News Release
July 14, 2019
Contact: Alexa Lopez (202) 789-7853 | alopez@asce.org
Union Pacific Railroad Recognized as National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
Omaha, Neb. — On July 13, the Union Pacific Railroad was recognized as a national Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), at a ceremony during at Kenefick Park in Omaha, Nebraska. This dedication ceremony took place during Railroad Days, an annual weekend-long celebration with exhibits and railroad-themed attractions on train and track history.
ASCE represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE recognizes historically significant civil engineering projects, structures, and sites all over the world. More than 200 projects have earned the prestigious title for creativity and innovation, and almost all are executed under challenging conditions.
“The Union Pacific Railroad is exemplary of efficiency in transportation that also increases production and trade – a win-win for the economy,” said Robin A. Kemper, PE, President, ASCE. “As civil engineers, we take great pride in designing and constructing structures and sites that become legacies of our communities and the Union Pacific Railroad is a prime example of engineering innovation and resourcefulness by the civil engineers responsible for this project.”
This National Historic Landmark signifies the merging of the Central Pacific Railroad, which began in Sacramento, California in 1863 and was completed in 1869 in Promontory, Utah, with the Union Pacific Railroad. This makes it the first railroad to be built across the unpopulated west from Omaha, Nebraska to Promontory, Utah. The two railroads were joined by the driving of a final golden spike on May 10, 1919.
This railroad allowed settlers to make the trip west in just seven days, a trip that previously took up to six months via foot and wagon, making it perilous journey for settlers. The construction of the railroad allowed settlers to reach their destination quicker, encouraging settlement and promoting trade and industry.
"The ASCE Nebraska Section is grateful for this prestigious landmark designation," said Greg Seib, PE, Past President, ASCE Nebraska Section. "This railroad was crucial to the westward expansion of the United States and I'm excited to see this structure recognized nationally."
The Union Pacific Railroad was nominated by the ASCE Nebraska Section to the ASCE History and Heritage Committee in 2018 and is the first Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in Nebraska.
For more information about ASCE’s Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Program, go to ASCE.org/landmark-program.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation’s infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org and follow us on Twitter at @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.
ABOUT THE HISTORIC CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK PROGRAM
The American Society of Civil Engineers Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Program recognizes historically significant local, national, and international civil engineering projects, structures, and sites. Through dedications, a physical plaque on site, and an online historical record open to all, the landmark program increases public appreciation of civil engineering contributions to the progress and development of society; provides civil engineers with an historical awareness of their own profession for both practical insights and pride; encourages the preservation of significant historic civil engineering works; and fosters the inclusion of civil engineering landmark information in encyclopedias, guidebooks and maps.
DENVER—On Monday, E&E News reported that Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is expected to announce a plan to move Bureau of Land Management headquarters, possibly to Grand Junction, Colorado. In response, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Bringing jobs to a Western community like Grand Junction is a laudable goal, but this announcement is nothing but a PR stunt. More than 90 percent of BLM staff already work outside of Washington, DC, and the agency has dozens of offices across the West. Moving senior BLM leadership would only turn the agency into an afterthought, rather than a core piece of the Interior Department.
“Since Interior Secretary Bernhardt is stonewalling the congressional committees that would approve a spending request like this, it’s clear this is not a serious proposal. It’s merely an attempt to drain the Interior Department of career officials who have expertise in running the agency.
“Instead of spending millions to shuffle office locations, the administration should be fixing critical infrastructure needs at our parks and public lands.”
In the 2018 omnibus spending bill, Congress specifically warned Secretary Bernhardt that any reorganization, “especially those of significant national or regional importance,” would require separate approval by appropriators.
According to E&E News, the move could affect some 500 of the roughly 9,800 BLM employees across the country.
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.
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Hope your summer is going well. We’ve been busy trying to find ways to make it better, and we’ve come up with a few.
Hot Fun in the Summertime!
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Fun New Programs!
Hope your summer is going well. We’ve been busy trying to find ways to make it better, and we’ve come up with a few. We held our first UMC Drift Night on July 5, and it was great! Not only could you watch drifting, but also take a drift ride, learn how to drift and rent a car to do that with! We’re discussing making this a regular event, so stay tuned. Also, we’ve introduced WOW Karting at the UMC Kart Center, which is an Open Track Day for private and public karts on the Wednesdays that also host Wide Open Wednesday on the big track. WOW Karting is open to private kart owners or you can rent one of ours. Learn more now!
Not only has the UMC Kart Center introduced WOW Karting, they have even bigger and better news: NEW KARTS! We just received 22 brand-spanking-new Sodi karts to add to our fleet. Hopefully, by the time you read this, they should be broken in and ready to race!
You got that nice, fast car, spent all that money making it better and beautiful, so get out here and see what she’ll do! Wide Open Wednesdays are coming up July 17, July 31, August 21, September 4, September 25 and October 9.
UMC Open Track Days are scheduled for July 27 (West Track), September 28 (East Track) and October 26 (Outer Track).
Open Track Info / Registration
If you want to drive on the track, but haven’t managed to get that dream car yet, we’ve got you covered. Xtreme Xperience is making their first UMC appearance on August 23-24, and they have all the cool cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc.) for you to drive. Bucket List? Oh, yeah!
The second visit to UMC by Nitro World Games – August 17 – is getting closer. Don’t wait too long to get your tickets for this unforgettable, only-one-like-it-in-the-world event!
The always-popular Night Lights event returns to UMC in September for its second visit this year, but the date has changed from September 28 to September 21. This is a great family event that everyone should experience!
You may have noticed a LOT of lovely new Porsches around the track and town lately. Our friends at Porsche North America have been here for the last month doing dealer training on their new 2020 models, with over 1600 people from across the U.S. and Canada learning about these beautiful machines. The Porsche folks were great to work with, and we hope to have them back again!
July 17 Wide Open Wednesday
July 19-21 Porsche Pirelli Trophy West (Outer Track)
SCCA Utah Region Autocross (Midway)
Extra Mile Racing Bicycle Race (West Track)
USBA Supermoto Championship - 4 (Kart Center)
July 27-28 ChampCar Endurance Series Double 8 Enduro (East Track)
UMC Open Track Day (West Track)
July 31 Wide Open Wednesday
August 2-4 NASA Utah Region Round 5 and Enduro (Outer Track)
August 9-11 SCCA Utah Region TrackCross (East Track)
SCCA Utah Region Autocross (Midway)
Salt City Drift (West Paddock)
USBA Supermoto Championship - 5 (Kart Center)
August 17 Nitro World Games
August 21 Wide Open Wednesday
August 23-25 Xtreme Xperience (West Track)
USBA Law Tigers Masters of the Mountains - 4 (East Track)
Apex Track Days (East Track)
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