Sustaining Our Nation’s Infrastructure – June 18 & 19 at Centralia College
Registration is required. Click here!
Main summit day: June 18, 8 am – 8 pm
Keynote: The Stand Up Economist: Carbon and the Economy, by Yoram Bauman, PhD.
Plenary Sessions: Industry experts – representing energy, construction and advanced manufacturing – will respond to implications of climate shifts, carbon solutions and workforce impacts. As panelists, they will address three major topics: Urgency – What are the most pressing issues we face? Options/Solutions – What are the solutions to these issues? Impact on workforce – What are the implications for the workforce in terms of recruiting, training, retaining and developing any new skills which will be required?
The day will include breakout, wrap-up and networking sessions and will end with the Signature Crab Feed and Scholarship Auction. Registration is free for all events and IS REQUIRED (see summit page for details).
Cascadia Region Earthquake Readiness Workshop – second day: June 19, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Scientists are telling us to brace for the big one. A catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or a series of earthquakes ranging from 8.0 to 9.0 will hit the Pacific Northwest. It’s not a question of if this will occur, but WHEN.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone spans along the west coast from northern California to Vancouver, British Columbia. It has produced more than 40 large magnitude earthquakes in the past 10,000 years. The most recent full-rupture zone quake occurred 313 years ago with an estimated magnitude 9. History has shown that these large quakes occur every 300 to 500 years and scientists tell us we’re due.
Buildings and bridges will collapse, dams and energy systems will fail, all modes of transportation will cease, and many people will perish when the big Cascadia quake hits.
Our region’s infrastructure will remain poorly prepared to meet the threat unless we start taking action. Is our workforce prepared to inspect, reinforce, and rebuild?
This 6-hour workshop will provide an opportunity to develop more comprehensive scenarios that are related to transportation, ports and energy infrastructure – with an outcome of creating a Top 10 hit list of needed actions to prepare our region for the upcoming catastrophic quake.
What’s at risk? Everything. There are 55 major hydroelectric projects located on the Columbia River and its tributaries. Thirty are federal dams owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation. Twenty five are publicly and privately owned. These give the Pacific Northwest the largest hydroelectric system in the world. What happens when this system, its waterways, transportation systems, fuel terminals, pipelines, and Oregon’s Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub on liquefied soils are threatened?
This collaborative workshop is sponsored by The Society of American Military Engineers, Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) and Washington’s Centers of Excellence. Join with participants from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and the Pacific NW Economic Region.
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