Civil Engineering Magazine ASCE

Civil Engineering
FEBRUARY
T HE M AGAZINE OF THE A MERICAN
2014
SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
SUSPENDER
SUBSTITUTION
ALSO :
GAS TAX REVISITED

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Civil Engineering
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Anne Elizabeth Powell

EDITOR IN CHIEF
STRUCTURES
CONGRESS 2014
Jeff Roth
ART DIRECTOR
Laurie A. Shuster
Boston, Massachusetts I April 3-5
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
TECHNICAL EDITOR
Ray Bert; Jeff L. Brown; Tara Hoke; Jay Landers;

Michael C. Loulakis; Lauren P. McLaughlin
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Dianne Vance
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back in 1983. I learn something new
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profession, to attend.
-William F. Baker, Jr., P.E., SE, Partner,
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[2] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4
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CONTENTS
Civil
F E AT U R E S
THE FEDERAL GAS TAX:
HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH LONGER?
B Y R OBERT L. R EID
It has been 20 years since the federal tax on motor fuels was last raised, and over those two
decades the nations 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 trafc owing.
54
SAFE PASSAGE
B Y C ATHERINE A. C ARDNO , P H .D.

The 3,399 ft long, 41 ft wide fourth bore of Californias 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
SWITCHING SUSPENDERS
BY RICHARD SCHAEFER, P.E., THEODORE P. TED ZOLI, P.E., M.ASCE, AND ANA TATORIS, 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.
MOODYS NEW MAGIC
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
Universitys basketball stadium, required engineers to make signicant 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 THE 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.)
K A R L N I E L S E N , M E T R O P O L I TA N T R A N S P O R TAT I O N C O M M I S S I O N
66
Engineering
D E PA R T M E N T S
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 ood control project in the southern part of
the United Kingdom relies on newly created
intertidal habitat to protect nearby homes
and businesses from ooding while providing
mudats, 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 Kingdoms Chester
Zoo, the new Islands development will
feature a meandering boat ride amidst
Southeast Asian animal habitats.
FEBRUARY 2014
C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g [5]
Civil Eng
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 OHare, a lightinfused museum in Mexico City, a French
museum extension that marries old to new,
and more from www.asce.org/cemagazine.
Presidents 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 ASCEs blog gallery
at http://blogs.asce.org.
Policy Brieng 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 ood-prone areas.
Seven Questions (New) 18
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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.
gineering
48
Technology 44
Editors 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
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.
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 Ofce
Department proposed to expand its daily
transcontinental airmail service by
adding nighttime ights, the City
of Cleveland raced to build a
well-lit aireld that would
meet the night pilots
needs. The result was the
nations rst municipal
airport and the birth of
modern air trafc control.
Books 76
The Law 84
Yet another case demonstrates why its 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.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, TOP;
GRANT FRAZER, BELOW
20
FEBRUARY 2014
On the Web
Civil Engineering Online
www.asce.org/cemagazine
HERE ARE JUST A FEW of the
December 10:
D
R
Renovation
Sets the Stage
For Theaters Next Act
F
The Strand Theater was built in 1917

oon San Franciscos Market Street. A long, narrow buildiing, it initially served as a combination cinema and revue,
sshowing second-run movies and hosting vaudeville-style
aacts. But as the character of the citys so-called Mid-Markket neighborhood declined through the decades, the theaater did too. But the structure is now undergoing a transfformation that will make it a contemporary playhouse.
SSkidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, of Chicago, has develooped an architectural and structural engineering plan to
bbring the 19,000 sq ft building up to code and transform
tthe space to meet current needs. The project includes redducing the number of seats from 750 to 300, creating a
ttwo-story lobby, increasing the size of the stage, creatiing a new seating arrangement suitable for cabaret-style
pperformances, adding basement space, restoring the faccade, and stabilizing the structure to meet modern code
rrequirements. In addition to all of this work, the buildiings few remaining original features will be saved.
BY JENNY JONES
B
November 26:
OHare Completes Widest,
Higher-Strength Runway
First announced in 2001, the $8.7-billion OHare Modernization Program has from the beginning been a gargantuan undertaking, aimed at bringing
one of the worlds busiest airports into the 21st century.
(See Chicago Mayor Proposes $6-Billion OHare 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 rst at OHare 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 trafc 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 airports widest.
BY T.R. WITCHER
December 17:
D
Research Examines Joplin Tornado
R
BY KEVIN WILCOX Shortly after a powerful tornado cut a
B
swath
of devastation up to 1 mi wide and roughly 22 mi
s
long
through the city of Joplin, Missouri, and the surl
rounding
area in May 2011, a team from the National
r
Institute
of Standards and Technology arrived on a eld
I
reconnaissance
mission that soon led to a full-scale invesr
tigation.
The investigations goal was comprehensive and
t
C H I C A G O D E P A R T M E N T O F A V I A T I O N , L E F T ; S K I D M O R E , O W I N G S & M E R R I L L L L P, 2 0 1 3 . A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D ,
T O P ; W I K I M E D I A C O M M O N S / U . S . N AV Y P H O T O B Y L I E U T E N A N T J . G . RYA N S U L L I VA N , B O T T O M
Web-exclusive articles published on Civil Engineerings website during the past weeks:
Also be sure to download the
free Civil Engineering app for your smartphone
or tabletwww.asce.org/ceappand to view
the enhanced content on the magazines digital
edition, which can be accessed each month by
clicking on the icon in the top left corner of the
website home page.
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 tornados near-surface wind eld, building
performance, emergency communications, and public response to the threat. The National Institute of Standards
and Technology recently released a draft of its nal 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 Coleccin
Jumex, one of the
largest private
collections of
contemporary art in
Latin America. To
highlight the
museums exhibitions, four 15 m high
sawtooth roof gables
admit light from the
east, ooding 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 m of oor space and is of cast-in-place concrete,
extends a mere four stories aboveground, a ve-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.
m
meeting
spaces, is a striking new entryway that not
o offers three pavilions that will provide gatheronly
ing
i and educational space for visitors but does so in a
way
w that will incorporate an aged g tree located at the
site.
s The three pavilions forming the grand entrance
will
w be linked to the museum itself, but each will have
a separate entrance so that it can host special events.
JJanuary 7:
F
French
Art Museum Extension
Marries Old and New
M
Last fall the Fonds Rgionaux dArt

Contemporain opened a futuristic prefabricated strucC
tture in the heart of the French city of Orlans. Christtened the Turbulences, it represents a collision of starttling new architecture incorporated into a historic
ccourtyard. The Paris rm JAKOB + MACFARLANE dessigned the structure, which takes the form of a metalllic tree trunk with three thick branches protruding into
tthe air. The branches, each capped with a skylight, extend
ffrom the main structure at different heights and angles.
The highest of the three reaches 17 m and will house
T
llarge works of art, the second will house the lobby, and
tthe third and shortest will house an audiovisual gallery.
BY T.R. WITCHER
B
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 rm 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.
P E D R O H I R I A R T, A B O V E ; F O S T E R + P A R T N E R S , T O P R I G H T;
J A K O B + M A C FA R L A N E , A R C H I T E C T S / N . B O R E L P H O T O G R A P H I E S , R I G H T
FEBRUARY 2014
American Society of Civil Engineers
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AT-LARGE DIRECTOR:
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASCE
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P RESIDENTS N OTE
Infrastructure Advocacy: We Need You!
ORKING TO renew and improve our nations 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 benets 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 countrys 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 ve minutes you can support ASCEs infrastructure advocacy efforts.
Signing up for our Key Contact Program (www.asce.org/keycontacts) would be an easy rst step. Or visit the ASCE report
card site (www.infrastructurereportcard.org) and learn about
key infrastructure issues in your state. Follow the Save Americas 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 1721 and
March 1721. Magnify the effect of ASCEs annual Legislative Fly-In, which will be held March 1820 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 ASCEs federal priority issues and support the efforts of your fellow members who are attending the Leg[12] C i v i l E n g i n e e r i n g F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4
islative Fly-In. Members of Congress are also scheduled to

have a district work period from March 25 to April 5. Call
your members district or Washington ofce today to set up
a time to meet in person. Havent 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 Americas Infrastructure is a great focal point for any
infrastructure discussion. Download the report card app to
your smartphone or tablet. You can also nd 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 representatives 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 states capital. You can nd 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 ASCEs 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 nations infrastructure.
If you need more ideas, ASCE staff members are standing by
to help. Contact govwash@asce.org.
Educating and inuencing 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.ASCE
Excerpts from ASCEs blog network. Visit http://blogs.asce.org to view all channels.
SAVE AMERICAS
INFRASTRUCTURE
Georgias C in
Infrastructure
By Brittney Kohler
EORGIAS infrastructure
has failed to improve

over the past ve years. In a
new assessment, the 2014
Report Card for Georgias Infrastructure, the Georgia
Section awarded the states
infrastructure
an overall grade of C, the
same grade it meted out
in 2009. The lowest grade
was a D, which went to
the states dams and mass
transit systems. The highest grade, a B, was given to
Georgias energy and rail
systems. Georgias growing
population combined with
cutbacks in infrastructure
funding resulted in many of
the low grades.
ASCEs
Congressional
Fellows Program
Is Accepting
Applications
By Clark Barrineau
OR THE PAST 18 years
ASCE has selected a member to serve in its Congressional Fellows Program.

