87745 May 04 civil eng rev - l ASCE · 4 THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2004 President’s Message Barbara E. Featherston, PE Past President Charles L. Eustis, PE, recent-ly contacted

Volume 12 • Number 3 May 2004

THE LOUISIANACIVIL ENGINEER

ACADIANA BRANCH • BATON ROUGE BRANCHNEW ORLEANS BRANCH • SHREVEPORT BRANCH

Journal of The Louisiana Section

LO

UIS

IANA SECTION

1914

INSIDE:Highlights of the

2004 Annual Spring Meetingand Conference in Shreveport

NEWS:2004 Deep South ConferenceCareer ConnectionsHB 1342Board of Directors Elected

FUTURE:Louisiana Civil Engineering

Conference and Showin New OrleansSeptember 9-10, 2004

Section Annual Meetingin New OrleansSeptember 10, 2004

FEATURE:Port of Greater Baton Rouge

keeps it rolling overTensar® BX Geogrids

2 THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2004

SERVICES AND SUPPLIERS

13201 Old Gentilly Road

New Orleans, Louisiana 70129

PPrreeccaasstt BBrriiddggeessCCoonnccrreettee PPiippee —— MMaannhhoolleess —— BBooxx CCuullvveerrttss

CCaattcchh BBaassiinnss —— DDrraaiinnaaggee SSttrruuccttuurreess

OFFICE: 877-754-7379 FACSIMILE: 504-254-3164

Sean WokasienRegional Manager5883 Glenridge Drive, Suite 200Atlanta, GA [email protected] Cell: 404-386-0487Fax: 404-250-9185

Tensar Biaxial (BX) Geogrids can saveyou time and money on your next project.

Call Sean at 404-214-5368 or visit usonline at www.tensarcorp.com/bx.

The Simple Solution to Your Soft Soil Problems!

PROFESSIONAL LISTINGS

The listing of your business card or larger presentation here with our other supporters to help subsidize The Louisiana Civil Engineer,the journal of the Louisiana Section, would be greatly appreciated. For information about listing rates and requirements,

please direct inquiries to Norma Jean Mattei, PE, Telephone: (504) 280-5414 or e-mail: [email protected].

THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2004 3

THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEERCONTENTSPresident’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Port of Greater Baton Rouge keeps it rolling

over Tensar® BX Geogrids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5News from the Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Highlights of the Annual Spring Meeting

amd Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Student Chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132004 Deep South Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Section News and Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15President’s Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Board of Directors elected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Editor’s Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Professional Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,22-23Services and Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,24

LOUISIANA SECTION • AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

Louisiana Engineering Center • 9643 Brookline Avenue • Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809 • (225) 923-1662SECTION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PresidentBarbara E. Featherston, PE

Camp Dresser & McKeePresident-Elect

Norma Jean Mattei, PEUniversity of New Orleans

Vice PresidentKim E. Martindale, PE

Louisiana DOTDSecretary-Treasurer

Timothy M. Ruppert, PEUS Army Corps of Engineers

Past PresidentCharles L. Eustis, PE

Louis J. Capozzoli & AssociatesDirectors-at-Large

Joe E. (Butch) Ford, PEBossier Parish

J. Keith Shackelford, PECSRS, Inc.

Gustave S. (Gus) Cantrell, PEUniversity of New Orleans

Patrick J. Landry, PELouisiana DNR

Assigned Branch DirectorsReda Bakeer, PE

Tulane UniversityRoy A. Waggenspack, PE

Owen & White, Inc.Branch Directors

John E. Bosch, Jr., PEMaritime International, Inc.

David M. Burkholder, PELouisiana DNR

Christopher G. Humphreys, PEProfessional Services Industries, Inc.

C. Eric Hudson, PEAlliance, Inc.

SECTION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIRSGeotechnical

David P. Sauls, PELouis J. Capozzoli & Associates

StructuresAnthony F. Goodgion, PE

Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc.Environmental

Brant B. Richard, PEC-K Associates, Inc.

BRANCH OFFICERSAcadiana Branch

PresidentJohn E. Bosch, Jr., PE

Maritime International, Inc.President-Elect

Kimberly D. Landry, EILafayette Consolidated Government

Vice PresidentDax A. Douet, PE

C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc.

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE:Norma Jean Mattei, PE, Chair (504) 280-5414Branch Presidents, MembersJames C. Porter, PE, Editor (225) 242-4556Yvette Weatherton, PE, Student Chapter News (225) 771-5870

PUBLISHER:Franklin Press, Inc., Baton Rouge, LAThe Louisiana Civil Engineer quarterly journal is an official publication ofthe Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers with anaverage circulation of approximately 1900. The Section does not guaranteethe accuracy of the information provided, does not necessarily concur withopinions expressed, and does not claim the copyrights for the contents in thispublication. Please submit letters and articles for consideration to be pub-lished by e-mail to [email protected], by facsimile to(225) 242-4552, or by mail to the Publications Committee c/o James C.Porter, PE • 2608 Terrace Avenue • Baton Rouge, LA 70806-6868.

SecretaryMohammed J. Khattak

University of Louisiana — LafayetteTreasurer

Jeffrey L. Duplantis, PESellers & Associates, Inc.

Past PresidentLarry A. Cramer, PE

Sellers & Associates, Inc.Baton Rouge Branch

PresidentDavid M. Burkholder, PE

Louisiana DNRPresident-Elect

André M. Rodrigue, PEABMB Engineers, Inc.

Vice PresidentThomas T. Roberts, PE

Waskey Bridges, Inc.Secretary-Treasurer

Brant B. Richard, PEC-K Associates, Inc.

DirectorsGregory P. Sepeda, PE

Sigma Consulting Group, Inc.Jesse T. Thompson, EI

PEC, Inc.Stephen M. Meunier, PE

Louisiana DOTDPast President

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

New Orleans BranchPresident

Christopher G. Humphreys, PEProfessional Services Industries, Inc.

President-ElectDeborah D. Keller, PE

Port of New OrleansVice President

William H. Sewell, Jr., PEDPW City of New Orleans

SecretaryRonald L. Schumann, Jr., PE

DMJM+Harris, Inc.Treasurer

Christopher L. Sanchez, EIConsoer Townsend Envirodyne Engrs., Inc.

DirectorsPeter R. Cali, PE

US Army Corps of EngineersNathan J. Junius, EI

Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc.Past President

Daniel L. Bolinger, PEDMJM+Harris, Inc.

Shreveport BranchPresident

C. Eric Hudson, PEAlliance, Inc.

President-ElectKirt M. Nixon, EI

Smith and Raley, Inc.Secretary

Lisa Nichols, EIMohr & Associates Inc.

TreasurerAshley T. Sears, EI

Aillet, Fenner, Jolly and McClellandPast President

Joe E. (Butch) Ford, Jr., PEBossier Parish

BRANCH TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CHAIRSBaton Rouge

StructuresDanny J. Deville, PE

McKee & Deville Consulting Engineers, Inc.Geotechnical

Gavin P. Gautreau, PELouisiana Transportation Research Center

EnvironmentalStephen D. Fields, PE

Compliance Consultants, Inc.Water Resources

Morris SadeMiraj Envirotek, Inc.

ManagementMichael N. Dooley, PE

Sigma Consulting Group, Inc.Pipeline

Roy A. Waggenspack, PEOwen and White, Inc.

TransportationP. Brian Wolshon, PE

LSU Baton RougeNew Orleans

StructuresMark H. Gronski, PE

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersGeotechnical

William W. Gwyn, PEEustis Engineering Company, Inc.

