No. 14-7 February 5, 2014

continued on page 2

Groundbreaking Held for Wilshire Blvd. Bus Rapid Transit & Middle Lanes Project

On January 22, 2014, Interim City Engineer Deborah Weintraub joined Councilmember Tom LaBonge, CD-4, and other City officials to celebrate the kick-off of the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The event marked the beginning of major construction of the bus lanes and middles lanes on Wilshire Boulevard between Western Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard.

The Wilshire BRT project will reconstruct 3.6 miles of Wilshire Boulevard in an effort to improve bus passenger travel times, service reliability, bus ridership, and encourage a shift from automobile use to public transit. The project is expected to be completed in early 2015.

Weintraub and LaBonge were joined by Deputy CEO Paul Taylor of Metro, Department of General Services General Manager Tony Royster, Inspector of Public Works John L. Reamer, Jr. and Transportation Dept. Interim General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri. A number of community members and Department of Public Works staff were also present.

The Wilshire Boulevard corridor has the highest ridership in the Metro bus system and is one of the most heavily trafficked corridors in the United States. During peak hours along

l to r: Metro Deputy CEO Paul Taylor, Carolyn Ramsay - CD 4 Chief of Staff, community member Lars Roos, community member, community member, Inspector of Public Works John L. Ream-er Jr., GSD GM Tony Royster, Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Interim City Engineer Deborah Weintraub, DOT Interim GM Jon Kirk Mukri.

Wilshire Boulevard, Metro operates buses every two minutes between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica and many of those buses are filled to capacity.

Reconstruction of the corridor is expected to reduce bus passenger travel times by as much as 15 minutes during peak hour. Also, transit ridership along the Wilshire corridor is anticipated to increase between 15 and 20 percent.

The Wilshire BRT project is a collaborative and coordinated effort with the City of Los Angeles, Metro and the County of Los Angeles. The Street Improvement Program of the Bu-reau of the Engineering has provided project management, design, survey, geotechnical in-vestigations, and will manage the construction along with the Bureau of Contracts.

A number of Engineering staff are responsi-ble for the success of the Wilshire BRT project, including Michael Brown, Program Manager, and his staff from the Street and Stormwater Program; Steven Chen, Street Program Man-ager; Vahik Vartanians, Project Manager; Jeff Jolley, Project Engineer; Tung Kwong, Asso-ciate Project Engineer; Jeannie Park, Senior

l to r: Frank Rinaldi (Con Ad), Fernando Avalos (Con Ad), Michael Mulhern, John L. Reamer Jr. (Con Ad), Deborah Weintraub, Ralph Shovlin, Tung Kwong Lee, Tony Rios (Con Ad), Marty Jackson (MGE Engineering - consultant), Steven Chen, Jeannie Park, Jeffery Jolley, and Vahik Vartanians.

Page 2 Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

Management Analyst; Ralph Shovlin, Lead Construction Manager; Ali Hemmatabadi, Construction Manager; Hans Chang, Civil En-gineer Stormwater; Curtis Tran, Civil Engineer Metro Coordination. Also, Patrick Schmidt, and Michael Mulhern of Geotechnical Group. Rey Sison, Robert Mancuso, Johny Sosa, Nur Malhis, Kitty Siu, Charles Entz, Dominic Buenaventura, and Annabel Nuno of Project Award and Control Division. Brian Kanegawa and Meiling Yang of Bridge Program. Robert Nielsen, Cesar Bregaudit, William Garcia, Dan Zehfuss, Paul Blechert, Donald Ariza, Felito Maganis of Survey Division. Thanks go to everyone involved with the project.

Wilshire groundbreaking - con’t from page 1

Interim City Engineer Deborah Weintraub speaking at the event.

Councilmember LaBonge orchestrated the photo grouping and joined the project team in one of the shots.

During the groundbreaking, project information was on display at the site.

Councilmember Tom LaBonge

Page 3Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

On Friday, January 31, 2014, Interim City Engineer Deborah Weintraub accepted the Envision Platinum Award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), on behalf of the City and her staff.

ISI honored Engineering for the sustainable design and construction of the innovative South Los Angeles Wetlands Park Project, which combines sustainable infrastructure with urban greenspace.

The South Los Angeles Wetlands Park Project consists of a 9-acre park containing 4.5 acres of treatment wetlands supplied by stormwater runoff from a 525-acre urban watershed.

Envision is a sustainable infrastructure rating system created by ISI to evaluate the community, environmental, and economic benefits of civil infrastructure, as they relate to sustainability indicators. ISI was founded by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The following information is from ISI’s website:South L.A. Wetland Park Receives Envision™ Platinum AwardThe South Los Angeles Wetland Park in Los Angeles, California, has earned the Envision™ Platinum award—the highest level attainable in the ISI Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system. The South Los Angeles Wetland Park is the first project in Southern California to receive an ISI Envision award and is only the second project to receive an Envision Platinum rating.

For the Envision presentation, the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering, along with Psomas, the private consulting company who provided planning, design, and management services, will accept the ISI Envision Platinum award on January 31, 2014 at the Los Angeles City Council meeting at 10 am in the Council Chamber at 200 North Spring Street.

The South L.A. Wetland Park infrastructure project is located in a historically undevel-oped area of Los Angeles County, formerly known as South Central Los Angeles. The project is a result of Proposition O, a program supported by a series of general obligation bonds valued at $500 million, whose projects were conceived to protect public health by re-moving pollution from the City’s watercourses, beaches, and the ocean to meet Federal Clean Water Act requirements.

