U I S I A N A SEC L O TI O N CIVIL ENGINEER ACADIANA ... · volume 10 • number 4 august 2002 the...

Volume 10 • Number 4 August 2002

THE LOUISIANACIVIL ENGINEER

ACADIANA BRANCH • BATON ROUGE BRANCHNEW ORLEANS BRANCH • SHREVEPORT BRANCH

Journal of The Louisiana Section

LO

UIS

IANA SECTION

1914

INSIDE:Announcement and Registration for2002 Annual Meeting in New OrleansSeptember 13, 2002

Announcement and Registration for2002 Louisiana Civil EngineeringConference and Show in KennerSeptember 12-13, 2002

FEATURE:Tulane University:Pioneer in prestressed concrete

FUTURE:Baton Rouge Branch will host2003 Annual Spring Meetingand Conference

2 THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / AUGUST 2002

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South Louisiana SalesMike Jackson

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Manhole Sales-LouisianaPat Tomeny

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THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / AUGUST 2002 3

THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEERCONTENTSPresident’s Message ........................................................................4Tulane University:Pioneer in prestressed concrete.......................................................5News from the Branches.................................................................8Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show:

Announcement .........................................................................12Registration Form.....................................................................13Program...............................................................................14-15

Student Chapter News...................................................................16Section News and Information......................................................17Innovative mortgages can help maximize wealth creation ...........19Editor’s Journal........................................................................20-21Professional Listings................................................................24-26Services and Suppliers.........................................................2, 26-28

LOUISIANA SECTION • AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

Louisiana Engineering Center • 9643 Brookline Ave. • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809 • (888) 806-1633 or (225) 923-1662SECTION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PresidentMark W. Snow, PE

Aillet, Fenner, Jolly & McClelland, Inc.President-Elect

Charles L. Eustis, PELouis J. Capozzoli & Associates

Vice PresidentPamela G. Miller, PE

Dubroc Engineering, Inc.Secretary-Treasurer

Barbara E. Featherston, PEAillet, Fenner, Jolly & McClelland, Inc.

Past PresidentMiles B. Bingham, PE

URS CorporationDirectors-at-Large

Timothy M. Ruppert, PEMorphy, Makofsky, Inc.

Barry J. Bleichner, PEC.H. Fenstermaker & Assoociates

Thomas A. Stephens, PEStephens Engineering

Ali M. Mustapha, PECity of Shreveport

Assigned Branch DirectorsChristopher P. Knotts

Louisiana DNRNorma Jean Mattei, PE

University of New OrleansBranch Directors

Glenn McCall, PEC.H. Fenstermaker & Assoociates

Roy A. Waggenspack, PEOwen and White,Inc.

Reda M. Bakeer, PETulane University

Rasoul Nazermalek, PEAlliance, Inc.

SECTION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIRSEngineering Management Group

Om P. Dixit, PEDMJM+HARRIS, Inc.

Public Relations CommitteeAli M. Mustapha, PE

City of ShreveportYounger Member Committee

Rebecca R. Johnson, PEDow Chemical

BRANCH OFFICERSAcadiana Branch

PresidentGlenn McCall, PE

C.H. Fenstermaker & AssoociatesPresident-Elect

Larry A. Cramer, PESellers and Associates

Vice PresidentJohn E. Bosch, PE

Lafayette Consolidated Government

PUBLICATION COMMITTEE:Charles L. Eustis, PE, Chair (225) 293-2460James C. Porter, PE, Editor (225) 274-4107

PUBLISHER:Franklin Press, Inc., Baton Rouge, LA

The Louisiana Civil Engineer quarterly journal is an official publicationof the Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineerswith an average circulation of approximately 2000. The Section neitherguarantees the accuracy of statements made nor necessarily concurswith the opinions expressed in this publication. Please submit letters tothe editor and articles for consideration to be published by e-mail to [email protected], by facsimile to (225) 274-4160, or by mail tothe Publications Committee c/o James C. Porter, PE • 2608 TerraceAvenue • Baton Rouge, LA 70806-6868.

SecretaryDax A. Douet, EI

C.H. Fenstermaker & AssoociatesTreasurer

Kimberly D. Landry, EILafayette Consolidated Government

Past PresidentJan C. Robichaux, PE

Southern Structures, Inc.Baton Rouge Branch

PresidentRoy A. Waggenspack, PE

Owen and White, Inc.President-Elect

J. Keith Shackleford, PEChenevert Songy Rodi Soderberg, Inc.

Vice PresidentDavid M. Burkholder, PE

Louisiana DNRSecretary-Treasurer

André M. Rodrigue, EIABMB Engineers, Inc.

Thomas A. Stephens, PEStephens Engineering

DirectorsThomas T. Roberts, EI

Waskey Bridges, Inc.Daniel C. Peters, PE

SBJ Group, Inc.Jesse T. Thompson, EI

C-K Associates, Inc.New Orleans Branch

PresidentReda M. Bakeer, PE

Tulane UniversityPresident-Elect

Daniel L. Bolinger, PEDMJM+HARRIS, Inc.

VicePresidentChristopher G. Humphreys, PE

Professional Service, Inc.Secretary

William H. Sewell, Jr, PECity of New Orleans

TreasurerDeborah D. Keller, PE

Port of New OrleansPast President

Norma Jean Mattei, PEUniversity of New Orleans

DirectorsGustave (Gus) S. Cantrell, PE

University of New OrleansChristopher L. Sanchez, EI

Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, Inc.Shreveport Branch

PresidentRasoul Nazermalek, PE

Alliance, Incorporated

President-ElectJoe E. “Butch” Ford, Jr., PE

Professional Service, Inc.Vice President

C. Eric Hudson, EIAlliance, Incorporated

Secretary-TreasurerKurt M. Nixon, EI

Smith and Raley, Inc.Past President

Ali M. Mustapha, PECity of Shreveport

BRANCH TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIRSBaton Rouge

StructuresDanny J. DeVille, PE

McKee and DeVilleGeotechnical

Kenneth A. Fluker, PESoil Sesting Engineers, Inc.

EnvironmentalBrant B. Richard, PE

SBJ Group, Inc.Management

Michael N. Dooley, PESigma Consulting Group, Inc.

PipelineJoe G. Richard, Jr., PE

TransportationP. Brian Wolshon, PE

LSU Baton RougeWater Resources

Morris Sade, PEMIRAJ ENVIROTECK, Inc.

New OrleansStructures

John A. Crutti, Sr., PEJ. Ray McDermott, Inc.

GeotechnicalPeter R. Cali, PE

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersEnvironmental

Glen R. Boyd, PETulane University

STUDENT CHAPTERS IN THELOUISIANA SECTION

Presidents/Faculty AdvisorsLSU Melanie Lestelle

Mohamed Alawady, PEULL Eddie Leblanc

Ehab A. Meselhe, PEUNO Katelyn Ermon

Gianna CothernLa.Tech Leslie Falgout

Norman D. Pumphrey, Jr., PETulane Aurora Luscher

John H. Grubbs, PESouthern David Guillory

Chukwu OnuMcNeese Cary Farber

Janardanan (Jay) O. Uppot, PE

The Louisiana Section is located in ASCE Zone II, District 14.Zone II consists of Districts 6, 7, 9, 10 and 14. District 14 consistsof the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia Sections.

Section Delegates to District 14 CouncilMiles B. Bingham, PE Timothy M. Rupert, PE Ralph W. Junius, PEURS Corporation Morphy, Makofsky, Inc. Linfield, Hunter and Junius, Inc.


President’s MessageMark W. Snow, PE

Well the time has come for the annual swansong President’s message. Generally, thePresident provides a compilation of this year’sactivities in the last message. However, since Ihave covered our activities in detail in the lasttwo messages, I decided not to be redundant andask you to refer to the last two President’s mes-sages for the summary of the Section’s events.

With the conclusion of the Section AnnualMeeting and Awards Banquet in New Orleans inSeptember, my duties as President will official-ly end. I look forward to the transition withmixed feelings. While I will be happy to regainthe time that I once had for personal and workrelated activities, there will be regret because ofthe unfulfilled goals and a little sadness that Iwill not get to see some of the friends that I havemade over the years who will be rotating off ofthe Section Board. I look forward to serving asPast President next year. It will give me theopportunity to complete some of the unfinishedtasks from this year and to assist the next Boardin establishing and pursuing next year’s goalsand the resulting programs.

As it is customary but no less important andwell deserved, I wish to thank this year’s offi-cers and committee chairs for the jobs welldone. The credit for most of the Section’s suc-cess during this administrative year is theirs.Please join me in thanking these energetic menand women who unselfishly sacrificed and gaveof their time and talents to further the causes andprograms of our society and profession. I alsofeel confident that next year’s leadership will beas strong and as capable as any we have had andthat they will continue the tradition of able,effective and professional leadership. I urge youto be willing to support them and to be preparedto participate in the Section’s leadership if calledon as you and your predecessors have been will-ing in the past.

As my term ends, I am happy to report thatthe Section is as strong as ever. It is financiallysound. The Section and the branches have spon-sored and/or hosted continuing education semi-nars and regular membership meetings that con-tinue to meet the needs of our members, and thepublic outreach programs are developing andare as strong as ever. Our journal continues tobe top notch and we now have a Section websitethat will serve as an important information andcommunication tool. Once again, these effortsand their success are due to those who volunteerand serve as leaders and participants.

The Section has a rare opportunity that Ihope we are able take advantage of in the com-ing year. As most of you are aware, Thomas L.Jackson, PE, next year’s National ASCEPresident, is also a member of the Section. Ihope that we will use this connection we havethrough him to effectively project the Section’sconcerns and input to the National level when itis appropriate to do so. But let’s not stop there.I also ask that you give Tom your support andprayers.

As I reflected back on this administrativeyear, many things came to mind. I thought

about the many significant and not so significantevents that had occurred in the world, in ourcountry, in our society, and in our personal lives.Some of these events have brought great joy andpride while others have brought great pain andsadness. Some of the events seemed easilyunderstood while others brought confusion.

I believe it is healthy to reflect on pastevents through the filter of time and draw fromthem the valuable lessons we can. So in the lastwords of this message, I beg for your indulgenceto allow me to share some of my personalthoughts, beliefs and experiences and the les-sons that I have drawn from them.

I believe that when selecting leaders andparticipants, whether it be for a political office,or a society or a club, that traits such as honesty,integrity, character, morality, competency andconviction truly matter. We should elect leaderswho we believe care more about what is goodfor the whole of our organization and act on itaccordingly rather than cater to the interests ofjust a select few individuals or pursue a selfishpersonal agenda. We owe it to ourselves to seekout qualified moral leaders and support themwith our time, resources and prayers. We havelearned recently that when tough times come

and hard decisions must be made, we need indi-viduals who judiciously use their power of con-viction and wisdom to make the tough choicesand who do not blindly depend on such things asopinion polls.

I believe that we need to remain a nationunder God. In the past few months, there hasbeen great turmoil and debate on keeping thesewords in the Pledge of Allegiance to the UnitedStates. As I look back on the events of the pastyear, I shudder to think where we would be if notfor the divine guidance that helped so many ofus through the trauma of these events and com-forted us in the aftermath.

While I agree that we need to remain anation where freedom of religion is a matter ofpersonal choice, I believe that our courts may belaboring under a basic misinterpretation of theoriginal spirit and intent of the FirstAmendment. I believe its intent was to preventour government from creating a state-sponsoredreligion. I do not believe that its intent was tokeep religious beliefs and what is basically goodabout us as citizens from influencing our gov-ernment and our public life. I believe that ourgovernment and laws were established andshould continue to be influenced through our

collective religious belief systems — notdivorced from them.