Environmental and Water ResourcesDavid A. Cole, PE

Montgomery Watson Harza, Inc.STUDENT CHAPTERS IN THE LOUISIANA SECTION

Presidents/Faculty AdvisorsLSU Kyle Murrell

P. Brian Wolshon, PELa. Tech Brooke Fletcher

Norman D. Pumphrey, Jr., PEMcNeese Nick Pestello

Janardanan (Jay) O. Uppot, PESouthern Niayonda Picou, Chuckwu Onu and

Yvette P. Weatherton, PETulane Ashley Warren

John H. (Jack) Grubbs, PEULL Sandy Guidry

Paul A. Richards, PEUNO Stephanie Krebbs

Gianna M. Cothern, 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 Greiner U.S. Army Corps Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc.Woodward Clyde of Engineers


President’s MessageBarbara E. Featherston, PE

Past President Charles L. Eustis, PE, recent-ly contacted me concerning bills being consid-ered in the State Legislature that if adoptedwould require engineering services for publicprojects to be subject to competitive biddingrather than qualification-based selection as pro-vided for in the current state statutes. TheSection’s Legislative Chair, Thomas A.Stephens, PE, has been on top of this issue andhe has been in communication with theLouisiana Engineering Society and theAmerican Council of Engineering Companies ofLouisiana (ASCE/L). The LES and the ACEC/Las well as other state engineering organizationsare encouraging their membership to contacttheir legislators to oppose these bills. One of thebills basically strips engineers of their recogni-tion as a profession and their professional title.The other 2 bills would require a short list of the3 top ranked engineering firms ranked from thequalifications-based selection process to furtherengage in a competitive bidding process. Thefollowing is an excerpt from a letter that I sentas the President of the Section to all of the statelegislators:

As President of the Louisiana Section ofthe American Society of Civil Engineers(ASCE), I represent more than one thousandcivil engineers from around the State ofLouisiana. The Louisiana Section of theASCE opposes the above-referenced Bills.The Bills endanger the way professional engi-neers are selected for public projects. I stressthe word professional, as engineering is a pro-fession that is dedicated to the health, safetyand welfare of the public. This includesroads, buildings, water treatment, electricalsystems, etc.; all the infrastructure that thepublic depends on day in and day out. HouseBill 1342 specifically removes engineers asprofessionals, thereby subjecting engineers tocompetitive bidding, rather than qualification-based selection (QBS). Competitive biddingwould result in selection of engineering serv-ices based on the lowest price. It is our opin-ion that lowest-price selection of professionalservices of any type is detrimental to the pub-lic interest.

As soon as I was contacted by Charlie andTom, I sent an e-mail to the ASCE National andthey responded back to me within 24 hours andhad a draft alert out to our Section membershipwithin a couple of days. I appreciate the helpthat they provided concerning this issue and Itruly believe that whatever part of our annualdues that are allocated to this service, it ismoney that is very well spent. I know that all ofyou with an e-mail address received the alert andI hope that everyone was able to utilize theASCE national website where one is only 6clicks away from sending e-mail correspon-dence to his/her state legislators.

In other news, the ASCE national continuesto push the Governance restructuring proposalthat will be decided in the upcoming ASCE elec-tion. The Section leadership continues to followall of the information that is available on thisissue that has been made available to the mem-

bership and it has maintained ongoing discus-sions during the Board meetings. As a result, Istill continue to have concerns about this pro-posal because I believe that it is not well thoughtout relative to the mechanics of the election ofthe governing Board, the Institute directors andthe at-large Directors.

I was sent an e-mail distributed by theTransportation and Development Institute ask-ing their members to vote for the passage of theGovernance restructuring proposal in theupcoming ASCE election. According to the e-mail, the Institutes will be members of a techni-cal region. While I feel that this is a great idea,as a region the institutes will have two directorsas opposed to all of the other regions that willonly have one. Again, things do not add up inmy opinion and it is my belief that the relatedissues are not being discussed in breadth ordepth. In my opinion, the Governance restruc-turing proposal as a whole does not benefit thegrassroots membership of the ASCE, however, Ibelieve at the same time that there are some partsof the proposal that are quite good. Enoughsaid...

An issue that continues to plague us is thelack of enthusiasm for service in the Section’svolunteer, elected leadership. We were unable tofind a member from one of our Branches toserve on the Section Board. Several currentBoard members have not been present for aBoard meeting for almost the entire administra-tive year. We are trying and must try harder todo a better job of filling these positions withfolks who can make the commitment to activelyserve.

The problem appears to be that between theclearly important and top priority commitmentswe make to home and work, professional serviceto some would appear to be a distant third orlower priority. As a working mom with kidsinvolved in everything from dance to baseballand with a job that typically requires my undi-vided attention 40 to 60 hours a week, I knowfrom my personal experience that things do fallthrough the cracks when family and livelihoodissues crowd the agenda. One of the first thingsto get cut under these conditions is the volunteerwork commitment.

On one level I find that it is sometimes dif-ficult for me to justify the time spent, not only inservice to the ASCE as an officer and a Boardmember, but really in any activity in the variousprofessional organizations. It all gets back toremembering to appreciate what I get out of myservice. While serving at the Branch level, itwas easier for me to see the rewards in workingthe booth during the local Career Expo, volun-teering for Block City at Jazzfest or visiting withthe kids at schools to discuss the benefit of agood math and science education. However,service at the section level does not always pro-vide such a tangible sense of reward.

It seems that a substantial portion of theeffort at this level in involved in discussing theissues as they may indirectly relate to our mem-bership. There are extensive budget discussionsand the resulting administration of the Section’s

revenues often distributing them to the Branchesand Student Chapters where — in my estimate— the action is. The Section sponsors differentevents that relate to engineering and that benefitits members in general. These are often not veryglamorous, but their results can be quite fulfill-ing. It takes a substantial commitment of time toserve well on the Section level and in Louisianawe have a pretty decent-sized section with a lotof opportunity for service.

To minimize the strain of the personal com-mitment of each Section Board member, a regu-lar Board meeting is scheduled in each of the 4branches during an administrative year. Thismeans that the Board members from the NewOrleans Branch get to travel to the ShreveportBranch once and vice versa. To otherwise makeit easier for all concerned 3 of the 6 SectionBoard meetings typically scheduled during anadministrative year are held in Lafayette. Evenwith this accommodation — no matter how youlook at it — it is still a day away from work 6times a year and this excludes the time requiredfor the other work expected in service to theSection committees and the Executive Board.

It is my hope that the Section will continueto enjoy the same vibrant leadership that it hasexperienced in the past and that this vibrantleadership will experience positive growth in thefuture. I believe that this growth is predicated inpart on the effectiveness of our elected andappointed leadership to serve and lead. Theirefforts and more importantly their example is ameasure of the Section’s ability to facilitate theinterest and involvement of its members in gen-eral to participate in ASCE functions, and fromthat experience commit to — and serve effec-tively in — its appointed and elected leadershippositions.______________________________________About the cover: The winner of the 2004 DeepSouth Conference surveying competition is theMcNeese State University ASCE StudentChapter surveying team. Pictured from the leftare two of its members, Michael Hollier andTyson Thevis. They are shown with a surveyingcompetition judge (right) during the 2004 DeepSouth Conference competition held in Oxford,Mississippi on the Ole Miss campus.


Civil engineers in Louisiana know that whenit comes to roadwork, the state — and especiallySouth Louisiana — has a soft spot for toughchallenges. Here, the need to stabilize and rein-force soft base soils and subgrades is a given, butthe choice of available solutions can take anyonedown a number of different roads.

Conventional approaches include chemicalstabilization (lime, cement, fly-ash, etc. ) andunreinforced cut-and-fill. Over the past twoyears, however, the Port of Greater Baton Rougehas opted for a more innovative solution — rein-forcement with geogrid — in the successfulcompletion of three major projects.

