civil engineering Magazine ASCE

Civi vill Engineer eriing FEBRUARY

THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN

2014

SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

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Civi Ci vill En Engineer eeriing www.asce.org/cemagazine

www.asce.org/ceapp

Anne Elizabeth Powell EDITOR IN CHIEF

 Jeff Roth

STRUCTURES CONGRESS 2014 Boston, Massachusetts I April 3-5

ART DIRECTOR

Laurie A. Shuster MANAGING EDITOR

Robert L. Reid SENIOR EDITOR

David Hill

New ideas. New science. New resources. New colleagues. New business practices.

SENIOR WRITER

Catherine A. Cardno, Ph.D., Kevin Wilcox WEB EDITORS

Chris Ralston TECHN ICAL EDITOR

Ray Bert; Jeff L. Brown; Tara Hoke; Jay Landers; Michael C. Loulakis; Lauren P. P. McLaughlin CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Dianne Vance DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING • (703) 295-6234

“I’ve attended a great many Structures Congresses since my first one in Houston, back in 1983. I learn something new and important every time. I urge my colleagues, both those just getting started and those who are masters in their profession, to attend.”  -William F. Baker, Jr., P.E., SE, Partner,

MOHANNA & ASSOCIATES, INC.

 Julian Stamerro Mary Kellner ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR (703) 295-6349

Sean Richardson

• Take part in the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE) Spring Risk Management Convocation.

For more information or to register please visit www.structurescongress.org

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WESTERN SALES MANAGER (214) 291-3657

SALES AND CIRCULATION COORDINATOR (703) 295-6107

• Learn from dynamic technical sessions – choose from more than 120 sessions.

• Attend a Pre-Conference Seminar & earn additional PDHs: Post-Disaster Safety Evaluations, in cooperation with California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and Applied Technology Technolo gy Council (ATC) - 6 PDHs or Design of Sustainable Thermal Breaks - 4 PDHs.

Amanda Daniel

CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST SALES MANAGER (214) 291-3652

Mario Marzette

Reasons to join us at this year’s conference:

• Be inspired by two t wo renowned keynote speakers in Plenary Session: Ioanni (Yannis) Miaoulis, Ph.D., President and Director of the Boston Museum of Science and Tim Love, AIA, Utile Architecture and Planning.

Kelli Nilsson

NORTHEAST SALES MANAGER (214) 291-3661

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• Network with colleagues – more than 1,200 attendees expected.

Ellen Tucker

PRODUCTION MANAGER / REPRINTS (703) 295-6243  For gene general ral memb member er inqui inquiries ries,, update updates, s, and and infor informati mation, on, call call toll toll-fr -free ee to to (800) (800) 548548-ASCE ASCE (272 (2723). 3). • For For changes changes of  address, mem  address, members bers shou should ld emai emaill memrec memrec@as @asce.o ce.org; rg; nonm nonmembe embers rs shoul should d email email onli onlinejl nejls@a s@asce. sce.org. org. • To cont contact act the edit editors ors of Civil Engineering, email [email protected]. • The Publications Division home page is http://www.asce.org/pubs.

As it is the objective of Civil Engineering to be a forum for the free expression and interchange of ideas, the opinions and positions stated in signed material are those of the authors and not by the fact of publication necessarily those of the American Society of Civil Engineers or Civil Engineering. Contributing Engineering. Contributing authors are requested and expected to disclose any financial, economic, or professional interests or affiliations that may have influenced positions taken or advocated in their articles. Editorial guidelin es may be obtained upon request from the Editor in Chief. • Civil Engineering –( –(ISSN 0885-7024) is published 11 times per year (the July/August issues are combined) by the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4382. Annual subscription rates: ASCE Members first subscription, $25.00 included in dues. Nonmember subscriptions, $230 (domestic), $275 (international). Single copies, $30.00. Periodicals Postage Paid at Herndon, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Civil Engineering, Records Department, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4382. • Subscription and address change correspondence should be sent to ASCE Records Department. For your convenience a change of address form is included in most issues of Civil Engineering. • Engineering. • Civil Engineering —Title —Title registration ® in U.S. Patent Office. ASCE and the American Society of Civil Engineers—Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Copyright © 2014, American Society of Civil Engineers. Printed in the U.S.A. All Rights Reserved. Authorization to photocopy material for internal or personal use under circumstances not falling within the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act is granted by ASCE to libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $25.00 per article is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923. The identification for Civil Engineering magazine is 0885-7024/14-0001-00XX/$30.00 per article. Requests for special permission or bulk copying should be addressed to ASCE, Copyright/Permissions Department. Contact [email protected].

FEBRUARY 2014

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CONTENTS

•

Civil

FEATURES

THE FEDERAL GAS TAX:

H OW  M UCH , H OW  M UCH  L ONGER? B Y  R OBERT L. REID

It has been 20 years since the federal tax on motor fuels was last raised, and over those two decades the nation’s highway problems have only grown worse. Now, a growing number of stakeholders support a long-overdue tax hike even as it becomes clear to many that  alternative funding sources will be needed to keep the traffic flowing.

54

S AFE  P ASSAGE B Y  C ATHERINE  A. C ARDNO, P H.D.

The 3,399 ft long, 41 ft wide fourth bore of California’s Caldecott Tunnel has been designed  and built to be accessible to emergency vehicles no more than 72 hours after a catastrophic earthquake. Excavation for the tunnel was undertaken through highly variable rock  formations consisting of weak, fractured, and folded sedimentary rock layers.

60

S WITCHING  S USPENDERS BY R ICHARD S CHAEFER , P.E., T HEODORE P. “TED” Z OLI, P.E., M.ASCE, AND A NA T ATORIS, P.E.

 After determining that the wire rope suspenders on the central span of the nearly 60-year-old  Delaware River Turnpike Bridge needed to be replaced, the design team opted for a new suspender  arrangement that could be installed while the existing suspenders remained in service. This approach obviated the need for the temporary support systems usually used during  suspender replacements and shortened the time needed for the work.

66

M OODY ’ S N EW  M AGIC B Y  J OEL  B ARRON, P.E., M.ASCE , AND  J EFFERY  E LLIOTT, P.E., S.E.

Expanding the premium seating and amenities at Moody Coliseum, Southern Methodist University’s basketball stadium, required engineers to make significant cuts in the existing seating bowl without compromising structural stability. The stadium is now ready to usher in a new era of athletics.

72

O N TH E  C OVER :

The wire rope suspenders on the central spans of the nearly 60-year-old Delaware River Turnpike Bridge were found to be in need of replacement because of their age, the failed paint coatings, and the onset of corrosion. (Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. See page 66.)

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 Engineering

DEPARTMENTS

Civil Engineering News • 20 RETURN OF SCOTLAND YARD The facade of the Edwardian structure built on the site the famed police headquarters is being retained while a luxury hotel is built within. SURFACE APPEAL Faced with declining groundwater quality, the California cities of Woodland and  Davis recently awarded a $141.2-million design/build/operate contract for a new system to treat surface water. FOR THE BIRDS  A flood control project in the southern part of the United Kingdom relies on newly created intertidal habitat to protect nearby homes  and businesses from flooding while providing mudflats, salt marshes, and other features designed to appeal to various coastal birds. SUITED TO A TEE  A new museum in Hong Kong dedicated to the visual arts will turn heads by resembling a T turned upside-down. ENDANGERED SWAMPS The United States is losing coastal wetlands  at an increasing rate as a result of shoreline development and increasingly intense storms,  according to a recent report by the U.S. Fish  and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

60

RAIL IN REAL TIME  A construction management and design technology that uses three-dimensional images of a jobsite as they change over time is being adapted for use on rail projects. ISLANDS ADVENTURE  At the United Kingdom’s Chester Zoo, the new Islands development will  feature a meandering boat ride amidst  Southeast Asian animal habitats.

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Civil En RUNNING IN PLACE When Florence, South Carolina, was  faced with the need to double the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant, it chose to spend a bit extra to expand in  place rather than build a new facility.

On the Web • 8  A wider runway at O’Hare, a lightinfused museum in Mexico City, a French museum extension that marries old to new,  and more from www.asce.org/cemagazine.

President’s Note • 12 Championing infrastructure remains critically important, and if lawmakers  are to formulate sound policy, they need to hear from the experts.

66

ASCE Roundup

at a Glance • 14

Excerpts from ASCE’s blog gallery  at http://blogs.asce.org.

Policy Briefing • 16  After previously voting to overhaul  aspects of the National Flood Insurance  Program, Congress opted in January to delay certain changes to the program that were intended to phase out government  subsidies for hundreds of thousands of  policyholders in flood-prone areas.

Seven Questions (New) • 18

   S    N    O    M    M    O    C    A    I    D    E    M    I    K    I    W

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FEBRUARY 2014

 An interview with Harvey K. Hammond,  Jr., P.E. M.ASCE , the executive chairman of HNTB Corporation, on the topic of corporate culture.

News2Note • 42 What shines in Vegas, stays in Vegas—   as solar power; a shell-like pavilion will be home to beehives and bee observers; a build-it-yourself car kit; and more.

ineering 48 Technology • 44

Editor’s Note • 53

 Researchers have found a way to capture data in the form of  acoustic waves from underwater sensors, convert the waves to radio waves, and transmit them seamlessly over the Internet.

 Suspension situation

A Question of Ethics • 46 Getting involved in a bid-rigging scheme is never ethical, even if it seems to be in the best interests of your employer.

History Lesson • 48 In the mid-1920s, when the U.S. Post Office  Department proposed to expand its daily transcontinental airmail service by  adding nighttime flights, the City of Cleveland raced to build a well-lit airfield that would meet the night pilots’ needs. The result was the nation’s first municipal  airport and the birth of modern air traffic control.

Books •  76 We review books on the causes and effects of the most important events of the 20th century; the love of math (and vice versa); the upcoming clash between climate change and energy shortages;  and the Age of Discovery from the 15th to the 19th century.

The Law • 84 Yet another case demonstrates why it’s less expensive in the long run for a project owner to pay for a thorough site investigation before soliciting bids than to assign risk for unknown conditions to the contractor. L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S , TOP; GRANT FRAZER, BELOW 

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On the We b Civil Engineering Online www.asce.org/cemagazine

HERE ARE JUST A FEW of the

Web-exclusive articles published on Civil Engineering’s website during the past weeks: Also be sure to download the free Civil Engineering  app for your smartphone or tablet—www.asce.org/ceapp—and to view the enhanced content on the magazine’s digital edition, which can be accessed each month by clicking on the icon in the top left corner of the website home page.

November 26: O’Hare Completes Widest, Higher-Strength Runway 

First announced in 2001, the $8.7-billion O’Hare Modernization Program has from the beginning been a gargantuan undertaking, aimed at bringing one of the world’s busiest airports into the 21st century. (See “Chicago Mayor Proposes $6-Billion O’Hare Project,” Civil Engineering, September 2001, page 13.) Last month the project passed an important milestone when crews completed a $1.3-billion, 10,800 ft runway called 10C, the first at O’Hare capable of handling such large (class VI) aircraft as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8. Runway 10C is the latest in a series of runway projects to open at the airport in recent years. Construction of Runway 9L-27R began in 2005, and the runway opened in November 2008, along with the north air traffic control tower. In September 2008 Runway 10-28 was lengthened to 13,000 ft. Construction of the third runway in the modernization program, 10C, began in 2011. With a width of 200 ft, this new runway is also the airport’s widest. BY T.R. WITCHER

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FEBRUARY 2014

December 10: Renovation Sets the Stage For Theater’s Next Act

The Strand Theater was built in 1917 on San Francisco’s Market Street. A long, narrow buildiing, it initially served as a combination cinema and revue, showing second-run movies and hosting vaudeville-style acts. But as the character of the city’s so-called Mid-Market neighborhood declined through the decades, the theater did too. But the structure is now undergoing a transformation that will make it a contemporary playhouse. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, of Chicago, has developed an architectural and structural engineering plan to bring the 19,000 sq ft building up to code and transform the space to meet current needs. The project includes reducing the number of seats from 750 to 300, creating a two-story lobby, increasing the size of the stage, creatiing a new seating arrangement suitable for cabaret-style performances, adding basement space, restoring the facade, and stabilizing the structure to meet modern code requirements. In addition to all of this work, the buildiing’s few remaining original features will be saved. BY JENNY JONES

December 17: Research Examines Joplin Tornado

Shortly after a powerful tornado cut a swath of devastation up to 1 mi wide and roughly 22 mi long l through the city of Joplin, Missouri, and the surrounding area in May 2011, a team from the National Institute of Standards and Technology arrived on a field reconnaissance mission that soon led to a full-scale investigation. The investigation’s goal was comprehensive and BY KEVIN WILCOX

 ,    D    E    V    R    E    S    E    R    S    T    H    G    I    R    L    M    L    A   O    T  .    T    3    O    1    0    B    2  ,  ,    N    P   A    L    V    L    I    L    L    L    L    I    U    R   S    R   N    E   A    M   Y    R    &  .    S   G  .    G   J    N    I    T    W   N    O   A  ,    N    E   E    R   T    O   U    E    M   I    D   L    I    K   Y    S   B    ©   O   ;    T    T   O    F   H    E   P    L  ,    Y    N   V    A    O    I    N    T  .    A   S    I  .    V   U    A   /    S    F    N    O   O    T    M    N   M    E    O    M   C    T    R   A    A   I    P   D    E   E    M    D   I    O   K    I    G    A   W    C   ;    I    P    H   O    C   T

straightforward: to determine the factors that contributed to the 161 deaths and more than 1,000 injuries in  Joplin and the destruction of close to 8,000 homes and nonresidential buildings. Investigators looked at information about the tornado’s near-surface wind field, building performance, emergency communications, and public response to the threat. The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently released a draft of its final report on the investigation, which includes 16 recommendations for gaining a better understanding of tornado hazards; upgrading building codes, standards, and practices; and improving emergency communication procedures.

December 17: Daylight-Filled Museum Opens in Mexico City

A compact building, the 56 m tall Museo Jumex is a visually arresting structure that commands the attention of passersby. It houses the Colección  Jumex, one of the largest private collections of contemporary art in Latin America. To highlight the museum’s exhibitions, four 15 m high sawtooth roof gables admit light from the east, flooding the uppermost gallery space. Strategically located cutouts throughout the building channel light into the remaining levels of gallery space. While the museum, which has 6,700 m² of floor space and is of cast-in-place concrete, extends a mere four stories aboveground, a five-story belowground structure offers four levels of parking and a level of back-of-house space to support the gallery. BY CATHERINE A. CARDNO, PH.D.

meeting spaces, is a striking new entryway that not only offers three pavilions that will provide gatheriing and educational space for visitors but does so in a way that will incorporate an aged fig tree located at the site. The three pavilions forming the grand entrance will be linked to the museum itself, but each will have a separate entrance so that it can host special events.

January 7: French Art Museum Extension Marries Old and New

Last fall the Fonds Régionaux d’Art Contemporain opened a futuristic prefabricated structure in the heart of the French city of Orléans. Christened the Turbulences, it represents a collision of startling new architecture incorporated into a historic courtyard. The Paris firm JAKOB + MACFARLANE designed the structure, which takes the form of a metalllic tree trunk with three thick branches protruding into the air. The branches, each capped with a skylight, extend from the main structure at different heights and angles. The highest of the three reaches 17 m and will house llarge works of art, the second will house the lobby, and the third and shortest will house an audiovisual gallery. BY T.R. WITCHER

January 7: Florida Art Museum Master Plan Unveiled

Last month the Norton Museum of Art, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, unveiled a master plan created by the London-based architecture firm Foster + Partners that is expected to guide the museum over the next 20 years. The highlight of the design, which offers expanded gallery and BY CATHERINE A. CARDNO, PH.D.

PEDRO HIRIART,  A B O V E ;  FOSTER + PARTNERS, TOP RIGH T; JAKOB + MACFARLANE, ARCHITECTS/N. BOREL PHOTOGRAPHIES,

RIGHT 

FEBRUARY 2014

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American Society of Civil E ngineers 1801 Alexander Bell Drive Reston, VA 20191-4382 PRESIDENT: Randall S. Over, P.E., F.ASCE PRESIDENT-ELECT: Robert D. Stevens, Ph.D., P.E.,   F.ASCE

PAST PRESIDENT: Gregory E. DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S., D.WRE,   F.ASCE

TREASURER: Louis C. Aurigemma, P.E., F.ASCE ASSISTANT TREASURER: Dennis D. Truax, Ph.D., P.E.,   F.ASCE

REGION DIRECTORS: Himansu K. Banerjee, Ph.D., CPEng, F.ASCE, F. Jay Burress, P.E., M.ASCE, Billy L. Edge, Ph.D., P.E., D.CE, Dist.M.ASCE, Jennifer B. Epp, P.E., M.ASCE, John A. Frauenhoffer, P.E., S.E. , M.ASCE,   William P. Grogan, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, Brian R. Manning, P.E. , F.ASCE, Christopher J. Menn a, Sr., P.E., F.ASCE, Kenneth B. Morris, P.E., PTOE, M.ASCE, David B. Peterson, P.E., F.ASCE, Mark P. Rusnica, M.ASCE, Kristina L. Swallow, P.E., M.ASCE AT-LARGE DIRECTOR: Charles J. Hookham, P.E., M.ASCE, James A. Rispoli, P.E., BCEE, F.ASCE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASCE Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE Reston, Virginia ...................................(703) 295-6100 PRESIDENT, ASCE FOUNDATION Michael N. Goodkind, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., F.ASCE ............................................................. (312) 565-0450 WORLD HEADQUARTERS 1801 Alexander Bell Drive Reston, VA 20191-4382 Phone: ................(703) 295-6000; fax: (703) 295-6222 Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel Thomas W. Smith III, M.ASCE ..............(703) 295-6061 Chief Financial Officer Peter Shavalay, Aff. M.ASCE ................ (703) 295-6109 Senior Managing Director, Public Affairs, Membership, and Marketing Charles V. Dinges, Aff.M.ASCE .............(703) 295-6401 Senior Managing Director, Engineering and Lifelong Learning John E. Durrant, P.E., M.ASCE ..............(703) 295-6099 Executive Vice President, ASCE Foundation Christine Williams, Aff .M.ASCE ............(703) 295-6346 Chief Technology Officer Joseph DeFiglia, Aff .M.ASCE ...............(703) 295-6035 Managing Director, Member Communities Carol Bowers, PG, Aff.M.ASCE .............(703) 295-6352 Managing Director, Continuing Education John A. Casazza, Aff.M.ASCE ..............(703) 295-6155 Managing Director, Business Development Wendy B. Cowan, Aff .M.ASCE ............(703) 295-6113 Managing Director, Marketing and Sales Loretta Cranbourne, Aff .M.ASCE ......... (703) 295-6288 Managing Director, Publications Bruce Gossett, Aff.M.ASCE .................. (703) 295-6311 Managing Director, Member and Corporate Communications Stefan Jaeger, A.M.ASCE .....................(703) 295-6286 Managing Director, Professional/Educational Activities James J. O’Brien, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE ...... (703) 295-6055 Managing Director, Human Resources Kay Pulchine, Aff.M.ASCE .................... (703) 295-6045 Managing Director, Engineering Programs James A. Rossberg, P.E., F.SEI, M.AS CE  ...(703) 295-6196 Managing Director, Customer Service Rick Tyler .................................................. (703) 295-6363 WASHINGTON OFFICE 101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Suite 375 East Washington, DC 20001........................(202) 789-7850 Managing Director, Government Relations and Infrastructure Initiatives Brian Pallasch, Aff .M.ASCE ..................(202) 789-7842 INTERNET HOME PAGE   ......................http://www.asce.org ASCE CENTRAL ...........................(800) 548-ASCE (2723) MEMBER SERVICES (INTERNATIONAL) .......... (703) 295-6300 Member Accounts, Applications, Records, Publications, Conventions, Conferences, and Continuing Education ...................(800) 548-ASCE (2723) Publications Fulfillment ( Nonmember Orders, Subscriptions, and Inquiries)  ..................... (703) 295-6210 EMAIL ADDRESSES

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Board of Direction [email protected] Courses and Seminars ......................... [email protected] Conferences and Conventions [email protected] Publications [email protected] Membership [email protected]

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W

ORKING TO renew and improve our na-

tion’s infrastructure remains critically important, and the decisions facing lawmakers this year only underscore that fact. To formulate sound policy, lawmakers need to hear from experts so that they can gain a better understanding of infrastructure issues. Legislators need and want to understand the benefits of infrastructure investment and the economic consequences of inaction in the states and districts they represent. By sharing your expertise, you can help shape the future. Two critical issues in 2014 make this perhaps the most important year yet for infrastructure investment. In the area of transportation, the expiration of the federal Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the impending insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund could undermine our country’s future. If Congress is unable to pass a new transportation bill this year and solve the revenue issue, federal funding for transportation infrastructure will once again be placed in jeopardy. Inaction may stall many planned road and bridge projects, adversely affecting local communities and interstate commerce. Our national infrastructure requires sustainable funding and long-term planning. Why should you become engaged? Because your help will have a pronounced effect. By investing as little as five minutes you can support ASCE’s infrastructure advocacy efforts. Signing up for our Key Contact Program (www.asce.org/keycontacts) would be an easy first step. Or visit the ASCE report card site (www.infrastructurereportcard.org) and learn about key infrastructure issues in your state. Follow the Save America’s Infrastructure blog or join the Facebook group. Help educate colleagues and friends and keep the conversation going by sharing news articles about local infrastructure needs. Have more time to invest? A meeting with your legislator can make a big difference in this election year. Members of Congress have district work periods February 17–21 and March 17–21. Magnify the effect of ASCE’s annual Legislative Fly-In, which will be held March 18–20 in Washington, D.C., by participating in the simultaneous Fly-In @ Home program in your state. By scheduling a visit with your lawmaker when he or she is back home, you can help advance ASCE’s federal priority issues and support the efforts of your fellow members who are attending the Leg-

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islative Fly-In. Members of Congress are also scheduled to have a district work period from March 25 to April 5. Call your member’s district or Washington office today to set up a time to meet in person. Haven’t done this before? Support each other by bringing your ASCE colleagues with you to make a more compelling case. Remember, preparation makes a difference. Be ready to give your lawmaker concrete examples of infrastructure success stories in your community, as well as information about facets of local infrastructure that need attention. During your visit, explain how this infrastructure affects your community. Offer to give your lawmaker a “behind the scenes” tour of local infrastructure so that he or she can be more persuasive when proposing or supporting new policies, projects, or funding. Before you leave, tell your representative how much you appreciate his or her efforts on behalf of your community. Not sure how to start the conversation? The 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure is a great focal point for any infrastructure discussion. Download the report card app to your smartphone or tablet. You can also find facts and stories in the report card to make any discussion more fruitful through our Outreach Toolkit (www.asce.org/Infrastructure/ ASCE-Outreach-Toolkit). Another way to engage with your lawmaker is to attend a town hall meeting or some other local event. Remember that since 2014 is an election year, many lawmakers will be planning a number of events in their districts during the spring and summer. Learn more about local appearances by visiting your representative’s website, his or her Facebook or Twitter feeds, or your community newspaper. Work with your ASCE section or branch members and organize a legislative day in your state’s capital. You can find information on these and many more activities by visiting the Key Contact Program site (www.asce.org/keycontacts) and clicking on “15 Ways to Get Involved in ASCE’s Government Relations Program.” You can also volunteer to help your section or branch organize an event to highlight a solution to a local infrastructure problem. Consider partnering with your chamber of commerce, city council, college alumni group, or some other civic organization. By involving other groups in the effort, you demonstrate that a number of stakeholders are committed to maintaining and renewing our nation’s infrastructure. If you need more ideas, ASCE staff members are standing by to help. Contact [email protected]. Educating and influencing policy makers to support and fund infrastructure can happen only if civil engineers become involved. In this election year, you can truly make a difference. Become an infrastructure advocate and give America a brighter future. —R ANDALL S . “ R ANDY” O VER, P.E., F.ASC E

Excerpts from ASCE’s blog network. Visit http://blogs.asce.org to view all channels. ASCE’s

SAVE AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE

Congressional Fellows Program Is Accepting Applications

Georgia’s C in Infrastructure  By Brittney Kohler EORGIA’S infrastructure

Ghas failed to improve

 By Clark Barrineau

over the past five years. In a new assessment, the 2014

FASCE has selected a mem-

 Report Card for Georgia’s In frastructure, the Georgia

ber to serve in its Congressional Fellows Program. ASCE’s congressional fellow spendss one year working spen as a congressional staffer. He or she joins more than 30 colleagues from 22 other engineering and scientific organizations to bring engineeriing and scientific aadvice to members of Congress. b The fellowship is T open to any ASCE op member who is a me U.S. citizen. FacU. tors weighed by the selection commitsele tee include i the possession of advanced sessi degrees, registration degr as a professional engineer, involvement in ASCE, public policy experience, and professional experience. The deadline for the 2014– 15 fellowship is March 7, 2014. Visit www.asce.org/ congressional-fellows or contact Martin Hight in ASCE’s government relations office at mhight@asce .org. ASCE’s 2014 congressional fellow, Theresa Harrison, P.E., M.ASCE, who