I also believe that if we are to survive as anation, we must care about the welfare of othersand seek opportunities to help those in need andact on the opportunities. We must be involvedwith societies, activities and groups whose intentis to make the world a better place or correct awrong. I remember a statement made by aFrenchman visiting the United States. He saidthat America is great because America is goodand when America ceases to be good it will stopbeing great. Similarly, I believe that our collec-tive goodness is one of the reasons we have beenblessed. However, I also feel that if we lose ourgoodness and moral fortitude, then our cultureand country will fall into decay. Therefore, Ibelieve it is the duty of every American to helpothers and always do the right thing.

Well, I do not want to get any more preachy,but I am not ashamed of my beliefs and I felt ledto share some of them with you not to offend butto connect. So in closing, I would like to againthank you for the opportunity to serve as yourSection President and entreat you to give yoursupport to next year’s Section and Branch offi-cers and committee chairs. I wish you, yourcompanies and your families success and happi-ness in the coming year.

About the cover:The high level bridge over Pass Manchac

pictured once carried Louisiana state route US51 and now carries the service road for interstateroute I-55. It is an early example (circa 1957) ofthe use of prestressed concrete cylinder piles inbridge pile bents. They were marketed by theRaymond Pile Company and the subject of theearly research work at Tulane University thatincluded structural testing of full-size specimens.Their use was an outgrowth of the confidencegained in their structural integrity demonstratedby the Tulane research — the subject of the fea-ture article in this issue. Editor’s note — An aer-ial photograph of the partially collapsed mainspan of this bridge following a marine collisionappeared on the cover of the August 1999 issue.It was in conjunction with the feature article inthat issue, “Vessel collision vulnerability ofbridges.”

...when selecting leaders andparticipants, whether it be for apolitical office, or a society or aclub...traits such as honesty,integrity, character, morality, com-petency and conviction truly mat-ter...

IntroductionThere is a continuous thread of prestressed

concrete research and development involvingmembers of the Tulane family — faculty, stu-dents, alumni, and friends — that began, more orless, in 1937. The history of the research anddevelopment of precast prestressed concrete inAmerica is as much about the individuals thatpursued it as it is about the specific develop-ments. The details of this history and its signifi-cance to the industry in general, and to Louisianaand the Tulane family in particular, is tracedherein.

Chronology of prestressed concrete research

1937-1939 the Raymond Concrete Pile Companyinitiates prestressed concrete research analysisand testing.

Maxwell Mayhew Upson went to Europe in1937 to satisfy his curiosity about a developingmaterial application called prestressed concrete.It was concrete considered to be free of cracksbecause of initial precompression induced inconcrete by embedded high strength steel ten-sioned to a high level of stress. On his return tothe United States, Upson addressed his concernsrelative to the possible corrosion of the highstrength steel, and its ability to sustain the highlevel tensile stresses over a prolonged period oftime. He did this by fabricating and placing pre-cast prestressed concrete structural elements inthe tidal zone of New York City harbor in 1939.This work was done by Upson’s firm, theRaymond Concrete Pile Company — a distin-guished international construction company forwhich Upson served as Chairman of the Board.There is reason to believe that the 1939 installa-tion to determine the possible long-term effectson precast prestressed concrete elements markedthe first structural use of prestressed concrete inAmerica.

1940-1950 Precast prestressed concrete sheetpiling tested at Tulane.

Upson’s efforts to monitor the long-termbehavior of precast prestressed concrete wereinterrupted by World War II, while the RaymondCompany and its resources were refocused onthe war effort. During this period, however,Upson correctly foresaw that a crackfree corro-sion-resistant material could be successfullymarketed in the offshore construction industry.As soon as hostilities ceased in the Gulf ofMexico and in the Caribbean Sea, including LakeMaracaibo, Upson launched an aggressiveresearch and development program headquar-tered in New Orleans because of its close prox-imity to the offshore activities in the Gulf of

Mexico.Upson’s decision to headquarter the research

and development activities in New Orleansproved to be fortuitous for Tulane University.Almost immediately a natural team came togeth-er. Through the joint efforts of Walter E. Blessey,a Professor of Civil Engineering at Tulane;Henry F. LeMieux, the New Orleans DistrictManager for the Raymond Company; friends andcolleagues from their university days at Tulane,and Upson some of the pioneering tests on pre-stressed concrete were conducted on precast pre-stressed concrete sheet piles in the laboratory ofTulane’s Civil Engineering Department. The late1940s and early 1950s have been described as theonce-in-a-lifetime golden age of the beginning ofprestressed concrete in America, and the resultsof Tulane’s pioneering research gave impetus tothis age.

1950-1960 Post-tensioned segmental prestressedconcrete cylinder pile tests at Tulane; prestressedconcrete cylinder pile dynamic pendulum testsresearch; development related to world’s longestbridge; prestressed concrete research related tooffshore construction.

In the decade following Tulane’s pioneeringeffort, prestressed concrete gained rapid accept-ance as a construction material, with hundreds ofoffshore structures being built of prestressed con-crete in the Gulf of Mexico and in LakeMaracaibo. The Raymond Company hademployed Robert N. Bruce, Jr., one of ProfessorBlessey’s students, to participate in the develop-ment and marketing of the Raymond Company’sprestressed concrete cylinder piles. These pileswere marketed to be utilized in bridges, docks,breakwaters, and other marine structures.Notable structures to use prestressed concretecylinder piles include the high-level bridge car-rying Louisiana state route US 51 over PassManchac, the Lake Pontchartrain Causewaybridge, the Pensacola Bay Bridge, and theChesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Crossing.

The continuing research and developmentsupporting the design and construction for theseand other projects involved the Tulane engineer-ing faculty, alumni, and students. In the sametime frame, much of the Raymond Company’sresearch, development, and analysis was con-ducted at Tulane utilizing its experimental testframe shown in Figure 1 and sponsored by theSociety of Tulane Engineers in 1953.

Early research at Tulane involved flexuraltesting of prestressed concrete cylinder piles inconnection with its proposed use in the LakePontchartrain Causeway bridge substructure, andshear testing of the same type of pile for its pos-sible use by the Bay Area Rapid Transit

Authority in San Francisco. As the RaymondCompany’s research interest continued, newinterest was demonstrated by the LouisianaDepartment of Highways and the U.S. Bureau ofPublic Roads resulting in the use of prestressedconcrete cylinder piles in the construction of thePass Manchac bridge shown in Figure 2 and onthe cover of this issue.

1960-1970 Weapons effects on conventionalstructures; prestressed concrete shear behaviorof 50ft pretensioned prestressed concrete bridgegirders; prestressed stirrups in pretensioned pre-stressed concrete beams.

In the 1960s, Tulane’s civil engineering fac-ulty embarked on a four-decade effort of pre-stressed concrete research, that continues to thepresent. Some of the initial research in this peri-od was sponsored by the U.S. Department ofDefense and it involved analytical research relat-ed to the effects of nuclear weapons on conven-tional structures located beyond the range of theimmediate effects.

Reinforced and prestressed concrete wereexamined for their response to the effects of anuclear detonation in terms of their shieldingcapacity, their ductility and toughness in resistingblast and ground shock loads, and their structur-al behavior resulting from the thermal effects.Part of the nationwide research included a con-tinuing effort led by Tulane’s School ofEngineering which included experts from theUniversities of Minnesota, Wisconsin, andMiami.

The philosophy of testing prestressed con-crete at Tulane evolved around Belgium’sfamous Professor Gustave Magnel, who stated,“If you want to derive meaningful conclusions,perform your tests on real big beams, not toys of3' or 4' long, 2" or 3" deep, which I call confi-dential beams.” Magnel had spoken at Tulane in1954, and the influence of his observationremained. Consequently, the investigation ofshear behavior of prestressed concrete bridge


Tulane University: Pioneer in prestressed concreteBy Robert N. Bruce, Jr., PE

Robert N. Bruce, Jr., PE, earned his BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Tulane University and his PhD from the University of Illinois.After initial employment in industry Bruce returned to Tulane where he is a professor in the Civil Engineering Department. He currently holds theCatherine and Henry Boh Chair in Civil Engineering at Tulane. Bruce has received numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments in engineer-ing, including the Prestressed Concrete Institute Martin Korn Award, the Engineering News-Record Medal for Research, the Louisiana EngineeringFoundation Professionalism Award, the Federal Highway Administration Plaque of Recognition and the Society of Tulane Engineers Award for TeachingExcellence. Editor’s note — This article was adapted from the author’s Catherine and Henry Boh Lecture paper titled “Tulane University Pioneer inPrestressed Concrete” scheduled to be presented in September 2001.


girders was initiated involving the testing of 50'full-size prestressed concrete girders weighing15 tons each. The girders were tested in flexureand shear, with loads applied by hydraulic jacksreacting against Tulane’s experimental test frameas shown in Figure 1.

An interesting aspect of this research wasthat the test specimens were prestressed vertical-ly as well as longitudinally in an attempt toincrease their shear resistance. Thirteen speci-mens were tested, leading to methodologies forthe prediction of shear strength, and leading tothe conclusion that vertical prestressing did notincrease the strength of the tested specimens.

Tulane engineering students involved in thisproject included John J. Housey Jr., John C.Stone III, Jack H. Rau, and David P. Gustafson.Gustafson is presently Vice President ofEngineering for the Concrete Reinforcing SteelInstitute located in Schaumburg, Illinois.

1970-1980 Blanketed prestressing steel strandsin 50' pretensioned prestressed concrete bridgegirders; analysis and testing of driving splices inpretensioned prestressed concrete piles; fatiguebehavior of pretensioned prestressed concretegirders.

In the 1970s, several major research investi-gations ensued. One project involved exploringthe feasibility of eliminating the need for drapedstrands in prestressed concrete girders by usingstraight strands with certain unbonded or blan-

keted lengths from the ends of the girder creatingso-called phantom draped strands. The effect ofthe phantom draped strands on the flexuralstrength and behavior of the test girders was theessence of the investigation. Nine girders weretested; 6 halfscale girders at 34' in length, and 3full-size girders at 50' in length were fabricatedand tested.

Students involved in the project includedCharles H. McGee, Daniel B. Nash, StevenCriste, David Hebert, Rodney Vincent, and JohnDane III. Dane is presently serving as Presidentand Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Yachts,LLC.

Concurrently with the project exploring thefeasibility of eliminating the need for drapedstrands was an investigation into driving splicesfor prestressed concrete piles. It involved theanalysis of the 20 different types of pile splicesthen available on the international market ofwhich the basic types are demonstrated in Figure3. Certain of these splices were selected for test-ing. As a result of the investigation, three spe-cific pile splices — the Herkules mechanicalsplice, the Anderson sleeve splice, and the dowelor the cement-dowel splice schematicallydemonstrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6 respectively— were recommended to the LouisianaDepartment of Highways and to the FederalHighway Administration for use as drivingsplices in bridge construction. The recommen-dation was predicated heavily on providing a

driving splice where the splice is made during apause in the pile driving operations where thefirst pile segment is driven before pausing tomake the splice.

The Tulane students involved in the investi-gation included John Dane III, Gerald W.Hanafy, Charles H. McGee, Robert J.Motchkavitz, Daniel B. Nash, and David C.Hebert. Hebert is presently the Vice Presidentand Chief Ports Engineer for CH2M Hill inSanta Ana, California.

Since all of the tests at Tulane up to this timeperformed on the prestressed girders had beenstatic loads, it was recommended to the sponsorsthat repetitive load effects be investigated to sim-ulate highway bridge traffic and eliminate con-cerns about possible fatigue failure. These testsinvolved 50' full-size girders subjected to 5 mil-lion cycles of repeated loading between deadload and dead load plus live load to determinethe effect on fatigue and strength behavior of thebond transfer zone for the blanketed strands.The proposal was accepted and funded by theLouisiana Department of Transportation andDevelopment, and by the Federal HighwayAdministration.