Challenging road for a busy portStrategically located at the junction of the

Mississippi River and the Gulf IntracoastalWaterway, the Port of Greater Baton Rougeranks ninth in the nation in total tonnage han-dled. Served by major railroad lines, steamshipcarriers, barge lines, and national truck carriers,the facility provides critical access to the nation’sheartland, the Gulf of Mexico, Latin America,and beyond.

This economic engine hums with grain facil-ities and a milling operation for the soybeans,wheat, oats, corn, and other crops grown in 31parishes; molasses and specialty products stor-age and transport; petroleum storage and more.General cargo handled through the facilityincludes• forest, paper, and steel products• bulk commodities including coal and petro-

leum coke and• heavy equipment including reactors, boilers,

tanks, and cranes.In addition, the Inland Rivers Marine Terminal,the Port’s center of barge traffic operations forinland markets, launched operations in 1998.And under the Mississippi River CorridorInitiative, the Port has strategically linked withfour other Mississippi River ports in the state toprovide customers the services of the world’slargest port.

Connecting much of the Port’s infrastructure— and thus crucial to its success — is the 1.2-mile Ernest Wilson Drive. Originally built in1954 (two years after the Port Commission wasestablished), the road did not age gracefully.Despite repaving over the years — with asphaltup to 26" thick in some areas — Ernest WilsonDrive struggled to keep up with the relentlessdemands of 100,000 light vehicles, 100,000heavy trucks (with some vehicle weights exceed-ing 100,000 pounds), and 8.3 million tons ofcargo hauled each year.

Deterioration and spot failures were costingthousands in annual maintenance, and the Port’senviable record for productivity, cargo integrity,and safety was under challenge. Committed tosignificant transportation improvements, Portofficials decided to excavate all of the road’sexisting asphalt and concrete, plus remnants ofits sand and gravel base, and replace it with a ten-inch layer of unreinforced concrete supported bya 12" limestone base course. Plans also calledfor widening the road’s lanes from 11' to 12',

with 3' shoulders and an improved drainage sys-tem.

Stabilizing the subgrade was key to the proj-ect. A constant influx of shallow ground water,sure to saturate any road base material, ruled outchemical stabilization. Although lime treatmentwas an alternative, its cost, dependence onweather conditions, and potential for air contam-ination and site runoff made it less appealing.And given the Port’s traffic volume, unreinforcedpavement foundation was simply not an option.

Baton Rouge’s Soil Testing Engineers,which provided geotechnical analysis and pave-ment design services, recommended Tensar®

Biaxial (BX) Geogrids from Tensar EarthTechnologies to improve the subgrade. “For easeof application, longevity, and ultimate servicea-bility, our geotechnical consultants and I felt thatTensar BX Geogrids were the most prudentapplication for the job,” noted John G. “Jay”Hardman, PE, managing director of the Port.

Port of Greater Baton Rouge keeps it rollingover Tensar® BX GeogridsBy Sean E. Wokasien, PE

Sean E. Wokasien, PE, earned his BSCE in 1992 and his MSCE in 1994 from West Virginia University and became a licensed engineer in the state ofColorado in 1998. Wokasien has worked at Tensar Earth Technologies, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia since 1994. He began his career as design engineer andis currently the Southeast Regional Sales Manager for Tensar responsible for a region including the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana andArkansas. Wokasien currently serves on two Louisiana Transportation Research Center committees for the research projects “Evaluation of Base-SoilBehavior under Repeated Loading” and “Use of Reinforced Soil Foundations to Support Shallow Foundations.” This article is an extension of the pres-entation Wokasien made during the 2003 Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show “Use of Geogrid for Enhanced Pavement Performance.”

Figure 1. Initial placement of limestone base course is being made on topof the BX1200 geogrid for the Ernest Wilson Drive reconstruction.

Figure 2. The ease of installation of BX1200 Geogrid helped the con-struction crew stay ahead of the fill operations.


Two competitive products were rejected duringthe open-bid process because they did not meetthe project specifications.

Tensar BX Geogrids: Innovative solutions forover 20 years

In use for more than 20 years — and nowsupporting the equivalent of more than 30,000lane miles — Tensar BX Geogrids improve pave-ment systems by• simplifying construction• extending service life and• reducing required fill materials.

BX Geogrids interlock with aggregate fill tocreate stronger composite structures and confineparticle movement within the apertures of thegeogrid. In subgrade improvement applications— unlike geotextiles — BX Geogrids distributeloads over wider areas to• increase load bearing capacities• reduce pumping and• prevent shear failure.

In base course projects, they enable surfaces toresist lateral spreading and improve the structur-al performance and service life of a pavement.

Simple to install, as shown in Figures 1through 3, BX Geogrids help reduce manpowerand equipment needs as well. Further, BXGeogrids improve site access and enhance thedrainage characteristics of flexible pavements —a big plus in South Louisiana. BX Geogrids canseparate as well as reinforce in many applica-tions, thus removing the need for a geotextileseparator beneath the geogrid. Under certainconditions, geotextiles can actually clog. A sim-ple calculation can be run to determine if a geo-textile is necessary.

One road leads to another — and anotherWork began on Ernest Wilson Drive in

January 2002 as shown in Figures 5 and 6, andwas completed in May 2003; Baton Rouge’sIndustrial Fabrics furnished geogrid productunder the coordination of Burney Orgeron,geosynthetics specialist; Barber BrothersContracting Company provided installation ser-vices. “We cut down to the subgrade and

removed up to 2' of asphalt and other unsuitablematerial,” Hardman continued.

Site preparation as shown in Figures 4 and 5included a layer of geotextile separation fabricunder the geogrid to prevent silty clay frommigrating up to the base course. Altogether,nearly 32,000 square yards of Tensar BX1200Geogrids were installed. In addition to road rein-forcement, the geogrid layer provided a workingplatform for the contractor as well. According toHardman,

Once the geogrid was placed, and the basecourse material down and compacted, we hadan all-weather surface (see Figure 5) withgood drainage to work on. When a loadedtruck would roll by, it wouldn’t even leave arut in the base course. There was no pumping.And because we did not have to wait for thesubgrade or base course to dry after any stormevents, our contractor could continue pouringconcrete... From an installation standpoint, itreally cannot get much easier than just rollingout the geogrid. The project went verysmoothly and was finished ahead of schedule

(see Figure 6).The project proved so successful that Tensar

BX1200 Geogrids were next installed at twofacilities at the Inland Rivers Marine Terminal.The first, a ten-acre containerized cargo handlingfacility leased to a petrochemical company andshown in Figure 7, featured highly plastic clayeven more challenging than conditions on ErnestWilson Drive, according to Hardman.

“We cleared out vegetation, placed thegeogrid, and added crushed limestone to create aworking platform for the construction of thefacility’s infrastructure,” Hardman noted. Thesite was eventually topped with 10" of unrein-forced concrete.

Work on the project began in September2002 and was completed in May 2003; Rayville,Louisiana-based Southern Industrial Contractorsinstalled more than 64,000 square yards ofgeogrid to complete the project. “We had threeto four workers on our grid crews and were ableto pour up to 400 cubic yards of concrete everyother day,” commented Toni Estis, co-manager ofthe company. “The engineers specified a very

Figure 3. BX1200 Geogrid is used for subgrade improvement on this access roadway to a new facili-ty being built across railroad tracks.

Figure 4. The correct placement of the fill on top of the BX1200 Geogridis shown as it is placed along the center lap and spread to the edges tominimize any shifting of the geogrid.

