PE Matters – June 2023

Our first VSPE/Cardinal Education Engineering Seminar held at the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Waterfront Hotel on June 8. It was an enjoyable half-day event with 36 registered attendees who ranged from educators, engineers from several disciplines, and some new friends. We enjoyed hearing from Ryan Banas, P.E., CMM, of HNTB and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Project Director, Gerald (Jerry) O. Davis, P.E., MS, MBA, our VSPE Treasurer and founder of Davis Materials & Mechanical Engineering, and Bob Baily, Program Director of Cardinal Education.

VSPE would not have been able to hold this event without the experience, kind smile, and patience of Judith (Judi) A. Harrison, MBA, our Director of Membership and Outreach. Appreciation is also extended to NSPE and the Richmond Joint Engineers Council for posting our event on their websites.

Special thanks are also expressed to the Secretary of Transportation, the Honorable W. Sheppard Miller, III, whose office approved 10 of our PEs to enjoy a tour of the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) construction site, and to Brooke Growe, P.E., the HRBT Expansion Project Communications Manager.

Stay tuned for more information on an event in the fall to be held with Virginia Tech as our host university.

Bob Baily, Program Director of Cardinal Education

You can be one of the first people to receive Virginia’s new Professional Engineer license plate for your car or motorcycle. Your ride will look great, and you’ll be able to share your enthusiasm for the engineering profession and all the great innovation that engineers have brought to Virginia.

The VSPE Board of Directors has talked about accomplishing this milestone for the Commonwealth’s PEs for decades, and our partners at the American Council of Engineering Companies, Metropolitan Washington Chapter (ACEC/MW), worked hard to make this goal a reality. The artwork on the plate exemplifies our mission and charge – Professional Engineers Find Solutions. You can preorder the plate for $10 for a standard plate, or $20 for a personalized plate.

How To Preorder Your License Plate
The Virginia plate is not yet available at the tag offices or the DMV website, so please access the preorder form here to apply for the plate. We must secure 450 preorders by October 31, 2023, to make the plate official in 2024.

The Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers, and Landscape Architects will hold its next meetings on August 9 and November 1. Access more information here.

Dominion is reviving pre-pandemic plans to build a natural gas peaker plant in Chesterfield County as part of its recently announced strategy to invest in more gas generation to meet growing grid demand in the coming years, the Virginia Mercury reports.

Four natural gas combustion turbines will be proposed for the facility, which will be similar to one Dominion originally sought in 2019 but put on hold as the utility shifted its focus toward renewable energy sources to comply with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which seeks to decarbonize the state’s electric grid by 2050.

The four turbines would have 1,000 megawatts of capacity, enough to power 250,000 homes. Dominion has said they will help the company meet an expected increase in demand linked to data center growth and electrification, in line with non-binding long-range plans recently outlined in the utility’s Integrated Resource Plan.

Dominion says it is committed to the VCEA and pursuing solar, wind and energy storage. The turbines would be used, the company said, when the electric grid is experiencing peak usage and needs more generation to run reliably, giving the facility the name of a “peaker plant.” Read more.

The Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) approved the Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 to 2029 Six-Year Improvement Program, which allocates more than $6.3 billion in funding to public transportation and rail programs over the next six years, Mass Transit reports.

The six-year allocation includes $4.98 billion for public transportation projects in the commonwealth, $50.4 million for rail projects and $1.32 billion for Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) Transforming Rail in Virginia projects. The funds are administered by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).

“The six-year program advances the commonwealth’s commitment to improving the quality of life for Virginians through an integrated multimodal transportation system,” said DRPT Director Jennifer DeBruhl. “The budget focuses on investing in infrastructure and innovative projects aimed at providing safe and reliable public transportation and rail networks to support Virginia’s economy.”

Within the FY24 allocations is $810.6 million in funding for public transportation projects that will improve bus stops and replace aging transit vehicles and $93.2 million for VPRA Transforming Rail in Virginia projects. State funding will go toward Transit Ridership Incentive Program projects that improve regional connectivity and reduce barriers to transit use for low-income riders. The program also funds enhancements to the rail network, such as rail crossing upgrades to improve safety. Read more.

Sponsor and Exhibitor Opportunities

NSPECon23 offers sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities to put your company or organization in front of senior executives and other decision-makers from across the industry. Access the Sponsor and Exhibitor Prospectus for more information.

A new webinar will get you ready for NSPECon23 — Racing Towards Excellence: Enhancing Customer Experience and Improving Safety at Churchill Downs .

Neil Crawford, P.E., an accomplished engineer and project manager at Qk4 Inc., offers insight into the history of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby and its economic impacts on Kentucky. Learn about recent improvement projects to enhance the customer experience and also projects to improve equine/horseman safety and expand the racing operations.

The webinar is FREE for members and offers 1 PDH. Register and watch now .

ARPL has released two new advocacy resources. A video, Universal Licensing: A Closer Look , (featuring Rebecca Bowman, Senior Director of Ethics and Professional Practice) and an advocacy document, The Critical Role of Licensing in Business Success , based on recent research. As a sponsoring member of ARPL, NSPE has access to these resources and others on the ARPL website .