When Secaucus High School senior Erica Mondadori was given the option to get real-world experience in her last semester, she jumped at the chance.
The high school administration offers graduating seniors the time for an internship at local businesses or to pursue projects related to career coursework. Mondadori, who will enter Stevens Institute in Hoboken in the fall, decided to take an unpaid internship at Boswell Engineering in South Hackensack for the last semester.Mondadori worked in the highway department learning AutoCAD, a computer design tool for drawing plans. She said she enjoyed working on road construction plans, tax maps, and project specifications. “It was very interesting to have the whole experience of an engineering office – especially the underwater engineering aspect,” she said. “I also learned I do not want to sit in front of a computer all day. I recommend the program to any senior to see what their choice of field is really like.” Mondadori recently won the Sophie Kohler Memorial award and a Hudson County School Board scholarship.
Tour of transit station
As part of an ongoing program to get students interested in local projects, Mayor Dennis Elwell gave Mondadori a tour of the Secaucus Transit Station in the south end of town recently.
NJ Transit’s 50,000-square foot facility serves as a link to rail lines serving northern New Jersey. The building sits on a 28-acre site and was designed by Brennan Beer Architects in 2000. The Secaucus interchange 15X is being built by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority close to the transit station site. The interchange is part of a multi-faceted project to relieve traffic congestion and make the station intermodal.
“The station was planned long before the present administration to provide a unified rail transit network,” said Elwell. “They planned for a larger scope than what is here now. In the end, the station will insure economic stability in Secaucus for the next 50 years and further.”
The station is generally deserted except during rush hour when commuters are scurrying to and from their jobs. Elwell said as the different pieces of the larger plan are put into place, commuting will increase and other uses for the facility will develop.
In any event, the open atrium design is elegant and the artwork throughout the corridors is colorful and representative of the surrounding wetland landscape.
“I love the design, especially when driving past. It’s pleasing to the eye. The cattail sculpture is beautiful as well as the other artwork,” said Mondadori.
More possibilities
NJ Turnpike Authority project engineer for the Secaucus Interchange project, John Keller, offered Mondadori a tour of 15X and its new tollbooths, complete with explanations of the design and project details.
He said there were many considerations and difficulties during the life of the interchange project, which is scheduled to open toward the end of the year.
“The project is only six weeks behind schedule, which is unheard of for construction of this magnitude and complexity,” he said.
Since parts of the roadway went through protected wetlands, the construction of the ramp and road was more difficult than usual. He said there was an extra amount of work to mitigate wetland areas. “The interchange will alleviate a lot of traffic on Paterson Plank Road and County Avenue as trucks will have direct access to their destinations,” said Keller. “Negotiating the issues of the site took additional planning and strategy.”
Keller said students can learn much about the great variety of problems and solutions encountered while putting road construction projects together. “It’s a complicated business where there is much to be learned, even by veterans,” said Keller. “Mayor Elwell and the town of Secaucus has been very helpful along the way.”