Since Tulane’s experimental test frame waslocated outside and it was desirable to have aninside testing facility to control temperature,humidity, and other environmental conditions toaccommodate the sensitive instrumentationrequired for fatigue testing, an agreement was

Figure 1. (Top Left) Type III test girder in the experimental test frame at the Tulane testing facility. Figure 2. (Bottom Left) State route US 51 high-risebridge over the navigable channel at Pass Manchac. Figure 3. (Right) Basic types of pile splices available.


reached between Tulane and the PortlandCement Association to use the PCA’sConstruction Technology Laboratories in Skokie,Illinois. This resulted in a close collaborationbetween Tulane and PCA/CTL that has lasted 25years.

The project involved fatigue tests of full sizeprestressed concrete girders that were a directoutgrowth of the static tests conducted at Tulaneby Dane and Bruce. There were 6 full size 50'girders fabricated and tested in the PCA/CTLlaboratory as shown in Figure 7 to determine theeffect of repetitive loading on the fatigue andstrength behavior of girders with either draped orblanketed strands.

The research indicated that blanketed strandscould be used successfully, but also recommend-ed that further research was needed to determinefatigue properties of strands. This project wasrecognized nationally by receiving the Martin P.Korn Award for research from the PrestressedConcrete Institute.

1980-1990 Fatigue behavior of pretensioned pre-stressed concrete bridge girders; intermixed steeland prestressed concrete bridge girders; pre-stressed concrete piles spliced with ABB spliceunits; fatigue life of partially prestressed con-crete bridge girders.

Tulane was involved in a new investigationof the fatigue behavior of prestressed concretebridge girders designed in part to address unre-solved questions raised by the previous investi-gation. This dealt with the characteristic brittlefatigue failure of prestressing steel strandsdemonstrated in Figures 8, 9 and 10. The newinvestigation was a collaborative effort betweenthe states of Texas and Louisiana, with the testsof the full size 50' prestressed concrete girderstaking place in the Ferguson Testing Laboratoryat the University of Texas in Austin. The inves-tigation served to increase the state of knowledgeconcerning fatigue strength and behavior of largebridge girders.

In another investigation the Bonnabel over-pass, an existing bridge in Metairie, Louisiana,was investigated. It had been originally con-structed using composite steel girders and laterwidened using composite prestressed concretegirders. Fully prestressed concrete girdersundergo camber growth with time that lifts thecast-in-place, reinforced concrete roadway slabthey support. Since steel girders do not experi-ence camber growth and the roadway slab of thewidened portion is cast integrally with the origi-nal cast-in-place, reinforced concrete roadwayslab, the widened portion tends to lift the originalroadway slab up and off of the adjacent steel

girders supporting the original portion of thebridge.

Part of the investigation involved loadingone of the Bonnabel overpass spans with aknown permit overweight vehicle that wouldcause measurable deflections. Since theBonnabel overpass was part of the urban inter-state system, the highway could only be closedfor testing between midnight and 3:00 am to per-mit loading and data collection. The project wasa collaboration between Tulane’s CivilEngineering and Mechanical EngineeringDepartments. The Mechanical EngineeringDepartment’s faculty involved were James C.O’Hara and P. Michael Lynch.

During this decade, research and testing ofprestressed concrete piles spliced with ABB unitswere conducted under the sponsorship of aScandinavian firm, the Abetong-Sabema A-JointCorporation. Some of the tests were conductedin the fabrication facility of Gulf Coast PrestressCompany in Pass Christian, Mississippi; andsome of the tests were conducted in the TalbotLaboratory at the University of Illinois inUrbana, Illinois. The Illinois tests were conduct-ed by William Gamble. The Tulane engineeringstudent involved in the project was EdwardScheuermann, who was the recipient of the first

(Continued on Page 22)

Figure 4. Mechanical pile splice. Figure 5. Sleeve pile splice. Figure 6. Dowel or cement-dowel pile splice.

Figure 8. Characteristic ductile fracture of a7-wire steel strand for prestressed concrete.

Figure 9. Characteristic brittle fracture of a7-wire steel strand for prestressed concrete.

Figure 10. Characteristic combined brittle andductile fracture of a 7-wire steel strand forprestressed concrete.

Branch members — I hope all of you haveenjoyed the summer. Typically, the summermonths provide a well earned break for theBranch Board after nine months of hard work inservice to the Branch. This summer is no differ-ent. The Branch hosted the very successful 2002Section Annual Spring Meeting and Conferencein Lafayette. With substantial resources comingfrom the members of the Board in support of theConference, they have stepped back to catch theirbreath, renew their energy and then begin prepar-ing for the upcoming administrative year thatbegins in September.

Congratulations go out to our Branch mem-ber, Patrick J. Landry, who was nominated andelected during the Section’s Annual SpringMeeting to serve on the Section Board ofDirectors as a Director-at-Large. Pat, a PastPresident of the Acadiana Branch, is employedby the Louisiana Department of NaturalResources, and has served as a Section commit-tee chair. His addition to the Section Board willcontinue the tradition of successful support pro-

vided to the Section by our Branch leadership.Many of the Programs that the Acadiana

Branch initiated in the Fall have been successful-ly completed. Currently, one of these programsthat has not been completed is the planned bookdonation to the Lafayette Parish public schoolsthrough the Parish School Board. The AcadianaBranch submitted copies of selected, age-appro-priate books about civil engineering to the SchoolBoard a couple of months ago, and we anticipatereceiving an approved list of books in the nextcouple of weeks. Upon receiving it, an appropri-ate number of books will be purchased by theBranch and donated to the schools during a regu-larly scheduled meeting of the School Board.

The Branch’s book donation program is onethat the Branch has a long range interest in con-tinuing. As the resources become available, thebook offer is planned to be made to the publicschools throughout the 16 parish area of theAcadiana Branch. We are seeking contact mem-bers in each of the remaining parishes throughwhich to coordinate the book donations with the

respective parish school boards. If you are inter-ested in serving the Branch and your communityin this capacity, please contact a member of theBranch Board.

I know that there are many ongoing civilengineering application projects in our 16 parishBranch area that are near completion or that havebeen recently completed that have many interest-ing and often unique features or problems solvedthat are encountered during the design, construc-tion and/or the startup phases. Similarly, theremay be engineering studies of similar interestbeing pursued that are near or recently complet-ed. I urge you to consider sharing your experi-ence through such work with your fellow Sectionmembers.

Since none of the branches in the Sectionhave a formal newsletter that offers the opportu-nity to present such articles, we share the Sectionjournal in part for this purpose. James C. Porter,PE, the editor of The Louisiana Civil Engineer,


News from the Branches

ACADIANABy Glenn McCall, PE, President

BATON ROUGEBy Roy A. Waggenspack, PE, President

The following Branch members comprisethe official slate of nominees for the offices ofthe 2002-2003 Branch Board of Directors:

• David M. Burkholder, PE, President-Elect• André M. Rodrigue, PE, Vice President• Thomas T. Roberts, PE, Secretary-Treasurer• Daniel C. Peters, PE, Director• Greg P. Sepeda, PE, Director• Jesse T. Thompson, EI, Associate Director

J. Keith Shackelford, PE, will succeed to theoffice of President. This slate was recommendedby the Branch Nomination Committee andadopted by the Branch Board of Directors.Additional nominations will be entertained fromthe floor of the general membership meeting

scheduled August 15th. The election of officerswill immediately follow the close of nomina-tions. Also during the August meeting, John J.Plaissance, II, PE, is scheduled to discuss theprocedures used by the Louisiana EngineeringSociety to select Board members for theLouisiana Professional Engineering and LandSurveying Board.

Fred Raiford, Director of Public Works forthe Parish of East Baton Rouge, spoke to an audi-ence of more than 60 members and guests attend-ing the June Branch general membership meet-ing. Raiford discussed current issues in theParish Public Works Department, including thoseconcerning active road projects and the engineer-ing involved in upcoming sewer projects. At theinvitation of the Branch, 15 past presidents of the

Branch attended this membership meeting to berecognized by the Branch. Their services to theASCE were acknowledged along with an expres-sion of the appreciation of the Branch member-ship.

The Branch continues to plan and schedulecontinuing education opportunities for civil engi-neers at cost and that qualify for professionaldevelopment units toward maintaining engineer-ing licensure in Louisiana. There is an AdvancedWastewater Treatment Activated Sludge Processseminar scheduled September 12 and 13, 2002.It will be housed in the Holiday Inn Baton RougeEast. More complete details concerning thisseminar and registration information are provid-ed in this issue. As of June 8, there were already27 registrants for this seminar.

SHREVEPORTBy Joe E. (Butch) Ford, PE, President

The newly installed officers of the Branchare involved with planning the Branch’s activi-ties for the 2002-03 administrative year. The firstBranch membership meeting is scheduled forSeptember 11, 2002. Keith Hightower, theMayor of the City of Shreveport, is invited to beour guest speaker. We look forward to seeingyou there.

The ceremony for the installation of theBranch’s elected officers was performed by MarkW. Snow, PE, President of the Section, during aluncheon held at Olde Oaks Golf Course. Theofficers who were installed to serve during the2002-03 administrative year are:• Joe E. (Butch) Ford, Jr., PE, President

• C. Eric Hudson, PE, President-Elect• Kurt M. Nixon, EI, Treasurer• Lisa Nichols, Secretary• Rasoul Nazermalek, PE, Past President

The Louisiana Tech University ASCEStudent Chapter recently notified the Branch thatits surveying team placed first in the Deep SouthConference competition and participated in theNational Student Conference hosted by theUniversity of Wisconsin in June. The BranchBoard acted to make a contribution to theChapter to help offset the travel expenses for theteam to participate in the national competition.

The Branch has been requested to sponsorthe Catenary bridge for the GEE WHIZ outreach

exhibit at the SciPort in Shreveport. The Branchwill be soliciting potential cosponsors later thissummer to help fund this project.

A principal discussion during the July meet-ing of the Board was ways to increase the mem-bership of the Branch and to increase the partici-pation of the current Branch members startingwith greater attendance during scheduled Branchmembership meetings. Branch members arebeing requested to contact fellow civil engineersthey know who may not be members of theASCE and encourage them to consider joiningthe Society. If they are ASCE members, invitethem to join in participating in the next Branchfunction.



NEW ORLEANSBy Reda M. Bakeer, PE, President

The 2002 Louisiana Civil EngineeringConference & Show sponsored by the Branchand the Louisiana Chapter of the AmericanConcrete Institute is scheduled for September12-13 at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner. TheAnnual Meeting and Awards Banquet of theSection hosted by the Branch is scheduled for theevening of Friday, September 13, at the NewOrleans Country Club in Metairie. For moreinformation about these events or if you are inter-ested in becoming a sponsor or an exhibitor, seeelsewhere in this issue, or please contact theorganizing committee chair Christopher G.Humphreys, PE, PSI, 724 Central Avenue,Jefferson, LA 70121; telephone: (504) 733-9411; facsimile: (504) 733-9415; e-mail:[email protected].

The structures committee organized a semi-nar titled Structures Behavior in NationalDisasters presented at the University of NewOrleans. Its next event is a seminar titledGalvanized Steel and it is scheduled to be pre-sented at UNO in July. For more informationcontact John A. Crutti, PE, J. Ray McDermott,Inc., 1010 Common Street, New Orleans, LA70112; telephone: (504) 587-5073; facsimile:(504) 587-5099; e-mail:[email protected].