Figure 5. During the base course placement and compaction phases,BX1200 Geogrids prevent rutting from developing.


good product,” she added.Estis’s company, along with Baton Rouge-

based Guy Hopkins Construction, next installedmore than 14,000 square yards of TensarBX1200 Geogrids on a 3.5-acre public containerhandling facility. The project featured an 8"crushed stone base topped with 16" of heavilyreinforced concrete to accommodate the addi-tional weight of stacked containers. Installationat this inland terminal site took place December2003 - February 2004.

Port on solid ground for future operationsThe three projects at the Port of Greater

Baton Rouge join other high-profile installationsin Louisiana featuring Tensar BX Geogrids,including the military transport taxiway exten-sion at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse;haul road, pavement, and golf course work at thePinnacle Casino in Lake Charles; and theLouisiana DOTD’s two-layer geogrid reinforce-ment on Interstate 10 near the Egan/Crowleyexit. The port projects reflect an important insti-

tutional change — from lime and chemical stabi-lization to the use of geosynthetics to createworking platforms on stronger foundations. Andthey reveal the success a public or private entitycan have when it aggressively maintains its spec-ifications standards. For this important customer,it seems certain that Tensar BX Geogrids willcontinue to reinforce the port’s reputation for ser-vice, performance, and success well into thefuture.

Figure 6. The finished Ernest Wilson Drive roadway at the railroadcrossing where BX1200 was used beneath the base course.

Figure 9. The cargo handling facility for the petrochemical companycan be seen in the distance. Its rigid pavement is supported by BX1200beneath its limestone base course.

- Observations -Design:

A little Cajun humor circulating on theInternet offers a simple but poignant insight intothe important concept known as driver expecta-tion and its application in the design and displayof highway signs: One day Father Boudreauxand Pastor Thibodeaux wus fishin’ on d’side ofd’road. Dey saw d’need and thoughtfully madea sign sayin, “The end is near, Cher! Turn your-self around now, before it’s too late!” Dey wavedit at each passin car. Well, dis one driver didn’tlike d’sign and he shouted at dem hollin —“Leave me alone, you religious nuts!” And denhe took off fast. All of a sudden dey hear dis bigsplash. Lookin at each other Father Boudreauxsaid, “...Ya think maybe we should’a maded’sign just sayin BRIDGE OUT?”

Leadership:Gene Dixon, membership director for the

American Society for Engineering Management,extolls the virtues of good followership in anarticle that appears in the March 2002 issue ofthe Engineering Times. His message is:

When I think about followers(hip) in anorganization, I try to convey the message thatit is more than acceptance... Followers in anorganization are committed towards a leader-ship goal and vision and it is something thathas been collectively created, adopted and ispursued and is also culture based... follower-ship doesn’t exist without leadership.

For me, Dixon’s last observation can beinterpreted 2 ways and both are true.• Followers cannot exist without leaders to

follow.• Effective followers not only follow well but

also lead well.Herein may lie a problem of semantics

between us.Dixon identifies 5 followership traits all in

terms of courage.• Courage to assume responsibility by seeing

the need and seeing that it is met.• Courage to serve by clarifying and fulfilling

needs with humility.• Courage to challenge the thinking of a

leader, peer or organization while stayingcommitted to — and focused on — the orga-nization’s mission and vision.

• Courage to participate in transformation(change).

• Courage not to follow a leader into an ethi-cal lapse.These traits in my view clearly describe tra-

ditional concepts of leadership — not follower-ship. They describe the traits of a responsibleleader participating in a joint venture by cooper-ating with other leaders who may be superiors,peers or subordinates in the organizational struc-ture but nonetheless leading in the best interest ofthe organization and the public. This may be asemantic problem between us where Dixondefines subordinate members in an organization

as followers and coins all their actions as follow-ership — an attempt to unnecessarily redefinewhat is already defined as leadership. - Editor

Consequences:Just as unintended consequences are normal-

ly thought of as the undesirable effects of an actintended to be beneficial, a little extra engineer-ing in the functional benefits that are sure to beof value can also have intended consequencesthat are desirable to the extent that they may forexample offer a passive counter-terrorism meas-ure based on previous experience or based on theexpectations of a potential terrorist threat. Yetjustification is based entirely on certain andmaybe mundane services provided in the engi-neered product or facility.

This would call for creativity, foresight,insight, leadership, effective teamwork, etc. —all those attributes and more that engineers claimto have and to need. In the simplest terms, itwould be like finding a short cut home that alsohappens to provide safer passage than the longerroute. Both benefits are then provided everytime it is used. As with most engineering, whenit works well no one notices — nothing happensbut what is expected. However, when it doesn’twork or dire, unintended consequences are real-ized for whatever the reason, then everyonenotices.

- Editor


News from the Branches

Our normal monthly Branch membershipmeeting and luncheon was cancelled forFebruary and our membership was encouragedto participate with the Baton Rouge Chapter ofthe Louisiana Engineering Society and attendthe Engineers Week Banquet. The 53rd AnnualEngineers Week Banquet was held February 26in the facilities of the Baton Rouge CountryClub. This joint meeting of the Branch and theBaton Rouge Chapter of the LES featured theaward of numerous scholarships and the intro-duction of the Glasgow Middle School MATH-COUNTS team.

Every year the Branch awards one or more$500 scholarships that are presented during theEngineers Week Banquet. The only two require-ments to qualify for the Branch scholarship areto be• a Junior or Senior in Civil or Environmental

Engineering at LSU or Southern Universityand

• in good academic standing with the Collegeof Engineering.

Application forms were forwarded to the studentchapter faculty advisors for LSU and SouthernUniversity for distribution with the request thatqualified students be made aware of the scholar-ship.

During this year’s Engineers Week Banquet,the scholarships were presented to NicholasFraiche and Lindsay Olinde. These two scholar-ship recipients were selected from among theapplicants by the Branch Board.

Nicholas is a junior at LSU majoring in civilengineering and he has participated as a memberof the student chapter in the steel bridge andconcrete canoe teams and in the competitionsduring the Deep South Conference of studentchapters. His other activities include intramuralsports and operating a handyman service.

Lindsay is a senior at LSU majoring in civilengineering with a minor in environmental engi-neering. As a member of the student chapter,she has participated in the concrete canoe com-petition both as a builder and as a rower. Someof her other activities include working withHabitat for Humanity and rock climbing.

The caliber of the candidates for this schol-arship always makes the choice of the recipientsfrom among the candidates a difficult task. Thisyear was no exception. These awards recognizeleadership in student activities, other areas ofinterest and accomplishments in the classroom.Both Nicholas and Lindsay have demonstratedthe potential to become leaders in the engineer-ing profession and the ASCE.

The March Branch membership meetingand luncheon was held March 11 rather than thenormal third Thursday due to the potential con-flict with the Section Annual Spring Meetingand Conference being held in Shreveport at thattime. During the luncheon, a presentation wasgiven by William M. (Bill) King, Jr., PE, withthe Louisiana Transportation Research Centerand the manager of its Pavement ResearchFacility (PRF).

King noted that the PRF provides an impor-tant link between laboratory characterizationand long-term pavement performance throughthe use of the PRF’s accelerated loading facility(ALF). His presentation included an overviewof the past, present and future of the LTRCaccelerated pavement testing program and thebenefits of accelerated pavement testing usingthe ALF. King proceeded to detail some of therecent enhancements that were made to maxi-mize the operational performance of the ALF.Gavin P. Gautreau, PE, Chair of the BranchGeotechnical Committee, is making arrange-ments for a future continuing education seminaron this subject that will feature a tour of the PRFlocated in West Baton Rouge Parish south ofPort Allen.

