Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

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Summer 2014 | Volume 84 | No. 3 Non-Profit Organizaon U.S. Postage Paid Ausn, Texas PERMIT NO. 879 Support Texas Proposition One, November 2014 Texas’ Private Sector Advisory Council ASCE Texas Section 2014 - 2015 Ballot

description

Support Proposition One

Transcript of Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

Page 1: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

Summer 2014 | Volume 84 | No. 3

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage PaidAustin, Texas

PERMIT NO. 879

Support Texas Proposition One,

November 2014Texas’ Private Sector

Advisory Council

ASCE Texas Section2014 - 2015 Ballot

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2 Texas Civil Engineer | Volume 84, No. 3 - Summer 2014

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texasce.org 3

In This IssueSummer 2014 | Volume 84 | Number 3

Calendar of Events 4

CPD Opportunities 4

President’s Message 5

Message from the Executive Director 6

Report From Region 6 7

Private Sector Advisory Committee 8

Slate of Nominees for 2014 - 2015 Officers 9

ASCE Texas Section Ballot 10

Stuck In Traffic? 11

Student’s Center 15

Branches: Get Out The Vote 2014 16

Membership Report 17

ASCE News 18

Younger Members’ Corner 18

History of Transportation Asset Management 19

2014 Webinars 20

Employment Classifieds 20

Professional Directory 21

On the Cover: Photograph by Mabry Campbellhttp://www.mabrycampbell.com

TEXAS SECTION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERSEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Crespin Guzman PEOPERATIONS MANAGER: Elizabeth R. GreenwoodCOMMUNICATIONS MANAGER: Annemarie GasserDATA MANAGER: Lauren Marcotte1524 S. Interstate 35, Suite 180Austin, Texas 78704Phone: 512-472-8905E-mail: [email protected]: www.texasce.org

2013–2014 OFFICERSPRESIDENT: Tim C. Newton PEPAST PRESIDENT: John N. Furlong PEPRESIDENT ELECT: Curtis B. Beitel PEVP-EDUCATIONAL: Eric L. Fisher PEVP-EDUCATIONAL ELECT: Lawrence D. Goldberg PEVP-PROFESSIONAL: Patrick M. Beecher PEVP-PROFESSIONAL ELECT: Roman D. Grijalva PEVP-TECHNICAL: John D. Garcia PEVP-TECHNICAL ELECT: Peter E. Falletta PETREASURER: David J. MatochaASSISTANT TREASURER: Curtis R. Steger PE

DIRECTORS AT LARGESENIOR DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Brett A. Pope PESECOND YEAR DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Vanessa I. Rosales-Herrera PEFIRST YEAR DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Brad M. Hernandez PEFIRST YEAR DIRECTOR AT LARGE: Christina L. Hickey PE

SECTION DIRECTORSBrandon E. Hammann PE, Austin BranchRobert Lys Jr PE, Brazos BranchRussell R. Carter PE, Caprock BranchDevon K. Dreyer PE, Central Texas BranchAnthony B. Gavlik PE, Corpus Christi BranchChula B. Ellepola PE, Dallas BranchJ. Gilberto Andujo PE, El Paso BranchKimberly K. Cornett PE, Fort Worth BranchMartin D. Morris PE, High Plains BranchAndrea Cheng Ranft PE, Houston BranchArthur M. Clendenin PE, Northeast Texas BranchAlfonso A. Soto PE, Rio Grande Valley BranchJames A. Lutz PE, San Antonio BranchRobert C. Hickman PE, Southeast Texas BranchAndrew L. Mellen PE, West Texas Branch

ASCE - Region 6Kenneth B. Morris PEDirector and Board of Governors Chair 2014-2017Nancy S. Cline PEGovernor—Texas Section 2011–2014Ken A. Rainwater PhD PEGovernor—Texas Section 2012–2015Elvidio V. Diniz PEGovernor—New Mexico Section 2012–2015Jeremy P. Stahle PEGovernor—Oklahoma Section 2013-2016Sean P. Merrell PEGovernor—Appointed (Texas Section) 2013-2016

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Calendar of EventsTexas Section MeetingsSeptember 16-19, 2014

Texas CECON 2014,Galveston TX

Texas Civil Engineer DeadlinesFall 2014 - Volume 84, No. 4August 28 Ad Insertion DeadlineAugust 15 Copy Submittal Deadline

CPD OpportunitiesTo enhance communications between ASCE and ASCE’s Regions, Sections, and Branches, Geographic Services is pleased to advise you of the following seminars scheduled in our area:

Austin11/12/14 Design of Foundations for

Dynamic Loads

Houston12/3/14 Structural Design for Bomb Blast

Loads and Accidental Chemi-cal Explosions (Buildings and Industrial Facilities)

San Antonio9/8/14 Earned Value Management for

Project Performance12/10/14 HEC-RAS Computer WorkshopDetailed descriptions of seminars are available at

www.asce.org/knowledge-learning/ continuing-education/

Find us on Facebook Badge CMYK / .eps

@TEXASCETweets

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President’s Message Tim C. Newton PETexas Section President

The American Society of Civil En-gineers is a global organization made up of ten regions. There are nine geographic regions in the USA, and one international region. Region 6 consists of three Sections: New Mexico, Oklahoma and the Texas Section. The Texas Section compris-es fifteen geographic Branches and seventeen student chapters.

With approximately 10,000 mem-bers, the Texas Section continuously searches for better ways to serve all members. Thanks to the Texas Civil Engineer magazine, our webcasts, eLibrary, CECON 2014 and many other programs, we are reaching most of our members. There is much more to do!

At the local level, our Branches pro-vide the most benefits to their mem-bers: the Texas Section provides sup-port to its Branches based on their individual needs.

As Section President, one of my top six priorities for this fiscal year is to invigorate the relationships between the Texas Section and our fifteen Branches. The Texas Section staff and Board of Directors join me in this goal. At the 2013 Leadership Devel-opment weekend, I made a commit-ment to personally contact each of our Branch Presidents. With the valu-able assistance of Elizabeth Green-wood in the Section office, I was able to connect with every Branch President. I truly appreciate the time all of the Branch Presidents took to visit with me. The information shared proved to be a very good way to get to know more about our Branches and their operations.

Through these very informative conversations, I learned that every Branch is unique with members who

have a wide spectrum of needs. Tex-as Section Branches enjoy their au-tonomy, and rightfully so. Most are very active, productive and healthy. To those who are active leaders of a Branch, we truly appreciate your service to our members.