“The South L.A. Wetland Park is a good example of an integrated engineering solution that successfully built consensus, captured and improved local urban runoff, and created a new neighborhood-revitalizing amenity. It represents what is possible when an owner and an engineer collaborate and redefine the paradigm of multi-benefit projects,” said

ISI Envision Platinum Award to South LA Wetlands Park

Psomas Principal, Director of Sustainability, and Envision Sustainability Professional and Envision Verifier, Sean P. Vargas.

The features of the project that helped the project score highly for sustainability within the Envision framework included remediation of the former Brownfield site, creation of new urban green space, and the engineers’ design of the park to use urban runoff as a treat-ment-wetland sustaining resource. The South L.A. Wetlands project ranked very highly in many Envision credit areas including:

Quality of Life: The project enhanced public space and restored site accessibility. Being surrounded by homes and schools, the site made an ideal locale for an urban park with restored natural features and green space. The site was previously inaccessible to the public and surrounded by an eight foot chain link fence. The project team developed informative way-finding signage located near the entrance of the park, and addressed safety and accessibility in and around the park by providing multiple access and egress points, as well as installing security cameras at the site.

Leadership: The project improved infra-structure integration of the regional storm drain network using water from the storm drain network to sustain the wetland, using a series of stormwater best management prac-tices to enhance the quality of runoff, treating urban runoff from a 525-acre contributing watershed, and adding beneficial park space in the community.

Resource Allocation: The project reduced energy use by installing solar lighting, which reduced energy consumption by 77%. An extensive initial commissioning of the pump stations was conducted to ensure the SCADA system controlling the wetland’s low flow and high flow pump systems operated efficiently.

Natural World: The project transformed the previous Brownfield facility into an urban park with amenities including trails, board-walks, observation decks, picnic areas, and a natural rock garden seating area. A wetland with riparian and emergent marsh habitat was

created at the center of a densely-populated urban community, and the land use desig-nation of the site was changed from Light Industrial to Open Space in order to ensure the continued use of the site as a wetland park. The project incorporates native Califor-nia plant species, requiring no pesticides or fertilizer. These open water, emergent marsh, riparian and upland plants contribute to wetland habitat restoration and help restore species biodiversity.

Climate and Risk: The project was designed to be resilient and adaptive to the consequenc-es of long-term climate change scenarios, such as extreme flood or drought. Flexible opera-tion features were built in so that the wetland may be operated differently. Substantial efforts were made to restore and rehabilitate effects of long-term change by constructing a wetland environment with riparian habitat at the center of a densely populated urban community.

“The City of Los Angeles and Psomas part-nered to deliver a multi-benefit infrastructure project and neighborhood amenity to the residents of South Los Angeles,” said Deborah Weintraub, Acting City Engineer. “This project is transcendent in that it redefines the arche-type of what is possible in a highly-urbanized public works environment,” she said.

After the presentation in Council chambers, participants gathered for a group photo.

Interim City Engineer Deborah Weintraub accepted the award on behalf of BOE

Page 4 Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

On January 11, 2014, the Bureau of Engineer-ing received the Engineering Achievement of the Year from the Los Angeles Basin Section, California Water Environment Association for the Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project at the awards banquet held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. This $45M project is part of the $500M Proposition O Clean Water Bond Pro-gram, which was overwhelmingly approved by the voters to clean up the lakes, rivers, and ocean in Los Angeles. This outstanding proj-ect, which was managed by Engineering, pro-vided a complete restoration of the polluted 13-acre lake and the surrounding 16-acre park through removal of contaminated sediment, and construction of a new lake liner and edg-ing, sustainable water treatment facilities, and beautiful landscaping throughout the park.

In another coup, the Stormwater Project of the Year went to the Bureau of Engineering and Bureau of Sanitation for the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant In-Plant Storage Project. Deputy City Engineer Ken Redd received the awards on behalf of the Bureau. Because this project was not covered previously in the BOE Newsletter, a fuller description of the project is provided below.

The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant (DCTWRP) is located in Van Nuys, California and provides tertiary treatment of wastewater. As part of its ongoing commitment to protect the public health and environment, the City has taken proactive measures to min-imize and mitigate spills from the wastewater collection system network. As part of this plan, it was determined to construct a wet weather storage system that would be utilized during storm events to avoid surcharge to the sewer system. The storage system consists of basins that are used as temporary relief storage with no process treatment. This relieves the sewer system during significant storm events by

BOE Garners CWEA LA Basin Section AwardsEcho Park Lake Rehabilitation & Tillman WRP In-Plant Storage Recognized

Engineering Achievement of the Year for Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project, l to r: Sia Daghighian, President Ford EC (contractor); Jim Clark, Black & Veatch, (consulting engineer); Kenneth Redd, BOE; Ian MacKenzie, LABS President

Stormwater Project of the Year went to the DCTWRP In-Plant Storage Project, l to r: Ken Redd (BOE) and Hiddo Netto (BOS) with the award presented by Bryan Trussel, LABS

diverting DCT primary effluent to open lined basins for up to 12 hours, then discharges back into the Additional Valley Outfall Relief Sewer (AVORS) by gravity without pumping.

