Tours

Sunday, May 16, 2010

1:00 - 6:00 pm

TECHNICAL TOUR #1: Canoe/Kayaking Paddle Tour in Narragansett Bay
CANCELED

CanoeKayak You are invited to join us for a paddling tour in beautiful Narragansett Bay. The guided tour
departs from our launch area at the north end of Bristol Harbor. Canoes and/or kayaks will be provided to tour around Bristol Harbor and other scenic harbors in Narragansett Bay. Following the magnificent coastline will allow you to escape for a few hours to enjoy the
many beautiful views of the Bay. This region is rich in history and wildlife, and a kayak on the water provides a terrific vantage point to see it all. This tour will include historic Bristol Harbor (2 hours), plus scenic Hog Island and Poppasquash Point.

Please be advised that due to water temperatures, this tour may be cancelled. Tours do not take place until the water temperature is above 50 degrees. When the water temperature is between 50 and 60 degrees, wet suits are provided for the comfort of the participants. We will monitor this periodically and advise the status of the tour. If the tour is cancelled, a full refund will be received.

Website: http://oceanstateadventures.com/

Ticket: $40, includes canoes/kayaks, paddles, and safety gear. Max: 24 persons. Drive time between hotel and tour site is approximately 40 minutes.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

8:00 am - 12:30 pm

TECHNICAL TOUR #2: Alden Labs

Alden

You are invited to visit Alden Laboratories in Holden, Massachusetts. Founded in 1894,
Alden is the oldest continuously operating hydraulic laboratory in the United States and
one of the oldest in the world. The historic Alden campus comprises more than 20 buildings equipped to conduct closed-conduit and free-surface hydraulic modeling, fish testing, air/gas flow modeling, and numerous other types of fluid dynamic testing. Congress attendees will tour over 100,000 square feet of Alden's enclosed space used for physical water and air flow models. These include river navigation models, dam/spillway models, wave impact models, fish screen testing, storm water separator testing, utility power
plant environmental control system models, and dedicated facilities for CFD simulations. Alden's numerous test flumes, tanks, and support facilities continue to be used
heavily for commercial, federal, and municipal hydropower and water resource
projects. Recent work also includes development and performance optimization
of hydrokinetic turbines - rotors that convert the kinetic energy of ocean currents, tides, and rivers to mechanical or electric power without the need for dams - that show promise for clean, renewable energy production.

Website: http://www.aldenlab.com/

Tickets: $25, includes transportation and tour.
Max of 50 persons. Drive time between hotel and lab is approximately 90 minutes.

1:30 - 4:00 pm

TECHNICAL TOUR #3: Narragansett Bay Commission's Combined Sewer Overflow Project

The Narragansett Bay Commission's (NBC) Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Project, which includes a three-plus-mile-long, 30-foot-diameter tunnel that runs 250 feet below the city of Providence, serves as the centerpiece of Phase I of a three-phase program to essentially eliminate CSOs in the NBC service area (Greater Providence and the Blackstone Valley region).

Narragansett

Known as "The Biggest Project You'll Never See" due to its underground construction, the project broke ground in 2001. To date, the tunnel has been completely bored and lined with concrete, six of the seven drop shafts necessary to transport the CSO flow into the tunnel have been constructed, and the giant underground cavern that will house the complex pumping mechanism necessary to lift the CSO flow to the Field's Point Wastewater Treatment Facility has been excavated. Currently, a seventh and final drop shaft is in construction on Ernest Street in Providence, and the pump station cavern is being fitted out with a complex two-stage pumping system.

Phase I of the CSO Project is estimated at $342 million; $223 million has been spent thus far on construction - the vast majority funded by dramatic rate increases to the NBC's 360,000 ratepayers. Phases II and III, which include the construction of near-surface interceptors along the Seekonk and Woonasquatucket Rivers, and another deep rock tunnel in Pawtucket, are scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Completion of all three phases is estimated to reduce total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, and fecal coliform bacteria in upper Narragansett Bay by 98 percent, to bring the NBC into compliance with the Federal Clean Water Act.

Website: http://www.narrabay.com/AboutUs/Facilities/MajorInitiatives/CSO.aspx

Ticket: $25, includes transportation and tour. Drive time between hotel and tour site is approximately 5 minutes.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

10:00 am - 2:30 pm

TECHNICAL TOUR #4: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

WHOI

Congress attendees are invited to visit the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) facility in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. WHOI is the world's largest private, nonprofit ocean research, engineering, and education organization. Visitors will learn about the Institute, the history of the facility, and research underway.

The WHOI community numbers nearly 1,000, including 300 scientific and technical staff, 130 Joint Program students, and 60 ships' crew, officers, and support staff. The Institution operates three large research vessels, Atlantis (275 feet), Knorr (279 feet), and Oceanus (177 feet), as well as Tioga (60 feet), the submersible Alvin, remotely operated and autonomous vehicles, and several small boats.

Institution scientists work in marine engineering and all scientific fields. The following projects are among hundreds of investigations underway in the five scientific departments:

Biologists probe the reasons for the collapse of Georges Bank and other fisheries and the causes and spread of "red tides," examine marine viruses, and analyze whale sounds.
Physical oceanographers study water movement, from the rapid flow of the Pacific Kuroshio Current to the slower subsurface spread of Mediterranean water across the Atlantic and the six-year trip of Labrador Sea climate signatures south to Bermuda.
Chemists study the unique natures of marine compounds and employ sophisticated instruments to follow substances as they travel through the ocean’s depth and breadth.
Geologists and geophysicists tap knowledge of the earth bound in sea-floor rock and sediment as well as the deeper, molten layers of our planet, and they bring innovative techniques to the quest for new sources of minerals and petroleum.
Members of the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department study interactions of ocean and atmosphere, sediment transport, and other physical phenomena, and they develop instruments for a wide variety of disciplines and projects.

At the Marine Policy Center, scholars study the economics, conservation, and wise management of coastal and marine resources. They undertake projects in such areas as marine transit technology and safety, conservation of biological diversity, land-based marine pollution, and fisheries management.

Visitors will experience the interdisciplinary atmosphere that brings scientists, engineers, and students together.

Website: http://www.whoi.edu/

Ticket: $40, includes transportation and tour. This is a walking tour of about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Drive time between hotel and tour site is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Thursday, May 20, 2010