B and O Roundhouse Goddard Engineering Colloquium Announcement

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, September 22, 2014 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

William Rockey & Pamela Coleman

"Tragedy to Triumph – Rebuilding the Majestic Roundhouse at the B & O Railroad Museum"

ABSTRACT -- The presentation will cover a brief history of the B & O Railroad Museum, an overview of the Museum campus, the original construction of the Roundhouse and previous renovations to the historic fabric. The President's Day snow event of 2003 and the subsequent Roundhouse roof collapse will be discussed, including the engineering investigation that was conducted to determine the cause of the failure. We will discuss the steps that were taken to save the building and preserve the pieces of the collection that were not destroyed in the initial collapse. The engineering challenges of the new design and reconstruction efforts will also be presented. The presenters chronicled the work in the paper "The Rebirth of Baldwin's Cathedral: 1884 Passenger Car Roundhouse, B&O Railroad Museum" in The Proceedings of the History and Heritage Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the book Tragedy to Triumph, Rebuilding the Majestic B & O Roundhouse.

SPEAKER -- A native of Baltimore, Mr. William B. Rockey attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. From 1982 until 1999, he was employed by a small local engineering firm initially in the capacity of Project Engineer and eventually being promoted to Director of Engineering. In 1999, he moved to Century Engineering, Inc., assuming the role of Vice President of the Building Structures Division where he is responsible for the leadership of this group. Mr. Rockey is a Registered Professional Engineer in the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan and Maryland. In 2009, he obtained his LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) professional accreditation. He is an Allied Member of the American Institute of Architects and participates in various professional societies and functions. He has also served as an expert witness in a variety of forensic cases that involve construction defects and structural failures. Many of the projects he oversees involve repair of structures that have deteriorated due to age and exposure to the weather. Mr. Rockey was Principal-in-Charge and Chief Engineer of the reconstruction of the B & O Railroad Museum Roundhouse.

SPEAKER -- Originally from Kansas, Ms. Pamela S. Coleman came to Baltimore in 1990 to attend Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in 1994 and completed the Honors Combined Bachelor's/Master's Program to receive her Master of Civil Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins one year later. During school and through the spring of 1996, Ms. Coleman interned at Forensic Technologies International, Inc. She later moved to LPJ/Qodesh Inc., a small structural engineering design firm. In 1999 Ms. Coleman joined Century Engineering where she served in the dual capacity of Project Manager and Project Engineer. Ms. Coleman earned her Maryland Professional Engineering license in 2000 and her LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) professional accreditation in 2003. In 2009, Ms. Coleman started her own practice, Coleman Consulting, LLC. Her firm specializes in building envelope engineering, providing full spectrum investigation, analysis, design, peer review, construction phase services, and failure investigation of building envelope components from foundation to roof. Coleman Consulting was certified as a Minority (Woman) Business Enterprise both on the Federal and State level in 2012. Ms. Coleman was the Project Manager and one of the Project Engineers for the reconstruction of the B & O Railroad Museum Roundhouse.

Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov