OPENING PLENARY SESSION
Friday, October 20
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
SURVIVING THE FUTURE
“Hazard Mitigation for Civil Infrastructure”
Welcome
Thomas J. Johnson, III,P.E., M.ASCE
Illinois Section President
Principal Project Manager
MWH Americas, Inc.
Presidential Remarks
Dennis R. Martenson, P.E.,
BCEE, F.ASCE
ASCE President 2006
Moderator
G. Nicholas Textor, P.E.,
D.WRE, F.ASCE
2006 Annual Conference
Co-Chair
The 2006 Annual Civil Engineering Conference theme, “Surviving the Future,” focuses on the role civil engineers have and will play in mitigating the natural, technical and socio-political hazards which challenge our civil infrastructure systems. The conference will address the multidisciplinary issues these hazards present to owners, users and designers of critical civil infrastructure, including transportation, communication, water and sanitation, power distribution, and emergency response infrastructures. The integration of hazard mitigation principals into a wide range of crisis, disaster and risk management activities associated with civil infrastructure will be presented. The opening Plenary Session includes a keynote address by General Barry R. McCaffrey, USA (Ret.). General McCaffrey is one of the great military leaders of our time and currently serves as an expert on international affairs for NBC News on matters associated with terrorism.
Keynote
General Barry R. McCaffrey is President of his own consulting firm based in Arlington,
Virginia. General McCaffrey stepped down as the Director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in January 2001. He was confirmed to the position
by unanimous vote of the U.S. Senate in February 1996 and served as a member of the
President's Cabinet and the National Security Council for drug-related issues. As ONDCP
Director, he coordinated the $19 billion federal drug control budget and developed the U.S.
National Drug Control Strategy.
Prior to confirmation as the National Drug Policy Director, General McCaffrey served as the
Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces Southern Command coordinating national
security operations in Latin America. During his military career, he served overseas for
thirteen years and completed four combat tours. He commanded the 24th Infantry Division
(Mech) during the Desert Storm 400-kilometer left hook attack into Iraq. At retirement
from active duty, he was the most highly decorated four-star general in the U.S. Army. He twice received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest medal for
valor. He was also awarded two Silver Stars and received three Purple Heart medals for
wounds sustained in combat. General McCaffrey served as the assistant to General Colin
Powell and supported the Chairman as the JCS advisor to the Secretary of State and the
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Session I
Hazard Mitigation for Infrastructure: A Plan of Attack
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Mitigation strategies which address the multihazards that challenge our civil infrastructure
systems require a holistic approach, based on specific
threat and vulnerability assessments of each component of the overall infrastructure system. Emerging methodologies founded on engineering principals and state-of-the-art knowledge are being used to assess the vulnerabilities of specific infrastructure systems. These methodologies catalog assets and system capabilities, assign value and importance to the system resources, and identify and quantify the vulnerabilities of each system. Representatives from transportation, water resources, and emergency management will discuss how they address the hazards facing their respective infrastructures and how vulnerability assessments are establishing the parameters for the design of mitigation countermeasures through deterrence, detection, and prevention.
Moderator 
Richard A. Walther, P.E, S.E., M.ASCE
Consultant, Wiss, Janney,
Elstner Associates, Inc. and
Executive Council Editor, ASCE
Practice Periodical on Structural
Design and Construction
Panelists
Richard Lanyon, P.E., M.ASCE, General Superintendent,
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
(MWRDGC)
Jeffrey Western, P.E., S.E., M.ASCE, Manager Employee
Security and Infrastructure Protection, Wisconsin Department
of Transportation
John Rogan, Office of Emergency Management & Communication, City of Chicago (not pictured)
_________________________________________________________________________________
Session II
Mitigation: The Road to Infrastructure Resiliency
1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
In the past two and half decades, the nation has witnessed unprecedented increases
in the direct cost of disasters and is just beginning to grasp the profound impact of
the indirect losses associated with disasters and the disruption of critical infrastructure.
As urban areas grow and technologies advance, national and global infrastructures
become more interconnected, complex, and critical to our functioning society.
Emergency management professionals need to understand the interdependencies of
critical infrastructures, just as engineers, planners, and other related professionals
need to have a stronger knowledge of emergency management. When a disaster
strikes, the impact it has on our infrastructure and networks can be devastating. An
integrated and complementary approach to protecting critical infrastructures and
mitigating the impacts of disasters is essential to developing a resilient infrastructure
network, as well as effective emergency response and recovery operations.
Moderator:
Eva Lerner-Lam, M.ASCE,
President, Palisades Consulting Group, Inc. and
Editor-in-Chief, ASCE Committee on Critical
Infrastructure
Panelists:
Edward M. Laatsch, P.E., M.ASCE
Chief, Building Science Section, Mitigation Division,
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
Department of Homeland Security
Cecil Lue-Hing, Sc.D.,P.E., BCEE, Hon.M.ASCE, NAE,
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
(MWRDGC); EWRI Past President
Paul Mlakar, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE,
Senior Research Scientist, Engineer Research
and Development Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
ASCE Committee on Critical Infrastructure Chair
Stuart Nishenko,
Senior Seismologist, Geosciences Department of the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company (PG&E) in San Francisco, CA
___________________________________________________________________________
Session III
Lessons for the Civil Engineering Profession from Hurricane Katrina
3:15 – 4:45 p.m.
The Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Protection System failed to protect New Orleans
and surrounding areas from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The
performance of the system during and following Katrina is a source of rich lessons
for the civil engineering profession. This session will focus on the results of the U.S
Army Corps of Engineers Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force and
lessons learned.
Moderator:
Lawrence H. Roth, P.E.,
G.E., F.ASCE, ASCE Deputy
Executive Director
Panelists:
John T. Christian, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE,
Consulting Engineer, and Member, National
Research Council Committee on New Orleans
Regional Hurricane Protection Projects
David E. Daniel, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE,
President, University of Texas at Dallas, and
Chair, ASCE External Review Panel
Lewis E. (Ed) Link, Ph.D.,
Senior Research Engineer, University of Maryland,
and Director, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Interagency
Performance Evaluation Task Force
Donald L. Basham, P.E.
Chief, Engineering & Construction, US Army Corps of Engineers
