Engineering Students Work to Improve Environment
March 14, 2002

Civil engineering students at Rowan University are working with their professor, Dr. Joseph Orlins, to ensure the best environment possible both off and on campus.

Off campus, students Jessica Fusaro, of Lakehurst; Clint Oman, of Maple Shade; Laura Miller, of Wyoming, DE; and Jeff Delessio of Atco, all juniors, have been analyzing Wadsworth Dam on the Mantua Creek at the junction of Glassboro, Pitman and Washington Township. The team is assessing the flow the privately owned dam can handle and what might happen if the dam would fail. The state has mandated that all dams in New Jersey be evaluated.

This spring, the students also are analyzing dams at Sterling Lake and Kandle Lake in Washington Township. The dam owners are funding the work through the college's Clinic Affiliates Program.

"These projects have been a great experience for our students," Orlins said. "These are the real-world issues that engineers face. In addition to the engineering aspects of the projects, there are legal, economic and social facets as well."

The studies are the result of a partnership between the dam owners, Rowan University, the Dam Safety Section of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and local engineers.

"This is a win-win-win situation," Orlins said. "The owners receive help in assessing the conditions of their dams. State regulators gain the information they need. Most importantly, students are gaining the hands-on skills they will use as practicing professional engineers."

The project has been so successful, one of the students will be working with the NJDEP as an intern this summer.

The students and Orlins have compiled their initial findings for one of the three dams, and submitted a report to the NJDEP's Dam Safety staff. Last December the students made presentations to owners of the dams and representatives of the state. The student teams will work throughout the spring to finish the studies.

On campus, Lisa Callahan, of Atco, a senior; John Witthohn, of Babylon, NY, a junior; Dan Zelechoski, of Toms River, a senior; and Tim Staszewski, of Collingswood, a senior, are using a $28,000 New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection grant administered through the Planning Division of the Gloucester County Department of Public Works to restore a stream on campus.

The team conducted a detailed survey of the Chestnut Branch of Mantua Creek, which runs about three-quarters of a mile through campus, and is designing methods to stabilize the stream bank and control erosion. The students are monitoring stream water quality and developing a computer model of the stream to be used in the design of the bank restoration. They plan to implement those stabilization measures in conjunction with Rowan's Facilities Department over the next 1 1/2 years.

"This is important work because sediment in streams and lakes is the number one pollutant in our nation's waterways," Orlins said. "Sediment causes water to become cloudy and causes problems for aquatic life." The stream on campus runs into Alcyon Lake in Pitman, and the Rowan students? work is part of the bigger Alcyon Lake watershed cleanup.

The project will have benefits beyond the immediate for the students. "This is real-world experience, the type of activity that often happens in engineering and ecological practice. It's giving our students a chance to work on a project that benefits the campus and prepares them for future environmental work," Orlins said.