ASCEs congressional fellow
spends one yyear working
as a congressional staffer.
He or she joins
more than 30
colleagues from
22 other engineering and
sscientic organizations to
g
bring engineerb
ing
in and scientic
advice to memad
bers of Congress.
be
The
Th fellowship is
open to any ASCE
ope
member who is a
me
U.S citizen. FacU.S.
tors weighed by the
selection
commitselec
include the postee in
session
sessio of advanced
degrees,
degre registration
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
ASCEs government relations ofce at mhight@asce
.org. ASCEs 2014 congressional fellow, Theresa Harrison, P.E., M.ASCE, who
is from Niles, Michigan, is

working in the ofce of Senator Charles E. Schumer
(DNew York).
ASCE NEWS
Working as a
Mechanic Was
Good Preparation
For a Career as a
Civil Engineer
By Doug Scott
N 1975, WHEN a Ford
tractor dealership in
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 bachelors and a masters degree
and began his career as a
civil engineer.
Having worked in
the eld 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 eet 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,
ASCEs executive director.
The full postings can be
read at http://blogs.asce
.org/asce-working-for-youjanuary/.
Once again ASCE has
achieved a signicant milestone in its program to advance the principles of sustainable development. Our
headquarters building, in
Reston, Virginia, recently earned ENERGY STAR
certication from the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (www.energystar.gov). The certication
is consistent with ASCEs
denition of sustainability, which considers the effect of sustainable practices
on society and the economy. Earning the certication for a second time demonstrates that ASCE has
taken a strong position on
sustainability and shows
clearly how important it
is for civil engineers to be
leading the charge. Established in 1992, the certication program recognizes and honors homes and
businesses that save money
and protect the environment through energy-efcient products and practices. ASCE is proud to have
its headquarters building on the list of certied
buildings.
On behalf of the ASCE
Foundation I would like to
thank each and every supporter who contributed in
2013. Our generous and
loyal supporters are looking out for the next generation of civil engineers and
helping to advance the profession. Over the past 20
years, the ASCE Foundation (www.asce.org/foundation) has raised more
than $20 million for such
valuable ASCE programs as
the Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) teaching workshops,
the National Concrete Canoe Competition, the National Student Steel Bridge
Competition (organized
jointly with the American
Institute of Steel Construction), precollege outreach

initiatives, the 2013 Report
Card for Americas Infrastructure, the Institute for
Sustainable Infrastructures
Envision rating tool, 100th
anniversary celebrations
for various ASCE sections,
and much more. Throughout 2014 the foundation
will be marking its 20th
birthday by celebrating the
past two decades of paying
forward and giving back
within the civil engineering profession.
What better way to set
yourself apart from your
colleagues and demonstrate your expertise to
clients, employers, and
the public than by earning certication in your
specialty? ASCE offers
postlicensure certication
to engineers of any age in
the elds of water resources engineering, geotechnical engineering, coastal
engineering, ocean engineering, port engineering,
and navigation engineering. Visit www.asce.org/
certication.
Let ASCE help you get
ready for Engineers Week.
Send an email to outreach@asce.org, and we
will mail you, at no charge,
the new volunteer kits and
posters for Engineers Week
and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. These kits
include a large poster for
display, practical ideas to
help you start planning,
a calendar of Engineers
Week events (February 16
22), and links to resources
designed to make your Engineers Week celebration a
success. Then visit our Discover E page (www.asce
.org/eweek) to learn more
about how ASCE can support your Engineers Week
CE
campaign.
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 ve years. With their help, 4-H is
growing the next generation of great thinkers.
To learn more about Americas largest youth development
organization, visit www.4-H-org.
4-H is the youth development program of our nations
Cooperative Extension System
FEBRUARY 2014 Civil Engineering
[15]
Policy Br iefing
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 reect the true risk of
ooding. On October 1, 2013, subsidized
the National Flood Insurance deal with another catastrophic ood.
Program (NFIP) has sought
Nearly 22,000 communities partici- policies for business and other nonresidento reduce ood 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 ood 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 reect the increases of 25 percent until rates reect
larly the use of subsidies for certain ood- full ood risk faced by their properties, true ood 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 ood
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 immediately to reect true actuarial rates.
dy, which struck in 2012, this decit bal- tation of Biggert-Waters.
As directed by Congress, owners of Finally, grandfathered rates will be phased
looned again, forcing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), homes and businesses built before FEMA out gradually as communities adopt new
which administers the NFIP, to borrow began creating ood insurance rate maps, ood insurance rate maps. Under a rule
from the U.S. Department of the Trea- which delineate ood risks for given areas, that FEMA expects to complete this Ocsury to remain solvent. Today the NFIP is have long been able to buy ood insurance tober, grandfathered properties subject to
new maps will experience annuroughly $24 billion in debt.
al rate increases of 20 percent for
Seeking to put the NFIP on a
Although most ood insurance policies
ve years.
sounder scal footing, Congress
In a report released last Seppassed and President Obama
have yet to lose their subsidized
tember, the U.S. Government
signed legislation in July 2012 to
status, members of Congress,
Accountability Ofce estimatalter several aspects of the federal
particularly in such coastal states as
ed that approximately 438,000
ood insurance program. Known
policies would no longer be elas the Biggert-Waters Flood InLouisiana and Florida, have begun
igible for subsidies under Bigsurance Reform Act of 2012,
hearing from policyholders who have
gert-Waters, including 345,000
the legislation has since created
policies for nonprimary residencan uproar in many ood-prone
experienced signicant rate increases.
es, 87,000 policies for business
communities because of proviproperties, and 9,000 policies for
sions it contains designed to ensure that ood insurance rates more acat subsidized rates. Although the NFIP primary residences experiencing severe or
curately represent actual ood 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 ood in- $1.5 billion more will be needed annually grandfathered policies would have their
surance rates that are signicantly high- from subsidized policyholders, according subsidies eliminated as a result of changes
er, raising fears that some current owners to Fugates written testimony. Meanwhile, to individual policies or the adoption of
will lose their homes because they cannot grandfathered rates have been granted to new ood insurance rate maps.
Although most ood insurance poliafford the new rates. In response, many properties that were built in compliance
in Congress have been calling on FEMA with existing ood 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 ooding. Despite the greater risk such coastal states as Louisiana and Florisionally mandated study of the extent to of ooding for these properties, premium da, have begun hearing from policyholders who have experienced signicant rate
which ratepayers can afford the increased rates have not been adjusted.
The Biggert-Waters legislation calls increases. In some cases, property ownpremiums called for under BiggertWaters. 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
required as part of mortgage proceedings. In other cases, real estate transactions have been canceled as a result of the
signicantly higher costs of ood insurance premiums.
Neither Democrats or Republicans
envisioned [that Biggert-Waters] would
inict 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
didnt 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 rst
conducting the affordability study called
for in her bill. For his part, FEMAs 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 ood insurance rate
timated that the effort will probably take maps are released. Because the provision
blocks FEMAs implementation of this
two years to complete.
Completion of an affordability study policy during the current scal year, any
has gured prominently in many bills re- rate increases will not occur until some
cently introduced in Congress to address time in scal 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 (DNew 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 ood ing and Insurance. What the increases
insurance premium increases on most really do is ensure that future losses are
properties affected by new ood insurance being paid for by rates collected, he said.
At least one member of that subcomrate maps until FEMA had conducted an
affordability study. Meanwhile, numer- mittee appealed to Congress not to undo
the changes called for in Bigous bills have been introduced
gert-Waters. Without these
in the House that seek to dereforms, there will not be a
lay or, in some cases, repeal outood insurance program, asright certain policy provisions
serted Representative Lynn
of Biggert-Waters.
Westmoreland (R-Georgia).
In mid-January an omnibus appropriations act for the
JAY LANDERS
remainder of scal year 2014
was passed into law that inJay Landers is a contributing edLanders
cludes a provision preventing
itor to Civil Engineering.
FEBRUARY 2014
Culture is sometimes dened as

how companies get things done or,
perhaps more precisely, how they
accomplish their strategic initiatives.
Would you agree with that denition or
would you dene 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. Theres a business approach to getting things done,
and theres a business approach to accomplishing strategic objectives, and
thats probably part of our culture.
But I dont see that as the culture; the
culture is more values, characteristics,
and behavior.
Ques tions
[
WISDOM AND GUIDANCE FOR

SUCCESSFUL CAREER BUILDING
An interview with Harvey K. Hammond, Jr., P.E., M.ASCE,

on the topic of corporate culture By DAVID HILL
How important is culture

to a rms success?
If youre trying to build a long-term
sustainable business and work in the
public sector, you better have a pretty
high value system. Clients cant hire
somebody for these incredibly expensive, sophisticated infrastructure projects if theyre 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
weve noticed is that clients will say we
all sound the same if theyre dealing
with somebody from HNTB from the
West, or the Midwest, or the East, or
the South.
What were the factors and who

were the individuals responsible for
shaping the culture within your rm?
Its 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 ofce and interviewed [out of college], the people seemed to be really
high-caliber individuals. As I got to
know the leaders of the rmnot only
in the ofce I started in, but as I got to
travel to other ofcesit really struck
me that honesty in business, excellence
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.
How have you reshaped or

rened your rms culture to
maintain the rms objectives?
I would say the biggest difference I
made is that I brought documentation
of the HNTB way of doing things. I
said were going to document these
business processes, were going to document the vision, and were going to
document the characteristics. Were
going to do these things in a systematic way, and it worked. Its easy to
communicate with each other because
were all speaking the same language.
Theres no need for creativity on the
process itself. Lets use the process and
then lets use our creativity and imagination to solve the problem.
How is the culture of your rm

distinctive from that of other rms?
When we hire a lot of top people from
other companies, theyre struck by
how other companies say they hold
the same values but how we actually do it. I dont look into those rms
very often so I dont know, but I hear
people from third parties tell me that
they like the consistency they see
across our rm.
if this motivates you, youre a good t

and youre well on your way to having
a good career.
How does rm culture guide an

engineers career trajectory?
Career development is something we
believe in. We try to be very clear about
what the expectations are in terms of
specic 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 rm
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. Were 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
What qualities does your rm

look for in new hires in terms of
compatibility with the rms culture?
We have really high expectations
for following good processes and for
meeting our goals and objectives, and
what we nd 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 theyre interviewing for and the company theyre 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: heres who we are,
Hill
heres what we stand for, and
David Hill is the senior

writer of Civil Engineering.
Add some smart to your smart device.
FEBRUARY 2014
Civil Engineering | N E W S
says Donagh OSullivan, CEng, the managSTRUCTURES
ing director of the London-based developer,
es that become so well known
the Galliard Group. Two basement levels and
that they come to dene the octwo upper levels with a mansard slate roof
cupants long after they have dewill be added in the process.
parted. But 35 Great Scotland Yard, the
The current internal layout and interoriginal 1829 location of Londons Metnal feeling of the building [arent] anything
ropolitan Police Service, is one of them.
like you might imagine from the external,
Scotland Yard as a moniker for the forces
OSullivan says. There is nothing of any arheadquarters became the colloquial name
chitectural merit inside. Everything that has
for the police force itself, memorialized by
architectural merit is on the external facade of
such writers as Charles Dickens and Arthur
the building, and thats all being retained.
Conan Doyle in the 19th century and in
The existing ve-story building has load-bearing redbrick
countless movies and television programs in the 20th century. 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 rm Clarke
Nicholls Marcel and led with the City of Westminster, a
courtyard was built on the site of the original headquarborough of London. The oor slabs are formed with ller
ters and was completed in 1910. Within those walls,
joists that span between the main beams; cast-in-place
a 92,000 sq ft, ve-star luxury hotel will be careconcrete that is not reinforced and that contains clinfully built from the ground up.
ker aggregatelumps of limestone and clayenOur intention is to retain the extercases these joists. The use of clinker aggregate has
nal facade all the way around, demolcaused cracking of the slabs and degradation of
ish the full structure internally, and
the oor joists, according to the statement.
then rebuild the new structure,
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 vestructed within the exteristory, reinforced-concrete structure with
or of the structure built
a mezzanine on the perimeter of the
in 1910 at 35 Great
courtyard, making the courtyard
Scotland Yard, the origiitself an atrium, according to the
nal location of Londons
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
Scotland Yard
Interior
Transformed,
Original Facade
Retained
GRANT FRAZER
HERE ARE VERY FEW address-
EPR ARCHITECTS
P ROPOSED
S ECTION V IEW
be accomplished with a fairly extensive