Section awarded the state’s

infrastructure an overall grade of C, the same grade it meted out in 2009. The lowest grade was a D–, which went to the state’s dams and mass transit systems. The highest grade, a B, was given to Georgia’s energy and rail systems. Georgia’s growing population combined with cutbacks in infrastructure funding resulted in many of the low grades. [14] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

OR THE PAST 18 years

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is from Niles, Michigan, is working in the office of Senator Charles E. Schumer (D–New York). ASCE NEWS

Working as a Mechanic Was Good Preparation For a Career as a Civil Engineer  By Doug Scott

Itractor dealership in

N 1975, WHEN a Ford

Southern California needed

teenager and young adult was a blue-collar worker. It was not until later in life, at age 38, that he graduated from Brigham Young University with both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and began his career as a civil engineer. “Having worked in the field of construction and having to maintain the kinds of things that engineers design, [my background as a mechanic] gave me an appreciation and an understanding beyond the typical engineer,” says Sereno. “It helps me understand the value of good design and in fact places parameters on what a good design is.” ASCE: WORKING FOR YOU

a master mechanic to maintain and repair its fleet of backhoe loaders, skip loaders, trenchers, Bobcats, and Caterpillars, they hired a young man who had more than 15 years of experience getting his hands dirty running heavy equipment. Today that man, Douglas Sereno, P.E., ENV SP, M.ASCE, is the director of program management for the Port of Long Beach, California. Unlike those who knew in high school what they wanted to become in life, Sereno is a man who as a

HERE ARE excerpts from recent postings by Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, ASCE’s executive director. The full postings can be read at http://blogs.asce .org/asce-working-for-youjanuary/. ▲ Once again ASCE has

achieved a significant mile- Institute of Steel Construcstone in its program to adtion), precollege outreach vance the principles of sus- initiatives, the 2013 Report tainable development. Our Card for America’s Infra structure, the Institute for headquarters building, in Reston, Virginia, recentSustainable Infrastructure’s ly earned ENERGY STAR Envision rating tool, 100th certification from the U.S. anniversary celebrations Environmental Protection for various ASCE sections, Agency (www.energyand much more. Throughstar.gov). The certification out 2014 the foundation is consistent with ASCE’s will be marking its 20th definition of sustainabilbirthday by celebrating the ity, which considers the efpast two decades of paying fect of sustainable practices forward and giving back on society and the econowithin the civil engineermy. Earning the certificaing profession. tion for a second time dem- ▲ What better way to set onstrates that ASCE has yourself apart from your taken a strong position on colleagues and demonsustainability and shows strate your expertise to clearly how important it clients, employers, and is for civil engineers to be the public than by earnleading the charge. Estabing certification in your lished in 1992, the certifispecialty? ASCE offers cation program recognizpostlicensure certification es and honors homes and to engineers of any age in businesses that save money the fields of water resourcand protect the environes engineering, geotechment through energy-effinical engineering, coastal cient products and practic- engineering, ocean engies. ASCE is proud to have neering, port engineering, its headquarters buildand navigation engineering on the list of certified ing. Visit www.asce.org/ buildings. certification. ▲ On behalf of the ASCE ▲ Let ASCE help you get Foundation I would like to ready for Engineers Week. thank each and every supSend an email to outporter who contributed in [email protected], and we 2013. Our generous and will mail you, at no charge, loyal supporters are lookthe new volunteer kits and ing out for the next genera- posters for Engineers Week tion of civil engineers and and Introduce a Girl to Enhelping to advance the pro- gineering Day. These kits fession. Over the past 20 include a large poster for years, the ASCE Foundadisplay, practical ideas to tion (www.asce.org/founhelp you start planning, dation) has raised more a calendar of Engineers than $20 million for such Week events (February 16– valuable ASCE programs as 22), and links to resources the Excellence in Civil Endesigned to make your Engineering Education (Exgineers Week celebration a CEEd) teaching workshops, success. Then visit our Disthe National Concrete Cacover E page (www.asce noe Competition, the Na.org/eweek) to learn more tional Student Steel Bridge about how ASCE can supCompetition (organized port your Engineers Week jointly with the American campaign. CE

One Million New Scientists. One Million New Ideas.

TM

It was a 4-H experiment in robotics that sparked the imagination of a young girl, that became a passion for engineering, that created new designs and sources of energy to power a growing world. Companies and universities around the country are embracing the 4-H commitment of fostering one million young scientists and engineers over the next five years. With their help, 4-H is  growing the next generation of great thinkers. To learn more about America’s largest youth development organization, visit www.4-H-org. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System

FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [15]

Po l i c y B r i e f i n g Congress Delays Certain Changes to National Flood Insurance Program

fathering. In accordance with the law, as of January 1, 2013, FEMA began increasing rates for secondary residences that are subject to subsidized premiums. Rates for such properties are to increase 25 percent INCE ITS creation, in 1968, cash-strapped NFIP even less prepared to annually until they reflect the true risk of the National Flood Insurance deal with another catastrophic flood. flooding. On October 1, 2013, subsidized Program (NFIP) has sought Nearly 22,000 communities partici- policies for business and other nonresidento reduce flood risks while in- pate in the NFIP, the 5.6 million policies tial properties, as well as any properties excreasing insurance coverage nationwide. providing more than $1.2 trillion in cov- periencing severe or repetitive flood losses, However, some of the strategies for boost- erage. Roughly 20 percent of policyhold- likewise became subject to annual rate ing participation in the program, particu- ers pay premiums that do not reflect the increases of 25 percent until rates reflect larly the use of subsidies for certain flood- full flood risk faced by their properties, true flood risks. Meanwhile, subsidized prone properties, have kept the NFIP from according to written testimony submit- rates for primary residences will remain operating on an actuarially sound basis. ted by W. Craig Fugate, the administra- in effect unless the property is sold, the Faced with massive losses in the wake of tor of FEMA, to the House Committee policy lapses, severe or repetitive flood Hurricane Katrina and other large storms on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on loss occurs, or a new policy is purchased. in 2005, the NFIP sank into debt on the Housing and Insurance as part of a No- If any of these conditions is met, premiorder of $18 billion. After Hurricane San- vember 19 hearing regarding implemen- ums for those properties will increase imdy, which struck in 2012, this deficit bal- tation of Biggert-Waters. mediately to reflect true actuarial rates. looned again, forcing the Federal EmerAs directed by Congress, owners of Finally, grandfathered rates will be phased gency Management Agency (FEMA), homes and businesses built before FEMA out gradually as communities adopt new which administers the NFIP, to borrow began creating flood insurance rate maps, flood insurance rate maps. Under a rule from the U.S. Department of the Trea- which delineate flood risks for given areas, that FEMA expects to complete this Ocsury to remain solvent. Today the NFIP is have long been able to buy flood insurance tober, grandfathered properties subject to roughly $24 billion in debt. new maps will experience annuSeeking to put the NFIP on a al rate increases of 20 percent for  Although most flood insurance policies sounder fiscal footing, Congress five years. passed and President Obama In a report released last Sephave yet to lose their subsidized signed legislation in July 2012 to tember, the U.S. Government status, members of Congress, alter several aspects of the federal Accountability Office estimatparticularly in such coastal states as flood insurance program. Known ed that approximately 438,000 as the Biggert-Waters Flood Inpolicies would no longer be elLouisiana and Florida, have begun surance Reform Act of 2012, igible for subsidies under Bighearing from policyholders who have the legislation has since created gert-Waters, including 345,000 an uproar in many flood-prone policies for nonprimary residencexperienced significant rate increases. communities because of provies, 87,000 policies for business sions it contains designed to enproperties, and 9,000 policies for sure that flood insurance rates more ac- at subsidized rates. Although the NFIP primary residences experiencing severe or curately represent actual flood risks. For collects more than $3.5 billion in annual repetitive losses. Over time, according to certain policy holders, these provisions premium revenues, FEMA estimates that this report, another 715,000 subsidized or have resulted in or will result in flood in- $1.5 billion more will be needed annually grandfathered policies would have their surance rates that are significantly high- from subsidized policyholders, according subsidies eliminated as a result of changes er, raising fears that some current owners to Fugate’s written testimony. Meanwhile, to individual policies or the adoption of will lose their homes because they cannot grandfathered rates have been granted to new flood insurance rate maps. afford the new rates. In response, many properties that were built in compliance Although most flood insurance poliin Congress have been calling on FEMA with existing flood insurance rate maps cies have yet to lose their subsidized stato postpone implementing the new rates in areas that later experienced increased tus, members of Congress, particularly in until the agency can complete a congres- risks of flooding. Despite the greater risk such coastal states as Louisiana and Florisionally mandated study of the extent to of flooding for these properties, premium da, have begun hearing from policyholdwhich ratepayers can afford the increased rates have not been adjusted. ers who have experienced significant rate premiums called for under BiggertThe Biggert-Waters legislation calls increases. In some cases, property ownWaters. However, any delay in imple- for the gradual elimination of subsidized ers fear that they will no longer be able menting the new rates would leave the premiums and of the practice of grand- to afford their policies, which often are

S

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required as part of mortgage proceedings. In other cases, real estate transactions have been canceled as a result of the significantly higher costs of flood insurance premiums. “Neither Democrats or Republicans envisioned [that Biggert-Waters] would inflict the pain and concern that many Americans are experiencing,” said Representative Maxine Waters (D-California), one of the two legislators for whom the law was named, at the November 19 Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing. “In my view, it certainly didn’t have to be this way,” Waters said. “All of the harm that has been caused to thousands of people...is just unconscionable,” she said. “That was not the intention of Biggert-Waters.” Waters also assailed FEMA for implementing the rate increases without first conducting the affordability study called for in her bill. For his part, FEMA’s Fugate maintained that the agency was required to implement the rate increases and other changes called for in the law concurrently, rather than wait for the affordability study to be completed. He also noted that

the National Academy of Sciences, the or- FEMA from increasing flood insurance ganization with which FEMA is required premiums on grandfathered properties in to conduct the affordability study, has es- areas for which new flood insurance rate timated that the effort will probably take maps are released. Because the provision two years to complete. blocks FEMA’s implementation of this Completion of an affordability study policy during the current fiscal year, any has figured prominently in many bills re- rate increases will not occur until some cently introduced in Congress to address time in fiscal year 2015 at the earliest. the issue of rising flood insurance preAny delays in implementing the rate miums. For example, in mid-December increases called for in Biggert-Waters Senator Robert Menendez (D–New Jer- will only leave the NFIP less prepared sey) introduced the Homeowner Flood financially to deal with future claims, Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 Fugate told the Subcommittee on Hous(S. 1846), which would postpone flood ing and Insurance. “What the increases insurance premium increases on most really do is ensure that future losses are properties affected by new flood insurance being paid for by rates collected,” he said. rate maps until FEMA had conducted an At least one member of that subcomaffordability study. Meanwhile, numer- mittee appealed to Congress not to undo ous bills have been introduced the changes called for in Bigin the House that seek to degert-Waters. “Without these lay or, in some cases, repeal outreforms, there will not be a right certain policy provisions flood insurance program,” asof Biggert-Waters. serted Representative Lynn In mid-January an omniWestmoreland (R-Georgia). —JAY LANDERS bus appropriations act for the remainder of fiscal year 2014 was passed into law that in Jay Landers is a contributing edLanders cludes a provision preventing itor to Civil Engineering.

FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [17]

1

“Culture” is sometimes defined as how companies get things done or, perhaps more precisely, how they accomplish their strategic initiatives. Would you agree with that definition or would you define the term differently?

I see it a little bit differently. I think of culture more as the sum total of how we behave and how that is transmitted from generation to generation. I see it as different from how we get things done. There’s a business approach to getting things done, and there’s a business approach to accomplishing strategic objectives, and that’s probably part of our culture. But I don’t see that as the culture; the culture is more values, characteristics, and behavior.

2

7

Q u e s t i o n s [

]

 An interview with Harvey K. Hammond, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE, on the topic of corporate culture • By D AVID HILL

How important is culture to a firm’s success?

If you’re trying to build a long-term sustainable business and work in the public sector, you better have a pretty high value system. Clients can’t hire somebody for these incredibly expensive, sophisticated infrastructure projects if they’re not trusted. The culture has been an important part of our success. It allows us to recruit really top people who come to HNTB and once they go through the interview process, a lot of them are drawn by our culture. People outside see it; clients see it. One of the interesting things that we’ve noticed is that clients will say we all sound the same if they’re dealing with somebody from HNTB from the West, or the Midwest, or the East, or the South.

3

What were the factors and who were the individuals responsible for shaping the culture within your firm?

It’s always been the leaders who believe in the culture and the value system, and then they hire and promote based on that. And so over time, it just continues year after year. When I came to the office and interviewed [out of college], the people seemed to be really high-caliber individuals. As I got to know the leaders of the firm—not only in the office I started in, but as I got to travel to other offices—it really struck me that honesty in business, excellence [18] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

WISDOM AN D GUIDANCE FOR SUCCESSFUL CAREER BUILDING

FEBRUARY 2014

Harvey K. Hammond, Jr., P.E. M.ASCE, is the executive chairman of HNTB Corporation, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Hammond joined HNTB in 1966 directly out of engineering school at the University of Wisconsin at Platteville.

in work, personal responsibility, and respect for others were just the way it was at HNTB.

4

How have you reshaped or refined your firm’s culture to maintain the firm’s objectives?

I would say the biggest difference I made is that I brought documentation of the HNTB way of doing things. I said we’re going to document these business processes, we’re going to document the vision, and we’re going to document the characteristics. We’re going to do these things in a systematic way, and it worked. It’s easy to communicate with each other because we’re all speaking the same language. There’s no need for creativity on the process itself. Let’s use the process and then let’s use our creativity and imagination to solve the problem.

5 When we hire a lot of top people from How is the culture of your firm distinctive from that of other firms?

other companies, they’re struck by how other companies say they hold

the same values but how we actually do it. I don’t look into those firms very often so I don’t know, but I hear people from third parties tell me that they like the consistency they see across our firm.

6

What qualities does your firm look for in new hires in terms of compatibility with the firm’s culture?

We have really high expectations for following good processes and for meeting our goals and objectives, and what we find is the people who are motivated by those kinds of expectations are the kind of people we want. As we begin to interview people, we share with them the HNTB vision. In that process, they learn about the job they’re interviewing for and the company they’re going to join, and they can make a personal decision as to whether or not that is motivational to them. We try to make it as clear as possible: here’s who we are, here’s what we stand for, and

if this motivates you, you’re a good fit and you’re well on your way to having a good career.

7

How does firm culture guide an engineer’s career trajectory?

Career development is something we believe in. We try to be very clear about what the expectations are in terms of specific assignments. People are able to see that and have a lot of clarity about how they move through their career. After people have been with our firm for a couple of years, we get them together and go through a young professionals course during which we talk to them about how to advance their career. We’re looking for positive characteristics as people move through their careers. We want them to be trustworthy and self-aware, and we want them to have courage and to take responsibility for decisions. CE Hill

 David Hill is the senior writer of Civil Engineering.

Add some “smart” to your smart device.

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Civil Engineering | N E W S T

addresssays Donagh O’Sullivan, CEng, the managSTRUCTURES es that become so well known ing director of the London-based developer, that they come to define the octhe Galliard Group. Two basement levels and cupants long after they have detwo upper levels with a mansard slate roof parted. But 3–5 Great Scotland Yard, the will be added in the process. original 1829 location of London’s Met“The current internal layout and interropolitan Police Service, is one of them. nal feeling of the building [aren’t] anything “Scotland Yard” as a moniker for the force’s like you might imagine from the external,” headquarters became the colloquial name O’Sullivan says. “There is nothing of any arfor the police force itself, memorialized by chitectural merit inside. Everything that has such writers as Charles Dickens and Arthur architectural merit is on the external facade of Conan Doyle in the 19th century and in the building, and that’s all being retained.” countless movies and television programs in the 20th cenThe existing five-story building has load-bearing redbrick tury. The moniker remains today, even though the force has and stone masonry walls that support steel beams spanning from the front to the rear perimeter walls in each wing, aclong since moved on from the address. In 1890 the police force moved to new headquarters, New cording to a civil and structural statement completed by the Scotland Yard. An Edwardian building with a large central London-based civil and structural engineering firm Clarke courtyard was built on the site of the original headquarNicholls Marcel and filed with the City of Westminster, a ters and was completed in 1910. Within those walls, borough of London. The floor slabs are formed with filler a 92,000 sq ft, five-star luxury hotel will be carejoists that span between the main beams; cast-in-place fully built from the ground up. concrete that is not reinforced and that contains clin“Our intention is to retain the exterker aggregate—lumps of limestone and clay—ennal facade all the way around, demolcases these joists. The use of clinker aggregate has ish the full structure internally, and caused cracking of the slabs and degradation of then rebuild the new structure,” the floor joists, according to the statement. The building was built as an army recruiting depot. In 1986 it was taken over by A luxury hotel will be conthe Ministry of Defense, which built a fivestructed within the exteristory, reinforced-concrete structure with or of the structure built a mezzanine on the perimeter of the in 1910 at 3–5 Great courtyard, making the courtyard Scotland Yard, the origiitself an atrium, according to the nal location of London’s statement. The building has Metropolitan Police Serbeen vacant since 2004. vice. The well-known The retention of the facade will be distinctive Edwardretained. ian facade will HERE ARE VERY  FEW

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 Scotland Yard Interior Transformed, Original Facade  Retained 

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   R    E    Z    A    R    F    T    N    A    R    G

P ROPOSED S ECTION V IE W

   S    T    C    E    T    I    H    C    R    A    R    P    E

be accomplished with a “fairly extensive and substantial” temporary steel structural frame, according to O’Sullivan. The frame will be built on the exterior of the facade and will tie back through the existing openings to support the facade during the interior demolition work. Once the facade is stabilized, scaffolding will be built within the central atrium of the building so that the light structure forming the atrium roof can be removed, O’Sullivan explains. A temporary crane erected outside of the building will be used “to drop a small piling rig through the skylight roof space to carry out some piling,” he says. “And then we’ll erect a tower crane from the middle of that atrium.” The tower crane will make it possible to bring in small machinery that will be used to carefully dismantle the interior of the building from the top down. The spoil from the building, at least for the top few floors, will be lifted up and over the preserved facade walls. While the current plan calls for a structural steel interior, O’Sullivan says that over the next 12 months the development group will be looking for an operator for the luxury hotel. If one is found, a reinforced-concrete interi-

or structural system may be used instead. Concrete would permit the use of thinner slabs to accommodate partition walls in multiple locations, providing more flexibility in the layout of the rooms. This would also enable the operator to make decisions about the interior design of the hotel later in the process than would otherwise be the case. The internal structure will be founded on piles, which will have to be very carefully designed, O’Sullivan stresses. The building is located near a number of government offices and facilities, including the prime minister’s office and official London residence, 10 Downing Street. “So there is a lot of infrastructure, including telecommunications, running in the area,” O’Sullivan says. “We have got very careful design to do . . . to make sure that there isn’t any interruption to anybody’s services in the area.” Further complicating matters are the underground tunnels and passageways for the London Underground that are located in the area. “But it’s something that we’re very used to doing,” he says. “When we are doing these developments in London, when we see something like Scotland Yard, we’re pleased that at least we are not going to have

anything to do with unexploded devices from the Second World War,” O’Sullivan says, “which is something that is reasonably common for us” on work completed elsewhere in the city. The project will also include the conversion of 1 Great Scotland Yard into a separate luxury suite for the hotel. This three-story house is at least 200 years old and is protected by English Heritage, the group that advises the government on sites and structures in England of cultural or historical importance. A passageway connecting the house to the hotel will be constructed as part of the project, although the house will retain its separate street entrance. Despite the extensive work that will be done on the project, the result will seamlessly blend with the existing fabric, O’Sullivan says. “Everything that is going to be done in all of the new extensions—and all of the new work externally—is going to look like it was always part of the streetscape.” The internal structure will exactly match the existing windows, doorways, and original floor-to-floor heights, he says. “It’s kind of almost like shoehorning this five-star, fantastic hotel within the old building that looks like its

FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [21]

Civil Engineering NEWS

something that could have been built a hundred years ago, but it’s actually brand new,” O’Sullivan says. Doing this is well worth the effort, O’Sullivan says, because it means that the city “can regenerate itself and can be constantly evolving and going through the evolution that a major city like London [experiences] without los-

ing [its] beautiful architecture heritage.” The building is owned by the Crown Estate, a business that manages property that is owned by the monarchy but is not the private property of the monarch. The Galliard Group has acquired a 125-year lease on the building with the understanding that it will be converted into a hotel, according to Sullivan. Once complete, the £100-million (U.S.$164-million) hotel is expected to have 235 bedrooms and suites. It will also include a grand entrance foyer, a

restaurant, a bar, a library, and a winter garden lounge with an atrium, as well as conference facilities that will include a ballroom that can seat 120, meeting rooms, and a number of private function rooms that can also be used for dining. Construction work on the project is slated to begin this month, and the hotel is expected to open in 2016. —CATHERINE A. CARDNO, PH.D.

Catherine A. Cardno, Ph.D., is a Web editor of Civil Engineering.

The water treatment facility will have a capacity of 30 mgd but can be easily expanded in the future. Its processes will include clarification with sand as ballast, ozone treatment, biological filtration, and the addition of chlorine and other chemicals.

DRINKI NG

W AT E R

California Cities Develop Surface Water Supply To Reduce Dependence on Groundwater  awarded a $141.2-million contract to among the largest of the CH2M HILL, of Englewood, Colorado, municipalities in north- to design, build, and operate a surface ern California that rely exclusively on water treatment system that will rely on groundwater to meet their drinking wa- water from the Sacramento River. ter needs. Faced with declining groundCombined, the two cities have a popwater quality and increasingly stringent ulation of approximately 120,000 residischarge requirements, the two cities dents. “It’s unusual to have a community have long been working together to de- of that size 100 percent on groundwater velop a reliable source of surface water. in California,” says Dennis Diemer, P.E., In mid-October the efforts of the two the general manager of the Woodlandcities came to fruition when the Wood- Davis Clean Water Agency. Two issues land-Davis Clean Water Agency—the have prompted the cities to pursue the use entity formed for the purpose of devel- of surface water. “Aging groundwater well oping the new surface water source— infrastructure and degrading groundwa-

W

OODLAND AND DAVIS are

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ter quality” are the driving forces behind the development of the new surface water system, Diemer says. For example, more than two-thirds of the groundwater wells owned by the City of Woodland are more than 30 years old, while half of the wells owned by the City of Davis are at least 30 years old, he notes. What is more, both cities have had to contend with the presence of such substances as nitrates, iron, manganese, and selenium in their groundwater, and by 2017 Woodland will have to be in compliance with stringent wastewater discharge requirements pertaining to selenium. “The way that they’re going to be able to do that is by switching a significant portion of their [drinking water] supply to this surface water project,” Diemer says.

