September 2007
Volume 32, Issue 9

ASCE members have elected D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, to the position of president-elect and have also voted to fill region director, region governor, and at-large director positions. All officers will begin their terms at the business meeting that will form part of this year’s annual conference, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, November 1–3. Additionally, members voted to change the membership grade of honorary member to that of distinguished member; to add the grade of president emeritus; to eliminate the procedural requirement that a Board of Direction–approved constitutional amendment be considered at the annual business meeting before being placed on the membership election ballot; and to replace the word “national” with “Society-level.”

Klotz, who is the president of the Texas-based engineering firm Klotz Associates, Inc., which has offices in Houston, Austin, Lufkin, and San Antonio, earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a master of science in civil engineering from the University of Houston and is a licensed professional engineer in Texas and Louisiana. His involvement in ASCE has included service as Region 6 governor and as chair of committees dealing with political involvement, policy review, employment conditions, the national conference, and government relations at the state level. Klotz has also been very active in the Texas Section and in that section’s Houston Branch.

Klotz’s other volunteer activities include service to the Greater Houston Partnership, the Harris County Flood Control Task Force, the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District, and the civil engineering advisory boards at the University of Houston and Texas A&M University.

In his vision statement Klotz summarized his qualifications as follows: “I have served ASCE at every level. I identify with leaders at the branch and section level because I’ve been in your chair. I served on national committees as we grappled with complicated issues. I served on the Board of Direction when decisions were made that literally changed the direction of our organization. All of these positions have prepared me for the ultimate privilege of leading ASCE in 2008–09.”

Henry J. Hatch, P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, has been elected the at-large director. Hatch earned a bachelor of science from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a master of science in geodetic science from Ohio State University. He is a retired army lieutenant general who served as the commander and chief engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and following his retirement from the military he served as the chairman of the Law Companies in Atlanta; as president and chief executive officer of Fluor Daniel Hanford in Richland, Washington; and as the chief operating officer for ASCE. His ASCE involvement has included service on the International Activities Committee, the Building Security Council’s Board of Directors, and the Technical Activities Committee’s Committee on Sustainability.

Reza Darvishian, P.E., F.ASCE, has been elected the Region 2 director. Darvishian holds a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Missouri and a master of science in engineering management from George Washington University. He has served as the civil engineering group leader for the U.S. Department of State; as a vice president of CH2M HILL; as a regional vice president of Delon Hampton Associates, Inc.; as an associate of PBSJ, Inc.; and as chief operating officer, principal, department head, or project manager at other engineering firms. His ASCE involvement has included service as the District 5 director, chair of the Region 2 Formation Group, and president and vice president of the National Capital Section, and he has served on a wide variety of Society-level committees, among them the International Activities Committee, the Committee on Diversity and Women in Civil Engineering, the Hoover Medal Board of Award Committee, and the Professional Activities Committee. He also represented District 5 in ASCE’s strategic planning process in 1995 and 2000.

David M. Schnurbusch, P.E., M.ASCE, has been elected the director of Region 6. Schnurbusch earned a bachelor science in civil engineering from the University of Vermont. He has served as the president and chief executive officer of the usa Professional Services Group, Inc., and as a project manager for Raymond L. Goodson Engineers, Inc. His ASCE involvement has included service as a member or chair of various committees of the Texas Section’s Dallas Branch, and he has held a number of leadership positions within the branch. He has also served the Texas Section in a number of capacities, including that of president, and has been an officer within the District 15 Council.

Robert W. Stokes, Ph.D., M.ASCE, has been elected the director of Region 7. Stokes earned a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from Antioch College, a master of science in civil engineering from Ohio State University, a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Ohio State University, and a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University. He is presently an adjunct professor of regional and community planning at Kansas State University as well as a professor in the civil engineering department there. He previously served as a program manager in the urban mobility program of Texas A&M University’s Texas Transportation Institute, as an adjunct professor of transportation at Texas Southern University, and as an associate research planner at the Texas Transportation Institute. His ASCE involvement has included service as a faculty adviser to Kansas State University’s student chapter, a member of the Committee on Student Activities, a member and chair of the District 16 Council, a Region 7 governor, and a charter member of the Transportation and Development Institute.

Potenciano A. Leoncio, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE, has been elected the director of Region 10. Leoncio earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Santo Tomas, in the Philippines, and a master’s degree in construction management from Polytechnic University, and he is an accredited construction arbitrator for the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission. He is a principal associate of P.A. Leoncio, Jr. & Associates and has served as a senior manager for Pennoni International in the Philippines, a vice president of Philippine Orion Properties, the executive director of the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board, the construction division assistant manager for Philippine Infrastructure, a systems and control officer for Isabela Wood Construction, a vice president of Complex Concrete, an office and resident works engineer for Amalgamated Project Management, and an office and control engineer for the Erectors Company. Within ASCE he was one of the signers of the first agreement of cooperation between ASCE and the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers; the program committee chair and a steering committee member of the first Civil Engineering Conference in the Asian Region (CECAR); a cofounder, past president, and executive director of the international group in the Philippines; a member and corresponding member of the Membership Committee; a corresponding member of the International Activities Committee; a vice-chair and governor of Region 10; and a member of the Construction Institute.

Elected as governors are Leonard Cilli, A.M.ASCE, and Anthony M. Puntin, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 1; Kim Parker Brown, P.E., M.ASCE, and Christopher J. Menna, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 2; David F. Pritchard, P.E., M.ASCE, and Donald G. Wittmer, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 3; Charles W. Black, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE, David D. Dee, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE, and Theresa E. Harrison, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 4; E. Bruce Lawson, P.E., M.ASCE, Norma Jean Mattei, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, and Lisa S. Woods, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 5; Thomas A. Chapel, CPG, P.E., M.ASCE, and Michael A. Vander Wert, P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 7; Dale A. Nelson, P.E., F.ASCE, and Dennis L. Richards, P.E., D.WRE, f.ASCE, in Region 8; and Anthony A. Akel, P.E., M.ASCE, and Joan Al-Kazily, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, in Region 9.

For complete biographies and vision statements of those elected, see the June issue of ASCE News.

Officers Elected Constitutional Amendments
Proposal	Yes	No
Revise the title of the grade of honorary member to that of distinguished member and add the grade of president emeritus. Invalid or blank ballots:  132 Total votes processed: 6,132	5,005	995
Eliminate the procedural requirement that a Board of Direction–approved constitutional amendment be considered at the annual business meeting before being placed on the membership election ballot. Invalid or blank ballots:  180 Total votes processed: 6,132	4,468	1,484
Replace the word “national” with “Society-level.” Invalid or blank ballots:  182 Total votes processed: 6,132	4,846	1,104
Participation Summary
2007:
Eligible members	93,847
Voters, paper	1,903
Voters, Web	4,229
Total voter participation	6,132
Participation rate	6.5%
2006:
Eligible members	93,558
Voters, paper	2,329
Voters, Web	4,458
Total voter participation	6,787
Participation rate	7.3%
The Tellers’ Committee convened on Thursday, August 16, in the Past Presidents’ Room at asce headquarters, in Reston, Virginia, to review and validate the results of the 2007 national election for the positions of president-elect, region director, and region governor and the results of the vote on certain constitutional amendments. The accompanying tables summarize those results. Respectfully submitted, J.A. Padgett, Jr., P.E., F.ASCE, Chair; Geoffrey S. Baskir, M.ASCE; Denise M. Cantwell, P.E., M.ASCE; and Kimberly C. Hughes, P.E., M.ASCE
Candidate	Votes
President-Elect:
D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE	5,838
Invalid or blank	294
Total votes processed	6,132
At-Large Director:
Henry J. Hatch, P.E., Hon.M.ASCE	5,750
Invalid or blank	382
Total votes processed	6,132
Governor, Region 1 (two positions):
Leonard Cilli, A.M.ASCE	592
Anthony M. Puntin, P.E., M.ASCE	644
Invalid or blank	21
Total votes processed	721
Director, Region 2 (one position):
Reza Darvishian, P.E., F.ASCE	512
Invalid or blank	40
Total votes processed	552
Governor, Region 2 (two positions):
Kim Parker Brown, P.E., M.ASCE	462
Christopher J. Menna, P.E., M.ASCE	433
Invalid or blank	21
Total votes processed	552
Governor, Region 3 (two positions):
David F. Pritchard, P.E., M.ASCE	638
Donald G. Wittmer, P.E., M.ASCE	601
Invalid or blank	16
Total votes processed	745
Governor, Region 4 (three positions):
Charles W. Black, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE	481
David D. Dee, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE	517
Theresa E. Harrison, P.E., M.ASCE	519
Invalid or blank	23
Total votes processed	659
Governor, Region 5 (three positions):
E. Bruce Lawson, P.E., M.ASCE	461
Norma Jean Mattei, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE	504
Lisa S. Woods, P.E., M.ASCE	462
Invalid or blank	9
Total votes processed	624
Director, Region 6 (one position):
David M. Schnurbusch, P.E., M.ASCE	511
Invalid or blank	31
Total votes processed	542
Director, Region 7 (one position):
Robert W. Stokes, Ph.D., M.ASCE	498
Invalid or blank	23
Total votes processed	521
Governor, Region 7 (two positions):
Thomas A. Chapel, CPG, P.E., M.ASCE	419
Michael A. Vander Wert, P.E., M.ASCE	442
Invalid or blank	13
Total votes processed	521
Governor, Region 8 (two positions):
Dale A. Nelson, P.E., F.ASCE	530
Dennis L. Richards, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE	536
Invalid or blank	12
Total votes processed	669
Governor, Region 9 (two positions):
Anthony A. Akel, P.E., M.ASCE	605
Joan Al-Kazily, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE	584
Invalid or blank	15
Total votes processed	737
Director, Region 10 (one position):
Potenciano A. Leoncio, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE	285
Invalid or blank	47
Total votes processed	332