Aurora N. Luscher, PE, Younger MemberChair, reports that on May 15th, the BranchYounger Members Group gathered at Lager’s inMetairie for a social event. Younger membersalso congregated at Cooter Brown’s in UptownNew Orleans on June 26th for food and festivi-ties and on July 24 at the Parkway Tavern onCanal Boulevard in Lakeview.

As part of the ASCE 150th anniversary cele-bration, the New Orleans Branch is launching anadvertisement campaign in the local newspapers.The campaign will highlight the work of civilengineers and their contribution to society. Localcivil engineering firms and consultants areencouraged to contribute to this effort. For moreinformation or to make a contribution to thiscampaign, contact Reda M. Bakeer, PE,Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering, Tulane University, New Orleans,LA 70118; telephone: (504) 865-5778; facsimile:(504) 862-8941; e-mail: [email protected] orHarry W. Stinchcomb, Jr., 6010 Coliseum Street,New Orleans, LA 70118; telephone: (504) 891-9346; e-mail: [email protected].

The Branch awards recognizing some of itsoutstanding members for the 2001-02 adminis-trative year were presented during the Junemembership meeting and luncheon at Cannon’s

Restaurant. The recipients of the awards were:• Ryan Koenig, Outstanding Young Civil

Engineer• Nelson P. Conover, PE, Outstanding Civil

Engineer• Peter R. Cali, PE, Outstanding Government

Civil Engineer• Thomas L. Jackson, PE, Lifetime

Achievement Award• Deborah D. Keller, PE, President’s Medal

The geotechnical committee posthumouslyawarded to Charles W. (Buzz) Hair, III, PE, the2001 Buzz Hair Medal. It was accepted by mem-bers of his family. The 2002 Buzz Hair Medalwill be presented during the 2002 ASCE/ACILouisiana Civil Engineering Conference &Show. In addition, ASCE Life Member certifi-cates were presented to Nelson P. Conover, PE;James B. Graham, Jr., PE; E. M. Gray, Jr., PE;George C. Kleinpeter, Jr., PE; and QuyNguyen. The Branch awards committee, chairedby Angela DeSoto Duncan, PE, selected the win-ners and presented the awards during the lunch-eon meeting.

The slate of official nominees for the officersto serve on the Branch Board of Directors for the2002-03 administrative year was approved by theBoard, and published by mail and on the Branchwebsite. The slate of official nominees wasadopted and elected by the members present dur-ing the June Branch membership meeting andluncheon scheduled for that purpose. The newlyelected Branch Board of Directors that will beinstalled during the Annual Meeting of the

Section is as follows:• Daniel L. Bolinger, PE, President• Christopher G. Humphreys, PE, President

Elect• Deborah D. Keller, PE, Vice President• William H. Sewell, Jr., PE, Treasurer• Christopher L. Sanchez, EI, Secretary• Gustave S. (Gus) Cantrell, PE, Director• Peter R. Cali, PE, Director

Walter E. Blessey, PE, professor and formerchair of civil engineering at Tulane Universityand past president of the ASCE, was accorded arare honor on April 11 when one of the four orig-inal buildings on the Tulane campus was rededi-cated in his name. The 108-year-old CivilEngineering building was renovated through thegenerous contributions of a group of alumni andfriends headed by Robert E. Englekirk, PE, a1959 Tulane graduate. The dedication ceremonytook place on the Tulane campus and was attend-ed by the Tulane University President, ScottCowen; Dean of Engineering, Nick Altiero, anda large number of professor Blessey’s family,students and colleagues.

The New Orleans Branch mailing address isASCENOPost Office Box 6403Metairie, LA 70009-6403.Correspondence to the Branch should be sent

to this address directed to the attention to theofficer or committee chair it concerns. Similarly,correspondence may be directed to the Branch byemail to [email protected] or the Branchwebsite www.asceno.org.

(Continued from Page 8)

solicits and is always interested in articles aboutcivil engineering projects, preferably in andabout Louisiana authored by civil engineers res-ident in Louisiana and preferably — but not nec-essarily — Branch members. If you or anyone inyour organization is working on a project thatyou would be willing to share with Section mem-bers as a feature article or even as a short article

in the Section journal, please contact him or anymember of the Branch Board. Jim is willing towork as closely as it is desired and necessarywith authors during the editing phase, supportingorganization and development leading to a fin-ished article. This means that lack of time for —or comfort with — writing should be less of afactor in your decision. Remember that authors

of formal articles such as the feature articles thatappear in The Louisiana Civil Engineer arerewarded with 5 professional development unitstoward maintaining engineering licensure inLouisiana.

Finally, I hope all of you have a safe andenjoyable summer and we will see you in theFall.

Walter E. Blessey, PE (2002) Blessey (Circa 1945)


2002 Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and ShowBy Daniel L. Bolinger, PE

Please make room in your schedule toinclude this year’s 12th Annual Louisiana CivilEngineering Conference & Show scheduled forSeptember 12-13, 2002. The New OrleansBranch and the Louisiana Chapter of theAmerican Concrete Institute jointly celebratesponsoring and presenting this year’s confer-ence. The Conference was created for — and itis open to — all practicing engineers, contractorsand technical material suppliers who can beproud to attend and participate in this event. Itoffers a forum for the participants to cometogether and share their technical knowledge,information, experiences and to network witheach other in an intensive two-day conference ofscheduled technical sessions. In addition theconference provides, at a very affordable cost,access to approved professional developmenthours required to maintain engineering licensurein Louisiana. Visit the Branch websites atasceno.org or cpdseminars.com to keep abreastof the technical sessions being scheduled, and toregister and pay on-line.

The Conference has grown in size and scope.The most recent 2001 Conference had 472 regis-trants, and featured 35 technical sessions, 50exhibitors and a workshop. As a result, theConference steering committee traditionallychaired by the President-Elect of the Branchbeginning with the 2001 Conference was co-chaired by the President-Elect and Vice Presidentof the Branch with plans that the 2002Conference steering committee would be co-chaired by the Vice President of the Branch anda member of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACIthereby sharing the management responsibilitiesbetween the sponsors. The co-chairs of the 2002Conference steering committee are ChristopherG. Humphreys, PE, Vice President of theBranch, and Mark A. Cheek, PE, an ACILouisiana Chapter member.

The Conference steering committee isstaffed with volunteers who give a tremendousamount of their personal time, energy andresources to help plan and execute theConference. Their names and a means to contactthem are included in the following table. Thegrowth and success of this conference has comein part from the efforts of the members of thesteering committee and their many predecessors.For this reason, I encourage those who attend theConference to personally thank the conferencecommittee members for their time and energy in

planning and executing the Conference.On behalf of the Branch, I would like to

express a special thanks to all the companies thatmake the extra effort to participate in — anddonate to — the Conference in the form of com-pany gold, silver and bronze sponsorships. Withcontinued input from company sponsors, volun-teers, technical presenters and exhibitors weexpect a conference that is equally successful orbetter than the 2002 Conference — providing allof those in attendance an outstanding and enjoy-able professional development opportunity.

-Observations-Design:

Traditional factors of safety applied to engi-neered facilities are developed through probabil-ity theory and/or empiricism to account for thepredictable effects of the natural geophysicalenvironment and the human use anticipated con-sidering their stochastic nature. The factors pro-vide a defined, acceptable level of reliability forthe effective service and survival of the facilitiesso designed. Design for terrorist attack wouldappear to be an entirely different matter.

Like much of military history — ineffec-tively preparing to fight the next war based onthe experience of previous wars — engineersmay be faced with the same problem in a designprocess intended to address security issues forfacilities. Unfortunately, design features thatmay effectively promote passive and/or supportactive security measures to protect a facilityfrom terrorist attack based on previous experi-ence are only as good as the last creative methodof terrorist attack.

Using creative thinking and consideringchanging conditions, engineers may define newopportunities for terrorist attacks heretofore notexperienced and then design the security meas-ures against them. This would appear to serveterrorists’ purposes as well by defining newopportunities for terrorist attacks by possiblymaking more vulnerable to attack many of thefacilities designed prior to the new scenariosdefined.

It may be a much more economically feasi-ble and a moral choice to incapacitate or exter-minate the terrorists, their organizations andthose who support them to reduce the probabil-ity of attack — an intentional human use thoughconsidered perverse and evil — rather thanattempt to reduce the probability of a successfulattack in a rising tide of the probability of ter-rorism unabated and bent on randomly destroy-ing the infrastructure and/or the lives of the peo-ple it serves. - Editor

Education:

There is a shift in emphasis in the ABETEngineering Criteria 2000 for civil engineeringeducation. It is a new focus in the curriculumcontent directed toward education for typicalcareer roles in civil engineering such as theessential skills and strategies in management,planning, regulation, advocacy, critical thinking,finance, economics, law, social consciousness,etc. The shift in focus would appear to be com-peting for the inadequate hours currently avail-able in the civil engineering baccalaureate cur-riculum. It is questionable that the time-con-strained current curriculum effectively coverslearning and applying basic civil engineeringtechnologies sufficiently enough to enter andsupport a practice. What will the graduate civilengineer face in the future job market beingeven less competent and possibly incompetentin the application of entry level, basic technolo-gy and more knowledgeable yet inexperiencedin executive level skills and issues? Maybethere will be entry level CEO positions availableby the time they enter the job market.


Earn 16 PDHs attending this two-day contin-uing professional development seminar for aneconomical fee of $150. This seminar is spon-sored by the ASCE Baton Rouge Branch and willcover following topics:

• Microbiological and Biochemical funda-mentals of biological treatment

• Activated sludge process parameters

• Description of biological process for nitrifi-cation and nitrogen removal

• Biological nitrification and denitrification

• Activated sludge design for nitrogen removal

• Class example problems

• Description of biological phosphorusremoval processes

• Process design for biological phosphorusremoval

• Wastewater characterization for BNRprocesses

• Process operating parameters for BNRprocesses

• Clarifier design loading principles

• Membrane separation technology

Speakers:H. David Stensel is a professor of civil and

environmental engineering at the University ofWashington, Seattle, WA. He has 10 years inpractice outside of academia developing andapplying industrial and municipal wastewatertreatment processes. Stensel received his BS incivil engineering from Union College,Schenectady, NY, and MB and PhD in environ-mental engineering from Cornell University. His

research interests are wastewater treatment, bio-logical nutrient removal, sludge processingmethods, biodegradation of hazardous sub-stances, and stormwater treatment. He authoredor coauthored over 100 technical publicationsand a textbook on biological nutrient removal.

Glen T. Daigger is a Senior Vice Presidentwith CH2M Hill and serves as Chief WastewaterProcess Engineer responsible for wastewaterprocess engineering for both municipal andindustrial wastewater treatment projects on afirm-wide basis. One of Daigger’s major respon-sibilities within CH2M Hill was the developmentof wastewater treatment technology. He hasorganized a series of internal symposia that dealwith wastewater treatment technology. Daiggerled a technical initiative in the areas of coupledtrickling filter/activated sludge process technolo-gy, nutrient control, filamentous bulking control,advanced techniques for wastewater treatmentplant analysis and optimization, integratedapproaches to water pollution control, and toxicscontrol in wastewater treatment plants (bothaquatic and air emissions).

Coupled trickling filter/activated sludgeprocesses represent a diverse range of technolo-gies which use a trickling filter in combinationwith a suspended growth biological population.They offer advantages in terms of improvedprocess stability, ease of operation, improvedeffluent quality, and reduced power costs relativeto other, competitive biological treatmentprocesses. Daigger’s leadership in this areaincludes detailed analysis of existing coupledprocess facilities, service as principal investiga-tor on reset projects comparing six differenttypes of trickling filter media and on an evalua-

tion of the trade-offs between trickling filter andsuspended growth reactor sizing to achieve vari-ous effluent quality objectives. Numerous tech-nical publications and presentations have result-ed. Daigger has served as senior process con-sultant on more than 20 coupled process projects.

