April 2009
Volume 34, Number 4

The Obama administration’s intention to devote resources to rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and ASCE’s efforts in this area have given this subject a very high profile in the halls of Congress. Taking advantage of this unprecedented focus on infrastructure, ASCE members from 46 states  converged on Capitol Hill for the Society’s annual Leadership Training in Government Relations Program. The participants met with members of Congress to discuss legislation that could raise the dismal grades contained in ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

This year surpassed last year and saw the largest number of participants ever. More than 160 members attended training sessions and paid visits to their legislators to stress to them and their staff members the importance of the three principal infrastructure issues facing Congress this year: reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the enactment of a bill for the rehabilitation and repair of dams, and the enactment of a bill to succeed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The participants also provided members of Congress with information drawn from the detailed findings of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2009 (H.R. 915) was passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on March 5. ASCE’s position is that the reauthorization should include an increase in the aviation user fee to help provide the $40.7 billion that will be needed for investment over the next five years. It also believes that the Airport and Airway Trust Fund should be managed in such a way as to maximize investment in infrastructure, should be protected from unrelated reallocation, and should be focused on capital improvements rather than on security costs. Aviation received a D in this year’s infrastructure assessment.

In a statement released on March 25, Senator Jay Rockefeller (D–West Virginia), the chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, stated that he was looking “forward to working with Senators [Byron Dorgan (D–North Dakota)] and [Jim DeMint (R–South Carolina)] on producing legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration.”

In a follow-up statement, the ranking minority member of the committee, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), stated that the key element in reauthorizing the FAA will be providing the means necessary for the agency to implement a badly needed modernization of its air traffic control systems.

According to Joe Guzzo, a staff member in the office of Representative Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio), the FAA reauthorization bill will probably not be passed this year but could be passed early next year. Guzzo met with Mark B. Ogden, P.E., M.ASCE, an administrator for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources; Terry Dalrymple, P.E., F.ASCE; and David A. Swiger, P.E., M.ASCE, a city engineer for Mentor, Ohio. Guzzo also said that LaTourette would probably cosponsor a bill for repairing and rehabilitating dams.

During the 110th Congress the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 was passed by the House and by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee but was not passed by the full Senate. The Society supports a new bill (H.R. 1770, S. 732) that would provide $200 million over five years to address part of the $12 billion that will be needed over the next decade to repair the country’s major dams. Such legislation would establish a program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fund repairs and to award grants to assist publicly owned dams in a poor state of repair. Dams received a D in ASCE’s report.

Angelina C. Giancarlo, a staff member for Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), discussed the dam rehabilitation and repair act with Brett Roper, A.M.ASCE, an engineer with Magellan Midstream Partners, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Casey Dinges, Aff.M.ASCE, ASCE’s senior managing director of strategic and public affairs. “Not investing in our infrastructure is generational theft,” Roper contended. Giancarlo stated that Inhofe would be willing to support a more comprehensive dam bill but not necessarily a bill focused solely on dam repair. She also stated that the senator opposes the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which specifies a prevailing wage for public works projects.

In light of the fact that SAFETEA-LU expires in September, ASCE asked all of those participating in the Leadership Training in Government Relations Program to raise the issue of a successor bill in their meetings with legislators. Representative Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota), an honorary fellow of ASCE, wants to see a new bill pass the House by June, but many congressional staff members expressed doubt that a substantial surface transportation bill would be passed this year.

In their meetings with the ASCE members taking part in this year’s program, representatives, senators, and their staff members discussed an increase in the gas tax. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the majority leader, said that he did not understand why some were opposed to it. The ASCE participants meeting with Reid included Robert K. Martinez, P.E., the head of the dam safety office within the Nevada Division of Water Resources and the president of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials; Edward McGuire, P.E., M.ASCE, who is with the Public Works Department in Henderson, Nevada; Scott D. Gibson, P.E., M.ASCE, a project manager from Reno, Nevada; and Daniel St. John, P.E., M.ASCE, the public works director for Washoe County, Nevada. They agreed with Reid and emphasized that such an increase would  help replenish the dwindling revenue currently available for road rehabilitation projects.

During a breakfast on March 26 that was held as part of the program, Kathy Ruffalo, the president of Ruffalo and Associates, LLC, a government affairs consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and a member of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission—a body appointed by Congress—spoke on transportation policies and priorities. In 2004 Ruffalo was a principal drafter and negotiator for SAFETEA-LU and also served as a senior adviser to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) while he served as the committee’s chairman.

Ruffalo stated that many regard the Highway Trust Fund as bankrupt and question the need for it. Even though the fund is insolvent, it is not bankrupt, she asserted. Furthermore, she explained, “we need to have a trust fund with a dedicated revenue source so we are not competing with other programs.” To continue the fund, Congress will, she said, probably need to repeat what it did last year and draw on general funds if an alternative source cannot be found.

Ruffalo also cited the results of a report to Congress prepared by the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission.  Conceding that there is no “silver bullet” for transportation funding, she said that the report recommends an increase in the fuel tax of 10 cents per gallon for gasoline and 15 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. “The fuel tax is the best way for Congress to raise revenue for transportation in the short term,” she said, estimating that, depending on a person’s vehicle, the increase would total approximately $9 per month. “I think we’ve failed to justify to the American people what this tax is for and why it is important,” she said.

Ruffalo congratulated ASCE on the release of its 2009 infrastructure report. “It is the gold standard in this town for discussing infrastructure needs.  Congress cites it frequently,” she said.