Shortly after the collapse last month in Minneapolis of the Interstate 35W bridge, asce was flooded with calls and e-mails from journalists and other individuals and groups seeking technical information, insight, and guidance. The following day, asce’s executive director, Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, told the CBS Evening News what the Society has been stressing for decades. “One of America’s great assets is its infrastructure,” he said. “But if you don’t invest, it deteriorates. When you throw the switch and the power doesn’t come on, when you turn your faucet and clean water doesn’t come out, then you pay attention to it. That’s too late,” remarked Natale in front of a television camera on a humid Thursday afternoon.

At least 12 people were killed and more than 100 injured after the central span of the I-35W bridge gave way during the evening rush hour and adjoining spans buckled. Large portions of the bridge fell more than 60 ft (18.3 m), sending dozens of vehicles into the dark waters of the Mississippi. “I heard it creaking and making all sorts of noises it shouldn’t make—and then the bridge just started to fall apart,” Jay Danz, who was driving below the bridge, told Minneapolis and St. Paul’s Star Tribune.

Although the calamity has prompted states throughout the country to inspect their aging bridges, asce estimates that it will cost $9.4 billion a year for 20 years to eliminate all of the nation’s bridge deficiencies. The Society assigned bridges a grade of C in its 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, but since then improvements have been negligible. More than 25 percent of U.S. bridges are currently structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. Moreover, long-term underinvestment has been compounded by the absence of a federal transportation program.

“We react to tragedy when lives are lost, but we fail to take preemptive action that could prevent these tragic events,” Representative Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, acknowledged last month in a press release. “We ask ourselves if such a tragic failure can happen elsewhere. How many structurally deficient bridges are out there? What repairs are immediately needed? We cannot wait for another tragedy. We must act, and act quickly.”

Apparently Oberstar has taken his own advice. On August 8 he announced that he would sponsor an initiative that would create a trust fund for the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of structurally deficient bridges in the nation’s highway system (see Policy Briefing, Civil Engineering, September 2007). Funds would be distributed on the basis of public safety and need, and the plan would prohibit any congressional or administration earmarks. The initiative would also aim to improve bridge inspection requirements by increasing the frequency of inspections, updating procedures and techniques, and providing better training for bridge inspectors.

“The announcement by Representative Oberstar of legislation to immediately address the public safety issues posed by the national highway system’s structurally deficient bridges is a promising display of support that has often been lacking on this issue and will no doubt be a great service to the American public,” asce’s president, W.F. Marcuson III, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, said on August 10. “For the safety and security of our families, we as a nation can no longer afford to ignore this growing problem. We must demand leadership from our elected officials because without action aging infrastructure represents a growing threat to public health, safety, and welfare, as well as to the economic well-being of our nation.”

ASCE has been working with Oberstar’s staff to provide expertise on bridge safety and inspections and to help him refine his proposal. It has also been busy promoting an initiative of its own entitled Raising the Grades: Small Steps for Big Improvements in America’s Failing Infrastructure. This plan calls for enactment of the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 to establish a national commission on infrastructure; reauthorizing funding for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and increasing user fees as necessary for continued funding of airport improvements; funding surface transportation programs authorized under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU); using all funds that accumulate in the Highway Trust Fund to invest in the nation’s surface transportation program; reauthorizing the Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2001; enacting the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007; establishing a national levee safety program; enacting the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007; authorizing $1 billion in annual funding for the Safe Drinking Water Act’s State Revolving Loan Fund; enacting the Water Resources Development Act of 2007; and ensuring the integrity of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.

The National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 775)—which was introduced on March 7 by Senators George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), Tom Carper (D-Delaware), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D–New York), and Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota) and approved by the Senate on August 2—would create a national commission on infrastructure aimed at ensuring that the nation’s infrastructure met current and future demands and bolstered economic growth. The legislation would also require that the commission conduct a comprehensive study of infrastructure and develop recommendations for a federal plan outlining national infrastructure priorities. It would also specify the analyses and criteria to be used by federal, state, and local agencies in inventorying and assessing infrastructure.

On July 18 one person was killed and more than 30 were injured in New York City after a steam pipe exploded beneath a street near Grand Central Terminal. “I looked out the window and I saw these huge chunks that I thought were hail,” Debbie Tontodonato told a cbs journalist that day. “We panicked. I think everyone thought the worst. Thank God it wasn’t. It was like a cattle drive going down the stairs, with everyone pushing. I almost fell down the stairs.”

About a week later ASCE’s president-elect, David G. Mongan, P.E., F.ASCE, was a guest on National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show. “The steam line that ruptured in New York City was almost a hundred years old,” he said. “Our water systems are that old too. Many of the bridges in the U.S. are over a hundred years old. The biggest single problem is the age of our facilities, and the lack of investment in the repair, maintenance, and expansion of our infrastructure clearly ranks up there as another reason why [our infrastructure has declined]. Also, the growth of our population and the fact that more and more people are living in our urban areas create greater stress and impacts on our infrastructure systems.”

The nation’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure systems each received a grade of D– in asce’s 2005 assessment. Although the United States faces a shortfall of $11 billion annually to replace aging facilities and comply with current drinking water regulations, federal funding for drinking water remains at less than 10 percent of the total national requirement, says the 2005 report. Many wastewater systems have reached the end of their useful design lives and are plagued by chronic overflows during major rainstorms and heavy snowmelts, discharging billions of gallons of untreated sewage into U.S. surface waters each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the nation will need to invest $390 billion over the next 20 years to replace existing systems and build new ones to meet increasing demands.

In a letter to Natale dated August 3, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) acknowledged that the probable cause of last year’s fatal ceiling collapse in the I-90 connector tunnel in Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel Project (“Big Dig”) was the use of an epoxy anchor adhesive with poor creep resistance. The ntsb made clear that the use of an inappropriate epoxy formulation reflected a general lack of understanding of creep in adhesive anchoring systems among members of the construction community. Epoxy is a polymer, and its stiffness is time and temperature dependent. If a load is applied suddenly, the epoxy responds like a hard solid. But if the load is then held constant, the molecules within the polymer may begin to rearrange themselves and slide past one another, causing the epoxy to gradually deform.

The NTSB urged asce to alert the profession of the need to assess the creep characteristics of adhesive anchors before those anchors are subjected to sustained tensile loads. “Because civil engineers and general contractors involved in civil and commercial construction are generally not expected to be familiar with the complex chemistry of epoxies or similar adhesives and yet may specify or use adhesive anchors in their projects, the Safety Board believes that the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Associated General Contractors of America should use the circumstances of this accident to publicize the problems associated with adhesive anchoring systems to their members,” the letter reads.

Overall, ASCE gives the nation’s infrastructure a grade of D and estimates that $1.6 trillion will be needed over a five-year period to improve it sufficiently to meet today’s demands. Establishing a long-term development and maintenance plan must become a national priority. At its annual conference, which will be held in Orlando, Florida, November 1–3, asce will be sponsoring a workshop on the planning, design, construction, and management of our nation’s infrastructure. Attendees will learn how to maximize the life span of today’s infrastructure projects by designing them for the world of tomorrow. A special session also will be offered to discuss the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, the Big Dig roof tragedy, and the I-35W bridge collapse. For more information, contact Amanda Rushing at arushing@asce.org or (703)295-6060.

Mark Fitzgerald

Notice of Vacancy for Society Offices
For a list of openings for the Society’s elected offices for the upcoming year, please visit www.asce.org.

On August 1 the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495), legislation that authorizes approximately 400 new water resources projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including undertakings for flood control, navigation, and environmental restoration. Its passage by a vote of 381 to 40 ensures that the House can override a promised presidential veto. The total cost of the bill has been put at about $20 billion.

