ASHE Chesapeake Section

Founding of the Section

The Chesapeake Section was chartered in April, 1988, with 123 Charter Members, a record number for any ASHE section chartered to that date.  Maryland represented the fifth state for which an ASHE Section was created.

Mr. Paul McConnell of the Delaware Valley Section made first contact with a transplanted ASHE member, Dave Greenwood, to suggest a new section be organized in Maryland.  Paul came to the Aberdeen Sheraton Inn to make a formal introduction and presentation about ASHE and was instrumental in generating interest to form the new section.  A diverse group of individuals representing the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), Baltimore County Department of Public Works (DPW), Interstate Division for Baltimore City (IDBC), various consultants, and other highway industry personnel was assembled to serve in the capacity of officers or board members for the Section. 

An inaugural meeting was held at the Engineers Club, a facility converted from two, large historic brownstones, located in the Mount Vernon section of Baltimore in close proximity to Baltimore’s Washington Monument.  The seminar-style program was presented by SHA’s Ed Stein on Stormwater Management and Sediment & Erosion Control and was an opportunity for SHA to provide “on-the-spot” training for all attendees.  The meeting

Charter Night was held on April 21, 1988.  Charter Number 24 was signed by the then-National President, Ron Springman, and National Secretary, Terence Connor.  Harry McCullough, then Chief, Interstate Division for Baltimore City, was Master of Ceremonies, and a multi-media program presentation on the Fort McHenry Tunnel project was presented by Ken Merrill.  A record number of Charter Members attended, a record maintained until the Carolina Triangle Section was chartered in January, 1992. 

David Greenwood served as the Section’s Charter President and later served as a National Board Director and National President in 1996/1997. 

Section Activities & Involvement

Soon after the chartering of the Chesapeake Section, approval to host the 1993 Annual Conference was requested and received.  The conference was held at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor with a program emphasis on highway impacts to the environment and the associated mitigation design.  Activities included a tour of the Engineers Club (Icebreaker), a project tour of the new Maryland Route 100, and a special Saturday Session on TravTech vehicles, the first generation of cars to include a navigation system; a TravTech vehicle was brought on site for navigation system capability viewing. Other activities included a Baltimore Orioles baseball game and a tour of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Proceeds from the Conference were used to initiate a scholarship program for college engineering students.  The program was named for John Bruck, an SHA employee, who labored tirelessly during the Conference to ensure all activity-related transportation needs were met.  John was a man of vision and held the highway industry dear to his heart.  The scholarship is currently awarded to one individual selected from the engineering schools at Johns Hopkins University, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland.  The scholarship program also is supported by an annual golf outing.

The Chesapeake Section co-sponsored the 2006 National Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia; the conference emphasized the past, present and future of the highway industry and included activities such as a visit to historic Jamestown and guided tours of historic Williamsburg.

Members of the Chesapeake Section have been involved with the New Sections Committee in the past helping to form new sections in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey and North Dakota. This effort was instrumental in expanding ASHE’s national exposure. 

The Chesapeake Section continues to hold section meetings at the Engineers Club.  The standard meeting format is unique to ASHE and includes technical sessions in the afternoon followed by a social hour, dinner, and a speaker.  This format provides for professional development hour (PDH) opportunities, while, at the same time, promoting the attendance of younger members.  Each meeting’s technical program places an emphasis on a specific discipline, whether it is planning, traffic, hydrology/hydraulics, water resources, or highway construction.

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