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The surface water system will consist of an intake facility on the Sacramento River, raw water transmission mains, a new, 30 mgd water treatment facility, and three pipelines that will convey treated water to the distribution systems of Woodland and Davis. As the engineer for the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency, West Yost Associates, of Davis, led the initial development of the project’s technical aspects, including predesign, land acquisition, budgeting, scheduling, obtaining permits, and assistance to the agency during negotiations regarding the design/build/ operate contract. The firm will continue as the agency’s engineer throughout project construction, Diemer says. Extending 5.1 mi in length, the raw water transmission mains will be of welded steel and have a diameter of 36 in. Because the river can experience heavy sedi-

ment loads, especially during the winter, the potential exists for sediment to build up in the pipelines, reducing capacity and increasing pumping costs. Ponds would normally be included ahead of the raw water pipelines to remove sediment before it entered the system. However, this option was not available, says Steve Patterson, P.E., CH2M HILL’s design manager for the project. Therefore, Patterson says, CH2M HILL “devised a system with basins on-site” that can be used as necessary to increase the flow rate and flush sediment from the transmission mains into the basins, where the unwanted material can be removed from the system. As a backup the design also calls for the use of a device known as a pig to be drawn through the raw water pipelines periodically to remove sediment buildup. Because of the likelihood of high concentrations of solids in the raw water at

times, the treatment facility will include as its first step clarification with sand as a ballast. After clarification the water will be treated by means of ozone before it undergoes biological filtration in a system using granular activated carbon. Next, an in-plant pump station will add chlorine to the water before conveying it to a clear-well tank. Finally, additional pump stations will add certain chemicals to ensure adequate water quality before the finished water is discharged to one of three new pipelines: a 7.8 mi long pipeline connecting to Davis’s distribution system or either a 0.7 mi long pipeline or a 1.4 mi long pipeline connecting to Woodland’s distribution system. With respect to solids-handling facilities, the system will employ two gravity thickeners followed by drying beds. The intake facility is being designed and constructed separately. Designed by

M AP OF OF P ROPOSED F ACILITIES MAP  PROPOSED  FACILITIES

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C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [23]

Civil Engineering NEWS MWH, of Broomfield, Colorado, the new

intake will be located on the Sacramento River immediately adjacent to an existing intake, which the new facility will replace. The existing intake is operated by a local agricultural agency known as Reclamation District 2035. Although this 400 cfs intake is the largest unscreened agricultural diversion on the Sacramento River, its replacement will have screens to prevent the entry of fish. The new intake also will have a capacity of 400 cfs, of which the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency will be entitled to 80 cfs, the remainder going to the reclamation district. At press time, the agency was planning to begin the bidding period for construction in mid-January and to award the contract in March, Diemer says. One of the major benefits of the surface water project is that the two cities will gain access to water of high quality “for many, many years,” says Rich Pyle, P.E., M.ASCE, the project director for CH2M HILL. In fact, the project

is expected to meet Davis’s water needs until 2050, whereas Woodland will probably require an additional 4 mgd of capacity by 2035. Meanwhile, residents will enjoy improved water quality as a result of the project. The selected treatment process “will provide them with a water source that is of far higher quality and is better tasting than what they currently experience,” Pyle notes. Overall, the project has an estimated total cost of $228.1 million, Diemer says, well below the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency’s June 2009 estimate of $350 million. Several steps were taken to reduce project costs, chief among them the decision in 2011 to decrease the capacity of the water treatment facility from 40 to 30 mgd, Diemer says. However, the facility has been designed to accommodate future increases in treatment capacity if needed. Meanwhile, using the design/build/ operate approach lowered costs by 20 percent compared with the traditional design/bid/build method, he notes. Contributing to the reduced project cost was CH2M HILL’s bid, which was $10 million less than the owner’s origi-

nal estimate. The savings, Pyle says, are “really a direct result of using the design/ build/operate process,” which fosters the development of efficient strategies for reducing costs associated with project design, construction, and life-cycle costs. To be conducted in stages as design work on various project elements is completed, construction will begin this spring, starting with earthwork. CH2M HILL intends to complete all design work by July. Overaa Construction, of Richmond, California, is serving as the subcontractor responsible for constructing the treatment plant, including excavation, concrete placement, and mechanical work, while CH2M HILL will handle all other construction. Water delivery is expected to begin in late 2016. Although surface water will meet most of the demand from the two cities, groundwater will be used to supplement supplies during periods of peak demand. Ultimately Woodland and perhaps Davis as well intend to convert their well systems to make them suitable for aquifer storage and recovery, Diemer says. —JAY L ANDERS

FLOOD CONTROL

U.K. Coastal Defense  Scheme Creates Intertidal Habitat to Prevent Flooding 

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RECENTLY COMPLETED flood control proj-

ect represents a new approach for the United Kingdom’s Environment Agency. For the first time, the agency has sought to control flooding by realigning a section of open coast and creating an intertidal area to accommodate floodwater. Meanwhile, several kilometers of new inland berms will help to ensure that water from floods remains in check and does not swamp nearby residences, businesses, and infrastructure.

The managed realignment included the creation of 183 ha of intertidal habitat within the 300 ha site. The new habitat consists mainly of mudflats, salt marshes, ponds, and islands.

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Civil Engineering NEWS

M EDMERRY  M ANAGED R EALIGNMENT  P ROJECT  M AP

Located along the English Channel between the towns of Selsey and Bracklesham, in West Sussex, the Medmerry managed realignment scheme is designed to protect an area in southern England seen as facing an extremely high risk of flooding. In particular, the project is intended to prevent the flooding of 348 residential and commercial properties, a key road, a wastewater treatment plant, and five recreational areas. In the past the area was protected by 3 m high shingle embankments that were built along the coast using locally available rocks and pebbles. However, the embankments were vulnerable to flooding, despite annual maintenance, and they were expected to become even more so in the face of rising sea levels. Seeking to better protect the area [26] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

from floods over the next 100 years, the Environment Agency also considered such options as constructing seawalls or offshore reefs at the site. After evaluating the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of the various options, the agency opted to conduct the £28-million (U.S.$46.1-million) managed realignment scheme, which entailed the creation of 183 ha of intertidal habitat within the 300 ha site. The new habitat consists mainly of mudflats, salt marshes, ponds, and islands. Also present at the site are transitional grasslands and farmland. During high tides and storms, water is able to flow inland into the intertidal area through a 110 m wide breach in the shingle embankment. The 7 km of inland berms will ensure that the water remains within the project

FEBRUARY 2014

site. In this way nearby buildings and infrastructure that were routinely flooded in the past will be spared. Initially, the project is expected to protect the areas from the floods associated with a 1,000-year storm. However, this level of protection is expected to diminish over time as a result of climate change and an associated rise in sea levels, says Andrew Gilham, CEng, the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal risk manager for The Solent and the South Downs area. For example, at present rates of climate change, a century from now the project is expected to protect the area from the flooding that would come from a 100-year storm, Gilham says. Funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food

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Civil Engineering NEWS

and Rural Affairs, the Medmerry managed realignment project was designed by Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., which has its headquarters in Pasadena, California. Design and modeling of the habitat portions of the project were conducted by ABP Marine Environmental Research, Ltd, of Southampton, United Kingdom. The principal contractor is Team Van Oord, a partnership involving the dredging and marine engineering firm Van Oord, of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Mackley, of Henfield, United Kingdom. Black & Veatch, which has its headquarters in Overton Park, Kansas, coordinated the safety aspects of the scheme. Construction began in October 2011 and was largely completed this past fall. To construct the 7 km

of inland berms, crews used roughly 450,000 m³ of earth taken from borrow areas within the project site, areas that became the new intertidal habitat. The new berms feature a crest height of 5.2 m, a crest width of 4 m, a front face having a slope of 1:10 (V:H), and a rear face having a slope of 1:3. Two rock armor revetments were constructed at the eastern and western edges of the project, where the new berms connect to the existing shingle embankment. Approximately 60,000 metric tons of stone were delivered to the site by sea for constructing the revetments. To ensure adequate drainage in the area surrounding the project, four drainage outfalls were constructed at various locations along the new berms, along with 10 km of new drainage ditches and ponds. To make the area a destination for recreation, the project’s habitat area will also include 10 km of new footpaths, equestrian paths, and bike

M

+, A MUSEUM PLANNED for Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District that will be dedicated to the visual arts, will be designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, along with Hong Kong–based TFP  Farrells and the Hong Kong office of Arup. The team won an international competition for the design of the roughly 60,000 m² museum with an entry suggesting an upside-down T that places educational facilities, offices, and a res-

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paths, as well as two parking lots and four viewing areas. Construction of these amenities is expected to be complete by this summer. So far the Medmerry project has performed admirably, despite challenging conditions since its opening. “With several storm and surge events in the autumn of 2013, we are pleased with how the scheme is performing so far,” says Colin Maplesden, CEng, the Environment Agency’s project manager for the Medmerry scheme. Along with improving flood control in the area, the Medmerry project is expected to attract bird-watchers and other visitors to the site, providing a boost to the local economy. Once the remaining construction is completed, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, based in Bedfordshire, will oversee the habitat area, and the Environment Agency will maintain the flood control features. —JAY L ANDERS

taurant in the vertical plane and gallery spaces in the horizontal. Overlooking Victoria Harbour, the museum will be semitransparent, its lower levels offering access to parkland surrounding the site. The site itself is reclaimed land, and Herzog & de Meuron’s scheme adds to the footprint by calling for excavation near an underground rail tunnel to create space for large-scale installations. The gallery will exhibit works of the 20th and 21st centuries, and visitors will also encounter exhibits showcasing design and architecture, as well as moving images. The design embodies the principles of sustainable development and universal design. The district wants the museum to become a landmark for low-carbon and low-energy design, construction, and operations, and it is calling on the architecture, construction, mechanical, electrical, and other disciplines involved to produce a building that will minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Although the structure will not be completed until 2017, the district has commissioned a number of arts pavilions nearby, the first of which is to o pen next year.

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C O N S E R V AT I O N

U.S. Wetlands Loss Is Accelerating, Study Says

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HE UNITED STATES is losing coastal wetlands at an

increasing rate as a result of shoreline development and the growing severity of storms, according to a recent report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study shows that wetlands along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, as well as the Great Lakes shorelines, are being depleted at a rate that is 33 percent higher than roughly a decade ago. According to the report, Status and Trends of Wetlands in

the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous United States, 2004 to  2009, nearly 361,000 acres of coastal wetlands were lost dur-

ing a span of four and a half years within that time frame, an average of more than 80,000 acres a year. A previous study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that between 1998 and 2004 the rate of loss was just 59,000 acres a year. Federal officials are alarmed by the loss of coastal wetlands, which help to filter water flowing into oceans, protect inland areas from floods, provide recreational opportunities, and support the nation’s multibillion-dollar seafood industry. While encouraged by conservation efforts that have boosted wetland acreage in some regions, they stress that more must be done to protect one of the nation’s most vital natural resources. “This is a concern because of the environmental and economic importance of these coastal watersheds,” says Tom Dahl, a senior scientist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and one of the authors of the new report, the other being Susan-Marie Stedman, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The environmental benefits provided by these coastal wetlands are pretty important for a variety of reasons,” says Dahl. There were 41.1 million acres of coastal wetlands in the United States as of 2009, most of which were located along the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The wetlands in these two regions encompassed respectively 15.9 million and 15.4 million acres. The Great Lakes had 8.5 million acres of wetlands, while the Pacific coast had just 1.3 million acres. The Gulf region accounted for 37 percent of the nation’s coastal wetlands as of 2009, having lost 257,150 acres of wetlands between 2004 and 2009, or 71 percent of the nationwide losses. The Atlantic lost nearly 111,960 acres, while the Pacific lost 5,220 acres. The Great Lakes reversed the trend, gaining 13,610 acres. The disproportionate loss in the Gulf region was due in part to the severity of recent storms, including the hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which struck in 2005, and Ike, which struck in 2008. These storms brought storm surge, high tides, and rainfall that washed away or dumped sand on thousands of acres of saltwater wetlands. All told, more than 95,000 acres of saltwater Gulf wetlands were lost over the period, more than doubling the 44,800 acres lost between 1998 and 2004. FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [29]

Civil Engineering NEWS

In addition to storms and natural disasters, development has been a major cause of wetland loss. Indeed, the study reports a loss of nearly 100,000 acres of freshwater wetlands because of development. Houses and businesses are built directly on filled wetlands or are built close enough to wetlands to contribute runoff and debris that prove damaging. Such development often requires the construction of roads and infrastructure, adding to the loss of wetlands. “A lot of people want to live along the coast, so there are a number of development activities that impinge on wetlands, whether it be directly for housing or for associated infrastructure to support populations,” Dahl says. “So these coastal wetlands kind of get it from both sides.” Federal officials are hopeful that a variety of conservation and restoration

programs on the national, state, and local levels will help to palliate or even reverse some of the loss. They say that such approaches as restoring tidal flows to areas that have been blocked off contributed to the wetlands gains seen in the Great Lakes region. However, these officials acknowledge that rising sea levels will probably exacerbate the problem in the coming years and that losses to development are often irreversible. The report calls upon federal officials to examine policies that have contributed to humanrelated wetland loss and to formulate policies with regard to land use and regulation that hold promise for reducing losses and protecting coastal infrastructure. “There are some things that are under way or in progress that can be continued forward to restore some of these areas,” Dahl says. “We’re very interested in tracking these kinds of changes and trying to learn what we can about the process so we can position ourselves to manage and conserve resources for the American people.” —DAVID HILL

CONSTRU CTION TECHNOLOGY

 Long Used in Construction, 4-D Modeling Could Come to Rail Projects the United Kingdom are developing a way to manage rail improvement projects that could reduce unforeseen delays and make life easier for passengers. The London office of the New York City–based engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff is studying the use of four-dimensional building information modeling (4-D BIM) to plan rail projects. This type of modeling uses geometrically correct three-dimensional (3-D) site models to project the progress of construction. The information provided by 4-D BIM is commonly used in construction to accurately depict work sites as they change during the life of a project. The scaled site models used in 4-D BIM enable engineers to anticipate conditions, detect site impediments, and develop a

R

ESEARCHERS   in

realistic idea of how a project will affect its surroundings. Such technology is largely absent from the world of rail modeling in the United Kingdom, according to Andrew Powell, an associate of Parsons Brinckerhoff and the firm’s head of BIM in Britain. Rail projects are generally planned in accordance with a more traditional approach that uses staging diagrams to pinpoint activities. However, the diagrams are not drawn to scale, and the project schedules used typically list activities in matrix form with line graphs depicting the duration of particular tasks. The lack of scaled modeling can sometimes lead to unanticipated issues, Powell noted in written responses to questions posed by Civil Engineering , for example, different tasks on a site to be performed at the same time in the same place and disruption to passengers from track closures that last longer than expected. This can delay a project, inconveniencing riders and subjecting contractors to potential penalties. Parsons Brinckerhoff has used 4-D

BIM in test cases to determine its feasi-

bility on several track renewal projects, and Powell is confident that the technology could be as effective and inno-

While time will be needed to fine-tune the technology and train workers, updated planning schemes could eventually save a substantial amount of time and money. vative for rail projects as it has been for construction. He said that while time will be needed to fine-tune the technology and train workers, updated planning schemes could eventually save a substantial amount of time and money. “The typical practice was to use very diagrammatic representations of the staging activities that showed little context,” Powell explained. “This allows us to make a much more informed as-

sessment of how the elements interact through the program.” Researchers at the firm began studying the use of 4-D BIM for rail projects in 2011 and sought to test its suitability for planning a routine weekend track renewal project as part of the Track Partnership, a track replacement collaboration between London-based Balfour Beatty plc, and London’s subway system, London Underground. A trial model was set up that would run parallel to a traditional rail model, the latter serving as the actual planning mechanism for the project. The researchers quickly encountered skepticism, Powell said, noting that Britain’s rail industry has long stuck to traditional methods and time-tested techniques. He noted that the technology is a long way from replacing traditional models and that some resistance is to be expected. “They have been carrying out this type of work for some time and were not all looking for process improvements,” Powell explained. “Traditionally, contractors rely on their

Civil Engineering NEWS

experience to plan these works, and sometimes there are unforeseen complications which cause delays and passenger disruptions.” The research team’s first step in constructing a 4-D BIM model was to draw accurate 3-D representations of the work area, equipment, and rolling stock, in some cases culling their dimensional data from websites in the public domain or rendering them from scratch. They created a projected schedule using Microsoft Project and then sought to combine the elements into a 4-D model. The team then used computer ani-

mation tools to create a 4-D project simulation that proved helpful in resolving several spatial issues that might not have been as apparent through traditional modeling. For example, the researchers were able to see how one of the site’s trains would have to be moved to make way for the project and that an equipment convoy used on-site would not fit into the area designated for it, and they were also able to determine the reach of a crane that was to be used on the project. In a report that he wrote for the August 2013 issue of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s journal Network, Powell observed that while 4-D BIM has clear benefits for engineers, its detailed visualization models could also prove helpful in explaining projects to clients and workers. Parsons Brinckerhoff has tested

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

‘Islands’ Project Will Bring Southeast  Asian Habitats to U.K.’s Chester Zoo

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£30-MILLION (U.S.$49-million) expansion and wildlife conservation project at the Chester Zoo, in Chester, United Kingdom, will re-create six habi-

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BIM modeling on several other proj-

ects and plans to continue evaluating its feasibility. Powell pointed out that one of the issues to be overcome is making the modeling process more accessible to all members of project teams. Plans are in place to integrate information into models that can be automatically generated by network operators and to incorporate laser-scanned site surveys to provide even more accurate models. “Four-dimensional modeling allowed us to identify potential pinch points within the proposal much more easily,” Powell said. “Applying this to other projects makes it far more likely that the teams will pick up all of the issues and not let anything slip through at the planning stage [that] might potentially cause problems on-site.” —DAVID HILL

The Islands project, which is being constructed at the United Kingdom’s Chester Zoo, will re-create six habitats for many endangered species from Southeast Asia within a 6 ha greenfield development.

tats for many endangered species from Southeast Asia within a 6 ha greenfield development. Known as Islands, the project will feature 60,000 m² of jungle vegetation and a meandering channel 460 m long for a boat ride that will carry visitors past the various

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habitats. The project will also include a building that is billed as the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the United Kingdom. This domed structure will feature irregularly shaped curves in both plan and section, as well as raised walkways, underwater viewing areas, and open spaces in which birds can freely fly, explains Anne Fuller, CEng, MIStructE, the director of building engineering in the Manchester, United Kingdom, office of the international engineering firm AECOM, which is responsible for the project’s structural and geotechnical engineering, mechanical systems, and fire protection, as well as for the acoustical, drainage, highway, and environmental and ecological aspects. Berlin-based dan pearlman is the project’s architect and is also responsible for the landscape design and the conceptual design of the habitats and boat ride. The boat ride is being designed by Intamin Amusement Rides, based in Schaan, Liechtenstein, and the project’s general contractor is Laing O’Rourke, headquartered in Dartford, United Kingdom. The international consulting firm Turner & Townsend is managing the project. Fuller, who was interviewed by Civil Engineering  and also provided a written description of the project’s details, explains that construction of the Islands project began in September 2013; the first phase of the exhibits is scheduled to open in 2015. The site will be divided into six distinct geographical zones patterned after such Southeast Asian regions as the Philippine island of Panay and the Indonesian regions

Within these habitats will be found Sumatran tigers, orangutans, and macaques, animals that were already part of the Chester Zoo’s collection, as well as new species, including banteng oxen and Sunda gharial crocodiles. of Papua, Sumba, Bali, Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Within these habitats will be found Sumatran tigers, orangutans, and macaques, animals that were already part of the Chester Zoo’s collection, as well as new species, including banteng oxen and Sunda gharial crocodiles. Although the exhibits will for the most part be located outdoors, there will also be a large enclosed space in which subtropical climates will be maintained “to enable visitors to experience the true environment of a number of the zoo’s rare species,” Fuller wrote. This enclosed space, the irregularly shaped Monsoon Forest, will feature massive reinforced-concrete perimeter walls embedded in the surrounding soil and vegetation and a domed roof that will reach a height of approximately 15 m at the apex. Designed to act as both retaining walls in certain locations and to take the loads of the domed roof, the perimeter walls will be roughly 800 mm thick at the base and taper to roughly 300 mm at the top, at a height of roughly 9 m. Here the curving domed roof will begin, notes Fuller. The roof will be formed from hollow steel beams with circular cross sections and be clad in lightweight, largely transparent ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) pillows. Constructed atop large spread foundations made of concrete, the Monsoon Forest building

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Civil Engineering NEWS

will feature large concrete ventilation ducts located beneath the ground-floor slab, and inside a complicated elevated ramp structure comprising both castin-place and precast concrete as well as steelwork will follow a winding route among real and artificial trees. These walkways will rise and descend in taking visitors to the various exhibits, including a crocodile enclosure that will feature a glazed barrier so that visitors can see the animals swimming underwater, Fuller explains. The Monsoon Forest perimeter walls were especially challenging to design, Fuller adds, because although the walls were originally intended to have only a few openings, the design changed over time until the engineers had to accommodate hundreds of holes in the highly stressed structures, ranging from ductwork to large tunnels for animal movement. Extensive use of three-dimensional computer model-

Although the walls were originally intended to have only a few openings, the design changed over time until the engineers had to accommodate hundreds of holes in the highly stressed structures. BUSINESS BRIEF

Schnabel Engineering, Inc., a 300-employee engineering firm based in Glen Allen, Virginia, that specializes in geotechnical and environmental services, has acquired Geo/Environmental Associates, Inc., a 30-person firm based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Geo/  Environmental, which specializes in geotechnical, environmental, and civil engineering and primarily serves industrial and mining clients, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Schnabel.

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ing throughout the design phase was essential to detect and avoid conflicts between structural and mechanical systems, Fuller explains. AECOM also designed a domed enclosure for an exhibit at the Chester Zoo a few years ago that was to have an African theme (see “Massive U.K. ‘Biodome’ to Enclose African Rain Forest Habitat,” Civil Engineering, January 2011, pages 16–17), but that project was put on hold during the recent world economic downturn because of a lack of public funding, Fuller notes.

Various other buildings—including a restaurant and shop, an educational center, animal viewing shelters, and animal stables and paddocks—as well as bridges that cross the boat ride channel, will be constructed and decorated in conformity with Southeast

In some instances, the work will feature actual timber detailing while in other locations artificial stonework and artificial thatching or bamboo will be used as cladding. Asian architectural styles. In some instances, the work will feature actual timber detailing while in other locations artificial stonework and artificial thatching or bamboo will be used as cladding. For example, what appears to be a damaged old timber bridge will actually be a perfectly safe concrete structure that will simply be decorated to appear fragile, Fuller says. In fact, all 10 of the bridges that cross the boat ride channel and link the six habitats to one another—even what will appear to be a suspension bridge— will be of concrete, and many of them will feature cladding and other detailing that will conceal the mechanical systems incorporated within the bridge structures, Fuller adds. The boat ride channel will generally be about 8 m wide and will have wider sections at certain turns in the waterway, according to Fuller. Pulled along by a submerged cable system, the boats will take passengers on a 12-minute cruise past the shorelines of the habitats; the passengers will leave from and return to the same boat station, which will be at the center of the site, Fuller notes, rather than disembark along the route. Although the site is located mostly above clay deposits, there are also patches of sand underground, Fuller says, so a geosynthetic clay liner will help to ensure that the boat channel does not leak. “It would be fairly catastrophic if your main attraction is a

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BUSINESS BRIEF

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., which is based in Pasadena, California, and is one of the world’s world’s largest engineering and construction service firms, having 200 offices office s in 25 countries, has completed two recent acquisitions. In November it acquired the assets of MARMAC Field Services, Inc., a pipeline engineering and design firm based in Costa Mesa, California, and last month it purchased the assets of FMHC Corporation, of Chicago, a firm that provides turnkey turnkey site development for wireless communications companies.

FEBRUARY 2014

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Civil Ci vil Engine Engineering ering NEWS

M ODEL OF  C HESTER  Z OO  I SLANDS  P ROJECT

boat ride and the channel has no water in it due to leaks,” Fuller says. A geotextile membrane will also impart stability to the channel walls, and concrete foundations at key intervals along the route will support the pulley mechanism. A system of weirs will help regulate the water level in the boat channel. The Islands project is being

constructed on a previously flat expanse of undeveloped land on the eastern side of the zoo’s existing property. Hundreds of meters of retaining walls had to be conco nstructed to accommodate the sometimes abrupt changes in elevation that the new habitats will require, Fuller explains. Both steel sheetpiling and reinforced concrete were used for the retaining walls, depending on the requirements at each location. For example, a pro-

M ONSOON F OREST B UILDING 3-D M ODEL

nounced change in elevation near an orangutan exhibit was made from steel sheetpiling for ease of construction, but the steel was then clad in man-made rock to make it less easy for the orangutans to climb, Fuller notes. A sustainable drainage system incorporating both swales and the boat channel itself is being designed to accommodate storm water at the site. Prior to the start of construction, an ecological survey discovered that a population of endangered great crested newts was present at the site; ecologists, conservationists, and volunteers from the zoo helped relocate more than 900 of the newts to a pond with a special fence for the duration of the construction work. Once Islands is completed, the fence will be removed so that the newts can naturally recolonize the enlarged and improved pond site. —ROBERT L. REID

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W AT AT E R

TRE ATMENT

Changes to South Carolina Carolina Waste Wastewater water  Pla  P lant nt Boo oost st Cap apaci acity ty,, Qu Qual ality ity

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South Carolina, has grown by 24 percent since 2000, which has put a noticeable strain on its 1950s-era wastewater treatment plant. The plant was nearing its 15 mgd capacity about 10 years ago, and city officials began planning a $100-million expansion and renovation project intended to make the facility viable for decades to come. The project was launched in 2010 and divided into three HE POPULATION OF FLORENCE,

                              

   oofs:     50’x250’                                       

  

 

       4        1        2        E        C

The Florence Regional Wastewater Management Facility was nearing its 15 mgd capacity about a decade ago, top.  The improvements top. The in the first two phases of the modernization project,above, project, above, included  included the replacement of influent pumps and headworks and the addition of new biological treatment processes and disinfection facilities.

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phases, the first two of which have now been completed. The newly dedicated Florence Regional Wastewater Wastewater Management Facility has undergone a series of process improvements that have increased its treatment ability and energy efficiency and raised its capacity to 18 mgd. The project’s third phase, which is under way and scheduled for completion late this summer, will increase capacity to 22 mgd. The expanded facility treats wastewater wastewater from Florence, a city of about 37,000 people, as well as from surrounding communities, and its capacity is expected to remain sufficient for at least FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [37]

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BUSINESS BRIEF

Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, an engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, and surveying firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee, has opened an office in Columbus, Georgia, and added five new staff members for the office. The opening is the second office in Georgia for the firm, which also has offices office s in  Alabam  Ala bama a and Ohi Ohio o and in se sever veral al loc locati ations ons thr throug oughou houtt Tenn enness essee. ee.