and substantial temporary steel structural frame, according to OSullivan.
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, OSullivan 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 well 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 oors, will be lifted up and over
the preserved facade walls.
While the current plan calls for a
structural steel interior, OSullivan 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 exibility 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, OSullivan stresses.
The building is located near a number
of government ofces and facilities, including the prime ministers ofce and
ofcial London residence, 10 Downing
Street. So there is a lot of infrastructure,
including telecommunications, running in the area, OSullivan says. We
have got very careful design to do . . . to
make sure that there isnt any interruption to anybodys services in the area.
Further complicating matters are the
underground tunnels and passageways
for the London Underground that are
located in the area. But its something
that were very used to doing, he says.
When we are doing these developments in London, when we see something like Scotland Yard, were pleased
that at least we are not going to have
anything to do with unexploded devices from the Second World War,

OSullivan 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, OSullivan says. Everything that is
going to be done in all of the new extensionsand all of the new work externallyis going to look like it was
always part of the streetscape.
The internal structure will exactly
match the existing windows, doorways,
and original oor-to-oor heights, he
says. Its kind of almost like shoehorning this ve-star, fantastic hotel within the old building that looks like its
FEBRUARY 2014
Civil Engineering
NEWS
something that could have been built

a hundred years ago, but its actually
brand new, OSullivan says.
Doing this is well worth the effort, OSullivan 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.
D R I N K I N G WAT E R
California Cities Develop Surface Water Supply

To Reduce Dependence on Groundwater
OODLAND AND DAVIS are
among the largest of the

municipalities in northern California that rely exclusively on
groundwater to meet their drinking water needs. Faced with declining groundwater quality and increasingly stringent
discharge requirements, the two cities
have long been working together to develop a reliable source of surface water.
In mid-October the efforts of the two
cities came to fruition when the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agencythe
entity formed for the purpose of developing the new surface water source
awarded a $141.2-million contract to

CH2M HILL, of Englewood, Colorado,
to design, build, and operate a surface
water treatment system that will rely on
water from the Sacramento River.
Combined, the two cities have a population of approximately 120,000 residents. Its unusual to have a community
of that size 100 percent on groundwater
in California, says Dennis Diemer, P.E.,
the general manager of the WoodlandDavis Clean Water Agency. Two issues
have prompted the cities to pursue the use
of surface water. Aging groundwater well
infrastructure and degrading groundwa-
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 theyre going to be able to do that is
by switching a signicant portion of their
[drinking water] supply to this surface
water project, Diemer says.
CH2M HILL
The water treatment facility will have a capacity of 30 mgd but can be easily expanded in the
future. Its processes will include clarication with sand as ballast, ozone
treatment, biological ltration, and the addition of
chlorine and other
chemicals.
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 projects technical aspects, including predesign, land acquisition, budgeting, scheduling, obtaining permits,
and assistance to the agency during negotiations regarding the design/build/
operate contract. The rm will continue as the agencys 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 HILLs 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 ow rate and ush
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 rst step clarication with sand as a
ballast. After clarication the water will
be treated by means of ozone before it undergoes biological ltration 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 Daviss distribution
system or either a 0.7 mi long pipeline
or a 1.4 mi long pipeline connecting to
Woodlands 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
W E S T Y O S T A S S O C I AT E S
M AP OF P ROPOSED F ACILITIES
FEBRUARY 2014
Civil Engineering
NEWS
MWH, of Broomeld, 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 sh. 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 benets 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 Daviss 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 Agencys 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 HILLs bid, which was
$10 million less than the owners origi-
nal estimate. The savings, Pyle says, are

really a direct result of using the design/
build/operate process, which fosters the
development of efcient 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 LANDERS
FLOOD CONTROL
U.K. Coastal Defense

Scheme Creates Intertidal
Habitat to Prevent Flooding
RECENTLY COMPLETED ood control proj-
The managed realignment included the creation of 183 ha of intertidal habitat within the 300
ha site. The new habitat consists mainly of mudats, salt
marshes, ponds, and islands.
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
ect represents a new approach for the United Kingdoms Environment Agency. For
the rst time, the agency has sought to control
ooding by realigning a section of open coast
and creating an intertidal area to accommodate oodwater. 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.
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Eight
Locations
Nationwide
Civil Engineering
NEWS
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 ooding. In particular, the
project is intended to prevent the ooding of 348 residential and commercial
properties, a key road, a wastewater
treatment plant, and ve 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
ooding, 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
from oods 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 mudats, salt
marshes, ponds, and islands. Also present at the site are transitional grasslands
and farmland. During high tides and
storms, water is able to ow 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
site. In this way nearby buildings and

infrastructure that were routinely ooded in the past will be spared.
Initially, the project is expected to
protect the areas from the oods 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 Agencys ood 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 ooding that would come from a 100-year
storm, Gilham says.
Funded by the United Kingdoms
Department for Environment, Food
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
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Providing the most comprehensive product offering

from a single company in the geotechnical industry
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
Heneld, 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 m 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 projects habitat area will also include 10 km of new
footpaths, equestrian paths, and bike
+, A MUSEUM PLANNED for Hong Kongs 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 Kongbased TFP Farrells and the Hong Kong office of Arup. The team won an international competition for the design of the roughly 60,000 m museum with an entry suggesting an
upside-down T that places educational facilities, offices, and a res-
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 Agencys project manager for
the Medmerry scheme.
Along with improving ood 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 ood
control features.
JAY LANDERS
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 Meurons 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 open next year.
M + , W E S T K O W L O O N C U LT U R A L D I S T R I C T
Civil Engineering
C O N S E R VAT I O N
U.S. Wetlands Loss

Is Accelerating, Study Says
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, Pacic,
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 during 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 ofcials are alarmed by the loss of coastal wetlands, which help to lter water owing into oceans, protect
inland areas from oods, provide recreational opportunities,
and support the nations 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 nations 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 sheries biologist with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The environmental benets 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 Pacic coast had just 1.3 million acres.
The Gulf region accounted for 37 percent of the nations
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
Pacic 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
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 lled 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 ofcials 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 ows
to areas that have been blocked off contributed to the wetlands gains seen in
the Great Lakes region.
However, these ofcials 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 ofcials 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. Were 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
CONSTRUCTION
T EC H N O LO GY
Long Used in Construction,

4-D Modeling Could
Come to Rail Projects
ESEARCHERS in 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 ofce of the New
York Citybased engineering rm 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
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 firms 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 condent that the technology could be as effective and inno-
While time will be needed

to ne-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 ne-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 rm 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 Londons 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 Britains 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
NEWS
experience to plan these works, and

sometimes there are unforeseen complications which cause delays and passenger disruptions.
The research teams 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 sites trains would have to be
moved to make way for the project and
that an equipment convoy used on-site
would not t 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 Brinckerhoffs journal Network, Powell observed
that while 4-D BIM has clear benets
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
30-MILLION (U.S.$49-million) expansion and

wildlife conservation project at the Chester Zoo, in
Chester, United Kingdom, will re-create six habi-
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 Kingdoms Chester Zoo, will re-create six
habitats for many endangered species from Southeast Asia within a 6 ha
greeneld development.
tats for many endangered species

from Southeast Asia within a 6 ha
greeneld development. Known
as Islands, the project will feature 60,000 m of jungle vegetation and a meandering channel
460 m long for a boat ride that will
carry visitors past the various
DAN PEARLMAN
Civil Engineering
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 y, explains
Anne Fuller, CEng, MIStructE, the director of building engineering in the Manchester, United Kingdom, ofce of the international engineering rm AECOM, which is responsible for the
projects structural and geotechnical engineering, mechanical
systems, and re protection, as well as for the acoustical, drainage, highway, and environmental and ecological aspects.
Berlin-based dan pearlman is the projects 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 projects general contractor is Laing ORourke,
headquartered in Dartford, United Kingdom. The international consulting rm Turner & Townsend is managing the project.
Fuller, who was interviewed by Civil Engineering and also
provided a written description of the projects details, explains that construction of the Islands project began in September 2013; the rst 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 Zoos
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 Zoos
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 zoos 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 tetrauoroethylene (ETFE) pillows. Constructed atop large spread
foundations made of concrete, the Monsoon Forest building
7 FINANCING
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FEBRUARY 2014
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Civil Engineering
NEWS
will feature large concrete ventilation

ducts located beneath the ground-oor
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 articial 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 rm
based in Glen Allen, Virginia, that specializes in geotechnical and
environmental services, has acquired Geo/Environmental Associates,
Inc., a 30-person rm 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.
ing throughout the design phase was

essential to detect and avoid conicts
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 1617), but that project was put on hold during the recent
world economic downturn because of
a lack of public funding, Fuller notes.
Various other buildingsincluding a restaurant and shop, an educational center, animal viewing shelters,
and animal stables and paddocksas
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 articial
stonework and articial
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 articial stonework and articial
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 anothereven 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
Y O U B U I L D I T.
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North Tonawanda, NY 14120 - 0748

Phone: 716.694 .0800 Fax: 716.695 .6015
BUSINESS BRIEF
Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., which is based in Pasadena,
California, and is one of the worlds largest engineering and construction
service rms, having 200 ofces in 25 countries, has completed two
recent acquisitions. In November it acquired the assets of MARMAC
Field Services, Inc., a pipeline engineering and design rm based
in Costa Mesa, California, and last month it purchased the assets
of FMHC Corporation, of Chicago, a rm that provides turnkey
site development for wireless communications companies.
FEBRUARY 2014
Civil Engineering
NEWS
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 at expanse

of undeveloped land on the eastern side
of the zoos existing property. Hundreds
of meters of retaining walls had to be constructed 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
DAN PEARLMAN, TOP; AECOM, BOTTOM
M ODEL OF C HESTER Z OO I SLANDS P ROJECT
WAT E R T R E AT M E N T
Changes to South Carolina Wastewater