The few Branches that are fading are of concern. Branch functions are non-existent or few-and-far-be-tween, with the Branch Board not meeting regularly. There are also a few Branches struggling financially. We want to help! ASCE provides a Best Practices Guide for Sections and Branches containing project/program ideas that several Branch-es have implemented successfully. These projects and programs can attract more members to function as well as energize the Branch in rais-ing money for operations.

ASCE members who are a part of an inactive Branch, we call on you to PLEASE step up to the plate and take the lead. The Texas Section stands ready to assist any Branch that needs

direction to be-coming active again. The assistance is available and the rewards are great. Contact me at [email protected] or contact the Section office for assistance. The Branches appreciate the support of the Tex-as Section, particularly the learning opportunities such as presidential visits, webinars, eLibrary and the an-nual conference. ASCE has the tech-nology to record Branch functions and the ability to live stream Branch meetings. We are eager to hear from you all! Let us know what we can do to enhance the services you provide to your members.The Texas Section also needs your help in these areas:• Representatives to attend lead-

ership meetings – Texas Section (summer) and the Multi-Region Leadership Conference (usually in January)

• Promotion of attendance at CE-CON 2014 in Galveston

Continued on page 14

Branches

FORT WORTHUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS at ARLINGTON

HIGH PLAINSWEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

CAPROCKTEXAS TECHUNIVERSITY

EL PASOUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS at EL PASO

WEST TEXAS

DALLASSOUTHERN METHODISTUNIVERSITY

NORTHEAST TEXASUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS at TYLERLETOURNEAU UNIVERSITY

SOUTHEAST TEXASLAMAR UNIVERSITY

CENTRAL TEXAS

HOUSTONUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONRICE UNIVERSITYPRAIRIE VIEW A&M

BRAZOS

SAN ANTONIOUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS at SAN ANTONIO

RIO GRANDE VALLEYUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - PAN AMERICAN

CORPUS CHRISTITEXAS A&M - KINGSVILLE

AUSTINUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS at AUSTIN

texasce.org | o�[email protected]/TEXASCE@TEXASCEtweets

TAMU

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Summer Time and the Living is Easy...

You wouldn’t know it at the Section office, but we are in the midst of planning and implementing numerous events. We have also changed “our look” in the office by replacing our conference furniture setting for a lean-er style in order to better accommodate staff and visi-tors. Following the Executive Committee and Leadership Development weekend in Corpus Christi in mid-July we want you to know what to expect in the coming months.

Some of our Branches do not have regular membership meetings during the summer. We’d still like to be in touch with our Branch leaders and specifically we’d like to hear about any changes in local leadership. The Texas Section leadership wants to help make your officer in-stallation a special event! We have willing Section and Society officers available to present the ceremony for you! As a reminder, please return the form sent to your current leaders with the information requested so we can work up a schedule

Recently we launched our new and enhanced website to offer easier member collaboration than ever before. Group Administrators were given a demonstration for their committees on July 1, 2014. In addition, all Texas Section members were invited to participate in a free webinar intended to familiarize the membership with TexASCE.org’s new tools and enhancements. (both now available as a video) We welcome any feedback mem-bers have about our new site upgrades. If it doesn’t meet your expectations, tell me or the Texas Section staff. We are glad to come up with solutions and/or communicate desired improvements to Your Membership.com, our content resource management provider.

Everyone is excited about Texas CECON 2014 in Gal-veston, September 17 - 19, 2014! It is our organization’s annual meeting of the membership and the unveiling of CECON’s new format which is designed to offer individ-ual days focused on ports, transportation and energy.

The conference will have some fun and interesting social gatherings, as well as a great exhibitor’s program. Join your fellow Texas civil engineers and witness the inaugu-ral Texas Civil Engineering Conference!

With the start of the new fiscal year the Section will also welcome in new officers. See page 10 for the paper bal-lot and online voting option. This is a great chance to be involved in the direction of ASCE Texas Section leader-

ship. Who you pick will decide the future of our Section. After October, the Section’s Nominating Committee will meet to develop a new slate of officers for 2015-2016. Are you interested in leading at the Texas Section level? Make it known to your Branch leaders and ask them to support your efforts. I challenge you to continue to grow personally and professionally with ASCE and the Texas Section!

Crespin Guzman PEExecutive Director

Message From The Executive Director

Nominations for Texas Outstanding Civil Engineering

(OCEA)Achievement Awards

due october 31, 2014The Texas Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award may be given on an annual basis to the complet-ed project that demonstrates the greatest contribution to civil engineering progress and to society.

The award is for civil engineering projects designed and/or built in Texas. Projects designed in Texas but built else-where, may be eligible for a joint award to be presented by both Sections. Eligibility for nomination will be deter-mined as described in the ASCE Official Register for the Society-level OCEA. Winners of the Texas OCEA are required to submit their nomination to the Region Director for consideration for the Society-level Award.Sample of Past OCEA Designees:2012 Hamilton Pool Restoration2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge2010 DART Green Line Light Rail Expansion2009 Cowboys Stadium2008 Lake Brazos Labyrinth Weir

Visit TexASCE.org/Awards and Honors page for more details.

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report from region 6 Kenneth B. Morris PE PTOERegion 6 Director

Region 6 represents three Sections (Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas), 20 Branches, and 18 Student Chapters. We are one of the largest regions in terms of populations, and we are definitely one of the most complex in terms of the number of geographic units represented.

The Region 6 Board of Governors spring meeting was held at the Spring Symposium and Student Conference UT Tyler April 24-26, 2014. During the Symposium, the students were preparing for their concrete canoe races and were excited about the chance to win the regional competition and proceed on to the nationals. It was fun to see the excitement in their faces and to listen to some of the stories they had to tell. Even though Mexico is no longer a part of Region 6, the student region includes universities in Texas and Mexico for the concrete canoe and steel bridge competition. One of the teams from Mexico had to travel from south of Mexico City all the way to Tyler with their canoe and team members. Sever-al of these students had never been to the United States and were excited about the opportunity to come here. I spoke to a couple of the students and they expressed to me the difficulty coming across the U.S. border with a canoe in tow. I bet that was quite a trip. If you hav-en’t attended a student concrete canoe competition it is great. The symposium will be held at Lamar University in Beaumont in 2015. See you there!