BATON ROUGEBy David M. Burkholder, PE, President

ACADIANABy John E. Bosch, Jr., PE, President

The March membership meeting featuredthe newly elected Lafayette City-ParishPresident, Joey Durel, as its guest speaker.Before a packed house at A La Carte restaurant,Durel discussed his plans to improve the qualityof life in Lafayette and to bring jobs to theAcadiana region. Also during the March mem-bership meeting, elections were held to fill theBranch offices of Secretary and Treasurer for thenext administrative year. Congratulations toClint S. McDowell, PE, and Joseph P. Kolwe, Jr.who were elected Treasurer and Secretaryrespectively.

The Board would like to express its sinceregratitude to Jeffrey L. Duplantis, PE, for his hardwork during his service on the Branch Board forthe last two years. Jeff tendered his resignationfollowing plans to move out of the Branch toaccept a position in Baton Rouge. During thepast two years, Jeff served as Secretary,Treasurer, and the Chair of the MembershipCommittee, and the Public RelationsCommittee. Jeff was instrumental in the successof the Branch’s school library book donationprogram and the television commercials devel-oped to present civil engineering as a careerchoice.

The Branch participated in Engineering Dayheld March 12th and sponsored by the Collegeof Engineering of the University of Louisiana —Lafayette. During this event, Board members

Dax A. Douet, PE, and Jeffrey L. Duplantis, PE,gave area high school seniors a brief presenta-tion concerning civil engineering as a possiblecareer choice and they answered any questionsthat were raised by the students.

Due to the Spring technical seminar,“Hydrologic and Hydraulic Design of Culverts,”sponsored by the Branch and scheduled April 7-8, 2004, the Branch does not plan to schedule anApril membership meeting. The May member-

ship meeting will be the Branch’s annual craw-fish boil scheduled to be held in Girard Park onMay 14th at 6:00 pm. As always, it will be ajoint meeting with the Lafayette Section of theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineersand the Lafayette Chapter of the LouisianaEngineering Society.

On behalf of the Board, I want to wisheveryone a great summer!

Globalization: Although we knew that man-ufacturing jobs could be lost abroad, we imag-ined that service jobs — most U.S. jobs — weresafe from international competition. The factthat they aren’t could profoundly alter Americanattitudes toward globalization, even though thedanger is exaggerated and misunderstood...Companies facing relentless competition willseize almost any approach to cut costs includingoutsourcing ...(that) is spreading to many servic-es as a result of... (a) the ability to digitize infor-mation..., (b) cheap (and easy) internationalcommunications, (c) rising educational levelsabroad... (and) wages abroad are so low... Likemost new trends, this one inspires hype... (Anestimated 300,000 to 500,000) service jobs havebeen outsourced abroad... research projects aloss of 3.3 million jobs by 2015... a tiny fractionof today’s 138 million U.S. jobs... The... main

sources of job destruction and insecurity remaindomestic. Manufacturing employment peaked...at 19.5 million; now it’s 14.5 million... while inthat period, total U.S. employment grew about40 million... As long as the economy respondsby expanding production then most job lossesare temporary... If our products remain compet-itive, we’ll get an adequate share of global trade.In theory, service imports... (outsourcingabroad) shouldn’t be any different. Overall jobgains ought to dwarf job losses. What’sunknown is whether this theory — which hasworked for 60 years — will continue to work. Ina weak job market, outsourcing — a small threatby itself — could become a lightning rod foranti-globalization discontent.

- Robert J. SamuelsonColumnist

❖ Quote ❖


NEW ORLEANSBy Christopher G. Humphreys, PE, President

SHREVEPORTBy C. Eric Hudson, PE, President

The fifth Branch membership meeting of theyear was a joint meeting with the ShreveportChapter of the Louisiana Engineering Societyand the Shreveport Section of the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers. It washoused in the Petroleum Club facilities February11, 2004. On behalf of the Branch, I would liketo extend thanks to the Shreveport Chapter of theLES for all the hard work its members have putforth in support of our joint meetings. The fea-tured speaker for this meeting was Bossier CityMayor George Dement. He provided a briefoverview of the direction he sees the City isheading and brief discussion of its ongoing andupcoming projects.

As you all may know by now, I am a bitmore relaxed now that the Section 2004 AnnualSpring Meeting and Conference that was hostedby the Branch is now behind us. The Conferencewas held March 18-19 and housed in the ClarionHotel here in Shreveport. All of the Branch offi-cers did an excellent job helping me plan, pre-

pare and host the Conference. I would like toespecially thank all of our sponsors for support-ing the Branch and the Section when we needyou the most because without you theConference would not have been possible.

The Conference was a great success. We hadabout 70 registered participants, 12 exhibitorsand 16 excellent speakers. For those who attend-ed, I hope you enjoyed it. The awards banquetwas also well attended with approximately 50members and guests. I would like to thank O.Lee Underwood, Jr., PE, for his excellent per-formance as the master of ceremonies for thepresentation of the Life Member certificates.More details concerning the Conference eventsappear elsewhere in this issue.

At last, the Branch-sponsored annual golftournament is just around the corner. It isplanned to be held at Olde Oaks Wednesday,June 2, 2004 beginning at 11:00 am. Pleasemark your calendars. It will be the same formatas it has been in the past.

The April Branch membership meeting willbe in the facilities of the Petroleum Club and ourplanned featured speaker will be Greg Korbelicwith Rinker Materials. Greg is substituting forSteve Nilforoushan who was originally sched-uled to make this presentation during theConference but he was unable to do so becausehe had a last minute schedule conflict. So, forthose of you who were interested in attendingthis presentation, you will have another chancewith Greg making the presentation.

Do you have any comments concerning theBranch and/or its activities? Do you wish toshare some news with your fellow members inthe Branch or in the Section? Are you interestedin publishing an article in the newsletter? To getconsideration for these and other interests, pleasefeel free to contact your Branch officers servingon the Board.

The Branch has continued to conductinformative technical seminars and host interest-ing guest speakers during its monthly generalmembership meetings throughout the first quar-ter of the 2003-2004 administrative year. Duringthe January general membership meeting John P.Basilica, Jr., Undersecretary, Louisiana DOTD,provided an update on Louisiana’s transportationinfrastructure. During Engineers Week inFebruary, our general membership meeting washeld jointly with the New Orleans Chapter of theLouisiana Engineering Society where David C.Landry, PE, Vice President of Freeport-McMoRan, was the guest speaker. Thomas R.Griggs, PE, an Engineer Manager with theLouisiana Department of Environmental Quality,was the featured speaker during the March gen-eral membership meeting. He presented the sta-tus of the Clean Water State Revolving FundProgram.

The Branch has planned a general member-ship meeting for April 27th that will be a lunch-eon meeting in the UNO Alumni Center. Theplanned topic is, Where do baby engineers comefrom? — The civil engineers of tomorrow.During this meeting, Vernard Henely, Director ofthe Louisiana Engineering AdvancementProgram (LEAP), will update our membersattending on the success of LEAP to attract mid-dle and high school students to our profession.As part of this presentation, the chairmen of thecivil engineering departments from Tulane andthe University of New Orleans, and the deans ofthe colleges of engineering of the respective uni-versities, John H. (Jack) Grubbs and Kenneth L.McManis, PE, and Messieurs Alfred and Trahanwill provide information regarding engineeringenrollment, and more particularly civil engineer-ing enrollment, at the undergraduate and gradu-ate levels. This presentation will include thetrends in demographics, attrition, estimated qual-

ity of students, etc.Part of the agenda for the planned Branch

general membership meeting for May 26th is theelection of Branch officers for the 2004-2005administrative year. The Branch annual awardsceremony recognizing outstanding civil engi-neers in the Branch area is scheduled for Junegeneral membership meeting.

