Branch History

In May 2007 a group of ASCE members residing on the Eastern Shore of Maryland under the leadership of Harvey A. Kagan, Sc.D., F.ASCE met together as an informal group for the purpose of fostering contacts among Civil Engineers residing and working in the counties on the Eastern Shore. Dr. Kagan had moved to the Eastern Shore in the 1990’s and found it difficult to actively participate in Maryland Section activities. At his request, ASCE provided him with a roster of Eastern Shore members and he reached out to them to see if they would be interested in periodic meetings. He found that local Civil Engineers also felt isolated from the Section at large because monthly meetings and technical programs were held on weeknights in Baltimore. Baltimore is a 2 to 3 hour drive away for ASCE members living on the Eastern Shore and few members had ever attended a Section meeting or activity. It was with considerable enthusiasm that members greeted the initiation of the new group.

In the period from 2007 through Fall 2009 Eastern Shore ASCE members, functioning as an informal group, held dinner meetings periodically in Salisbury, Cambridge and St. Michael’s. Presentations were made about local projects of interest. These included the new building construction at Salisbury University, highway bridge ratings, and the investigation of the 1987 collapse of the Schoharie Creek Bridge in New York State.

As a result of discussions held during our meetings in 2007, the Eastern Shore Group (as we called the temporary organization) developed and conducted the first Engineering Expo for high school students in Somerset and Wicomico Counties. The Engineering Expo was held for two days during Engineers’ Week in February 2008. The Expo featured interactive presentations by local firms and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. An introductory discussion presented an overview of Civil Engineering. The presentations demonstrated some of the specialty fields such as Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Computer Aided Structural Design. An all-day program was conducted for Somerset County and a half-day program was conducted for Wicomico County. The program was featured on local television and in the local press. The program was extremely well received by both students and faculty. ASCE continued holding other Expos during subsequent Engineers’ Weeks.

The Maryland Section encouraged the formation of a Branch and provided us with materials required for a petition to establish an ASCE Branch. In October 2008 work progressed on preparation of the formal petition.

On January 13, 2009 the petition requesting formation of the Eastern Shore Branch was sent to the Maryland Section.

On July 17, 2009 ASCE Region 2 Board of Governors approved the Eastern Shore Branch and sent its approval on to the ASCE National Office.

In the Fall of 2009 the petition was approved by ASCE National and the Eastern Shore Branch was officially established. The first election was held in November 2009 and the officers were installed at the January 2010 meeting.