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Sebring Engineer Lauded For Role In River Project

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: March 24, 2009

SEBRING - An engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Sebring was recently recognized by her peers as a young woman "on the cutting edge" of her profession as a civil engineer.

Erin Duffy, 30, of Sebring, was one of 61 engineers, age 30 or younger, nominated nationally by the National Engineers Week Foundation. It was co-chaired by the National Society of Professional Engineers and Intel Corporation.

Duffy was selected for her contribution to the Kissimmee River Restoration Project, which is seeking to restore over 40 square miles of the Kissimmee River/floodplain ecosystem.

Duffy, who is the resident engineer at the Sebring office, said Monday she was pleased to learn she was among the top-five winners with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"I was very, very excited," she said. "I feel like I do a lot of hard work and felt like it finally paid off. I was on a high for about a week. I called everybody."

It was good to have the support from her upper management, she said.

The selections were made during the foundation's annual New Faces of Engineering conference held in mid-February. The news of the nominations was released March 10.

In 2005 Duffy moved to Sebring from her home in St. Louis, Mo., as a project engineer. Now, as the team leader, she is responsible for the success of three active contracts totaling $45 million.

"We're a wee bit behind but it's going very well," Duffy said. "We're showing great progress bringing wading birds and the environment back."

What Is The Project?

Before it became a managed system, the Kissimmee flowed 103 meandering miles from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes into Lake Okeechobee, according to the project's Web site.

The river's 1-2 mile wide floodplain offered wetland habitats for many species.

In the 1960s, the river was channelized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide more adequate flood protection. The 103-mile winding path was transformed into a 56-mile long, 30-foot deep, 300-foot wide canal, known today as the C-38 canal.

The restoration project will restore the physical form of the river by backfilling the middle third of the C-38 canal with the original spoil material that has remained along the canal's perimeter.

The river will then be forced to flow through remnant runs that have not had flow for 30 years, the Web site added.

Duffy said fishermen are already reporting that lots of bass are being caught and the restoration is bringing back different kinds of fish.

Recent drought conditions have helped as far as construction goes.

"The drought is helping the construction efforts because we don't have rain delays and we don't have a water table we need to account for," said Duffy. "But, a misting like today helps keep the dust down."

Barring unforeseen delays, a significant portion of the project could be completed by 2012, she said.

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com .

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