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Civil Ci vil Engine Engineering ering NEWS another 20 years, at which point additional expansion will probably be carried out. Engineers say that the renovation process has been relatively seamless, the plant remaining operational throughout the project, and that city officials and residents are happy with the improvements. “It’s basically providing a new treatment facility within the footprint of the existing site,” says Josh Norton, P.E., BCEE, an associate in the Knoxville, Tennessee, office of CDM Smith, Inc., which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. CDM Smith worked on the project alongside engineers from the Florence office of San Francisco–based UR URSS Corporation and Florence-based Davis & Brown Engineering. “The city is very pleased with not only the level of treatment but also the added level of reliability of the new processes,” notes Norton. The decision to expand Florence’s treatment plant was not a matter of choice but rather a requirement imposed by the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, says Forrest Whittington, P.E., P.L.S., an engineer for the City of Florence. State guidelines require that any treatment plant operating at more than 90 percent of its design capacity be replaced or expanded and that planning for the replacement begin when the facility reaches 80 percent. City officials had to not only expand the plant’s capacity but also replace some of its older infrastructure, including concrete tanks that were built as long ago as the 1950s but were still operational. The improvements carried carried out in the first two phases of the project include the replacement of influent pumps and headworks and the addition of new biological treatment processes and disinfection facilities. “We had some infrastructure that really had reached the end of its useful life,” Whittington says. “But the main driver was our regulatory agency saying that we needed more capacity. These improvements are buying us a significant amount of time.” In addition to improving the plant’s capacity and treatment ability, engineers sought to minimize its effect on the

environment. They decided to renovate the plant rather than build a new facility on undeveloped land, and their improvements include an office and laboratory building that is Florence’s first to be certified in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. “It would have been less expensive in construction costs for the city to buy a

The third phase of the project will include additional process improvements and the completion of a 20 million gal equalization tank to manage excess water from heavy rains. new site and build, but the city wanted to set an example, as opposed to generating more urban sprawl,” Whittington says. “We’re trying to encourage our community not to run away from downtown and previously utilized sites but to look at redevelopment.” One past environmental misstep made the project more difficult; excavation along the perimeter of the site revealed that the area had been used as a landfill in the 1950s and 1960s. Engineers had to shift their site plan, dispose of the affected soil, and bring in clean soil, which Whittington says cost about $3.5 million. “There was quite a bit of remediation that was required,” Norton says. “But the new facilities are operating above expectations.” The improved facility was formally dedicated in a ceremony in November. The third phase of the project will include additional process improvements and the completion of a 20 million gal equalization tank to manage excess water from heavy rains. City officials say that the improvements that have been made will help the region support an influx of new residents and foster economic opportunities. “It’s the single largest public works project, in terms of cost, that has ever been undertaken by the City of Florence,” Whittington says. “I do think the city paid a premium, but we felt like it was the appropriate thing to do.”

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Psomas, a surveying, engineering, construction management, and environmental services firm with offices throughout the western United States, has purchased BonTerra, an environmental engineering firm with offices in California in Irvine and Pasadena. The acquisition will help Psomas provide services related to federal environmental quality regulations and habitat restoration. Psomas operates in California, Utah, and Arizona.

—DAVID HILL FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [39]

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Geopier Foundation Company  130 Harbour Place Drive, Suite 280 Davidson, NC 28036 Website: www.geopier.com

Geopier Foundation Company developed the first Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP) s ystem in 1989. Today, Geopier solutions provide an efficient and costeffective Intermediate Foundation solution for the support of settlement-sensitive structures. Through continual research and development, we’ve expanded our system capabilities to meet virtually all of your ground improvement challenges. Our systems have become effective replacements for massive overexcavation and replacement of deep foundations, including driven piles, drilled shafts, or augered cast-in-place piles. Thousands of structures around the world are currently supported by Geopier technologies—Geopier GP, Impact, Rampact, Armorpact, and Densipact systems—proven experience that ensures high levels of performance and reliability while providing value compared to traditional systems. In 2012, Geopier added the Geopier SRT system to its family of ground improvement offerings. SRT is a low-impact slope reinforcement technology, previously used for highway slopes, commercial developments, levee slope repair, and much more.

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Hayward Baker Inc. is North America’s leader in geotechnical construction. Hayward Baker has over 25 regional offices and is annually ranked number 1 specialty foundation contractor by Engineering News-Record. Hayward Baker’s specialty techniques include cement (high mobility), chemical, compaction (low mobility), jet, polyurethane, and soil fracture grouting; dry and wet soil mixing, dynamic compaction, injection systems for expansive soils, rapid impact compaction, rigid inclusions ( controlled stiffness columns), vibro systems, Vibro Piers (aggregate piers), augercast piles, drilled shafts, driven piles, Franki piles (PIFs), helical piles, jacked piers, Macropiles, micropiles, pit underpinning, soil and rock anchors, anchor block slope stabilization, gabion systems, Micropile Slide Stabilization System (MS3), secant or tangent piles, sheet piles, soil nailing, sculpted shotcrete, soldier piles and lagging, slab jacking, slurry walls, TRD – Soil Mix Walls, earthquake drains, and wick drains.

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Skyline Steel Website: www.skylinesteel.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/  skyline-steel Phone: 888-450-4330

Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) is the industry leader in systems for QA/AC of deep foundations: • Pile Driving Analyzer brand system for dynamic load testing with CAPWAP software, for capacity evaluation of driven or drilled foundations, and for pile driving monitoring. • GRLWEAP wave equation software. • Integrity testing solutions: pile integrity tester (pulse echo method), thermal integrity profiler (drilled shaft evaluation by the thermal method), cross-hole analyzer (cross-hole sonic logging of drilled shafts and single-hole sonic logging of augered cast-in-place (ACIP) and/or continuous flight auger (CFA) piles). • Pile installation recorder (ACIP/CFA installation monitoring). • Specialty instruments for SPT hammer calibration, blow count and energy monitoring during pile driving (E-Saximeter), hammer performance monitoring, testing of unknown foundations, and more. PDI’s team includes renowned scholars in deep foundation testing and analysis. Its state-of-the-art systems are used in more than 100 countries, commercialized through PDI’s worldwide representatives. Visit www.pile.com.

Skyline Steel is a premier steel foundation supplier serving the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and Colombia markets. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nucor Corporation, the largest producer of steel in the United States. We have over twenty sales offices throughout North America and a robust infrastructure comprising manufacturing, coating, and fabrication facilities; dozens of stocking locations; an efficiently coordinated supply chain; and exclusive engineering support. Our flagship products include hot rolled and cold formed steel sheet piles, h-piles, spiralweld and rolled and welded pipe piles, threaded bars, threaded bar casing for micropiles, multistrand anchors, hollow bars, accessories, structural shapes, and connectors. A core group of geostructural industry specialists has been assembled to focus on providing superior service to the growing geostructural market. As a result, Skyline Steel provides the most comprehensive product offering from a single company in the geotechnical industry. We also now offer Samwoo load distributive and removable multistrand anchor systems.

Subsurface Constructors Lyle Simonton, P.E., LEED AP

101 Angelica Street Saint Louis, MO 63147 Phone: 314-421-2460 x101 (o) Email: lsimonton@subsurface constructors.com Website: www.subsurface constructors.com

Subsurface Constructors offers a comprehensive list of services for deep foundation and ground improvement solutions, including design/build, value engineering, and sustainable construction (LEED) capabilities. We are full-service geotechnical contractors and ground improvement specialists with over 100 years of experience in the deep foundation industry. Our foundation construction and engineering expertise, combined with a large and varied fleet of equipment, allow us to provide the following foundations services: Foundation Support • Earth retention   systems • Drilled shafts • Augercast (CFA) piles • Driven piles • Rock anchor   systems • Micropile • Restricted access

Ground Improvement • Vibro stone columns aggregate piers • Vibro concrete   columns • Vibrocompaction • Dynamic compaction • Wick drains

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 N E W S 2 N OT E 

IN MONTRÉAL the buzz among apiarists—that’s beekeepers to the rest of us—could soon be about the innovative b-Shack, which will be erected this summer at the McGill Farm, located on the campus of McGill University. That’s because the b-Shack is an innovative pavilion designed to operate as a beehive observation and study center, a covered gathering space that will house and protect three beehives from Montréal’s cold climate. The structure will also provide support for local beekeeping communities, especially two Montréal nonprofit organizations: Santropol Roulant and the McGill Apiary Association. It was designed by graduate students with the Facility for Architectural Research in Media and Mediation, which is part of McGill’s

School of Architecture, un- members ranging in width der the direction of Maria from 89 to 152 mm. GalMingallón, ing., P.Eng., vanized steel bolts will fasCEng, a former adjunct ten the cells together, and professor at McGill and a galvanized steel plates will senior structural engineer in secure the shell to the base the Montréal office of Arup. of the pavilion. The beeThe b-Shack will be an hives will be set on cusellipsoidal shell made pritomized units formed from marily from wooden mem- polylactide, and polylacbers that will create a series tide units will also supof hexagonal cells remiport the flower planters. niscent of an actual beeBecause of the b-Shack’s irhive. As in a hive, the cells regular form, the structural will be adapted for various design involved the use of functions, from providing special software and other openings for natural light three-dimensional modeland ventilation to furnishing tools, and the fabricaing space for solar panels tion will rely on the use of and planters that will feamills operating under comture flowers to attract adputer numerical control. ditional bees and other pollinators to the farm’s Solar High crops. As the shell itself comes down to the ground, Roller  it will create a small stage FORGET ABOUT red or for presentations, a seatblack. Las Vegas is placing ing area, and storage space its next bet on green: the for tools and small equipenvironmentally “green” ment beneath the seats. solution of solar power. In Each cell will be formed  January the iconic Welcome from six panels that in turn to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, will comprise four lumber which has greeted visitors

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Noted B Innovative

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to the sun-drenched desert city since 1959, made the switch to solar power, and now a trio of so-called solar trees, topped by a total of 18 photovoltaic cells, will provide all of the electricity necessary to illuminate the 25 ft tall sign’s neon and incandescent lights, including the 89 bulbs that form the sign’s diamond-shaped border. The project involved the local Clark County Commission and two Las Vegas–based nonprofit organizations that are focused on clean energy and sustainable development: the Clean Energy Project and Green Chips. It was funded by the Consumer Electronics Association, of Arlington, Virginia, the Las Vegas Centennial History Grant Program, and the Las Vegas-based public utility NV Energy, one of whose executives has described solar energy as “one of Nevada’s most abundant resources.” The three

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solar trees were installed by Bombard Renewable Energy, a division of Las Vegas–based Bombard Electric. The installation site for the trees is along the central median strip at the southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the Strip. The trees are within sight of the sign but do not block views of the landmark. A plaque at the site describes how the solar power system works and directs interested readers to sources for more information about renewable energy and sustainable development in southern Nevada.

Quoted If we don’t do this today I think we will become a developing country with our infrastructure deteriorated to such an extent that it will influence our productivity and international competitiveness. — M. S AEED  M IRZA, P.Eng., Ph.D.

Professor of Civil Engineering, McGill University  Speaking on Canada’s CTV  News, January 13, 2014

Companies cannot afford to be just innocent bystanders in what’s happening around [them] in society. They have to begin to play their role in terms of serving the communities [that] actually sustain them. And we have to move to a model [that] is, How do we make money and do good? How do we make sure that we have a great business but we also have a great environment around us? And that model is all about doing well and doing good. —HARISH MANWANI

Chief Operating Officer, Unilever From his TED presentation “Profit’s Not Always the Point,”  posted at www.ted.com/speakers in January 2014

What a great idea! Researchers at Clarkson University have developed a strategy to ease one of the greatest hassles of the modern age: boarding a plane. R. John Milne, Ph.D., an 

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News Bites There’s big news out of the city of Québec for kit car enthusiasts: Dubuc Super Light Car has unveiled its latest kit car. The Tomahawk is a sleek two-seater roughly the size of a Lamborghini with doors that open at a 75-degree angle and a transparent roof. It also has a spacious seating cabin, front and rear “crush” zones, and a central engine. Perhaps best of all is the price: less than $30,000 in U.S. dollars. Start your engines! 

assistant professor of engineering and management in Clarkson’s School of Business, and Alexander Kelly, an undergraduate at the university, have devised

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a boarding method that assigns airline passengers to seats on the basis of the number of their carry-on bags. In this way carry-on luggage is equally distributed throughout the plane. Each row of seats would tend to have a passenger with two bags, a passenger with one bag, and a passenger with no bags. “The new method would save at least several seconds in board time and prevent any one area of the plane from becoming overloaded with bags,” says Milne. “You add that up over thousands of flights a day over the course of a year—it can really make a difference.” C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [43]

Technology

Researchers Develop ‘Underwater Internet’ To Improve Sensor Data Communications

U

NDERWATER  sensors that

can detect changes in temperature, pollution levels, or seismic activity, including the earthquakes that cause tsunamis, have existed for some years, but getting them to talk to one another and, more important, to communications devices on land has been a persistent challenge. Underwater devices essentially speak a language different from that used by land-based electronics in that acoustic waves transmit data, in contrast to the radio frequency signals used by Internet-enabled devices. But researchers at the University at Buffalo may have solved that problem by developing algorithms for watertight devices that can serve as translators, enabling underwater sensors to communicate instantaneously with any Internet-enabled device, including personal computers, phones, or tablets. The development could significantly increase the reliability with which such [44] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

underwater dangers as earthquakes, pollution, or significant temperature changes are communicated to devices and officials on land. Tommaso Melodia, Ph.D., a professor of electrical engineering at the university and the director of its Wireless Networks and Embedded Systems Laboratory, is leading a team that has developed the underwater network, which includes 11 watertight modems— manufactured by Teledyne Benthos, of North Falmouth, Massachusetts—each weighing 40 lb, that can be dropped into a lake, river, or ocean to “listen” for the acoustic waves generated by existing or future underwater sensors. The devices, which have a range of about 1 mi, communicate via sound waves with one another and with listening stations that float on the surface and are referred to as border routers. The routers convert the acoustic waves into radio frequency signals and transmit them via wireless networks or broadband to

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Hovannes Kulhandjian, left, and Zahed Hossain, electrical engineering graduate students at the University at Buffalo, deployed watertight modems in Lake Erie last fall to test the devices’ ability to detect underwater sound waves and transmit them to floating devices that convert the waves into radio frequency signals.

any device that is able to receive them. “We have worked on underwater acoustic communications and networks for several years now, but it has been one and a half years since we started actually developing and implementing the proposed idea of an ‘Internet underwater,’ making underwater networks compatible with the Internet,” Melodia said in written responses to questions posed by Civil Engineering.

The underwater modems can transmit data to one another across “multiple hops,” as Melodia put it, and then on to the border router automatically. The router converts that signal to “a digital bit stream of data” that is fed into a microcomputer located inside the router, and the microcomputer transmits the data “through a satellite or 3G/4G broadband Internet,” he said.

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“Basically, a user anywhere in the world [who] has access to the traditional Internet through a computer or a smartphone can access the underwater network remotely,” he said. The underwater modems are also “bidirectional,” he added, so scientists could one day use the submersed system to operate sensors as well as communicate with them. “Basically, you can talk to the sensor deployed deep in the ocean, and [it] can talk to you.” This development is critical in developing a more rapid response to underwater emergencies. “You may hook up a tsunami detector sensor to the underwater sensor, and as soon as a tsunami is detected it will inform the acoustics modem to transmit a warning message to the end user,” Melodia explained. His team developed an app for which users can register in order to receive these messages, he said, but he added that the messages can also be sent via email, Twitter, SMS, or any other communications method currently used on the Internet. “You could deploy many such sensors at different locations and create a

more reliable, distributed network of devices that would identify seismic shifts, process the data to identify the location, potentially determine the likelihood that a tsunami would be generated, and automatically have the local authorities send warning messages to citizens,” Melodia said. While stressing that he and his team are not experts in emergency warning systems, he added, “We believe that the Internet underwater infrastructure can be used to help to improve the existing tsunami detection systems. In addition to that, it could provide better coordination and more reliable data transmission by collecting and sharing information from multiple sensors in the network architecture.” An underwater sensor network could also warn of sudden pollution releases or drastic temperature changes that could spell disaster for marine life. “You may, for example, monitor the pollution, temperature, or oil spills, among other [events] inside the water and then analyze how safe the conditions are for the underwater life,” he explained. “If extensive amounts of activity such as pol-

lution [are] monitored, then the underwater sensors can inform the appropriate agencies to take action to protect the safety and health of the underwater life.” The underwater Internet could also communicate with sensors deployed by law enforcement agencies to detect underwater drug trafficking, which is seen as a growing threat, Melodia said. The researchers’ first test of the system was conducted in Lake Erie last fall and was deemed a success. While the network did not connect to any sensors, the underwater devices did have the ability to “hear” sound waves and to communicate back and forth with one another. “We used that feature to record channel measurements during several experiments in Lake Erie,” Melodia said. The team also successfully tested the app that receives the transmissions from the routers, he added. Future tests will involve additional tests under various conditions, Melodia said. “We are working to make the Internet underwater infrastructure more versatile, robust, and reliable.” —LAURIE A. SHUSTER

WE HELP YOU FIX BAD GROUND. THE GEOPIER SRT SYSTEM: LOW-IMPACT SLOPE STABILITY Work with engineers worldwide to solve your ground improvement challenges. For more information call 800-371-7470, e-mail [email protected] or visit geopier.com.

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©2014 Geopier Foundation Company, Inc. The G eopier® technology and brand names are protected under U.S. patents and trademarks listed at ww w.geopier.com/patents and other trademark applications and patents pending. Other foreign patents, patent applications, trademark registrations, and trademark applications also exist.

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A Question of Ethics Improper Use of Confidential Information  A recent case involving bid rigging in the  procurement of federally funded construction  projects in a western U.S. state forms the  subject of this month’s column. While those involved in the scheme were not ASCE members or engineers, the facts of the case can easily be applied to an engineering setting and lend themselves to a discussion of professional ethics in employment and in the marketplace. SITUATION: The principals of two con-

struction firms develop a scheme to rig the competitive bidding process on federally funded projects awarded by a state department of transportation. The principals agree to allocate upcoming projects to their firms through an arrangement that requires one firm to submit a “winning” bid to the department while the other intentionally submits a higher bid or declines to bid on the project altogether. The success of this scheme, however, is dependent on the firms’ ability to control the activities of a third construction firm, which is headquartered in the same region and frequently bids on such projects. The principals of the two firms reach out to an employee of the third firm, a project manager whose duties include the preparation of cost estimates for the firm’s bids. This manager agrees to take part in the scheme. With the help of this employee, the conspirators are successful in allocating projects awarded by the state department of transportation. Prior to each bid deadline, the parties confer either in person or by phone and discuss plans for submitting the rigged bids. The information and assistance provided by the project manager of the third firm regarding his firm’s bids enable the other firms to undercut the third firm on their submissions, sometimes by only a small amount. Over the course of several years, each of the two firms secures some $40 million in projects through rigged bids, while the third firm is permitted to “win” a significantly smaller number of projects. The scheme is exposed, howev[46] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

er, when an employee at the third firm begins to suspect that the manager is sharing confidential information with a competitor because of his detailed questions about projects in which he is not involved. These suspicions are ultimately reported to federal authorities, whose investigation uncovers the scheme. Despite the third firm’s reduced market share and its status as an unwitting victim in the scheme, authorities are surprised to hear the project manager contend that he acted in his company’s best interests. They can find no evidence that the manager received any personal benefit in exchange for his participation, and the manager maintains that his actions were intended to help sustain a business that had been buckling under pressures of overcommitment and poor resource management. The project manager agrees to assist the authorities in gathering evidence against the other members of the

Regardless of his opinion that he was helping his firm, it was irresponsible and inexcusable for him to use his position of trust to undermine his employer’s chosen course of action. scheme. The two principals are tried and convicted of violating federal antitrust law, and each receives a 12-month jail sentence and a significant financial penalty. In exchange for his cooperation, the project manager has his sentence reduced to one year’s probation and receives a $10,000 fine. If this case had involved members of ASCE, would the project manager’s actions in sharing bidding information in furtherance of an unQUESTION:

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lawful market allocation scheme have violated ASCE’s Code of Ethics? Canon 4 of the Code of Ethics is unambiguous in this regard: “Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.” It is interesting to note that while category (f) in the guidelines to practice for this canon makes reference to confidentiality, the language contains qualifications: “Engineers shall not use confidential information coming to them in the course of their assignments as a means of making personal profit if such action is adverse to the interests of their clients, employers, or the public.” It is clear that the project manager made unauthorized use of confidential information that he had secured through his professional assignments. And even if his argument that his actions were benefiting his company is accepted, his use of the information was still inimical to the interests of his employer, which was seeking to participate in a fair, competitive process, and it was certainly adverse to the interests of the public client, which became the victim of an unlawful allocation scheme. Nevertheless, because the manager did not personally benefit from his use of the confidential material, it could be argued that his actions did not violate category (f). Yet despite the narrow language of ASCE’s confidentiality provision, it is evident that the manager’s actions failed to comply with the broader intent of canon 4. Regardless of his opinion that he was helping his firm, it was irresponsible and inexcusable for him to use his position of trust to undermine his employer’s chosen course of action. Moreover, he knowingly entangled his firm in an illegal scheme, damaging it not only through the loss of potential business but also by tarnishing its reputation and subjecting it to the difficulties of civil and criminal litigation relating to DISCUSSION:

the scheme. Given these facts, had the manager been a member of ASCE, it is likely that he would have been deemed to have violated his ethical obligation to act as “a faithful agent or trustee” for his employers and clients. It is also worth noting that other codes of ethics impose requirements that are considerably more stringent regarding confidentiality. For instance, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying’s rules of professional conduct, which serve as the basis for many codes of ethics adopted by state licensing boards, have this to say: “Licensees shall not reveal facts, data, or information obtained in a professional capacity without the prior consent of the client or employer except as authorized or required by law.” Using this analysis, the project manager’s use of his firm’s bidding information could be deemed a violation of his professional responsibility regardless of his motive or the effect on his employer or client. In addition to canon 4, the project manager’s actions would undoubtedly have fallen afoul of other ethical pro-

visions. Because bid rigging, Because bid rigging, market market allocation, and similar antitrust actions are inherentallocation, and similar ly anticompetitive, the manantitrust actions are inherently ager’s participation would have violated canon 5 and its anticompetitive, the manager’s guidelines (category [b]) to participation would have “negotiate contracts for professional services fairly” and violated canon 5. not to compete unfairly with others. Furthermore, the deceit practiced by the project manager 548- ASCE (2723), extension 6061. The would have violated the duty set forth  attorneys staffing this line can provide adin canon 6 to “uphold and enhance the vice on how to handle an ethics issue or file a honor, integrity, and dignity” of the pro- complaint. Please note that individual facts fession, as well as the language given in  and circumstances vary from case to case, that category (a) of the guidelines to practice  some details may have been altered for purposfor canon 6: “Engineers shall not know- es of illustration or confidentiality, and that ingly engage in business or prothe general summary inforfessional practices of a fraudumation contained in these case lent, dishonest, or unethical  studies is not to be construed nature.” —T ARA  H OKE  as a precedent binding upon the Society.  Members who have an ethics question or would like to file a complaint with the Committee on Profession al Conduct may call ASCE’s hotline at (703) 295-6061 or (800)

Hoke

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Tara Hoke is ASCE’s assistant general counsel and a contributing editor to Civil

Engineering.

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [47]

History Lesson

Preparing for Takeoff: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

W

ITHIN 20 YEARS of the Wright brothers’

another milestone when it began daily coast-to-coast airmail historic first flight, on December 17, 1903, service between New York City and San Francisco. Clevein Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, their tech- land was one of several stops on that route too, along with nological breakthrough had already begun to Omaha, Nebraska; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Salt Lake City; revolutionize transportation, commerce, and even warfare. It and Reno, Nevada. was the everyday task of delivering mail, however, that led to Cleveland, at that time the fifth-largest city in the United the opening of the nation’s first municipal airport, in Cleve- States, had risen to prominence over the years as a strategiland, in 1925. cally located port. As a center of aviation, however, its status As airplanes became safer and more reliable, the U.S. Post was by no means secure. The only facility in the city suitable Office Department (the predecessor of today’s U.S. Postal Ser- for servicing the daily airmail deliveries was a small landing vice) recognized the potential offered by aircraft to expedite strip located behind an aircraft manufacturing plant. mail delivery across the United States. As early as 1911, in For routine daytime takeoffs and landings, that airfield fact, in the agency’s annual report, Postmaster General Frank was more than adequate. But its location within the city Hitchcock noted, “The progress being made in the science limits and its insufficient lighting made night landings danof aviation encourages the hope that ultimately the regular gerous. When the Post Office made plans to improve its conveyance of mail by this means may be practical.” But that transcontinental service by flying both day and night, a safer hope would never be realized without the necessary infra- facility was needed. structure, and the Post Office lacked the means to build it. As It was a crucial moment. Without a suitable airfield, the a matter of fact, the agency was having difficulty convincing city risked losing its position as a transportation hub in the Congress to fund any airmail experiments at all. new age of aviation. City Manager William R. Hopkins Despite the dearth of funds, the world’s first regularly took action, persuading the city council to buy a 1,040-acre scheduled airmail service began on May 15, 1918, with tract of farmland for a new airfield. The council approved the stops in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York $1.25-million purchase in early 1925, and Cleveland became City. Crews from the U.S. Army’s Air Service operated the the first American city to build its own airport. flights until mid-August of that year, The site, which was 10 mi from downwhen the Post Office took over. A year lat- The original terminal at Cleveland town, was ridiculed in the press for its er, airmail came to Cleveland as a stop on Municipal Airport combined admin- apparent inconvenience, but its seleca new route between New York City and istration, passenger services, and air tion actually demonstrated considerable Chicago. In 1924 the Post Office reached traffic control in a single building. foresight. Surrounded by open land, the [48] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

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In 1929 the world’s first air traffic control tower, right, was erected atop a new, two-story passenger terminal and administration building, below. Designed to offer a clear view of the sky and of airfield operations in every direction, the tower featured a glassenclosed octagonal observation room, each side measuring 16 ft.

airfield afforded pilots clear approaches from all directions. An existing streetcar line reached one edge of the site, and two railroads passed nearby. Furthermore, the site was sufficiently large to accommodate growth for many years into the future. The man primarily responsible for developing the site was Major John “Jack” Berry, a civil engineering officer for the postal service who had gained experience laying out airfields for the U.S. Army in World War I. After the war, he had distinguished himself by overseeing the creation of the first airway for transcontinental airmail service, marking it with beacons and designating certain fields for emergency landings. He became so deeply involved in the Cleveland airport project that he stayed for more than 25 years, eventually becoming the city’s first airport commissioner. By the standards of the 1920s, few improvements were necessary to get the airport up and running. Site

As airplanes became safer and more reliable, the U.S. Post Office Department (the predecessor of today’s U.S. Postal Service) recognized the potential offered by aircraft to expedite mail delivery across the United States.