—Brett Hansen

As part of its 2009 Leadership Training in Government Relations Program, the ninth year of this initiative, ASCE released the full findings of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. To highlight the release, ASCE also hosted a meeting at the U.S. Capitol on March 24 entitled “Raising the Grades: A Dialogue on Solutions.” Organized by the Society’s government relations department, the event featured two panel discussions and two keynote speakers: Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), an honorary fellow of ASCE, and Stephen E. Flynn, Ph.D., the Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, which is headquartered in New York City. The panels included experts in water resources, the environment, and transportation.

“As stewards of the infrastructure, civil engineers have a professional duty to inform the public and policy makers of the dangers associated with its poor and inadequate condition. In that effort, ASCE released the key findings of the 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure in January of 2009,” said D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE, the Society’s president, in opening the meeting. He mentioned the five key infrastructure solutions that ASCE has put forward. (See “ASCE Offers Suggestions for Economic Stimulus Plan,” ASCE News, February 2009, page 1.) “The full findings take these five key solutions and offer specific ways they can be applied to each category. Panelists today will explore those category-specific solutions,” Klotz said.

The first panel, moderated by Gerald E. Galloway, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE, the Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, addressed itself to infrastructure solutions in the areas of water and the environment. Adam Krantz, the managing director of government and public affairs for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, underscored the need to address water quality. As he put it, “Unless we do something, we are going to be back—by 2016—at pre–Clean Water Act levels of water quality. In other words, the trillions of dollars we have seen over the course of the past decades will literally be wiped out or reversed.”

The panelists made several suggestions relating to funding and policy that, they contended, could improve water quality and the overall health of the environment. Krantz, for example, pointed out that although the policies and funding provided by federal and local governments demonstrate a willingness to help, they fall short of a “sustainable funding partnership.” “It is time,” he said, “for the water infrastructure [community] to say ‘we are no less important than highways, we are no less important than aviation, we are a critical infrastructure.’” Krantz also suggested that a trust fund be created to receive annual funding.

David Gutierrez, P.E., M.ASCE, another panelist and the chief of the dam safety division within California’s Department of Water Resources, stated that California is ahead of many states because it already employs a dam safety program that has helped highlight important issues. However, he warned that a similar program for levees is lagging. “We haven’t even put our finger on the problems of the levees across the country,” he said. Gutierrez suggested a two-pronged approach for addressing the nation’s levees: regarding the levees as a single system and immediately repairing levees that are protecting urban areas.

The second panel, moderated by J. Richard Capka, P.E., M.ASCE, the chief operating officer of Dawson & Associates, of Washington, D.C., and a former administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, considered ways of effecting improvements in transportation infrastructure. Kathy Dedrick, a member of the panel, an adviser to Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), and a staff member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, stated that while the Senate committee acknowledges that the funds allocated in the recently enacted economic stimulus package will indeed confer benefits, that body does not consider the funds sufficient to properly address the nation’s transportation needs.

Robert Prieto, A.M.ASCE, a senior vice president of the Fluor Corporation, headquartered in Irving, Texas, noted that the stimulus funds for transportation equal approximately “one year’s degradation in our infrastructure.” He suggested that to successfully repair the transportation infrastructure, the nation should employ the fundamentals of the Marshall Plan, which was authorized by Congress in April 1948 through the Economic Cooperation Act and was instrumental in helping Europe rebuild after World War II. “That same kind of investment, with all the strings that went with it, produced the outcomes that quite frankly we are going to need to produce today,” he said. That plan employed current technologies while also planning for the future and included a “comprehensive systems perspective,” a “life-cycle perspective,” and “sustainable practices” that were well managed and properly applied, he said. Noting that a capital budget was implemented as part of the Marshall Plan, Prieto suggested that the United States create a similar type of budget today that would include multiyear appropriations.

“I think to a very large degree, the fix is within asce’s control,” Prieto continued, stating that ASCE could leverage change through its technical standards. A technical standard for bridges, for example, would be sent to state bridge engineers, according to Prieto. Those engineers “are going to adopt the standard and they are going to put the ball clearly in the court of state legislatures to fund it, or the state legislatures are going to [assume] the risk,” he said, of not adopting it.

In his keynote speech, Blumenauer described his own national plan for reinvesting in America and in doing so suggested ways of financing the rebuilding and renewal of the nation’s transportation infrastructure. His plan cites asce’s infrastructure report, and several of his suggestions coincide with asce’s positions with respect to mass transit and roads. The suggestions include eventually repealing the gas tax, implementing a mileage-based funding system, dedicating a part of carbon pollution fees for infrastructure, implementing a per-barrel excise fee on oil, and implementing a temporary gas tax increase. “Infrastructure is the fundamental building block for being able to get the economy realigned, for being able to protect the planet...and protect people in the short term from the aggravations of life,” he said.

Flynn discussed the failing infrastructure from a national security perspective. “The more brittle we are as a society, the more likely it is that, should people intend us harm, they are going to get catastrophic consequences.” He stressed that long-term investment in infrastructure projects will be of the utmost importance in addressing such threats as those posed by terrorism and climate change. Flynn further suggested an overall statement, or vision, of public policy goals and a forthright explanation of how investment in infrastructure would help to realize those goals. Prioritized lists of improvements, he contended, would help the public better understand how and why funds were being apportioned for various facets of infrastructure.

—Brett Hansen

Serving as ASCE president takes up enough time to keep me off the streets at night. Even so, I still find time to think about the many issues facing our profession. Occasionally, I am struck by one of life’s great ironies. The civil engineers who rely on public funds for infrastructure investments are the same civil engineers who can never find the time to engage with elected officials. Don’t you too find that curious?

