Vol 25, No 6

Presentation Synopsis: The St. Paul District (MVP) invests millions of dollars annually in project data. This data is often stored on individual workstation hard drives and in non-indexed file drawers or boxes making it difficult to find, retrieve, and organize. In 2005, a team was established to study and develop solutions concerning data management for the District. Possible solutions included the development of formal procedures and systems, documentation of the history and applicability of project data, and the development of a central repository for digital project data. The resulting system - MODA (MVP Oracle Data Assets) helps solve the problem of retaining and locating project information. District resources are now made available through a 'data to the desktop' initiative comprising several search tools including a map interface. Engineering applications and legacy databases are integrated across functional areas to improve efficiency and quality of work.

No-PDH for the technical presentation.

Presenter Bio: Mr. Williams works for the Geographic Information Center (GIS) Center and currently manages the Enterprise GIS (EGIS) program and co-leads the MODA project. He has served the District for 10 years as a Cartographer.

Meeting Location: Fort Snelling Officer's Club near Post Road. See map at: http://www.same-msp.org/_images/934thOfficersClub.jpg

Meeting Agenda: Social time and lunch (if you so desire) will be from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the dining room of the Officers Club. Post Meeting and Presentation will be from 12:30 PM to about 1:10 PM in the ballroom of the Officers Club.

Luncheon Menu, Cost, and RSVP Info: The Club’s cafeteria-style lunches are typically $10.00 or less; people who partake in the cafeteria-style lunch will pay the Officers Club directly. If you come only for the presentations, there is no charge.

Please RSVP with your intent to either partake in the cafeteria-style lunch or to come for the presentation only; this will help the Officers Club staff to ensure that an adequate amount of food is prepared. Either leave a voice mail message with Jim Mosner at 651-290-5512, or click the RSVP button in the left-hand column, or send an email message to james.b.mosner@usace.army.mil

Highlights of the May Meeting

Jim-Mark-Mark

Post President Mark Angelo (c) thanks Jim Garster (l) and Mark Huber (r) for their superb and comprehensive presentation on the very interesting topic of vertical datums.

Their presentation included a terrific overview of geodesy, which is the field of science concerned with the determination of the size and shape of the earth and the exact positions of points on its surface and with the description of variations of its gravity field. They also covered a history of 20th Century vertical datums, gave a through explanation of tidal datums, and gave an indepth overview of NAVD 88 National Spatial Reference System (NSRS).

Some of the key points they covered that pertains to the work that is done in conjunction with flood control, hurricane protection, shore protection, and navigation projects is that the projects must be referenced (relative) to the current Local Water Surface (i.e. LMSL, river/pool , low water reference plane) datum and epoch, as well as they must be tied to the National Spatial Reference System (NAVD88).

They went on to discuss the latest Corps of Engineers policy guidance ER 1110-2-8160 for REFERENCING PROJECT ELEVATION GRADES TO NATIONWIDE VERTICAL DATUMS. Basically the new guidance requires that projects must have at least three bench marks designated for vertical control, one of which must be tied to the NSRS.

Presentation of Education Grant to Arlington HS

ArlingtonHS1 Post President Mark Angleo, Vice President Steve Alm, and Director Chris Erickson visited Arlington High School to present the Education Grant that the Post awarded to the class for their planned project.

ArlingtonHS2

Annual Golf Tourney is coming up soon -- Get your foursomes together -- Sponsor a Hole

Golfers and Hole Sponsors WANTED!!!

The annual golf tournament, which is our major fundraising event for the Post's Scholarship and Mentoring Fund is quickly approaching ... it's time to round up your favorite foursome and make your reservation. Please download the Golf Flyer [ http://www.same-msp.org/PDF/2009_Golf_Flyer.pdf ], fill-in the blanks, and send it to Tim Thoreen at 651-365-8512 or by email tthoreen@ch2m.com.

Companies/Organizations willing to be Hole Sponsors and/or donate Door Prizes are also needed. If you are willing to be a sponsor are to bring a door prize, please contact Tim Thoreen at 651-365-8512 or by email tthoreen@ch2m.com.

National's Focus on Membership

LTG Robert Van Antwerp has taken on the mantle of President of SAME for 2009-10. One of the key things that he is focusing on for this year is to strengthen and rebuild our membership base. Please take a few minutes to read LTG Van Antwerp's letter that he recently sent to Post Presidnets.

	Society of American Military Engineers

	Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post