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to help pilots identify the airport. Most impressive, however, was the floodlight that illuminated the airfield, which had an intensity of 500 million candelas. The carbon arc lamp was so bright that pilots complained that it temporarily blinded them as they maneuvered their planes into position for takeoff. Claude F. King, an electrical engineer and former Post Office employee who would later succeed Berry as the city’s airport commissioner, solved the problem by stationing a man in front of the light to cast a shadow on the pilot. The man simply followed the movement of the plane until it no longer faced the lamp. A mechanical bar was later installed to achieve the same effect. In 1929 Cleveland Municipal Airport became the home of the National Air Races, an annual series of events that showcased the latest advances in preparation consisted mainly of An intense floodlight, above, illuminated the air- aviation. On opening day the races grading and drainage work. For the field to facilitate night landings. Radio equipment drew more than 100,000 spectators to lightweight aircraft of those days, bleachers that were built for the races installed in the tower enabled air traffic consod was considered an acceptable on the western edge of the airfield. The trollers to communicate with pilots for the first landing surface, so the area was iniairport was so large that commercial time, as pictured in a 1937 photograph,below. tially left unpaved. Workers simply operations were able to continue ungraded a 100-acre airfield and installed lights for night land- abated while the races were in progress. A distinguishing feature of the airport was the layout of ings. To keep the field operable in wet weather, they installed a drainage system consisting of more than 13,000 ft of 12 in. the airfield itself. Berry insisted that the airfield, or landing diameter lateral pipe feeding into a main line 48 in. in diam- mat, be kept free of all obstructions, even runways. He eneter that stretched more than 1 mi. visioned an airport at which planes would be able to take off Cleveland Municipal Airport (known today as Cleve- and land in any direction, freeing pilots to tailor their routes land Hopkins International Airport) opened on July 1, 1925, and nighttime transcontinental airmail flights commenced the same day. Scheduled freight and passenger service soon followed. By the end of the year an average of 300 aircraft were using the airport each month, and by 1928 that number had increased to 1,100. The airport’s first buildings, three 85 by 85 ft postal service hangars, were soon joined by hangars for the Ford Motor Company and several commercial airlines. The key to facilitating nighttime flights was the airport’s pioneering lighting system. Floodlights lit the hangars. The boundaries of the airfield were marked by a series of 1,000-candela lights spaced 200 ft apart, while four searchlights, each with a luminous intensity of 1.5 million candelas, pointed skyward [50] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

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to the existing wind conditions. In this way at following instructions from a centralized In 1937 passengers awaited several planes would be able to land simulta- flights in a small but spacious authority. The standardization of guidelines neously without having to wait their turn to waiting room. Nearly 80 years for ground-to-air communication also took use a runway. Over the years, Berry contin- later, Cleveland Hopkins Interna- time. But the practice was such an obvious ued to eschew runways even as aircraft grew tional Airport serves more than improvement in terms of safety that it was in size. In the 1930s he succeeded in paving 9 million passengers annually. eventually adopted throughout the aviation an 85-acre landing mat with asphalt so that industry. In addition to giving landing inthe entire area would be available for takeoffs and landings. structions to pilots, Cleveland airport operators pioneered the This unusual configuration lasted until World War II, when use of long-range radio equipment to keep pilots informed of concrete runways were finally constructed to handle the enor- weather and traffic conditions while in flight. mous B-29 bombers that were manufactured at a plant adjaThe addition of runways during World War II was just cent to the airport. one of a series of alterations that completely changed the Although Berry’s omnidirectional airfield concept never face of the airport over the years. A major renovation project caught on, other innovations at the airport made a lasting in the 1950s in particular resulted in the complete replacecontribution to American aviation. In 1929 the world’s first ment of the original buildings by more modern facilities. air traffic control tower was erected here atop a new, two-story Still owned and operated by the City of Cleveland, the airpassenger terminal and administration building. The tower’s port today serves more than 9 million passengers annually. Its observation room was octagonal, each side measuring 16 ft. place in the history of airport design and The room was enclosed in glass on all sides, offering those inits role in the development of the modern side a clear view of the sky and of airfield operations in every air traffic control system earned it welldirection. deserved recognition in ASCE’s Historic In 1930 Berry and King installed radio equipment in the Civil Engineering Landmark Program tower, allowing two-way communication between pilots in 1979. —JEFF L. BROWN and ground-based air traffic controllers for the first time. The practice of ground-based flight control met resistance at first,  Jeff Brown is a contributing editor to Civil Brown especially from pilots with an independent streak who balked Engineering. FEBRUARY 2014

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2014

 Join Us for ASCE’s 2014 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Awards Gala The American Society of Civil Engineers is proud to host this event as the industry celebrates the following individuals and projects.

2014 OCEA AWARD FINALI STS

March 20, 2014 RENAISSANCE ARLINGTON CAPITAL VIEW HOTEL ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA (Washington, DC Metro area)

Sponsors as of January 7, 2014 

OUTSTANDING CIVIL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT (OCEA) AWARD FINALISTS  Pictured left to right:

Huey P. Long Bridge Widening Project  Jefferson Parish, LA

PLATINUM SPONSORS

I-15 Corridor Expansion Project Utah County, UT 

Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) Surge Barrier  New Orleans, LA

Taizhou Bridge  Jiangsu Province, China

Tom Lantos Tunnels at Devil’s Slide  Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, CA

2014 OUTSTANDING LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS GOLD SPONSORS

 Pictured left to right:

CONSTRUCTION

SILVER SPONSORS

 Joseph P. Welsh, P.E., F.ASCE  Hayward Baker Inc.

DESIGN

 Jon D. Magnusson, P.E., S.E., F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE  Magnusson Klemencic Associates

EDUCATION

 Jeffrey S. Russell, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, NAC University of Wisconsin–Madison

Register online at  www.asce.org/opal-registration. Get updated information or become a sponsor at  www.asce.org/opal.

GOVERNMENT

 John R. Njord, P.E., M.ASCE Utah Department of Transportation

MANAGEMENT

 J. Richard Capka, P.E., M.ASCE, NAC  Dawson and Associates

(800) 548-2723 (ASCE)

The Charles Pankow Award for Innovation, Henry L. Michel  Award for Industry Advancement of Research, and ASCE Excellence in Journalism Award will also be presented.

Editor’s Note

S ARE MANY  bridges in the United States, the

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Delaware River Turnpike Bridge was aging and in need of repair. Substantially completed in 1954, the bridge serves as a direct connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the New Jersey Turnpike. Additionally, it carries Interstate 95 and Interstate 276 and thus supports major truck traffic over the Delaware. In other words the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge is an important piece of transportation infrastructure. Given the age of the bridge, its owners—the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission—were concerned about the safety of the bridge and embarked upon an extensive program of rehabilitation. As part of this work, they commissioned HNTB Corporation, of Kansas City, Missouri, to examine the condition of the wire rope suspenders supporting the center main-span deck system. (Security enhancements undertaken as part of the rehabilitation included hardening the bridge suspenders against tampering.) What inspectors discovered was that the suspenders required replacement because of their age, failed paint coatings, and corrosion. Among the particular areas of con-

Engineers tasked with the suspender replacement had to determine how to achieve the replacement without taking the bridge out of service.

cern: suspenders have a finite life span of roughly 60 years; suspender sockets are known corrosion hot spots; fatigue resistance decreases quickly with heavy truck traffic; recent redecking work had replaced the deck and parapet, increasing suspender dead load by 30 percent; and the existing paint system held water against the strands, causing them to corrode. But as Richard Schaefer, P.E., Theodore P. “Ted” Zoli, P.E., M.ASCE, and Ana Tatoris, P.E., explain in their article “Switching Suspenders,” the replacement of the suspenders was no simple task and involved much more than replacing the suspenders in kind. As it turned out, the project entailed four times as many suspender assemblies as well as the fabrication of custom support brackets and modifications to the existing structure. But the challenge facing the engineers was more than just a technical one. The engineers also had to determine how to achieve this replacement without taking the bridge out of service, which would have been absolutely unthinkable given the transportation significance of the bridge. The solution was to create a suspender system that could be installed immediately adjacent to the existing system. In addition to keeping the bridge in service, the concept offered the construction contractors several advantages, including unimpeded access to the new mounting locations so they could take exact measurements before creating the new system. This approach also enabled them to ensure that the new system fit properly before installing it, and it eliminated the need for a temporary support system, a time- and cost-saving feature. As engineers design creative solutions to the many problems facing our aging infrastructure, they will increasingly need to consider just these kinds of factors—that is, how to make the necessary upgrades while minimizing impact to those who use the infrastructure and how to make things simpler for those who will actually construct the upgrades.

A NN E  E LIZABETH  P OWELL

Editor in Chief FEBRUARY 2014

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THE FEDERAL GAS TAX:

How Much, How Much Longer? Because the federal tax on motor fuels has not been raised in 20 years, the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for many of the nation’s highway repairs and improvements, is facing insolvency. But even  as a growing number of stakeholders support what they consider to be a long-overdue tax hike, others  are mapping out alternative funding sources to keep the traffic flowing. . . . By Robert L. Reid

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N OCTOBER 1,

2013, the federal tax on motor fuels reached an inglorious milestone: it had been exactly 20 years since the so-called federal gas tax was raised. This represents a significant problem for the nation’s surface transportation system because the tax on gasoline, together with a tax on diesel fuel, fills the coffers of the Highway Trust Fund, the federal program that largely pays for highway repairs and improvements and also supports the nation’s mass transit efforts. The nation’s surface transportation problems were clearly spelled out in ASCE’s 2011 report Failure to Act: The Econom-

tems cost households and businesses nearly $130 billion,” including “approximately $97 billion in vehicle operating costs, $32 billion in travel time delays, $1.2 billion in safety costs, and $590 million in environmental costs.”  Likewise, the 2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure assigned grades of only D and C+ to respectively the nation’s roads and bridges. Throughout the United States, one bridge in every nine was rated as structurally deficient, requiring an estimated investment of $76 billion to rectify, and 42 percent of America’s major urban highways remain congested, the assessment noted. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that $170 billion in capital investments are needed annually “to significantly improve conditions and performance” on those roads, the report concluded. ic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation In short, we have an aging transportation system that is not Infrastructure and in its 2013 Report Card for America’s In- serving the users as it was intended. Additionally, ASCE has adopted numerous policy state frastructure (www.asce.org/failuretoact and www.infrastructurereportcard.org), as well as in its earlier infrastructure as- ments on infrastructure and transportation issues. To access sessments. Looking at the year 2010, Failure to Act  detailed the complete list, visit www.asce.org/policystatements. how “deficiencies in America’s surface transportation sysUnfortunately, the past two decades of a gas tax rate stuck [54] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

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in neutral has created “a revenue shortfall that increases each year and which has been exacerbated by the weak economy,” explained Gregory E. DiLoreto, P.E., P.L.S. D.WRE, F.ASCE, ASCE’s immediate past president, when he testified for ASCE before the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works on September 25, 2013. If nothing is done, the Highway Trust Fund is expected to be insolvent by October 2014, DiLoreto explained, at which point Congress might be forced to cut highway spending by as much as 92 percent. Moreover, the unchanging federal gas tax rate is only one of several problems plaguing the Highway Trust Fund, problems that have led at least two congressionally authorized commissions, several members of Congress, and numerous transportation-oriented groups, think tanks, and stakeholders to question the long-term viability of the gas tax. To put the issue in perspective, on October 1, 1993, when Congress raised the gas tax from 14 cents to 18.3 cents per gallon (plus 0.1 cent per gallon for a fund for cleaning up leaking underground storage tanks), Bill Clinton was still in the first year of his first term as president, Barack Obama had only recently married Michelle and had not yet run for any elective office, and the average price of gasoline was roughly $1.09 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s records. But while the price of gas had reached approximately $3.40 per gallon by October 2013, according to the Energy Information Administration’s statistics, that threefold increase over two decades did not benefit the Highway Trust Fund at all because the tax is charged only on the number of gallons purchased; the tax has never been indexed to inflation. Meanwhile, over the same period, the cost of asphalt, concrete,

machinery, and other infrastructure-related expenditures has increased by 63 percent, noted Carl Davis, a senior analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, of Washington, D.C., writing in the October 11, 2013, edition of U.S.  News & World Report. The higher gasoline prices also increased the cost of operating road construction equipment and the cost of such materials as asphalt, which includes petroleum as an ingredient, Davis tells Civil Engineering. It is the equivalent of someone trying to live in 2013 on the salary he or she earned back in 1993 without ever receiving a raise. The total number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States also rose over that same period from roughly 2.3 trillion in 1993 to just under 3 trillion by 2012, according to  A New Direction: Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future, a report issued last spring by the

United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, of Boston, and the Frontier Group, of Santa Barbara, California. Although that increase in driving was beneficial to the gas tax’s finances, given that more miles driven equals more gas tax collected, the driving data present a double challenge. First, the wear and tear on the nation’s aging roads and bridges have definitely increased as the number of miles driven increased, but the gas tax rate remained static, thus failing to keep pace with the need for maintenance and capacity improvements. And while the number of vehicle miles has increased steadily, not just over the past 20 years but also since the end of World War II, that increase has apparently come to an end. Vehicle miles peaked in 2007, explained A New Direction, which pointed out that “Americans drive no more miles today than we did in 2004 and no more miles per person than

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we did in 1996.” Thus, the steady and seemingly automatic are all taken into account, the Congressional Budget Office increases in vehicle miles that each year added revenue to the notes, the revenue raised today by the gas tax has less than twotrust fund despite the lack of inflation indexing can no longer thirds of the purchasing power it had two decades ago. be counted on. And several factors could keep vehicle miles The federal gas tax at its current rate of 18.4 cents a galbelow 2007 levels until at least 2040, the report explained. lon does not even meet the nation’s current highway spending These include the recent faltering economy, high unemploy- levels, let alone the levels that various organizations and stakement, and a decline in per capita driving by the so-called Mil- holders believe are needed in order to maintain and improve lennial Generation—those born between 1983 and 2000— the surface transportation network. ASCE, for instance, has esas well as shifting attitudes toward transportation that make timated that the federal gas tax raises approximately $30 bilMillennials “less reliant on driving” than previous genera- lion annually, an amount that does not nearly meet the $170 tions, the report noted. billion that the Federal Highway Administration says is acAt the same time that Americans are driving fewer miles tually needed each year for capital highway improvements. each year, their vehicles are offering higher fuel efficiency. To offset the imbalance between what the federal gas tax Since 1997 the average fuel efficiency of passenger vehicles raises and what the nation actually spends on its highways, on America’s roads has increased by 1.7 mpg, from 19.7 mpg Congress has transferred as much as $50 billion since 2005 to 21.4 mpg, according to a report issued in September 2013 from the Treasury’s general fund to the Highway Trust Fund by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy entitled A to keep the latter solvent. If nothing is done to change the Federal Gas Tax for the Future. While improvements in fuel current situation, Congress faces the prospect of transferefficiency provide tangible benefits to drivers and society ring another $15 billion annually just to maintain trust by lowering driving costs and dofund spending levels, according to Representative Earl Blumenauer ing less harm to the environment, FUEL EFFICIENCY greater efficiency also results in the (D-Oregon). And even when the purchase of less fuel and thus lower federal gas tax is combined with gas tax receipts. As A Federal Gas state gas taxes (and with other user fees, including tolls), it turns out Tax for the Future explained in reference to that 1.7 mpg increase, “For that every state in the nation is buta vehicle with a 15-gallon gas tank, tressing its highway spending with this means that the average driver money transferred from other sourcis able to wear down the roadways es, primarily its general funds, sales with an extra 25 miles of driving taxes, and property taxes, according before they have to stop, refuel, and to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit, pay anything in gas taxes. Multiply nonpartisan research organization that by 230 million vehicles and in based in Washington, D.C. the course of a year it’s the equivaIn a report it issued in Janulent of almost 203 billion tax-free ary 2013 entitled Road Spending by miles of travel on America’s roads.”  State Funded by User Taxes and Fees, Fuel efficiency as it relates to gas Including Federal Gas Tax Revenues, tax revenue is likely to exert a greatthe Tax Foundation concluded that er impact if automobile manufac“user taxes and fees do not cover the turers are able to meet the new corcosts of road spending in any state.” porate average fuel economy (CAFE) Even the states that do the best job of standards proposed by the Obama paying for their highway projects via administration. These standards user fees and taxes—Delaware and will increase the average fuel econRhode Island—still had to dip into omy of vehicle fleets from 34.1 mpg to 49.6 mpg starting in other sources of income to cover respectively about 20 and 30 2025 for passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, percent of their roadwork costs. Two states at the other end of minivans, and other vehicles. Although the full effect of the the scale—Utah and Alaska—relied on other revenue to cover changes would not be realized until 2040, “the proposed more than respectively 67 percent and 80 percent of their highCAFE standards would gradually lower gasoline tax revenues, way spending, the report concluded. eventually causing them to fall by 21 percent,” according to For many, the solution to the gas tax funding issue inthe report How Would Proposed Fuel Economy Standards Affect the volves several key actions, starting with an immediate inHighway Trust Fund? issued in May 2012 by the Congressio- crease in the gas tax as a “much needed infusion of funding,” nal Budget Office. DiLoreto testified. Recent proposals to raise the gas tax inThe advent of hybrid vehicles, electric cars, and cars powered clude a 10-cent increase proposed by Ray LaHood when he by such alternative fuels as ethanol and biodiesel also threatens was serving as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transto reduce the amount of gas tax revenue collected, although at portation and a 15-cent hike recommended by Blumenaupresent the number of such vehicles is small. So when inflation, er in a bill he introduced in December. That measure, the increasing fuel efficiency, and changing transportation patterns Update, Promote, and Develop America’s Transportation

as it relates to gas tax revenue is likely to exert a greater impact if automobile manufacturers are able to meet the new corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards proposed by the Obama administration.

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Essentials Act of 2013 (H.R. 3636), would also index the gas tax to inflation, a move that would “shore up the weakness of the motor fuels user fee and . . . retain value over the long term,” according to DiLoreto. Those who want to raise the gas tax definitely face an uphill road. In Funding and Financing Highways and Public Transportation, a report issued in September 2013 by the Congressional Research Service, an arm of the Library of Congress, transportation specialists Robert Kirk and William Mallett noted that the federal gas tax has been raised only a handful of times in the past and that even when it was raised, the increases were sometimes used for purposes other than transportation projects. Created in 1932, when Herbert Hoover was president, the initial federal gas tax was just 1 cent per gallon and was dedicated to reducing the federal deficit during the Great Depression. It was raised to 1.5 cents per gallon to help fund the American war effort in World War II and to 2 cents per gallon to help pay for the Korean War, according to the Congressional Research Service report. In 1956 and 1959 it was raised again to respectively 3 cents and 4 cents per gallon to establish the Highway Trust Fund during the construction of the interstate highway system. The rate stayed at 4 cents for nearly a quarter of a century until March 1983, when it more than doubled to 9 cents per gallon. But that increase was approved only after overcoming a series of filibusters in the Senate, and 1 cent of the 5-cent increase was dedicated to a new mass transit account. When the tax was next raised, in November 1990, to 14 cents per gallon, the increase was apportioned to highways (2 cents), mass transit (0.5 cent), and deficit reduction, which garnered fully half of the increase, or 2.5 cents. This was the first time since 1957 that “the motor fuels tax had been used as a source of general revenue,” Kirk and Mallett wrote. With the most recent increase in the gas tax, in October 1993, the entire increase of 4.3 cents per gallon was dedicat-

ed to deficit reduction, meaning that fully 6.8 cents per gallon was being deposited in the Treasury’s general fund, Kirk and Mallett noted. However, starting on October 1, 1995, the earlier 2.5 cents that had been dedicated to deficit reduction was split between highways (2 cents) and mass transit (0.5 cent). By October 1, 1997, the 4.3 cents per gallon that had been dedicated to deficit reduction was given instead to the Highway Trust Fund, split 3.45 cents for the highway account and 0.85 cent for the mass transit account. From that point on, the only nontransportation use of trust fund money that remained was the 0.1 cent per gallon dedicated to underground storage tank cleanups. Of course, some groups oppose using gas tax money for anything but highway projects; they even oppose the mass transit aspects of the trust fund. For instance, the libertarian Reason Foundation, of Washington, D.C., in a report it issued in August 2010 entitled Restoring Trust in the Highway Trust Fund, argued that the dedicated fuel tax that had been used to construct the interstate system had “become a generalpurpose public works tax instead of a true highway user fee.” Robert W. Poole, Jr., and Adrian T. Moore, the authors of the report, contended that too much money was being spent on such nonhighway programs as mass transit (which currently garners approximately 17 percent of trust fund money), bikeways, scenic trails, and other transportation “enhancements.” In 2011 Representative John Mica (R-Florida) attempted to completely eliminate such items from federal transportation spending, but after encountering heavy criticism he instead worked out a plan with Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) that as part of the 2012 federal transportation bill—Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21)—altered the program for so-called transportation enhancement activities and reduced the amounts that could be spent on them. Many transportation stakeholders reject this idea, however, Blumenauer noting that “the quickest way” to improve FEBRUARY 2014

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highway capacity for commuters and freight shipments is where it’s hard to imagine a way to keep sidestepping the is“to get somebody off the road [via mass transit or other al- sue.” Billions of dollars have been channeled into the Highternatives] who’d otherwise be in front of you,” Blumenauer way Trust Fund to keep it operating, he says, but that has tells Civil Engineering. He also stresses that different modes come at the expense of larger deficits and has undermined of transportation should not be pitted against one another. efforts to create a long-term, sustainable funding mecha“If it’s freight versus passenger cars, transit versus roadways, nism. This in turn is hindering the ability of governments, and if we shut out other uses such as bicycles and pedestrians, businesses, and communities to conduct comprehensive inwhat you do is create a dynamic that actually reinforces the frastructure planning. Thus, Blumenauer believes the time political and policy gridlock” that hinders the nation’s trans- is right to raise the gas tax, although he is not in favor of a seportation system, Blumenauer explains. ries of increases: “My goal would be that this is the last time Despite the difficult history of raising the gas tax, Blu- we consider gas tax increases.” menauer cites several reasons to be optimistic about H.R. Looking further down the road, many who support a high3636’s prospects. First, the bipartisan budget deal that the er gas tax today also concede that the gas tax itself will eventupresident signed in late December 2013, while not perfect, ally have to be replaced by a better-designed and more modern nonetheless includes additional revenues via fees and taxes. method of financing the nation’s surface transportation proBlumenauer finds the bipartisan acceptance of that deal to be grams. ASCE, for example, has long supported an increase in an encouraging sign. the gas tax. However, the more important goal “is to provide Next, at the state and local level, a number of states have a reliable, long-term source of funding to the Highway Trust recently increased their gas tax rates. Like the federal gas tax, Fund, and there is a list of many different options available to these taxes had in many cases been left unchanged for decades. do that,” explains Brian Pallasch, the Society’s managing diAnd more states are considering such increases during this rector for government relations and infrastructure initiatives. year’s legislative sessions. There have even been gas tax increasAmong those options, the most frequently discussed idea es across the political spectrum: In involves a switch from the current Wyoming, for example, a 10-cent gas tax to a tax or fee based on the per gallon increase was passed by MANY WHO SUPPORT number of miles a vehicle travels— the Republican governor and the a VMT tax, so to speak. In Oregon, Republican-controlled legislature, which is credited with creating while in Maryland the Democratic the first gasoline tax in the nation, governor and the Democratic legin 1919, two pilot projects involvislature passed a 20-cent hike. In ing a VMT tax have been conductVirginia the Republican governor ed. The first was in 2006 and 2007 and a bipartisan legislature passed and involved 285 vehicles. The seca bill that lowers the retail gas tax ond was in 2012 and 2013 and inbut raises the wholesale tax, as well volved just 93 participants but had as the state’s sales tax. Vermont and a wider geographical scope and inMassachusetts also increased their cluded drivers from the neighboring gas taxes last year. Moreover, several states of Washington and Nevada. states began indexing their gas tax Oregon’s successful experience with rates to inflation last year, adding to the pilot projects has led to anoththe number of states that use indexer effort, this one a permanent but ing. Thus, for the first time, most voluntary program that will involve Americans live in states in which 5,000 cars and light commercial vethe rate is indexed, says the Institute hicles. Scheduled to begin on July 1, on Taxation and Economic Policy’s 2015, the program will charge the Davis. These developments convolunteer drivers on a VMT basis in vince Blumenauer that “some molieu of the state’s gas tax, which will mentum” is building for a federal gas tax hike. be refunded to the participants. Blumenauer also notes that “an amazingly broad coalition” In conjunction with H.R. 3636, which calls for the elimhas united behind the idea of a gas tax increase. Those favor- ination of the gas tax by 2024, Blumenauer introduced the ing an increase include not only such traditional supporters as Road Usage Fee Pilot Program Act of 2013 (H.R. 3638). ASCE but also groups that ordinarily have opposing agendas. If adopted, this bill would appropriate $30 million to fund Examples here include not only the U.S. Chamber of Com- a competitive grant program to test mileage-based fee sysmerce and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of tems. State-based or locally conducted VMT programs and Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) but also the AAA and the studies have also been conducted in the Puget Sound reAmerican Trucking Associations. These organizations “are gion of Washington; at the University of Iowa; in Minneready to stand together to make the case that we’ve got to in- sota, Colorado, and Texas; and in the states on the East Coast vest in our nation’s future—today,” Blumenauer notes. along Interstate 95. These efforts are discussed in the report Finally, Blumenauer believes that “we’ve reached a point  Mileage-Based User Fees for Transportation Funding: A Primer for

a higher gas tax today also concede that the gas tax itself will eventually have to be replaced by a betterdesigned and more modern method of financing the nation’s surface transportation programs.