Plant Boost Capacity, Quality
7+,1.35(&$67
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HE POPULATION OF FLORENCE, 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 ofcials 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
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W W W. A E R O P H O T O . C O M , B O T H
The Florence Regional Wastewater Management Facility was nearing its 15 mgd capacity about a decade ago, top. The improvements
in the rst two phases of the modernization project, above, included
the replacement of inuent pumps and headworks and the addition
of new biological treatment processes and disinfection facilities.
phases, the rst two of which have now been completed. The
newly dedicated Florence Regional Wastewater Management
Facility has undergone a series of process improvements that
have increased its treatment ability and energy efciency and
raised its capacity to 18 mgd. The projects third phase, which
is under way and scheduled for completion late this summer,
will increase capacity to 22 mgd.
The expanded facility treats wastewater from Florence, a city
of about 37,000 people, as well as from surrounding communities, and its capacity is expected to remain sufcient for at least
FEBRUARY 2014
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BUSINESS BRIEF
Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon, an engineering, architecture,
landscape architecture, and surveying rm headquartered in
Nashville, Tennessee, has opened an ofce in Columbus, Georgia,
and added ve new staff members for the ofce. The opening is
the second ofce in Georgia for the rm, which also has ofces in
Alabama and Ohio and in several locations throughout Tennessee.
Civil Engineering
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 ofcials and residents are
happy with the improvements.
Its 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 ofce of San Franciscobased URS 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 Florences
treatment plant was not a matter of
choice but rather a requirement imposed
by the states 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 ofcials had to not only expand
the plants 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 out in the rst two
phases of the project include the replacement of inuent 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 signicant amount
of time.
In addition to improving the plants
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 Florences rst to be certied in the U.S. Green Building Councils
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.
Were 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 landll 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 ofcials say that the improvements that have been made will help
the region support an inux of new residents and foster economic opportunities.
Its 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.
Dewatering & Groundwater Control
Ground Freezing
Earth Retention & Anchors
Deep Foundations
Underpinning Systems
Grouting & Ground Improvement
Construction & Geotechnical Services

www.moretrench.com
800-394-MORE
BUSINESS BRIEF
Psomas, a surveying, engineering, construction management,
and environmental services rm with ofces throughout the
western United States, has purchased BonTerra, an environmental
engineering rm with ofces 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
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
2014
Geotechnical products
Future issues will include showcases devoted to computer software
and hardware, and pipe and pipe ttings. To be included in these
showcases, please contact Dianne Vance at (703) 295-6234.
SHOWCASE
DFP Foundation Products, LLC
P.O. Box 688
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417-0688
Phone: 201-337-5748
Fax: 201-337-9022
Website: www.pileline.com
Tough, Trouble-Free, Patented Tapertube Piles
Save Time, Reduce Costs, Outperform Others
The Ideal Piles for Land or Marine Projects
Project-proven Tapertube is a dramatic leap forward
in on-the-job pile performance. Superior design and
robust construction mean these remarkable tools
deliver big advantages over conventional piles or
other tapered piles. Tapertube piles are available in
an array of shapes and sizes to meet your soil and
capacity requirements.
Tapertube Advantages
High capacities for shorter driven lengths
Conventional equipment and installation methods
Reduces concrete volume requirements
Factory-attached cast steel points
Standard pipe extensions that match Tapertube
diameters
Directly driven... no mandrel or butt reinforcement
required
Full-butt welded splices for direct bearing of pipe
extension on Tapertube
Drive-t DFP S-1800 sleeves may be used instead
of welding to extend piles
Heavier thickness provides greater drivability, eliminates need for coating and reinforcement
Geopier Foundation Company

130 Harbour Place Drive, Suite 280
Davidson, NC 28036
Website: www.geopier.com
Geopier Foundation Company developed the rst
Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP) system in 1989. Today, Geopier solutions provide an efcient and costeffective Intermediate Foundation solution for the
support of settlement-sensitive structures. Through
continual research and development, weve 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 technologiesGeopier GP, Impact, Rampact, Armorpact, and Densipact systemsproven
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.
Leaders in dewatering for over 75 years.

Grifn Pump and Equipment
Pumps you can trust for over 75 years.
5306 Clinton Drive
Houston, TX 77020
Toll free nationwide: 800-431-1510
Website: www.grifndewatering.com
Grifn has provided service and equipment to the
efuent pumping market for 75 years.
Dewatering services: turnkey contract dewatering, wellpoints, deepwells, relief wells, eductors,
slurry walls, sand drains, bypass pumping, open
pumping and sumping, professional staff of geologists and engineers, permanent dewatering system
maintenance, drilling, and installation.
Pump and equipment services: custom pump
fabrication, sales and rentals, engineering and design services, dewatering equipment and accessories, subsurface barrier equipment, jet pumps,
wellpoint pumps, nonclog pumps, trash pumps,
submersible pumps, and silent pumps.
Remediation services: groundwater recovery
and treatment system, remedial dewatering system,
vacuum and vapor extraction system, high-volume
product recovery, slurry walls, trenches and leachate collection, landll, soil and gas vent installation,
monitoring wells, and recovery wells.
Emergency services: open pumping, flood
control pumping systems, pumps and piping, relief
wells, drilling services, and slurry walls.
Eight regional locations to serve you
nationwide.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Hayward Baker Inc.

7550 Teague Road, Suite 300
Hanover, MD 21076
410-551-8200
Email: info@haywardbaker.com
Website: www.haywardbaker.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/
HaywardBakerInc
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HaywardBaker
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HaywardBaker
Hayward Baker Inc. is North Americas leader in
geotechnical construction. Hayward Baker has over
25 regional ofces and is annually ranked number
1 specialty foundation contractor by Engineering
News-Record. Hayward Bakers 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.
Pile Dynamics, Inc.

30725 Aurora Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44139 USA
Phone: 216-831-6131
Fax: 216-831-0916
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 proler (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 ight 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.
PDIs 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 PDIs 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 ofces throughout North America and a robust infrastructure comprising manufacturing, coating, and fabrication facilities; dozens of stocking locations; an efciently
coordinated supply chain; and exclusive engineering support. Our agship 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
eet 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
FEBRUARY 2014 Civil Engineering
[41]
Noted
B Innovative
IN MONTRAL the buzz
among apiariststhats
beekeepers to the rest of
uscould soon be about
the innovative b-Shack,
which will be erected this
summer at the McGill
Farm, located on the campus of McGill University.
Thats 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
Montrals cold climate.
The structure will also
provide support for local beekeeping communities, especially two Montral nonprot 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 McGills
School of Architecture, under the direction of Maria

Mingalln, ing., P.Eng.,
CEng, a former adjunct
professor at McGill and a
senior structural engineer in
the Montral ofce of Arup.
The b-Shack will be an
ellipsoidal shell made primarily from wooden members that will create a series
of hexagonal cells reminiscent of an actual beehive. As in a hive, the cells
will be adapted for various
functions, from providing
openings for natural light
and ventilation to furnishing space for solar panels
and planters that will feature owers to attract additional bees and other
pollinators to the farms
crops. As the shell itself
comes down to the ground,
it will create a small stage
for presentations, a seating area, and storage space
for tools and small equipment beneath the seats.
Each cell will be formed
from six panels that in turn
will comprise four lumber
members ranging in width

from 89 to 152 mm. Galvanized steel bolts will fasten the cells together, and
galvanized steel plates will
secure the shell to the base
of the pavilion. The beehives will be set on customized units formed from
polylactide, and polylactide units will also support the ower planters.
Because of the b-Shacks irregular form, the structural
design involved the use of
special software and other
three-dimensional modeling tools, and the fabrication will rely on the use of
mills operating under computer numerical control.
Solar High
Roller
FORGET ABOUT red or
black. Las Vegas is placing
its next bet on green: the
environmentally green
solution of solar power. In
January the iconic Welcome
to Fabulous Las Vegas sign,
which has greeted visitors
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 signs
neon and incandescent
lights, including the 89
bulbs that form the signs
diamond-shaped border.
The project involved the
local Clark County Commission and two Las Vegasbased nonprot 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 Nevadas most abundant resources. The three
FA C I L I T Y F O R A R C H I T E C T U R A L R E S E A R C H I N M E D I A A N D M E D I AT I O N
S 2 N OT E
W
E
N
*
*
solar trees were installed by Bombard Renewable Energy, a division of Las Vegasbased 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 dont do this today I think we will become
a developing country with our infrastructure
deteriorated to such an extent that it will inuence
our productivity and international competitiveness.
M. S AEED M IRZA , P.Eng., Ph.D.
Professor of Civil Engineering, McGill University
Speaking on Canadas CTV News, January 13, 2014
Companies cannot afford to be just innocent

bystanders in whats 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
C L E A N E N E R G Y P R O J E C T, A B O V E ; M I K E K A K O G I A N N A K I S , D U B U C S U P E R L I G H T C A R , R I G H T
Chief Operating Ofcer, Unilever

From his TED presentation Prots Not Always the Point,
posted at www.ted.com/speakers in January 2014
News
Bites
Theres big news out of
the city of Qubec 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!
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
assistant professor of engineering and management in Clarksons School

of Business, and Alexander
Kelly, an undergraduate at
the university, have devised
FEBRUARY 2014
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 ights a day over the
course of a yearit can really make a difference.
Technology
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 signicantly
increase the reliability with which such
underwater dangers as earthquakes,

pollution, or signicant temperature
changes are communicated to devices
and ofcials 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, Massachusettseach
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 oat 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
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 oating 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.
DOUGLAS LEVERE
Researchers Develop Underwater Internet