As you know, one of my emphases this year is advocacy. I know from personal experience that the voice of ASCE is both respected and needed in the debate over infrastructure funding and policy. I also know that no amount of work by people representing an association can take the place of an informed constituent who cares enough to contact his or her elected official. Voters still matter.

Vowing to exercise my privileges as a constituent, I traveled to Washington, D.C., in March to take part in asce’s annual Leadership Training in Government Relations Program and in the activities that form part of our annual Policy Week. The Leadership Training in Government Relations Program brings civil engineers from across the country to the nation’s capital to discuss issues that have a bearing on engineering with their members of Congress. Each meeting that takes place provides the elected official with the opportunity to hear directly from his or her constituents on how policy or legislation will affect civil engineers and the public in his or her district or state.

Never before has ASCE’s voice been more relevant or more powerful. Infrastructure is receiving unprecedented attention in political circles, in no small part because of asce’s long-standing efforts to call attention to the issue. The current economic crisis has highlighted the ability of infrastructure investment to support jobs and spur economic growth. At the state and local levels, governments struggling to balance budgets are grappling with the unpopular prospect of having to trim services provided by the infrastructure, transportation being chief among them.

Although ASCE has long been a proponent of increased investment in infrastructure, our message has not been about spending but about investing. We fully believe, as do many economists, that government spending on infrastructure not only provides short-term benefits in the area of jobs but also creates lasting and valuable public assets. These assets improve safety and make service more reliable while improving the quality of life for all they serve. To help ensure that the current infusion of stimulus funding returns such benefits to the public, we have outlined principles for the responsible use of those funds to members of Congress. (See “ASCE Offers Suggestions for Economic Stimulus Plan,” ASCE News, February 2009, page 1.) ASCE members also delivered copies of our 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

I know that some members are uncomfortable with asce’s strong advocacy role. (Yes, I have heard you!) These members want to protect engineering’s integrity by steering clear of the sometimes messy business of politics. They think lobbying is beneath us. Unfortunately, this position is part of the reason that we have seen a deterioration of our infrastructure over the past 20 years. The senators and representatives with whom we met as part of the Leadership Training in Government Relations Program saw us not as lobbyists for special interests but as committed voters and taxpayers willing to contribute our expertise to help formulate sound public policy. If civil engineers absent themselves from the political process, who else will make the case for improving our infrastructure systems, the foundation of modern civilization? Who else will speak for our profession and the public we serve? Politics isn’t better off without civil engineers; it’s worse. Our inadequate infrastructure is proof of that.

In fact, I believe that each of us owes a debt of gratitude to the more than 160 ASCE members who took time away from their work—at a time when many could ill afford it—to represent civil engineering on Capitol Hill. Their presence made a difference to our profession and our nation, and I was honored to join them.

I hope those of you who were not able to attend the training program will consider doing so next year. In the meantime, there are many other ways to get involved, add your voice, and wield your considerable power as a constituent both within ASCE and within your community.

First, if you have not already done so, I urge you to become a participant (“key contact”) in our Key Contact Program. Signing up is easy at the ASCE Web site (www.asce.org/keycontacts). You’ll receive alerts and information about important legislative developments. When your voice can most make a difference, ASCE provides easy-to-use Web tools that will enable you to quickly send an e-mail to your elected officials. Contacting your representatives on a crucial vote takes all of 30 seconds. Remember, voters get priority attention from those who value reelection. It remains one of life’s mysteries why civil engineers do not take 30 seconds to state their opinion on their life’s work. My personal belief is that every civil engineer should be a key contact irrespective of whether he or she works in the public or the private sector.

Second, you have several opportunities to become involved in setting asce’s legislative priorities, both at the state and national levels. Each year ASCE conducts a survey to determine priority issues. All members are encouraged to vote for the policy issues they feel are most deserving of asce’s attention and resources. The upcoming reauthorization of the surface transportation bill might get your vote for the top issue, while other members may call for increased support for math, science, and engineering education or for the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. We want to set priorities that are important to our members, but we cannot do this if we do not hear from you!

Finally, you can participate in the development of asce’s public policies. The Society has more than 160 public policies (www.asce.org/pressroom/news/policy.cfm), each drafted by one of our policy committees and approved by the Board of Direction.

Both within ASCE and within society at large, your power as a constituent is real and significant. Your voice as a civil engineer is meaningful and necessary. Our economic health and security will be improved more by civil engineers than by financial analysts. The journey to good infrastructure has just begun. We must control our own destiny. Won’t you join us in this worthwhile effort?

—D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE

Engineers Without Borders–USA Partners with Boeing, Receives Grant

Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA), of Boulder, Colorado, recently announced that it had entered into a partnership with the Boeing Company, a Chicago-based aerospace firm that is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial and military aircraft. As part of the partnership, Boeing has contributed to EWB-USA’s most successful fund-raising effort ever. With Boeing’s help, EWB-USA raised more than $645,000 in the final months of 2008.

EWB-USA’s annual funding-raising campaign, which took place in November and December, brought in more than $300,000. As part of the new partnership, Boeing matched every dollar earned from the campaign with $2 of its own up to $340,000.

Approximately $155,000 of the grant from Boeing has been allocated to projects in Africa that are being carried out by approximately 17 EWB-USA chapters. The most prominent undertakings include a project to provide access to a source of clean water for people near Butere, in western Kenya, and a sanitation project in Togo. Other endeavors that will benefit involve constructing medical clinics and community centers and harnessing alternative energy sources to light schools.

The remainder of the money from Boeing will be used to strengthen EWB-USA administratively by adding staff members in the national office’s accounting and project management departments and hiring and training staff members to help local chapters in their fund-raising efforts. EWB-USA distributed the Boeing grant money in January.

