Newsletter and NCSEA Report
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Board of directors
President - Dan Martel, PE
Vice President - Kayla Hampe, PE
Secretary - Jonathan Sproul, PE
Treasurer - Rebecca Lubrano, PE
Director at Large - Katelyn Welch, PE
Sponsors
November 2026 Newsletter
President's Letter
Dear SENH members, sponsors, and colleagues,
You probably heard about two simultaneous, unplanned closures of bridges crossing the Merrimack River in Manchester a few weeks ago. (Perhaps you were stuck in that traffic yourself, and perhaps you invented some new combinations of swears to cope with the frustration.) One closure was due to an accident where a box truck collided with and went through the railing and into the Merrimack River. Thankfully, the driver survived and sustained only minor injuries.
The same week, one our member firms was performing a scheduled inspection of the city-owned bridge carrying Queen City Avenue over the Merrimack River. They discovered new deteriorations at truss gusset plates that threatened the bridge’s safety and required more investigation. Their immediate conclusion was that the deteriorations could be serious enough to compromise structural stability, so all stakeholders agreed to close the bridge until it could be investigated further. This bridge is coincidentally and unfortunately the next bridge crossing the river to the north, so the detour from the I-293 accident was extraordinary. The following day, they were able to perform a detailed inspection to determine that the deteriorations were limited, and the reduction of capacity did not control the load rating.
My view is that a great majority of the people take for granted our public infrastructure. Until, of course, such closures cause significant disruptions to our commutes and lives. (My wife, not an engineer, had to frantically arrange for our kid’s grandparents to get them off the school bus that afternoon because Waze way-underestimated the delay in her commute.) People just want our infrastructure to work - and us structural engineers know how much work goes into achieving that simple concept. We would waste our breath to try and get lay people to appreciate the extent of knowledge, training, and commitment it takes our bridge engineers to maintain a system of reliable structures.
What’s the point? We all appreciate the effort, so let’s celebrate so many of our members whose expertise and effort keep our bridges in service. Like in this case, a willingness to schedule overnight inspections, and mobilize an expert team on the fly to investigate a potentially serious defect. Cheers and thanks to you all!
A quick logistics note: we will be offering this newsletter on a quarterly basis from now on. We will continue to send more timely announcements via email. We will do the same with LinkedIn, so be sure to follow us to keep up with all our happenings.
Dan Martel, PE
President, SENH
Committee Updates
Structural Engineering Excellence Awards Committee
Chair: Bob Durfee; Members: Fred Emanuel, Josif Bicja
Board Liaison: Dan Martel
The Board of Directors has decided to pause the Excellence Awards program for 2027 while we explore new ways to encourage member participation. We will review the program next year to gauge member support and participation for 2028.
In place of the Excellence Awards for 2027, we are exploring a project showcase for firms to share their latest projects and for all of SENH to come together and celebrate our accomplishments. Stay tuned for more.
Public Relations Committee
Chair: Sean Brown; Members: Bob Durfee
SENH Scholarships - Applications are now open!
Submitted by Sean Brown
The SENH Public Relations Committee is proud to announce that up to two scholarships, in the amount of $1,000.00 each, will be offered to resident or non-resident UNH students and New Hampshire residents studying structural engineering at an ABET-accredited institution outside of New Hampshire. NOTE: SENH has extended eligibility to students who are currently in their senior year. See full eligibility information through the link below.
The deadline to apply for these scholarships is Friday December 11th. To download the application, or for more details please visit the SENH’s website: https://senh.org/SENH_Scholarships
We encourage SENH members to solicit applicants from their alma maters at regional out-of-state engineering schools. We are hoping this year to receive applications from UNH and from one or more of the following regional schools:
- University of Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of Vermont
- Norwich University
- Clarkson University
Please reach out to Sean Brown, P.E. at [email protected] or Robert Durfee, P.E. at [email protected] if you would like to represent your alma mater and assist in soliciting applicants from the schools listed herein.
Professional Development Committee
Co-Chairs: Eric Caron, Holly Lauzon
Members: Blaise Imbembe, Dustin Wells, Fernanda Fischer, Oliver Soares
Board Liaisons: Kayla Hampe, Rebecca Lubrano, Jonathan Sproul
The Professional Development Committee is in the process of organizing the annual membership meeting at UNH on November 17th. The meeting provides members with an opportunity to present projects they have worked on to fellow members and UNH students. Additional information can be found at the SENH.org events page.
The PDC is still looking for members to present. If you interested in presenting, please reach out to Eric and Holly ([email protected]).
Young Members Group
Update
In early October, SENH younger members came together to perform volunteer inspections of trail bridges in the White Mountain National Forest! Three volunteers spent some time over the summer getting their Trail Bridge Inspection Lead Certification through the National Forest Service and were connected with assistant inspectors to help carry out on-site inspections during fall. Huge thank you to Trail Bridge Inspection Leads Sean Brown, Josh Brown, and Dustin Wells, and Assistants Grant Erickson, Hannah Brown, and Oliver Soares for you time and effort making trail bridges safer, making connections, and sharpening technical skills! YMG is hoping to expand our involvement in trail bridge inspections, so keep your eyes out for more opportunities next Spring! Until then, please reach out to either YMG Co-Chair (Oliver Soares [email protected], or Dustin Wells [email protected]) if you have any interest in or would like to learn more about getting involved in trail bridge inspections.
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Upcoming Event
Keep your eyes out for additional information regarding our next event, likely in January. Please email Oliver Soares [email protected], or Dustin Wells [email protected] if you don’t receive YMG emails and would like to! Hope to see you there!
