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Abstract: On December 26, 2004, a 9.1M earthquake struck off the coast of Banda Aceh Indonesia, a city a little smaller than Boston in population. A giant wall of water (not a wave as many believe) ranging in height from 30 feet to 90 feet and several miles DEEP roared into the City of Banda Aceh Indonesia, over 2.5 miles inland destroying nearly every home in its path. Every family lost somebody. Imagine the coastlineof the US from Boston to DC being completely destroyed. Imagine all structures, homes, schools, roads, bridges, electric lines...destroyed for nearly one mile inland and 120,000 homes instantaneously gone. In the days following the Tsunami, the world's attention was riveted on the horrendous death toll. David Murphy a Northeastern civil engineering grad (class of 85) uprooted his family, left the environmental engineering firm he was running and took his family to assist in the emergency response and reconstruction efforts. David will provide an overview of the engineering challenges of addressing the world's largest known natural disaster, spanning from the poor sanitation, no enforcement of regulations, dealing with over 92,000 deaths in one city, dealing with the world's largest waste management nightmare, to reconstructing thousands of homes. David and his family were featured on an NBC Christmas special broadcast nationwide (see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10644084/). They also created a web site www.bulaifamilyinaceh.com. Today David is an Associate and senior project manager with Tighe and Bond, working out of their Worcester MA Office. Biography: David Murphy is a civil engineer with 24 years of senior project management experience. He has managed major infrastructure project in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, led an Environmental Engineering firm, and managed major and complex projects for the Commissioner's office of the Massachusetts DEP helping to manage the environmental oversight of the $14.5 Billion Big Dig, the Army Corps of Engineers(ACOE) Boston Harbor dredge project, and served as program manager for all Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) projects including wastewater treatment facilities, water supply projects, major urban developments, landfills and power plants. |
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