Geotechnical CommitteeIn addition to providing informative guest

speakers for the general membership meetings,the Branch’s technical committees conductedseveral independent educational seminars. InMarch, the Geotechnical Committee began itsplanned series of lectures on subsidence with avery interesting seminar titled Subsidence andfaulting in southeast Louisiana. This seminarheld in the UNO engineering auditorium fea-tured two divergent viewpoints on land loss incoastal Louisiana. Woody Gagliano presented abrief summary of the years of research on subsi-dence due to faults. Dale Britsch of the Corps ofEngineers represented the Corps’ views on thesubject. A subsequent seminar on this sametopic focusing on the engineering mechanicsapplied to subsidence is currently being plannedfor May 2004.

Structures CommitteeThe Structures Committee has conducted

several seminars beginning with an overview ofthe International Building Code and NewOrleans Building Code presented in January bySubash Kulkarni, PE. This was followed withthe annual David Hunter lecture titled Legalresponsibilities of structural engineers: Designand construction. This seminar was held inMarch and it was presented by Thomas L.Jackson, PE, and Larry Canada.

A seminar titled Finite Element Analysis and

Modeling featuring Professor Kenneth M. (Mac)Will of the Georgia Institute of Technology isplanned for April 29th. A seminar on wind load-ing is planned for May 20th featuring Marc L.Levitan from Louisiana State University.

Science and Engineering FairThe New Orleans Branch Outreach

Committee has been active beginning with theGreater New Orleans Science and EngineeringFair held March 1-3, 2004. The Branch sponsorstwo Special Awards presented during the Fair.One award is sponsored by the Branch as awhole for the entries exhibiting the best use ofcivil engineering principles. The other award issponsored by the Branch’s Structures Committeefor the entries exhibiting the best use of structur-al engineering principles. On behalf of theBranch I wish to express appreciation to NormaJean Mattei, PE, Chair of the Branch OutreachCommittee, who organized the entire effort onbehalf of the Branch and the StructuresCommittee. She also served as a judge for theBranch awards during the Fair. Also on behalf ofthe Branch, I wish to acknowledge its apprecia-tion for the volunteer efforts of Anthony F.Goodgion, PE, Mark H. Gonski, PE, andThomas M. Smith, PE, for judging entries for theStructures Committee awards and for the volun-teer efforts of Angela DeSoto-Duncan, PE, andDeborah Keller, PE, who served as judges duringthe Fair. Branch award winners and StructuresCommittee award winners and theirproject/exhibit titles are listed below:

Branch Awards:• The winner of 1st place Junior Division (a

$75 award) was Sarah Grodsky a 7th-gradestudent from St. Clement of Rome. The title

(Continued on Page 12)


Highlights of Spring Meeting and ConferenceBy Ashley T. Sears, EI

Marilyn Carriere and Blaise receive his Life Member certificate fromPresident Featherston.

Eugene R. (Ray) Desormeaux receives his Life Member certificate.

The 2004 Spring Meeting and Conference ofthe Section hosted by the Shreveport Branch wasconsidered very successful with over 70 regis-trants, 16 sponsors, and 12 exhibitors. The firstday of the Conference began bright and early at7:30 am with registration and a continentalbreakfast being served. The 8 very informativetechnical seminars scheduled before the lunch-eon began at 9:00 am. The subjects ranged fromCentrifugal Pump Sizing to Prestressed andPrecast Bridge Design in Louisiana. Several ofthe technical sessions were presented by profes-sors from Louisiana Tech. Before each session,door prizes that were donated by the variousexhibitors and sponsors were awarded toConference registrants.

The keynote speaker for the luncheon was S.Bruce Easterly, PE, the District 04 EngineerAdministrator for the Louisiana DOTD. He dida fantastic job presenting the current state ofaffairs and the workings of his Department.

Following the luncheon, the afternoon scheduleprovided 6 technical seminars that included oneon Ethics presented by Section President-Elect,Norma Jean Mattei, PE. The Conference regis-trants finished the day with a greater knowledgeof the current events and trends in civil engi-neering in Louisiana and around the nation.

The Conference awards banquet was held atthe conclusion of the first day with, SectionPresident Barbara E. Featherston, PE, providingthe opening remarks. She noted that we werepresent to celebrate the accomplishments ofthose Section members who had recentlyattained the status of Life Member and who haveserved their profession for a full career. And wewere also present to celebrate the accomplish-ments of exceptional engineering students whowere readying themselves to begin service in theprofession.

Five of the 17 Section members who hadattained Life Member status were in attendance

and they were individually recognized and pre-sented with their Life Member certificates. O.Lee Underwood, PE, from the ShreveportBranch acted as the master of ceremonies andpresented the certificates. As part of his presen-tation, Lee began with a brief explanation of therequirements to reach the membership grade ofLife Member in the ASCE. It includes factorssuch as age, years of membership, and years ofpaying membership dues.

We were pleased to learn from Lee that thecareer accomplishments of the recipients whowere present to receive their Life Member cer-tificates far exceeded what one may consider tobe the basic requirements. Each recipient hadmade significant contributions to the engineeringprofession and community and continues to per-form above and beyond professional duty.Congratulations to all the new Life Members.We are so very proud of your many accomplish-ments.

Laverne Klier and Jerry receive his Life Member certificate. Maria Prochaska and Billy receive his Life Member certificate.



The Section members who achieved the sta-tus of Life Member listed by branch are

Acadiana Branch:• W. Dean Atkins• Eugene R. Desormeaux, PE• B.J. Landry, PE• Ralph D. McGee, PE

Baton Rouge Branch:• Blaise M. Carriere, PE• Charles H. Coates, Jr., PE• Jerome M. Klier, PE• Kenneth A. Perret, PE• Billy R. Prochaska, PE• Khalid M. Thalji, PE

New Orleans Branch:

• Robert Buisson• Rixby J. Hardy• Thomas L. Jackson, PE• Larry W. Lobdell• Robin P. Stagg

Shreveport Branch:• Edmund J. Giering, III, PE• F. Markley Huey, PE

Those who were present to receive their LifeMember certificates during the awards banquetwere messieurs Carriere, Prochaska, Desor-meaux, Klier and McGee.

The distinguished civil engineering seniorstudent awards were also presented during thebanquet by Jerome M. Klier, PE, from the BatonRouge Branch. One senior student from each of

the civil engineering departments with an ASCEstudent chapter in the Section was presented witha commemorative plaque acknowledging his/heraccomplishment. The students were nominatedand chosen by the respective faculties. Only 3 ofthe 7 student award recipients were able to attendthe banquet to receive their awards.Congratulations, students... Keep up the goodwork.

Those who were chosen to receive the dis-tinguished civil engineering senior student awardare• Brooke Fletcher, Louisiana Tech• David Godbold, LSU• Nicole M. Harris, Southern• Stephanie Krebs, UNO

Teddy Allen, the keynote speaker for the awardsbanquet, during his presentation.

W. K. Matlock of the State Fire Marshal’sOffice presents the technical session on the LifeSafety Code during the Conference.

Luncheon keynote speaker Bruce Easterly (left)visits with Shreveport Branch President EricHudson during the Conference.

Conference registrants congregate around exhibitor displays during thebreaks between technical sessions to discuss the products and servicesavailable.

From left, Louisiana Tech Student Chapter Advisor, Norman D.Pumphrey, Jr., PE, President Featherston and Brooke Fletcher displayher distinguished civil engineering senior student awards for LouisianaTech University and for the Louisiana Section.


(Continued from Page 11)

Nicholas Pestello receives his distinguished civil engineering senior stu-dent award for McNeese State University from President Featherston.

Jennifer Snape receives her distinguished civil engineering senior stu-dent award for Tulane University from President Featherston.


of her exhibit was Now You See Them, NowYou Don’t: Louisiana’s Vanishing Wetlands.

• The winner of 2nd Place Junior Division (a$50 award) was Eric Lorio from St. AngelaMerici. The title of his exhibit was ThePower of Pulleys.

