Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 - (Page 12)

AREMA NEWS Getting to know Howard Swanson Department at Bluefield, West Virginia. After that, I was transferred into the Bridges and Structures office in Atlanta. I worked for about twenty years as an assistant engineer – structures. The position entailed performing bridge ratings and designing bridge repairs and replacements. A little over a year ago, I was promoted to the position of assistant division engineer, bridges for Norfolk Southern’s Illinois Division. I supervise all of the personnel who maintain bridges and structures on the division. AREMA: How did you get involved in AREMA and your committee? Swanson: I joined AREA as a student member when I was at Purdue. When I received my Professional Engineers license, our chief engineer of bridges suggested that I apply to join a committee. At that time, Norfolk Southern had a number of engineers on each of the structural committees and was well represented. Committee 9, Seismic Design of Railroad Structures, had recently been formed and I was asked if I wanted to be Norfolk Southern’s sole representative. Committee 9 is one of the smaller AREMA structural committees. This gave me many opportunities to contribute. My involvement with Committee 9 has given me the opportunity to get to know people throughout the railroad industry. AREMA: Outside of your job and the hard work you put into AREMA, what are your hobbies? Swanson: I enjoy gardening. With our latest transfer, I finally have a good sunny spot for a vegetable garden. I am looking forward to getting it started next spring. I also enjoy studying political, military and railroad history. It gives me a deeper perspective on current events. AREMA: Tell us about your family. Swanson: Carolyn and I have been married for over seventeen years. We met in Atlanta but we are both from the Midwest. My recent transfer has allowed us to see our relatives in Indiana and Illinois more often. We have been able to attend our nieces’ and nephew’s sporting events. AREMA: What is your biggest achievement? Swanson: I have been blessed in my career to work with a number of very talented and committed individuals and we have done some great work. In the past fifteen years, Committee 9 has written a complete and useable set of seismic engineering guidelines. This is an achievement that all of the members of Committee 9 can be very proud of. During my career with Norfolk Southern, I have worked on major bridge repairs and replacements, clean up and repairs after derailments, washouts and hurricanes. Each one of these represented major challenges. In every case, Norfolk Southern employees worked together to overcome these challenges. The work was done safely and quickly. I feel blessed to be a part of such a great team. AREMA: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to pursue a career in the railway industry? Swanson: When I started on the railroad, I was told that there were three correct answers for a management trainee, “yes, sir; no, sir; or I don’t know, but I will find out, sir”. Times have changed some, but there is some good advice in those answers. It is important for young engineers to understand how to give clear, concise, fact-based answers. Also, it is very important to be able to admit that you do not know the answer. You also need to find out the correct answer quick- Howard C. Swanson Chair, Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures Assistant Division Engineer-Bridges Norfolk Southern Railway ach month AREMA will feature one of our committee chairmen. We are pleased to announce that the January featured chairman is Howard C. Swanson, chair of Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures. AREMA: Why did you decide to choose a career in railway engineering? Swanson: I have always been interested in the railroad industry. This may be due to the fact that both of my grandfathers and two of my uncles worked in the railroad industry. My father was an industrial engineer for US Steel. Early on, I decided that I wanted to be an engineer just like dad. This was before I had any idea what an engineer did or if I had the skills necessary. Luckily, I had the necessary temperament and skills to be an engineer. While I was studying at Purdue, I was able to take a railroad engineering course. The course led to my first railroad job with the Santa Fe and provided me with skills that I still use. AREMA: How did you get started? Swanson: I worked as an engineering aide (chainman on a survey crew) for the Santa Fe out of Fort Madison, Iowa, between my sophomore and junior years at Purdue. It was a great experience. I was able to use some of the technical skills that I had recently learned. The following year, the Santa Fe was in the middle of the illfated merger with the Southern Pacific and was not looking for summer help. That summer, I worked for a small environmental consulting firm in LaGrange, Ill. I decided I liked the railroad environment better than the consulting environment. What I like about the railroad environment is the long-term relationship between engineering and maintenance personnel. When I graduated from Purdue, I was hired as a management trainee by Norfolk Southern in the Bridge and Building 12 Railway Track & Structures January 2009 E 2009 Upcoming Committee Meetings January 22-23 January 26-27 January 27-28 February 9-10 February 10-11 February 11-12 February 20-22 March 4-5 March 18-19 March 30-31 March 30-31 Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Committee 10 - Structures Maintenance & Construction Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures Committee 1 - Roadway & Ballast Committee 15 - Steel Structures Committee 7 - Timber Structures Committee 24 - Education & Training Committee 30 - Ties Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment Committee 11 - Commuter and Intercity Rail Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems New Orleans, LA Birmingham, AL Tuscaloosa, AL Houston, TX Phoenix, AZ Phoenix, AZ Jacksonville, FL Pueblo, CO Montgomery, AL Newark, NJ Newark, NJ www.rtands.com http://www.arema.org http://www.rtands.comwww.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - January 2009 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Continue to Budget Major Capital Projects Battling Brush and other Vegetation Steel Mills Increasing Metallurgical Quality of Rail Steels Products and Literature People Calendar Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - January 2009

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