The Board of Governors discussed future contributions to the winners of regional concrete canoe or steel bridge competitions. The Texas Section asked that we support these students with a stipend next year to help with their travel. We recommend that funding request be sent through the Section to the Region as soon as possible after regionals so that we can consider it at our first avail-able meeting. As I mentioned in the Spring TCE, one of our goals is to make sure that every ASCE Student Chap-ter in Region 6 has a Practitioner Advisor assigned to the chapter from the local Branch. Currently, all student chapters in Texas have identified a Practitioner Advisor from the local Branches. If you are a Branch member located near one of these universities, please consider being a Practitioner Advisor. It is a great opportunity for young engineers to interface with Student Chapters and give guidance to students who will be starting their civ-il engineering careers soon. It is my understanding that Texas A&M Galveston is in the process of reinstating their Student Chapter. If you live in the Galveston area and would like to get involved with the Student Chapter, please contact the Texas Section office.

The Board of Governors discussed our visitation to the Branches in Region 6. The Texas Section Annual Report

listed Southeast Branch as inac-tive and the Caprock, Northeast, Rio Grand Valley & West Texas Branches are listed as intermittent. These are typically the Branches that we focus on as a region in order to make sure that they will continue. Unfortunately, the Deep East Texas Branch was inactive for several years and had to be dissolved last year. One of the duties of a Region Governor is to visit local Branches and Student Chap-ters to provide communication with Section, Branch and Student Chapter officers and ASCE members. The Gov-ernors are there to exchange ideas, talk about training opportunities and program development. Each governor is assigned a geographical area within Region 6. If you have not heard from your Region 6 Governor or you would like to have them visit and make a presentation, please do not hesitate to contact us. Region 6 Governor and their assigned Branches : Ken Rainwater ([email protected]) Caprock, Central Texas, High Plains, West Texas

Sean Merrell ([email protected]) Dallas, Houston, Southeast Texas

Nancy Cline ([email protected]) Brazos, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Rio Grande Valley

Elvidio Diniz ([email protected])El Paso, Southern New Mexico, Northern New Mexico

Jeremy Stahle ([email protected]) Oklahoma City, Northeast Texas, Tulsa

Ken Morris ([email protected]) Austin, San Antonio As Region 6 Director, I am willing to travel to any Branch or Student Chapter within the region for a meeting based upon my availability. If you will contact the Texas Section office, they will coordinate with me and we can arrange a meeting.The Region 6 Board of Governors will meet at CECON in Galveston on September 19, 2014 at 3 pm. I would encour-age you to attend. The Multi-Regional Leadership Conference

Continued on page 20

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The Texas legislature established the Private Sector Advisory Coun-cil (PSAC) in 2005 and assigned it to the Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety (DPS), Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division & Texas Office of Homeland Security.

The goal of the PSAC is to devel-op plans that will implement the National Infrastructure Protection Plan risk management framework. I was nomi-nated by President Tim Newton as the Texas Section rep-resentative to the council. This will be a long-term obliga-tion by the Texas Section.

The PSAC, though led by a state agency, is made up of representatives from private sector business, profession-al and trade organizations as well as private citizens. It will inventory and classify critical infrastructure through-out the state and develop protective measures. The PSAC is chaired by a member of the private sector.

As engineers we normally think in terms of something we might build, but the council includes providers of elec-tricity and banking services, among others as well. My specific duties are to represent the civil engineering com-munity, provide guidance for preserving the physical in-frastructure, and to serve on working groups that meet with state agencies and have an engineering interest, such as the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, the Texas Water Development Board and the Texas De-partment of Transportation.

A part of this activity will be to promote a robust train-ing program for those working in infrastructure protec-tion and certification of professionals engaged in this program. Working groups of civil engineering interest include:• Commercial facilities• Dams• Water and wastewater• Government facilities • Transportation

For this system to work, I will need to expand the Tex-as Section Infrastructure Security Committee so that we might exchange ideas and then provide our best guid-ance to the PSAC. Interested parties may contact me at [email protected].

In our society we are accustomed to being able to go

about our business without interference and having the services available that make our lives pleasant. If we are to continue this custom in light of changes in the modern world, we will need to find ways to preserve what we have. That is the intention of this council - to preserve the structure of American society.

Donald E. Willhouse PE, F. ASCE

Private Sector Advisory Council

PORTS | TRANSPORTATION | ENERGY

THE FUTURE OF...

September 17 - 19, 2014San Luis Resort & Spa

Galveston Texas

FEATURED PANELS:PORTS MULTI MODAL PANELHOUSTON DISTRICT ENGINEERMIKE ALFORD AND PORT OF HOUSTON COMISSIONER STEPHEN DONCARLOS

TRANSPORTATION TEXAS TEXAS STATE REP. JIM MURPHY ANDASCE PRESIDENT ELECT ROBERT D. STEVENS

ENERGY ENERGY/WATER NEXUS PANELSHALE FRACKING SPONSORED BY EWRII

VISIT TEXASCECON.ORGFOR FULL CONFERENCEPPROGRAM, REGISTRATIONAND HOTEL INFORMATION

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Slate of Nominees for 2014 - 2015 OfficersPRESIDENT ELECT

Audra N. Morse PhD PEDr. Audra Morse is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the Whitacre College of Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmen-tal Engineering at Texas Tech University. She leads the Engineering Opportunities Center which provides retention, place-ment and academic support services to Texas Tech engineering students. Her

professional experience is focused on water and wastewater treatment, specifically water reclamation systems, membrane filtration and the fate of personal products in treatment sys-tems. Audra has received the two highest teaching honors at Texas Tech for her teaching efforts inside and outside of the class-room. She has served as a mentor and assistant mentor at ASCE’s ExCEEd Teaching Workshop and is Chair of the ASCE Committee on Faculty Development. She received the ASCE Texas Section - Professional Service to Students Award in 2009, ASCE Region 6 Faculty Advisor of the Year in 2007 and 2010, and the ASCE ExCEEd New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006. Audra has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech Uni-versity and is a graduate of the Master of Environmental Engi-neering Program. She is married to Dr. Stephen Morse, a civil engineer, and they have two young children, Braden and Orin.

