UNH Engineering Students Fix Epping Town Hall

Volunteers reinforce wobbly fire escape

DURHAM – Nine University of New Hampshire (UNH) engineering students and their professor have buttressed a shaky fire escape at the Epping Town Hall.

The brick-enclosed fire escape was added to the pre-Civil War-era town hall about 20 years ago. Settling has caused the enclosure to pull away from the building, leaving the second floor of the building off limits for safety reasons.

Charlie Goodspeed, an associate professor of civil engineering at the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, and an Epping resident, organized the project. “These kids are great,” he said. “They all volunteered to do this on their own free time.”

The Epping Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to spend $700 to cover the cost of materials for the project. Goodspeed and his students are doing the work for free.

“When you're in engineering, the first two years are basic engineering courses, which are still tough, but there aren't many projects,” said Joe Micucci of Chichester. “Because I'm still in my sophomore year, I felt this was very important for my future because I'm getting experience early.”

During two weekends, the students, using what they have learned in Goodspeed’s physics class, reinforced the escape so that it will be supported by the enclosure, not the town hall.

“This project encompassed all aspects of engineering, only on a much smaller scale,” said Ken Mavrogeorge of Manchester. “We had to assess what the problem was, design a solution, present the solution to the town, and finally construct the fix.”

Like Micucci and Mavrogeorge, the other students are all sophomores studying civil engineering. They are: Khalil Abu-Aisheh of Durham; Greg Avenia of Lincoln, R.I.; Brett Bailey of Salisbury; Michael Blanchette of Berlin; Nick Flagg of Farmington, Maine; Luke Norton of Boscawen and Joel Patrie of Glenville, N.Y.

PHOTO CAPTION
Helping Hands: Michael Blanchette, Nick Flagg, Joe Micucci, Ken Mavrogeorge and Greg Avenia helped Prof. Charlie Goodspeed fix his town hall's rickety fire escape.

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