To Improve Sensor Data Communications
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 trafcking, which is seen
as a growing threat, Melodia said.
The researchers rst 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
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are protected under U.S. patents and trademarks listed at www.geopier.com/patents
and other trademark applications and patents pending. Other foreign patents,
patent applications, trademark registrations, and trademark applications also exist.
FEBRUARY 2014
A Question of Ethics
Improper Use of Condential 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 months 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 construction rms 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 rms through
an arrangement that requires one rm
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 rms ability to
control the activities of a third construction rm, which is headquartered in the
same region and frequently bids on such
projects. The principals of the two rms
reach out to an employee of the third
rm, a project manager whose duties
include the preparation of cost estimates
for the rms 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 rm regarding his
rms bids enable the other rms to undercut the third rm on their submissions, sometimes by only a small amount.
Over the course of several years, each
of the two rms secures some $40 million in projects through rigged bids,
while the third firm is permitted to
win a signicantly smaller number of
projects. The scheme is exposed, howev-
er, when an employee at the third rm

begins to suspect that the manager is
sharing condential 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 firms 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 companys best interests. They can nd no
evidence that the manager received any
personal benet 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
rm, it was irresponsible
and inexcusable for him to
use his position of trust to
undermine his employers
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 signicant nancial
penalty. In exchange for his cooperation,
the project manager has his sentence reduced to one years probation and receives a $10,000 ne.
QUESTION: If this case had involved
members of ASCE, would the project
managers actions in sharing bidding

information in furtherance of an un-
lawful market allocation scheme have

violated ASCEs Code of Ethics?
DISCUSSION: 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 conicts of interest. It is interesting to note that while category (f) in
the guidelines to practice for this canon
makes reference to condentiality, the
language contains qualications: Engineers shall not use condential information coming to them in the course
of their assignments as a means of making personal prot 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 condential information that he had secured
through his professional assignments.
And even if his argument that his actions were beneting 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 benet from
his use of the condential material, it could be argued that his actions did not violate category (f).
Yet despite the narrow language of ASCEs confidentiality provision, it is evident that
the managers actions failed to comply with the broader intent of canon 4.
Regardless of his opinion that he was
helping his rm, it was irresponsible
and inexcusable for him to use his position of trust to undermine his employers chosen course of action. Moreover,
he knowingly entangled his rm 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 difculties of
civil and criminal litigation relating to
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 condentiality. For instance,
the National Council of Examiners for
Engineering and Surveyings 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 managers use
of his rms 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
managers 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
agers participation would
have violated canon 5 and its
anticompetitive, the managers
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 stafng this line can provide adin canon 6 to uphold and enhance the vice on how to handle an ethics issue or le 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 condentiality, 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.
as a precedent binding upon
T ARA H OKE
the Society.
Members who have an ethics question or would like to le a complaint
Tara Hoke is ASCEs assiswith the Committee on Professiontant general counsel and a
al Conduct may call ASCEs hotcontributing editor to Civil
Hoke
line at (703) 295-6061 or (800)
Engineering.
FEBRUARY 2014
Histor y Lesson
Preparing for Takeoff: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, ALL
another milestone when it began daily coast-to-coast airmail

historic rst ight, 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.
Cleveland, at that time the fth-largest city in the United
was the everyday task of delivering mail, however, that led to
the opening of the nations rst municipal airport, in Cleve- States, had risen to prominence over the years as a strategically located port. As a center of aviation, however, its status
land, in 1925.
As airplanes became safer and more reliable, the U.S. Post was by no means secure. The only facility in the city suitable
Ofce Department (the predecessor of todays 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.
For routine daytime takeoffs and landings, that aireld
mail delivery across the United States. As early as 1911, in
fact, in the agencys 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 insufcient lighting made night landings danof aviation encourages the hope that ultimately the regular gerous. When the Post Ofce made plans to improve its
conveyance of mail by this means may be practical. But that transcontinental service by ying both day and night, a safer
hope would never be realized without the necessary infra- facility was needed.
It was a crucial moment. Without a suitable aireld, the
structure, and the Post Ofce lacked the means to build it. As
a matter of fact, the agency was having difculty convincing city risked losing its position as a transportation hub in the
new age of aviation. City Manager William R. Hopkins
Congress to fund any airmail experiments at all.
Despite the dearth of funds, the worlds rst 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 aireld. 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. Armys Air Service operated the the rst American city to build its own airport.
The site, which was 10 mi from downflights until mid-August of that year,
town, was ridiculed in the press for its
when the Post Ofce took over. A year latThe original terminal at Cleveland
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
foresight. Surrounded by open land, the
Chicago. In 1924 the Post Ofce reached
trafc control in a single building.
ITHIN 20 YEARS of the Wright brothers
In 1929 the worlds rst air trafc 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
aireld operations in every direction, the tower featured a glassenclosed octagonal observation room, each side measuring 16 ft.
aireld 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 sufciently 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 ofcer for
the postal service who had gained experience laying out airelds for the U.S. Army in World War I. After the war, he
had distinguished himself by overseeing the creation of the
rst airway for transcontinental airmail service, marking it
with beacons and designating certain elds for emergency
landings. He became so deeply involved in the Cleveland
airport project that he stayed for more than 25 years, eventually becoming the citys rst 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 Ofce
Department (the predecessor of todays U.S. Postal Service) recognized the
potential offered by aircraft to expedite mail delivery across the United States.
FEBRUARY 2014
?????????????
to help pilots identify the airport. Most

impressive, however, was the oodlight
that illuminated the aireld, 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 Ofce employee who would
later succeed Berry as the citys 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 oodlight, above, illuminated the air- aviation. On opening day the races
grading and drainage work. For the eld to facilitate night landings. Radio equipment drew more than 100,000 spectators to
bleachers that were built for the races
lightweight aircraft of those days,
installed in the tower enabled air trafc conon the western edge of the aireld. The
sod was considered an acceptable
trollers to communicate with pilots for the rst
airport was so large that commercial
landing surface, so the area was initime, as pictured in a 1937 photograph, below.
operations were able to continue untially left unpaved. Workers simply
graded a 100-acre aireld 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 eld operable in wet weather, they installed
a drainage system consisting of more than 13,000 ft of 12 in. the aireld itself. Berry insisted that the aireld, or landing
diameter lateral pipe feeding into a main line 48 in. in diam- mat, be kept free of all obstructions, even runways. He envisioned an airport at which planes would be able to take off
eter that stretched more than 1 mi.
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
ights 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 airports rst 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 airports pioneering lighting system. Floodlights lit
the hangars. The boundaries of the
aireld 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
to the existing wind conditions. In this way

In 1937 passengers awaited
at following instructions from a centralized
several planes would be able to land simulta- ights 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 conguration lasted until World War II, when use of long-range radio equipment to keep pilots informed of
concrete runways were nally constructed to handle the enor- weather and trafc conditions while in ight.
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 Berrys omnidirectional aireld 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 worlds rst ment of the original buildings by more modern facilities.
air trafc 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 towers 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 aireld operations in every
air trafc control system earned it welldirection.
deserved recognition in ASCEs Historic
In 1930 Berry and King installed radio equipment in the
Civil Engineering Landmark Program
tower, allowing two-way communication between pilots
JEFF L. BROWN
in 1979.
and ground-based air trafc controllers for the rst time. The
practice of ground-based ight control met resistance at rst,
Jeff Brown is a contributing editor to Civil
Brown
especially from pilots with an independent streak who balked
Engineering.
FEBRUARY 2014
2014
Join Us for ASCEs 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 O CE A AWAR D F I NALI S T S
March 20, 2014

RENAISSANCE ARLINGTON
CAPITAL VIEW HOTEL
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
(Washington, DC Metro area)
OUTSTANDING CIVIL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT (OCEA) AWARD FINALISTS

Pictured left to right:
Sponsors as of January 7, 2014
Huey P. Long Bridge Widening Project

Jefferson Parish, LA
PLATI NU M S PO N S O RS
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 Devils Slide

Pacica and Half Moon Bay, CA
2 014 O U T STANDI NG LI F E T I ME ACHI EVE MENT AWA RD S

G O LD S PO NS O RS
Pictured left to right:
CONSTRUCTION
S I LVER S PO NSO RS
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 WisconsinMadison
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.
Ed i t o rs
Note
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
S ARE MANY bridges in the United States, the
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 trafc 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 ownersthe New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Commissionwere 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 nite life span of roughly

60 years; suspender sockets are known corrosion hot spots; fatigue resistance decreases
quickly with heavy truck trafc; 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 modications 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 signicance 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 t 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 factorsthat 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 NNE E LIZABETH P OWELL