VICE PRESIDENT EDUCATIONAL ELECTBrian D. Bresler PEBrian Bresler is an engineer and proj-ect manager for Freese and Nich-ols, Inc. in the Infrastructure Group. His professional experiences include transportation design, water and wastewater utilities design, site devel-opment design, dam inspection, dam appurtenance design, stormwater

drainage design, water treatment and wastewater treat-ment design, and miscellaneous water resources design. Among Brian’s recent projects is the 41-mile, dual pump station Mary Rhodes Phase 2 Pipeline to convey a City of Corpus Christi water right on the Lower Colorado River to an existing City of Corpus Christi facility at Lake Texana. Brian has served on the Board of Directors for the Corpus Christi Branch, including as President in 2012. Brian also was co-host of the 2013 Texas Section Spring Confer-ence and Centennial Celebration held in Corpus Christi.

VICE PRESIDENT PROFESSIONAL ELECTIsabel Vasquez PEIsabel Vasquez was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. She attended UTEP, and grad-uated with a BSCE in 1982. She became active in ASCE in 2004 and has stayed active since then. She held all positions in the El Paso Chapter. She also served on the board for the ASCE Fall 2010 Section Meeting, and the ASCE 2005 Quad Sec-tion Meeting, both in El Paso.

Isabel has also been active in other organizations including AWWA, ACEC, and TPWA, and TSPE. In 2011, Isabel was selected as the Engineer of the Year by the TSPE El Paso Chap-ter, and a Gold Nugget by UTEP.

Isabel is currently a Vice President with Huitt-Zollars Inc. She has been with Huitt-Zollars for the past 20 years, and present-ly helps manage the El Paso Office. She has been married to her husband Jerry since 1982 and they have three daughters and three grandchildren.

VICE PRESIDENT TECHNICAL ELECTEdward M. Penton PEEd Penton began his career in 2003 with Carter & Burgess, and has remained through the subsequent merger with Ja-cobs Engineering Group. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree in 2003 and Master of Engineering in 2006 from the University of Texas at Arlington. He still remains active at the university and serves as Alumnus Advisor for the Tau Beta Pi -

Texas Eta Chapter.

Ed’s primary duties include design discipline leadership and project management. His experience includes PS&E for sign-ing, roadway, and drainage. In addition, he has experience in MicroStation, AutoCAD, and GIS platforms. For the past year and a half, Ed has been working on traffic elements of the Ohio River Bridges - East End project in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ed enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife Mi-chelle are teaching their son Edward the joys of building with Legos. He is also active in his neighborhood association where he continues to serve as President.

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Slate of Nominees for 2014 - 2015 OfficersTREASURER

Curtis R. Steger PECurtis Steger is a Senior Project Manager for Steger Bizzell Engineers in Georgetown, Texas. Curtis has extensive planning, design, and con-struction expertise in wet and dry utility designs, hydraulic system modeling, hydrologic and hy-draulic analyses, roadway design, and value

engineering of development projects for both municipal and private clients. He has designed large diameter wastewater and water infrastructure throughout communities and cities in Central Texas. Curtis previously worked as a development manager for residential and commercial projects as the Vice President of Vision 360 Development in Austin, Texas. Curtis currently serves as the Chairman of the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers Government Affairs Committee and as the assistant Treasurer for the Texas Sec-tion. Previously, Curtis served with the Austin Branch of ASCE as Treasurer. Curtis earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station.

DIRECTOR AT LARGEMelanie D. Gavlik PEMelanie Gavlik has been active in ASCE since she participated in the Steel Bridge completion for the Student Chapter of Texas A&M Universi-ty Kingsville in 2003. After graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineer-ing she was active in the Corpus Christi Branch of ASCE serving in several officer positions in-

cluding Branch President in 2009. She served as Registration Chair for the Spring 2008 Texas Section-ASCE meeting in Corpus Christi and served on the planning committee for the 2013 Texas Section-ASCE meeting in Corpus Christi.

DIRECTOR AT LARGEJohn A. Tyler PE, RASJohn Tyler has been active in ASCE since grad-uating from Texas Tech University with a bach-elor’s of science degree in civil engineering in 2004. Within the San Antonio Branch he was the founding chair of the Outreach program and went on to be elected to Secretary, Treasurer,

VP Programs, and President. He has been active on the Texas Section level being appointed to Chair of the State Public Af-fairs Grant and Texas Centennial Grant Committee.

John was awarded the 2012 TSPE Bexar Chapter Young En-gineer of the Year Award. He currently serves on the Builders Exchange Education Council as an advisory members and is active in his home owners association.John is a Project Manager for Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc. in their Transportation Group and works in the San Antonio of-

fice. He also serves as the company’s Manager of Information Technology. John has been married for 9 years to Anna and they have a five-year-old daughter.

ASCE Texas Section BallotINSTRUCTIONS FOR VOTING1. All Subscribing Members in good standing of the Texas Section are

entitled to vote for one candidate for each office except Director at Large, which has two positions to fill.

2. Write-in candidates are acceptable.3. The verification portion must be completed. 4. You may vote online at www.texasce.org, or mail your ballot to the

address below. You may copy this page or remove the page if you wish.

5. Ballots must reach the Texas Section office no later than August 30, 2014 to be counted.

PRESIDENT ELECT Audra N. Morse PhD, PE; Caprock Branch

Write-In

VICE PRESIDENT-EDUCATIONAL ELECT Brian D. Bresler PE, Corpus Christi Branch

Write-In

VICE PRESIDENT-PROFESSIONAL ELECT M. Isabel Vasquez PE, El Paso Branch

Write-In

VICE PRESIDENT-TECHNICAL ELECT Edward M. Penton PE, Dallas Branch

Write-In

TREASURER Curtis R. Steger PE, Austin Branch

Write-In

DIRECTOR AT LARGE Melanie D. Gavlik PE, Corpus Christi Branch

Write-In

DIRECTOR AT LARGE John A. Tyler PE, San Antonio Branch

Write-In

Membership Verification, Please PRINT:

Name:

ASCE Membership ID Number:

Address:

Email Address:

Signature:

Paper Ballots may be mailed to: ASCE Texas Section1524 S. Interstate 35, Suite 180

Austin, TX 78704 or emailed to [email protected]

or you may vote online:www.texasce.org/?page=2014OfficersSlate

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Texas is caught in gridlock—literally and figuratively. Get on a major freeway during rush hour and everyone is at a standstill. When Texans try to urge their leaders to solve big problems, our elected of-ficials seem to be at a standstill as well. This is unaccept-able. Luckily, this fall, the power to solve both of these problems lies in the hands of Texan families and busi-nesses. Voting “Yes’ on Proposition 1 this November will improve Texas’s infrastructure and give Texas the boost it needs to combat the challenges we all face from a grow-ing population.