“The Boeing Company’s desire to partner with EWB-USA to address the needs of developing communities and foster socially conscious engineering students in the United States is exciting,” said Cathy Leslie, P.E., M.ASCE, the executive director of EWB-USA, in a press release. In an e-mail to ASCE News, Zoe Kirkos, EWB-USA’s grant coordinator, expressed the hope that the partnership will extend beyond a one-time grant. “We continue to speak with our partners at Boeing frequently and are discussing many possibilities for extending the collaboration,” she wrote. ASCE entered into a formal relationship with EWB-USA in November 2007.

Buffalo Section’s President-Elect Appears on Letterman Show

Michael Bower, P.E., M.ASCE, a design engineer and bridge inspection team leader with Buffalo-based Ravi Engineering & Land Surveying, P.C., appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman on March 10. It was not the condition of Buffalo’s bridges or the overall state of that city’s infrastructure, however, that brought the 31-year-old to the show. It was his three-year-old blonde beagle, Bailey, who performed as part of the program’s “Stupid Pet Tricks” segment, which is very popular among viewers. 

While being held by Bower and instructed to “play dead,” Bailey immediately flopped over her owner’s right arm and went limp, her ears comically drooping toward the floor. Letterman and the audience erupted in laughter and the trick was featured as a “Big Show Highlight” on the show’s Web site, http://lateshow.cbs.com.

“For the most part, Bailey taught me the trick and I improved it,” Bower explained in an e-mail to ASCE News. “I would hold Bailey in my arms like a baby.  I think she got tired of it and flopped over my arm one day.  I had a treat in the other hand and . . . she flopped back up to get the treat. I worked on it for a couple of weeks and since then the trick has not changed much.” Bower stated that he taught Bailey the trick approximately a year ago.

During a brief interview before Bailey performed her trick, Letterman asked Bower what he did for a living, and Bower replied that he was a bridge inspector. “Well, you have your work cut out for you now,” Letterman said, and asked about the condition of bridges and other facets of infrastructure in Buffalo. “We need money for improvements, but our bridges are safe,” Bower replied.

To view the clip of Bower and Bailey’s appearance with Letterman, visit http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/video_player/index/php/980110.phtml and select “Late Show with David Letterman” from the menu.

ASCEville Web Site Encourages Exploration, Provides Resources

According to a survey conducted in January by the American Society for Quality, more than 85 percent of children state that they are not interested in a career in engineering. Of that number, 44 percent state that this is because they do not know much about the field. To give youngsters a bit of insight into the world of civil engineering, ASCE has unveiled an interactive Web site for students in grades 4 through 7. The site features the interactive town of  ASCEville, where kids, parents, and teachers can learn about the different disciplines within civil engineering, download resources, read profiles of young civil engineers, and play games that have an engineering theme.

The Web site, www.ASCEville.org, replaces the earlier ASCE site that was aimed at youngsters. According to Jane Howell, ASCE’s director of communications, that site failed to adequately engage the interest of its young visitors, the average stay extending no more than 15 seconds.

The new Web site, part of a project headed by the Society’s Committee for Pre-College Outreach, was designed by WGBH Boston, the PBS station with which ASCE worked in developing the series Building Big. Members of ASCE’s communications, information technology, and Web site staffs worked with the committee and wgbh Boston to develop the material for the site as well as the site’s design.

By exposing its visitors to a virtual urban environment, ASCEville helps youngsters understand why skyscrapers stand tall, how water is made safe for drinking, and how people are able to travel safely and efficiently. The site opens up the world of engineering in much the same way that people encounter civil engineering in real life: by exploring the urban landscape. ASCEville has been designed to have a distinctive visual identity, according to Howell. “We did not want anything too cartoony,” she says. Instead, the Committee for Pre-College Outreach sought an environment that would reflect the real world yet inspire kids to explore their interests. According to Howell, it is to be more of a pathway or hub that links to other online resources, including such engineering games as The Skyscraper Challenge, Force Lab, and Engineering for Earthquakes, which are located at www.pbs.org or at www.pbskids.org.

“Know what your strengths and weaknesses are so that you can make the greatest positive change for your community. Engineering is all about making positive impacts on society; it takes incredible individuals who are ethical, objective, and not afraid to stand up for the citizens who have put their trust in us,” states Sarah Weissman, a.m.ASCE, a program manager at Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation, in her online profile. Weissman is one of six young civil engineers who are profiled at the Web site.

To help parents, educators, and engineers cultivate an interest in civil engineering careers, the site provides access to classroom and other educational resources, digital media, handouts, and information about competitions and television programs. It also gives youngsters a number of reasons to love civil engineering, explaining to them that through engineering they can “design things that matter, be creative, travel and enjoy job flexibility, and make a difference.”

In light of the current economic climate, ASCE is taking steps to help members and their organizations meet their needs in the area of continuing education as cost-effectively and conveniently as possible, and I am pleased to announce a special volume discount program on 13 new online and on-demand courses developed by ASCE.  These courses cover a variety of technical and management topics and represent the best of ASCE’s online continuing education programs. With these courses you can learn at any time and in any location, and you can work at your own pace. You can attend different sections of a course at times that are convenient for you, and you can easily navigate from one section of a course to another. These video streams are very much like attending a live seminar. You will listen to and watch the instructor and view PowerPoint slides as the course progresses. The special volume discount program enables you to save 20 to 35 percent on these courses. For additional information, visit http://store.asce.org/product/287.

