A stamp for a case of beer?

[MA_PE]

I'm just north of the city near the 128(95) / 93 intersection. The NH border is not far at all. I think a local meeting is a great idea and if VT brings homebrew I'll drink it. If it's free, it's for me.

it will cost you $100/hr, including travel time.

I don't do residential stuff personally, but others around here that do side work use ~ $1000/sheet to stamp drawings as a rule of thumb.

 

[frazil]

There are several gallons of English brown ale in my basement, awaiting my command. You can have one as long as you don't call it shwacky.

I wouldn't call it shwacky...I bet it's awesome. My husband came home with a growler of Harpoon IPA yesterday. It definitely tastes better fresh!

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I'm just north of the city near the 128(95) / 93 intersection. The NH border is not far at all. I think a local meeting is a great idea and if VT brings homebrew I'll drink it. If it's free, it's for me.

Sweet! That means you can stop at the discount liquor barn at the rest stop by Manchester.

 

[frazil]

Grover - I think that's a great attitude. Maybe I'll do the same -- I have no problem giving out advice, but putting my stamp on it is something else entirely.

Slugger - I kept thinking last night about your program. How does it work? If this guy really wanted me to look into this I'm thinking it will take quite a bit of work to get the original HEC2 model, review all the assumptions, etc -- just to get the same results possibly. Did you hire the surveyor, or use the original data? Is it based on regression equations?

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

My husband came home with a growler of Harpoon IPA yesterday. It definitely tastes better fresh!

He work nearby the brewery? I live all of 5 minutes from there and pass by on the way to/from work. It's pretty cool when they are brewing on a cold morning and you see all the steam coming off. I had so many growlers at the house that I brought them back for the $2.50 deposit and made out like a bandit.

I'm not a big IPA guy, never cared for the real hoppy stuff. I like the maltier beers, their Munich Dark is my favorite regular beer they have there.

 

[Guest]

If this guy really wanted me to look into this I'm thinking it will take quite a bit of work to get the original HEC2 model, review all the assumptions, etc -- just to get the same results possibly. Did you hire the surveyor, or use the original data? Is it based on regression equations?

frazil --

HEC-2/RAS code is actually easy to obtain - it is the pre/post-processors that can cost $$$.

Try this website - they have some excellent models with pre/post-processors that will most likely handle just about anything you would want in surface water modeling. The models are under the <<TOOLS>> weblink at the top.

http://www.epa.gov/athens/wwqtsc/index.html

JR

 

[Slugger926]

Grover - I think that's a great attitude. Maybe I'll do the same -- I have no problem giving out advice, but putting my stamp on it is something else entirely.
Slugger - I kept thinking last night about your program. How does it work? If this guy really wanted me to look into this I'm thinking it will take quite a bit of work to get the original HEC2 model, review all the assumptions, etc -- just to get the same results possibly. Did you hire the surveyor, or use the original data? Is it based on regression equations?

The program works specifically for Oklahoma. You would input the elevation of the house, the distance of the house to the nearest stream, the elevation of the the stream bed, and which zone you were in on the Oklahoma map (each zone had a slight variation on formula). Then the formula would kick out a pass or fail if you were in the flood plain per Oklahoma guidlines.

We owned our own surveying crew so it was easy to get the survey which took them a total of 10 minutes.

Also, the houses needed recertified when they were sold, so sometimes we had historical data to create a new letter within 5 minutes for $500 fee.

 

[frazil]

The program works specifically for Oklahoma. You would input the elevation of the house, the distance of the house to the nearest stream, the elevation of the the stream bed, and which zone you were in on the Oklahoma map (each zone had a slight variation on formula). Then the formula would kick out a pass or fail if you were in the flood plain per Oklahoma guidlines.
We owned our own surveying crew so it was easy to get the survey which took them a total of 10 minutes.

Also, the houses needed recertified when they were sold, so sometimes we had historical data to create a new letter within 5 minutes for $500 fee.

So you're not actually recalculating the flood zone, right? Your program is just determining whether or not the property is in the defined flood zone?

JR - Thanks for the link. I'll have to check some of these programs out. Why would I need to do any pre/post-processing? All I need is an elevation which I would get from HEC-RAS....right??

 

[grover]

Speaking of flood zone recerts, I need to get my addition elevation surveyed for FEMA to ensure it's at 9.5' (1' above flood stage) elevation. My existing house is at 8.8' (3" above flood stage) per my last survey, and my addition has a 9" step-up. As a PE in VA, I'm legally able to perform survey work incidental to engineering, but I don't have any surveying tools. Can I "survey" my addition relative to my existing and stamp a letter, would that satisfy FEMA?

