WRA's Plunge Team raised $25,639.73 for Special Olympics Maryland.

Members of the Structural Group attended 2018 NASCC: The Steel Conference at the Baltmore Convention Center last week. The Conference incorporated the Works Steel Bridge Symposium and the Annual Stability Conference.

Loai El-Gazairly, Ph.D., P.E., presented to ASCE Richmond about the design and construction of the post-tensioned straddle bents that were part of the US 301 over SR 1 project in Delaware. WRA is the Engineer of Record for this flyover (Contract 1B), which is part of seven contracts of the US 301 project with a total construction cost of $330 M. The US 301, Section 1 project in New Castle County, DE includes the preliminary and final design of the 5.5 miles of limited-access toll highway.

WRA was ranked as the Fourth Best Workplace in Baltimore and Number One for Leadership by the Baltimore Sun Media Group.  The Top Workplaces 2017 event was held at Baltimore's Museum of Industry.

The station is located between East West Highway and Elm Street and was constructed in the late 1970s. The Bethesda Metro Station currently has one entrance at the north end, near East West Highway. A knock out panel at the tunnel’s south end facilitates a future additional mezzanine and the vertical circulation to grade. Improvements include new high-speed elevators and emergency stairs that provide access to the Metrorail Red Line from grade to the new south mezzanine and ticketing level, and connect it through the core at the Bethesda Purple Line station level.

Every route in the 66 route - 761 bus system was modified to provide better connectivity to jobs and educational opportunities across the Baltimore region. The service concepts include 12 high-frequency CityLink color coded lines with ten minute frequencies, 47 LocalLink lines connecting neighborhoods to the high-frequency network and nine Express BusLink lines connecting outlying areas to primary job centers.

WRA conducted a public meeting in Hermitage, PA for PennDOT's Route 62 and East State Street Intersection Roundabout project. WRA created the video simulation showing the actual operation of the roundabout.

Recently, the first phase of the Enhanced Nutrient Removal Upgrade (ENR) program was successfully commissioned at the City of Baltimore's 180 million gallons per day (MGD) Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Maryland’s largest plant. The new state-of-the art facilities are integrated into the existing advanced treatment process and allow for more than 90% removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, before discharge to the receiving waters (Back River and Chesapeake Bay).

Last Thursday, October 5th, WRA volunteers planted their spat (baby oysters) at their oyster garden along Bond Street Wharf. Along with employees from other local businesses, these volunteers are giving their time to help clean up the Inner Harbor by planting and caring for oyster gardens. As the oysters filter the water to feed, they will remove harmful pollution from the harbor.

On September 26^th-27^th, WRA’s Brandon Steel (third from left) and Brad Stipes volunteered as ambassadors at the Careers Expo for Youth, an extension of the United Way of Southwest Virginia Ignite Program. They prepared a PowerPoint presentation to describe the roadway design process at a high level, looking to peak students’ interest in the civil engineering field. 4000+ middle school students attended this event where they were given the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities in 16 different career paths, including engineering and transportation.