The Society’s webinar on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-005) is now available online. The webinar discusses the new stimulus bill as it relates to the civil engineering profession and our 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. During its original broadcast, on March 5, the webinar was viewed by an extremely large audience. The presenters are Joel Szabat, the deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy for the U.S. Department of Transportation; Pete Luisa, the chief of civil works program development for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Brian Pallasch, ASCE’s managing director of government relations and infrastructure initiatives. To access the webinar, visit  http://content.asce.org/gr/TheAmericanRecoveryand¬ReinvestmentActPAGE.html.

ASCE’s newest podcast series, Insights, provides you with honest and straightforward views directly from the industry’s leading professionals. This month’s edition features Vice Admiral Michael K. Loose, P.E., M.ASCE, a renowned and farsighted leader and the 2009 winner of our Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research. He discusses the important role that civil engineers can play in planning and promoting a sustainable infrastructure. Visit www.asce.org/insights to listen to the podcast or to download it directly to your digital audio player.

ASCE has recently revised the brochure Guidance on  Licensing and Ethical Responsibilities for Civil Engineers, which outlines the benefits and importance of licensure and stresses the ethical responsibilities of civil engineers.  In addition to discussing what it means to be a licensed engineer, the brochure describes licensing requirements in the United States, offers reasons to pursue licensure, underlines the importance of recognizing and resolving ethical issues, and presents as case studies ethical dilemmas drawn from actual situations. Students and younger members may find it particularly useful when considering licensure as part of their career path. To view the brochure online, visit www.asce.org/professional/licensure. To receive a hard copy, send an e-mail to professional@asce.org. (The brochure was originally developed by the National Institute for Engineering Ethics.)

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

SITUATION: The president of an engineering consulting firm files a complaint with ASCE’s Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC), claiming that a departing employee abused his position with the firm in preparing to establish a private practice. The employer contends that the employee used company time and resources to prepare marketing materials and handle logistical details for the start of his business. Even more significant, the president alleges that the departing employee contacted several of the firm’s regular clients to inform them that he was leaving to start his own practice and to express his “grave concerns” about the firm’s financial viability and his belief that it would be unable to deliver an acceptable level of service to its clients after he left.

QUESTION: Did the ASCE member’s actions in using company time to support his personal business interests and in making invidious comments to his employer’s clients about his employer violate ASCE’s Code of Ethics?

DECISION: This case was brought before the CPC in the late 1960s, before a  comprehensive revision of the Code of Ethics expanded its focus from simply business ethics to a broader range of professional conduct. Because of the older code’s narrow focus on business practices, the conduct described by the employer touched on nearly every canon of the Code of Ethics. The CPC chose to focus its investigation on three canons. The first was canon 1, which at the time read as follows: “It shall be considered unprofessional and inconsistent with honorable and dignified conduct and contrary to the public interest for any member of the American Society of Civil Engineers to act for his client or for his employer otherwise than as a faithful agent or trustee”; the second was canon 5, which dealt with any “attempt to injure, falsely or maliciously, the professional reputation, business, or employment position of another engineer”; and the third was canon 8, which concerned itself with the “use [of] the advantages of a salaried position to compete unfairly with other engineers.”

The accused member flatly denied making use of company time or resources in preparing to establish his own practice. With respect to his contact with his employer’s clients, he stated that he had contacted only a few clients with whom he had worked closely in order to inform them of his departure. He claimed that he had not attempted to solicit work from his employer’s clients, that any concerns about the firm’s technical or financial capabilities had been raised by the clients, not by him, and that by giving his honest assessment of the firm he felt he was acting in the best interests of the clients.

The CPC reviewed written statements from the firm’s president and the accused member and conducted lengthy interviews with the parties as well as with other staff members and past and present clients of the firm. Based on their investigation, the committee members were not persuaded by the employee’s claim that he had acted without malice or improper motive. Believing that the member had abused his position and made false statements about his employer in the hope of soliciting work for his nascent practice, the CPC found that the member had violated canons 1, 5, and 8 of the code, and it recommended to the Board of Direction that he be expelled from the Society.

The board contacted the member to set a date for a hearing on the matter, but before the case could be heard the member filed a motion in state court for an injunction against the Society. Claiming that the proposed action would cause “irreparable harm” to his career, that the decision had been made arbitrarily, and that he had not been given proper notice or an opportunity to present a defense, the member asked the court to bar the Society from taking any further action in the matter. ASCE responded, arguing that the CPC’s activities had been conducted in accordance with procedures spelled out in the Society’s bylaws and that the entire process had been designed to ensure a fair, impartial hearing in response to an ethics complaint. After a lengthy debate, the court agreed, ruling to set aside the injunction. The Board of Direction proceeded to a hearing, upheld the CPC’s findings, and imposed a five-year suspension on the member.

While this case was disposed of at the injunction stage, a number of other professional societies have been called on to defend their enforcement of ethics provisions at trial. Courts have generally been reluctant to intervene in the disciplinary actions of voluntary societies, however, viewing ethics enforcement as part of a contractual arrangement that a member agrees to when joining a professional society. Moreover, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted in 2001 in Austin v. AANS, courts believe that, in the absence of bad faith or prejudice by the professional society, “professional self-regulation rather furthers than impedes the cause of justice” and that professional societies have an interest in ensuring that an unethical person is unable to “use his membership to dazzle” an unsuspecting client or customer.

Members who have an ethics question or would like to file a complaint with the Committee on Professional Conduct 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.