The scope of the project included construc-tion of two lined concrete basins, associated structures and auxiliary piping to provide 15.2 million gallons (mg) wet weather stor-age capacity. Additionally, piping and valve modifications to the existing Phase II prima-ries and aeration tanks provided additional equalization capacity for diurnal flow or wet weather storage capacity of 4.8 mg for a total of 20 mg total wet weather storage.

The project was constructed utilizing the design-build (DB) contracting as an alterna-tive project delivery system which provided for contractor innovation such as telescopic bypass pipe thereby avoiding the need for a costly bypass pumping system. The project was completed in early 2013 and the con-struction cost for the project was approximate-ly $10,000,000.

DCTWRP - level indicator in basin

Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation Project, photo taken before the June 15, 2013 grand opening.

Page 5Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

Mary NemickMary Nemick is the new Director of External Af-fairs for the Bureau of Engineering.

Prior to joining BOE, Mary worked in a com-munications and public affairs capacity for a number of government agencies including the Community Redevel-opment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, the City of Long Beach Community Development Department and the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission. Mary has also led her own communications con-sulting firm with a focus on developing and implementing communications strategies for government agencies, non-profit organiza-tions and political and advocacy campaigns.

In addition, Mary has worked in a press capacity on numerous Democratic campaigns at the local, state and national level. In 2011-2012 Mary served as California Press Secretary for President Obama’s re-election campaign. During the Clinton Administration, Mary trav-eled with the President, coordinating media access and logistics for the White House Press Office in the U.S. and overseas.

Mary did her undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Massachusetts and received a graduate degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology.

In a volunteer capacity Mary has served as a board member for the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters for the past eight years. She lives in Los Angeles.

Her office is on the 7th floor of the Public Works Building and she may be reached at (213) 485-5086.

Eduardo HernandezEduardo Hernandez joined the Wastewater Conveyance Engineering Division as a Civil Engineering Associate I. In 2011, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from California State Uni-versity, Northridge. In May of 2013, he earned a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering from his alma mater.

From April 2012 to August 2013, Eduar-do was a Transportation Foundation of Los Angeles (TFLA) intern for the Wastewater Conveyance Engineering Division. He worked on several projects including the Secondary Sewer Renewal Program H06 project and the La Cienega Interceptor Sewer Rehabilitation Blackwelder to Olympic project, and assisted with several third party plan reviews. Prior to joining BOE as a full time employee, he

Markos LegesseMarkos Legesse has joined the Wastewater Convey-ance Engineering Division (WCED) as a Civil Engineer-ing Associate I. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Civil Engineering at Loyola Marymount Uni-versity in May 2012. He is currently working on a Master of Science Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Southern California, which he expects to complete in 2014. Markos was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and lives in Westchester.

Previously, Markos worked as a student engineer at the Port of Los Angeles for over two years. There, he supplemented what he was learning in class with real world experi-ence. He spent a year with the Transportation section, working on street and striping design while refining his AutoCAD skills. The fol-lowing year he spent in the Structural section working on minor designs of timber structures and concrete pads. Markos spent the sum-mers following his first and second years of undergraduate education doing engineering research at UCLA. He also spent a summer semester abroad in Italy.

Markos’s family is deeply entrenched in engineering. With an uncle who works for Caltrans, another uncle who worked for Boe-ing, and a cousin working for a construction company, it is easy to see how he developed his passion for engineering. Initially, Markos was going to follow both of his parents and get a law degree, but his love for math and the aforementioned family influence led him

Welcome to the Bureau of Engineering!worked for the Riverside County Flood Con-trol & Water Conservation District where he performed hydrology analyses and worked on dam rehabilitation projects.

Eduardo was born in Michoacán, Mexico and moved to the United States when he was seven years old. He lived in Fresno, CA for 14 years before moving to the Los Angeles area five years ago. He currently resides in Arcadia.

The third child of seven, he has three brothers and three sisters, all of whom still reside in Fresno. His father is a farm worker and mother works for a medical laundry company. Three of his younger siblings are college students and the youngest is in high school. His two older sisters graduated from Fresno State University.

Eduardo is a big sports fan and watches almost every sport, but enjoys soccer, football, and basketball most. He also enjoys jogging, exercising, playing soccer, and watching com-edies. Eduardo’s office is on the sixth floor of the Public Works Building and can be reached at (213) 485-1132.

to engineering.Markos is an avid sports fan, rooting for

the hometown Lakers, Dodgers, and USC Trojans, as well as the Baltimore Ravens, and the European soccer club Chelsea FC. Some of his favorite television shows include Game of Thrones, Martin, American Horror Story, and New Girl. Hobbies that don’t include a tele-vision are hiking, biking, going to the beach, playing sports, and traveling. Besides English, Markos speaks Amharic (Ethiopian) fluently.

Markos’s office is on the sixth floor of the Public Works building and he can be reached at (213) 847-5866.

