distribute the thrust of the jacking reaction force into the surrounding ground. For the 54 inch RCP with a factor of safety of 3.2 the jack-ing force required was 583 tons.

2 The Contractor used a Grove RT635C cherry picker to place the jacking equipment, discharge pump in the pit and pipe into the pit.

3 An entrance ring with rubber seal was placed on the wall around each bore location to form a seal against groundwater and slurry penetration into the shaft.

4 Slurry settling tanks were placed at grade near the shaft. Piping between the tanks and the shafts make a circuit for the slurry. A charge pump is set near the slurry tanks.

5 A control cabin was set up at grade. The electrical equipment and operation board was set up with power and control cables. The main power supply was a diesel-operated generator.

6 Hydraulic hoses between the power pack and the jacking equipment were connected.

7 The Harrenknecht shield was lowered into the jacking pit and set on the guide rails.

8 Flexible hoses for slurry lines were connected to the TBM shield from the pit by-pass unit, the power and control cables were connected to the machine and the slurry tanks were filled with wa-ter. Bentonite was added via a separate pump.

9 The system was tested, adjusted and retested.

10 The hydraulic jacks were engaged to push the TBM close to the work face through the entrance rubber seal.

11 The pit by-pass unit and the slurry pumps were op-erated to circulate the slurry between the TBM shield and the slurry tank.

12 The cutter head of the TBM shield is rotated, and the jacks extended to push it forward and start the excavation.

13 During driving, the operator controls the jacking speed, the torque of the cutter head, the slurry flow rate, the slurry pressure at the work face, the earth pressure and the inclination of the TBM.

14 After the TBM shield is driven into the earth, the operation of the machine and slurry pumps are stopped and the jacks are retracted. The electric ca-bles and slurry lines are disconnected in the jacking pit, in order to allow placing of the first 54 “ RCP onto the rails.

15 The hydraulic jacks are extended to push the pipe forward until it fits to the tail of the TBM shield.

16 The pipe joint with the shield tail was checked for fit. The electric cables and slurry lines were recon-nected to the TBM shield. The laser and target were checked.

17 The microtunneling operation was resumed with the restart of the slurry pumps, the pit by-pass unit operated, the cutter head rotated, and the hydraulic jacks extended.

18 This microtunneling process is repeated to jack each pipe, one after another.

19 While the pipe jacking operation is carried out, a lubricant is pumped continuously to the periphery of the concrete pipe to reduce jacking friction.

20 The receiving pit is constructed at the same time the jacking pit is. It is used to recover the TBM shield on completion of the drive.

21 When the shield was within one foot of the re-ceiving pit the TBM was stopped and the timber sheeting removed as the jacks pushed the pipe ahead. The TBM was recovered and brought back to the jacking pit. The equipment was aligned to begin the next tunnel.

22 The TBM was checked and the shield cleaned. It was lowered into place and the electric cables and slurry hoses reattached.

Actual Experience
Microtunneling worked well on the first two tunnels but encountered difficulty on the third. The head could not advance beyond approximately the halfway point. This meant the head of the TBM was directly under the median of the Parkway. NCI stated that the TBM was not advancing and was obstructed by solid sheeting, oil tank, or excessive timber bulkhead.
To recover the TBM, NCI constructed a jacking pit on the opposite side of the Hutchinson River Parkway. They installed 1” thick, 84” diameter steel casing pipe. Excavation was done by hand from inside the steel casing pipe. Rail was placed and a cart was utilized so that the excavated material could be removed. The steel pipe was advanced using hydraulic jacks. No obstruction was found when the head of the TBM was reached.

Ears were welded on the TBM and cable attached. The TBM was hauled out as the 54 “ RCCP was pushed in place from the opposite side. The TBM was dismantled and cleaned. The intake port was clogged. Small steel bolts nails and debris was found in the bottom of the cone section. It was hypothesized that the steel disturbed the turbulent flow required to make the operation work. Thereafter, hose, pipe, and pumps were cleaned and flushed more often. The next two tunnels were completed without any problems.

Monitoring points indicated no settlement to the Parkway. The next contract required that the Contractor install the carrier pipe from the power plant to the south site through the five, 54” RCCP tunnels under the Hutchinson River Parkway.

THE CLAIM
NCI filed a claim with the construction manager based on differing site conditions. Throughout the claim NCI stated they relied on the test boring information and they were part of the Contract documents. In fact, the borings were part of an appendix and marked “For information only, not part of contract documents”.

As noted earlier, NCI stated at the pre-award meeting that they had no concern about any material other than encountering bedrock. Several interested parties attended the pre-award meeting. Everyone understood those words. The claim attempted to put a different twist on what was said. The owner, construction manager and engineer were unwilling to accept new interpretations.

It was pointed out to NCI that they were not the low bidders. The low bidder put forth-unacceptable conditions with the regard to extras in the event that certain materials were encountered. The owner paid a premium based on NCI’s assurances. The award was recommended based on these assurances.

The claim expressed the contractor’s view as to the responsibilities of the engineer. He ignored to mention his responsibility to read the entire contract documents and abide by the pre-award understanding.

The remainder of the claim dealt with the title of the specification, selection of the equipment, definition of microtunneling and their interpretation of the “intent” of the Contract. These were put forth to justify the claim.

During the bidding stage questions were asked about jacking, were responded to in an addenda which, by definition, were made an integral part of the contract. Language in the specifications permitted jacking and/or boring. At least one bidder intended to do jacking.

It was interesting that the contractor sought 100 % compensation, when retrospectively “solid sheeting, oil tank, or excessive timber” as anticipated by him did not obstruct the TBM when the TBM was not advancing. There was no mention at that time of bolts, nails or debris. Their opinion was that it had to be a total blockage until it was discovered there was none. Then it became a question of the validity of borings, miscellaneous small hardware, title of the specification, intent of the specification, etc. Accordingly, the claim was rejected.

REFERENCES
Urbahn/Seelye, 1993. Report on: The Routing of the Dual Temperature, High Temperature and 15KV Duct Bank Sys-tems from MH #1 to the South Site

SSV&K, 1995. Draft Report of Subsurface Explorations
Hessing, H. 1997. Inspection report prepared for SSV&K.