Thomas O. Moody, P.E., M.ASCE, died in a plane crash on January 23 together with Franklin R. Protiva, P.E., M.ASCE. Moody, who was 57, was born on July 14, 1951. He worked as a guide at the Grand Canyon for 20 years and during that period began carrying out environmental studies there. He also helped conceive and champion the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992 (formally, the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992). Later he became a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska, but he continued to spend his winters in Arizona. In 1995 Moody earned a degree in civil engineering from Northern Arizona University and went on to become an associate professor there, teaching courses on stream restoration and conducting research on streams in the southwestern United States. In 1999 he founded Natural Channel Design, Inc., an engineering consulting firm that specializes in stream restoration and natural resources planning. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and his son, Charlie. Condolences may be sent to stephanie@naturalchanneldesign.com or to Natural Channel Design, Inc., 206 South Elden Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.

Franklin R. Protiva, P.E., M.ASCE, died in a plane crash on January 23 together with Thomas O. Moody, P.E., M.ASCE. Protiva, who was 47, was born on May 11, 1961, in New Orleans, and his family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1976. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Northern Arizona University and was a principal owner of Shephard-Wesnitzer, Inc., a civil engineering and surveying company. Protiva is survived by his wife, Barbara, and several stepchildren. Donations may be made to the Utah Back Country Pilots, Sky Park Airport, 1887 South Redwood Road, No. 16, Woods Cross, UT 84087. Condolences may be sent to www.norvelowensmortuary.com.

J. Phillip Keillor, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE, died on February 27 at the age of 71 after sustaining injuries from a fall while ice-skating. Born on May 27, 1937, in Anoka, Minnesota, Keillor earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and in 1973 obtained a master’s degree in ocean engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He worked for the University of Wisconsin’s Sea Grant Institute for more than 29 years. Memorial contributions may be made to the Arbor Covenant Church, 2509 McDivitt Road, Madison, WI 53713; to Porchlight, Inc., 306 North Brooks Street, Madison, WI 53715; or to the Global Development Network, headquartered in New Delhi, India (www.gdnet.org).

Lloyd Garland “Gary” Byrd, P.E., F.ASCE, died on March 20 at the age of 85. Byrd received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Ohio State University in 1950 and began his career as an engineer with the Ohio Department of Highways (today the Ohio Department of Transportation) and the Ohio Turnpike Commission. He served in the military during World War II and from 1943 to 1945 was in the 76th Division of General George S. Patton’s Third Army (famous for its fighting in the Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium and Luxembourg in December 1944). In the 1960s Byrd formed the engineering firm Byrd, Tallamy, MacDonald & Lewis, which in 1972 became a division of Wilbur Smith and Associates. As the senior vice president and the director of the firm, Byrd was the principal in charge of projects. He helped carry out design work for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority as well as for the departments of transportation in Virginia, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. From 1984 to 1986 he was the interim director of the Strategic Highway Research Program, and during his career he was also active in the affairs of the National Research Council, the Transportation Research Board, the American Association of Engineering Societies, and ASCE. In 1987 he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering. Condolences may be entered in an online guest register at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.

Kareem Awarded Davenport Medal

The International Association for Wind Engineering has named Ahsan Kareem, Ph.D., M.ASCE, the inaugural recipient of its Alan G. Davenport Medal.  Kareem is the Robert M. Moran Professor of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame and the director of the school’s NatHaz Modeling Laboratory. His research interests cover a variety of areas in structural engineering, among them probabilistic structural dynamics; fluid-structure interactions; risk assessment and structural safety; and mitigation of the effects of such natural hazards as earthquakes, waves, and wind. His numerous accolades include asce’s Jack E. Cermak Medal, Robert H. Scanlan Medal, and State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award. Kareem has lent his expertise to several panels and committees of the National Research Council and has been a senior consultant to oil, insurance, and design firms as well as to the United Nations. This new International Association for Wind Engineering medal has been established to recognize distinguished achievements in elucidating the effects of wind on structures. It honors Alan G. Davenport, Ph.D., now a professor emeritus at the University of Western Ontario, who helped to pioneer the study of wind effects on tall buildings in boundary layer wind tunnels.

Topudurti Named NSPE Federal Engineer of the Year

Kirankumar Topudurti, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, the deputy director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center, has been named the 2009 federal engineer of the year by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). Topudurti was recognized for his contributions to environmental engineering worldwide. Examples of his work include the use of high-voltage electron beam technology for treating toxic organic compounds in contaminated groundwater and evaluating technologies for addressing petroleum hydrocarbon contamination. A member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board, Topudurti has authored numerous publications and conference papers and has served as an environmental technology delegate to Russia and Ukraine. He currently manages a $100-million research and development program. Topudurti holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, in India, a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, and a doctorate in environmental engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Teresa M. Adams, Ph.D., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1982. She went on to earn a master of science in civil engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986 and a doctorate, also in civil engineering, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989. A professor of civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Adams also serves as the director of the Wisconsin Transportation Center and of the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center. Her research focuses on the management and maintenance of transportation infrastructure, and her work has helped to advance knowledge in the areas of bridge engineering, pavement design, highway operations, and construction. Her research results have also affected the practice of highway maintenance engineering. With support from 21 state transportation agencies, Adams has developed a vocabulary, a taxonomy, and standards and criteria for assessing the quality and condition of various features of highway infrastructure, including shoulders, drainage systems, signage, and roadsides. Her work with the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center and the Freight Corridor Coalition led to a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation valued at more than $30 million to establish a freight transportation research and education center. Adams has served as a reviewer for numerous academic journals, among them ASCE’s Journal of Bridge Engineering, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, and Journal of Transportation Engineering.

