From the Editor

A Lesson Well-Learned
A

laska set a stunning example of resilience after the November 30 earthquake, thanks in part to lessons learned from the 1964 Good Friday earthquake that have held up for more than five decades (with a few additions here and there). As news outlets nationwide were lauding the state’s road crews for repairing a partially collapsed off-ramp connecting International Airport Road and Minnesota Drive in Anchorage by December 4—fewer than four full days after the temblor—Alaskans were doing what they do best, getting on with life.

Many retailers opened sections of the store they deemed safe the very next day, despite shelves askew, floors dotted with remnants of broken products, and limited staff. Utilities worked to get power and heat to Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley residents… and did so successfully for nearly the entire area the same day.

Generally when a natural or other disaster hits, it’s first responders we think of for safety and assurance, and for good reason: they move heaven and earth to take us out of danger, not letting up until we’re in the right hands.

Kathryn Mackenzie
Managing Editor, Alaska Business

Generally when a natural or other disaster hits, it’s first responders we think of for safety and assurance, and for good reason: they move heaven and earth to take us out of danger, not letting up until we’re in the right hands.
But there’s another group, less visible perhaps, that is still out in droves as of mid-January making sure we’re safe in the buildings where we work and live. Since the earthquake and thousands of subsequent aftershocks, engineers have been working overtime making structural assessments, handing out green, yellow, and red tags depending on how much damage a building sustained. Many engineering firms have brought in extra help to meet overwhelming demand. While they’re still working overtime as of press, it’s important to remember that Alaska’s engineers have been “working” on this earthquake for decades—engineering seismically sound buildings to stand strong in the most seismically active region in North America, allowing Alaska to report to a concerned nation, with great relief, zero earthquake casualties.

This month we celebrate Alaska’s engineers and the passion and drive they maintain to keep the rest of us safe in moments of peril—and in everyday life.

On our cover is Christine Ness, a fire protection engineer and project manager at PDC Engineers who was named 2018 Engineer of the Year during E-Week last February. Don’t miss our Q&A with the multi-talented Ness in the Engineering & Architecture Special Section. We also feature several Engineer of the Year hopefuls, though not quite as many as in past years because most are still in the field assessing damage.

We’re thankful to all of the talented people who, over the years, have made Alaska a more earthquake-safe place to live: those we see in the news and those we’ll be seeing at E-Week February 17-23.

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