Editor in Chief
FEBRUARY 2014
THE
FEDERAL GAS TAX:
How Much,
How Much Longer?
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 signicant problem for the
nations surface transportation system because the tax on gasoline, together with a tax on diesel fuel, lls the
coffers of the Highway Trust Fund, the federal program that
largely pays for highway repairs and improvements and also
supports the nations mass transit efforts.
The nations surface transportation problems were clearly
spelled out in ASCEs 2011 report Failure to Act: The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Surface Transportation
Infrastructure and in its 2013 Report Card for Americas Infrastructure (www.asce.org/failuretoact and www.infrastructurereportcard.org), as well as in its earlier infrastructure assessments. Looking at the year 2010, Failure to Act detailed
how deciencies in Americas surface transportation sys-
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 Americas Infrastructure assigned grades of only D and C+ to respectively the
nations roads and bridges. Throughout the United States,
one bridge in every nine was rated as structurally decient,
requiring an estimated investment of $76 billion to rectify,
and 42 percent of Americas major urban highways remain
congested, the assessment noted. The Federal Highway Administration estimates that $170 billion in capital investments are needed annually to signicantly improve conditions and performance on those roads, the report concluded.
In short, we have an aging transportation system that is not
serving the users as it was intended.
Additionally, ASCE has adopted numerous policy statements on infrastructure and transportation issues. To access
the complete list, visit www.asce.org/policystatements.
Unfortunately, the past two decades of a gas tax rate stuck
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TETRA IMAGES/AP IMAGES
Because the federal tax on motor fuels has not been raised in 20 years, the Highway Trust Fund,
which pays for many of the nations 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
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 Americas 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 benecial to the gas taxs
nances, given that more miles driven equals more gas tax collected, the driving data present a double challenge.
First, the wear and tear on the nations aging roads and
bridges have denitely 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
I N S T I T U T E O N TA X AT I O N A N D E C O N O M I C P O L I C Y
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,
ASCEs immediate past president, when he testied for ASCE
before the Senates 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 rst year of his rst term as president, Barack Obama had
only recently married Michelle and had not yet run for any
elective ofce, and the average price of gasoline was roughly
$1.09 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administrations records.
But while the price of gas had reached approximately
$3.40 per gallon by October 2013, according to the Energy Information Administrations statistics, that threefold increase over two decades did not benet 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 ination.
Meanwhile, over the same period, the cost of asphalt, concrete,
FEBRUARY 2014
we did in 1996. Thus, the steady and seemingly automatic are all taken into account, the Congressional Budget Ofce
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 ination 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 nations 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 Generationthose 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 efciency.
To offset the imbalance between what the federal gas tax
Since 1997 the average fuel efciency of passenger vehicles raises and what the nation actually spends on its highways,
on Americas 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 Treasurys 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 transferefciency provide tangible benets to drivers and society ring another $15 billion annually just to maintain trust
fund spending levels, according to
by lowering driving costs and doRepresentative Earl Blumenauer
ing less harm to the environment,
UEL EFFICIENCY
(D-Oregon). And even when the
greater efciency also results in the
federal gas tax is combined with
purchase of less fuel and thus lower
state gas taxes (and with other user
gas tax receipts. As A Federal Gas
fees, including tolls), it turns out
Tax for the Future explained in referthat every state in the nation is butence to that 1.7 mpg increase, For
tressing its highway spending with
a vehicle with a 15-gallon gas tank,
money transferred from other sourcthis means that the average driver
es, primarily its general funds, sales
is able to wear down the roadways
taxes, and property taxes, according
with an extra 25 miles of driving
to the Tax Foundation, a nonprot,
before they have to stop, refuel, and
nonpartisan research organization
pay anything in gas taxes. Multiply
based in Washington, D.C.
that by 230 million vehicles and in
In a report it issued in Januthe course of a year its the equivaary 2013 entitled Road Spending by
lent of almost 203 billion tax-free
State Funded by User Taxes and Fees,
miles of travel on Americas roads.
Including Federal Gas Tax Revenues,
Fuel efciency as it relates to gas
the Tax Foundation concluded that
tax revenue is likely to exert a greatuser taxes and fees do not cover the
er impact if automobile manufaccosts of road spending in any state.
turers are able to meet the new corEven the states that do the best job of
porate average fuel economy (CAFE)
paying for their highway projects via
standards proposed by the Obama
user fees and taxesDelaware and
administration. These standards
Rhode Islandstill had to dip into
will increase the average fuel economy of vehicle eets 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 scaleUtah and Alaskarelied 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.
For many, the solution to the gas tax funding issue ineventually causing them to fall by 21 percent, according to
the 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,
DiLoreto testied. Recent proposals to raise the gas tax innal Budget Ofce.
The 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 ination, er in a bill he introduced in December. That measure, the
increasing fuel efciency, and changing transportation patterns Update, Promote, and Develop Americas Transportation
F
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.
I N S T I T U T E O N TA X AT I O N A N D E C O N O M I C P O L I C Y
Essentials Act of 2013 (H.R. 3636), would also index the gas
tax to ination, 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 denitely 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
decit 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 libusters 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 decit reduction, which
garnered fully half of the increase, or 2.5 cents. This was the
rst 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 decit reduction, meaning that fully 6.8 cents per gallon was being deposited in the Treasurys general fund, Kirk
and Mallett noted. However, starting on October 1, 1995,
the earlier 2.5 cents that had been dedicated to decit 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 decit 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 billMoving
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
highway capacity for commuters and freight shipments is

to get somebody off the road [via mass transit or other alternatives] whod otherwise be in front of you, Blumenauer
tells Civil Engineering. He also stresses that different modes
of transportation should not be pitted against one another.
If its freight versus passenger cars, transit versus roadways,
and if we shut out other uses such as bicycles and pedestrians,
what you do is create a dynamic that actually reinforces the
political and policy gridlock that hinders the nations transportation system, Blumenauer explains.
Despite the difcult history of raising the gas tax, Blumenauer cites several reasons to be optimistic about H.R.
3636s prospects. First, the bipartisan budget deal that the
president signed in late December 2013, while not perfect,
nonetheless includes additional revenues via fees and taxes.
Blumenauer nds the bipartisan acceptance of that deal to be
an encouraging sign.
Next, at the state and local level, a number of states have
recently increased their gas tax rates. Like the federal gas tax,
these taxes had in many cases been left unchanged for decades.
And more states are considering such increases during this
years legislative sessions. There have even been gas tax increases across the political spectrum: In
Wyoming, for example, a 10-cent
per gallon increase was passed by
the Republican governor and the
Republican-controlled legislature,
while in Maryland the Democratic
governor and the Democratic legislature passed a 20-cent hike. In
Virginia the Republican governor
and a bipartisan legislature passed
a bill that lowers the retail gas tax
but raises the wholesale tax, as well
as the states sales tax. Vermont and
Massachusetts also increased their
gas taxes last year. Moreover, several
states began indexing their gas tax
rates to ination last year, adding to
the number of states that use indexing. Thus, for the rst time, most
Americans live in states in which
the rate is indexed, says the Institute
on Taxation and Economic Policys
Davis. These developments convince Blumenauer that some momentum is building for a federal gas tax hike.
Blumenauer also notes that an amazingly broad coalition
has united behind the idea of a gas tax increase. Those favoring an increase include not only such traditional supporters as
ASCE but also groups that ordinarily have opposing agendas.
Examples here include not only the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) but also the AAA and the
American Trucking Associations. These organizations are
ready to stand together to make the case that weve got to invest in our nations futuretoday, Blumenauer notes.
Finally, Blumenauer believes that weve reached a point
where its hard to imagine a way to keep sidestepping the issue. Billions of dollars have been channeled into the Highway Trust Fund to keep it operating, he says, but that has
come at the expense of larger decits and has undermined
efforts to create a long-term, sustainable funding mechanism. This in turn is hindering the ability of governments,
businesses, and communities to conduct comprehensive infrastructure planning. Thus, Blumenauer believes the time
is right to raise the gas tax, although he is not in favor of a series of increases: My goal would be that this is the last time
we consider gas tax increases.
Looking further down the road, many who support a higher gas tax today also concede that the gas tax itself will eventually have to be replaced by a better-designed and more modern
method of nancing the nations surface transportation programs. ASCE, for example, has long supported an increase in
the gas tax. However, the more important goal is to provide
a reliable, long-term source of funding to the Highway Trust
Fund, and there is a list of many different options available to
do that, explains Brian Pallasch, the Societys managing director for government relations and infrastructure initiatives.
Among those options, the most frequently discussed idea
involves a switch from the current
gas tax to a tax or fee based on the
number of miles a vehicle travels
a VMT tax, so to speak. In Oregon,
which is credited with creating
the rst gasoline tax in the nation,
in 1919, two pilot projects involving a VMT tax have been conducted. The rst was in 2006 and 2007
and involved 285 vehicles. The second was in 2012 and 2013 and involved just 93 participants but had
a wider geographical scope and included drivers from the neighboring
states of Washington and Nevada.
Oregons successful experience with
the pilot projects has led to another effort, this one a permanent but
voluntary program that will involve
5,000 cars and light commercial vehicles. Scheduled to begin on July 1,
2015, the program will charge the
volunteer drivers on a VMT basis in
lieu of the states gas tax, which will
be refunded to the participants.
In conjunction with H.R. 3636, which calls for the elimination of the gas tax by 2024, Blumenauer introduced the
Road Usage Fee Pilot Program Act of 2013 (H.R. 3638).
If adopted, this bill would appropriate $30 million to fund
a competitive grant program to test mileage-based fee systems. State-based or locally conducted VMT programs and
studies have also been conducted in the Puget Sound region of Washington; at the University of Iowa; in Minnesota, Colorado, and Texas; and in the states on the East Coast
along Interstate 95. These efforts are discussed in the report
Mileage-Based User Fees for Transportation Funding: A Primer for
MANY WHO SUPPORT

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
nancing the nations
surface transportation
programs.
State and Local Decisionmakers, issued in 2012 by the RAND

Corporation, of Santa Monica, California.
Over the past six years, two congressionally authorized commissionsthe National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission in 2008 and the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission in 2009have
supported the concept of replacing the current gas tax with a
VMT tax. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, in particular, labeled the VMT approach the
most promising alternative user fee
revenue measure, although it noted that any change will depend on
whether substantial privacy and collection cost issues can be addressed.
The privacy question is a critical
concern related to the VMT option
because many of the pilot efforts
and proposed programs involve the
use of Global Positioning System
(GPS) technologyeither in a device installed directly on the vehicle or via the drivers smartphone
to track the mileage of the vehicles
being studied, explains Paul Sorensen, Ph.D., the associate director
of RANDs transportation, space,
and technology program and one
of the authors of Mileage-Based User
Fees for Transportation Funding.
Drivers 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 at annual fee. A private company could
receive the GPS data and simply pass along the total mileage,
not the details, to the government, Sorensen explains. Other
benets as well could be conferred with the GPS approach,
he adds. For example, the VMT tax rate could be raised or
lowered depending on when the vehicle was driven, a higher
rate prevailing during rush hour to encourage travel choices
that could help reduce trafc congestion. The rate could also
be adjusted depending on whether the vehicle was driven on
urban or rural roads. Drivers could also be exempted from
paying VMT taxes to their own states for any miles traveled
in other states. And if surrounding states adopted VMT systems as well but with different rates, the data could be a boon
to the driver in that he or she would pay less for any miles
driven in a state with a lower rate.
Other alternatives to the current gas tax include a tax
on the wholesale price of gasoline, an idea oated last year
by Boxer and incorporated by the State of Virginia into the
changes it made to the funding of transportation projects.
Increases in states sales taxes also have been proposed, says
Davis, although this idea would involve shifting more of
the responsibility for paying for roads away from drivers and
onto the general population. An increased use of tolls, espe-
cially on the interstate highway system, has been discussed

as well, notes Sorensen. Tolling is generally prohibited on the
interstate system, and federal legislation would be required
to change matters. However, there is interest in that idea
and increasing pressure from states for the federal government to consider that possibility, says Sorensen.
In some locales, special taxes are being levied specically for transportation projects, notes Robert Puentes,
a senior fellow in the Brookings Institutions Metropolitan Policy Program in Washington, D.C. A good example of that
approach, notes Sorensen, is Measure R, which was approved by Los
Angeles County voters in 2008
to raise an estimated $40 billion
to address trafc and transportation issues in the coming decades.
States are also looking to private
capital or to partnerships with private rms to fund infrastructure
projects, Puentes adds. We see
states that are taking the lead to
raise their own resources, he explains. Although the traditional
transportation funding approach
was like a layer cake with the federal government on top, Puentes
says, its more like a marble cake
now, all mixed up.
Given the small but growing
presence of electric and hybrid vehicles on the nations roads, various
states have consideredand some
have enactedspecial taxes to partially replace the revenue lost because
such vehicles use little or no gasoline and thus pay little or no
gas tax. A $50 annual fee for the registration of plug-in vehicles
went into effect in Colorado this year, and Washington State
adopted a $100 fee for all-electric vehicles that takes effect this
month, although hybrid vehicles, which use both electricity and
gasoline, are exempt, along with certain other vehicles.
Taxes on electric cars can be controversial because many
state and local governments are encouraging drivers to purchase electric vehicles because of their environmental benets. Now it seems as though ecologically responsible drivers
are being singled out for punitive fees. But DiLoreto stresses
that two different issues are involved. The fact is, regardless
of what type of fuel you put in your vehicle, youre still using
up capacity, as well as putting wear and
tear on the transportation system, he
explains. So, while the environmental
aspects are great...we all have a responsibility as users to pay our fair share, regardless of what kind of fuel we put in
our vehicles.
CE
DRIVERS
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 at annual fee.
Reid
Robert L. Reid is the senior editor of Civil

