Last
month, Ms. KyAnn Anderson and several engineers from the Kleinfelder
Architecture firm held an information session for our VL scholars. The
lunch and learn was an opportunity for students to hear about the
Alewife Sewer Separation project taking place around the school and also
to expose them to professions in engineering and resource management.
The engineers brought engineering plans, street maps, and a
PowerPoint presentation that described the details of the project as
well as the impetus for the work. They also talked about the kinds of
careers that are connected to such a large scale project. The city is
under a court order, as part of the Boston Harbor cleanup case, to
complete sewer separation in the area, so as to improve the water
quality that mixes into the local waterways.
According to the engineers, the work "includes tree plantings and
street and sidewalk reconstruction which will continue through the fall
of 2016. When the projects are completed, there will be new streets and
accessible sidewalks, enhanced pedestrian improvements, over 300
additional street trees, and no combined sewer overflows from the
neighborhood to the Alewife Brook."
Eighth grade scholar Thomas Nguyen noted that "it was interesting,
but I still wanted to know more about why the city had to do all this
work." Seventh grader Ishmael Sharif, noted that "the maps were cool,
and I'm interested in a career in engineering and geology and all that."
Header image © Cambridge Department of Public Works