BOE LA River Project Office RecognizedOn December 19, 2013, the Council of Arroyo Seco Organizations honored the LA River Project Office with its annual Greening the Arroyo Award for agencies. The award is given to an agency that has demonstrated outstand-ing leadership in the stewardship of the Arroyo Seco. The Arroyo Seco is a major tributary of the Los Angeles River, which begins high in the San Gabriel Mountains and flows through the communities of La Cañada Flintridge, Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena and Northeast Los Angeles. It flows into the Los Angeles River just north of Downtown Los Angeles. Organized stewardship of the Arroyo Seco began more than one hundred years ago when Charles Lummis established the Arroyo Seco Foundation. BOE’s LA River Project Office was selected because of its leadership in Los Angeles River revitalization generally and, in particular, for inclusion of the Arroyo Seco confluence in the US Army Corps of Engineers’ ARBOR Study. BOE is leading the City’s effort as local sponsor of the Army Corps Study. Megan Whalen and Michael Affeldt attended the ceremony on behalf of the LA River Project Office.

l to r: Michael Affeldt and Megan Whelan accepted the Arroyo Verde Award for the BOE LA River Project Office.

Page 6 Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

Issue Date: December 18, 2013Subject: Open DataTo promote transparency and accountability, the City of Los Angeles (“City”) will make publicly available raw data in easy-to-find and accessible formats. Open Data is raw data generated or collected by government agencies made freely available for use by the public, subject only to valid privacy, confi-dentiality, security, and other legal restrictions.

Open Data empowers Angelenos to partic-ipate in governance with greater understand-ing and impact. Opening government data to entrepreneurs and businesses promotes innovation by putting that information to work in ways outside the expertise of government institutions and gives companies, individuals, and nonprofit organizations the opportunity to leverage one of government’s greatest as-sets: public information. Most significantly, it fosters creative new thinking about solving our most intractable challenges through public-private partnerships and promoting a culture of data sharing between our own City departments and other civic resources.??

Open data and analysis has already been the hallmark of the successful application of COMPSTAT in the Los Angeles Police De-partment, spurring innovation and producing dramatic and tangible reductions in crime each year for the past decade.

Pursuant to the City’s commitment to trans-parency of government data and this Executive Directive, the following instructions shall be implemented:

• The General Manager of the Information Technology Agency and the Mayor’s Depu-ty Mayor for Budget & Innovation establish an Open Data Portal that will serve as the central source for departmental open data. All datasets determined to be accessible to the public shall be made available on this portal (to the extent permitted by law and subject to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, and other legal restrictions).

• Each City department (including, but not limited to, the Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles World Airports, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, Department of Recreation and Parks, and Los Angeles Public Library) make all appropriate data sets available online on this portal. The data shall be provided in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, searched, and filtered by commonly used web search applications and software. Whenever possible, data should be made available in machine-readable format(s).

• Each City department (including, but not limited to, the Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles World Airports, Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions, Department of Recreation and Parks, and Los Angeles Public Library) make efforts to update its public data on a regular basis (preferably automatically) and strive to improve transparency, partic-

Mayor’s Executive Directive No. 3 - Open Dataipation, and collaboration.

• IT professionals across departments will collaborate and take proactive efforts to publicize open datasets, establish useful applications employing these datasets, and collaborate with local entities (civic-mind-ed developers, universities, corporations, start-ups, non-profits, civic organizations etc.) to experiment with new technologies, visualizations, and applications with the goal of identifying cost-effective solutions to improve our government and commu-nity.

Executed this 18th day of December, 2013

l to r: Jim Treadaway with Deputy City Engineer & LAPMA Board member Michael Kantor, and LAPMA President David Lara.

l to r: Public Works Public Affairs Office Director & LAPMA Board member Cora Jackson-Fossett, Jim Treadaway, and Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell

Treadaway Receives LAPMA Clark Robins 2013 Excellence in Management AwardAt the Los Angeles Professional Managers As-sociation (LAPMA) luncheon held December 12, 2013, the Clark Robins 2013 Excellence in Management Award was presented to Jim

Treadaway, head of the Bridge Improvement Division.

The award nomination was made by his peers as a recognition of his excellent man-

agement skills and contributions to the City.The award was named in honor of former

Deputy City Engineer Clark Robins, who retired in 2008.

Recycling of Confidential MaterialsThe Bureau of Sanitation, City Facilities Recycling Program (CFRP) crewmembers are only authorized to take non-confidential materials, or shredded confidential materials to the recycling center. The CFRP does not provide shredding services. The CFRP crew is not bonded and cannot meet strict levels of confidentiality, as recycling bins are not locked and CFRP trucks have open beds. Please do not place confidential materials in trash cans or recycling bins, as the items will not be treated confidentially. To use the recycling program, place securely closed bags of shredded materials next to your recycling bins for pick up.

Page 7Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

6th St. Viaduct Construc-tion Manager/ContractorOn December 18, 2013, the Los Angeles City Council authorized the Board of Public Works, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Bureau of Contract Administration to execute a Construction Manager/General Contrac-tor, 6-year contract with a joint venture of Skanska/Stacy and Witbeck (SSW), with a cost-ceiling of $250,000,000, to replace the Sixth Street Viaduct.

Pictured at right, l to r: John Reamer (Inspector of Public Works, Bureau of Contract Admin-istration), Alfred Mata (6th Street Viaduct Program Manager, Bureau of Engineering), Deborah Weintraub (Interim City Engineer, Bureau of Engineering), Paul Smith (Ana-lyst, Office of the Chief Legislative Analyst), Councilmember Jose Huizar (CD 14), Coun-cilmember Tom LaBonge (CD 4), Mark Leintz (SSW), Lawrence Damore (SSW), and Andre Gueno (SSW).

Technology upgrades are crucial to improving City services. The Bureau of Engineering’s Survey Division is pleased to be embarking on a significant technological upgrade that will make all surveys more accurate.