“It has been almost seven years since Congress last authorized federal water resources projects, and $20 billion represents a modest down payment toward covering the nation’s staggering waterways investment gap,” wrote ASCE’s executive director, Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, in a letter dated August 1 to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. “Moreover, H.R. 1495 contains a number of programs of paramount importance for the nation’s economy and environment, including funding to restore the Louisiana coastal ecosystem, the destruction of which had such catastrophic consequences for the country during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and critical projects to bring back the Florida Everglades.”

The bill authorizes the Corps to conduct studies on water resource needs and to complete feasibility studies for specified projects. It also extends, terminates, or modifies existing authorizations for various water projects and authorizes new water resources programs.

“We are deeply concerned over the provisions in section 2034 of the conference report relating to the requirements for the independent peer review of water resources projects undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorized by the act,” Natale wrote to Pelosi. “We believe section 2034 may compromise the public health, safety, and welfare by failing to provide for truly independent peer reviews. The bill would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers too many ways to opt out of the peer review process. Moreover, the bill could allow many projects to escape peer review altogether through the imposition of a $45 million cost threshold.”

In 2005 ASCE established the External Review Panel to peer-review the work of the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET)—the body commissioned by the Corps to review the performance of the hurricane protection system in New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana. Since then the erp has endeavored to provide an objective technical review of the IPET’s findings, the most recent of which included a prototype risk assessment of the hurricane protection system that profiles pre-Katrina and current protection system conditions and demonstrates the dynamics of risk and the effects of system improvements on risk and vulnerability. The ERP is in the process of completing a technical review of this risk assessment.

“ASCE believes that Congress must order independent peer reviews for all Corps of Engineers projects—regardless of their cost—whenever their performance is critical to the public health, safety, and welfare or when their reliability under emergency conditions is critical,” Natale stated in the letter. “These reviews may well have saved lives in New Orleans in 2005. The catastrophic failure of the city’s levee system during Hurricane Katrina might have been avoided or greatly lessened by following sound engineering principles decades earlier. The conference bill does nothing to advance the use of the best engineering knowledge on critical water resources systems. Congress must enact legislation to establish an Office of Peer Review within the [Corps] to oversee independent peer reviews to be conducted through boards of consultants composed of individuals with expertise in engineering project design and construction, environmental restoration, economics, and other disciplines necessary to ensure the integrity of the peer reviews.”

In August 2006 the Corps, in a plan called 12 Actions for Change, outlined methods for improving the safety of the nation’s water resources infrastructure. Developed in a collaborative effort that drew on the expertise of ASCE, the National Science Foundation, and Louisiana State University, the plan reflected the Corps’s resolve to design, construct, maintain, and update engineered systems to be more robust and ensure full stakeholder participation; to pursue effective and transparent communication with the public and within its own ranks with regard to risk and reliability; and to advance public service professionalism.

The steps outlined in the plan included adopting an integrated, comprehensive, and systems-based approach; applying risk-based concepts in planning, design, construction, operations, and major maintenance; and continuously reassessing and updating policy as it relates to program development, planning guidance, and design and construction standards. Moreover, the Corps stated in the plan that it intended to avail itself of the advantages conferred by dynamic independent review; to employ adaptive planning and engineering systems; to focus on sustainability; to review and inspect completed works; to assess and modify its organizational behavior; to effectively communicate risk and develop risk reduction strategies that involve the public; to manage and enhance technical expertise and professionalism; and to invest in research.

“The conference bill would not mandate the creation of a strong, accountable national program to ensure the safeguarding of life and property threatened by unsafe public and private levees,” wrote Natale. “Instead, it would establish a committee to develop recommendations for a national levee safety program. Our extended review of the failures of the New Orleans levees in 2005 provides ample justification for the immediate creation of a national levee safety program. We are at a loss to know what else must be studied to justify any delay in the formation of a program intended to avert further disasters on the scale experienced by the people of Louisiana.”

The scope of the analysis conducted by the erp has included data collection on the condition of the hurricane protection system before and after Hurricane Katrina struck; a review of project construction and maintenance; numerical modeling to characterize the storm surge; an analysis of floodwalls, pumping stations, and levee performance; an evaluation of the ramifications of economic decisions associated with the hurricane protection system; and an examination of the engineering and operational risk and reliability of the system.

“ASCE supports the language in section 2031, Water Resources Principles and Guidelines,” wrote Natale. “Section 2031 would require the Corps of Engineers to revise within two years the Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (Principles and Guidelines, or P&G) first issued in 1983. The p&g [section] is badly outdated and in need of revision. ASCE first brought this issue to the attention of Congress in 2004, and we have consistently supported plans to modernize the P&G.”

ASCE also supports federal and state legislation and regulations to protect the public from the catastrophic effects of levee failures. According to Policy 511, which the Board of Direction adopted last year, the federal government has a responsibility for the safety of all federally funded and regulated levees, and state governments must enact legislation authorizing specified bodies to implement a program of levee safety for nonfederal levees. The policy also emphasizes that federal and state governments should be required to conduct mandatory safety inspections of all levees and establish a national inventory of levees.

The bill passed by the House constitutes “the beginning of the process of improving America’s waterways,” the letter concludes. “We look forward to working with Congress in the coming months to repair those policy deficiencies mentioned above that we believe will compromise the effectiveness of the projects authorized in H.R. 1495.”

—Mark Fitzgerald

Civil Engineers, It's Time for Action!

Across the country, the safety and condition of our infrastructure have been making headlines. Last month, the Midwest suffered a catastrophic event when the bridge carrying Interstate 35W over the Mississippi in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour, sending dozens of vehicles and tons of concrete and twisted metal into the waters below. The National Transportation Safety Board is gathering and reviewing all of the evidence related to the failure.

However, it is important to look at the larger issue. What needs to be done to repair and strengthen our nation’s infrastructure to make our country safer for future generations? The infrastructure crisis involves the civil engineering profession and our government. Addressing this crisis must be seen as crucial by our lawmakers. At the same time, civil engineers—those who build and maintain our country’s infrastructure—must provide the tools needed by lawmakers to make the right decisions.

Civil engineers are public servants, and we must have the guts—or, as my mother would say, the backbone—to speak up when public safety is at stake. Our Code of Ethics requires us to place public safety first when practicing our profession. This code is supported by our vision of tomorrow’s civil engineer, the vision reflected in ASCE’s Policy 465 (“Academic Prerequisites for Licensure and Professional Practice”). Civil engineers cannot be yes-people. Those of us who work as government servants are paid to give sound advice and expert opinions to decision makers. When a decision is made that flies in the face of public safety, we civil engineers must challenge that decision. The related issues are rarely black and white. They are often shades of gray, adding to our challenge to do what is right. Our responsibility to render ethical decisions to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public must be instilled in our students today, for they will be tomorrow’s engineers. Moreover, we must ensure that our lawmakers share this attitude.

It is frustrating that our nation finds itself in “reaction mode” when an event like this occurs. Sadly, it takes a tragedy to shock our system into “action mode.” This was a hot topic at the levee conference recently hosted by ASCE’s Sacramento Section and the Society of American Military Engineers (see “Conference Assesses Levee Safety in California, Calls for National Water Resources Plan,” ASCE News, August 2007). The discussion there centered on levees along the Sacramento, American, and San Joaquin rivers that were built about 100 years ago and haven’t been modernized or adequately maintained to serve the current population. The civil engineering leaders at that conference emphasized that we must repair and renew our infrastructure before disaster strikes.

I urge you to regularly visit www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/actionplan07.cfm, the page at our Web site devoted to our infrastructure action plan. This plan—Raising the Grades: Small Steps for Big Improvements in America’s Failing Infrastructure—outlines measures that Congress should implement to shore up our infrastructure, and the page is updated regularly to reflect new developments. asce worked closely with senators and their staffs in drawing up the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 775), which was recently passed by the Senate. This act would create a commission to study the infrastructure issues and make recommendations on priorities and funding. On the House side, Representative Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced on August 8 that he would sponsor an initiative to create a trust fund for the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of structurally deficient bridges in the nation’s highway system. This is a promising display of support that has often been lacking. However, it is essential to remember that legislative initiatives, while certainly a good first step, are only the beginning.

ASCE regularly assesses our nation’s infrastructure and issues “report cards.” In our 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, we assigned the country’s various infrastructure systems an overall grade of D. That assessment noted that we will need to spend $1.6 trillion over the next five years to ensure that infrastructure can meet the demands that will be placed on it.

At the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asce conducted an in-depth review of the work done by the Corps’s Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force in evaluating the effectiveness of the hurricane protection system in New Orleans and southeastern Louisiana. Our External Review Panel released its final report in June, and that document called attention to the multiplicity of jurisdictions involved and the cumulative effect of questionable decisions and inadequate communications between organizations. We learned that the hurricane protection system was constructed as individual pieces, not as an interconnected system. These findings relate to the challenges we face today. To obtain action, we need to work together to find solutions to our infrastructure crisis.

