[gis_info] Big and Awesome Bridges

[SMITH Cy * CIO]

I'm making a bit of an exception to our normal protocol prohibiting advertising on this listserv because this is a very good, non-profit educational cause.  I wanted to let you know about the Big & Awesome Bridges book and the effort to get it into print and make sure everyone who wants a copy can get one.  The author, Sharon Wood Wortman, was the keynote speaker at GIS in Action year before last.  This is a great educational book designed to educate children about bridges, using the bridges in Portland and Vancouver.

She and her team are in the process of figuring out how many books they can afford to print to distribute free to classrooms and libraries. They need to decide as soon as possible so they can submit their order to the printer, Bridgetown Printing. They plan to distribute in September 2014. The only way to get a book is by being a supporter.

Their sponsor is PDX Bridge Festival, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so donations are tax-deductible. They have an Indiegogo online crowd sourcing fundraising campaign at www.bigandawesomebridges.org<http://www.bigandawesomebridges.org/>.

About the book, designed by senior students of the Portland Community College Graphic Design Department:

* Chapters for 22 big river roadway and railway bridges over the Willamette and Columbia rivers, including the new Tilikum Crossing and new Sellwood bridges
* Full color map showing the bridges of the region from Vancouver, Washington to Oregon City
* Elevation drawings for each bridge
* Interviews with ironworkers, engineers, bridge operators, poets, and others
* Discussion about foundations, earthquakes, and ghost bridges (bridges no longer standing)
* Activities for readers of all ages, including an exercise for finding, mean, median, mode, and range
* Tips from The Bridge Lady for what to look for when making onsite bridge visits
* More than 175 photographs and drawings
* Illustrated glossary designed especially for young readers
* Table of abbreviations and index
* Bridge building and load testing activity for building your own truss bridge, with patterns
* And lots more!

Note: The members of the student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers at Portland State University and members of the student chapter of the Oregon section of the American Society of Civil Engineers have volunteered to go into classrooms in the Portland-Vancouver area to help teachers and students with the book's bridge building and load testing activity.


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Cy Smith, GISP, State GIO
DAS/CIO Geospatial Enterprise Office
Past President, Urban Regional Info. Systems Association (URISA)
Past President, National States Geographic Info. Council (NSGIC)
Past Chair, Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO)
(503) 378-6066, http://gis.oregon.gov<http://gis.oregon.gov/>

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