The City of Los Angeles boasts one of the largest, most extensive vertical networks of survey points, which are used by every public and private sector surveyor doing work in the City. The City has over 17,000 vertical “bench marks” extending from the Port of Los Angeles to the most northern boundary of the City, and everywhere in between. Engineering has embraced the advances in technology of the National Geodetic Survey, which upgraded to a system based on GPS derived elevations. Our City surveyors responded by creating a new program that utilizes the latest GPS equipment, in conjunction with traditional leveling, to update and adjust the City’s verti-cal network of “bench marks”, with accuracy in the millimeters.

This citywide technological update is im-portant to the economic growth of the City. Bench mark elevations are needed by a vast number of private entities such as homeown-ers, developers, construction companies, land surveyors, engineers and architects, as well as public agencies like the Department of Public Works, the Harbor, Los Angeles World Airports, and the Department of Water and Power. These public and private entities use Engineering’s vertical survey network, along with the horizontal survey network, for con-struction and infrastructure projects, for emer-gency planning and storm evacuation routes, for flood-plain mapping, and for monitoring earth movement. Engineering also provides

vertical survey data that aids the National Geodetic Survey of the United States Department of Commerce in maintaining and improv-ing the National Vertical Datum, and the National Spatial Reference System.

In addition, all of the survey data is easily acces-sible to the public through Engineering’s citywide GIS tool, Navigate LA, which is launching a new online graphical interface, and will shortly be accessible on mobile devices as well.

Engineering Embraces New Technology for Accurate Surveys

Survey data is easily accessible to the public through Engineering’s GIS tool, Navigate LA

Page 8 Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

Shredded PaperAnnouncement from the Department of Gen-eral Services: Do not place shredded paper inside recycling bins. Place all shredded paper in plastic bags and place them next to the recy-cling bin. Make sure the bags are tied tightly to prevent spillage. For more information, please call the RecycLine at (213) 922-8300.

Notice No. 01 Rory Shaw AwardNotice No. 01 dated January 7, 2014, titled The Bureau of Engineering (BOE) Rory M. Shaw Outstanding Employee Award states that applications are being accepted for the BOE’s Rory M. Shaw Outstanding Employee Award. This Award is in memory of the dedication and excellence in leadership exemplified by the late Rory M. Shaw. The intent of this award is to acknowledge an employee who demon-strates those characteristics that made Rory such an extraordinary asset to the Bureau.The recipient of this prestigious award should meet, as closely as possible, the following criteria:* Be a BOE employee;* Demonstrated outstanding dedication to

duty or outstanding leadership qualities;* Made significant contributions in fur-

thering the Bureau’s mission and goals by performing his/her duties at a level of excellence far exceeding established standards;

* Developed partnerships with other City departments, Bureaus, Board of Public Works, other public agencies, contractors, consultants and/or the community at large;

* Established reputation for professional service;

* Recognized and respected by colleagues, clients, and/or supervisors;

* Demonstrated extraordinary problem-solv-ing capability.

Past recipients of the Rory M. Shaw Outstand-ing Employee Award:

Dr. Carol S. Armstrong 2013Hortensia Alonso 2012Paul Tseng 2011Steve Martinez 2010Gene Edwards 2009Vahik Vartanians 2008Essam Amarragy 2007Larry Gonsalves 2006

Please review your Division/District/Group’s activities during calendar year 2013, which began January 1, 2013 and ended December 31, 2013 and nominate employees who may merit this award. Nominations must be made using the 2014 BOE Rory M. Shaw Outstand-ing Employee Award Nomination Form, which is attached with this notice. All nominations are due to Candice Arnold, Executive Di-vision, 1149 S. Broadway, by Wednesday, January 29, 2014.

A panel comprised of BOE representatives will review the nominations received by the due date. This award will be presented at a regular Board of Public Works meeting on February 26, 2014.

We want to emphasize that this award is open to all BOE employees, regardless of classification.Note that the deadline has already passed.

Notice No. 02 Mentorship ProgramNotice No. 02 dated January 7, 2014, titled Mentorship Program states that the appli-cation period for the Bureau of Engineering (BOE) Mentorship Program is now open in accordance with Special Order No. 03-1213. Employees interested in participating in the Mentorship Program as either a mentor or protégé should fill out the appropriate Partic-ipation Form located in the BOE Forms Library at: http://boe.ci.la.ca.us/eforms/ and send it electronically to the Mentorship Coordination Committee at sharon.mcdonald@lacity.org no later than January 24, 2014.

Applicants should obtain approval from their supervisor and Division/District/Group Manager before submitting an application.

If you have any questions regarding the Mentorship Program, please contact the Mentorship Coordination Committee at jim.treadaway@lacity.org.

Note the deadline has already passed.

Mayor’s press release:(February 4, 2014) Mayor Garcetti today appointed Peter Marx as the city’s first Chief Innovation Technology Officer. A key part of Mayor Garcetti’s back to basics agenda, Marx will oversee the implementation of new tools and technologies across L.A. city government better solve problems for residents and make City Hall work more efficiently and effectively. In addition, he will partner with L.A.’s growing tech industry to deploy innovative technology and promote local job creation.

Among his first projects will be improving MyLA311 for one stop customer service; re-vamping the City’s scores of web sites to make them more useful and user-friendly; and capitalize on sharing and analyzing data to upgrade performance throughout City gov-ernment in the same way LAPD’s COMPSTAT system has been used to drive down crime.

