There are around 111,000 engineers in the United States, and approximately 2,800 commercial divers, of which only some are engineers. That means less than one percent of all engineers are engineer divers. Today, we dive right in with Jeff Lynes, EIT, to learn about his career as a Project Engineer Diver. Jeff and his wife have lived in Kentucky since 2006 and have four children. Jeff has previous experience in Army Aviation, Aerospace manufacturing, and farming. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geography with a minor in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in 1999 and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of North Dakota in 2020. Jeff has been with Marine Solutions since 2019 and added the title of “Commercial Diver” to his resume in 2021. What does an Engineer Diver do? “An Engineer Diver conducts underwater inspections of waterfront infrastructure, evaluates and reports conditions of waterfront structures and designs repairs for existing structures or designs plans and specifications for new waterfront structure construction. Various inspections include scheduled inspections to evaluate the condition of structures during their life cycle, emergency inspections following significant events such as storms or physical impacts to structures, and construction related operations such as quality assurance.” What principles of engineering does an Engineer Diver employ? “An Engineer Diver is responsible for creating safe, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure by utilizing their knowledge and skills for accurate evaluation and communicating findings and recommendations to the client or owner. An Engineer Diver must be responsive to client needs, anticipate current and future needs, and keep an open mind for developing multiple courses of action whether for inspection, design, or construction.” How do you become an Engineer Diver? “For the engineering side, the first step is to earn a Bachelor's degree in engineering from an EAC/ABET accredited program. The Bachelor's degree program gives you a foundation of knowledge and understanding that you will apply daily in your work. Next the engineer completes the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination and applies for Engineer in Training (EIT) status through their respective state board. After four years of working directly under a licensed professional engineer (PE), the engineer completes the Professional Engineering Examination and applies for Professional Engineer licensure through the state board. For the diving side, one must attend an Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) - approved school to become a certified entry-level diver/tender. The certification will allow you to begin diving commercially as both an engineer, and a diver. A note here is that engineer divers usually start commercial diving either before or just after earning their bachelor's degree, although some begin diving later.” Why would an engineer want to become a diver? “If your engineering work is related to structures in the water, becoming a diver enhances your understanding of field conditions so that you can more accurately evaluate field conditions and create better designs. Becoming a commercial diver expands engineering opportunities for career paths and exposes the engineer to a wider variety of work in the field.” What was the most difficult part of adding Diver to your resume? “Taking the time for dive school. I have a wife and children so being apart from them during the months of dive school was difficult.” What kind of job opportunities are available to Engineer Divers? Is there a high demand for them? “Most underwater structure inspections are led by an engineer diver. Inland, there are typically bridges, culverts, dams, barge mooring cells, and docks to inspect. In coastal areas and offshore there are also many pipelines and various structures that need inspection. Engineer diving is a niche job market and is usually handled by firms engaged in marine engineering.” What qualities should an Engineer Diver possess? “An engineer diver should be motivated to do quality work, be physically fit, be willing to work in a variety of environments, take care of the people they work with, able to listen to others' ideas, and communicate their own ideas well.” What is your favorite part about your career? “Having a mixture of design work and diving work is great. I personally love being outside, and inspection diving is very satisfying, even in challenging conditions.” What is your least favorite part about your job? “The volume of report writing is my least favorite part. Every inspection requires a report, with many details to be accurately included along with recommendations. However, the report writing is a very necessary part of any engineering work.” Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to become an Engineer Diver? “Make a plan and start executing it as soon as you can. Even if it's only one small step now, taking action brings you one step closer to your goal. You can do it!”
