Civil Engineering Accomplishments Evoke Emotions

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge always brings a smile to my face. As a Marylander, I have traveled the Bay Bridge each summer on my way to the beach. Reaching the bridge symbolized that I had hit the halfway mark- another couple of hours and I could relax in the sun!  As I cross the bridge and marvel at its height and strength, I wondered how many other civil engineering accomplishments evoke emotion in people?

The World Trade Centers were landmarks to New Yorkers.  Now, their footprint and the beauty of the new structure stir differing feelings. How many reports have we all heard that the vacant skyline still haunts locales and tourists alike?

Each time my business partner sees Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, he “craves Kick Ass Eagles Football!” Likewise, as a Raven’s fan (sorry Matt) M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore has me craving football, a cold beer and hot chocolate!

Driving along the DC Beltway, I marvel at how wide the roads are reconstructed and how many more cars cause gridlock. My frustration even thinking about taking a journey to DC along our extensive beltway is often tempered by the hope of a future high-speed rail.

The Hoover Dam lured our country out of the Great Depression. One of my clients tells me that when he sees it he “feels proud to be a civil engineer and an American. That someone had the foresight to create such a structure and then to construct it” marvels the mind. Simply put, the Hoover Dam Bypass/Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, in Boulder City, Nevada is beautiful. Nearly 40 years in making, the structure takes my breadth away.

As you take a moment out of your day to “smell the roses,” look around at the civil engineering accomplishments that surround you. What do you see and what do you feel?

By Carol A. Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
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