Tour of Whittier Peninsula

Our next meeting will be a tour of the redeveloped Whittier Peninsula, just south of downtown Columbus. The Whittier Peninsula has been used for various industrial and commercial operations throughout its developed history. These historic operations include a railroad maintenance yard, asphalt and concrete facilities, warehouse storage units, a sand and gravel quarry, landfill operations, and city impound lot.

Through efforts from the City of Columbus, the Franklin County Metropolitan Parks District, and the Audubon Society of Ohio the Whittier Peninsula is currently being redeveloped to address environmental concerns, utilize the proximity to downtown Columbus, and revitalize the riverfront area. Redevelopment plans were created with the environment in mind utilizing natural attenuation through wetland features and “green energy” concepts. Currently redevelopment efforts continue and are in varying stages of completeness. Participants will be able to see first hand the progression of revitalization of a once less desirable area of Columbus.

A once almost forgotten portion of land within close proximity to downtown Columbus has evolved into the Lower Scioto Metro Park and will provide almost 90 acres of recreational areas, a “hands on” environmental education center, boat launch, and walking and bike trails. For more information, visit the web site at http://www.columbus.gov/whittier.asp.

We will meet at the project site on April 15th at 6:00 pm and the tour will conclude no later than 7:30 pm. Please see the attached PDF for parking directions. Also, if you plan on attending, RSVP to me (bmoore@burnip.com) no later than Monday, April 14th.

Since we will be meeting at the project site, there will be no food. Also, since this is a construction site, be sure to wear clothes and shoes/ boots that will get dirty. Hope to see you all next week.

WELDING and FORGING at OSU

Hello Engineering Explorers!

The welding lab is booked solid with classes this quarter at OSU. Therefore, note the CHANGED time.

We will gather at 6:30 pm at the USUAL place, Agricultural Engineering, with pizza in room 100, 590 Woody Hayes Dr., Columbus, OH 43210-1058. Please park ONLY in the parking spaces labeled "C/Student." Please sign in.

At 6:55 we will walk down the hallway to the Welding Lab that belongs to the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Thanks to the Buckeye Iron Mongers (BIM) we will have lots of hands-on help for another good Explorers meeting. You will pound glowing orange-hot metal into shape, cut steel with an oxy-acetylene torch and do a little Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) -- all in two hours.

To use the welding lab, please wear:*long-sleeve cotton shirt.*heavy cotton/twill pants (denim blue jeans).*Work boots or leather shoes are preferred. NO open-toe sandals or canvas tennis/athletic shoes allowed in the lab!*You may get a little dirty--save the good clothes for another meeting.

*ANSI-standard safety glasses from your school or home. Safety glasses may be borrowed from OSU.

We should be finished by 9:00 pm -- or so!

Please confirm your attendance by Tuesday afternoon (8 April 08) to me: gecik.1@osu.edu

Of course, you may e-mail your questions too!