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On December 11, Western Kentucky was hit by the most devastating tornado Kentucky has seen in recent history, and it claimed nearly 80 lives. The most significant damage was seen in Mayfield, KY, approximately 30 miles from the Marine Solutions office in Paducah. While everyone in our Paducah office remained safe, we were left devastated. To help, we sent a delivery of water, generators, and other supplies. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all the families impacted by the storm. At Marine Solutions, we are so fortunate to be able to give back to our community. As people shop for gifts, prepare holiday meals, and spend time with family and friends, we are reminded that many are not so fortunate. A multitude of families will be missing loved ones, worrying about having toys under their trees for the little ones, or even worrying about where they will get their next meal. Through Making Waves, a Marine Solutions initiative enabling us to do good for the communities in which we love, we are proud to give back. As many families have suffered unimaginable loss over the past couple years, it is more important to give back now more than ever. One of the ways we are Making Waves this year is by providing Christmas dinner to those in need. By sponsoring families through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree, we have provided 80 families with a meal that may have been hard to come by otherwise. Another way we are giving back this year is by sponsoring a family through The Arc of Baltimore, a program that supports individuals with developmental disabilities. Our Maryland team graciously shopped for, wrapped, and delivered two truckloads of gifts to a family of 8. All of the presents were hidden until Christmas Eve when Santa will put them under the tree for the family to open on Christmas morning! Marine Solutions also pitched in to help Wreaths Across America at Camp Nelson, in the hometown of our headquarters, Nicholasville, KY. Wreaths Across America provides a way to honor our veterans by laying remembrance wreaths on the graves of our country’s fallen heroes. Almost 17,000 wreaths were sponsored for the cause, with 160 being from Marine Solutions. We want to ensure that families in our community have a wonderful Christmas, and we continue to make giving back a top priority year-round. To see more ways we have helped our community through Making Waves, please visit our website. Congratulations to Marianna Fleming, EIT, ENV SP, who was recently selected as the Young Professional Representative for the United States section of the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) standards committee for the Working Group 236 on “Sustainable Management of the Navigability of Free Flow Rivers” (WG 236). PIANC is a worldwide scientific organization established to promote both inland and maritime navigation by fostering progress in the planning, design, construction, improvement, maintenance and operation of inland and maritime waterways and ports and of coastal areas for general use. The United States Army Corps of Engineers serves as the secretariat for PIANC USA. PIANC USA works with 40 other nations to address a broad range of policy, engineering, and environmental issues for the advancement of waterborne transportation. The goals of the working group include developing guidelines to improve and maintain navigability in free-flowing rivers, assessing the sustainability of river training works intended to improve navigability, assessing the sustainability of dynamic river management, highlighting technical, operational, economic, and environmental considerations related to free flow rivers vs. canals and other regulated rivers, and improve the understanding of physical processes in free-flowing rivers with or without river training works. Marianna is a 2019 civil engineering graduate of the Stevens Institute of Technology. She joined Marine Solutions in 2020 as a project engineer and obtained her dive certificate this past summer. She is also an Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) and was instrumental in bringing Marine Solutions onboard as an Envision Qualified company. Yesterday we completed our first of many dives assisting CJ Mahan with the demolition and removal of Lock and Dam Number 52 on the Ohio River.
The Ohio River’s system of lock and dams begins in Pittsburgh, PA at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and ends at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers near Cairo, IL, where more commerce traverses than any other location on the entire U.S. inland waterways. Lock and Dam Number 52, completed in 1929, is located about 1.5 miles downstream of Brookport, IL (near Ballard County, KY) at mile 939 below Pittsburgh. The locks are located on the Illinois bank of the river. Twenty-three miles downstream is Lock and Dam Number 53, approximately 11 miles upstream of Cairo, IL. These older locks are frequently congested, sometimes taking as long at 15 to 20 hours each to transit. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently completed the Olmsted Lock and Dam that will replace lock and dams Number 52 and Number 53. It was the largest Corps project since the Panama Canal. It consists of two 110-foot by 1,200-foot locks adjacent to the Illinois bank and a dam comprised of five tainter gates to control the amount of water that flows downstream, 140 wickets, and a fixed weir on the Kentucky bank. With the Olmsted Lock and Dam now operational, demolition of Lock and Dam Number 52 is underway. For the next year and more, Marine Solutions will provide underwater construction services assisting CJ Mahan with the demolition of Lock and Dam 52. These services will include underwater inspections, sediment removal, timber pile removal, steel sheet pile removal, removal of wicket gates and beartrap gates, and multi-beam bathymetric surveys. American Electric Power (AEP) contracted Marine Solutions to provide a floating platform, steel repairs, high pressure cleaning and inspections to the Head Gate Roller track guides and intake structures. In order to provide these services, we assembled an 80’ x 60’ x 5’ tall barge platform to include a 40-ton crane, two decompression chambers and 5120 compressors, dive bell, LARS system for placing the bell in the water, mixed gas diving spread, and of course a LARGE assortment of tools and supplies required to complete the project. This is the first mixed gas project Marine Solutions has been awarded. The project includes performing dives up to 200 feet deep. When diving to depths for long periods of time over 150 deep, mixed gas is typically required. The term mixed gas is used to represent a breathing mixture of helium and oxygen or Heliox. The use of mixed gas or Heliox requires a lot of additional equipment, training, and experience. Our first mixed gas dive to 198 feet was completed on May 15th and all went as planned.
© 2018 Marine Solutions, Inc. This year we successfully completed the ADCI Diving Contractor Audit and demonstrated satisfactory compliance to the ADCI International Consensus Standards for Commercial Diving and Underwater Operations! This is a wonderful milestone for Marine Solutions and shows that we are a fully vetted contractor to perform underwater operations.
To hear more of how the auditing process is conducted, please click the button below. We filmed a short underwater video of one of our divers installing some anchors during an ammonia line installation project. Check out behind the scenes footage! As promised, here's a video of the Milton-Madison Bridge Slide. Incredible! (for more information on the project see our previous post) Last year, MSI performed underwater construction and commercial diving services for the Milton-Madison Bridge. The bridge reopened earlier this week after the historic slide. Stay tuned for a video of this incredible feat.
For a full article: http://www.roadsbridges.com/bridge-construction-milton-madison-bridge-reopens?eid=216611660&bid=854830 |
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