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 State and Local Decisionmakers, issued in 2012 by the RAND

cially on the interstate highway system, has been discussed Corporation, of Santa Monica, California. as well, notes Sorensen. Tolling is generally prohibited on the Over the past six years, two congressionally authorized com- interstate system, and federal legislation would be required missions—the National Surface Transportation Policy and Rev- to change matters. However, “there is interest in that idea enue Commission in 2008 and the National Surface Transpor- and increasing pressure from states for the federal governtation Infrastructure Financing Commission in 2009—have ment to consider that possibility,” says Sorensen. supported the concept of replacing the current gas tax with a In some locales, special taxes are being levied specifiVMT tax. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Rev- cally for transportation projects, notes Robert Puentes, enue Commission, in particular, labeled the VMT approach the a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Metropoli“most promising alternative user fee tan Policy Program in Washingrevenue measure,” although it notton, D.C. A good example of that ed that any change will depend on approach, notes Sorensen, is MeaDRIVERS whether “substantial privacy and colsure R, which was approved by Los lection cost issues can be addressed.” Angeles County voters in 2008 The privacy question is a critical to raise an estimated $40 billion concern related to the VMT option to address traffic and transportabecause many of the pilot efforts tion issues in the coming decades. and proposed programs involve the States are also looking to private use of Global Positioning System capital or to partnerships with pri(GPS) technology—either in a devate firms to fund infrastructure vice installed directly on the vehiprojects, Puentes adds. “We see cle or via the driver’s smartphone— states that are taking the lead to to track the mileage of the vehicles raise their own resources,” he exbeing studied, explains Paul Soplains. Although the traditional rensen, Ph.D., the associate director transportation funding approach of RAND’s transportation, space, was like a “layer cake with the fedand technology program and one eral government on top,” Puentes of the authors of Mileage-Based User says, “it’s more like a marble cake now, all mixed up.” Fees for Transportation Funding. Drivers uncomfortable with a Given the small but growing state or federal agency being able to presence of electric and hybrid vehicles on the nation’s roads, various track exactly where they have been and when could opt for a simpler states have considered—and some approach whereby they would have have enacted—special taxes to partheir odometers checked on a peritially replace the revenue lost because odic basis or pay a flat annual fee. A private company could such vehicles use little or no gasoline and thus pay little or no receive the GPS data and simply pass along the total mileage, gas tax. A $50 annual fee for the registration of plug-in vehicles not the details, to the government, Sorensen explains. Other went into effect in Colorado this year, and Washington State benefits as well could be conferred with the GPS approach, adopted a $100 fee for all-electric vehicles that takes effect this he adds. For example, the VMT tax rate could be raised or month, although hybrid vehicles, which use both electricity and lowered depending on when the vehicle was driven, a higher gasoline, are exempt, along with certain other vehicles. rate prevailing during rush hour to encourage travel choices Taxes on electric cars can be controversial because many state and local governments are encouraging drivers to purthat could help reduce traffic congestion. The rate could also be adjusted depending on whether the vehicle was driven on chase electric vehicles because of their environmental beneurban or rural roads. Drivers could also be exempted from fits. Now it seems as though ecologically responsible drivers paying VMT taxes to their own states for any miles traveled are being singled out for punitive fees. But DiLoreto stresses in other states. And if surrounding states adopted VMT sys- that two different issues are involved. “The fact is, regardless tems as well but with different rates, the data could be a boon of what type of fuel you put in your vehicle, you’re still using to the driver in that he or she would pay less for any miles up capacity, as well as putting wear and driven in a state with a lower rate. tear on the transportation system,” he Other alternatives to the current gas tax include a tax explains. “So, while the environmental on the wholesale price of gasoline, an idea floated last year aspects are great...we all have a responby Boxer and incorporated by the State of Virginia into the sibility as users to pay our fair share, rechanges it made to the funding of transportation projects. gardless of what kind of fuel we put in Increases in states’ sales taxes also have been proposed, says our vehicles.” CE Davis, although this idea would involve “shifting more of the responsibility for paying for roads away from drivers and  Robert L. Reid is the senior editor of Civil Reid onto the general population.” An increased use of tolls, espeEngineering.

uncomfortable with a state or federal agency being able to track exactly where they have been and when could opt for a simpler approach whereby they would have their odometers checked on a periodic basis or pay a flat annual fee.

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Safe Passage

The 3,399 ft long, 41 ft wide fourth bore of California’s Caldecott Tunnel has been designed and built to be accessible to emergency vehicles no more than 72 hours after the next catastrophic earthquake strikes the region, and excavation for the tunnel was undertaken through highly variable rock formations consisting of weak, fractured, and folded sedimentary rock layers. . . . . .  By Catherine A. Cardno, Ph.D.

T

well known for many things and among the most memorable are its steep hills and propensity for earthquakes. These characteristics, however, are by no means limited to the peninsula. The Caldecott Tunnel, which connects a network of freeways in California’s Contra Costa County with the Bay Area’s Alameda County and Oakland, opened its fourth bore on November HE CITY  OF S AN FRANCISCO IS

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16, 2013, and had to address challenges arising from both characteristics. “It is safe to say that in the event of a catastrophic earthquake in the Bay Area, this would be a significant lifeline route to support logistics operations for the event,” said Lori Newquist, a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, who wrote in response to questions posed by Civil Engineering. “That would include support from the state or federal government,” Newquist said. Route 24, which

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extends through the Caldecott Tunnel, offers a connection between the Bay Area and the Central Valley, as well as areas that would be undamaged by a catastrophic earthquake. The Caldecott Fourth Bore Project was a joint effort by the Federal Highway Administration, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Contra Costa Transportation

The fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel opened to westbound traffic on Route 24 at 4:10 AM, in-  set, on November 16, 2013. The doubly reinforced concrete constituting the final lining of the tunnel is 1 ft 3 in. thick.

Authority, and the Alameda County Transportation Commission. The San Francisco office of the engineering firm Jacobs Associates led the design work for the new bore, and Parsons Transportation Group, which is based in Pasadena, California, was the prime design consultant and handled the preliminary engineering and final design of the cut-and-cover tunnel sections at each end of the bore and of the

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operations and substation buildings. Caltrans was in charge directions. “With the opening...of the Caldecott fourth of construction management and handled the roadway de- bore and the recent opening of the Tom Lantos Tunnels—the sign portion and some of the retaining walls. Devil’s Slide tunnels in Pacifica—the California Department “We decided at the [beginning] to really follow a differ- of Transportation has delivered two state-of-the-art tunnels ent way of delivering projects in the state of California,” says within the year,” says Randy R. Anderson, P.E., the structurCristina Ferraz, P.E., the Caltrans project manager for the new al design manager and consultant design oversight manager bore. “We decided to create a one-team approach...and this ap- for Caltrans. “The last significant roadway tunnel to be built proach worked extremely well.” Rather than Caltrans review- in California was the third bore of the Caldecott, completed ing and rejecting drawings after the consultants had completed in 1964,” he notes. them, she explains, Caltrans and the consultants worked colThe size of the fourth bore, at 3,399 ft long, 26 ft high, laboratively to develop the tunnel and roadway plans. and 41 ft wide, “makes it California’s largest roadway tunnel “We’re very proud to state that this project has been com- when considering the ratio of the length to width,” Anderpleted on time. Actually, it was a little bit ahead of time... son says. The tunnel contains two 12 ft wide lanes, two shouland below budget,” Ferraz says. “So it has been a tremendous- ders—one 10 ft wide and the other 2 ft wide—a 3 ft emerly successful project here in the state of California—a major gency walkway, and a 2 ft wide curb. infrastructure, $417-million project that was completed on The bores cut through the Berkeley Hills, which encomtime and below budget.” pass three primary rock formations that date to the Miocene The first two bores of the Caldecott Tunnel, each (23 million to 5.3 million years ago). “The maximum cov3,610 ft long and nearly 27 ft wide, were opened in 1937, ac- er over the tunnel is approximately 525 feet below the locording to material provided by Caltrans. A third bore, this cal high point of the Berkeley Hills, at an elevation of 1,400 one 3,771 ft long and 28 ft wide, opened in 1964, making feet,” said Michael McRae, D.Eng., P.E., G.E., M.ASCE , a it possible to offer a reversible route depending on traffic de- principal in the San Francisco office of Jacobs Associates, mands. With an average daily traffic count of almost 160,000 who wrote in response to questions posed by Civil Engineervehicles moving between Contra Costa County and the Bay ing. Looking back on the project, McRae, who led the tunnel Area before construction work on the fourth bore was com- design for the fourth bore, said, “The major technical design pleted, tunnel operators would reverse traffic in the middle challenge for the project involved developing excavation sebore twice a day on weekdays and as much as half a dozen quences and support systems that allowed safe and efficient times a day during weekends, particularly if special events, mining and support operations in the highly variable, fracconcerts, or sporting events were taking place tured, and weak rock formations.” in the Bay Area, according to Caltrans. The western end of the tunnel, on the A gantry system with a frame The fourth bore provides two dedicated that slid along a track facilitat- Oakland side, in Alameda County, extends lanes for westbound traffic, so four lanes of ed the installation of the tunnel through the Sobrante Formation, a matraffic can remain open at all times in both waterproofing and final lining. rine shale and sandstone layer, while the

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A 130-ton roadheader began the excavation of the bore in August 2010 and moved on tracks from east to west to excavate the tunnel’s top portion.

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middle of the tunnel passes through the Claremont Formation, which features chert, shale, and sandstone. The eastern end of the tunnel, inland in Contra Costa County, passes through the Orinda Formation, a nonmarine clay stone, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate layer. Four major faults and three minor faults are located in the area near the fourth bore, although the bore does not pass directly through any active fault. Because of the variability of the rock formations, the sequential excavation method, also referred to as the new Austrian tunneling method, was used to construct the fourth bore, according to Anderson. Excavation proceeded from both ends of the tunnel simultaneously, each end featuring a 75 ft long cut-and-cover section, according to Anderson. “The portion of the tunnel constructed with [the sequential excavation method] consists of an initial lining and support, which was used to support the tunnel during excavation, and a 1-foot, 3-inch doubly reinforced concrete final lining supported on large footings,” Anderson says. Good engineering also conferred economic benefits. “Our design also allowed for load sharing between the initial ground support and the final lining, which resulted in considerable cost savings for the project,” McRae noted. “We were fortunate we had Jacobs Associates, and they had one engineer, the late Bhaskar Thapa, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE, who was an expert in this area and who developed the excavation sequence with seven support categories,” Anderson says. “ We also had him in the field...evaluating construction, evaluating the condition of the rock and soil after the contractor was doing his excavation,...making daily determinations, [and asking,] ‘Are we in the correct ground that we have on the drawings? Do we need to modify?’” Anderson recalls. “Because of all that, that was a huge success having Bhaskar doing

the design [and] having him in the field.” Careful attention was given to deformation. “The team performed state-of-the-practice analyses to evaluate the deformation of the tunnel when subject to ground shaking... and developed the design for the tunnel lining system to accommodate the predicted seismic deformations and loads,” McRae explained. Because of the variability of the rock layers, a variety of support systems were used. “An initial excavation category might include installing lattice girders, spiles, rock bolts, or pipe canopies and then, once they got that in place,...concurrently they would apply a thin layer of [fiber-reinforced] shotcrete to get their initial support,” Anderson says. The most extensive initial ground support, which included large pipe canopies, lattice girders, and an invert arch, was at the western end of the tunnel, where the geological formation was weakest, he notes. A waterproof membrane was placed atop the final shotcrete layer to direct water to an underground drainage system at the bottom of the tunnel. The double-layer rebar cage was topped with a concrete layer that integrated a mix of polypropylene fibers to improve the resistance to explosive concrete spalling in the event of a severe fire, according to Anderson. Steel panels coated with porcelain enamel were attached to the lower portion of the final lining. “Due to the regional importance of the tunnel area on... Route 24, it was determined that the tunnel and its supporting structures would be designed as important structures,” Anderson says. “In the past we called those lifeline routes, but we’re changing the designation...more to a recovery route,” he says. “We’re steering away from the use of [the term] ‘lifeline’ [because] all the routes are important to a region.” “Important” structures are evaluated and designed to FEBRUARY 2014

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meet two different design earthquakes, Anderson says, “one structed to stabilize the slopes around the tunnel. Six of the being the safety evaluation earthquake, which we call the large walls were for the cut-and-cover portions at the tunnel SEE, and the other being the functional evaluation earth- ends. Use was made of “all different types of retaining walls: soil quake. The design team adopted a 1,500-year return period nail walls, tieback walls, secant walls, and soldier pile walls,” for the SEE event and a 300-year return period for the [func- Anderson says. “For the cut-and-cover portal head, we had to tional evaluation earthquake] event based on the probabilis- break through the lower portion of the retaining wall to start tic seismic hazard evaluation,” Anderson says. Because of the the mining operation.” time frame of construction, he notes, the design also encomSlope movement was another important consideration. passed a construction evaluation earthquake with a 100-year “One of the criteria for the SEE is [that] we wanted to limit return period to protect the workers at the site. slope movement [because] we didn’t want the slope behind “Tunnels are rarely significantly damaged except where fault the walls being able to move that far out,” Anderson explains. offsets or ground failure occurs,” Anderson explains. “The Hay- “We increased the capacity of the retaining walls to limit how ward Fault is about a mile west of the tunnels, and the new tun- much those slopes could move into the wall.” nel is not crossing a significant active or potentially active fault A severe fire in the third bore in 1982 led to revisions of the and no evidence existed that ground failure could occur.” To en- California Vehicle Code that confined the transport of hazardous hance performance and ductility, the lining of the fourth bore materials through the tunnel to the hours of 3 AM to 5 AM, acand the connection points of the passageways linking the third cording to Anderson. That fire and subsequent tunnel fires in and fourth bores were tied together structurally with the double the United States have resulted in updated National Fire Prolayer of reinforcement and ties, according to Anderson. tection Association codes and standards, and the fourth bore has “The arch itself is a very efficient structural member,” Ander- been designed to meet current nationwide codes, he says. “Although tunnel fires may never be able to be completeson says. “When you look at the moment interaction diagram, even with the seismic loads on there, we don’t exceed the capac- ly avoided inside tunnels—or anywhere, for that matter— ity of the arch system. So that’s why in our analysis we showed the tunnels that are being designed and constructed today that this tunnel is not vulnerable even at the SEE event.” As he have some of the most advanced features to minimize the explains, “You’ve got to consider your buildings, and you’ve got damage of fires and to safely evacuate the users of the tunto consider your walls also and anchoring down your equipment nel,” Anderson says. to handle these earthquake loads.” The entire roadway slopes 2 to 5 degrees More than 15 major retaining walls, the lon- Workers celebrated when the in one direction, directing any spills to a pregest extending almost 1,000 ft, along with a top portions of the east and cast slotted drain system that is designed with number of minor retaining walls, were con- west sides of the tunnel met. a baffling basin to handle spills of hazardous

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T UNNEL  C ROSS S ECTION

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liquids, according to Anderson. “If you get a hazardous spill, you want to get that liquid off the roadway as quick as possible. You don’t want that pooling and to become more of a source for the fire,” he says. The liquid passes through a narrow neck to the drainage system, which widens into a large oval. The baffling system encloses liquid to trap and extinguish any flames that might be present. “That’s really state of the art for roadway drainage inside tunnels,” Anderson says. Seven passageways linking the third and fourth bores provide ventilated, safe egress routes, and communications systems will enable operations personnel to provide information to those within the passageways. The ventilation system for the fourth bore includes 19 jet fans that can clear smoke and provide visibility for firefighters entering and motorists exiting. “The shape of the tunnel was selected in large part because of its efficiency in providing the required horizontal roadway clearance and vertical clearance requirements with a longitudinal jet fan ventilation system,” Anderson says. Other safety elements include dedicated emergency water lines that run through the tunnel, emergency stations with fire extinguishers and emergency phones, variable-message signs that tell drivers to slow down or stop because of accidents, barriers that can be activated remotely to close the tunnel at the entrance portals, and signs on the walls giving the distance to the next passageway or to the portal. To address problems of limited visibility, the side of the tunnel with the passageways to the third bore has a green stripe on the porcelain enamel coating so that motorists can quickly determine the direction in which they should move. A newly constructed two-story operations and mainte-

nance building monitors all four bores, as well as the passageways linking them, via a closed-circuit television supervisory control and data acquisition system 24 hours a day seven days a week. Substations located atop the portals at both ends of the fourth bore can provide backup power for the tunnel, so the systems will remain in operation even in the event of a widespread power outage on either side of the tunnel. In the event of an accident or incident at the operations and maintenance building, a backup room located outside provides full access to the monitoring and control systems for all four bores, according to Ferraz. The Caldecott Fourth Bore Project involved four construction contracts and was partially funded by bonds issued by the State of California, Ferraz notes. The undertaking also received $120.6 million in local tax monies from Contra Costa County’s Measure J, as well as $194.3 million in federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to Caltrans. Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global consulting firm headquartered in New York City, and Gall Zeidler Consultants, a global geotechnical engineering, tunnel engineering, and construction firm headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, provided construction support to Caltrans for the project. Tutor-Saliba Corporation, an international contracting firm headquartered in Sylmar, California, was the prime construction contractor on the project. CE Cardno

Catherine A. Cardno, Ph.D., is a Web editor of Civil Engineering.

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Switching Suspenders  As part of recent rehabilitation efforts, the wire rope  suspenders on the central span of the nearly 60-yearold Delaware River Turnpike Bridge were found to be in need of replacement because of their age,  failed paint coatings, and the onset of corrosion. Whereas the existing suspender system comprised  a single bridge rope 4 in. in diameter with clevis style, single-pin connections at top and bottom  support points, the replacement system used four wire strands held in place by new upper and lower brackets that were specially designed for installation in areas of limited clearance. Installed while the existing suspenders remained in place, the new system could be adjusted following installation to ensure  proper load balancing and final deck elevations.

By Richard Schaefer, P.E., Theodore P. “Ted” Zoli, P.E., M.ASCE, and Ana Tatoris, P.E.

T

Turnpike Bridge is jointly owned, operated, and maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The 6,571 ft long viaduct spans the Delaware River, linking Bristol, Pennsylvania, and Burlington, New Jersey. It boasts 14 open deck truss spans having an average length of 245 ft. The spans flank a central three-span arch truss arrangement that has a 558 ft long center suspended span. (See the elevation on page 70.) Substantially completed in 1954, the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge has been in continuous service since that time. Its construction was the final set piece in one of the first expansions of a New Jersey Turnpike roadway that had been opened to traffic in 1951 and was meant to provide a direct connection between the HE DELAWARE RIVER

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The Delaware River Turnpike Bridge boasts 14 open deck truss spans with an average length of 245 ft. The spans flank a central three-span arch truss, including a 558 ft long center suspended span.

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Pennsylvania Turnpike and the New Jersey Turnpike. Carrying Interstate 95 and Interstate 276, the bridge serves as a major regional truck route over the Delaware. Both of the bridge’s owners have recently engaged in extensive rehabilitation work to maintain the good working order of this structure and restore it to a condition that reasonably ensures it will function reliably for another 75 years. As a part of this rehabilitation work, security features on the bridge have been enhanced as an extra measure of protection. The bridge suspenders were hardened against tampering by means of protective enclosures. Therefore, sound engineering practice dictated that the suspenders first be checked to verify that they were in the best possible working order before being enclosed. As a part of these efforts, HNTB Corporation, of Kansas City, Missouri, was commissioned by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority in 2011 to investigate the condition of the wire rope suspenders supporting the center main-span deck system of the three-span continuous arch truss. This level of investigation is typical when bridge owners consider securing bridge suspenders by encasing them in protective enclosures because suspender security enhancements often complicate visual inspection of the suspenders and their endsocket connections. This bridge is unique in that the suspender arrangement of the main span consisted of a single galvanized bridge rope 4 in. in diameter conforming to ASTM International’s standard A603. The bridge rope had clevis-style, single-pin connections at top and bottom support points. Suspender ropes were arranged such that a floor beam and its corresponding stringer were supported with one suspender located at each end of each floor beam. While the single 4 in. diameter suspender rope was designed to be internally redundant, its breaking-strength factor of safety being 3.5, modifications to the structure had diminished this factor of safety substantially over the years. Small additions of weight placed on the structure as part of rehabilitation efforts over its service life increased the dead load of the suspended span. These incremental load increases included a redecking of the main span with a thicker concrete deck, replacement of the original parapets with impact-tested barri-

ers 42 in. tall of cast-in-place concrete, and the addition of an impact-tested concrete median barrier curb that also was 42 in. tall. These changes, in conjunction with heavier truck traffic, amounted to a conservatively estimated 30 percent increase in overall load on the suspended span, decreasing the effective factor of safety to approximately 2.7. Annual bridge inspections had noted that corrosion and pitting had become prevalent at the bottom socket-to-suspender interface. Given the location and the relatively closed structure of the bridge rope wire windings, it was not possible to determine the depth to which the corrosion had spread into the rope cross section without removing the entire suspender and destructively testing it. Unable to test the suspender ropes simply and inexpensively, HNTB instead recommended a comparative analysis using the destructive strand suspender test results that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority had obtained in 2001 at its other major suspended-span structure, the Vincent R. Casciano Memorial Bridge, which crosses Newark Bay. This bridge was constructed at approximately the same time as the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge and has been subjected to similar environmental and traffic conditions. The conditions of the two structures were found to be similar, which was not surprising given that both bridges are cared for under the same maintenance program. The testing results on the Newark Bay bridge suggested that contaminants and corrosion had penetrated the core of the suspenders, particularly at the interface between the suspender and the zinc end-socket connection media. The report concluded that the suspender could be expected to serve 10 to 15 more years before needing replacement. Projecting from the report date of 2001, the anticipated replacement time for these suspenders would therefore be 2011 through 2016. Because visual inspections of the suspenders of both structures found similar deterioration, the conclusion was reached that the interior conditions of the suspenders were probably substantially similar as well. The recommendations made for the Vincent R. Casciano Memorial Bridge were appropriate and would also apply to the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge. As is common with older bridges with

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suspended spans, when the overall bridge structure has its protective paint coating replaced, the suspenders are painted as well. Painting of rope or strand suspenders had previously been recommended as part of bridge maintenance. However, as the coating system deteriorates over time, gaps and peeling occur, enabling precipitation to infiltrate into the wire rope at various entry points along its height. Once the infiltrating water penetrates to the depth of the independent wire rope core, moisture and contaminants have a direct path down the entire length of the suspender to the bottom socketing media. Intact paint coatings below infiltration points serve only to hold water in the suspender, instead of allowing it to freely drain. The water can then accumulate over large lengths of the suspender. The resulting pressure head can force waterborne contaminants deeper into the interior wires of the suspender. Attempts to remove failed paint coatings often meet with mixed results. Sand or media blasting can drive contaminants deeper between the individual wires of the suspender. Steel bristle or steel-fingered rotary tools for paint removal are less prone to drive contaminants deeper but can damage the outermost suspender wires. Both methods damage any original galvanized coatings on the suspenders. Repainting suspenders is a short-term solution. All paint coatings, no matter how flexible after initial cure, eventually harden from ultraviolet light exposure or the outgassing of plasticizer agents. After the coating has hardened, cracking on the flexible suspender is inevitable. Taken individually, the above points were noteworthy but not serious. When considered in concert with the additional planned security enhancements and the lack of external redundancy in the single-suspender system, replacement of the suspenders with a new system was deemed worthy of consideration. After the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and HNTB had concurred that replacing the suspender system was warranted, the focus of the work shifted to selecting an appropriate system. [68] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

Corrosion and pitting had become prevalent at the bottom socket-to-suspender interface, top. To transfer loads without deforming the bridge deck of the suspended span, tension was relieved from the existing wire rope suspenders as tension was added to the new strand suspenders. Once the process was completed, the existing rope suspenders were severed, center. New upper brackets were designed with staggered bolt patterns on the welded flanges so that they could be bolted to the inclined gusset plate surfaces,above.

