10 minute read
CASE in Point
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Earthquake Damage Assessment of the Washington Monument Headlines CASE Convocation at ACEC Fall Conference CASE is on LinkedIn
On August 23rd, 2011, one of the largest earthquakes to impact the east coast occurred along a fault line approximately 84 miles southwest of Washington, DC. Two iconic structures were seriously impacted by that event: the Washington Monument and Washington National Cathedral. Members of the project team for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, who performed the damage assessment on both structures, will be at the CASE Convocation (held in conjunction with the ACEC Fall Conference) to provide an overview of their findings and the various treatment and restoration strategies that will guide the repairs. The CASE Convocation offers a full day of sessions on Monday, October 15 dedicated to best-practice structural engineering:
10:30 am Risk Management Essentials for Structural Engineers
Randy Lewis, XL Group
2:15 pm Project Risk Management Plans
Stephen Cox, GHD
4:00 pm Seismic Assessment and Repair Design: Washington Monument and National Cathedral
Daniel J. LeMieux & Eric Sohn, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
5:30 pm Coalition Meet and Greet
Other Fall Conference Highlights include: • Rich Karlgaard, Forbes Columnist & Publisher on
Challenge of Private vs. Public Growth – Central Issue of Our Time
• CEO Market Outlook on Energy, Water
and Transportation
• Ron Insana, CNBC Senior Financial Commentator, on America’s Coming Economic Boom • Stu Rothenberg, Rothenberg Political Report Editor and
Publisher, on Handicapping the November Elections • CEO Roundtables • 2013 Industry Economic Update • 30 Industry Education Sessions offering 21.5 PDHs
NEW! The Young Professionals Forum will feature a kickoff as well as a closing session, facilitated by industry consultants. In addition, those who qualify for and are registered for the Young Professionals Forum will have access to all of the other Fall Conference sessions and events. The tentative program of Young Professionals Forum sessions includes: • Monday, October 15, 10:30 am-11:45 am
Strategies for Developing Leadership and
Management Skills – Panel of ACEC Senior
Executive Institute graduates, facilitated by SEI faculty • Wednesday, October 17, 8:30 am-9:45 am
Next Steps for the Young Professionals Forum –
Workshop and small group discussion on what was valuable learning at the Conference and how future Forum meetings should be structured, facilitated by SEI faculty Register now at www.acec.org/conferences/fall-12/
National Practice Guidelines for the Structural Engineer of Record
The purpose of these Guidelines is to give firms and their employees a guide for establishing consulting structural engineering services, and to provide a basis for dealing with clients generally and negotiating contracts in particular. Since the Structural Engineer of Record (SER) is normally a member of a multi-discipline design team, these Guidelines describe the relationships that customarily exist between the SER and the other team members, especially the prime design professional. Furthermore, these Guidelines seek to promote an enhanced quality of professional services while also providing a basis for negotiating fair and reasonable compensation. The Guidelines also provide clients with a better opportunity to understand and appreciate the scope of services that the structural engineer should be retained to provide. With the publication of the 2012 edition of these Guidelines, it is important to recognize that the Guidelines were developed originally on the basis of the traditional design/bid/build system of project delivery. This project delivery system continues to be the basis for the current edition. While these Guidelines are specific to design/bid/build, some of the described principles may be applicable to other project delivery methods like design/ build, integrated project delivery and fast tracked projects. It is CASE’s position that this document should not attempt to cover all of the nuances and differences associated with these alternative project delivery systems; rather, the basis of these Guidelines should be made clear to the reader. These guidelines are also based on the SER’s client being the prime design professional, typically the project architect. Sometimes, the SER may be contracted with the owner, the contractor, or even another consultant to the prime design professional. The SER’s client also typically has a client and the contract between those parties may directly impact the role and responsibilities of the SER. While these Guidelines are based on the SER’s client being the prime design professional, many of the described principles are applicable to the various different types of contractual relationships. It is CASE’s position that this document should not attempt to cover all of the nuances and differences associated with these different contractual relationships. CASE 962 (2012) is available for download online at www.booksforengineers.com.
CASE Business Practice Corner
If you would like more information on the items below, please contact Ed Bajer, ebajer@acec.org.
Pay if Paid
Some firms are lamenting the return of this provision into contracts and attribute its rise to the decline in the economy. Courts have both upheld and declared invalid these provisions. In some jurisdictions, they are illegal by statute. Some think this risk-shifting mechanism is bad for business and makes it easy to justify non-payment. Like any contract provision, it is negotiable. If you are in the subcontractor’s role, explore the possibility of contracting directly with the owner instead of the prime. You can also require in your contract with the prime that it will submit your invoices to the client in a timely manner or within a prescribed time. Accommodating Employees Religious Beliefs
Employers must reasonably accommodate employee’s religious beliefs unless it creates an “undue burden” according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Compliance Manual www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/religion.html#_Toc203359518. They must also comply with OSHA which requires a workplace free of recognized hazards. Such accommodation may include altering workplace policies, dressing and grooming codes. Employers must show that there is a real safety risk if there is a conflict between religious beliefs and safety requirements. A prior workplace accident may dictate a decision. The employer must balance a worker’s religious beliefs against a safe workplace.