We need Proposition 1 to pass. As a highway construc-tion contractor, I see driver frustration about the lack of lane capacity played out where I work. One ner-vous driver is convinced he’s not in the correct lane and changes lanes sporadically over the course of a mile to no avail. Some drive on the shoulder, or worse, into our construction zones trying to find a quicker way to their destination. The highway construction projects where we are able to improve roads have become dangerous places for our employees to work. One driver drove into our construction zone and was elated to be the first to use the newly paved freeway until she realized she was sinking her Mercedes into the freshly poured concrete, giving a whole new meaning to being stuck in traffic.

As Chief Development Officer of a publicly traded con-struction company, one of my duties is to inform investors about the state of infrastructure and, more importantly, the state of infrastructure funding. When I first started in my position about twenty years ago, I made the mistake of believing the political rhetoric around Federal High-way Bill renewals. I used this information to misinform the public that renewal was just one continuing resolution away. When a federal surface transportation spending bill passed in 2005 (known as SAFETEA-LU), it expe-rienced 10 continuing resolutions at the same funding levels after its 2009 expiration. Not until 2012 was SAFETEA-LU finally replaced by the new highway bill - Moving Ahead for Progress - in the 21st Century (known asMAP-21). If I have learned anything over the past 20 years, it is that we cannot wait on the federal government to fix our problems. If federal legislators are not success-fully addressing our transportation issues, as Texans, we must take matters into our own hands.

A study by Texas A&M University puts the severity of the situation into perspective. The 2012 Urban Mobility Re-port highlights that, since 1974, the population of Texas has increased by 125 percent and is expected to rise an-other 65 percent by 2050. The number of vehicles has in-creased by 172 percent and highway use by 238 percent. However, highway capacity has only seen a 19 percent increase in that same time period. What does this mean for the state of Texas? In short - more people, more cars, same roads.

ASCE makes my job of informing the investor easier by providing me with ASCE SmartBrief updates, Key Con-tact alerts, and national and local Report Cards for America’s Infrastructure. The facts are clear. We have an aging infrastructure; the gas tax has not increased in over 20 years; and our limited money is being spent on critical maintenance and cannot even begin to address the nec-essary increased capacity. These facts have enormous economic consequences. ASCE estimates that deficient, and unreliable transportation infrastructure will cost the average American family over $1,000 each year by 2020; substantiated by other reports, this figure is a conservative reflection of what the average Texas family faces now.

As a state, we must do better. In the 2012 Report Card for Texas’s Infrastructure, the Texas Section of ASCE as-sessed the state’s infrastructure system at a grade of “C” due to a significant lack of both long-term maintenance

STUCK in Traffic? Support Proposition 1Brian R. Manning PE, F.ASCEASCE Technical Region Director

2010125%

POPULATIONINCREASE

197412,268,000

Population Estimate

41.3Million

PROJECTEDPOPULATION

IN TEXASBy 2050

Number of Vehicles 1974

Number of Vehicles 2010, 172% INCREASE

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planning and sustainable funding. This is unacceptable. If we had finished our college courses with this GPA, we may not have graduated at all.

Our Texas legislators have taken action by putting the Texas Transportation Funding Amendment on the ballot. The amendment will provide an estimated $1.4 billion to the State Highway Fund in its first year of implementa-tion, paid for by a portion of the state’s annual oil and gas production tax collections. Texans will vote on this proposed amendment on November 4, 2014. The ballot proposition will read:

The constitutional amendment providing for the use and dedication of certain money transferred to the state highway fund to assist in the completion of transportation construction, maintenance, and reha-bilitation projects, not to include toll roads.

The benefits of this measure outweigh the costs, not only because of the substantial returns of public investment in transportation, but because the funding measure is also economically sound in that it does not divert money from other public investments, taxpayers, or unduly affect the risk management capacity of the Rainy Day Fund. Prop-osition 1 is an excellent first step; further funding solutions like this one will be needed to realize full returns from transportation investments in the long term.

ASCE national and Texas Infrastructure Report Cards make it apparent that our infrastructure needs help. We must rise to meet the challenges associated with rapid growth and this proposition is a step in the right direction in supporting future economic prosperity. It is up to us; propositions aren’t typically on the ballot during midterm elections, which means that both sides of the issue will have to educate more voters on the measure. In order for the proposition to be successful, we must not only vote

“Yes” On Proposition 1Endorsements:

ASCE Texas Section Texas Infrastructure Now (TIN) Move Texas Forward Texas Good Roads & Transportation Association

(TGRTA) Mission Economic Development Corporation Keep Texas Working Many and varied professional and trade

organizations Local chambers of commerce, economic

development and mobility authorities, and commissioner’s courts from all across the state

Photo: “Rush Hour” Diane White

Texas Infrastructure Report Card:Transportation Grades Summary

Grade Category Facts

D Roads

While the Texas Transportation Com-mission has encouraged innovation in alternative project deliveries and funding, overall maintenance and funding has declined. Texas ranks 43rd in highway spending per capita in the U.S. (down from number 17 in 2008).

B- Bridges

Texas has 51,557 total bridges - ap-proximately 59% more than any other state. Of these, 20% are still consid-ered non-sufficient or load restricted. The number of structurally deficient and obsolete bridges is expected to rise over the next decade.

C+ Transit

The 2011 TTI Urban Mobility Study ranked Dallas/Fort Worth 5th and Houston 6th nationally in traffic con-gestion. In the past eight years, a number of cities have made progress in adding transit services, including buses, vanpools, and passenger rail, however Texas remains heavily de-pendent upon federal and regional mobility funding to continue develop Light Rail Transit.

C+ Aviation

Since 2004, general aviation, which includes 266 airports in Texas, has not kept up with demand due to the lack of funding. All Texas airports re-ported that current funding for mainte-nance is inadequate, due to the age of the infrastructure and a large need to address failing facilities.

C+ Navigable Waterways

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) a federally maintained channel that links its Gulf Coast ports and the inland waterway system, in combination with its ports, Texas to rank 1st in the nation in total water-borne tonnage moved in the U.S. The amount of funding received for main-tenance and repair is directly tied to federal funding received.

C Cumulative GPA

Report card findings indicate a cumu-lative GPA in transportation-related categories for Texas is poor, espe-cially with respect to roads and high-ways, and that funding of transporta-tion is critically deficient.

Source: ASCE Texas Section. 2012 Infrastructure Report Card Update

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texasce.org 13

ourselves, but we must also rally oth-ers to vote.