“Incredibly talented, a force in the tech community, and an L.A. native to boot, Peter was my top choice from a very strong pool of applicants,” said Mayor Garcetti. “I’m thrilled to have him on the team and look forward to working with him to better serve Angelenos and foster the already strong tech ecosystem here in the City of Angels. Harnessing tech-nology is critical to the future of our economy and improving city services.”

“I’m looking forward to working with the Mayor to take the city of the future further into the future,” said Peter Marx

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Marx served as the Vice President of Business De-velopment at Qualcomm Labs, Inc., commer-cializing a variety of emerging technologies. Previously, Marx was the Vice President of the Technology and Digital Studio at Mattel, Inc. where the company received a Webby award,

the highest award for excellence in online content. Marx managed Analog Protocol, a media-technology consultancy; served as the Chief Technology Officer for Vivendi-Univer-sal Games and Vice President of Emerging Technologies for Universal Studios; and held engineering and producer positions at Elec-tronic Arts. Early in his career, he served as an engineer on a variety of telemedicine, digital video, radiological imaging, and biomedicine applications for UCLA and 3M Company.

This appointment is the latest in Mayor Garcetti’s efforts to reform and reorganize City Hall to make it more efficient and effective in serving the people of Los Angeles. Garcetti cut the number of Deputy Mayors from a dozen to four, focused on the key areas of City Services, Budget and Innovation, Homeland Security and Public Safety, and Economic Development.

Within the Mayor’s Office, he appointed the city’s first Chief Sustainability Officer in addition to a dedicated point person for immigration affairs, veterans, and the en-tertainment industry. Upon taking office, he required every department head to reapply for his or her job. Last week, he appointed a new General Manager for the Department of Water and Power and is bringing new leadership to the Fire, Harbor, Transportation, and Cultural Affairs departments.

Mayor Appoints Chief Innovation Technology Officer

Notice No. 03 Acting Dep-uty City EngineerNotice No. 03 dated January 14, 2014, titled Acting Deputy City Engineer for the Engi-neering Services Program states that until a permanent candidate is selected for this position, the Deputy City Engineer over this program will be covered on an acting and rotating basis by two of the Principal Engineers that currently report to this Deputy.

Beginning January 27, 2014 through Feb-ruary 23, 2014, Shailesh “Sunny” Patel will handle the first rotation as the Acting Deputy City Engineer. Michael Brown will handle the next rotation beginning on February 24, 2014 through March 23, 2014. An announcement with the dates of future rotations will be made later, if necessary.

The Acting Deputy will be located in the Executive Division, Public Works Building, 1149 South Broadway, 7th floor, Mail Stop 490, Los Angeles, CA 90015 and can be reached at (213) 485-4915.

Page 9Engineering Newsletter - 2/5/14

Remember - The latest letterhead is always available on the Engineering Forms Library under the category “Correspondence” on the Bureau of Engineering intranet.

The Construction Management Association of America Southern California Chapter is offering the following seminars.

Owners’ Night – Capital Program Updates on Thursday, February 13, 2014, at The Grand Conference Center, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach, 5:30 pm. Among those participating are Alameda Corridor East Construction Au-thority, Caltrans District 7, Caltrans District 8, Los Angeles Community College District, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles World Airports, Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, METROLINK, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Orange County Transportation Authority, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, San Bernardino Associ-ated Governments.

Cost: Register by Friday, Feb. 7: $70/mem-ber, $110/non-member. After Feb. 7: $85/member, $135/non-member.

The Top 10 Commissioning Challenges on Thursday, February 20, 2014, at The Grand Conference Center, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach, 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Seminar. This seminar will teach the CM to use commissioning to increase quality and productivity. Typical process improvements include: early identification of MEP system deficiencies, scheduling of critical path sys-tems check-out, avoiding contractor re-work, and developing building systems acceptance requirements. This process will help the CM turn over a complete and working building on schedule.

Panel: James D. Becker, PE, LEED AP, CxAP, GCxP, Principal Commissioning Authority, 3QC; Jim Ogden, Assoc. AIA, LEED Fellow, QCxP, Principal Sustainable Construction, 3QC; Darrin Lambrigger, PE, CCM, LEED AP, Deputy Chief Harbor Manager – CM Division, Port of Long Beach.

Cost: Register by Friday, Feb. 14: $70/member, $110/non-member. After Feb. 14: $85/member, $135/non-member.

Breakfast of Champions on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, at the Hyatt, 333 S. Figueroa, Downtown L.A., 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Seminar. Jacob Williams, Assistant Direc-tor, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, will provide an overview of the capital program and upcoming projects, opportuni-ties for construction and consulting services, and how to do business with LA County DPW.

The Construction Manager’s Role in Sus-tainable Projects – It’s Going to be a LEED Project – Now What? on Thursday, March 13, 2014, at The Grand Conference Center, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach, 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Seminar. You have just been advised that you are on a LEED project. Keeping pace with the ever changing LEED Rating Systems, protocols and procedures and what it means for LEED project adds value to your services and to your owner. From con-

cept through completion, there are a series of choices and key tasks that must be made to help mitigate risk and ensure success.• Is there a cost or schedule impact?• How do we procure the team(s)?• Within your role as owner, owners rep,

design professional, CM, PM, LEED AP, contractor, subcontractor or supplier, what should you be doing and when should you do it?

