LionelHutz
Yes. About nine months ago, I reached out to Engineer A twice by email over a week to ten days. I indicated why I was writing and asked to speak. I received no reply. I then called the office of Engineer A. I spoke to his office assistant and explained who I was and why I was calling...
gte447f
In the Virginia Administrative Code, there is the following subsection:
Competency for Assignments
"The professional shall adhere to the minimum standards and requirements pertaining to the practice of his own profession, as well as other professions if incidental work is performed."...
montbIanc
Here are the relevant FEMA regulatory standards.
FEMA working standard #59, effective 11/1/2009: “Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses must be calibrated using data from well-documented flood events, if available.”
FEMA program standard #61, effective 11/1/2009: “Engineering analyses...
montbIanc
I'm not sure that a new answer from FEMA would be just a competing result. FEMA has an established regulatory process for calibrating hydraulic modeling. If high water mark data is available for model calibration, the high water mark data "must" be used. One could set aside such HWM...
montbIanc
I appreciate your perspective. Broadly, keep in mind that this whole river flood mapping doesn't affect me directly. I don't live near the river in question. However, the actions of the engineers in question, the localities, and FEMA are all rather fascinating. As I've studied the...
AZPete
Ten years passed after the USACE 2005 flood analysis before Engineer A took up their work. So, on our river, there were ten more years of peak flow data available. Using that additional bit of data did reasonably lead to a modification of the river's hydrologic study. We will need to...
jhnblgr
It's more complex than you summarize. The local professional engineer (Engineer A) did model. A "staff" professional engineer for one of the localities (Engineer B) reviewed and objected in writing to his superiors and to FEMA. Engineer B listed a set of technical concerns with the work...
gte447f
I feel you are attempting to stake out an extreme position. Here is what FEMA guidelines state:
According to 44 CFR 65.7, floodway revisions require submitting a copy of the public notice distributed by the community, stating its intent to revise the regulatory floodway or a statement...
gte447f
You've misinterpreted one item. (I wasn't clear.) The last quote was written from the local, lead engineer to the local county engineer. He, not FEMA, apologized for listing the local county engineer without confirming permission first. While I do not know who paid for the ad, I...
gte447f
Yes. This is the first time I've provided this bit of information. I actually only figured it out this past weekend. It clicked based upon verbal feedback that I've received from the state Board about the case. I was reflecting on what they said to me, and this announcement dawned on me...
gte447f
As we focus our online chat here on the Public Statements section of Virginia's code, we also shift a little bit of the focus regarding who needed to be told. I interpret that section to mean that the public needed to be informed.
This whole case revolves around a Letter of Map Revision...
LionelHutz
You ask why I should attempt to create a new engineering ethics case study.
Part of working in the field of higher education is developing new knowledge. Ph.D. scholars and researchers seek to push forward the bounds of knowledge. That's what we do. Additionally, students often find...
gte447f
All of this effort was not due to just development of an engineering ethics case study. As noted above, I was concerned that there were ethics violations. Before asserting that as part of a formal complaint, I wanted to be careful and answer many questions that I had. Additionally, I was...
LionelHutz,
Thanks for your most recent comment. Teaching students about an active ethics issue in engineering is not unethical. I would start by pointing you to this NSPE engineering ethics case study...
Smoulder
I feel compelled to correct your flawed hypothesis. I do not live in the area covered by the situation discussed in this blog posting. My home is several miles away. I do not own land in that region. I have never contemplated purchasing land in that area. I am not upset about new...
SWComposites
Thanks for the input.
I agree that there are really tough political items here. Still, should we as a profession go along with this manner of mapping floods in our country? We all know that our paramount duty as a field is to protect the health, welfare, and safety of the public...
Heaviside1925
Thanks as always for the thoughtful reply.
You state, "each engineer was presented with a different situation." Let me push back on that thought vis-a-vis the original standard of care question.
What was the justification that was missing from the work of Engineer A and Engineer...
Heaviside1925
Let's explore a few details of the two applications for map revision.
Original application A: No justification provided by Engineer A
Following FEMA's first written request for justification: No justification provided by Engineer A. He is unresponsive to a formal request...
Heaviside1925
The flood map revision request encompassed waterways in one Virginia county and one Virginia independent city. Those are the two localities to which I refer. Both of those localities employ officially-designated floodplain administrators (spelled out in their codes of ordinances)...
I would appreciate comments regarding the following scenario. This scenario is based upon real events.
*****
During a six to seven-year period, Engineer A submitted two flood map revision requests to localities and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review and approval (2014 –...