This issue is personal for me. Contrary to what is taught in the driving manual, I have taught my 16-year old daughter that using a turn signal to change lanes on a Houston freeway demonstrates a sign of weakness. Surely, if she reveals her intention to change lanes, the other drivers will close the gap on any possi-bility she has of reaching her destina-tion. We need to improve this situation immediately. This is your chance to make a positive impact; please get out the vote.

If Proposition 1 fails, you will see me in the gridlock on your way to work sporting the bumper sticker:

Don’t Blame Me – I Voted for Prop 1!

“Jury still out” on this deci-sion? Here is some expert testimony to pore over…DeLong, J.B., & Tyson, L.D. Discretionary fiscal policy as a stabilization policy tool: what do we think now that we did not think in 2007? (2013, May). U.C. Berkeley.

An economic analysis of infrastructure in-vestment. (2010, October 11). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Treasury and Coun-cil of Economic Advisors.

Gramlich, E. (1994, September). Infrastruc-ture investment: a review essay. Journal of Economic Literature, 32(3), 1176-1196.

Inconsistent traffic conditions forcing Texas commuters to allow even more extra time. Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

The rainy day flood: what the oil and gas comeback means for Texas. (2013, Octo-ber). Texas Taxpayers and Research Associ-ation.

Texas smart transportation: save money and grow the economy. Smart Growth America.

Costs and Benefits of

Prop 1 Transportation

InvestmentHere’s the cost...Proposition 1 calls for a diversion of half of the 75 percent of oil and gas taxes that usually go to the Rainy Day Fund, annually towards the State Highway Fund, an estimat-ed $1.4 billion in the first year, to address the estimated $4 billion annual shortfall in TxDOT funding. Forecasts of the Rainy Day Fund balance with Proposition 1 in place indicate a new record high ending cash balance will be reached in 2015 and every year thereafter, approaching its constitutional cap by 2020.

Here are some of the benefits...• Increased productivity for

businesses and individuals as a result of less time spent in traffic

• Savings on repair, fuel, and tire wear

• Reduced damage and fatality from accidents

• Less spending for timely fund-ing of maintenance activities

How will this invest-ment measure up overall?Rest assured, the benefits will out-weigh the cost. Returns on trans-portation infrastructure investments range from $1.5 to $2 in increased economic output for every dollar invested. Since much of the Prop 1 funding will go towards main-tenance and repair of roadways (which has a higher rate of return than the average for transportation projects) these estimates will like-ly prove conservative compared to actual gains. This investment is also a great way to tackle unem-ployment and income inequality as it disproportionately benefits the middle class and industries whose unemployment rates are about 9 percent higher than the national average.

Page 14: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

14 Texas Civil Engineer | Volume 84, No. 3 - Summer 2014

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Continued from page 5• Texas Section Board nominations• Nominations for Section awards• Representatives to become involved in planning

CECON, our all-new annual conference• Champions for statewide legislative affairs – like our

2014 Get Out the Vote campaign. This campaign is for the November vote on the Constitutional amend-ment to increase TxDOT funding

Branch leadership deserves our appreciation. They are doing the important work in this organization. Thanks again for your service. I look forward to hearing from you.

Share With Us!Have you received an award,

honor or promotion?

We want to hear about it! Send your professional news to [email protected]. We will post it on our website’s member news page and on our social media sites. We are proud of our members! Let us brag for you.

Page 15: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

texasce.org 15

Certified HUB-DBE-WBE-SBE 1507 South IH 35, Austin, TX (512) 328-2430 Serving Texas and Beyond Since 1987

www.horizon-esi.com

Agency CoordinationUS Army Corps of Engineers US Fish & Wildlife Service

Texas Historical Commission Texas Parks & Wildlife FEMA TxDOT TCEQ TWDB County and Municipal

Specializing in Infrastructure Projects Water/Wastewater RoadwaySchools Parks & Recreation

Oil & Gas Electric Utility Flood Control Wind Power

Waste Management

Regulatory Compliance NEPA Wetlands Archeology Endangered Species Geology TxDOT Categorical Exclusion SWPPP/Erosion Control Reservoir Permitting

Student’s Center Brad Hernandez PEFirst Year Director at Large

2014 Annual Student Paper Presentation Competition Winners

First PlaceDonald Auld - Texas Tech for his paper entitled “Responsibilities in a Natural Disaster”

Second PlaceDaniel Aaron - Texas A&M “Fukushima Daichi”

Third PlaceMiriam Junaid - Rice University“Responsibilities of a Responsible Engineer”

The annual student paper presentation competition is a Society requirement for Student Chapters to be eligible for participation in the society’s steel bridge or concrete canoe competitions. At least one representative from a student chapter must compete in the student paper

presentation competition at the regional level. The format of this competition follows the require-ments outlined for the Society’s Daniel W. Mead Paper Presenta-tion in order to allow the student to not only enter the regional competition, but to also be eligible to submit their paper for the society competition.

The Daniel W. Mead Paper Presentation has a specif-ic topic outlined each year that the student must write about for the competition. The Texas Section accepts any meaningful presentations on technical subjects relating to the practice of civil engineering for the regional com-petition.

The presentations are judged on the basis of the inherent quality of the material presented and the effectiveness of the presentation. The competition, which is sponsored by the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engi-neers, is held once a year, at the Texas Section Student Symposium annual in the spring.

Page 16: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

16 Texas Civil Engineer | Volume 84, No. 3 - Summer 2014

IT’S NOT GOING TO FIX ITSELF. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 1. The 2014 “Get Out the Vote” Campaign is officially under way! This year our efforts for the campaign will focus on passing Proposition 1 on the November 4, 2014 ballot, which would generate approximately $1.4 Billion per year for Texas’ high-way fund by way of a transfer from the “rainy day fund”. There are no new taxes or fees that Texans will have to pay if this proposition passes. It is an im-portant measure for Texas’s fu-ture transportation infrastructure and Texas Section ASCE wants to get the word out to Texas cit-izens to vote “Yes” for the Prop-osition. As Texas civil engineers, we have an opportunity to inform the public about our organiza-tion and how we can help solve transportation issues in the fu-ture. Here are some activities you and your Branch can get involved with during the Campaign to get the message out: 1. Pass out pamphlets, our infographic, the

Texas Infrastructure Report Card, etc. - We have a dedicated web-site relating information on the transportation refer-endum.