The instructors have managed numerous LEED, LEED equivalent and “green” projects and it is clear that not all project team mem-bers really understand the process, especially if the PM/CM is thrown into their first LEED project. They will discuss a proactive step-by-step process from start to finish with points to consider and pitfalls to avoid through the project cycle. This seminar is intended to be educational and benefit all parties involved with a LEED project with tips, resources and handouts provided.

Seminar instructors: Danny Kaye, CCM, PMP, MRICS, LEED AP, Principal, TOTUM; Jim Ogden, LEED Fellow, ECxP, Principal, 3QC; Sarah Price, Capital Projects Coordinator, City of Long Beach DPW.

Cost: Register by Friday, Mar. 7: $70/mem-ber, $110/non-member. After Mar. 7: $85/member, $135/non-member.

Breakfast of Champions on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at the Hyatt, 333 S. Figueroa, Downtown L.A., 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Seminar. Albert V. Scala, Chief Project and Contract Compliance Officer, Southern Cali-fornia Regional Rail Authority, METROLINK. Learn about capital program overview/upcom-ing projects, opportunities for construction and consulting services, how to do business with METROLINK.

Changed or Differing Site Conditions on Friday, March 21, 2014, at The Grand Conference Center, 4101 E. Willow St., Long Beach, 8:00 am Registration, 8:30 am Semi-nar. Discussion topics:

What defines them:• Statues• Regulations• ContractsNotice requirementsProof requirementsJobsite decision on the claimJudicial reviewAlternative theories:• Nondisclosure of material facts• Breach of warranty of correctness of

plansSeminar instructors: Bernard Kamine, Esq. & Marcia Haber Kamine, Esq., Kamine Law PC, Construction Attorneys.

Cost: Register by Friday, Mar. 14: $70/member, $110/non-member. After Mar. 14: $85/member, $135/non-member.

For additional information please go to www.cmaasc.org.

CMAA So Cal Chapter Seminars ASCE LA YMF Sponsors PE Review CourseAre any of your colleagues currently pursuing professional licensure? Attaining the Profes-sional Engineering license is an important step in every engineer’s career. The ASCE Los Angeles Younger Member Forum (LA YMF) is offering our semi-annual PE Review Course to help our fellow members and colleagues prepare for their PE Exams. Our instructors come highly recommended in the industry, prices are kept at a minimum, and all pro-ceeds go directly back to members through scholarships, subsidized general meetings, technical seminars, tours, and other events. By enrolling in our course you support your local ASCE chapter!

Registration is now open for the Spring 2014 Course running from February 4th through March 22nd, conveniently scheduled on evenings and weekends to accommodate working professionals. Our Review Course costs only a fraction of the education indus-try’s price, with ASCE member prices starting at just $950 for the Comprehensive Review Course. This year, we are also offering com-panies a 10% discount if they register 2 or more people.

Please help us share this offer with your colleagues and friends, should they be inter-ested in enrollment. For more information or to register, please visit our website at perc.mlab-ymf.org, or contact Josue Enriquez at josue.enriquez@arup.com”

Thanks to Streets & Stormwater DivisionThis e-mail was received from the City Attor-ney’s office:Date: Fri, Sept 13, 2013 at 3:59 PMSubject: Kinney St and El Rosa Emergency

Repair ProjectTo: Deborah Weintraub, Vince Jones, Michael

BrownCc: Ding Lee, Susan ShuDeborah,I wanted to thank you and Vince and Mike for promptly acting on my request to repair the curb and gutter area at the intersection of Kinney Dr. and De La Rosa Ave.

I think I alerted BOE to the need for this repair as I was settling the Rascon/Sandoval vs City case last May and, as you can see from the attached photos recently sent by Ding Lee, it appears that the repair work is all but done.

I think we have saved the City from any and all future liability involving that steep hillside location since there will probably be no more storm water run off from Kinney Street again. Thanks again.

John A Minor, IIIDeputy City Attorney

Newsletter SubmissionsWe are always pleased to receive submissions for the Newsletter. There are a few tips that we’d like to be kept in mind. Please do not submit articles using the “table” or “column” feature of WordPerfect or MS Word. It will not translate correctly. Instead, just use tabs. If you have photos, please send them in their native format, i.e., jpg or tif. Do not place photos in a word processing document. Also, please run your article through spell check and make sure all names are spelled correctly before submitting it. Again, thanks to all for their contributions.

We’d Like to Hear from YouIf you have any articles for the Newsletter, please e-mail them directly to BOENewslet-ter@gmail.com. Also cc: Myrna Braithwaite (myrna.braithwaite@lacity.org) Administration Division. Deadline for the next issue is Thurs-day, February 27, 2014.

Los Angeles City Department of Public WorksBureau of Engineering1149 South Broadway, Suite 700

Los Angeles, CA 90015http://eng.lacity.org

http://www.facebook.com/LABureauofEngineeringThe Engineering Newsletter is published monthly by the Administration Division for employees of the Bureau of Engineering.

Engineering VisionTo lead the transformation of Los Angeles into the world’s most livable city.

Presidents Day HolidayMonday, February 17, 2014, is a City holiday. Remember to mark your timesheet for that day as HO 8.0. Since the holiday is only for eight hours, those of you on the 9/80 schedule must adjust your hours accordingly within the same pay period. (Non-FLSA exempt employees can only adjust their hours within their defined work week.) Check with your division time-keeper if you have any questions.