Reservations and Registration Instructions:The seminar will be held in Holiday Inn-

Baton Rouge-East (I-10 @ Siegen Lane)Thursday and Friday, September 12-13, 2002from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day — lunch onyour own. For room reservations contact theHoliday Inn-Baton Rouge-East at 225-293-6880.Use the code “ASC” or give the title of the sem-inar in making your room reservations.Reservations are required and will be accepted inthe order received since seating may be limited.To make reservations complete the registrationform and send it by facsimile to (225)952-7665.To register send the completed registration formwith your registration fee of $150.00 by checkpayable to ASCE Baton Rouge Branch to

Owen and White, Inc.Post Office Box 66396Baton Rouge, LA 70896Attention: Roy A. Waggenspack, PE

For additional information, contact Roy A.Waggenspack, PE, at (225)926-5125.

Seminar Pricing Policy:The Board of Directors of the Baton Rouge

Branch establish the policy that the continuingprofessional development activities sponsored bythe Branch be essentially self-supporting and donot generate revenue for the branch. The fee foreach CPD program is set to cover the costs of theevent only based on anticipated attendance.

- Announcement -Advanced Wastewater Treatment Activated Sludge Process Seminar

September 12-13, 2002 • Holiday Inn-Baton Rouge-East • I-10 @ Siegen Lane

- Registration Form -

Advanced Wastewater Treatment Activated Sludge Process Seminar

September 12-13, 2002 • Holiday Inn-Baton Rouge-East • I-10 @ Siegen Lane

Name: _______________________________________________________________________________Title: ________________________

Firm: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Telephone: __________________________________________________________ Facsimile: _____________________________________


The Louisiana Civil Engineering Conferenceand Show sponsored by the New Orleans Branchand the Louisiana Chapter of the AmericanConcrete Institute continues to be the premierannual event for civil engineers in Louisiana.The Conference provides two days of concen-trated and substantial professional developmentopportunities for civil engineers. They include:• a large trade show exhibition with vendor

sales and technical representatives presentwith information and displays for a broadvariety of products and services used by civil

engineers• a 2-day schedule of technical sessions pro-

viding a broad variety of topics on 3 concur-rent tracks offering up to 11 authorized pro-fessional development units toward main-taining engineering licensure in Louisianaand including ethics and fire code sessions;and

• social opportunities for networking withpeers during the generous break periods,luncheons, breakfasts and icebreaker.The evening following the Conference, the

New Orleans Branch will host the AnnualMeeting of the Louisiana Section at the NewOrleans Country Club. An opportunity to enjoythe Club’s excellent food and the entertainmentprovided by Joe Simon’s Jazz Combo, it is animportant evening for the Section. Its officerswill be installed for the 2002-03 administrativeyear that begins at the conclusion of the AnnualMeeting. Also, some of its outstanding memberswill be recognized during an awards ceremonythat is part of the event.

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Location map for the Pontchartrain Center, site of the Louisiana CivilEngineering Conference and Show.

Location map for the New Orleans Country Club, site of the SectionAnnual Meeting and Awards Banquet.

Enjoy the luncheons and their technical presentations along with theopportunity that they provide for networking.

Break time in the exhibit area gives more opportunity to network withfellow professionals and the vendors providing services and suppliesused by civil engineers.


Quote...Design: I have never seen a bridge built

from its design calculations. Contractors build

bridges from the drawings and the special provi-sions. No matter how good the design is, it willnever be better than the drawings and the specialprovisions that communicate it... Simply put,

good bridge designers know and use gooddetails... Bridge design is an art based on theapplication of science.

- Unknown


Student Chapter News

University of Louisiana at LafayetteThe Chapter’s steel bridge team worked very

diligently this summer with its main focus oncompeting in the national steel bridge competi-tion that was held in Madison, Wisconsin late inJune. The competition is a scaled simulation ofa representative bridge engineering project. Thecompetition bridges were judged for their excel-lence in design and construction based on theirmeasured stiffness, lightness, speed of construc-tion, aesthetics, efficiency, and economy. Thecompetition bridges are also required to mini-mally conform to the competition rules andguidelines, which are developed and maintainedby the sponsoring American Institute of SteelConstruction, Inc.

The students labored with equal diligence toqualify for the national competition by preparingwell and successfully competing in a Deep South

Conference of student chapters regional compe-tition in April that was hosted by the SouthernUniversity Student Chapter in Baton Rouge. Thebridge that was used for the regional competitionwas a girder design that weighed 290 pounds anddeflected approximately 1.4" under the competi-tion load. The team received the regional awardfor having the fastest construction time with anassembly time of 2.4 minutes. Overall, the teamplaced second in the regional competition toqualify to compete in the national competition.

To prepare for national competition, theteam decided to design and fabricate a new com-petition bridge. It was a truss design that wasconsiderably lighter than the girder design and itwas believed it would allow them to be signifi-cantly more competitive in the national competi-tion. The students on the team worked continu-

ously up until the time of competition to perfectthe design, fabrication and construction require-ments for the competition bridge. The overallplacement of the bridge in the national competi-tion was 35th out of the 44 entries that compet-ed. Even though this placement is not veryimpressive, it is only one measure of success. Bypreparing for — and competing in — the region-al and national events, the students gained muchvaluable experience that will serve them well intheir future careers and the Chapter in its futuresteel bridge competitions.

The election of Chapter officers for theupcoming year was held in late spring. The newofficers have already begun making plans forwhat is hoped will be a very smooth and produc-tive year for the Chapter.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette steel bridge competition team dis-plays their certificates commemorating their awards following the DeepSouth Conference regional competition. They are from the left WhitRankin, Nick Hernandez, Kelly Cook, Hector Membreno, Caroline Blair,and Kerry Simon.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette steel bridge team; Nick Hernandez,Kerry Simon, David Branch, and Whit Rankin; are assembling their steelbridge during the timed construction event during the national competi-tion in Madison, Wisconsin.

-Observation-Design:

Many bridges in Louisiana are standarddesigns or make extensive use of standard com-ponents and details because of the simple eco-nomics realized by the fact that these standardsare feasible for — and applied to — a large por-tion of the bridge sites in the state. Sometimesthe experience of using standards can lead to aproverbial problem: If the only tool you have (orconsider using) is a hammer, all problems beginto look like nails.

Immediate application of a standard designsolution to a site followed by questions about itsfeasibility afterwards is not responsible engineer-ing. Considering the variation in the geophysicalenvironment from one site to another and not justthe investment in material and the details of con-struction but the often significant economics ofpublic use and dependence on such facilities,great care should be given to engineering every

site. This is to reasonably assure an economicalapplication of a serviceable, reliable and durabledesign solution that many times will be theappropriate application of the standard design.

Engineering, particularly for rehabilitationof existing bridges, should not depend on a stan-dard mentality in engineering. This is a mental-ity that should be avoided even when applyingfeasible standards, though the chances of gettingby with it are much better with a reconstructionproject given the experience gained from theservice of the structure being replaced.

One of the most neglected aspects of prepar-ing a contract for a rehabilitation project, andparticularly a major damage repair contract, isthe failure to perform a comprehensive cost esti-mate based on estimated labor, equipment andmaterial. Normally this is avoided when usingdesign standards by appropriately applying unitcosts that are reasonably well known from previ-ous use.

All bets are off when a nonstandard design

solution is applied. The cost estimate requiresthe engineer, as a first step, to visualize a feasiblemethod of — and estimate the time for — con-struction from beginning to end. This is followedby a complete cost takeoff of the material, andequipment and labor (rates and time) required tocomplete the project. The depth of knowledgethat can be gained at this stage can sometimesconfirm assumptions about feasibility or providean opportunity to avoid moving forward with aconceptually inferior solution discovered.

Rather than depending on vague cost esti-mates based on a best guess from limited, previ-ous experience that can be flawed consideringthe uniqueness of the design solution, one woulddo well to depend on the method a contractoruses to prepare a responsible bid. The educationand understanding gained concerning such thingsas constructibility are substantial byproducts of aresponsible estimate of the cost and time.

- Editor


Section News and Information

Highlights of the June Board of Directors meetingThe current and future content of the Section

website was discussed in some depth. There wasgeneral satisfaction expressed with the formatand contents of the website and interest in itsfuture development.

The updating of the Section Handbook thathas been passed through three people in attemptsto update it is far from being completed in everydetail and in its present form it was not consid-ered useful or appropriate to be published on thewebsite. A goal was set to have it updated andready to be published on the Section website bythe Annual Meeting of the Section in September.In the interim, the appendix of the SectionHandbook that provides the constitution andbylaws of the Section and its organizational com-ponents will be published on the website.

A proposal to publish the names and contactinformation of the entire Section membership onthe website was discussed in detail. It was decid-ed by the Board that, consistent with its past pol-icy, it is not appropriate to make the names andaddresses of the Section’s members generallyavailable in such an uncontrolled context.

The next thrust for development of theSection website will be to develop a job avail-ability page where the engineering firms withlistings in the Section journal will be able toadvertise their active position openings. Therewas some discussion about the details of how toimplement this concerning the format and howthe information would be solicited.

With the implementation of the website, theBoard acted to discontinue the Section’s toll freetelephone number to the offices in the LouisianaEngineering Center that has been in service forseveral years. A review of its cost — approxi-mately $50 a month — and usage suggests that itprovides no effective service to the membershipor the business activities of the Section and thatusage consists almost entirely of wrong numbers

and solicitation calls. The local telephone serv-ice for the Section to the offices in the LouisianaEngineering Center will be retained.

The Section was approached to donate$15,000 to sponsor a presidential reception dur-ing a national celebration of the 150thAnniversary of the ASCE. The reception is forThomas L. Jackson, PE, the current President-Elect of the national ASCE and a member of theLouisiana Section. After some deliberation bythe executive committee, it was determined thatthe amount of the donation requested was outsideof the financial limits of the Section’s budget andits reserves. A lesser but substantial donation rel-ative to the Section’s financial means of $5,000was offered and accepted.

The Board was advised that with Sectionmember, Tom Jackson, elected as President-Electand soon to succeed to the Presidency of thenational ASCE there should be significant inter-est among Board members in providing Tomwith needs, issues and their positions on existingissues that are or should be of concern to theASCE.

The Louisiana Tech student chapter solicitedfunds from the Section to supplement those nec-essary to attend a one-time national land survey-ing competition sponsored by the ASCE. TheChapter’s surveying team won the surveyingcompetition held during the most recent DeepSouth Conference of student chapters hosted bythe Southern University chapter in Baton Rouge.In winning the competition, the Chapter’s sur-veying team earned the right to participate in thenational competition. Consistent with the fundsbudgeted annually to supplement the expensesfor the winning teams of the concrete canoe andthe steel bridge competition to attend theirrespective national competitions, the Board actedto provide $500 to help cover their expenses.

The Board recognized a significant other to

the Louisiana Section, Jaqueline RussoDubroc, who deceased June 1, 2002. A donationon behalf of the Louisiana Section was made to amemorial fund established by her family in hermemory. She was the wife of Section memberand Past President, Mark B. Dubroc, PE. Shewas fondly remembered and appreciated for herunderstanding, spirited and loving support of herhusband’s professional commitments to theSection during his tenure on its Board ofDirectors and particularly during his term asSection President (1996-1997). Mark’s year asPresident was remembered as unusually full withpressing issues and controversy that kept himheavily involved in the Section’s businessthroughout his Presidency and his term as PastPresident. Jaqueline’s special support no doubtcontributed significantly to the level of participa-tion and effectiveness Mark was able to offer.