Engineering.
FEBRUARY 2014
Safe
Passage
The 3,399 ft long, 41 ft wide fourth bore of Californias 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.
HE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO IS 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 Californias Contra Costa County with the Bay Areas Alameda
County and Oakland, opened its fourth bore on November
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 signicant lifeline
route to support logistics operations for the event, said Lori
Newquist, a spokesperson for the Governors Ofce 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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K A R L N I E L S E N , M E T R O P O L I TA N
T R A N S P O R TAT I O N C O M M I S S I O N , B O T H
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 trafc on
Route 24 at 4:10 AM, inset, on November 16,
2013. The doubly reinforced concrete constituting the nal lining of the
tunnel is 1 ft 3 in. thick.
Authority, and the Alameda County Transportation Commission. The San Francisco ofce
of the engineering rm 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
FEBRUARY 2014
PHOTOCREDIT GOES HERE
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 Tunnelsthe
Devils Slide tunnels in Pacicathe California Department
sign portion and some of the retaining walls.
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 signicant 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.
The size of the fourth bore, at 3,399 ft long, 26 ft high,
them, she explains, Caltrans and the consultants worked coland 41 ft wide, makes it Californias largest roadway tunnel
laboratively to develop the tunnel and roadway plans.
Were 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- dersone 10 ft wide and the other 2 ft widea 3 ft emerly successful project here in the state of Californiaa major gency walkway, and a 2 ft wide curb.
The bores cut through the Berkeley Hills, which encominfrastructure, $417-million project that was completed on
pass three primary rock formations that date to the Miocene
time and below budget.
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 trafc de- principal in the San Francisco ofce of Jacobs Associates,
mands. With an average daily trafc 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 trafc 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 efcient
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 trafc, so four lanes of ed the installation of the tunnel through the Sobrante Formation, a matrafc can remain open at all times in both waterproong and nal 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 tunnels top portion.
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 nal lining supported on large footings, Anderson says.
Good engineering also conferred economic benets. Our
design also allowed for load sharing between the initial
ground support and the nal 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 eld...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 eld.

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 [ber-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 nal 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 bers to improve the resistance to explosive concrete
spalling in the event of a severe re, according to Anderson.
Steel panels coated with porcelain enamel were attached to
the lower portion of the nal 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
were changing the designation...more to a recovery route,
he says. Were 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
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.
Slope movement was another important consideration.
time frame of construction, he notes, the design also encompassed 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 didnt want the slope behind
Tunnels are rarely signicantly 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 signicant active or potentially active fault
A severe re 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 conned 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 re and subsequent tunnel res in
and fourth bores were tied together structurally with the double the United States have resulted in updated National Fire Protection Association codes and standards, and the fourth bore has
layer of reinforcement and ties, according to Anderson.
The arch itself is a very efcient structural member, Ander- been designed to meet current nationwide codes, he says.
Although tunnel res may never be able to be completeson says. When you look at the moment interaction diagram,
even with the seismic loads on there, we dont exceed the capac- ly avoided inside tunnelsor anywhere, for that matter
ity of the arch system. So thats 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, Youve got to consider your buildings, and youve got damage of res and to safely evacuate the users of the tunto consider your walls also and anchoring down your equipment nel, Anderson says.
The entire roadway slopes 2 to 5 degrees
to handle these earthquake loads.
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 bafing basin to handle spills of hazardous
0885-7024/13-0011-0068/$30.00 PER ARTICLE
M E T R O P O L I TA N T R A N S P O R TAT I O N C O M M I S S I O N
T UNNEL C ROSS
S ECTION
liquids, according to Anderson. If you get a hazardous spill,

you want to get that liquid off the roadway as quick as possible. You dont want that pooling and to become more of a
source for the re, he says. The liquid passes through a narrow neck to the drainage system, which widens into a large
oval. The bafing system encloses liquid to trap and extinguish any ames that might be present. Thats 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 reghters entering and motorists exiting. The shape of the tunnel
was selected in large part because of its efciency 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
re 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 Countys 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 rm headquartered in New York City, and Gall Zeidler Consultants, a
global geotechnical engineering, tunnel engineering, and
construction rm headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, provided construction support to Caltrans
for the project.
Tutor-Saliba Corporation, an international contracting rm 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.
FEBRUARY 2014
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 clevisstyle, 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 nal deck elevations.
By Richard Schaefer, P.E.,
Theodore P. Ted Zoli, P.E.,
M.ASCE, and Ana Tatoris, P.E.
HE DELAWARE RIVER 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
ank 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 nal set piece in one
of the rst 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
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Delaware River

Turnpike Bridge boasts
14 open deck truss
spans with an average
length of 245 ft. The
spans ank a central
three-span arch truss,
including a 558 ft long
center suspended span.
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 bridges 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 rst 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 Internationals standard A603. The bridge
rope had clevis-style, single-pin connections at top and bottom support points.
Suspender ropes were arranged such that a
oor beam and its corresponding stringer
were supported with one suspender located
at each end of each oor beam.
While the single 4 in. diameter suspender rope was designed to be internally
redundant, its breaking-strength factor of
safety being 3.5, modications 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 trafc, 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 trafc
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
FEBRUARY 2014
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 anges so that they could be bolted
to the inclined gusset plate surfaces, above.
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 oor beams supported by the suspenders. These oor
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 oor beam web,
enormous eccentric load would be imparted to the oor beam if one of the
suspenders were to fail. The I-section
oor 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 oor 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
R. SCHAEFER, HNTB, TOP AND BOTTOM; L. ZIELINSKI, HNTB, CENTER
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 inltrate into the wire rope at various entry points along its height. Once
the inltrating 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 inltration 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-ngered 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 exible after initial cure, eventually harden from ultraviolet light exposure or the outgassing of plasticizer
agents. After the coating has hardened,
cracking on the exible 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.
R. SCHAEFER, HNTB, BOTH
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 Ofcials Standard Specications for Highway Bridges.
dling one suspender at a time.
This source, while dated, was warConversely, a new suspender arranted for use on this project because
rangement that could be fully inthe existing load rating and design
stalled while the existing single suscomputations for the structure had
pender remained in service would
not yet all been updated to reect the
make it possible for multiple crews
E XISTING F LOOR B EAM
current load and resistance factor ratto address several suspender locations
S USPENDER C ONFIGURATION
ing (LRFR) procedures.
simultaneously. The cost to fabricate 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 justied, 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 eld
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 t
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, signicantly
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 trafc was completed.
disruption, the projects 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 contractors work that otherwise would have
al strands 2 in. in diameter conforming to ASTM Internation- disrupted trafc. They also offset the cost of the replacement
als standard A586 were determined to be the most efcient suspender system by eliminating the temporary support
FEBRUARY 2014
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 ne-tune the nal loaded suspender length
in innitely small gradations.
Once the lower socket type had been determined, the nal
supporting retrot bracket was designed around its geometry.
The nal design bracket was based on an elegant but simple
structural tube arrangement rigidly bolted to the existing oor
beam web by means of heavy welded anges 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 nite-element model to locate and estimate the
magnitude of stress concentrations.
In March 2012 the New Jersey Turnpike Authority hired
the successful low bidderCornell & Company, Inc., of Westville, New Jerseyto serve as the contractor for the project. The
rm 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 specications followed the provisions of the sixth edition (2004) of the New Jersey Turnpike
Authoritys Standard Specications, and supplementary specications were written expressly for this work. The contractor elected to follow the suggested procedure, which is described below.
As a rst 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 Houstonwas 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
L. ZIELINSKI, HNTB
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 Authoritys practice
of maintaining an archive of shop drawings. This resource
provided a high degree of condence 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 anges so
that they could be bolted to the inclined gusset plate surfaces,
and they were geometrically congured 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 Socketsmanufactured by Clodfelter Bridge and
Structures International, Inc., of Houstonwere 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 nal 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 nal 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 nal 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.
foot of length. These tension readings were then used to calculate the anticipated elongation in the new suspenders in order
to determine the nal 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 suspenderson 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 ndings 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 suspenderdened as
the metallic cross-sectional area, A, multiplied by the Youngs
modulus, E, of the suspender steelis 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 projectWireCo WorldGroup, of Kansas City, Missouriconstructed the suspender sockets and the 2 in. diameter A586
suspender strands into nished 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 nding 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 specied 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
MOODYS NEW MAGIC

Plans to expand premium seating and amenities at Moody Coliseum, Southern Methodist Universitys basketball
stadium, required engineers to make signicant 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.
OR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, Moody Magic
has helped the Southern Methodist University