In light of recent events, many are now revisiting the 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure to see what that assessment had to say about our nation’s bridges. Its findings in that respect were indeed sobering: 27 percent of the nation’s bridges were considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. In 2006 that percentage was reduced to 25.8, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Under FHWA regulations, all bridges must be inspected every two years. If a bridge is deemed structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, the fhwa may conduct more frequent inspections to better monitor its condition. According to the FHWA, a bridge becomes structurally deficient when significant elements undergo deterioration. Functional obsolescence occurs when a bridge’s design no longer meets current needs in the areas of, for example, lane widths or truck clearance heights or when the bridge fails to satisfy current design standards. If a bridge’s inspection rating is low enough to constitute a threat to public safety, the structure must be closed for repairs or traffic must be restricted. Maintaining the nation’s bridges and other transportation infrastructure would cost roughly $9.4 billion a year for 20 years, according to the FHWA.

Time is working against our country’s infrastructure. We have underinvested for decades, and we are being hit with the hard reality that ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away. asce has informed the nation about the failing grades of our infrastructure, but the response has been muted. Addressing America’s infrastructure crisis will take true leadership in the government arena. We want our leaders in public policy to make infrastructure a national priority. Aging infrastructure is not a partisan issue; bridges are neither Republican nor Democrat.

Civil engineers need to pull together with government and community leaders to ensure that legislation that will make a difference in our infrastructure is enacted. The solutions that will be required to upgrade our transportation system and improve the capacity and safety of our highways will no doubt be multifaceted, and the response will have to go beyond simply building more roads and bridges. Assessing needs and meeting those needs in a way that reflects the principles of sustainable development will be of paramount importance.

We must all keep in mind that infrastructure exists to connect people. We depend on infrastructure to do our daily jobs and to safely travel from point A to point B. No matter where you live in this country, failing infrastructure is affecting your quality of life. In many areas, the roads, drinking water systems, and dams are simply too old. Like everything else in the physical realm, infrastructure has a life span. Good maintenance can extend that life span, and poor maintenance will surely shorten it. Far too many of our mass transit systems, highways, bridges, and systems for delivering energy lack the funding needed for proper maintenance. This affects each and every one of us on a daily basis.

I encourage members to move into “action mode” and to get involved in public policy issues on the national and local levels. Our Key Contact Program (www.asce.org/pressroom/publicpolicy/keycont.cfm) offers resources that will help you keep abreast of issues and will notify you when your expertise as a civil engineer is needed to influence public policy. By working together throughout the country, we can make a difference. Please do your part.

—W.F. Marcuson III,
Ph.D., P.E.,  Hon.M.ASCE

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 (H.R. 3224), legislation to provide up to $200 million over five years to address deficiencies in the nation’s publicly owned nonfederal dams. ASCE’s 2005 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure conferred a grade of D on the nation’s dams, the same grade as that for U.S. infrastructure as a whole. State dam safety programs have designated more than 3,300 dams as unsafe, meaning that their deficiencies render them susceptible to failure, especially during earthquakes or large floods. The number of unsafe dams will continue to increase until a funding source is created to repair them. The Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 would help repair some of these unsafe dams. asce strongly supports the legislation and worked closely with committee leaders in crafting the bill. Thanks are in order to the participants in our Key Contact Program who asked their congressional representatives to support the bill. Please continue to enlist the support of your representative for this bill when it is considered by the full House. Visit www.asce.org/pressroom/publicpolicy/advocacy.cfm to learn more about the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007. With just a few mouse clicks, that site will also help you send a message to your representative.

As reported in the Policy Briefing section in this month’s issue of Civil Engineering, on August 9 President Bush signed into law legislation that seeks to bolster scientific education and research and thus enhance the nation’s competitiveness. Developed largely in response to the National Academies’ report Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, the law—America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (P.L. 110-69)—authorizes $33.6 billion in fiscal years 2008 through 2010 for research and education programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It also expands an existing NSF program that provides grants to researchers early in their careers and creates a pilot program to confer seed grants on promising new investigators.

With infrastructure in the headlines across the country, members of Congress scrambled to address the topic before leaving Washington for the August recess. ASCE’s staff worked closely with senators and their staffs to ensure that the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 775) would be passed by the full Senate, and that successful vote came on August 2. This ASCE-endorsed legislation would create a national commission to study the nation’s infrastructure needs and make recommendations for improvement. Also, as mentioned above, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has approved the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007. If these measures continue to make progress in Congress, asce may be able to achieve two goals in its infrastructure action plan—Raising the Grades: Small Steps for Big Improvements in America’s Failing Infrastructure. For additional information about that plan, visit www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/actionplan07.cfm.

ASCE’s Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology (TCCIT) has been actively involved in efforts to increase international cooperation for the past 20 years. In this vein it initiated an ambitious and extensive program of cooperation with several European countries through the European Group for Intelligent Computing in Engineering. The cooperation took the form of joint workshops, research projects, and publications and also was reflected in special issues of asce’s Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. The success was such that it led to the idea of a global center that would focus on computing. The TCCIT succeeded in securing the support of the asce leadership and received a grant that will enable such a center to thrive. The Global Center of Excellence in Computing has now been officially established by asce’s Technical Activities Committee. Its goal is “to advance computing in civil engineering for use in research, education, and practice.” For additional information about the center, visit www.asceglobalcenter.org.

ASCE’s Leader Education and Development (LEAD) program, an eight-month course that instills confidence in engineering managers and imparts important leadership skills, will begin again on November 8 at asce’s headquarters, in Reston, Virginia. The program is designed to enhance one’s ability to communicate effectively, handle conflict situations, build trust with colleagues and clients, and nurture leadership traits in others. Both public- and private-sector participants have benefited greatly from the faculty’s expertise and from interactive discussions that enable participants share various lessons learned. The program gives participants time to focus on their effectiveness as leaders and their ability to fulfill missions by drawing to the fullest possible extent on the talents and abilities of those on their staffs. It also enables them to earn up to 40 professional development hours and 4 continuing education units. For information about the course and about benefits, dates, registration, and more, visit www.asce.org/professional/lead/ or contact Melissa Prelewicz, P.E., ASCE’s professional activities director, at mprelewicz@asce.org.

The Member Resource Guide for 2007–08 is now available. The guide will help you get the most out of your ASCE membership by serving as your map to career-enhancing opportunities. You will find industry information, technical and practice area resources, networking and career resources, and more. This guide was sent to you with the August issue of Civil Engineering. If you did not receive it, telephone our customer service department at (800) 548-asce or (703) 295-6300 or e-mail them at member@asce.org.

In the recently concluded elections, members agreed with the Board of Direction that the term “honorary” does not adequately recognize the contributions that ASCE’s 555 honorary members have made to civil engineering and to society in general. As the article on the election elsewhere in this issue explains, the Society’s members voted to rename the grade honorary member as distinguished member. All rights and privileges remain unchanged. The search for those worthy of this grade is currently open, and your input is encouraged by the October 1 deadline. Also being accepted until October 1 are nominations for awards in our Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) program. For more information and helpful downloads, visit www.asce.org/awards.

Did you know that this will be the fifth consecutive year in which ASCE will be organizing a community service event to complement its annual conference? The conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, November 1–3, and the volunteer work will be on Sunday, November 4. By participating you will be showing your gratitude to our host city in the best possible way. Our site this year is Orlando’s Frontline Outreach Center, a nonprofit facility that serves children and families by offering preschool programs, after-school programs, and recreational opportunities. The volunteer work will involve painting, landscaping, improvements to the parking facilities, and construction of an enclosure for a trash dumpster. We need your time, expertise, and sense of humor. For further details, visit the Web site for the conference (www.asceannualconference.org) and click on “Post-Conference Programs” or contact Alicia Karwoski, asce’s manager of professional practice, at (800) 548-2723, extension 6324, or akarwoski@asce.org. To see what volunteers have accomplished at previous annual conferences, visit www.asce.org/professional/commservice/, where you will see volunteers in action at facilities around the nation.

ASCE’s Committee on Critical Infrastructure is sponsoring a track at the fall meeting of the Mississippi Section that will concern itself with long-term disaster recovery issues. The meeting will be held September 26–28 in Biloxi at the ip Casino Resort Spa, and the program will focus on long-term issues affecting the civil engineering community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A tour of the Gulf Coast area with discussions of the rebuilding will be held on September 28. Space for this tour is limited, and reservations will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees will be eligible to earn professional development hours. Online registration, sponsor and exhibitor information, and information about travel and hotel accommodations are available at https://transportation.wes.army.mil/msasce/info.aspx. A proceedings volume summarizing the lessons learned for long-term recovery will be available after the conference.

Casey Dinges, Aff.M.ASCE, the Society’s managing director of external affairs, was invited to participate in the August 26 segment of The McLaughlin Group, a Sunday morning political affairs television show during which noted journalists discuss current issues affecting the nation. Dinges was invited to participate in the group’s discussion of the nation’s infrastructure issues and made a powerful case for the urgent need to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure.

—Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE
Executive Director

TCLEE Team Visits Japan to Study Earthquake’s Effects

Last month ASCE’s Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering sent a team of experts to investigate the damage caused by the earthquake that struck Japan on July 16. The temblor was centered just off the west coast of Honsh¯u near Niigata. The earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.6, and ground shaking levels and ground failures were intensified owing to the presence of soft and liquefiable soils and the proximity of river systems and floodplains with high groundwater levels. Structural damage was largely the result of soil failures caused by liquefaction, lateral spreading, and subsidence. The maximum ground acceleration was 6.67 m/s² and the damage was greatest in the western city of Kashiwazaki, which has a population of 96,000.
The field reconnaissance team stayed in Kashiwazaki, and disaster preparedness officials there provided its members with a brief summary of the earthquake’s effects. There were 11 fatalities, and 1,339 people were injured. In Kashiwazaki 908 houses were destroyed, and the number of people requiring emergency shelter numbered 11,000. Of that number, all but 1,000 have now returned to their homes, and temporary housing is being constructed to meet immediate needs. Military units have been providing relief support, and approximately 7,000 volunteers from outside the region have been assisting the people affected by the earthquake.

Although in comparison with many other earthquakes the human casualties were minimal, the temblor took its toll. People were particularly concerned about the safety of the country’s largest nuclear facility, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which has a capacity of 7,965 MW. As a consequence of the damage reported there, the plant will be closed for a year. The team observed various levels of damage to buildings in the region, as well as to such lifelines as bridges, highways, railways, water and wastewater facilities, and gas and electric power lines.

The poor soil in the region contributed significantly to the damage, which was especially noticeable along the coast and in the floodplains. Landslides and ground deformation damaged highways, roads, and railways in many locations. The damage sustained by the wastewater treatment plant in the region affected its operations. The team also observed differential movements at bridge abutments.

According to the prefecture government, the damage to local infrastructure, including housing, will exceed $13 billion. Some lifelines suffered less damage than others, but the overall effect on the economy has been pronounced. The Associated Press press reported on July 26 that the loss of revenue from the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant could exceed $1.66 billion.

Engineers Needed for Millennium Goals Project

The Earth Institute at Columbia University is providing an exciting opportunity for asce members. Through an initiative called Millennium Villages, organized by the group Millennium Promise, engineers will be able to fight poverty in sub-Saharan Africa in a very direct way. By investing as little as two weeks on-site and following up the trip with consultations by e-mail, civil engineers will be able to help improve the quality of life in a village in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, or some other African country.

The Millennium Villages program is an outgrowth of the United Nations Millennium Summit, held in September 2000. World leaders at that gathering agreed to a set of development goals to be met by 2015, among them reducing poverty, providing universal primary education, and halting the spread of disease. Funded by a five-year grant from the Lenfest Foundation, the Millennium Villages program addresses itself to a number of challenges in poor countries, including lack of access to clean water. The goals of the program were developed by experts at the Earth Institute. Sub-Saharan Africa is of particular interest because it has the highest rate of malnutrition in the world. Indeed, a third of the people there are undernourished. Since surface water sources in the region are often ephemeral and of poor quality, groundwater is typically the primary and preferred source.

Ensuring sustainable groundwater exploitation is therefore an essential component of the Millennium Villages initiative. Progress here will require a solid understanding of the subsurface geology, especially as it pertains to the presence and movement of ground-water. To this end, hydrogeological surveys of the project sites are required to assess groundwater potential and demarcate areas holding promise. Such assessments will assist in developing long-term, sustainable strategies for using surface water and groundwater to provide drinking water as well as water for agriculture. Civil engineers with appropriate backgrounds can help make this happen.

Unfortunately, Millennium Villages grants do not cover the cost of engineering services, and it is for this reason that Columbia’s Earth Institute is looking to asce. It is anticipated that the on-site work in any one village will take about two weeks, during which the asce volunteer will undertake a rudimentary hydrogeological survey. Equally important, the engineer will provide basic instruction to villagers on developing and maintaining simple water and waste management infrastructure. Upon returning home, it is expected that the engineer will maintain contact with the village and the project staff via e-mail or phone to respond to follow-up questions and concerns. For the engineer, this presents an opportunity for tremendous professional development, not to mention the personal growth and true sense of accomplishment that will follow.

However, there are costs involved. It is estimated that approximately $10,000 in travel and subsistence expenses will be incurred per trip, and interested asce members would therefore have to find a funding source. Typically, it is expected that the engineer’s employer will provide these funds. The idea is that if the employee is willing to give up two weeks of personal time to help African villagers who are in such desperate need, then his or her employer should seriously consider providing the wherewithal to make it happen. This would be a particularly worthwhile contribution for companies that desire their employees to have more of an international vision.

ASCE members who are interested in applying for one of these assignments should contact Michael Sanio at asce at (703) 295-6116 or msanio@asce.org. More information about the Millennium Villages initiative and about the group Millennium Promise may be found at www.millenniumpromise.org.

New Committee Will Implement Body of Knowledge

The Committee on the Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice (CAP³), the group charged with helping the Society realize Policy 465 (“Academic Prerequisites for Licensure and Professional Practice”), is organizing a new committee. The mission of this new group will be to ensure that the body of knowledge deemed necessary for the practice of engineering at the professional level finds reflection in academic curricula. To be called the Body of Knowledge Educational Fulfillment Committee, it will be made up of scholars interested in engineering educational reform. It will base its work on the labors of the Second Edition of the Body of Knowledge Committee and will seek to define ways in which this body of knowledge can be incorporated into the engineering curriculum. Members will also be guided by the asce report The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 and by the draft of the report prepared by the Second Edition of the Body of Knowledge Committee (Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future).

CAP³ is interested in attracting civil engineering educational leaders from a broad cross section of institutions engaged in curriculum development. As many as 10 individuals will be selected as full members of this new committee, and as many as 20 others will be selected as correspondents. The new committee will begin its work this December and will complete its mission by December 2009. The time and work commitment will be considerably greater than for an average asce or professional committee. Interested members are urged to review the draft of the Second Edition of the Body of Knowledge Committee’s report, along with other documents related to the implementation of Policy 465, at www.asce.org/raisethebar. (See also “Preparing the Civil Engineer of Tomorrow by ‘Raising the Bar,’” Civil Engineering, September 2007.)

An application form for committee membership may be downloaded from the Web site given above, and it must be received by asce no later than November 1. It is anticipated that the number of applicants will far exceed the number of places, and the level of interest certainly augurs well for the committee’s success. Questions regarding the committee should be sent to Kenneth J. Fridley, Ph.D., M.ASCE, at kfridley@eng.ua.edu; to Jeffrey S. Russell, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, at russell@engr.wisc.edu; or to Thomas A. Lenox, Ph.D., M.ASCE, at tlenox@asce.org.

EWRI Solicits Comments On New Standard

On August 20 ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) announced its intention to hold a public comment period on revisions to the standard ASCE33-01 (Comprehensive Transboundary International Water Quality Management Agreement). The standard under review has sections dealing with water quality management, financing, and dispute resolution. In addition to bibliographic references, it outlines policies and contains guidelines for developing transboundary water quality standards.

The purpose of the standard is to provide a framework within which governments can adopt or modify arrangements for ensuring the quality and managing the supply of shared water resources. The public comment period will run from September 20, 2007, to November 5, 2007.

To participate, contact Phillip Mariscal, ASCE’s standards administrator, at pmariscal@asce.org or (703) 295-6338. For more information on this standard or on ASCE’s standards program, contact Karen Albers at kalbers@asce.org or (703) 295-6404.

• The Construction Institute’s Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data Committee will be meeting on Thursday, November 1, in Renton, Washington, at the regional office of the Federal Aviation Administration. The meeting will run from 10 am to 4 pm. After welcoming new members, participants will discuss ASCE 38-02 (Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data). The way in which the standard is being used will be discussed, along with potential revisions to the standard. This will be followed by a discussion of revisions to asce’s codes and standards program and of documents pertaining to new rules and procedures. For additional information, contact James Anspach, M.ASCE, the committee chair, at jhanspach@aol.com.
• The Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s Managed Aquifer Recharge Standards Committee will be meeting in Phoenix on October 28. The meeting, which will run from noon to 5 pm, will cover a resolution of items contained in the minutes of the May 20 meeting and a report from Ben Willardson, a.m.asce, a member of the committee and a representative of the institute’s Standards Development Council. Attention will also be given to a report on resolving issues raised in the first ballot, to questions that must be resolved for the Land Subsidence Subcommittee, and to the progress being made in organizing a symposium on land subsidence. Furthermore, participants will review a draft of revisions to standard ASCE 34-01 (Standard Guidelines for Artificial Recharge of Ground Water), hear reports on the current and future work of the Aquifer Storage and Recovery Subcommittee and the Training Subcommittee, and address questions pertaining to committee and subcommittee membership and officers. For additional information, contact Phyllis Stanin at pstanin@toddengineers.com.
• The Structural Engineering Institute will be conducting a public comment period on supplement 1 to standard asce 41-06 (Seismic Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings). The supplement deals with the standard’s general requirements and bibliographic citations and with its sections on concrete and on architectural, mechanical, and electrical components. The purpose of the standard is to specify nationally applicable provisions for the rehabilitation of buildings in a way that will improve seismic performance. The standard is designed for use by code officials in mandated seismic rehabilitation programs and by building owners and design professionals engaged in voluntary rehabilitation efforts. The public comment period will run from September 20, 2007, to November 5, 2007. To participate, contact Phillip Mariscal, ASCE’s standards administrator, at pmariscal@asce.org or (703) 295-6338. For more information about this standard or about ASCE’s standards program, contact Karen Albers at kalbers@asce.org or (703) 295-6404.