Other matters discussed and/or acted on bythe Board follow:• The solicitation of contributions to cover the$10,000 fee for the Section’s participation in theBuilding Together program has fallen short andvolunteers will be sought to help solicit dona-tions to cover the fee as originally envisioned.• The University of New Orleans studentchapter requested and the Board acted to pro-vide the $500 budgeted to help cover theexpenses of its concrete canoe team to competein the national competition. It is the winner ofthe 2002 Deep South Conference competition.• The Section will have one or more represen-tatives attending the organizing meeting to forma proposed Louisiana Structural EngineeringAssociation to be held in Baton Rouge June 25,2002.• The Baton Rouge Branch will host theSection’s Annual Spring Meeting andConference in Baton Rouge and a date for thisevent will be set in the near future.

The New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, awarded its 2001 Loving Cup toSection Member, Waldemar S. Nelson, PE.“The cup, awarded annually since 1901, recog-nizes citizens who have worked unselfishly forthe community without expectation of publicacclaim or material reward.” The paper cited:

“For the past half century, Nelson, 85, hasdesigned and built everything from roads andbridges to airports and oil rigs. But he also hasquietly helped build a better New Orleans...”

The Loving Cup is the latest of dozens ofawards bestowed on Nelson since 1962.

Nelson is a native of New Orleans, a 1936graduate of Tulane University, and a licensedcivil, mechanical and electrical engineer in 44states. Shortly after World War II, he opened hisengineering firm, Waldemar S. Nelson andCompany, Inc. that today is an internationalenterprise employing over 300 people.

Section members Russell L. Dupuy, PE,Christopher J. Ewing, PE, Mark A. Gayheart,PE, Lawrence L. Lambert, II, PE, Toby D.Picard, PE, Robert G. Routon, PE, KatherineC. Stachowiak, PE, William H. Wall, PE,Frederick S. Young, PE, recently earned theircivil engineering license in Louisiana. If you arein contact with any of these engineers, pleaseoffer them your congratulations on their accom-plishment.

Louisiana residents Elif O. Acar, PE, FrankW. Andrade, PE, Darryl C. Bonura, PE, CadeM. Braud, PE, Bobby J. Briggs, PE, WayneCreel, PE, Alexander Dmytraczenko, Jr., PE,Michael J. Duplantis, PE, Dale G. Frederick,PE, Leon G. Guidry, PE, Joseph M.Gustafson, PE, Thomas M. Hall, PE, Carl T.Hoffecker, Jr., PE, James P. Hollier, Jr., PE,

- Career Benchmarks -

Waldemar S. Nelson(Continued on Page 19)


Box CityBy Norma Jena Mattei, PE

For the second year, the Outreach andStudent Activities Committee of the NewOrleans Branch coordinated and operated a chil-dren’s activity in the Kids’ Cultural Village ofJazzfest. Jazzfest is the New Orleans Jazz andHeritage Festival that was held at theFairgrounds April 26-28 and May 2-5, 2002.During the 2001 Jazzfest, the Branch sponsoredactivity was a Lego table where children couldconstruct any structure that their imaginationcould conjure using Legos as the buildingblocks. This year’s children’s activity was muchmore ambitious.

The Branch sponsored and manned theactivity, Box City. The idea proposed by KarenKonnerth, Jazzfest children’s activity coordina-tor, was based loosely on a curriculum developedby the Center for Understanding the BuiltEnvironment. Jazzfest donated the suppliesneeded to build the large platform that becameBox City, the various-sized boxes that wouldbecome its buildings, and art supplies for theirdesign and decoration.

The Jazzfest carpenters built the platform —an 8'�16' table — placed in the kid’s activityarea. It was painted with a simplified layout ofthe city streets, boulevards, and city blocks of theCity of New Orleans. Lake Pontchartrain waspainted on the north side of the table and theMississippi River on the south side.

The activity had three stages. The first stagewas permitting. Each child was given a list ofbuildings that are necessary for a city environ-ment such as homes, apartments, libraries,churches, schools, restaurants, factories, fire sta-tions, etc. Before choosing a building to design,he or she toured the city, to see what existingbuildings were already in place. After selectinga building type to design, each child was issueda white box (a blank building), a building permit,and a souvenir child-size soft plastic replica of ahard hat with the ASCE 150th anniversary logoon the front.

The second stage was design. Using mark-ers, crayons, glue, and construction paper, thechild decorated the box to resemble the building

selected and for which he or she had been issueda building permit. Here the child’s imaginationwas allowed run wild free of the burdens of anylife safety code or sense of proportion. Thisallowed for very large buildings designed withfew windows and doors, and small buildingsdesigned with a seeming overabundance of them.Several pint-sized designers thoughtfully plas-tered the appropriate advertising on the sides oftheir buildings. A pet shop had a list of the petsfor sale in the front window. The list posted theprice for a hamster originally as $1 - scratchedout and reduced to 50¢. What wonderful detail!

The third stage was construction. Once thechild finished designing and decorating his orher building, it had to be placed in the cityaccording to the rules written on the buildingpermit they were issued. There were four differ-ent kinds of building permits issued. They were• a place to live — single family residence,condo, retirement home, etc.• a place to work — high rise office building,low rise office building, factory, etc.• a place to buy things — bakery, restaurant,mall, store, etc., and• a public place — library, museum, school,fire station, city hall, etc.

For example, the permit for a church — apublic place — may allow it to be placed next toa school or a home, but not next to a factory.Once the engineering and construction serviceswere completed, the children were paid for themin the coin of the realm — blue and silver MardiGras doubloons — minted for and provided byLouisiana Section and commemorating ASCE’s150th anniversary.

Both children and parents enjoyed this activ-ity, as did the volunteers. It proved so popularthere were not enough boxes supplied to accom-modate all the participants. Necessity being themother of invention, the children used Legos tocreate the buildings on 2 days of the 7-dayJazzfest event. We committee members staffingthe activity were often astonished by the imagi-

Happiness is . . .

Legos work too.

Thoughtful construction of a Lego building. Urban sprawl in Box City is evident as parents with their children wait inline to engineer their contribution.



Total balance sheet management, that helpsin the management of both sides of your person-al balance sheet, can also help to create andmaintain your wealth. If you own a home, thereare now a number of liability management tech-niques involving residential mortgages that canhelp you make the most of your wealth creationopportunities.

Since the 1970s, mortgage and securitiesmarkets have evolved to such a degree that theyhave helped create an entirely new set of con-sumer loan products and services. Many ofthese are specifically designed to allow residen-tial mortgage holders to keep their equity invest-ments intact, avoid or delay recognition of capi-tal gains and maximize monthly cash flow — allwhile retaining their real estate investments. Forsome homeowners, mortgage financing hasbecome an important component of a total bal-ance sheet strategy that focuses on creatingwealth by managing both the asset and liabilitysides of their personal balance sheets.

Innovative conceptsSome innovative mortgage loans feature

interest-only payment periods, rather than the

Innovative mortgages can help maximize wealth creation By Paul C. Morgan

Paul C. Morgan, Associate Vice President,Financial Advisor, is with Morgan Stanley inCovington, Louisiana (985)893-7772 or(888)893-2743. This article does not constitutetax advice. Individuals should consult their taxor legal advisers before making any tax-relatedinvestment decisions. Any particular investmentshould be analyzed based on the terms and risksas they may relate to your circumstances andobjectives. Information and data in this articlewere obtained from sources considered reliableand published for general information purposes.Their accuracy or completeness is not guaran-teed and the giving of the same is not to bedeemed a solicitation on the part of MorganStanley with respect to purchase or sale of secu-rities or commodities.

more traditional method of paying down bothprincipal and interest. Holders of these interest-only mortgages may find it easier to maintaintheir equity strategies by diverting the cash thatwould otherwise go towards reduction of mort-gage principal to the purchase of additionalsecurities.

Although investing in a residence is primari-ly a practical decision, based on your individuallifestyle needs, it also has the potential to buildand store wealth through property appreciation,as well as principal paydown. The interest paidtoward a residential mortgage and any capitalgains realized on the sale of a primary residenceboth receive favorable tax treatment. This cantransform the purchase of a home into a strategicinvestment decision that can enhance your over-all investment strategy.

Home equity lending represents yet anotherpossible method of strategic liability manage-ment. Many homeowners borrow against theequity in their homes to provide additional capi-tal for use in a variety of purposes. For example,open-end lines of credit secured against residen-tial property have been driving a move towardincreased household liquidity since the mid-1980s.

For more informationIf you are a homeowner who is interested in

learning more about how an innovative mortgagecan help maximize your wealth creation oppor-tunities, please contact us.

— Calendar of Events —

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* For more information, call ASCE toll free at (800) 548-2723 or visit the ASCEweb page http://www.asce.org.

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Robert J. Landry, Jr., PE, Mickey L.Robertson, PE, Kevin M. Smith, PE, Hilary J.Thibodeaux, PE, Benjamin C. Thomas, PE,Roy E. Thomas, PE, John C. Wells, PE,Darrell K. Winters, PE, recently earned theircivil engineering license in Louisiana and are notmembers of the ASCE. A copy of this issue ofthe journal was sent to them as an informal intro-duction to the Section. If you are in contact withany of these engineers, please formally introducethem to the Section by inviting them to attend abranch meeting as your guest and to join theASCE.

nation exercised by the children in selecting anddecorating their buildings. Some even designedand built automobiles for homes and boats formarinas. There was even a snoball standdesigned and permitted in our city!

The outreach committee is looking for othervenues similar to Jazzfest to promote civil engi-neering for consideration as a career choice forchildren of all ages. If you know of an appro-priate venue or if you are interested in volun-teering, please notify Norma Jean Mattei, Chairof the Outreach and Student Activity Committeeat 504-280-5414 or [email protected]. Member-ship in the ASCE is not required to be a volun-teer. Many ASCE members volunteered for theBox City activity with their family members.The hours worked may qualify for service hoursfor high school age volunteers and all volunteersgot into Jazzfest free the day they worked allow-ing them to enjoy Jazzfest once they workedtheir shift. Outreach events and other NewOrleans Branch events scheduled are posted onthe Branch website, www.asceno.org.



EDITOR’S JOURNALBy James C. Porter, PE

Relevance of licensure“As a non-engineer and observer of the engi-

neering profession for almost 20 years,” ArthurSchwartz, Esq., General Counsel for the NationalSociety of Professional Engineers, penned hisviewpoint of the engineering profession thatappeared in the May 2001 issue of theEngineering Times published by the NSPE. Heobserves that

The engineering profession may very wellhave a completely rational and justifiablelicensure process, but based on the percent-age of those licensed, it is apparently notnecessarily viewed as relevant or practical bymany who graduate as engineers. It is as ifprofessional (licensed) engineering is beingviewed by some as separate and apart fromthe engineering (practicing) professionrather than as a mechanism designed to beintegrated into the entire profession.Recent statistics indicate that only 1 in 5 or

20 percent of the 60,000 per year who receive abaccalaureate degree in engineering becomelicensed engineers. Schwartz acknowledges whatmany others believe is the singular most signifi-cant reason for the small portion of licensedpracticing engineers — the industrial and gov-ernment licensure exemptions allowed by moststate statutes. Schwartz also notes that manyengineers are employees who work under theumbrella of a licensed engineer in responsiblecharge of their work. I believe that Schwartz andmany others tend to overlook another very sig-nificant reason. Many engineers go into engi-neering related work such as sales, contracting,construction, administration, management andother jobs where an engineering license per semay be prestigious to have but of no particularneed since this work is generally outside of whatis usually considered the practice of engineeringand the reason for requiring licensure. This is

unlike the medical and legal professions wherecareer options and choices more typically requireindividual licensure to practice. Also, the major-ity of their practitioners engage in a more inde-pendent rather than a collaborative practice likeengineering and they are more likely to be self-employed than employed like engineers. Thisappears to provide their professions with the crit-ical mass of licensed practitioners that will sup-port universally required licensure.