(SMU) mens basketball team post an impressive record on its home court, in Dallas. Opened in
December 1956 with a game that resulted in a remarkable 11336 victory over McMurry University, Moody Coliseum has hosted many high-prole events,
including National Collegiate Athletic Association regional
rounds, World Championship Tennis nals, 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 mens and womens 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 nancier 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 rm 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 stadiums 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-OBrien Construction, U.S.A., of Dallas,
performed the renovation work on the existing facility in 12
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. RogersOBrien 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 wideanged 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 specied
at 2,500 psi and the reinforcing steel at 40 ksiwell 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
THORNTON TOMASETTI, INC., ALL
Bringing Moody
Coliseum, opposite, up
to modern standards included
expanding the vomitories so
that each level would be more
accessible for all fans.
concrete. These modications 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 gure on page 74.)
The coliseums event level is sunk 12 ft below grade and
surrounded by a foundation wall that provided support for the
seating bowls 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 modication
required the demolition of the rst three rows of the seating
bowl, including the entire cantilevered portion, and the reconstruction of this area into a at surface devoid of the previous
seatings 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 supportsnamely, the foundation wall and the rst 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 signicant 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 modication 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 gure 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
modication 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 gure at the bottom of page 75.) In most
cases the top span of the three-span raker was cut off near the
rst interior column. The existing rakers 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 ange. The steel member needed to be designed both for strength, to carry the load of the concrete bowl
FEBRUARY 2014
N EW
C ONSTRUCTION
and the live load of the fans, and for stiffness, to ensure that the
modied raker would not experience objectionable cracking.
The connection to the existing concrete columns required 28
epoxy anchors 1 1/8 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 tubsthat is, the front seating row of the suiteswere
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 ofces
at the second level, and suitesincluding a public club space
and a terraceat the third level. The club space on the concourse level has large bays framed with 50 ft posttensioned
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 oor 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-OBrien 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 rst three rows of the 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 modication 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
rst row of columns back from the (Continued on Page 78)
N ORTH S IDE
D EMOLITION
FEBRUARY 2014
Books
Reviewed by Ray Bert
A Short History of the
Twentieth Century
By John Lukacs. Cambridge, 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
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 lling
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
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
dened 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 wars major
events and shifting tides,
and its aftermath.
The nal 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
rst 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 signicant 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.
The Future Is Not

What It Used to Be:
Climate Change and
Energy Scarcity
By Jrg Friedrichs. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
MIT Press, 2013; 223
pages; $26.95
HIS INTRIGUING book
addresses itself to both

of these inextricably intertwined topics explicitly and
equally. Author Jrg Friedrichs is a lecturer in international development at
the University of Oxford,
and his bookalthough re-
plete with research results

on climate stress and energy
or resource scarcity in the
pastdoes 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.
Friedrichss 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 scientic 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 Koreas totalitarian approach to dealing with the termination of
Soviet oil deliveries.
In all cases, Friedrichss
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
Friedrichss 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 planets benet? he asks.
Despite some encouraging examples...civilizations
overall record in managing
the environment is dismal.

Shores of Knowledge:
New World Discoveries
and the Scientic
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
Magellan is his favorite

explorer. George, ever the
contrarian, replies that he
prefers De Soto, who discovered the Mississippi.
Oh, like they wouldnt
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.) Ofcially
kicked off by Christopher
Columbuss discovery of the
New World and stretching
across three centuries to include Charles Darwins voyages, this crucial period was
an earlier (and slower) era of
globalization, the crisscross-
ing routes of oceangoing

ships in a sense playing the
role that the Internet does
today.
Shores of Knowledge pays
particular attention not
just to pure explorers
but also to naturalists, scientists, and writers who
played key roles, as well as
to the effects on science in
general of all the myriad
discoveries. After all, Columbus brought back not
just gold, slaves, and news
of new lands but also unknown species of birds and
plants, reigniting interest in natural science. And
after that, as author Joyce
Appleby, Ph.D., puts it, a
succession of amateur investigators laid the foundation for the modern life
sciences, culminating in
Darwin, who was essentially a scientist and explorer.
Appleby is an emeritus professor of history at
the University of California
at Los Angeles with eight
other books to her credit
on subjects ranging from
Thomas Jefferson to the
history of capitalism. She
notes that much of Europe
had until these discoveries been, for a millennium
or more, largely isolationist
and incurious about other
parts of the world. The discoveries and the research
and science that followed
from them, however, vaulted Europe ahead to a new
and formidable position
that it would long hold.
Accessibly written, Shores
of Knowledge is likely for
many readers to breathe
welcome new life and detail into half-remembered
scraps of information from
their school years.
Love & Math: The Heart of

Hidden Reality
By Edward Frenkel. New
York City: Basic Books,
2013; 292 pages; $27.99
S JOHN NASH says in
the lm A Beautiful Mind,

It is only in the mysterious equations of love that
any logic or reasons can be
found.
The mathematician celebrated in that 2001 Oscarwinning lm was speaking
thread comprises his autobiographical accounts of

his upbringing, his introduction to and love affair
with mathematics, and the
obstacles he had to overcome in his native Russia,
including anti-Semitism,
in pursuing his passion.
By writing movingly of
the encouragement he received from his parents and
mentors, Frenkel means to
connect with any reader,
whether mathematically
inclined or not, by invoking the sense of wonder
that each of us has about
something.
The other thread, of
course, is about the wonders
of math, and here Frenkel is
uniquely qualied to present
what most would assume to
be hopelessly complex ideas,
formulas, and mathematical concepts for consumption by the masses. Since
earning his doctorate from
Harvard in just one year and
becoming a full professor at
the University of California
at Berkeley at the tender age
of 28, Frenkel has become
one of the worlds leading
mathematicians.
In an apt metaphor quoted in a Wall Street Journal
article, Frenkel describes
the way many people learn
math as being akin to an
art class where they only tell
you how to paint a fence but
they never show you Picasso.... People say,
Im bad at math,
but what theyre
really saying is, I
was bad at painting the fence. CE
to and of the wife who had

long stood by his side. Yet
the core ideathat mathematics, like love, suffuses and affects virtually everything in our worldis
one that only sporadically
bubbles to anywhere near
the top of our cultural stew.
Love & Math: The Heart of
Hidden Reality, by the celebrated mathematician Edward Frenkel, Ph.D., can
be counted as
another welcome
instance of this
notion.
Frenkels book
is, quite deliberately, two stories
that complement
and reinforce
Bert
each other. One
FEBRUARY 2014
Ray Bert is a contributing editor to

Civil Engineering.
Moodys New Magic
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
event area also were hung from the existing roof.
columns were analyzed for the new condition, and
The rigging loads were specied at 50,000 lb.
the engineers determined that no additional reinforcing 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 schools 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 ying beamsthat 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 ying beams by wrapping
ton Tomasetti and 360 Architecture, along with
them in concrete and reinforcement. Then a new
Rogers-OBrien, have transformed Moody Colat 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 sufcient 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 rms Dallas ofce.
Switching Suspenders
adjustment. The ability to ne-tune the nal length of each

suspender enables the contractor to more accurately balance
loads in multiple suspender arrays. Furthermore, such netuning also facilitates, with a minimum of effort, adjustments
CE
necessitated by unanticipated eld conditions.
(Continued from Page 71) required for the work, and fabrication of custom support brackets and modications to the
existing structure were needed. However, it should be noted
that the more extensive retrot 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 ofce 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 HNTBs
the bulk of the projects comnational chief bridge engineer
plex work was performed eiand also works in the New York
ther in the shop or off-line in
City ofce. Ana Tatoris, P.E., is
the eld. An in-kind replacea 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 eld 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 Designthoritys 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
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UNIVERSITY POSITIONS AVAILABLE
THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, Environmental and

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
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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
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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 activities. A professional engineers and/or surveyors 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 lled. 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 ofcial 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 (ksobhan@fau.edu), 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 eld of construction engineering. Candidates will be considered for appointment at the assistant or associate
professor level based on experience and qualications. 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 nal 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 beneting from the college and universitys 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 eld. 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 lled. 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
(eback@eng.ua.edu). The University of Alabama
is an equal opportunity afrmative action employer.
Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
THE DIVISION OF ENGINEERING and Applied Science
at the California Institute of Technology invites ap-
pl
plications for a tenure-track faculty position in the
D
Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering.
We are interested in applicants from a broad range
W
of research areas related to earthquakes. Specic
areas include, but are not limited to, structural enar
gineering, sensing and control, systems engineergi
ing, geomechanics, risk analysis, and areas on the
in
boundary between earthquake engineering and
bo
geoscience. The search is aimed at the assistant
ge
professor level, but exceptionally well-qualied appr
pl
plicants may be considered at the associate or
fu
full professor levels. Interested applicants should
su
submit an electronic application at (https://appli
ca
cations.caltech.edu/job/earthquake_eng). Review
of applications will continue until the position is
l
lled. The term of the initial appointment at the assi
sistant professor level is normally 4 years, with
ap
appointment contingent upon completion of a Ph.D.
de
degree in a relevant eld. The California Institute
of Technology is an equal-opportunity/afrmativeac
action employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and
di
disabled persons are encouraged to apply.
TE
TEN PROVOST PROFESSORSHIPS in engineering
an
and computer science The University of Central
Fl
Florida (UCF) announces multiple Provost Professo
sorships to be lled by the College of Engineering
an
and Computer Science (CECS). The Provost Profe
fessorship is accompanied with a yearly allocation
of discretionary funds to facilitate the candidates
ex
expected extraordinary research productivity. We
ar
are seeking outstanding candidates in all discipl
plines associated with the colleges research missi
sion and are especially interested in candidates
w
who work across academic elds both within and
| 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. Specic
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;
trafc engineering; transportation data analysis and visualization; and advanced modeling
methods and applications (e.g., travel behavior, travel demand, trafc operations, and logistics). Requirements for this position include
bachelors 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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AREER C ONNECTIONS
Tenure-Track Faculty Position (#4525) in

Structural Engineering
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
EPICs 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 colleges 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 colleges research funding and
scholarly productivity. Specic 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 nations 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 masters, 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 lled. 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 elds at the time of appointment, and be
qualied to teach undergraduate and graduate
engineering courses. Candidates must have a
superior record of scholarship and demonstrate
a strong potential to develop an externally funded research group. To promote interdisciplinary
research, the department seeks candidates ca-
pable of, and experienced with, interdisciplinary

collaboration in elds 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 qualications, 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 lled. 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 qualied 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.
| C AREER C ONNECTIONS
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FEBRUARY 2014
The Law
Government Liable to Designer/Builder
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 sufciency of its designand the
differing site conditions clause. A recent case, Drennon Construction & Consulting, 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 rm, 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 USKHs
drawings. The road needed to be shift-
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 led 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 projects 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, nding that the departments 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 awed 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.
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 contractornanced 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 signicantly 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 nes 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
nes, 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-strategies.com), President and Chief Executive Ofcer, Capital Project Strategies, LLC, Reston,
Virginia; Lauren P. McLaughlin (lmclaughlin@briglialaw.com), Attorney, Briglia
McLaughlin, PLLC, Vienna, Virginia.

Civil Engineering Magazine ASCE

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Civil Engineering

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