Ira Braverman, P.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1972 from the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, part of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and in 1976 earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from California State University at Long Beach. Braverman is the owner and director of Braverman Engineers, a Jerusalem-based construction consulting firm that figures prominently in construction technology transfer between the United States and Israel, particularly on large infrastructure projects. Braverman has drawn on his professional expertise and dedicated his personal and professional resources to ensure that those working in the Israeli construction industry gain a familiarity with American methods as they relate to building technology, management, equipment, and building products. His work has demonstrated a strong concern for the training and safety of construction workers in a country with limited access to programs in these areas. In collaboration with the U.S. embassy in Israel, senior officials at Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing, heads of the contractors’ association in Israel, and the afl-cio department dealing with building and construction trades, he launched an initiative to introduce the apprentice training programs developed by the afl-cio into the schools in Israel for training construction workers. Braverman is a licensed professional engineer in California and Israel.

Vincent J. DeSimone, P.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College in 1959. He is the chairman of DeSimone Consulting Engineers, a New York City–based structural engineering firm he founded in 1969 and that today has major offices in Miami; San Francisco; New Haven, Connecticut; Las Vegas; Hong Kong; and Abu Z¸aby (Abu Dhabi). DeSimone is an innovative practitioner who emphasizes optimization and efficiency. He has been the firm’s senior principal in charge of development since its founding, and he continues to act as its strategic planner. His most recent overseas work includes the Conrad Shanghai, a hotel that is scheduled to open in that Chinese city next year. DeSimone and his firm have won numerous accolades for their work; for example, in 2002 the American Institute of Steel Construction conferred a national award on the Peter B. Lewis Building, in Cleveland. In 2001 DeSimone was named a distinguished leader of industry by the Concrete Industry Board. In 2007 the Structural Engineers Association of New York honored him with lifetime membership, and the Concrete Industry Foundation formally recognized his achievements with its Humanitarian Fellow Medal. A licensed professional engineer in 23 states, including New York, DeSimone has taught courses at the Pratt Institute and Princeton University and has authored or coauthored numerous technical articles.
 
H. Turan Durgunoglu, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, received a bachelor of science from the Istanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, in Turkey, in 1968 and a master’s degree and a doctorate, both in civil engineering, from the University of California at Berkeley in respectively 1969 and 1972. Durgunoglu is currently the chairman of ZETAS Zemin Teknolojisi, in Istanbul, and before that was a professor of civil engineering at Istanbul’s Bogaziçi Üniversitesi, where he taught a number of civil engineering courses, in particular, courses in geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He was also one of the founders of the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, which went into operation at Bogaziçi Üniversitesi in 1976.  Durgunoglu served as the director of the institute and for six years was a member of its executive committee. He was also instrumental in establishing a journal at Bogaziçi Üniversitesi and from 1972 to 1982 chaired the committee overseeing the journal’s activities. He served on a research team dealing with soil mechanics experimentation and was responsible for the analysis of the cone penetration data from Apollo 16 that were used in the geotechnical modeling of lunar soils.
Durgunoglu is the author of more than 120 papers and nearly 200 geotechnical engineering research reports. He also wrote a chapter for the International Handbook of Earthquake Engineering: Codes, Programs, and Examples (New York City: Springer, 1995).

Findlay G. Edwards, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1976, a bachelor’s degree in geotechnical engineering in 1980, a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1981, and a doctorate in engineering in 1998, all from New Mexico State University. He also earned a master’s degree in management from the University of New Mexico in 1984.
Edwards is an associate professor in the civil engineering department at the University of Arkansas. His research is in the environmental area with a major emphasis on wastewater treatment and on preventing and treating storm-water pollution, especially in relation to construction sites. As a principal research investigator, his work has garnered external funding from research grants totaling more than $1 million. In 2006 he also had the opportunity to conduct study abroad and to teach an air pollution control course in India. Edwards has also served as an engineering consultant for the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (a former entity within ASCE), traveling to Tianjin, China, to serve in 2003 and 2004 as a member of a team that also included representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and that evaluated factors affecting the water quality of a major reservoir. A licensed professional engineer in New Mexico, Edwards has authored or coauthored more than 20 technical journal articles, articles in conference proceedings, and abstract reports.

Mustaque Hossain, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, obtained a bachelor of science and a master of science in civil engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in respectively 1983 and 1986 and a doctorate in civil engineering from Arizona State University in 1990. Hossain has been teaching at Kansas State University since 1991, and over the past 16 years he has taught 12 different undergraduate and graduate courses at Arizona State and Kansas State. He was the principal investigator or one of the principal investigators for 51 sponsored research projects worth well over $4.75 million. The sponsors included the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration (fhwa), and the National Research Council. He has authored or coauthored one book chapter, more than 100 technical publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and more than 30 technical reports. He also holds three U.S. patents. Hossain has also made numerous presentations at various national and international forums. Twice the recipient of the Chi Epsilon Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award, in 2006 he was also honored with the Chi Epsilon Undergraduate Advising Excellence Award. From 2005 to 2008 he served as the director of the graduate program in civil engineering at Kansas State, and he is currently the associate director of the Mid-America Transportation Center and of the fhwa Region 7 University Transportation Center. Hossain is a licensed professional engineer in Kansas.

David W. Robertson, P.E., F.ASCE, earned a bachelor’s degree in 1974 and a master’s degree in 1975, both in civil engineering and both from North Carolina State University. Robertson has more than 30 years of engineering experience in transportation and urban planning. Prior to his retirement, he was a project engineer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for preparing and overseeing signage plans, specifications, and estimates. He was also responsible for preparing plans, specifications, and cost estimates for the first signage project in North Carolina to use what are called curved monotubes. A lighting solution he prepared was adopted throughout the state for 1,600 different sizes of signs lit by mercury lamps so that money could be saved in roadway sign illumination. From 2002 to 2004 Robertson served as the program chairman and as a chapter board member of Professional Engineers of North Carolina, and he was also responsible for obtaining approval from 10 different licensing boards to offer professional development hours for all professional meetings and seminars of the North Carolina chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society. Robertson is a licensed professional engineer in North Carolina.