Unlicensed and licensed graduate engineersare typically employed and work in groups thatcan practically work under the umbrella of alicensed engineer if they are not otherwiseexempt from licensure. Their work appears to bethe equivalent of nurses, paralegals or technolo-gists though they may perform the full range ofprofessional services up to but not includingapplying their seal and signature to the engineer-ing documents when required. I believe that thispractice demonstrates the prevailing source ofthe perception that licensure is separate from thepractice of engineering as Schwartz suspects.However, there are licensure issues related toregulation that include rules, enforcement, edu-cation, testing, and continuing professionaldevelopment that I believe may significantlyinfluence and reinforce this perception for bothunlicensed and licensed engineers.

Inappropriate rules and enforcementFrom my observations and perspective, I

believe the engineering licensing board inLouisiana and possibly those in some other stateshave been used by their leadership either con-sciously or unconsciously to pursue an inappro-priate agenda to discourage legitimate competi-tion in the private practice sector. This is accom-plished through the use of what appears to be anarbitrary rule for the use of the engineer’s seal

that is not consistent with normal practice and itis selectively interpreted and enforced by theboard.

The boards rely almost exclusively on theprofessional integrity and personal recognizanceof the vast majority of licensed engineers thatsurvive the relevant and irrelevant hurdles theymust to get licensed. They remain grounded pro-fessionals that historically do quite well withoutany interaction with the boards and little con-scious application of their often convoluted rules.Inconsistent with the licensed engineers’ demon-strated professional integrity, rules often appearto be written in specific instructions for uniquecases that would normally be intended to directuntrustworthy simpletons rather than guide trust-ed, ethical and well educated professionals.

Ineffective testing requirementsWithout ever having experienced the envi-

ronment or the content of engineering practiceoutside of teaching theory, those in engineeringacademia are a — if not the — controlling forcein the education and testing standards for licen-sure. It then should not be surprising if the con-tent of the education and testing requirements forlicensure are occasionally arbitrary and irrele-vant to the practice of engineering thereby caus-ing practicing engineers to suffer through inap-propriate requirements.

It is incorrectly assumed for instance that thetypical graduate engineer’s education in the the-oretical and application sense expands substan-tially and across the curriculum in 4 years ofinternship. This expectation has been reflectedby the test administered only after completing thefour-year internship. Most who have taken thetest know that it tests what they learned inschool, it would have been easier to pass it

Real life filterThomas Sowell concluded one of his trade-

mark columns, “random thoughts on a passingscene,” published March 27, 2000 in the BatonRouge Advocate with the observation,

“People who pride themselves on havingideas often fail to understand that only after ideashave been filtered through real-world experiencedo we know whether they are right or wrong.Most turn out to be wrong.”

As someone who has enjoyed a plethora ofmostly wrong ideas probably from an overactiveimagination and maybe from too much sparetime to use it, Sowell’s observation touched adeep, resonant chord in my psyche. An area ofsubstantive concern for me that has occupied mythoughts and has been the source of many of myideas over the years has been that of my profes-sion. As an engineer, I have come to experiencejust how much the individual engineer can actu-ally influence the human condition. Even underthe constraints imposed by client and regulatoryauthority, there is often substantial latitude in theengineering and just how an engineer solves

problem-after-problem in the process. More pro-nounced is how the end results of this engineer-ing can influence the lives of the generations ofpeople that will interact with the engineeredworks.

How the engineering profession develops asa profession and ultimately affects the characterof the practice of the individual engineer thatultimately influences the human condition andhow much impact I or anyone else may individu-ally have on that direction becomes a moot issuein the context of Sowell’s observation. Theimportant issue is that my ideas concerning myprofession find a relevant filter either throughapplication or through simulation drawing onreal-world experience. Instead of just mumblingand grumbling about how the prevailing values inmy profession don’t square with what I believeand leave it at that, there is a practical alternative— active participation in a society of profession-al engineers. It provides both formal and infor-mal forums that consist of proactive people whoare often as outspoken and as obstinate as I am

— an excellent if not exasperating mediumthrough which to filter my ideas.

Exposing ideas to the light of day andexploring them in an energetic forum of fellowprofessionals who together bring into the mix awide range of experience in the engineering pro-fession does something for ideas and for the peo-ple who espouse them. With competing ideas,agreeing ideas and shared ideas cast into the cal-dron of the forum, they are stirred like the lettersin alphabet soup. Ideas merge here and separatethere — they are accepted here and rejectedthere. Then something almost unexpected hap-pens, the ideas and the people who espouse anddebate them grow. They mature into something— someone — clearly different that is not com-promised but an enhanced version. It is a prod-uct of the shared journey by engineer profession-als that also share essentially the same basic con-cerns and principles, if not always the same ideasand experience.



immediately after graduation, and the studyrequired to pass it is often not supplemented inpractice over the 4-year internship where typical-ly a narrow application of technology is experi-enced.

I have steadily maintained since I took thetest in 1969 that this requirement was inappro-priate and that the only significance of this test isthat one passes it and not when. The most ridicu-lous aspect of the timing of this test is that is doesnot protect anyone or prove anything moreexcept that a graduate engineer can study andremember enough of what was taught four yearsearlier to pass it. Some boards ludicrously denycomity to those who take and pass this test onenanosecond prior to the completion of their four-year internship.

Inadequate educationEngineering academia is populated almost

exclusively by PhDs who have never practicedengineering and their students are often taughtlittle about engineering practice and an inade-quate amount of engineering theory in a severelyabbreviated baccalaureate curriculum. Engineer-ing academia has so vigorously separated itselffrom the practice of engineering that — as awhole — I believe that it holds in low esteemthose who do and the students who will practice.Thereby, it subtly or openly eschews the impor-tance of licensure through an elitist attitude. Thismay be reflected in the culture shock graduatesoften experience in the transition between stu-dent and practitioner in terms of the actualdemands on their resources and the unexpected,prevailing attitudes in the practicing profession.

The sufficiency of the civil engineering cur-riculum to provide cohesive and important com-ponents of the knowledge, skills and abilityrequired to effectively launch an engineeringpractice is perceived by many outside of acade-mia as inadequate and declining. The additionalresources in the workplace required to compen-sate for the inadequacy and develop a competent

entry level practitioner both technically and pro-fessionally are not available in the overhead ofthe many small organizations that typicallyemploy civil engineers. This is unlike the largeindustries that typically hire and substantiallytrain engineers other than civil.

The adverse reaction from some recent civilengineering graduates to the proposal to expandthe civil engineering curriculum may be justified.Obviously, they cannot know the whole answerto what is relevant in the curriculum they justcompleted or in an expanded engineering cur-riculum because they cannot know what is tocome in their ongoing professional development.However, many that have actually applied thetechnical contents of their curriculum on the jobhave probably experienced the immediate defi-ciencies of their education. From this experi-ence, they may intuitively understand the limita-tions in their education that would suggest anexpanded curriculum of more of the same willlikely provide little of what they need to effec-tively launch their practice.

It seems that experienced engineers whomay collectively hold valid answers to a substan-tial part of what is a relevant engineering cur-riculum appear to be so self-absorbed in theirpractice that they don’t make a difference. Thisdoes not consider that those in control oftendemonstrate they are not really interested in whatanyone else may have to contribute anyway.

Low quality continuing educationRecent experience in Louisiana and a sister

state with mandatory continuing professionaldevelopment would suggest that offerings areless than the serious continuing education intend-ed to support professional competency. Much ofthe standard fare may be better described asmandatory continuing socialization at worst andcareer enrichment at best. Neither would appearto address the alleged inadequate effort made bythe undefined some in the profession to maintaincompetence — the justification for mandatory

continuing professional development. The onlyencouraging thing about mandatory continuingprofessional development may be that it attemptsto fix that which isn’t broken with something thatdoesn’t work.

For some engineers that have to seriouslymaintain current competency through indepen-dent study, mandatory continuing professionaldevelopment is little more than an expensivetime-consuming nuisance that adds little to thespecific, practical knowledge they need toacquire to advance their practice. If the low stan-dards for the continuing professional develop-ment offerings — particularly those at the bot-tom of this spectrum — continue unaddressed,they will only serve to discredit the relevance oflicensure to the practice of engineering.

ConclusionI believe that engineering licensure should

be as Schwartz suggests “...a mechanismdesigned to be integrated into the entire profes-sion...” Except for the industrial exemption, Ibelieve that this is the spirit and the intent of thelicensing law in Louisiana. However, I alsobelieve the application of the law — particularlythe rules and enforcement — in some incidencessubvert the spirit and the intent of the law. I alsobelieve that Schwartz is correct when heobserves that “The engineering profession mayvery well have a completely rational and justifi-able licensure process.” However, it appears thatthe rationale and justification used resulted inrules that drive the perception that there is a dif-ference between licensure and the practice ofengineering. This greatly voids opportunitiesand incentives to integrate licensure into theentire profession. The economics of the growinginappropriate and/or irrelevant requirements tomaintain licensure may encourage competent,licensed engineer employees and their employersto let licenses lapse and work under the umbrellaof fewer licensed engineers in responsiblecharge.

Professional civil engineering school


The sufficiency of the civil engineering cur-riculum to provide the cohesive and importantcomponents of the knowledge, skills and abilityrequired to effectively launch an engineeringpractice is perceived by many practicing civilengineers outside of academia as inadequate anddeclining. The additional resources in the work-place required to compensate for this inadequacyand develop a competent entry level civil engi-neer practitioner both technically and profession-ally are not available in the overhead of the manysmaller organizations that typically employ civilengineers. This often places the larger civil engi-neering organizations with adequate overheadresources in the exclusive role of developingentry level practitioners from which the smallerorganizations hire experienced practitioners.

The organizations that typically hire gradu-ate engineers other than civil engineering gradu-ates are large industries that have substantialoverhead resources to devote to completing thebaccalaureate education of their graduate engi-

neer hires. They immediately provide a continu-ing education that rounds out the graduate engi-neer’s education consistent with their particularneeds and reinforced with on-the-job training.For this reason, the current and shrinking under-graduate engineering curriculum outside of civilengineering is deemed adequate by the industrialcustomers served and there is no reason or sup-port to expand the engineering curricula outsideof civil engineering.

The adverse reaction from some recent civilengineering graduates to the proposal to expandthe civil engineering curriculum they just com-pleted may be justified. Obviously, they cannotknow collectively the whole answer to what isrelevant in the curriculum they just completed orin an extended engineering curriculum becausethey cannot know what is to come in their ongo-ing professional development. However, manythat have actually applied the contents of theircurriculum on the job have probably experiencedthe immediate deficiencies of their education.

From this experience, they may intuitivelyunderstand the basic limitations in their educa-tion that would suggest an extended curriculumof more of the same will likely provide little ofwhat they need to effectively launch their prac-tice.

The formation of a professional civil engi-neering school is envisioned that may allay therecent graduates’ concerns. It would be open tothose who have or maybe to some degree havecompleted a 4-year baccalaureate degree in civilengineering and it would approach addressingthe immediate and possibly future needs of thecivil engineering profession. The civil engineer-ing components of the prerequisite, 4-year bac-calaureate curriculum would continue to betaught by the PhD professors in the traditionalcivil engineering department and consist of thefundamental civil engineering analysis coursesthat would not significantly benefit from an



Catherine and Henry Boh Fellowship in CivilEngineering. Scheuermann is presently Assistantto the Division Manager of Boh BrothersConstruction Company.