Engineering Expert’s Testimony Excluded
An engineer was hired as an expert and gave testimony as to what was required to meet the standard of care for bridge construction. He mentioned several items that were not noted in the code or anywhere else. The court concluded that, although he was qualified to testify as an engineering expert, he was not qualified to give opinions about bridge construction traffic control. It was determined he drifted too far from his area of expertise. The Contracts Central website (www.contractscentral.net) provides a list of engineering expert witnesses including their specific areas of expertise.
www.contractscentral.net/expertwitness/expert_witness_
listing.pdf.
CASE in Point
Part 1: A Crisis of Opportunity
By Glenn R. Bell, P.E., S.E., SECB A Crisis of Opportunity A year ago, I was invited to join the SEI Young Professionals Committee, which is addressing issues of interest to future generations of structural engineers. The members of this committee have concerns that I share… Our business is becoming commoditized as computers and software are doing more of our work. We face the threats of global outsourcing and competition. Increasingly, we are having trouble attracting and retaining the best and brightest to our profession. At the same time, these young professionals yearn to tackle the future challenges of the world in a much more profound way than they are empowered to do today. While some may see this as a crisis, I prefer to see it positively, as a crisis of opportunity – a chance to change the practice of structural engineering in a profound way. This starts with developing a new breed of structural engineers, more broadly capable than ever before – more creative, collaborative, and communicative – to become global leaders in society’s grand challenges.
The World of Future Engineering Generations To understand what this new breed of structural engineer will look like, I invite you to consider with me what the world of future generations will look like. I suggest that we glimpse about forty years ahead. This may seem like a long time from now, but it is actually within the likely career span of today’s engineering students. Note: This is the first article of a four-part series on the opportunities and challenges we face in developing the next generation of structural engineers. It is based on the author’s keynote address at the SEI Structures Congress in March 2012.
Glenn R. Bell, P.E., S.E., SECB (GRBell@sgh.com), is the Chief Executive Officer at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger in Waltham, Massachusetts.
opportunities in this changed world. The massive population in developing countries will need affordable, sustainable housing and infrastructure on an enormous scale. There is a lot of building to be done!
No. 2: Globalization In the future, our workplace will be worldwide. The global engineering workforce will be leveled. We already face offshore competition, much of it high in quality and lower in cost. But we also have more opportunities to work elsewhere in the world, especially in developing countries. For American engineers to compete internationally, we must become more mobile – more willing to travel to far-flung places. A globally flattened market means that engineers of the future will need breadth, both in technical and soft skills, to operate in many diverse locations and cultures. Perhaps most importantly, we need to be adept at collaborating on teams with members scattered around the globe.
New World Reality No. 1: Developing Population By 2050, there will likely be about 9 billion people on our planet; 8 billion of them will live in developing countries. Pundits predict that, by 2050, the most prevalent language will not be English; it will be Chinese, followed by Hindi and Arabic, with English and Spanish vying for fourth place. Many domestic industries will not exist in their present forms. Ones that do exist may no longer be headquartered in the United States. The structural engineer of the future will need imagination to seek different business No. 3: Sustainability We in the United States are consuming the earth’s irreplaceable resources at an unsustainable rate. If developing economies adopt our rate of consumption, we will bankrupt our planet of these resources in short order. While energy concerns are at the forefront of our public dialogue, the challenges are much broader. For example, a recent report by the United Nations projects that, within the next 20 years, virtually every nation in the world will face some type of water supply problem. Moving forward, the building and operation of all of our constructed works will require a drastically more responsible approach. Balancing quality of life with natural resources will be critical.
No. 4: Climate Change Recent awareness of the impact of climate changes on natural hazards are causing us to question the efficacy of our criteria and approach for design against natural hazards, particularly wind, flooding, and sea level. This will drive us toward more flexible, performance-based
Structural Forum is intended to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and debate among structural engineers and other participants in the design and construction process. Any opinions expressed in Structural Forum are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NCSEA, CASE, SEI, C3Ink, or the STRUCTURE® magazine Editorial Board. approaches. It also requires that engineers take leadership roles in major policy questions in hazards management, or even in some cases advising societies on where not to build.
No. 5: Complexity Our large-scale civil/structural systems are becoming increasingly complex, and lessons from recent natural disasters like Katrina and Fukashima Daiichi have pointed out the vulnerability of such complex systems. To manage complexity, we need to understand systems engineering, and we need to be able to work better together on collaborative, interdisciplinary teams.
No. 6: Knowledge Exchange and Global Competition Access to knowledge is enabling developing countries to educate high-quality engineers at an enormous rate. Many of them are able and willing to work very hard for a fraction of the wage rates within the United States. This means that, for the future, American engineers must offer added value through superior knowledge and skill. Our differentiators will be leadership, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
No. 7: Technology This last point has perhaps the most significant impact on our practice. Advancements in computer techniques and simulation mean that we simply do not need the manual numbercrunching resources that we have supplied in the past. Sure, our engineers will need to be skilled in modeling and knowing how to extract correct and reliable results from simulations; but much of what we have been doing in the recent past will be done by machines in the future. This leaves us wondering what our roles will be. In the next article, we will consider the opportunities that these New World Realities present to future generations of structural engineers, and the attributes required to meet those opportunities.▪