SITUATION: A university senior and student member of asce is elected president of his school’s asce chapter. In connection with his role as a chapter officer, he is given check-writing authority and a debit card for the student chapter’s bank account.

Several months later, in preparing an annual report for the section leadership, members of the student chapter board discover a number of charges on the chapter’s bank statements for which there are no receipts or documentation. All told, the charges—one large cash withdrawal and several smaller debit charges made over a four-week period—amount to just under $2,000.

The chapter’s vice president brings the bank statements to the president’s attention, who admits to making the suspicious charges himself. He acknowledges that the expenses were unrelated to his official duties but contends that he had made the charges at a time of financial hardship and had intended to reimburse the group for his personal use of chapter funds later.

After meeting with the student chapter vice president and the chapter’s faculty adviser, the student resigns from his position as president and signs an agreement to make restitution for the missing funds. The student chapter board reports the events to its section leaders, who in turn notify asce’s Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC).

QUESTION: Was the student member’s use of student chapter funds for his personal benefit a violation of asce’s Code of Ethics?

DECISION: Canon 6 of the Code of Ethics reads as follows: “Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity of the engineering profession.” At the time of this investigation, category (a) in the guidelines to practice for canon 6 had this to say: “Engineers shall not knowingly act in a manner which will be derogatory to the honor, integrity, or dignity of the engineering profession or knowingly engage in business or professional practices of a fraudulent, dishonest, or unethical nature.”

Although the student had apologized for his actions and paid back the missing funds, the CPC could not overlook the fact that his conduct involved not only the commission of a criminal act but also the abuse of a leadership position within his professional society. Nevertheless, the cpc also gave weight to the views of the university student conduct board, which felt that the student’s resignation and reimbursement constituted a sufficient penalty. That board had declined to take further action.

Although the CPC was reluctant to take actions that might serve as a permanent detriment to the young engineer’s career, its members believed it was of cardinal importance to demonstrate the serious nature of the offense. The cpc found that the student had violated canon 6 of the Code of Ethics, and it voted to recommend a two-year suspension and to publish the circumstances of his suspension without naming him.

As is true in all cases where the CPC finds that an ethical violation has occurred, the student had the right to present his case in a hearing before the Executive Committee or to sign a consent agreement waiving his right to a hearing in exchange for a sentence not to exceed the CPC’s recommended action. Fearing that the Executive Committee might move to impose a harsher penalty, the student signed the consent agreement.

The Executive Committee approved the CPC’s two-year suspension, and notice of the case was published without giving the member’s name in an issue of ASCE News.

This case was considered before the most recent amendments to the Code of Ethics. In July 2006 the Board of Direction approved new guidelines that more clearly mark the misuse of funds as an ethical violation. This provision, category (b) in the guideline to practice for canon 6, reads as follows: “Engineers shall be scrupulously honest in their control and spending of monies, and promote effective use of resources through open, honest, and impartial service with fidelity to the public, employers, associates, and clients.”

Just as they are obliged to faithfully serve the public and their employers and clients, engineers must also be scrupulously honest in their control of Society funds and must work to serve their Society and their profession with openness, honesty, and fidelity. asce has benefited over the years from the conscientious volunteer services of thousands of engineers, including the students and other members who brought this particular infraction to light and worked diligently to ensure its immediate correction.
Members who have an ethics question or would like to file a complaint with the cpc may call ASCE’s hotline at (703) 295-6061 or (800) 548-ASCE (2723), extension 6061. The attorneys staffing this line can provide advice on how to handle an ethics issue or file a complaint. Please note that individual facts and circumstances vary from case to case and that the general summary information contained in these case studies is not to be construed as a precedent binding upon the Society.

Saigal Named Dean of Newark College of Engineering

Sunil Saigal, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, was recently named dean of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Newark College of Engineering. Saigal had been serving as interim dean of the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), where he was a professor of both civil and environmental engineering and biomedical engineering. Before becoming interim dean, he chaired the USF’s civil and environmental engineering department. Earlier he had been on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A prolific researcher, Saigal has received more than $4 million in funding, including a National Science Foundation grant to study particle formulations for high-velocity impacts in collaboration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center. In 1990 he received an award in the Department of Defense’s Young Investigator Program to support his studies in computational mechanics. Saigal earned a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue University in 1985 and has more than 110 refereed publications in leading journals to his credit.

Jones to Head New University In the Middle East

Russel C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, has been appointed the founding president of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a graduate education and research institution in Abū Z¸aby (Abu Dhabi), part of the United Arab Emirates. The new school will focus on the development and use of alternative energy resources. Jones received his education at Carnegie Mellon University’s Carnegie Institute of Technology, earning degrees in civil engineering and materials science. He then worked as a civil engineer and later returned to Carnegie Mellon, obtaining a doctorate in 1963. After spending eight years on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he held a number of administrative posts in higher education, serving as chairman of the civil engineering department at Ohio State University, dean of engineering at the University of Massachusetts, academic vice president at Boston University, and president of the University of Delaware. He is currently the editor of the electronic newsletter International Engineering Education Digest.

Lue-Hing Receives Award For Environmental Achievements

Cecil Lue-Hing, Sc.D., P.E., DEE, Hon.M.ASCE, is the 2007 recipient of the Sustained Achievement Award from the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation (RNRF). Lue-Hing was cited for his outstanding achievements in environmental conservation, in particular, his efforts to facilitate collaboration between the engineering community and related professions through his service as director of research and development at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. An adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Lue-Hing has been invited to deliver lectures at 25 universities. An accomplished author, he has numerous reference works to his credit and has contributed more than 30 chapters to various other publications. His research has been recognized by the World Health Organization, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Water Quality Association and has led to two U.S. patents, one dealing with the measurement of cyanide, the other with a method for separating volatile components entrained in liquids. The Sustained Achievement Award is the highest honor that the rnrf confers on individuals. Established in 1992, the award has recognized outstanding professionals for long-term contributions and a commitment to the protection and conservation of natural resources. Lue-Hing will be honored on November 9 during the foundation’s annual meeting, which will be held in Potomac, Maryland. He joins an illustrious list of honorees, including William J. “Bud” Carroll, P.E., F.ASCE, a past president of ASCE.

Jackson Honored For Entrepreneurship

Birdel F. Jackson III, P.E., M.ASCE, has been named 2007 entrepreneur of the year by the National Society of Black Engineers as part of its Golden Torch Awards program. Jackson is the president and chief executive officer of B&E Jackson & Associates, of Atlanta. Over the years he has volunteered his time and expertise to the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, serving on its advisory board and chairing a subcommittee dealing with student preparedness. He has also been active in a group originally called the Georgia Tech African-American Association, later renamed the Office of Minority Educational Development (OMED), and now known as omed: Educational Services. He contributes to omed through his work in career counseling and recruiting and is a frequent speaker at career workshops and seminars. He also serves as president of the Georgia Minority Consulting Engineers Association, which champions the interests of engineers of all disciplines and is the statewide advocate for engineering issues that affect minorities and the practice of engineering. Jackson also volunteers his time to acquaint students in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Atlanta area with the career opportunities available in engineering.

Nelson Saluted by NCEES

Jon D. Nelson, P.E., M.ASCE, has been honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), an organization based in Clemson, South Carolina. Nelson served as president of the ncees in 2004 and 2005, as vice president of its southern zone from 2001 to 2003, and as assistant vice president of that zone from 1999 to 2001. He has been an ncees board member for years, serving in a liaison capacity and chairing a task force concerned with engineering licensure qualifications. He has also lent his services to a number of ncees committees. Over the years Nelson has represented the ncees at various events and has worked with student and professional groups to promote licensure. His other contributions to the profession and to the advancement of licensure include authoring articles for the newsletter published by the Oklahoma State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and for such national publications as the ncees’s Licensure Exchange and serving as a speaker or panelist at the annual meetings of various engineering societies. Nelson is also active in the American Association of Engineering Societies.

