Structural Engineer (Preservation Engineer)

The Vanishing Treasures Program of the National Park Service is currently accepting applications and resumes for a possible future opening for a Structural Engineer (Preservation Engineer). Projects under this agreement are expected to be intermittent in nature and are projected to begin in calendar year 2022. ? The NPS Experienced Services Program is a unique partnership created to help solve the workforce issues facing government agencies. The program connects experienced workers (age 55+) to the NPS to provide scientific, technical, and administrative support. ? NPS ESP positions are meant to provide temporary, project-based support. This position will be funded for an estimate of ~65-70 hours, with additional funding possible in the future. ? A background security investigation may be required prior to the start date. Only those positions with 30+ hours per week are eligible for health insurance benefits; all positions will accrue sick leave. ? The experienced workers participating in the Program are referred to as ?Enrollees? and are not employees of the NPS or NEW Solutions. NEW Solutions is the ESP non-governmental organization responsible for administrative aspects of the program, and the Enrollees work under NPS direction to assist the Agency staff in carrying out their mission. NPS ESP Enrollees benefit from the opportunity to keep technical skills current; to access new training opportunities; to engage in gainful project-based positions; and to undertake meaningful tasks using their experience and talent to contribute to the environment, the national economy, and their own financial security.

Qualifications:

Minimum of 20 year(s) of experience in Preservation Engineering or related. OR MA/MS Degree in Structural engineering (with focus on historic structures and construction methods), geotechnical engineering, and materials engineering (with focus on archaic materials) or related.

• Licensed Professional Engineer (Civil or Structural) The structural types that are included in park inventories that require preservation engineering are greatly varied. Because of the time demand of this position, the majority of work will be non-governmental in nature.
• Experience required with Windows, MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point
• Structural and geotechnical engineering analysis programs. AutoCad 3D.

Duties:

Projects will be conducted on an ?as-needed? basis in response to technical assistance requests from individual parks. There are also occasions where emergency requests come from parks that will need immediate attention.

• Conduct cultural resources inspections, either on-site or remotely, of park assets to assess physical conditions and determine likely causes of deterioration, to include: overall site conditions for surface and sub-surface ground water drainage, structural capacity of non-mortared and mortared stone foundations, soil bearing capacity of foundations, slope stability (local and global analyses), lateral earth pressure on subterranean structures and components, overall structure and component stability, with a rigorous understanding of aged timber, adobe masonry with earthen mortar, dry-laid stone masonry, and lime mortar. This position and required skill set is also known as Preservation Engineering.   45%
• Recommend treatment that will address deficiencies and help to assure the long-term preservation of the resource that will meet the Secretary of the Interior?s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.   35%
• Develop task agreements through the CESU program to enlist NPS Cooperator(s) who can facilitate the execution of the recommended treatments, and/or it may involve participation in field schools held under the terms of the task agreement.   10%
• Other projects, reports or studies as identified by the Vanishing Treasures Program.   10%

• Travel Requirements: Travel requirements will be determined as needed to determine project scope and requirements, to include initial site and structure investigations (which can extend into multi-day field visits) and with potential follow-up inspections. Most travel will be by ground transportation, but because of some park locations, travel may require air transportation.
• Overnight travel: Due to the location of most parks, travel time will be multiple days (travel to and return), with at least one day on-site. Thus, it is expected to have as a minimum 3 travel days per month. During spring and summer, it is expected that travel will occur 3 weeks of every month.
• Air travel anticipated: Travel to parks that requires air transportation occurs once or twice per year.
• Rental cars: Depending on the availability of GOV transportation, it should be expected that ground transportation will be conducted via a rental car.
• Health and Safety Considerations: Due to the nature of preservation engineering, it is expected that site visits will require personal protective equipment (PPE). Most training will be covered during on-site safety meetings. If special equipment is required, training will be provided at the park by specialists.
• Required Safety Gear: Typical PPE required for this work will include: extreme weather gear and clothing (for both hot and cold weather conditions), hard hat, safety vests, gloves, dust mask protection (N-95 masks), safety glasses, working boots with lug soles (and with steel toed boots if on a construction site). PPE will be provided by the NPS.
• Physical requirements: This work requires that: the engineer be in good physical condition, be able to work in high elevations (the majority of parks that VT services are above 6000 feet elevation) and work day-long shifts with exposure to sun, wind, or rain. Because of the locations of these types of cultural assets, handicap access is not possible. The individual cannot have fear of heights.