 

[Guest]

JR - Thanks for the link. I'll have to check some of these programs out. Why would I need to do any pre/post-processing? All I need is an elevation which I would get from HEC-RAS....right??

Some people have fancy digitizer thing-a-ma-jiggies for the front-end and like to generate pretty graphs on the back end ... :thankyou:

You also have to remember - I am old-school. Back in the Dark Ages when I tinkered with HEC, you had to create your own data file and then run the source code. Today, most of these programs are windows driven and require only rudimentary knowledge to run. I also emphasized pre/post-processors because that is what you are paying for when you buy one of these programs. Most of the 'code' is available if you don't mind tinkering with data file formats, etc.

JR

 

[frazil]

well I do like pretty graphs! Thanks again for the link!

 

[Slugger926]

So you're not actually recalculating the flood zone, right? Your program is just determining whether or not the property is in the defined flood zone?
JR - Thanks for the link. I'll have to check some of these programs out. Why would I need to do any pre/post-processing? All I need is an elevation which I would get from HEC-RAS....right??

It is calculating the flood elevation via some obscure method developed for only Oklahoma which is acceptable. It is also a major time saver. I have a copy of the documentation at home. I don't have time to find it online right now.

 

[Guest]

^^^^ Post :"the other board": +1 !!! :thankyou: :bananalama:

JR

 

[frazil]

Way to go, Slugger! :thankyou:

It is calculating the flood elevation via some obscure method developed for only Oklahoma which is acceptable. It is also a major time saver. I have a copy of the documentation at home. I don't have time to find it online right now.

That's ok - I don't need the documentation. I'm just trying to figure out how it works. Thanks for the info!

 

[grover]

I'm not sure the limitations- state law is pretty vague.

 

[Dleg]

Even if I pass this time, I could always say "I had to take the damn thing so many times, they just gave it to me on the 'NO P.E. LEFT BEHIND' program. You really want ME checking that out?"

Nice one! :lmao:

not to burst your bubble, but a "beer snob" would look down more on a Miller Lite drinker than a Bud drinker.
the heck with them. I'll buy the first round of Bud and Lite and we can stamp the coasters. cheers!!! :thankyou:

I'm in! I'll buy the second round!

:bananalama:

I haven't had anyone ask me to certify anything yet, but I do have a friend who is pushing really hard for me to team up with him for construction management projects. He doesn't have his PE yet, and he's just discovered (WTF?) that he can't go out and do CM on his own without one. It kind of feels like being that one kid with all the cool toys... Does he really like me for me, or for my stamp? :bowdown:

 

[Ritchie503]

Speaking of flood zone recerts, I need to get my addition elevation surveyed for FEMA to ensure it's at 9.5' (1' above flood stage) elevation. My existing house is at 8.8' (3" above flood stage) per my last survey, and my addition has a 9" step-up. As a PE in VA, I'm legally able to perform survey work incidental to engineering, but I don't have any surveying tools. Can I "survey" my addition relative to my existing and stamp a letter, would that satisfy FEMA?

I just paid the surveyor to locate my two rear lot corners due to my garage addition. The rear pins didn't exist and the building inspector requires them (but I had found the front two pins!). My site is so tight that I wanted to make sure the building is in the correct spot, the survey cost me $450 by the way.

 

[Slugger926]

Way to go, Slugger! :thankyou: That's ok - I don't need the documentation. I'm just trying to figure out how it works. Thanks for the info!

That was at my first engineering job out of school. I had a choice of working at a small firm to get experience at $7 per hour, or working the night shift at McDonalds at $9 per hour. I took the engineering job for 4 months. At the time the civil and environmental firms paid non-pe's, drafters, and environmental science majors nothing while the PE's raked in. I moved to a digital scale company in the middle of no where before moving into telecom.

I thought about digging the program out, and trying to find how to get into the flood evaluation business on the side. I would cherry pick the jobs, because this area has lots of construction with clay soils. One day you are fine, and the next the subdivision is being flooded due to long lost engineering errors or omissions.

 

[gatormech_e]

@Dleg: sorry, he likes you for your stamp! I'm just teasing!!!!

@Fraz: it's all about the Bass Ale. I'm not a beer snob, but if I had to drink any ole beer, I have some Bud on occasion.

 

[cement]

If you did a buddy a favor for free, since you recieved no compensation he could not sue you if it failed. the license may be in jeopardy though. I'd step back to my favorite adage in the working world: No good deed goes unpunished