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Initial replacement screening included two alternatives: an in-kind system with a new single-suspender arrangement and a completely new, fully redundant suspender arrangement with two or four suspenders per location. The two-suspender arrangement was initially preferred because of its simpler detailing but was ultimately rejected on the basis of a global analysis of the built-up I-section floor beams supported by the suspenders. These floor beams, while robust in primary bending, have negligible torsional stiffness. Therefore, in a two-suspender arrangement in which one suspender is placed on either side of the floor beam web, enormous eccentric load would be imparted to the floor beam if one of the suspenders were to fail. The I-section floor beam would not be able to handle this eccentric load and would probably buckle. It was then concluded that the two-suspender system was no more redundant than the single-suspender system since failure of one of the suspenders would lead to failure of the entire connection. Conversely, the four-suspender system could easily tolerate the loss of a single suspender and would have a redundant load path via the surviving suspender, enabling the system to avoid imparting eccentric load to the torsionally weak floor beam. The in-kind replacement option was dismissed early in the selection process because of the lack of external redundancy and the limited cost savings in comparison with a four-suspender arrangement. The large (4 in. diameter) suspender ropes used on the existing structure are somewhat exotic by current standards and would have been more costly to fabricate than commonly available small-diameter strands. Also complicating an in-kind replacement were the existing clevis end sockets, which could not be adjusted for length after installation. Therefore, accurately measuring the new in-kind suspenders in terms of their length and load would have been critical. Replacing the existing single-suspender arrangement in kind would also have required the use of a temporary support frame and loadtransfer system to support the bridge while its suspenders were being replaced. These systems are often custom 0885-7024/14-0002-0066/$30.00 PER ARTICLE

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designed for the structures on which solution. The combined breaking they are used and can be expensive. strength of the four strands was deOn the basis of conversations with termined to be 952 tons, or, in relasuspender vendors and contractors, it tive terms, approximately 30 percent was determined that direct replacemore than the 730-ton breaking ment of a 4 in. diameter suspender strength of the existing 4 in. diamwould cost approximately $60,000 eter bridge rope. This increased overand that labor and the temporary all capacity restored the suspender support frame work would cost an system to its original 3.5 factor of additional $50,000 for each suspendsafety once the increased dead and er location. Furthermore, because it live loads noted above were incorwould not be cost effective for the porated. Design computations were contractor to fabricate multiple temcarried out in conformity with the porary support frames, the suspender 17th edition (2002) of the Amerireplacement work could be carried can Association of State Highway out only by a single work crew hanand Transportation Officials’ Standling one suspender at a time. dard Specifications for Highway Bridges. Conversely, a new suspender arThis source, while dated, was warrangement that could be fully inranted for use on this project because stalled while the existing single susthe existing load rating and design computations for the structure had pender remained in service would make it possible for multiple crews not yet all been updated to reflect the E XISTING F LOOR B EA M to address several suspender locations current load and resistance factor ratS USPENDER  C ONFIGURATION simultaneously. The cost to fabriing (LRFR) procedures. cate new suspender brackets at each The replacement suspender syssuspender location was expected to tem was expressly designed so that be almost entirely offset by the savit could be installed directly adjaings from not having to construct a cent to the existing single-suspendtemporary support frame. This coner system without removing the latclusion was largely justified, as the ter from service. This design feature average bid price for the suspender offered the contractor the followreplacement work for the final seing key advantages over a system lected multiple-strand suspender arthat would have required removrangement was $125,000 per locaing the existing system to install tion, which was $15,000 more per the new one: location than the anticipated cost of • With unfettered access to the the in-kind replacement of the existmounting locations of the new susing single-suspender arrangement. pender anchorages, the contractor As a result, replacing the 30 single was free to make all required field suspenders with the redundant mulmeasurements for new suspendtiple-suspender systems would cost er bracket fabrications before rean additional $450,000. moving any existing portions of The additional $450,000 repthe structure. resented a 6.3 percent cost increase • The contractor could test fit with respect to the average total and then install the entire new susproject bid amount of $7,090,000. pender system in an untensioned Because crews could work on sevstate before detensioning or removeral locations simultaneously withing the existing suspender system. out the encumbrance of a single jacking frame, • Because the new system was designed to N EW  S USPENDER the on-site construction work was expedited and S UPPORT  B RACKETS be self-tensioning, a temporary support system completed in less than four months, significantly was not needed while the existing suspender less than half the time budgeted for the use of a jacking frame system was removed. There was also no need for such a supthat would operate sequentially at each suspender location. port system before tensioning of the new suspender system Given the reduction in construction time and roadway traffic was completed. disruption, the project’s minor cost increase was well worth it. The advantages of the replacement system expedited the For the selected redundant suspender option, four structur- portion of the contractor’s work that otherwise would have al strands 2 in. in diameter conforming to ASTM Internation- disrupted traffic. They also offset the cost of the replacement al’s standard A586 were determined to be the most efficient suspender system by eliminating the temporary support FEBRUARY 2014

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systems usually used during suspender replacement work. This is not to say that the project was without complications. The new suspender support bracketing had to be installed in tight quarters with severely limited clearances while taking care not to damage the existing suspender system. Tolerances of as little as 0.25 in. between the new and the existing work were factored into the design. Under normal circumstances, this level of precision would be impractical. For this project, however, such an approach was deemed possible because of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s practice of maintaining an archive of shop drawings. This resource provided a high degree of confidence regarding the accuracy of existing conditions. The upper brackets were supported from 3 in. thick pin plates riveted to oversized truss gusset plates in the original construction, affording ample room to install the new redundant suspender hardware. The new upper brackets were designed with staggered bolt patterns on the welded flanges so that they could be bolted to the inclined gusset plate surfaces, and they were geometrically configured to hang below the existing suspender clevis connection so that the pin would be accessible for removal after the new suspender system was installed and fully tensioned. To simplify the upper support bracket design and facilitate the installation work, the existing clevis socket arrangement was maintained for the new suspenders. For this project, clevis-type upper sockets known as Spelter Sockets—manufactured by Clodfelter Bridge and Structures International, Inc., of Houston—were selected. The new lower brackets presented similar challenges in that they had to be installed in locations having limited clearance. Furthermore, if the design concept of eliminating supplementary support at the suspenders was to succeed, the new lower brackets would also have to allow room for jacking stools and hydraulic tensioning jacks so that the new suspenders could be directly tensioned after loose installation. Reuse of the existing clevis-type socket was not practical on the lower brackets because it did not allow precise length adjustments to be made in the new suspenders. Adjustability of the new suspenders was considered a critical design feature for two reasons: 1) It was essential that the new, four-suspender arrangement be balanced so that all four strands would carry equal loads. Variations in the construction tolerances, particularly at the shorter suspenders, meant that even minor variations in the final installed lengths of suspenders would affect the load distribution. 2) Maintaining the existing deck grade and elevation to a 0.125 in. tolerance was essential. Because the final lengths of the suspenders depended directly on accurately determining dead-load elongations, even minor variations in the actual dead load placed on the suspenders would affect the final installed and loaded lengths. Failure to accurately account for this behavior would violate the deck elevation tolerance limit, particularly at the midspan, where the strands would be the longest on the bridge and suffer the greatest load-dependent variation. To address these concerns, it was decided to use an adjustable lower socket connection. Type 7 externally threaded adjustable sockets with spanner nuts, also manufactured by Clodfelter Bridge and Structures International, were selected for use. [70] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

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B RIDGE E LEVATION

These sockets provided up to 2 in. of adjustability (1 in. each way). Tightening or loosening the threaded spanner nut collar made it possible to fine-tune the final loaded suspender length in infinitely small gradations. Once the lower socket type had been determined, the final supporting retrofit bracket was designed around its geometry. The final design bracket was based on an elegant but simple structural tube arrangement rigidly bolted to the existing floor beam web by means of heavy welded flanges with ring stiffeners at the top and bottom to limit out-of-plane distortion. The bottom ring stiffener was deliberately oversized so that it could also act as a jacking stool for the strand jacks. The geometry of the brackets and the large forces placed upon them necessitated the use of a finite-element model to locate and estimate the magnitude of stress concentrations. In March 2012 the New Jersey Turnpike Authority hired the successful low bidder—Cornell & Company, Inc., of Westville, New Jersey—to serve as the contractor for the project. The firm was given wide latitude regarding permissible methods of work in the contract documents. Most contractors contacted during the design phase indicated that they preferred to use their own proprietary techniques to replace bridge suspenders. Therefore, provisional load-bearing surfaces were designed into the lower brackets so that hydraulic jacks could bear directly against the brackets, and the plans included a suggested replacement procedure illustrating how these load-bearing surfaces could be used. The construction specifications followed the provisions of the sixth edition (2004) of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s Standard Specifications, and supplementary specifications were written expressly for this work. The contractor elected to follow the suggested procedure, which is described below. As a first step, the contractor was required to verify the actual lengths and dead load in the suspenders using an acoustic tension meter. The DynaTension P1000 portable tension meter— made by Viten DynaTension, Inc., of Houston—was selected for this work. In plain terms, this equipment measures the tension in a suspender by measuring the vibrations of the acoustic response of the loaded suspender after it is struck with a hammer. The tension in the cable is then calculated after entering the overall length of the suspender combined with its mass per

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foot of length. These tension readings were then used to calculate the anticipated elongation in the new suspenders in order to determine the final suspender lengths. The direct tension methods used to install the new suspenders enabled the contractor to compare the actual installed tensile force of the new suspenders with the measured tensile force of the existing suspenders as measured by the DynaTension meter. The meter was found to have accurately recorded the tension in the longer suspenders—on average within ±8 percent of the actual values. The tensile forces of the shortest suspenders, which were near the ends of the suspended spans, were largely overestimated by as much as 35 percent. The variation was determined from the difference between the findings of the DynaTension meter and the tensioning work on the new suspenders. This large difference is believed to result in part from the bending stiffness of the existing large-diameter suspenders, which affects the acoustic response of the shorter suspenders, the shortest of which were only 19 ft 4 in. long. When the accuracy of the measurements was compared with the aspect ratio of the suspender diameter to its length at each suspender location, it was found that the results were generally most accurate where the ratio of length to diameter was 100 or higher. Therefore, the most inaccurate readings involved the shortest suspenders, where the ratio of length to diameter was 58. Fortunately, the shortest suspenders also stretched the least under loading, as predicted by the classical PL/AE relationship, in which the elastic extension in the suspender—defined as the metallic cross-sectional area, A, multiplied by the Young’s modulus, E, of the suspender steel—is directly proportional to the length, L, and the load, P, in the suspender. Final suspender length adjustments at the threaded spanner nuts were less than 0.375 in. at the most divergent suspender readings and still well within the adjustment tolerance of the sockets. After physical and acoustic measurements were complete, the manufacturer of the suspender assemblies for the project—WireCo WorldGroup, of Kansas City, Missouri—constructed the suspender sockets and the 2 in. diameter A586 suspender strands into finished suspender assemblies. After they had been produced and tested at the manufacturing plant, the assemblies were shipped directly to the bridge

site in batches. The contractor installed the new suspender assemblies in a slack condition in the new upper and lower brackets while the existing system remained in service. After acceptance of the new suspender system by the engineer, the contractor installed four pressure-linked hollow-cylinder jacks at the lower suspender sockets. The sockets of all four suspenders were then simultaneously jacked. The elevation of the adjacent deck was monitored using a thin steel piano wire stretched over two adjacent suspender points in each direction from the location of the replacement suspender. To transfer the load without deforming the bridge deck of the suspended span, tension was relieved from the existing wire rope suspenders as tension was added to the new strand suspenders. The contractor elected to relieve load in the existing suspender rope by “winnowing” the cross section of the rope by means of torch cutting individual wires until the bridge deck settled 0.125 in. below the reference elevation. Pressure was then added to the strand jacks to increase the load on the new strand suspenders and raise the deck back up 0.125 in. This process was repeated until all of the load had been transferred to the new strand suspenders and the existing rope suspenders had been completely severed. This project, which was completed in August 2013, required a unique solution to address a unique challenge. While the design and construction methods used to achieve the desired results on this project may not be transferrable in their entirety to other suspended-span structures, many of the lessons learned here can be applied elsewhere. Perhaps the most apparent conclusion concerns the finding that the painting of bridge suspenders has a deleterious effect on rope or strand suspenders. Painting therefore is no longer a recommended protective measure. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has elected to replace the suspenders on its two suspended-span bridges with unpainted strands having class C galvanization (the thickest specified by ASTM International) on exterior strands and class A galvanization (a thinner coating) on interior strands. One less-obvious conclusion is that the work to install the new suspender system was far more extensive than simply replacing the suspenders in kind. In fact, four times as many suspender assemblies were (Continued on Page 78) FEBRUARY 2014

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MOODY’S NEW MAGIC  Plans to expand premium seating and amenities at Moody Coliseum, Southern Methodist University’s basketball  stadium, required engineers to make significant cuts in the existing seating bowl without compromising structural  stability. The new spaces, along with two additions to the arena, have ensured that the Dallas university is ready to usher in a new era of Mustangs athletics. . . . . By Joel Barron, P.E., M.ASCE, and Jeffery Elliott, P.E., S.E. “Moody Magic” has helped the Southern Methodist University (SMU) men’s basketball team post an impressive record on its home court, in Dallas. Opened in December 1956 with a game that resulted in a remarkable 113–36 victory over McMurry University, Moody Coliseum has hosted many high-profile events, including National Collegiate Athletic Association regional rounds, World Championship Tennis finals, a high school all-American game, and even a National Basketball Association playoff game in 1984. The building has primarily been home to the SMU Mustangs men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams, but it also provides space for concerts and graduation ceremonies. Originally named the SMU Coliseum, it was renamed Moody Coliseum in 1965 in memory of William Lewis Moody, Jr., an American financier and entrepreneur from Galveston, Texas, who founded one of the largest charitable trusts in the United States. Over the years the coliseum has undergone minor renovations that included a new scoreboard and a new playing court. But in 2012 SMU decided that a major overhaul was in order to bring Moody Coliseum into a new era of athletics. The international structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti teamed with 360 Architecture, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, to help bring this vision to fruition. The project construction cost of $47 million included the addition of 10 regular suites, 2 party suites, loge (box) seating, and seating that is universally accessible, bringing the stadium’s capacity to 7,000. New construction totaling more than 12,000 sq ft also added certain amenities sought by Mustangs fans, including two new club spaces. General contractor Rogers-O’Brien Construction, U.S.A., of Dallas, performed the renovation work on the existing facility in 12 OR MORE THAN 50 YEARS,

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months, minimizing the time the coliseum had to be closed to the public, and work was begun on two additions on the north and east sides while the coliseum was still in use. The design drawings for the structure provided by SMU proved to be quite accurate for a 50-year-old structure. RogersO’Brien also performed a three-dimensional laser scan to verify the as-built conditions, and the point cloud generated by the scan was used to create a three-dimensional digital model of the structure. This model was then imported into the building information model and used by the architects and engineers during the design phase. Having an accurate three-dimensional model that encompassed not only the structural and mechanical systems but also the architectural design helped coordination proceed smoothly and reduced surprises during construction. The structure is a cast-in-place concrete building with a steel roof. The concourse level and the mezzanine level devoted to mechanical systems feature a pan slab system, the slab thicknesses being 2.5 in. and the pan joist thicknesses ranging from 14.5 to 16.5 in. The pan joists connect to reinforced-concrete girders. The seating bowl is cast-in-place concrete as well, with treads 2.5 in. thick and risers 6 in. wide by 12 in. high. The risers span to reinforced-concrete raker beams that have depths of 36 in. or more. The gabled roof comprises wideflanged steel members spanning to steel plate girder bents that extend 208 ft 8 in. and are 57 in. deep. The existing foundation comprises drilled concrete piers bearing on limestone. The concrete strength was specified at 2,500 psi and the reinforcing steel at 40 ksi—well below the current standards of roughly 5,000 psi for concrete and 60 ksi for rebar. The vision of 360 Architecture for the renovated facility included many changes to the seating bowl of cast-in-place 0885-7024/14-0002-0072/$30.00 PER ARTICLE

Bringing Moody Coliseum, opposite, up to modern standards included expanding the vomitories so that each level would be more accessible for all fans.

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concrete. These modifications presented challenges to Thornton Tomasetti because they would alter the existing load paths and cut some of the main load-carrying members loose from their supports. (See the figure on page 74.) The coliseum’s event level is sunk 12 ft below grade and surrounded by a foundation wall that provided support for the seating bowl’s raker beams. The rakers cantilevered off of this foundation wall, connecting the front row on the event-level side to the foundation wall. The renovation required a continuous walkway around the front of the bowl for universally accessible seating and premium loge seating. This modification required the demolition of the first three rows of the seating bowl, including the entire cantilevered portion, and the reconstruction of this area into a flat surface devoid of the previous seating’s rise. As a result of the required demolition, the raker beam was cut loose from the supporting foundation wall. To make it possible for the raker to be cut from the supporting wall, a new stub column was built around the sides of the raker, the column extending down to the concourse framing below. This stub column was placed at the location of the raker cut, that is, three rows back in the existing bowl. Reinforcing steel was drilled and epoxied into the existing raker at the new column location to provide positive load transfer. The existing cast-in-place concourse framing did not provide adequate strength or stiffness to carry the load from the new stub column. The new girder reinforcement spanned to the existing supports—namely, the foundation wall and the first line of columns back from the wall. The reinforcing steel was drilled and epoxied into the existing supports to provide the necessary shear transfer. The sequence of demolition and construction required significant coordination on the part of the design team and the general contractor. First, the existing raker was shored through the concourse level to the ground. Next, the supporting girder was constructed beneath the concourse level, its reinforcement dowelled into the supports. The new slab that was to cantilever

off of the foundation wall was then built. Finally, the stub column was installed and the shoring was removed. Another modification to the seating bowl was the widening of all of the vomitories. The existing ones were narrow, and new, wider vomitories with stairs on either side providing access to the seating bowl were needed. This meant that the walls of the existing vomitories would have to be demolished, along with portions of the seating bowl supported by the vomitories. After the demolition of the walls, new vomitory walls were put in place. The new walls supported the seating bowl through reinforcing steel dowelled into the walls and drilled and epoxied into the existing seating bowl risers, providing positive shear transfer. The new walls were supported by new beams under the concourse level; the beams were placed between the existing concrete pan joists and spanned to the new reinforced girder supporting the stub columns. (See the figure on page 74.) The new beams were constructed by demolishing the slab between the existing concrete joists and placing the new beam concrete and reinforcing from the concourse level. On the north side of the coliseum another major structural modification was made by adding suites at the top of the bowl. This too required cutting the existing raker, this time at the top of the bowl. (See the figure at the bottom of page 75.) In most cases the top span of the three-span raker was cut off near the first interior column. The existing raker’s reinforcing steel had to be checked to verify that it would be adequate for the new support conditions in terms of both quantity and the extent to which it would extend into the concrete. At one location along the north side and at the two corner rakers, the span lengths were different, and the existing column was not located at the point at which the raker was to be cut. To provide support for these three conditions, a steel beam was used beneath the existing concrete raker. This beam spanned to the existing columns and provided support by bearing on the top flange. The steel member needed to be designed both for strength, to carry the load of the concrete bowl FEBRUARY 2014

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N EW C ONSTRUCTION

and the live load of the fans, and for stiffness, to ensure that the modified raker would not experience objectionable cracking. The connection to the existing concrete columns required 28 epoxy anchors 11/8 in. in diameter embedded in the concrete. New suites were to be located between the existing building and a 9,500 sq ft addition on the north side of the coliseum. Structural steel framing was used to support the suites on the existing building side. The steel beams, as well as a new deck for the suites that would take the form of a concrete slab on steel, were to bear on the concrete girders at the north addition. To maintain the expansion joint between the north addition and the existing coliseum, the steel beams were supported on the existing bowl with a slide bearing connection, an approach that moved the joint to the vertical plane inside the existing coliseum and obviated the need for an expansion joint in the middle of the suite. Since in the existing bowl the steel beams were supported on an existing deep concrete riser beam, no reinforcing was needed. The suites’ front walls and front tubs—that is, the front seating row of the suites—were framed with cast-in-place concrete that spanned the entire length of the bay to the raker beams. The north addition is a four-level cast-in-place concrete structure, one level below grade and three above. It houses new locker rooms and a kitchen in the basement, a premier club seating area at the concourse level, administrative offices at the second level, and suites—including a public club space and a terrace—at the third level. The club space on the concourse level has large bays framed with 50 ft posttensioned [74] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

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beams and 50 ft girders. The roof of the addition is framed with steel girders and steel bar joists. Construction of the north addition began while the coliseum was still in use, minimizing the time the coliseum was closed. Another club level, the Hall of Fame Club, was added to the east end of the coliseum. This involved cutting a hole in the seating bowl so that those in the club space would have a view of the playing court and installing a new floor slab between the concourse level and the seating bowl. Furthermore, four columns that supported the seating bowl were demolished to provide open space at the concourse level. Three new columns were added to support the existing rakers and replace the demolished columns, and these new columns required new piers to be drilled at the event level. Since the new piers had to be spaced between the existing ones, a grade beam was needed to transfer the load from the new columns to the piers. The new columns were placed on the raker lines, but the new location lengthened the raker span, requiring reinforcing. Concrete was added around the existing raker, and new reinforcing steel at the bottom enabled the reinforced raker to span the greater length. These new columns help support the new concrete slabs and beams that frame the club space. The sequence of construction and coordination with Rogers-O’Brien again was the key to successfully demolishing the columns. The new columns and the raker reinforcing were placed before the old columns were demolished. In this way the procedure could unfold without the need to shore the existing structure.

On the east side of the coliseum, concrete was added around the existing raker, the reinforcing steel enabling the raker to span to new columns, above. The renovations required the demolition of the first three rows of t he seating bowl, including the entire cantilevered portion,above right. The construction of the addition on the north side, right, began while the coliseum was still in use, minimizing the time the facility was closed.

A 2,500 sq ft addition located on the east side provides additional square footage for the Hall of Fame Club and space for mechanical equipment. This addition is framed with a concrete pan joist spanning to posttensioned girders. Another architecturally critical modification was made at the west side of the seating bowl. The west end of the coliseum is the principal entry, so three bays of the existing seating bowl were cut from the concourse level up to the first row of columns back from the (Continued on Page 78)

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Books  R e v i e w e d b y R a y B e r t 

A Short History of the Twentieth Century

to be a “serious” history in the sense of being comprehensive. Indeed, no book of slightly over 200 pages could be. Instead, Lukacs endeavors to trace and examine the causes and effects of the most important events that defined the century, among them the rise of American power, two world wars and a

protracted cold war, the development of Third World countries, turmoil in the Middle East, and the beginnings of a new technological revolution. What readers will not get, then, is a detailed, blow-by-blow military or political account of World War II, for example. Instead, they will get a concise, nuanced look at the rise of National Socialism and Hitler, the war’s major events and shifting tides, and its aftermath. The final chapter of A  Short History is entitled “The Limitations of Human Knowledge,” and here Lukacs turns somewhat philosophical. He notes that the 20th century was a time when one saw “the first signs that people are beginning to have doubts about technology.” Certainly there have been skeptics and movements against certain advances far predating the 20th century, but Lukacs writes persuasively of a more subtle and potentially historically significant shift in thinking. Lukacs argues that the 20th century as viewed in terms of its major events could be said to begin with the outbreak of World War I, in 1914, and to end with the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1989. His approach to his subject is interpretive and almost meditative at times, yet he steers clear of tendentiousness and verbosity. His writing style, which is spare but evocative, supports this approach to great effect and makes the narrative a particularly enjoyable read.