Fellows Elected

The following members were elected fellows of the Society in recent months. ASCE fellows are legally registered professional engineers or land surveyors who have made significant technical or professional contributions and have demonstrated notable achievement in responsible charge of engineering activity for at least 10 years following election to the ASCE grade of member. Fellows occupy the Society’s second-highest membership grade, exceeded only by honorary members.

John G. April, P.E., F.ASCE, has more than 15 years of experience in environmental engineering with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bechtel, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy, and April is currently a project manager there. For the past two years he has been working on Department of Homeland Security projects at the laboratory, and he recently completed a pilot project in Karachi, Pakistan, involving freight security. After obtaining a bachelor of science in soil science from California Polytechnic State University, April began his career as a soil scientist, and the work he did on one project helped the Navajo Nation expand its agricultural capability. He later earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of New Mexico and moved into environmental engineering. As a project manager for the Corps of Engineers, he was responsible for initiating remedial work at the Superfund site in New Jersey that encompasses Montclair and Glen Ridge. While working with Bechtel, April was involved in remedial work at military bases and at the Hanford Site, in Washington State. As the engineering manager for Hanford’s Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility, he led efforts to expand the facility by 1.4 million cu yd (1.07 million m³), and by resolving subcontractor performance issues he was able to complete the project ahead of schedule. In 2001 Spencer Abraham, the secretary of energy, honored April with the National Pollution Prevention Award for his achievements. April has actively participated in asce initiatives, and his contributions include coauthoring the manual Environmental Site Characterization and Remediation Design Guidance.

Ivan J. Becica, P.E., F.ASCE, is a managing member of Becica Associates, LLC, an architecture and engineering firm in New Jersey that specializes in building design and consulting. Becica holds a bachelor of science and a master of science in civil engineering from Drexel University, where he was involved in research on concrete masonry and precast-concrete stack wall structures. He is dedicated to understanding the behavior of structures in general and masonry structures and facades in particular and to applying that knowledge to design new structures and carry out forensic evaluations and repairs of existing buildings. In addition to several papers on masonry behavior, he authored the section on the modeling of masonry structures in the book Structural Modeling and Experimental Techniques. Becica’s notable projects include the Mitchell H. Cohen Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, in Camden, New Jersey, and a structural engineering investigation of the partial collapse of a parking garage in 2003 at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has also carried out more than 60 investigations of building facade failures. He holds a patent for an innovative masonry unit with integral flashing, and he was one of the inventors of a patented system for forming composite monolithic tilt-up walls. A licensed professional engineer in four states, Becica has served as a judge in asce’s National Concrete Canoe Competition. He also serves on technical committees within the Masonry Society and astm International.

Wayne R. Bergstrom, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is a principal engineer with Bechtel Power Corporation. With nearly 30 years of engineering experience, Bergstrom has provided leadership on a wide variety of geotechnical and geoenvironmental projects, including those involving waste management facilities, dams, levees, navigation structures, revetments, and building and bridge foundations. He has specialized in the development of waste management facilities in the United States but has also led projects in Mexico and Argentina. Bergstrom has been actively involved in efforts to integrate civil engineering education and practice. In addition to serving on the national level on three asce committees dealing with education, he has been an accreditation evaluator for ABET, Inc., for more than a decade. Indeed, he currently represents asce on ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission and is deeply involved in efforts to align civil engineering education with the body of knowledge that asce is establishing for practice at the professional level. Bergstrom assisted in setting up the Saginaw Valley Branch within asce’s Michigan Section to meet the growing membership needs in that area, and he has served as the branch director. Licensed as a professional engineer in four states, Bergstrom holds degrees in civil (geotechnical) engineering from Michigan Technological University, Purdue University, and the University of Michigan.

Genda Chen, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is an associate professor of engineering at the University of Missouri at Rolla. His academic work has been supplemented by practical experience as a senior engineer at Steinman Consulting Engineers, and in that capacity he helped to carry out a comprehensive seismic analysis and evaluation of New York City’s Queensboro Bridge. Chen is credited with initiating several new research directions, including an integrated damping and strengthening methodology for seismic retrofits of structures, the development of piezoelectric friction dampers, and the creation of coaxial cable sensors for crack detection and strain and pressure measurements. He also served as the technical director of a multifaceted earthquake hazards mitigation program at the University of Missouri at Rolla, systematically addressing seismic hazards associated with the seismic zone in southeast Missouri referred to as the New Madrid area. In addition to his active committee involvement within asce, Chen serves on a Transportation Research Board subcommittee dealing with nondestructive evaluations. To promote student interest in earthquake engineering and expand the extracurricular activities available to students interested in this area, he founded a student chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute at the University of Missouri and serves as its faculty adviser. Chen began his studies in China at the Dalian Institute of Technology and received a doctorate in civil engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition to being honored for his achievements as a faculty member, he received an award in 1998 from the National Science Foundation in connection with its Faculty Early Career Development Program.

David C. Duchscherer, P.E., F.ASCE, is a principal of Wendel Duchscherer Architects and Engineers, a nationally recognized firm specializing in planning and designing public transportation facilities. He has dedicated his professional career to using creativity and an innovative spirit to develop public transportation facilities that are not only economical to operate but also provide an exciting, dramatic space for travelers. Duchscherer is licensed in 17 states and has provided leadership in the design of public transportation facilities around the country, including more than 70 different bus maintenance and bus and rail intermodal facilities. These projects have been for such clients as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Virginia’s Petersburg Area Transit, and the City of Niagara Falls, New York. Duchscherer has been active in ASCE since serving as student chapter president at Union College. Later he served as president of the Buffalo Section and chaired its Younger Member Committee. Within his community he has been a member of the school board for 15 years, and his accolades include awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies and the Erie-Niagara chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.

Jerome F. Hajjar, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is a professor and a Narbey Khachaturian scholar in the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also deputy director of the university’s Mid-America Earthquake Center. Hajjar entered academia in 1992 and before that practiced professionally in New York and Chicago with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He has made significant contributions to research and education in elucidating the behavior and enhancing the design of steel and composite steel and concrete structures. By developing computational formulations, he has documented the detailed response of composite steel and concrete structures subjected to seismic loading, and he has worked to bring these formulations into engineering practice. Through large-scale experimental testing and analysis, he helped determine the causes of the fractures in steel moment-resisting connections that occurred during the Northridge, California, earthquake, which struck in 1994, and he has been instrumental in developing better methods for designing and detailing steel connections. Through his research on the nonlinear analysis and assessment of the structural stability of steel frames, he has formulated design approaches that have led to more accurate assessments of building strength and stability. In each of these areas, he has made significant contributions to national design specifications for steel and composite structures, including the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Specification for Structural Steel Buildings. As a member of the Building Seismic Safety Council’s Provisions Update Committee, he helps in preparing the NEHRP Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures (“NEHRP” denoting the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program). Within asce Hajjar is a member of various technical committees and is also active on the local level. In addition to being named young civil engineer of the year by the Minnesota Section, he has been honored with the Society’s Norman Medal and its Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize.

Nausherwan Hasan, P.E., F.ASCE, is a consulting engineer and concrete technology specialist for Washington Group International, of New York City, where he has practiced since 1973. Hasan has more than 40 years of experience in the civil design and construction management of infrastructure projects, seismic structures, transit structures, water mains, and hydroelectric and marine structures. He has made significant contributions to research in concrete technology. Indeed, the American Concrete Institute honored him with an award for his work in Maryland on the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission’s Bi-county Tunnel. Hasan has also made contributions to the engineering, design, and procurement of fossil-fueled and nuclear plants at the national and international levels. He has presented numerous papers on preassembled power plant structures, including those used in the rehabilitation of the concrete spillway at Michigan’s Foote Dam. He received an award from Washington Group International for his work on that rehabilitation, and Raytheon, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, honored him with an award for his contributions to the design of a steel liner and penstock for the San Roque Dam, in the Philippines. Hasan has been a member of ASCE since 1964, and he is very active in his community on issues relating to diversity and Pakistani culture. He also volunteers his time to mentor young people.

Austin X. Huang, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is the president of Merit Engineering, Inc., in Bellingham, Washington. A registered professional engineer in four states and a registered geologist in the state of Washington, Huang received a bachelor of science in mining from the China University of Mining and Technology and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In a paper published in 1997 in the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration’s Mining Engineering, Huang presented a general poroelastic model for hydraulic fracturing stress measurement showing that the current model was a special case applicable only under certain rock conditions. That paper, which is now widely cited, derived a complete solution of pore pressure in saturated porous media and developed a general poroelastic model for in situ hydraulic fracturing stress measurements. Huang’s development of a pile capacity model in rock sockets that includes cohesion between the pier and the surrounding bedrock earned him the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 2004 Gold Award. In his 15 years at the head of Merit Engineering, a period that has witnessed his publication of more than 500 technical reports relating to geology, geotechnical engineering, and environmental site assessments, Huang has gained widespread recognition for his ability to conduct detailed analyses of problems, develop creative solutions, and ensure that the solutions are sufficiently practical and affordable to meet client needs.

