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ASCE is widely known for its infrastructure assessments and reports, including Building Performance Assessments of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Murrah Federal Building, and its technical assessments following earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Our New Orleans levee technical group included representatives appointed by the ASCE Geo-Institute and ASCE Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI). This team gathered data on the levee breaches caused by Hurricane Katrina and conducted onsite inspections of the 17th Street Canal, London Avenue Canal and Industrial Canal levees. The team worked together in the field and shared data with two additional assessment teams, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team and another team led by the University of California–Berkeley, funded by the National Science Foundation. Activity also included COPRI assessment work on the Gulf Coast.
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The Gulf Coast hurricanes, terrorist activity, the train attacks in Madrid and other events warned us of future man-made and natural disasters to come. ASCE is deeply involved in infrastructure security as an ongoing serious concern for civil engineers. The Committee on Critical Infrastructure (CCI) was created in January 2005 to provide vision, guidance and direction on all activities related to homeland security and multi-hazard protection of critical infrastructure. Throughout the year, CCI sponsored sessions on how members can interact with federal, state and local government bodies to respond to catastrophic events. The Critical Infrastructure Response Initiative (CIRI) is a response plan to incorporate sensible infrastructure security into multihazard planning. Through CIRI, ASCE participated in a transit security tour to see improvements in Grand Central Terminal, a landmark building and major hub.
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| Rear Adm. David J. Nash, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former director of the U.S. Military's Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, was the keynote speaker at ISBE 2004. |
As secretariat of The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP), ASCE leads the national public-private partnership dedicated to improving the resilience of our critical infrastructure against disasters. In response to Hurricane Katrina, TISP and ASCE convened a forum to share information on response activities, assess needs and plan joint action. As a founding member of TISP, ASCE takes an active role, managing the TISP Web site and outreach. Last year, TISP launched a bi-monthly Breakfast Series, supported by corporate sponsorships, providing networking with public and private sector experts on infrastructure security. In 2005, TISP joined the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the America Prepared Campaign, and the American Red Cross to form the National Preparedness Month coalition of 150. The TISP Congress on Infrastructure Security for the Built Environment (ISBE) drew 500 attendees to 30 sessions over two days.
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Immediately following the Tsunami disaster, ASCE and ICE combined their technical resources and sent a specialized team to assess and evaluate the damaged areas. The team benefited from assistance by the engineering societies linked to ASCE by Agreements of Cooperation in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Institute of Engineers and the Thailand and India Sections assisted teams and helped Engineers Without Borders install a water supply system and make improvements. International Activities Committee (IAC) followed up with a meeting in January on The Role of U.S. Engineering, Design, and Construction Community in the Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction. We came together with existing and new partners, including AOCs, ICE and architects, and contributed $10,000 in matching funds from the Voluntary Fund. ASCE also sent teams, organized by COPRI and the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering, to South Asia to assess the damage.
The World Trade Center towers would likely not have collapsed if the spray-on fireproofing had not been dislodged by the impact of the aircraft, concluded a report issued by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST urged the technical community to examine changes to design, materials and techniques, including possible changes to codes and standards, that could improve building performance and increase the safety of occupants and first responders, focusing largely on the effects of fire in relationship to other structural loads. The NIST report largely reflects the findings of the previous assessment by ASCE and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recommending six actions, including improvements in fireproofing, sprinkler systems and egress design, in the design and construction of buildings deemed potential targets of terrorist attacks.
ASCE’s seven Institutes now have a greater presence in the Society’s governance. The election of the first director to represent the Technical Region was a milestone that will bring the perspectives of technical Institute members to the Society’s policymaking and oversight.
ASCE joined with the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) to launch training programs to enhance security for drinking water, wastewater and storm water utilities. The Water Infrastructure Security Enhancements (WISE) program specifies measures for implementing security in new and existing facilities of all sizes. Both training programs and guidance documents were funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Many West Coast ports are near fault lines, so damage caused by a major earthquake would have enormous regional and national effects. In response to this threat, ASCE’s Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute (COPRI) began developing a new standard for seismic design of piers and wharves. The new standard will provide analysis and design guidance for wharves and piers. It will address unique load combinations, including berthing and mooring loads, and consider liquefaction, lateral spreading and slope stability.
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Since its launch in September 2004, the ASCE Research Library has grown to over 225,000 pages comprising 27,000 articles. The combination of an online proceedings subscription for institutions and limited individual access packages has resulted in a new revenue stream for Publications that has generated more than $75,000 per year.
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ASCE’s Publications Division delivered its best results ever. In the first nine months of the year, net income was $7.23M, $470K (7 percent) above both budget and last year’s YTD actual. The journals program continued to experience strong gains. Revenue from journals increased to almost $9.53M, an increase of $470K (5.2 percent) above the similar period in Fiscal 2004. Magazine and newspaper display and classified advertising sales increased by $390K above FY2004.
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ASCE’s on-line job and resume referral service, Career Connections, has become one of ASCE’s most valuable products presenting opportunities in technical specialties. Revenue exceeded budget and the number of members posting resumes jumped markedly.
IAC and EWRI have continued the dialogue with the Iraq Minister of Water Resources and ministry representatives on a workshop series to develop technical options for consideration by policy makers for addressing water issues in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. A concept proposal with the Global Environment Facility is being developed with EWRI in collaboration with the Euphrates-Tigris Initiative for Cooperation (ETIC), at Kent State University. Building on discussions that were held at U.S. Agency for International Development, ASCE is securing a group membership for water resources engineers in the Ministry.
ASCE seeks to involve our technical and program units in international activities. Thus the Technical Council for Cold Region Engineering (TCCRE) collaborated with the Finnish Society of Civil Engineers (RIL) to implement the International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering (ISCORD). Members of the task committee met in Helsinki and plan to meet in Maine during the TCCRE Conference. IAC, as well as the ASCE India Section, planned to co-sponsor the EWRI Conference, An International Perspective on Environmental and Water Resources, in New Delhi.