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By John Lukacs. Cam-

bridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 2013; 230 pages; $24.95 N OPENING THIS history of the last century, historian John Lukacs, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of history at Chestnut Hill College, in Philadelphia, says, “There

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is no serious history of the twentieth century that I know of.” The gauntlet seemingly thrown down, Lukacs immediately follows this by, in a sense, picking it up again: “But my purpose in this book is not quite filling that gap.” As he explains in part in the remainder of the opening chapter and as becomes clear to the reader,  A Short History of the Twentieth Century is not meant

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The Future Is Not What It Used to Be: Climate Change and Energy Scarcity By Jörg Friedrichs. Cam-

bridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2013; 223 pages; $26.95 HIS INTRIGUING book addresses itself to both of these inextricably intertwined topics explicitly and equally. Author Jörg Friedrichs is a lecturer in international development at the University of Oxford, and his book—although re-

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plete with research results on climate stress and energy or resource scarcity in the past—does not tread lightly or mince words. “Facing the future is not for wimps,” Friedrichs writes. “Denial and wishful thinking are for normal times, but when the going gets tough we have to let them go.” Friedrichs’s academic and research interests lie in the areas of international relations and political sociology, which have led him to explore such issues as climate science and energy, in which forces related to

rationality, denial, and globalization clash. Proceeding from key points of scientific consensus on climate change and oil, Friedrichs discusses historical examples of societies struggling with similar issues, albeit on a smaller scale. These include the period of low temperatures (“Little Ice Age”) in medieval times and its particular effects on far northern regions; severe and widespread droughts many millennia ago in the Near East; and North Korea’s totalitarian approach to dealing with the termination of Soviet oil deliveries. In all cases, Friedrichs’s point is that severe conditions of this sort result in predictably severe disruptions to the political and social structures of the affected society. With the “affected society” today potentially reaching across the globe if the coming crises are not averted, the implications of inaction are clear. The author also lays out in broad terms potential paths forward, including voluntary versus passive means of reducing our human “footprint,” large-scale technological solutions, and widespread but local and “low-tech” remedies. But Friedrichs’s conclusions on what is likely to happen are not sunny and are worth mentioning as a coda. “Is there any indication in the history of civilization that we are able to rule ourselves or each other to our own and/or the planet’s benefit?” he asks. “Despite some encouraging examples...civilization’s overall record in managing the environment is dismal.”

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Shores of Knowledge: New World Discoveries and the Scientific Imagination By Joyce Appleby. New

York City: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013; 308 pages; $26.95 N A QUICK bit from an old Seinfeld  episode, Jerry proclaims that Ferdinand

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Magellan is his favorite explorer. George, ever the contrarian, replies that he prefers De Soto, who “discovered” the Mississippi. “Oh, like they wouldn’t have found that anyway,”  Jerry replies. Both explorers, along with many others, make appearances in Shores of Knowledge, a newly published look at the Age of Discovery, which began in the 15th century. (Although Magellan, according to the index, merits dozens of references, De Soto receives just one. Sorry, George.) “Officially” kicked off by Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World and stretching across three centuries to include Charles Darwin’s voyages, this crucial period was an earlier (and slower) era of globalization, the crisscross-

 ing routes of oceangoing thread comprises his auships in a sense playing the Love & Math: The Heart of tobiographical accounts of Hidden Reality role that the Internet does his upbringing, his introtoday. duction to and love affair By Edward Frenkel. New with mathematics, and the  Shores of Knowledge pays York City: Basic Books, particular attention not obstacles he had to over2013; 292 pages; $27.99 just to “pure” explorers come in his native Russia, but also to naturalists, sciS JOHN NASH says in including anti-Semitism, entists, and writers who the film A Beautiful Mind, in pursuing his passion. played key roles, as well as “It is only in the mysteriBy writing movingly of to the effects on science in ous equations of love that the encouragement he regeneral of all the myriad any logic or reasons can be ceived from his parents and discoveries. After all, Cofound.” mentors, Frenkel means to lumbus brought back not The mathematician celconnect with any reader, just gold, slaves, and news ebrated in that 2001 Oscar- whether mathematically of new lands but also unwinning film was speaking inclined or not, by invokknown species of birds and ing the sense of wonder plants, reigniting interthat each of us has about est in natural science. And something. after that, as author Joyce The other thread, of Appleby, Ph.D., puts it, “a course, is about the wonders succession of amateur inof math, and here Frenkel is vestigators laid the foununiquely qualified to present dation for the modern life what most would assume to sciences,” culminating in be hopelessly complex ideas, Darwin, who was essentialformulas, and mathematily a scientist and explorer. cal concepts for consumpAppleby is an emerition by “the masses.” Since tus professor of history at earning his doctorate from the University of California Harvard in just one year and at Los Angeles with eight becoming a full professor at other books to her credit to and of the wife who had the University of California on subjects ranging from long stood by his side. Yet at Berkeley at the tender age Thomas Jefferson to the the core idea—that mathof 28, Frenkel has become history of capitalism. She ematics, like love, suffusone of the world’s leading notes that much of Europe es and affects virtually evmathematicians. had until these discovererything in our world—is In an apt metaphor quoties been, for a millennium one that only sporadically ed in a Wall Street Journal  or more, largely isolationist bubbles to anywhere near article, Frenkel describes and incurious about other the top of our cultural stew. the way many people learn parts of the world. The dis-  Love & Math: The Heart of math as being akin to “an coveries and the research art class where they only tell Hidden Reality, by the celand science that followed ebrated mathematician Ed- you how to paint a fence but from them, however, vault- ward Frenkel, Ph.D., can they never show you Picased Europe ahead to a new be counted as so.... People say, and formidable position another welcome ‘I’m bad at math,’ that it would long hold. instance of this but what they’re Accessibly written, Shores notion. really saying is, ‘I was bad at paintof Knowledge is likely for Frenkel’s book many readers to breathe is, quite delibering the fence.’” CE welcome new life and deately, two stories tail into half-remembered that complement  Ray Bert is a conscraps of information from and reinforce tributing editor to Bert their school years. each other. One Civil Engineering.

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As part of the renovated coliseum, the owners wanted a new rigging grid and catwalk system for use during such (Continued from Page 75) foundation wall to open the space events as concerts and graduation ceremonies. The existing and offer views down to the court for those entering the col- roof is framed with a bent plate girder frame, spanning the iseum. This cut was made at the location of both a column coliseum from south to north. These frames are spaced 40 ft line and a raker support member, but it changed the perfor- 6 in. apart on center. The new rigging grid is hung from the mance of the existing concrete rakers. The existing rakers and existing steel plate girders, and catwalks encircling the entire columns were analyzed for the new condition, and event area also were hung from the existing roof. the engineers determined that no additional reinThe rigging loads were specified at 50,000 lb. forcing was required. SMU basketball is indeed entering a new era, New mechanical space also was needed because the opening of the new Moody Coliseum coa complete overhaul of the mechanical system was inciding with the school’s admittance into the part of the renovation. The new equipment renew American Athletic Conference. With such quired more space and headroom than was promodern amenities as premier seating, suites, and vided on the mezzanine level on the north and club spaces, Moody Coliseum is set to serve Mussouth sides. The four corners, or building facets, tangs fans for another 50 years. With some creBarron contained “flying beams”—that is, beams without ative design and engineering, good teamwork, slabs spanning between the columns. New beams and, perhaps, just a bit of Moody Magic, Thornwere built around these flying beams by wrapping ton Tomasetti and 360 Architecture, along with them in concrete and reinforcement. Then a new Rogers-O’Brien, have transformed Moody Colflat concrete slab spanning between the reinforced iseum from the 1950s structure it was to the beams was constructed. This created a new mez21st-century masterpiece it has become. CE zanine level that provided the needed space for the new mechanical equipment. The existing columns  Joel Barron, P.E., M.ASCE , is an associate and Jeffery and foundations were sufficient for the increased Elliott, P.E., S.E., a senior associate of Thornton TomaElliott load, so no reinforcing was needed.  setti. Both work in the international firm’s Dallas office. Moody’s New Magic

adjustment. The ability to fine-tune the final length of each suspender enables the contractor to more accurately balance (Continued from Page 71) required for the work, and fabri- loads in multiple suspender arrays. Furthermore, such finecation of custom support brackets and modifications to the tuning also facilitates, with a minimum of effort, adjustments existing structure were needed. However, it should be noted necessitated by unanticipated field conditions. CE that the more extensive retrofit option was, to all intents and purposes, performed for nominally the same cost as that es-  Richard Schaefer, P.E. , is a structural engineer in the New York City timated for the ostensibly simpler in-kind single-suspender office of the HNTB Corporation, which has its headquarters in Kansas replacement. This can be largely attributed to the fact that City, Missouri. Theodore P. “Ted” Zoli, P.E., M.ASCE , is HNTB’s the bulk of the project’s comnational chief bridge engineer plex work was performed ei and also works in the New York ther in the shop or off-line in City office. Ana Tatoris, P.E. , is the field. An in-kind replace a project engineer for the New Jerment would have imposed  sey Turnpike Authority, which much larger risks upon the is headquartered in Woodbridge, contractor with regard to the  New Jersey. This article is based need for custom-designed on a paper published in Duraand custom-installed tembility of Bridge Structures: Schaefer Zoli Tatoris porary supports at every susProceedings of the 7th New pender location. Such risks would then have been compound- York City Bridge Conference (CRC Press, 2013); the conference ed by the additional risks associated with working on a bridge was held in August 2013. The article is published with the permisthat could be shut down for only limited periods while no per-  sion of the Bridge Engineering Association, the sponsor and organizer manent suspender system was in place. Obviating these risks of the 7th New York City Bridge Conference. and moving the complex work out of the field and into a shop environment compounded the savings on the overall project, P R O J E C T C R E D I T S Owners: New Jersey Turnpike Auenabling HNTB to improve the New Jersey Turnpike Au- thority and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Designthority’s bridge at essentially no additional cost. er: HNTB Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri Contractor: Finally, it is worth noting that, when considering the re- Cornell & Company, Inc., Westville, New Jersey Construcplacement of suspenders, the design of the new suspenders tion manager and general contractor: Tishman Construcshould if at all possible include an integral method of length tion, a subsidiary of AECOM, Los Angeles Switching Suspenders

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C AREER C ONNECTIONS |         POSITION AVAILABLE

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Geomatics Engineering (CEGE) within the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) invites nominations and applications for multiple tenured/tenuretrack faculty positions beginning in August 2014. The appointments are anticipated at the rank of assistant or associate professor. The department has started strategic cluster hires in areas of critical national concerns such as resiliency and sustainability of environmental resources, energy alternatives, transportation systems, and the built infrastructure. Candidates are primarily sought in the interdisciplinary areas of geomatics/transportation engineering, water resources/environmental engineering, and structural/geotechnical engineering. The intellectual depth, interdisciplinary expertise, creativity, and promise of the candidate are of higher priority than his or her specific areas of research. Candidates must hold a Ph.D.degree in civil engineering, geomatics engineering, environmental engineering, or a closely related field

at the time of application. Commensurate with the appointment rank, candidates should have demonstrated strong interests in interdisciplinary and cross-cutting research; records of excellent scholarship, outstanding teaching, and professional leadership; and experience with securing and managing externally funded research. The successful candidate will be expected to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses, supervise graduate students, and participate in department, college, and university service acti vities. A professional engineer’s and/or surveyor’s license or the ability to become licensed, as well as relevant industry experience, are highly desirable attributes. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the positions are filled. To apply, please visit the FAU employment opportunity Web page (https://jobs.fau.edu), refer to position 978824, and submit the following items: (1) a cover letter; (2) a curriculum vitae; (3) teaching and research philosophy; (4) names, email addresses, and phone numbers of at least 4 professional references; and (5) copies of official transcripts scanned into an electronic format. A background check will be required for the candidate selected for this position. Florida Atlantic University is an equal opportunity/equal access institution. We are committed to a diverse faculty and seek individuals who have experience in teaching and working with a variety of communities. Inquiries regarding the positions should be addressed to Dr. Khaled Sobhan ([email protected]), chair of the search committee. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should please call 561-297-3057; TTY/TDD 561-955-8771.

 THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA,  Department of Civil,

Construction, and Environmental Engineering, tenure/tenure-track position available in construction engineering – The Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Alabama invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the field of construction engineering. Candidates will be considered for appointment at the assistant or associate professor level based on experience and qualifications. Preference will be given to candidates with experience working in an integrated, multidisciplinary environment, with expertise in 1 or more of the following areas: design and optimization of construction methods, building design and construction, design and performance of temporary structures, design and construction of infrastructure systems, construction for sustainability and resiliency, and integration of new or emerging technologies in construction execution/project delivery processes. The department offers ABET/  EAC-accredited bachelor of science degrees in civil engineering and construction engineering, and is expecting final approval to offer bachelor of science degrees in environmental engineering and architectural engineering beginning in the fall of 2014. The department also offers 6 minors in the areas of architectural, civil, construction, environmental and water resources, transportation, and structural engineering. At the graduate level, the department offers the master of science in civil engineering, master of science in environmental engineering, and doctor of philosophy in civil engineering. The department also supports 2 dual-degree graduate programs, a joint MSCE/ 

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MBA and a joint MSCE/JD. The department is benefiting from the college and university’s rapid expansion in facilities, including ongoing construction of a 4-building, $350 million Engineering and Science Complex. The 3rd phase of this complex was completed in January 2012, and the 4th phase was opened in fall 2013. These buildings provide over 900,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research and instructional space, the majority of which is devoted to the College of Engineering. Successful candidates will work within an integrated research community that includes a variety of on-campus research centers such as the Environmental Institute (EI), the University Transportation Center for Alabama (UTCA), and the new Center for Sustainable Infrastructure (CSI). Applicants must have an earned doctorate in civil engineering, construction engineering, or a closely related field. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a resume, transcripts, statement of research and teaching interests, and a list of at least 3 references as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted and reviewed continuously until the positions are filled. A start date of August 2014 is anticipated. Electronic submission of application materials is required. Please apply at (https://facultyjobs.ua.edu/post ings/34690) (requisition 0808713). For additional information regarding this search, please contact the search committee chair, Dr. W. Edward Back ([email protected]). The University of Alabama is an equal opportunity affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.  THE DIVISION OF ENGINEERING  and Applied Science

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pl plications for a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. D We are interested in applicants from a broad range of research areas related to earthquakes. Specific o areas include, but are not limited to, structural ena gineering, sensing and control, systems engineergi ing, geomechanics, risk analysis, and areas on the in boundary between earthquake engineering and b geoscience. The search is aimed at the assistant g professor level, but exceptionally well-qualified app plicants may be considered at the associate or pl full professor levels. Interested applicants should fu submit an electronic application at (https://appli s cations.caltech.edu/job/earthquake_eng). Review c of applications will continue until the position is o filled. The term of the initial appointment at the asfil sistant professor level is normally 4 years, with si appointment contingent upon completion of a Ph.D. a degree in a relevant field. The California Institute d of Technology is an equal-opportunity/affirmativeo action employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and a disabled persons are encouraged to apply. di  TEN PROVOST PROFE SSORSHI PS   in engineering  T

a computer science – The University of Central and Florida (UCF) announces multiple Provost ProfesFl sorships to be filled by the College of Engineering s and Computer Science (CECS). The Provost Proa fessorship is accompanied with a yearly allocation fe of discretionary funds to facilitate the candidate’s o expected extraordinary research productivity. We e are seeking outstanding candidates in all discia plines associated with the college’s research mispl sion and are especially interested in candidates si who work across academic fields both within and w

|  C AREER C ONNECTIONS  ASSISTANT OR ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, transportation engineering – The Department of Civil Engineering of the City College of New York (CUNY) is seeking a faculty position in transportation engineering. Appointment at the assistant or associate level is expected, beginning in the fall of 2014. Candidates with expertise and experience in the broad areas of advanced transportation planning and system operations are encouraged to apply. Specific areas of interest to the department include but are not limited to geospatial analysis and visualization of dynamic transportation systems; smart/real-time data analysis; advanced travel behavior modeling, including applications of social networks to travel demand; supply chair and logistics modeling, such as urban freight and city logistics; and advanced technology applications. The successful candidate should have the ability to teach undergraduate and graduate level courses in several of the following subject areas: transportation planning; traffic engineering; transportation data analysis and visualization; and advanced modeling methods and applications (e.g., travel behavior, travel demand, traffic operations, and logistics). Requirements for this position include bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering. To apply, please view the opening (Job ID 9866) at (www.cuny.edu) and follow all instructions. More information on the department and Grove School of Engineering can be found at (http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/civileng/).

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The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) invites applications for a tenure-track (tenured) faculty position in the area of  structural engineering, with emphasis on large-scale and/or hybrid testing, starting in the fall semester of 2014. Candidates at the level of  assistant/associate/full professor will be considered, commensurate with professional experience and academic record. Candidates for all levels must hold a doctoral degree in civil engineering or a closely-related field of study, have expertise in large-scale testing of structures, and have or  be qualified to obtain a professional engineer license. Candidates at the assistant professor level must demonstrate the potential to develop a recognized record of scholarship, including: a portfolio of externallyfunded research, journal paper publication, and graduate student advising; render service and provide leadership to the profession; and be committed to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To be considered at the level of associate or full professor, the candidate must provide consistent evidence of these capabilities over a sustained period, commensurate with level. Candidates whose expertise also fits within EPIC’s mission are particularly encouraged to apply; see http://epic.uncc.edu/ and http://epic.uncc.edu/facilities/high-baystructures-laboratory for more information. Candidates should provide: (1) a cover letter, (2) a detailed CV, (3) statement of research interests (including proposed activities in the Structures Lab), (4) statement of teaching philosophy, and (5) contact information for at least three professional references. Candidates for  associate/full professor are expected to elaborate on their vision for  extending the capabilities and reputation of the Structures Lab. Electronic submission to https://jobs.uncc.edu, Position  #4525, is required. Review of applications will begin on February 15, 2014 and will continue until the position is filled. UNC Charlotte is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer.

outside of the college’s domains. With this targeted hiring initiative, the university seeks to build on its existing strengths in the engineering and computing disciplines by adding senior faculty members who will have an immediate impact on the college’s research funding and scholarly productivity. Specific requirements for appointment to 1 of these positions are an earned doctoral degree in engineering, computer science, or other appropriate disciplines; a record of accomplishments that justifies appointment as a tenured full professor; and a professional history of successfully mentoring those in junior positions. Highly desirable qualifications include a record of securing competitive research funding; a record of sustained scholarly achievements, including publications in highly respected venues and international peer recognition; a history of working in teams, especially those that span multiple disciplines; and a record of directing Ph.D. students to completion. Located in Orlando, FL, UCF is 1 of the nation’s most dynamic metropolitan research universities, having been recognized as a “very high research activity” institution by the Carnegie Foundation, and has been ranked consistently in the top 10 in the country in the impact of its patents. UCF is also a very academically diverse institution, offering 91 undergraduate, 86 master’s, and 31doctoral programs along with the M.D. degree in its College of Medicine. Candidates must submit all documents online to (http://www.jobswithucf. com/postings/37068). Applicants

must submit all required documents at the time of application. Required documents include a signed cover letter; a complete curriculum vitae; a maximum 2-page statement outlining research vision and teaching interests; and a list of at least 3 references with contact information. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Interested persons with questions about the positions may contact the search committee chair, Dr. M.J. Soileau, Vice President of Research, at mj@ ucf.edu. UCF is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and encourages the candidacies of women, members of racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities. All searches and documents are subject to the Sunshine and public records laws of the State of Florida.  TENURE-TRACK FACULTY POSITION  in

intelligent infrastructure, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine – The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in intelligent infrastructure at the assistant professor level. The department is open to applicants with a focus in any area of civil infrastructure (e.g., water, transportation, structures), but is particularly interested in applicants whose work involves novel sensing, monitoring, and control systems and the utilization of these systems for infrastructure management. The department currently has 22

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full-time faculty members and offers B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in both civil engineering and environmental engineering. The Irvine campus affords excellent opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration. A prominent goal of the strategic growth of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Irvine is to build a bridge over the research and educational gaps between our understanding of individual infrastructure systems (water, sewer, energy, transportation, buildings, and other structures) and that of networks of integrated urban infrastructure systems, including environmental, technological, behavioral, and policy dimensions, which involve a far higher degree of complexity. The rapid evolution of “smart cities” implies increasingly monitored, networked, and automated urban infrastructure that must be responsive to societal and environmental needs but in fact is not well understood and/or predictable. Candidates should possess a Ph.D. degree in civil engineering, environmental engineering, or closely related fields at the time of appointment, and be qualified to teach undergraduate and graduate engineering courses. Candidates must have a superior record of scholarship and demonstrate a strong potential to develop an externally fund ed research group. To promote interdisciplinary research, the department seeks candidates ca-

pable of, and experienced with, interdisciplinary collaboration in fields such as physical, social, and information sciences and other engineering disciplines. Exceptionally promising candidates will be considered for a Samueli Faculty Career Development Professorship. To apply, candidates should submit a curriculum vitae, a statement of particular qualifications, including teaching and research interests, and names and addresses of at least 4 references using the UC Irvine online application system: (https://recruit. ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF02203). Review of applications began in December 2013. To ensure full consideration, applications should be received by February 19, 2014. The search will continue until the position is filled. For additional information, please contact Lorrie Aguirre (lorrie.a@uci. edu), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2175. The University of California, Irvine is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity and strongly encourages applications from all qualified applicants, including women and minorities. UC Irvine is responsive to the needs of dualcareer couples, is dedicated to work-life balance through an array of family-friendly policies, and is the recipient of an NSF ADVANCE Award for gender equity.

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FEBRUARY 2014

C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [83]

The Law Government Liable to Designer/Builder

O

VER THE PAST several years

an increasing number of public agencies have used design/build to obtain stimulus money for supposedly “shovel-ready” projects. Among the common concerns has been whether the requisite site investigation work has been done to allow competitive procurement or whether the bidders are to accept the site “as is” and assume the associated risks. This “as is” approach is challenging given the longstanding legal precedent favoring contractors under the Spearin doctrine— that is, the owner impliedly warrants the sufficiency of its design—and the differing site conditions clause. A recent case, Drennon Construction & Con sulting, Inc., v. Department of the Interior,

considered these issues on a federal road project in Alaska. The Department of the Interior wanted to widen a road to a campground from one lane to two and to eliminate a blind curve. It obtained funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and engaged an engineering firm, USKH, Inc., to prepare 100 percent design drawings and a geotechnical report. The department provided USKH with a digital terrain model based on earlier photogrammetric mapping. When USKH realized that the model contained inaccurate control points, it requested $25,000 to perform a more reliable and accurate survey. Concerned about the limited project funding, the department denied the request and instead decided to warn potential bidders of possible inaccuracies in the model, require the contractor to perform a survey before commencing work, and use disclaimer language to shift the risk to the contractor. The department contracted with Drennon Construction & Consulting, Inc., to excavate the hillside and design and build a gabion wall along the twolane road. Drennon conducted a survey demonstrating that the road could not be built as illustrated on USKH’s drawings. The road needed to be shift[84] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g

ed in the opposite direction, into the hillside. This would require additional excavation and the construction of a much higher gabion wall. Drennon also encountered soil problems during excavation, as the hillside slopes collapsed as a result of the soil being “at or near [its] angle of repose.” In essence, every “scoopful” excavated from the slopes caused a minilandslide. Drennon concluded that the hill could not be stabilized and halted work. Ultimately, the project was scaled back to eliminate the widening of the road. Only the gabion wall was to be constructed. Drennon filed a claim with the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals seeking its costs during the suspension and for the gabions not used because of the project redesign. The company claimed that the project’s design was defective and that the geotechnical information provided by the government in the solicitation, which Drennon relied on in pricing the job, did not correspond to the conditions actually encountered. The board agreed, finding that the department’s bidding documents contained both design defects and representations about the site that materially differed from actual conditions. Citing the Spearin doctrine, the board found that the Department of the Interior bore responsibility for the defective design. The decision noted that both the department and USKH knew the design was flawed prior to bidding. The design called for the road to be widened beyond the guardrail separating the road from a river, but such widening was not permissible because the stretch had been formally designated a scenic area. The correction involved moving the road into the hill on the opposite side, something that the board concluded a reasonable bidder could not have anticipated, particularly given that the area was covered with snow during the bidding period. It also rejected the notion that “weasel words” in the solicitation would shift this responsibility.

FEBRUARY 2014

The board further noted that the solicitation called for the gabion wall to be “approximately nine feet high at most” and said that about 420 cu yd of gabions would be needed to build it. Because the road was moved into the hill, Drennon had to excavate much more of the hillside than it anticipated. In fact, the wall needed to be 15 ft high with 778 cu yd of gabions. While the department acknowledged that these differences required Drennon to change its construction means and methods, it argued that the use of the word “approximate” and the design/build nature of the relationship shifted the risks to Drennon. The board disagreed: The disclaimer that the design might have to be adjusted per a contractorfinanced survey alerted bidders to the possibility that the design might have required a bit of tweaking, but cannot reasonably be read to impose on the contractor an obligation to construct the project in a manner significantly different from that envisioned in the contract.

The board also concluded that Drennon encountered a differing site condition. The soil borings were said to contain between 5.1 and 10.7 percent fines described as “slightly silty,” and Drennon was advised that the hillside would be “composed of similar soils.” The actual soils on the hillside, however, contained virtually no fines, and the slopes were in a state of incipient failure. As a result, the board found that it was impossible to keep the wall of the excavation open for any period of time, contrary to the conclusions in the geotechnical report. While the lessons from this decision are many, one is particularly salient: owners who use “weasel words” instead of sound procurement management rarely win. CE  Michael C. Loulakis (mloulakis@cp-strate gies.com), President and Chief Executive Of ficer, Capital Project Strategies, LLC , Reston, Virginia; Lauren P. McLaughlin ([email protected]), Attorney, Briglia  McLaughlin, PLLC , Vienna, Virginia.