Sukhvarsh Jerath, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is a professor in the civil engineering department at the University of North Dakota and is recognized for his contributions as a teacher, researcher, and author in the areas of surveying, concrete material properties, and structural analysis and design. He has taught nearly 20 different engineering courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in his 36 years of teaching at universities in India and the United States. Jerath has served as an adviser and has supervised dissertations and theses for 18 students. In addition to being a dedicated researcher, he has involved his students in his projects in ways that will prepare them to meet the challenges of the future. Jerath has applied his scholarly work to problems in industry as a consultant specializing in the design and construction of concrete chimneys for coal-fired power plants, and he has also worked on projects dealing with earth-sheltered homes; pre-engineered buildings; gasoline storage tanks; and transfer towers for coal and limestone conveyors for taconite plants. Furthermore, he provided design work for the Fargodome, in Fargo, North Dakota. Jerath has been active within asce at many levels since 1972. In addition to serving as president of the North Dakota Section, chair of the District 8 Council, and faculty adviser for seven years to the University of North Dakota’s student chapter, he has been a member of numerous technical committees.

Pizhong Qiao, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Washington State University, and his research and teaching have done much to advance the theory and practice of civil engineering in the area of composites. His outstanding scholarship has led to the development of two novel theories for mechanics and fracture at material interfaces, and he has also formulated a high-order impact sandwich theory. Qiao has shared his research findings through his presentations and his publications in peer-reviewed journals. His research has been funded by such bodies as the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Federal Highway Administration, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards for his contributions as an author, researcher, and teacher. Aspiring researchers, practitioners, and educators have benefited greatly from his work as a teacher, adviser, and mentor. Within asce, Qiao has lent his time and expertise to the Aerospace Division’s Advanced Materials and Structures Committee and the Engineering Mechanics Division’s Stability Committee.

Mitsuru Saito, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, is a professor of civil engineering at Brigham Young University, where he has been on the faculty since 1997. Before that he was an assistant professor at the City College of the City University of New York. Saito’s teaching, research, and publications have focused on traffic engineering, traffic flow theory, traffic safety, transportation planning, and infrastructure management. He has published more than 50 papers on these topics and has mentored numerous master’s degree and doctoral candidates. Known for his outstanding ability to build and manage multidisciplinary research teams, Saito has worked on funded research totaling more than $1.7 million from a number of bodies, among them the Utah Department of Transportation, the National Science Foundation, the Federal Highway Administration, the New York State Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He has been a member of asce since 1978. A charter member of the Society’s Transportation and Development Institute, he serves on its Infrastructure Systems Committee and Transportation Operations Committee. Saito has also contributed papers, made presentations, and served as a moderator at many national and international asce conferences. His busy schedule, however, does not preclude volunteer work.

Alex Kwok Kuen Tang, P.E., F.ASCE, is the director of engineering at l&t Consulting in Ontario. He has more than 25 years of experience and leadership in the telecommunications industry specializing in seismic design, and he has made significant contributions in the area of lifeline earthquake engineering. He is currently involved in developing training programs for resources that will be used to manage and implement the world’s fair scheduled for Shanghai, China, in 2010. Tang has developed and implemented standard anchoring practices for telecommunication equipment installed in zones of high seismic activity around the world. His research and development work has been reflected in three patents and has had a widespread effect on the seismic engineering of communication systems. In 1998, together with A. Schiff, he published Guidelines of Improved Seismic Performance of Electric Power Systems, regarded as a comprehensive reference work. Within ASCE Tang has been active in the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering, serving on a variety of technical committees and leading earthquake investigations in Taiwan and Turkey. In addition to serving as a member of the governing board of the National Institute of Building Sciences’ Multihazard Mitigation Council, he has worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop design and construction standards for telecommunication lifeline facilities.

Fellow applications may be obtained from ASCE’s world headquarters, in Reston, Virginia, by calling (800) 548-2723, extension 6289. From outside the country, the number is (703) 295-6289. The e-mail address is fellows@asce.org. The application may be found on the Web at www.asce.org/pdf/fellowmemapp.pdf. Completed applications may be submitted online at www.asce.org/membership/fellowgrade.cfm (click on “Online ASCE Fellow Application”). Questions concerning fellow guidelines (including guideline waiver inquiries) or the application process may be directed to Erin Santiago, the applications coordinator, at (703) 295-6289 or esantiago@asce.org. Completed applications are reviewed monthly by the Membership Application Review Committee.

ASCE CONFERENCES
For further information on these conferences, unless noted otherwise, contact ASCE Conferences Department, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4400; telephone (800) 548-2723 or, from outside the United States, (703) 295-6300; fax (703) 295-6144; e-mail conf@asce.org; Web site www.asce.org/conferences. Dates are subject to change.

ASCE 137th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, November 1–3, 2007, Orlando, Florida
http://content.asce.org/conferences/an07/Welcome.html

Third Structural Engineers World Congress, November 2–7, 2007, Bangalore, India
www.sewc2007.org/

World Congress on Urban Infrastructure in Developing Countries, November 11–16, 2007, New Delhi, India
www.worldcongress07.org/

International Conference on Forensic Engineering: Failure Diagnosis and Problem Solving, December 6–9, Mumbai (Bombay), India
www.icaci.com/

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ASCE CONTINUING EDUCATION
Develop your technical and management skills and earn PDHS/CEUS through ASCE’s program of continuing education. Courses are offered in more than 40 cities across the country. ASCE also offers live Web seminars, on-demand online courses, and courses on DVD and CD. Customized on-site training also can be arranged. To register or to obtain additional information, contact ASCE’s continuing education department by telephone at (800) 548-2723, by fax at (703) 295-6144, or by e-mail at seminars@asce.org. The Web site is www.asce.org/conted/.

Construction
Comprehensive Site Design Workshop
October 4–5, 2007, Atlanta

Construction Administration for Engineers
October 11–12, 2007, Denver

Environmental
Wetlands and 404 Permitting
October 18–19, 2007, Rapid City, South Dakota

Geotechnical
Deep Foundations: Design, Construction, and Quality Control
October 18–19, 2007, Baltimore

Hydraulics and Water Resources
HEC-RAS Computer Workshop
October 10–12, 2007, Burlington, Vermont

Pumping Systems Design for Civil Engineers
October 11–12, 2007, Boston

Dam Breach Analysis Using HEC-RAS
October 17–19, 2007, Boston

Stream Bank Stabilization for Restoration And Flood Control
October 24–26, 2007, Las Vegas

Introduction to Detention Pond Design: Parking Lots and Urban Drainage
October 25–26, 2007, Tampa, Florida

Management
Effective Project Risk Management
October 18–19, 2007, San Francisco

Skills, Techniques, and Strategies For Effective Negotiation for Engineers
October 18–19, 2007, Washington, D.C., metropolitan area

Structural
Design and Strengthening of Shallow Foundations for Conventional And Pre-engineered Buildings
October 11–12, 2007, Cincinnati

Design of Foundations for Dynamic Loads
October 24–26, 2007, Minneapolis

Design and Renovation of Wood Structures
October 25–26, 2007, Charlotte, North Carolina

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ASCE CONTINUING EDUCATION - WEBINARS

Management
Tort Liability, Part I: Addressing Engineering Liability Issues
October 2, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

How to Plan Your Projects Effectively, Part I
October 3, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Implementing Design/Build in the Public Sector (New!)
October 5, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

How to Plan Your Projects Effectively, Part II
October 10, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Dealing with Difficult Behavior And Situations
October 16, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Ethics: The Road All Engineers Must Follow
October 17, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Understanding the Market for Engineering Services in Sustainable Development
October 26, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

Structural
Renovation of Pre-engineered Buildings
October 9, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

Snow Load 101: Basics (New!)
October 18, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

Wind and Seismic Retrofit of Buildings
October 23, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Strengthening Concrete Buildings
October 30, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Deterioration and Repair of Concrete
October 31, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Transportation
Designing Bicycle Facilities
October 4, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Improving Pedestrian Crossing Safety At Uncontrolled Locations
October 11, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

Signal Synchronization, Part I
October 12, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

Signal Synchronization, Part II
October 19, 2007, noon–1 pm (eastern time)

Tort Liability, Part II: How Transportation Liability Impacts Civil Engineers
October 24, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

An Introduction to Roadside Delineation And Safety Systems
October 25, 2007, noon–1:30 pm (eastern time)

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LIVE P.E. EXAM REVIEW SERIES
 
Exam Review VII: Surveying
October 2, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)

Exam Review VIII: Water and Wastewater Treatment
October 4, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)

Exam Review IX: Traffic Engineering
October 9, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)

Exam Review X: Steel
October 11, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)

Exam Review XI: Hydrology
October 16, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)

Exam Review XII: Construction Materials
October 18, 2007, 3–5 pm (eastern time)