Modern Traffic Crash Reconstruction presented by Rick McAlister, President, The Crash Lab

The field of traffic crash reconstruction has evolved significantly since the first recorded automobile collision over 125 years ago. Today, advancements in technology, data analysis, and investigative methodologies have revolutionized how these events are understood and reconstructed. This presentation will explore the progress made in modern traffic crash reconstruction, highlighting key developments in evidence collection and analysis. Innovations in mapping and measuring techniques now allow for more precise documentation of crash scenes, while data extracted from vehicle modules provide invaluable insights into vehicle behavior during the incident. By applying traditional scientific principles alongside a wealth of published data, investigators can now better compare individual crashes to broader statistical trends, allowing for more reliable conclusions regarding driver behavior, environmental factors, and crash causality. This session will showcase how these advancements have transformed crash reconstruction into a more robust, data-driven discipline, increasing the precision and reliability of traffic safety analysis and legal proceedings.

Rick retired from the Maine State Police in late 2010 after 25 years of service. During his last 11 years with that organization, Rick held the rank of Sergeant and supervised the Crash Analysis/Reconstruction Unit. During his tenure with the Maine State Police, Rick served as the principal instructor for the Maine Criminal Justice Academy’s Basic Crash Investigation and At-Scene Investigation programs.  

Rick has been a Crash Reconstruction Specialist since 1989 and became accredited by the internationally recognized Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) in 2004. Rick is a current member the National Association of Professional Accident Reconstruction Specialists (NAPARS), the world’s largest reconstruction society, and at one time serving as an elected board member (Vice-President). He is also a member of the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP);  the New York Statewide Traffic Accident Reconstruction Society (NYSTARS); and the International Association of Accident Reconstruction Specialists (IAARS). In 2014, Rick became co-owner and President of The Crash Lab, Inc. Rick continues to perform crash reconstructions and investigates most commercial vehicle cases handled by The Crash Lab.

Sustainable and Resilient Pavements Under a Changing Climate presented by Professor Jo Sias from the University of New Hampshire

Sustainability and resilience are concepts that are increasingly at the forefront of discussions around climate change and transportation infrastructure. The incorporation of climate change into the analysis, design, and management processes is a complex issue that requires the collaboration of scientists, engineers, practitioners, and various stakeholders. This presentation will discuss various strategies for increasing both resilience and sustainability of pavements under changing climate conditions. Basic information on future climate data and various adaptation frameworks will be introduced, and strategies for bringing together diverse interdisciplinary groups needed to address the challenge of changing climate on transportation infrastructure will be discussed.  Specific applications of these concepts to pavement design and management will be explained and illustrated with examples. 

Dr. Jo Sias is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the UNH and is currently serving as chair. She received her BS from UNH in 1994 and graduate degrees from North Carolina State University before returning to UNH to join the faculty in 2001. Her research focuses on the sustainability and resilience of asphalt materials and pavements specifically with respect to recycling, cracking, and aging, and on the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure. She is director of the UNH Center for Infrastructure Resilience to Climate (UCIRC) and co-director of the Infrastructure and Climate Network (ICNet). Dr. Sias is the Editor-in-Chief of Road Materials and Pavement Design journal, a past president of the Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists, and she was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Nottingham, UK in 2015. She lives in Nottingham NH and enjoys a range of outdoor activities with her three daughters and dog Rusty.

Orsted - South Fork Wind Project - Using 4D Modeling to Optimize Design and Construction presented by Christopher Cockshaw, Vice President of Mott Macdonald



Ørsted’s South Fork Wind project (the first completed offshore wind project in the United States) generates power at an offshore wind farm 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Montauk Point on Long Island. During construction, horizontal directional drilling (HDD) was used to install the conduits that carry the marine export cable to a landfall connection in Wainscott, NY. Mott MacDonald used a 4D model (3D plus time) to simulate construction operations at the landfall and to evaluate and mitigate project constraints and risks. The 4D model was instrumental in optimizing the design concept and obtaining stakeholder buy-in. This presentation will provide an overview of the project HDD design constraints and present the benefits of digital tools like 4D modeling to improve project quality and gain stakeholder support. 

Christopher (Chris) Cockshaw is a Vice President and the Renewable Generation Practice Leader for North and South America at Mott MacDonald. In that role, Mr. Cockshaw focuses on “Excellence”, whether it be improving team collaboration, optimizing the quality of the renewable energy projects Mott delivers, assessing his team’s skills and aligning that team with energy market needs, or facilitating training and professional development. He has 30 years of civil engineering experience; the first 15 years in water and wastewater and the last 15 years focusing on energy generation, transmission and interconnections. He is a licensed civil engineer in six states, including New Hampshire.  

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse Cleanup presented by Colin O'Hearn, owner of Kinetic Demolition and Engineering

On March 26, 2024, at approximately 1:30 AM, a portion of the existing Francis Scott Key Bridge carrying Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River and connecting Baltimore, MD to Dundalk, MD collapsed due to a container ship striking one of its main support piers. This presentation details the subsequent cleanup operation performed by multiple contractors to remove debris from the river in order to reopen the Port of Baltimore. Mr. O’Hearn was involved with the team tasked to remove the Spans 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22 as well as portions of the supporting piers. Mr. O’Hearn’s role included providing engineering support and field supervision of the work. 

Mr. O’Hearn is the President of Kinetic Demolition & Engineering, LLC (KDE). Over the last two decades, he has been involved in the heavy civil construction industry. Originally working on the construction of bridges, he segued his career into demolition in 2006. Mr. O’Hearn is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Mr. O’Hearn is also a member of the ASCE Temporary Works Committee working on the Demolition Subcommittee. Mr. O’Hearn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Seeing Things: A Visual Introduction to Engineering presented by David Macaulay, Author and Professor at Dartmouth College

Seeing things, for me, means not just noticing them, but doing the work needed to understand and appreciate them. In my Dartmouth class, we use sketching, the recording of readily available often taken for granted basically ‘unseen’, objects, devices, and structures loosely connected with engineering (since it is offered by the Thayer school of Engineering). Encouraging curiosity about the world around us is my primary goal and its what I’ve been trying to do throughout my career, although I didn’t know that when I started out over 50 years ago. The book I’m working on at the moment, which is untitled because it is also unresolved, will be my latest attempt to subversively promote the pleasures of curiosity. This talk is built around the process unfolding right now. 

David Macaulay has been creating books since 1973. Cathedral, his first book, began to take shape within a couple of years after graduating from Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in architecture and no desire to practice it. Since then, a total of 35 books have emerged from the chaos and many of them have been translated into various languages. His sketches and illustrations have been exhibited across the United States, in Europe and in both China and South Korea. He has been awarded a number of medals. His favorite is made of construction paper and inscribed in pencil, “David Best Writer and Illustrator”. He has also received a McArthur fellowship. He is not a genius, but he has been very lucky.