NEXT
MEETING_____________________________________
Monday,
July 22 - 12:00 noon
Cellar Restaurant at Union Square
Topic: Invasive Plants - A frightening look at a biological
wildfire - Steve Manning
Invasions of non-native plants are sweeping across our nation into
croplands, range lands, pastures, forests, wetlands and waterways, wilderness
areas, parks and refuges, and highway rights-of-way, gradually consuming large
areas of the American landscape. These invading plants grow rapidly, reproduce
profusely, have a long life and some can even produce biological toxins that
sup-press the growth of other plants. Such characteristics permit them to
quickly invade new areas and out-compete native plants for light, water, and
nutrients. Their damage to native plant and animal communities can have a host
of harmful side effects including increased soil erosion and sedimentation.
Their presents are causing millions of dollars worth of damage to our natural,
managed, and agricultural ecosystems
Steve Manning of Invasive Plant Control, Inc. will explain the nature of
these plants and the economic and environmental damage they are causing. He says
that Chattanooga should be particularly concerned because 25 of the top 30
invasive plants in the US are found in this area. In fact, experts
estimate Chattanooga's problems to be much greater than most cities in the US.
This is because there are so many natural areas that are already dominated by
several types of dangerous plants and they are reeking havoc on its
landscape. Steve will describe those plants and the efforts currently underway
to eradicate them.
Steve is founder and president of Invasive Plant Control, Inc., a
Nashville-based company that provides advice and counsel to tree farmers, parks
and recreational services and others whose business is affected by the plant
invasion.
Invocation: Steve Stark
Fellowship: Steve McGuire
Entrée du jour:
Italian Chicken over rice, Tossed salad, Peach Cobbler
OUR PREVIOUS MEETING July 15, 2002
_________________________________
Jerry Sterling, Vice President of
Manufacturing and Operations at GameTime (a PlayCore company), showed pictures
of his company's manufacturing plant in Fort Payne, Alabama and told us about
their operations. The presentation was followed by a tour of the
playground at the Siskin Children's Institute on Carter Street. GameTime is the
manufacture of that playground.
Jerry said that here are several
safety issues to consider when designing and installing a playground:
* Ages
2-5 and 5-12 should play in separate areas. It is too difficult to design
for a wide range of sizes and skills of children. * Opening sizes are always a
concern. Children tend to poke their heads into spaces and may find it
difficult (if not properly designed) to get free. * Protrusions that can snag
children by their clothing should be very limited.
Jerry told the group that a bolt protruding 3 threads beyond the nut was
considered a dangerous protrusion. Height--children thrill in climbing to the
top. GameTime limits their equipment to an 8-ft height. The proper
surface needs to be considered for each playground. Engineered wood fibers
in 4, 6, and 12-inch depths are often used. The group saw a variety of
playground surfaces on their tour to Siskin Children's Institute.
GameTime's manufacturing facility in Fort Payne is divided into metal and
plastic fabrication lines. In the metal line, they press, weld, and
paint. During the peak season (summer) they may have 80 welders on this
line. About 20 percent of their plastic fabrication is using rotating
molding where the raw material (linear low-density pulverized polyethylene) is
rotated during the heating and curing parts of the process.
For
more information see:
www.gametime.com or
www.playcore.com
Many thanks to our kind ghost writer for taking and presenting these
copious notes.
FUTURE MONDAY MEETINGS
_____________________________________
July 29: Global Warming - How Real the Threat? Dr. Marilyn
Brown, ORNL
August 5: Methane Hydrate - An Abundant New Fuel or a
Green House Gas? Dr. Roddy Judkins, ORNL
August 19: An Update on the issue of Inter-basin
Water Transfers from the Tennessee River, Dodd Galbraith, Commissioner for
Environment and Conservation
September 23: TVA's Reservoir Operations - Resolving
competing interests - David Nye, TVA
WHERE WE MEET
_______________________________________________
Unless we note otherwise, all
of our presentation meetings are held at the Cellar Restaurant in the Tallan
Building, Union Square Downtown Chattanooga from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Our meeting
room and luncheon service are open by 11:30 a.m. Lunch buffet is $10.00 per
person (inclusive). No reservation is required. Free parking is available in the
Days Inn Motel (on Carter St. and MLK Blvd,) courtesy of the Days Inn
management. When you park there, be sure to place a note on your dashboard
indicating you are attending the Engineers Club meeting.
QUESTIONS ? ___________________________________________
If you have any questions about program items please call Steve McGuire at
756- 4430 or e-mail him at
stevemcguire@comcast.net. You can
find references to other Chattanooga Engineers Club members at our web site:
www.chattanooga.net/engineer/CEC
.