• The winner of the 1st Place Senior Division(a $75 award) was Maren Leopold, an 11th-grade student from Ursuline Academy. Thetitle of her exhibit was To Weld or Not toWeld: Corrosion is the Question.

• The winner of the 2nd Place Senior Division(a $50 award) was Joseph Simon, an 11th-grade student from Benjamin Franklin HighSchool. The title of his exhibit was TheEffect of Heavy Lift Model Types in LoadHolding Capacity.

Structural Committee Awards:• The winner of the 1st Place Junior Division

(a $75 award) was Benjamin Tullier, a 7th-grade student from Christian Brothers. Thetitle of his exhibit was Concrete Mixes.

• The winner of the 2nd Place Junior Division(a $50 award) was Emile Stieffel, an 8th-grade student from Arden Cahill Academy.

The title of his exhibit concerning land sur-veying was Could the Greeks Have Done It?.

• The winner of the 1st Place Senior Division(a $75 award) was Joshua Hutchinson, an11th-grade student from Benjamin FranklinHigh School. The title of his exhibit was TheEffects of Three Types of Steel on BridgeStability.

• The winner of the 2nd Place Senior Division(a $50 award) was Dannielle Brandt, an11th-grade student from Ursuline Academy.The title of her exhibit concerning the vibra-tions induced by trucks was What’s Shaking?

Outreach CommitteeThe Outreach Committee of the New

Orleans Branch in association with the StructuresCommittee is currently developing an ASCE tel-evision commercial to be aired on television inthe Branch area. The primary objective of theadvertisement is to promote the profession ofcivil engineering to the general public. In addi-tion to public awareness, a secondary goal is topromote the profession to children as a viablecareer choice via parental awareness and support.The commercial is planned to be a 30-second

spot highlighting local metro area civil engineer-ing projects. It is hoped that the advertisementwill educate the public concerning the generalaspects of civil engineering.

The Outreach Committee will continue as ithas in the past to promote civil engineering dur-ing the upcoming New Orleans Jazz and HeritageFestival where it will again conduct the chil-dren’s exhibit, Box City. Volunteer Branch mem-bers with their families and friends will supportan interactive exhibit that will be in continuousoperation for the full 7 days of the Festival. It isan opportunity for the participating children tocolor and decorate boxes as the various structuresneeded in a miniature representation of the Cityof New Orleans. To do this, they must first gothrough the process of obtaining a permit tolocate their proposed structure in the 8' x 16'miniature representation of the City of NewOrleans. Then they must follow the provisions ofthe permit they obtain. It is an excellent meansto demonstrate this particular function performedas part of civil engineering practice — one thatcan be understood by the participating childrenand their parents, and it is an activity that isenjoyed by all.

• Lean Perrin, UL at Lafayette• Nicholas Pestello, McNeese• Jennifer Snape, Tulane

Those present during the awards banquet toreceive their awards were Fletcher, Pestello andSnape. Brooke Fletcher of Louisiana Tech wasalso recognized as the recipient of the Section’sdistinguished civil engineering senior studentaward.

Once all the ceremonies were completed,Teddy Allen gave the keynote address thatproved to be very entertaining. If you have notheard him speak, you are missing a treat. We allenjoyed his perspective of the EngineeringWorld. Teddy grew up in a town with a popula-tion of 800 and very few paved roads. He

advised us that he would not tell any of our engi-neering secrets. This included the fact that a sus-pension bridge is just an optical illusion. We allenjoyed the perspective he provided of our pro-fession and the physical evidence of our hardwork that can be seen in the community. ThanksTeddy for a very entertaining evening.

The second day of the conference began at8:00 am with 4 very informative technical semi-nars that included the subjects of AsphaltPavement Design, Slabs-on-grade Design, andTrenchless Technology. More door prizes wereawarded during the technical sessions and thosein attendance had the opportunity to learn moreabout the current events and trends in civil engi-neering in Louisiana and around the nation.

Once the technical sessions concluded, theywere followed by the Section a general member-ship meeting at 10:30 am — Section President,Barbara Featherston presiding. Reports werereceived from the various Section standing com-mittees. A discussion ensued concerning pre-filed bills in the Louisiana Legislature that couldprofoundly affect the practice of engineering inLouisiana. The scheduled election was held toelect the officers and directors who will serve onthe Section Board during the next administrativeyear. The membership meeting was very inform-ative and it provided a poignant conclusion toConference.


Student Chapter News

The University of Mississippi ASCE StudentChapter hosted the 2004 Deep South RegionalConference March 25-27, 2004 on its campus inOxford, Mississippi. The Deep SouthConference is an event sponsored by the sup-porting sections of the ASCE and local engineer-ing firms. It is an annual event that circulatesbetween host student chapters that brings togeth-er member student chapters from the civil andenvironmental engineering departments of thefollowing universities from the states ofLouisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas:• Arkansas State University• University of Louisiana at Lafayette• Louisiana State University• Louisiana Tech University• McNeese State University• University of Mississippi• Mississippi State University• University of New Orleans• Southern University and• Tulane University

This year’s conference hosted guest studentchapters from Tennessee• Christian Brothers and• University of Tennessee-Martin

The conference sponsors competitions thatgive student chapter members the chance to gainvaluable hands-on engineering experience bycompeting in team competitions — a concretecanoe competition and a steel bridge competi-tion, and the Daniel W. Mead Prize Paper com-

petition that are all nationally sanctioned. Thewinner of the concrete canoe competitionadvances to the ASCE National Concrete CanoeCompetition sponsored by the ASCE and MasterBuilders, Inc. to be held in coordination with theNational Building Museum’s exhibition openingof Liquid Stone: Architecture in Concrete inWashington, DC, on June 17-20, 2004. The win-ner and first runner-up of the steel bridge com-petition advance to compete in the 13th AnnualNational Student Steel Bridge Competition

sponsored by the ASCE and the AmericanInstitute of Steel Construction, and it will beheld at the Colorado School of Mines on May28-29, 2004. Other competition events held dur-ing the Conference included an environmentalengineering competition, a land surveying com-petition, and a concrete bowling ball competi-tion.

The results of the competitions held duringthe Deep South Conference follow:

2004 Deep South Conference

The McNeese State University competition concrete canoe being mannedby Nick Pestello and Mike Hollier during the 2004 Deep SouthConference concrete canoe competition races.

The Tulane Student Chapter competition steel bridge during the 2004Deep South Conference steel bridge competition.

The Chapter attended the 2004 ASCE DeepSouth Conference hosted by the University ofMississippi. The goal of the Chapter this yearwas to rise to the challenge of full participationin all of the competitive events scheduled for theConference. The students successfully compet-ed in the steel bridge, surveying, and environ-

mental competitions. While expectations werehigh for a very competitive concrete canoe thisyear, the Chapter’s concrete canoe team suffereda crushing blow when their competition canoeexperienced irreparable damage coming off themold.

The Chapter set challenging goals this year

and worked hard toward reaching them. Theyear has so far been a clear success in that themembers gained important new perspectives ofcivil engineering through the professional devel-opment activities planned and the project com-petitions - both successes and failures.

UNO

(Continued on page 18)


McNEESE STATE UNIVERSITYGeaux Cowboys!By Seth J. Woods

The Ole Miss ASCE Student Chapter hostedthe annual meeting of the Deep SouthConference of ASCE student chapters in Oxford,Mississippi March 25-27, 2004. The McNeeseState University ASCE Student Chapter made alarge impact on this annual meeting of theConference that includes student chapters fromArkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana by placingfirst in two of the competitions held during themeeting.

The Chapter participated in the surveyingcompetition and with speed and accuracy, it sur-passed the competition. The scoring for thecompetition is based on 3 components —• 60% for accuracy• 20% for time, and• 20% for field book.