In 1989, an analytical research investigationwas initiated into the fatigue life of partially pre-stressed concrete bridge girders. The researchwas conducted by Ward Nicholas Marianos, Jr.Marianos served as Chairman of the ACI-ASCE

Joint Committee on Prestressed Concrete. Inthat capacity, he spearheaded the effort to pro-duce the American Concrete Institute report onthe State-of-the-Art of Partially PrestressedConcrete, published in 2000. Marianos ispresently a Senior Associate in the firm ofModjeski and Masters Inc., and Manager of itsSt. Louis Office.

1990-2000 Feasibility evaluation of highstrength concrete; optimized sections for highstrength concrete (HSC) bridge girders; designand construction of extra high strength concretebridges; optimization of the utilization of HSCthrough post tensioning; implementation of theapplication of high performance concrete (HPC)for Louisiana bridges.

In 1990, a feasibility evaluation of utilizing


Figure 7. AASHTO Type II test girder in the test frame in the PCA/CTLfacility.

Figure 11. Bulb-tee girder is shown in the test rigging in the PCA/CTLfacility.

— net surfing—ASCE national organization:

http://www.asce.org

Note: Most ASCE-related pages can also beaddressed through links at this website. Allsection and branch officers are listed at:

http://www.asce.org/gsd/localofficers

ASCE Acadiana Branch:http://www.asceacadiana.org

ASCE Baton Rouge Branch:http://branches.asce.org/batonrouge/index.htm

ASCE New Orleans Branch:http://www.asceno.org

Louisiana Tech ASCE Student Chapter:http://www.latech.edu/tech/orgs/asce/

UNO ASCE Student Chapter:http://www.uno/~engr/asce/asce.html

ULL ASCE Student Chapter:http://www.engr.usl.edu/cive

Tulane ASCE Student Chapter:http://www.tulane.edu/~asce

LSU ASCE Student Chapter:http://www.ce.lsu.edu/~asce

ASCE Louisiana Section:http://www.lasce.org

Louisiana Engineering Society:http://www.les-state.org

Louisiana Professional Engineering and LandSurveying Board:

http://www.lapels.com

instructor with practical experience. Theremainder of the baccalaureate curriculum wouldbe supplemented with expanded technical andliberal arts electives. The purpose of the civilengineering school curriculum would immedi-ately reduce, if not eliminate, the deficiencies ineducation that cannot be supplemented by thetypical civil engineer employers giving themimmediate access to useful graduate civil engi-neers.

The curriculum offering of the civil engi-neering school would be the design courses inthe undergraduate and graduate curricula thatwould significantly benefit from an instructorwith practical experience. Other significantcourses that may have long been dropped orabbreviated concerning plans and specificationsdevelopment, material testing, engineering relat-ed law, senior project can seriously be reconsid-ered. The successful completion of a one-yearcivil engineering school curriculum would be arequirement to become a licensed civil engineerand it would also be allowed as one year of thefour years of progressive engineering experiencetoward a civil engineering license.

The civil engineering school should bepreferably staffed exclusively by part-time,adjunct instructors who are experienced andactive practicing civil engineers with at least anMS and preferably a PhD degree related to thesubject(s) they teach. Full-time instructors,though less desirable, should be acceptable witha PhD degree and at least 4 years of progressiveengineering experience related to the subject(s)thay teach. Their 4 years of progressive engi-

neering experience would not include any teach-ing experience or any experience exemption fora graduate degree, and the experience should becarefully screened for the practical experiencerelated to the subject(s) they teach. All instruc-tors would be expected to competently teach cur-rent practice-oriented versions of the adoptedundergraduate and graduate design courses andactively develop and redevelop the practice-ori-ented civil engineering school curriculum.Instructors should not be required to publish orconduct research as a condition of employmentor advancement and their employment would notbe on a tenure track.

With a civil engineering school in place andstabilized by a one-year curriculum from itscourse offerings as a requirement to become alicensed civil engineer, other opportunities areopened. The breadth of the design and practice-oriented courses offered can be expanded. Andif deemed appropriate in the future, educationalrequirements for licensure could be easilyexpanded by additional curriculum requirementsin the civil engineering school. The design andpractice-oriented courses offered should be madereadily available in evening classes for continu-ing education opportunities for licensed engi-neers who may be planning or experiencing acareer change. This would also offer the oppor-tunity for attendance by some working engineerinterns meeting their one-year civil engineeringschool curriculum requirement on a part-timebasis while simultaneously meeting theirrequired three years of progressive engineeringexperience — possibly a more preferable way.



high strength prestressed concrete in the designand construction of highway bridge structureswas initiated by Tulane and sponsored by theLouisiana Transportation Research Center andthe Federal Highway Administration. The inves-tigation was to last 5 years and included a com-prehensive evaluation of high strength concrete.

A principal objective of the research was todetermine if concrete having a compressivestrength of 10,000 psi could be produced consis-tently using existing fabrication procedures withlocal materials. In the investigation, prestressedconcrete piles up to 130' in length were testedunder driving conditions, while other pile lengthswere tested statically in flexure. As part of theproject, 5 full-size prestressed concrete bulb-teegirders 70' in length were fabricated and tested.Since the Tulane experimental research framecould not accommodate the 70' test specimens, acollaborative effort was implemented withPCA/CTL to test the girders as shown in Figures11 and 12.

As a result of the investigation, it was rec-ommended that high strength prestressed con-crete having a compressive strength up to 10,000psi should be utilized in the design and construc-tion of a prototype bridge. It was also recom-mended that this bridge should be instrumentedand monitored to determine long term behavior.

The Tulane student involved in this researchwas Barney T. Martin. Martin is presently a prin-cipal in the firm of Modjeski and Masters Inc.and in charge of the firm’s New England opera-tions. This project received the EngineeringNews Record Medal of Excellence for research.

The recommendation to utilize high strengthconcrete in a prototype bridge was followed, andin 1997 a major implementation effort waslaunched leading to the design and constructionof Louisiana’s first bridge designed and con-structed of high strength concrete (HSC) andhigh performance concrete (HPC). The distinc-tion between HSC and HPC is the former designis based on strength and the latter design is basedon durability. Two efforts, one research and onedesign/construction, proceeded concurrentlyover a 4-year period.

The prototype bridge structure was builtacross the Charenton Canal at the intersectionwith Bayou Teche in Charenton, Louisiana. Itwas the subject of the feature article in the May2000 issue of The Louisiana Civil Engineer andfeatured in the July/August 2000 issue of the PCIJournal. The overall effort was successful, gain-ing international recognition and receiving mul-tiple awards from the American ConcreteInstitute.

The Tulane students involved in the projectincluded Bryan M. Hassett and KatherineKleinpeter. Hassett is presently employed byModjeski and Master Inc. in the firm’s NewOrleans office.

Another project of unique interest involved acollaborative effort between Tulane and theTechnical University of Budapest. The researchconsisted of an investigation of the optimizationof the utilization of high strength concretethrough post-tensioning. The project was spon-sored by the U.S.-Hungarian Joint ScientificFund. The Hungarian administration was carriedout by Istvan Bodi of the Technical University ofBudapest.

In this same decade, an investigation of opti-mized sections for high strength concrete bridgegirders was conducted by Henry Russell for theFederal Highway Administration, with Tulaneparticipation. Two additional projects involvingthe design and construction of bridges with someextra high strength concrete with a compressivestrength up to 14,000 psi were conducted by theUniversity of Texas, with Tulane participation.

2000-2002 Fatigue and shear behavior of 96'HPC bulb-tee girders.

In 2000, a research investigation waslaunched into the fatigue and shear behavior andstrength of high performance prestressed con-crete bulb-tee girders, using HPC girders 96' inlength and weighing 200 tons each. The girderswere fabricated at the Pass Christian facility ofGulf Coast Prestress Inc. and trucked to thePCA/CTL facility in Skokie, Illinois. The girderscleared the entrance to the laboratory with onlysix inches to spare. One of the HPC test girders

is shown in Figure 13 undergoing fatigue testing.The project is ongoing and expected to be com-pleted in 2002. Tulane engineering studentsinvolved in the project include KatherineKleinpeter Raymond and Cullen Ledet.

ConclusionPrestressed concrete research was initiated at

Tulane in its Civil Engineering Department overa half-century ago. This period represents half ofthe life span of Tulane’s School of Engineering.At that time, no conventional prestressed con-crete structures are believed to have been in exis-tence in America. The prestressed concreteindustry has grown into a multi-billion-dollarindustry and is still going strong. The Tulanefamily can take pride in the fact that its School ofEngineering was there at the beginning. It hascontinued to contribute to the healthy technolog-ical understanding of prestressed concrete, pro-viding confidence in the product and stimulatingthe growth of the prestressed concrete industry.

ReferencesMagnel, Gustave; Prestressed Concrete;

Concrete Publications Limited; London,1948. (Member of the Royal BelgianAcademy, Professor of Reinforced Concreteat the University of Ghent, and Director ofthe Laboratory)

Upson, Maxwell M.; “Prestressing WarrantsStudy to Simplify Construction Methods”;Civil Engineering; New York; January 1953.

Bruce, Robert N. Jr.; “A Comparison of SingleSpan Rigid Frame Construction in Steel,Prestressed Concrete, and LaminatedTimber”; Master of Science Thesis,Department of Civil Engineering, TulaneUniversity, 1953.

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; “Prestressed Precast PlatformBuilt in Gulf”; Civil Engineering; New York,July 1956.

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; “Prestressed Concrete Cylindersfor Two Breakwaters”; Civil Engineering;New York, August 1959.

Figure 12. Bulb-tee girder is being tested in the PCA/CTL facility. Figure 13. Bulb-tee girder is being tested for fatigue in the PCA/CTLfacility.




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Bruce, R.N. Jr.; “Rompeolas de HormigonPretensado”; Revista Informes de laConstruccion; Madrid, June 1960.

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; “The Action of Vertical,Inclined, and Prestressed Stirrups inPrestressed Concrete Beams”; Journal of thePrestressed Concrete Institute; Chicago,February 1964.

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; “Resistance of Structures toWeapons Effects”; American Society of CivilEngineers Preprint 488; Seattle, May 1967

Bruce, R.N. Jr. and Hebert, David C.; “Splicingof Precast Prestressed Concrete Piles”;Journal of the Prestressed Concrete Institute;Chicago 1974.

Rabbat, B.G.; Kaar, PH.; Russell, H.G.; Bruce,R.N. Jr.; “Fatigue Tests of PretensionedGirders with Blanketed and Draped Strands”;Journal of the Prestressed Concrete Institute;Chicago; July 1979.

Zollman, Charles C.; Reflections on theBeginnings of Prestressed Concrete inAmerica, Part 9; Prestressed ConcreteInstitute; Chicago, 1981

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; O’Hara, James C.; Lynch, P.Michael; “Prestressed Concrete Beams inter-mixed with Steel Beams for BridgeWidening”; Louisiana TransportationResearch Center Report No. 200; 1987.

Bruce, R.N. Jr.; Martin, B.T.; Russell, H.G.;

Roller, J.J.; “Feasibility Evaluation ofUtilizing High-Strength Concrete in Designand Construction of Highway BridgeStructures”; Louisiana TransportationResearch Center Report No. 282; 1994.

Bruce, R.N.; Russell, H.G.; Roller, J.J.; Hassett,B.M.; “Implementation of HPC in LouisianaBridges”; Louisiana Transportation ResearchCenter; 2001.

Roller, J.J.; Bruce, R.N. Jr.; Russell, H.G.; “On-Going High Performance Concrete Researchin Louisiana”; PCI Journal; Chicago;February 2001.



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