2. Visit TexASCE.org/TXprops and use the hash tag #txtraffic on Twitter to get your message out.

3. Schedule a press conference - The Texas Section can help!

4. Attend legislator forums and roundta-bles in your area. Stay knowledgeable and spread the word!

2050

190%PROJECTED

POPULATIONINCREASE (since 1974)

2010125%

POPULATIONINCREASE

197412,268,000POPULATION

ESTIMATE

Number of Vehicles 1974

Number of Vehicles 2010172% INCREASE

$2.1 Billion Truck Freight Moving Costs in 2012

(value of delayed shipments is not included in this amount)

37 HOURS2012 Time per Texan Spent Stuck In Tra�c

Annually

74 HOURS2028 Time per Texan Spent Stuck In Tra�c

Annually

$10.8 Billion 2012 cost to the Texas economy

$30 Billioncost to the Texas economy by 2025

Statistic sources (retrieved June 24, 2014):House Committee on Transportation, with information from the Texas Transportation Institute tti.tamu.edu2012 Annual Urban Mobility Report, Report Fact Sheet by Texas A & M University. Mobility.tamu.edu/ums.

TexASCE.org@TEXASCEtweets

fb: Texas Section ASCE

The C0St of

DOING NOTHING

The Texas Transportation Funding Amendment would dedicate $1.4 billion a year of oil and gas production taxes to the state highway fund to assist in the comple-tion of highway construction, maintenance, and rehabili-tation projects,not to include toll roads.

Proposition 1TEXAS TRANSPORTATION FUND

Stuck In Traffic?It isn’t going to fix itself#TXTraffic

Vote YesStephen B. Crawford PEPublic Relations & Professional Image Committee

Branches: Get Out The Vote 2014

Page 17: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

texasce.org 17

Membership Report Travis Attanasio PEMembership Chair

“We need to increase our membership to 10,000 in the next year.” Too often statements like this are backed by the reality of nobody really know-ing how or what our target member-ship should be, and nobody really knows how to do “smart or sustained growth” in membership. With inspi-ration from Mrs. Ellis Robinson of www.blueavocado.org, here are some strategic errors organizations like ours should avoid:

Strategic Mistake #1: En-couraging people to become mem-bers. This is a mistake because it’s based on the idea that people who are involved with your organization will join on their own, or in the week or so after they’ve left your meeting. Instead of encouraging people to join (presumably at some later time);

Ask people to join right then, and give them a reason to join right now. For instance, if your regular lunch rate is $30, tell them if they join right now at this event, it is covered by the Branch as a token of appreciation.

Mistake #2: Under-promoting membership benefits. Why do peo-ple join a zoo or museum; General-ly for discounted admission, special events, and “line-cutting” benefits. Most people don’t join profession-al-based membership organizations for discounts, but why shouldn’t they? The power of ASCE being a large or-ganization allows them to offer great (some would say HUGE) discounts on so many types of insurance that every member can benefit. The short list is life, professional liability, acci-dent (no need to pay a talking duck), health (don’t get stuck paying the ACA tax), automobile, travel, pet, and much more. Not to mention that you also get corporate rates on car rentals, cheaper shipping through UPS, and discounts from HP!

Mistake #3: Not asking people to renew. The most common reason people don’t renew is because they think they’re still a mem-ber. You’re still send-ing them the monthly meeting emails so they figure they’re still a member, or they think maybe someone else in their company renewed them. Enlist your Branch Membership

Chairs to follow-up personally with lapsed members, or at least through co-workers of the members.

Mistake #4: Relying too much on electronic communication. That says it all.

Mistake #5: Announcing a membership drive. It’s not necessar-ily interesting or beneficial to current members that you’re out to get more members. It may be perceived that the current members aren’t good enough and will lose their “insider” status. After the fact you can (and should) say you’ve doubled (or increased) your membership and thereby your influence, resources, and effective-ness. Instead of announcing a spe-cific drive encourage every member to increase awareness of ASCE on their own, bring others to meetings, and promote the benefits of the or-ganization, not the fact that we are looking for members.

Branches: Get Out The Vote 2014

Page 18: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

18 Texas Civil Engineer | Volume 84, No. 3 - Summer 2014

Younger Members’ Corner Brian Ridley PEYounger Member Chair

By Kaitlyn Taylor EIT On April 25, 2014 the Fort Worth Branch of ASCE hosted their an-nual DFW Younger Member golf tournament at the Bear Creek Golf Club in Dallas, Texas. With over 60 participants, the golf tour-

nament was a wonderful success, raising over $7,500 for local charities. The tournament boasted a diverse

group of professionals ranging from both the public and private sec-tors of the industry. The annual golf event pro-vided a great oppor-tunity for companies to get involved with ASCE members while simulta-neously raising money

for local nonprofits. The proceeds from the golf tournament were distrib-uted to the University of

Texas at Arlington scholarship fund and the Community Food Bank of Fort Worth. There were many wonderful sponsors and fun activities to spice up the tournament, including a hole in one contest hosted by Dixon Golf. The players at the ASCE golf tournament were given mulli-gans and other fun gimme shots to improve their chanc-es of winning! At the end of the golf tournament there was an award ceremony that included a delicious buffet with music and raffle prizes. The Fort Worth and Dallas Branches of ASCE enjoy planning such a fun and impact-ing event every spring!

NewsRebecca Bennett PE, Project Engineer at PSIProfessional Service Industries, Inc. (PSI) is pleased to announce the recent hire of Rebecca Bennett PE, who has accepted the position of Project Engineer in their San Antonio Geotechnical Department.

She earned a Master of Science in Geotechnical Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Bennett has more than 10 years of professional and technical experience and is a state of Texas registered Professional Engineer.

ASCE Norman Medal RecipientsWilliam J. Likos PhD and Rani Jaafar PhD are the recipients of the Norman Medal for authoring the paper “Pore-Scale Model for Water Retention and Fluid Parti-tioning of Partially Saturated Granular Soil,” published in the May 2013 issue of ASCE’s Journal of Geotech-nical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Authors Likos and Jaafar present a first step in advancing the under-standing of how pore water in its different connections to the soil particles can be modeled (as opposed to a

bulk saturation level). This work represents a significant advance in the understanding and modeling of soil mois-ture. Unsaturated soil mechanics is a very important and challenging area in geotechnical engineering research, and even though the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) quantifies the relationship between capillary pressure and water contents, it can be obtained only by time-consuming laboratory tests. This paper provides a new micromechanical framework to quantify the fluidic flow of unsaturated soil from conventional macroscaled measurement. Also, this model should be well applica-ble to other unsaturated soil mechanics. - See more at: http://blogs.asce.org/likos-and-jaafar-are-awarded-asces-norman-medal/#sthash.mhslRR2u.dpuf

ASCE 2014 Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award for Pro-fessional Recognition RecipientsAngela (Lang) Matthews PE of the Dallas Branch and Brett Pope PE of the Houston Branch are recipients of ASCE’s Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award For Professional Recognition.