ArrivalsBrittany Batong, Sr Management Analyst I, PAC; Dominick Esposito, CE Associate I, Cen-tral; Eduardo Hernandez & Markos Legesse, CE Associate I, WCE; Mary Nemick, Commu-nity Affairs Advocate, Exec; Sandra Figueroa, CE Associate I, Valley; Natalie Moore, CE Associate I, CMD.

DeparturesJennifer Ware, Management Analyst II, pro-moted to Dept of Aging, Survey; Laurence Tillett, Reprograpics Operator I, retired, PAC; Cliff Thieme, Architectural Associate II, retired, RCF; Bao Tran, CE Drafting Tech, retired, EED.

PromotionsHsu-Liang Huang, Mechanical Engineering Associate III, Arch; Erik Villanueva, Architec-tural Associate II, Arch.

Internal TransfersNelson Sarti, Environmental Engr Associate III, from WCE to EED; Kevin Schrock, Civil Engi-neer, BPD to SSD; Nadir Shah, CE Associate III, from EED to SSD.

Professional Registration Congratulations go to the following employees who received their professional registration.

PE License: Celso Perez, CE Associate II,WCC; Anagh Mamdapurkar, CE Associate II, CMD; Warren Liu, CE Associate II, SED; Terry Phan, CE Associate II, Central; Alejandro Moreno, CE Associate II, Harbor.

PLS License: Edmundo Asuncion, Land Surveying Assistant, Survey, passed the Board examination for Professional Land Surveyors. In addition to his PLS, he also has a license in Civil Engineering (PE).

In MemoriamOur deepest sympathies go to:

Mina Azarnia, Wastewater Construction Engineering Division, on the passing of her mother, Sogra Dodong. Services were held on December 20, 2013, in Iran.

William Jones, Environmental Manage-ment Group, whose wife Elizabeth passed away on January 8, 2014. Services were held February 1, 2014 at St. Dorothy’s Catholic Church in Glendora. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Cancer Society, please specify lung cancer research.

Passing of MayedaWe are sorry to report that retired Civil Engineering Associate II (old series) James Mayeda passed away on December 26, 2013. He retired from BOE in June 1987. This is from the obituary that appeared in the L.A. Times: James Hajime Mayeda (89) passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles on December 26, 2013, surrounded by his family. He was a retired civil engineer for the City of Los Angeles and a veteran of WWII. He is survived by his children, Charles (Sue) Mayeda, Ann Schaefer, Amy Thibodeaux, and Lynn Foxx; grandchildren, Jeffrey and Lauren Mayeda, Amy, James, and Eric Schaefer, Clay and Cameron Thibodeaux; also survived by other relatives. Funeral services were held on Friday, January 3, 2014 at Venice Hong-wanji Buddhist Temple, 12371 Braddock Dr., Culver City.

Passing of ValenciaWe regret to report that retired Structural Engineering Associate II (old series) Ricardo Valencia passed away on January 27, 2014. He retired in August 1994 after 36 years of service with BOE. He was a World War II Navy veteran. Services were held on February 1, 2014 at Calvary Chapel Cornerstone, Covina, CA. Our condolences go to his wife Enriqueta, and four children Richard, Mary Ann, Lilli Ann, and Matthew, and ten grandchildren.

Notice No. 19Notice No. 19 dated December 17, 2013, titled Standard Inflation Rates for Bureau of Engineering (BOE) Cost Estimates states that Chapter 3, Procedure 3.7 of the Project Delivery Manual (PDM) includes instructions for escalating construction cost estimates to the mid-point of construction.

Previously, BOE Notice No. 012 dated April 9, 2007 and Notice No. 028 dated September 8, 2010 provided the rates and instructions for applying them in construction cost estimates. With the changing economic climate, it is prudent to regularly revisit these cost factors to better reflect current market conditions. Additionally, it is preferable that these rates be changed without the need to issue additional BOE Notices.

Therefore, as of the date of this Notice, cost escalation rates will be maintained within PDM Procedure 3.7 and revised as needed without the issuance of a BOE Notice. The PDM Procedure includes a table of historical values which will be updated every time the standard inflation rates are revised.

Closure of I-405As part of the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, there will be an 80-hour closure of the northbound I-405 February 14-18, 2014. Scheduled for Presidents Day weekend, the closures will reduce the northbound lanes to two open lanes during daytime hours and a complete closure during nighttime hours. The 80-hour closure will eliminate several 55-hour closures from the project schedule.

New DWP GMOn January 30, 2014, Mayor Garcetti an-nounced that he is nominating Anaheim City Manager Marcie Edwards to head the Depart-ment of Water & Power. Prior to this Edwards had headed Anaheim’s utility and had worked in DWP for 24 years. Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the DWP Board of Commissioners and City Council. She would replace Ron Nichols, who has announced that he is resigning.

Refrigerator ReplacementThrough the Department of Water & Power Refrigerator Exchange Program, BOE will be receiving 24 new refrigerators for the offices in the locations listed below. The delivery of replacement refrigerators starts at 9:00 am on the following dates:

Public Works Building - Thursday, February 20, 2014

EED - Friday, February 21, 2014WLA - Friday, February 21, 2014Figueroa Plaza - Friday, February 21, 2014

Please note that all old refrigerators must be emptied out no later than the morning of your scheduled exchange. Refrigerators that are not empty may be left behind.