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 Patrick Ballou, the applications coordinator, at (703) 295-6169 or pballou@asce.org. Completed applications are reviewed monthly by the Membership Application Review Committee.

∠ The Structural Engineering Institute is sponsoring a structural design competition for universities. Schools are invited to submit innovative project designs that demonstrate prowess in structural engineering. The awards include cash prizes and an opportunity to present the design next year at the Structures Congress/North American Steel Construction Conference, which will be held May 12–15 in Orlando, Florida. The deadline for submissions is January 14, 2010. For competition guidelines, an entry form, and a poster for promoting the competition, visit www.seinstitute.org.

∠ ASCE’s Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC) has concluded an in-depth investigation into allegations of ethical misconduct stemming from ASCE’s role in assessing the performance of the New Orleans hurricane protection system following Hurricane Katrina. No charges of ethical misconduct were filed by the CPC as a result of the inquiry, according to Rich Hovey, P.E., F.ASCE, the committee’s chairman. During its 13-month investigation, CPC members, supported by independent counsel, conducted numerous personal interviews and reviewed thousands of e-mail communications and hundreds of pages of print documents. The CPC received full cooperation from all parties and is satisfied that it had access to all information relevant to these allegations. The CPC discovered that a June 1, 2007, press release referring to a report issued by ASCE’s External Review Panel (ERP) inadvertently conveyed a misleading impression regarding the role of engineering failures in the devastation of New Orleans as a result of two technical errors. The CPC found that a clarification issued on June 15 insufficiently addressed this issue. The full announcement of the CPC findings is available at www.asce.org/pressroom. The ERP report that was the subject of the press release is available at www.asce.org/files/pdf/ERPreport.pdf.

∠ The Society is seeking to improve its manual How to Work Effectively with Consulting Engineers, which provides guidance on procuring engineering services. The manual offers tools to foster good working relationships between clients and consulting engineers. In addition to a discussion of contracts, the manual includes an explanation of services provided to the client, methods for determining compensation for engineering services, and methods for selecting a consulting engineer. We need your help to obtain the most accurate information on compensation for engineering services to make the next edition of the manual more valuable. It is critical that we obtain a broad response reflecting actual project data. We are asking principals and project managers to submit one survey per office. The survey is available at http://www.asce.org/m45 and takes approximately 20 to 45 minutes to complete. We request that you share this link with other offices within your company as well as with your colleagues. Each respondent will be entered into a drawing for an iPod nano. If you have any questions or would like information on alternative survey submittal methods, contact Alicia Karwoski, P.E., M.ASCE, the Society’s director of professional practice, at (800) 548-2723, extension 6324.

∠ The Structural Engineering Institute’s Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures Standards Committee will be meeting in Austin, Texas, during the Structures Congress ’09. The committee will meet at the Renaissance Austin Hotel on Wednesday, April 29, from 8 am to 5:30 pm and on Thursday, April 30, from 8 am until noon. Besides reviewing the results of recent ballots, committee members will discuss additional proposed changes to the 2005 edition of the standard. Interested parties should contact Jim Rossberg, P.E., M.ASCE, the institute’s director, at jrossberg@asce.org.
 
∠ The Structural Engineering Institute’s Structural Condition Assessment and Rehabilitation of Buildings Standards Committee will be meeting in Austin, Texas, during the Structures Congress ’09. The meeting will be at the Renaissance Austin Hotel on Friday, May 1, and will run from 9 am to 1:30 pm. Attention will be given to two standards, 11 (Guideline for Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Buildings) and 30 (Guideline for Condition Assessment of the Building Envelope). The committee will be reviewing the results of recent ballots and discussing additional proposed changes to the standards. For additional information, contact George R. Mulholland, S.E.,  P.E., M.ASCE,  the committee chair, at grmulholland@rrj.com.
 
∠ The Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s Urban Drainage Standards Committee will meet in Kansas City, Missouri, during the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress. The meeting will be on Sunday, May 17, and will run from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. The committee will be discussing revisions to the subsurface guidelines and the guidelines on the design of storm-water impoundments and will also be considering the creation of task committees. For additional information, contact Kathlie Jeng-Bulloch, P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE, the committee chair, at kathlie.bulloch@cityofhouston.net.

∠ The Structural Engineering Institute’s Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures Standards Committee will meet June 19–20, but the location has not yet been determined. The committee will be reviewing the results of recent ballots and discussing additional proposed changes to the 2005 edition of the standard. Individuals interested in attending should contact Jim Rossberg, P.E., M.ASCE, the institute’s director, at jrossberg@asce.org.

∠ The Transportation and Development Institute’s Automated People Movers (APM) Standards Committee will be meeting June 3–4 in Atlanta immediately after the 12th International Conference on Automated People Movers. The meeting will be held at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. Topics likely to be discussed include requests for interpretation of the APM standard, reports from task forces organized to address APM injuries and accidents and personal rapid transit, and reports from liaisons with the International Electrotechnical Commission and the National Fire Protection Agency. Attention will also be given to a report from the International Airport Automated People Movers Association and to the schedule for updating and reaffirming the four parts of the APM standard. Information on registering for the 12th International Conference on Automated People Movers, on the conference’s preliminary program, and on hotel reservations may be found at http://content.asce.org/conferences/apm2009/index.html. For more information about the meeting, contact Jonathan C. Esslinger, P.E., F.ASCE, the institute’s director, via phone at (703) 295-6420 or via e-mail at jesslinger@asce.org.