Tyler Bottorff PE (red shirt) and Justin Bosworth PE look ahead to aim their golf swings. Kaitlyn Taylor

The winning team - left to right: Bill Bateman, Keith Melton PE, Dan Hartman PE, F.ASCE and Carroll Lilly PE not pictured. Kaitlyn Taylor

Page 19: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

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By Melinda Luna PE

Transportation Asset Management is de-fined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as “a strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrad-ing and expanding physical assets effec-tively throughout their life-cycle.” It focuses on business and engineering practices for resource allocation and utilization, with the objective of better decision-making based upon quality information and well-defined objectives.

Outside of the United States, Dr. Penny Burns, an econ-omist, began to research a true cost of services and re-placement value for the assets of the South Australian Engineering and Water Supply, an office of the State of South Australia in 1982. With Dr. Burns pioneering ef-fort, Infrastructure Asset Management has been initiated in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and England.

In the United States, asset management was first intro-duced in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficien-cy Act of 1991 (ISTEA-1991). The idea of the act was to focus on existing infrastructure management systems that included road, bridge, safety, congestion, public transportation and intermodal facilities. With no funding behind the mandate, this part of the act was repealed in 1995. The National Highway System act of 1995 re-quired any projects over 25 million dollars to have life cycle costs managed for the project. Michigan passed acts with lower thresholds (1 Million), requiring a similar analysis on state projects.

In 1996, AASHTO and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) co-sponsored workshops such as the Advanc-ing the State of the Art into the 20th Century through Public-Private Dialogue. In anticipation of future stan-

dards, the FHWA created the Office of Asset Manage-ment (www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset) to help provide national leadership in asset management for highways.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) published statement 34 in 1999 to require government agencies to report assets and depreciation of the assets which included infrastructure. While the GASB is not an official government agency, most agencies follow their guidelines. The United States Department of Transpor-tation for example, they decided to implement GASB requirements. Soon after this statement, peer exchanges were held to help states learn from research and ear-ly asset management efforts in the United States as well as efforts outside the United States. AASHTO issued the Transportation Asset Management Guide (www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/hif10023.cfm) first in 2002 and has since updated the guide. A number of other efforts to get the worked out such as the ASCE Infrastructure reporting and Asset Management Committee were formed and ASCE report cards released. Training is offered to help engineers, planners and others to understand the asset management and its long term impacts to transportation efforts (www.fhwa.dot.gov/asset/training.cfm.

The FHWA mandated that State Departments of Trans-portation (DOT) have plans for asset management that include pavement and bridges by 2015,at a minimum. In Texas, this will be a large effort due to the sheer num-ber of bridges and roads in the state. Infrastructure asset management will help the public and government agen-cies better assess their DOTs on building and maintain-ing roads. Through this method government agencies will also have an easier way to prioritize projects over the long-term by determining what is the best funding strategy. The management of transportation projects is a topic that impacts all citizens, because transportation infrastructure impacts everyone each day.

History of Transportation Asset Management

TRANSPORTATIONASSETMANAGEMENT$

Ed Edahl, FEMA

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20 Texas Civil Engineer | Volume 84, No. 3 - Summer 2014

Employment ClassifiedsCivil Engineer II

Merrick & Company is seeking a Civil Engineer II for our growing San Antonio, Texas office. Local candidates preferred.

Job DescriptionPosition includes mid to senior level professional design work on civil engineering and land development proj-ects for the Federal, State, and Local Governments. Candidate must be capable of making sound engineer-ing decisions, organizing CAD drawings while receiv-ing instructions from supervisors and delegating work to designers and junior engineers. Design elements will include site layout, roadway, grading, storm drainage, water distribution and sanitary sewer collection systems.

The successful candidate will be required to interface with client, Federal, State, and Local government and municipal contacts on projects. Minimal travel required.

Some additional duties may involve project manage-ment/engineering for small to mid-size projects.

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(MRLC) will be held in Houston, January 2015, sponsored by the Houston Younger Members where we will hold our first Board of Governors meeting for 2015.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the following awards for Region 6 in 2014.

Region 6 Distinguished Student Chapter Award University of Texas at Tyler

Region 6 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award Gayan Herath, M.ASCE, OSUIT

ASCE Distinguished Members in Region 6Jean-Louis Briaud, PhD, PE (Texas A&M University)William H. Espey, Jr. PhD, PE, D.WRE (Austin, TX)

ASCE 2014 Norman MedalRani Jaafar, Ph.D. (Houston, TX)

Congratulations to all of the award recipients! (As the Region 6 Director) Please do not hesitate to con-tact me, regarding any issues that are important to you as a member of ASCE.

Sincerely, Ken Morris PE, PTOE, ASCE Region 6 DirectorCivil Engineers are Global Leaders Building a Better Quality of Life

Continued from page 7

2014 Webinars Eric Fisher PEVP-Educational

Branches and Student Chapters get one free connection per We-binar. Texas Section Members pay $25 per Webinar or may buy July 2014 – December 2014 Prepaid Subscription for $100. Non-members pay $75 per We-

binar or may buy July 2014 – December 2014 Prepaid Subscription for $200. Visit texasce.org>Education>We-binars

AUGUST 2014 UPDATE ON ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS – TDLR SEPTEMBER 2014NEPA DELEGATION TO TXDOTOCTOBER 2014TXDOT UPDATE ON FUNDING ENERGY SECTOR ROADWAYSNOVEMBER 2014 TEXAS DEPT. OF INSURANCE UPDATE ON WIND STORM CODEDECEMBER 2014BRIDGE SCOUR - THE OBESERVATIONAL METHOD BY JEAN-LOUIS BRIAUD PhD, PE, D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE

Just Added!Professional Ethics: Special Considerations in Natural Disaster-Prone Areas

Page 21: Texas Civil Engineer - Summer 2014 Vol. 84 - No. 3

texasce.org 21

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