The Chapter’s surveying competition team con-sisting of Clayton Cormier, Michael Hollier,and Tyson Thevis placed first in the competi-tion. This was accomplished by achieving anaccuracy of 0.01 feet — the best in the competi-tion — in a time of 13 minutes and 7 seconds —half that of the nearest competitor. Sealing thewin, the field book notes were completed with-out error.

The main event for the Conference was theconcrete canoe competition. The Chapter’s con-crete canoe team was: Nicholas Pestello (cap-tain) of Reeves, Gregory LaFleur of LakeCharles, Seth Woods of Gueydan, ClaytonCormier of Bell City, Leigh Rush of LakeCharles, Tyson Thevis of Gueydan, MichaelHollier of Moss Bluff, Steven Hollier ofSulphur, Chris Cabaniss of Groves, Texas, andMagen Daughdril of Sulphur. The scoring forthis competition is based on 4 components —• 25% for the design paper• 25% for the presentation• 25% for the final product, and• 25% for racing.

The Chapter was not new to the concrete

The McNeese State ASCE Student Chapter 1st place concrete canoe team poses with the display ofits competition canoe during the Deep South Conference meeting of student chapters. From theleft they are Nicholas Pestello, Seth Woods, Gregory LaFleur, Tyson Thevis, Michael Hollier,Steven Hollier, Chris Cabaniss, Clayton Cormier, J.O. Uppot, PE, Faculty Advisor, MagenDaughdril, and Leigh Rush.

From the left are Michael Hollier, Tyson Thevis and Clayton Cormier, theMcNeese State ASCE Student Chapter 1st place surveying competitionteam.

McNeese State ASCE Student Chapter members display their awardplaques from the Deep South Conference competitions. They are fromthe left J.O. Uppot, PE, Faculty Advisor, Leigh Rush, Chris Cabaniss,Magen Daughdril, Steven Hollier, Nicholas Pestello, Clayton Cormier,Seth Woods, Gregory LaFleur, Tyson Thevis and Michael Hollier.

canoe competition having placing 2nd overall init the previous conference. This gave theCowboys something to strive for. To betterthemselves, the team spent more time in thedesign and construction effort for this year’scompetition canoe.

The final design paper was sent to the judges2 weeks prior to Conference for grading and thepresentation was made the day prior to the races.The Cowboys had a rough start as the racesbegan but improved as they continued.Following the races the competition canoe wasset up for display and judging. The prior expe-rience and extra effort paid off for the Chapter’sconcrete canoe team by placing 1st overall in thecompetition.

The awards banquet for the Deep SouthConference ended the weekend on a good notefor the Chapter. Its surveying team was award-

ed 1st place for their outstanding performance.Its concrete canoe team was awarded 1st placefor best design paper titled us Cowboys don’trite like we tauck. The equally hard work put inthe presentation paid off as well when the teamreceived the award for best presentation. Thejudges enjoyed the hunting theme and sleekdesign of the Chapter’s Poke Boat giving theteam a 2nd place for the final product.

The Chapter’s 1st place overall finish in theconcrete canoe competition made the trip toOxford a complete success. This 1st place fin-ish in the Deep South Conference qualifies theChapter to participate in the national concretecanoe competition that will be held inWashington, D.C. June 17-20, 2004 where thetop 25 schools will compete for the nationaltitle.


Sections News and Information

Highlights of the January Board of Directors meetingThe January meeting of the Board was held

in Ruston on the Louisiana Tech University cam-pus in conjunction with the Student Chapter’sannual awards banquet. Student ChapterPresident Brooke Fletcher presented a summaryof the Chapter’s recent activities.• The Chapter’s Daniel W. Mead Prize paper

entry placed 3rd in the competition.• The Chapter organized and held a senior

“roast and toast.”• Recruiting new Chapter members from the

freshman class has been very active.• The Chapter currently has 40 members.• Four Chapter leaders plan to attend the Zone

II leadership conference.• The Chapter will be participating in the Deep

South Conference March 25-27, 2004.The Deep South Conference will be hosted bythe University of Mississippi Student Chapter inOxford, Mississippi. The Tech Student Chapteris planning to participate in steel bridge competi-tion.

President-Elect of the ASCE, William P.Henry, PE, attended a portion of the Board meet-ing to conduct a lengthy discussion about nation-al ASCE affairs. He attempted to focus of threetopics; inadequate education for civil engineers,professional practice and governmental affairs.The discussion also turned to the concerns of theBoard members present that included the ASCEgovernance proposal, ASCE Policy Statement465 - Academic Prerequisites for Licensure andProfessional Practice, State Public Affairs Grants(SPAG), benefits to be expected from increasedASCE dues, section allotments, and members notpaying section dues.

Henry noted that mandatory section dueswere subject to a national membership referen-dum and failed to receive the two-thirds majorityvote to pass. The significant issue of concern

was that the ASCE may suffer a loss in member-ship if section dues were made mandatory. Heexplained that the recent revisions of the SPAGapplication process reflected the intent that thegrants awarded were to be based entirely onmerit and this was the main goal of the SPAGCommittee.

The Body of Knowledge Committee reporthad been submitted according to Henry. Thegoal he explained was to have the individualstate engineer licensing boards require that amaster’s degree in engineering or a baccalaureatein engineering plus an additional 30 semesterhours defined in the body of knowledge as a pre-requisite to take the professional practice exami-nation. As an indication of the partnering in theeffort toward higher education standards forengineers it was mentioned that the President ofthe National Council of Examiners forEngineering and Surveying, the organization ofengineering and land surveying licensing boards,and the President-Elect of the AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technology haverecently attended and participated in meetings ofthe ASCE national Board of Direction.

The reason for the proposal to change thegovernance of the ASCE according to Henry wasto improve ties between the national organizationand the sections and branches and to get moremembers involved in national committee work.The smaller Board makeup was discussed notingthat the 20 district and 4 zone representativeswould be replaced with the new 9 region repre-sentatives and there were multiple paths throughthe ASCE to membership on the Board whenpreviously there was only one through the politi-cal structure of the sections, districts and zones.With the change in governance, Henry antici-pates more interaction between the national andthe local levels of the ASCE.

The Section will contribute an awards plaqueto the Louisiana Engineering Society for itsFuture Cities competition. The Section will alsocontribute to the cost of the LouisianaEngineering Society’s sponsorship of thePresidential Reception in Hawaii for Bobby E.Price, PE, the incoming President of the NationalSociety of Professional Engineers. The Sectionbudget would have to be reviewed before anamount could be set.

Other transactions included the following:• The Section will seek professional services

to maintain its website.• Consideration of the approval of budget for

the 2003-2004 administrative year wastabled.

• Norma Jean Mattei, PE, was selected as theSection’s caucus delegate for the Zone IIManagement Conference.

• Deborah D. Keller, PE, of the New OrleansBranch and Ashley T. Sears, EI, of theShreveport Branch will be sponsored by theSection to attend the Government RelationsWorkshop.

— 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.net

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.com

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

Louisiana Professional Engineering andLand Surveying Board:

http://www.lapels.com

ASCE introduces an exciting new benefit ofmembership: the Career Connections online jobbank and resume service. In response to mem-ber requests, ASCE takes a step toward helpingengineering employers and employees make“connections.”

At no cost, you can post and update yourresume, search the job-listing database, receiveemails with jobs that match your profile, applyfor jobs directly from your website, and partici-pate in the ASCE Salary Survey.

With Career Connections, engineeringemployers can post job listings in real time, trackonline activity to measure advertising results,search the resume database for matching candi-dates, and receive auto-notifications on newprospects that meet their specified requirements.

Be sure to post your resume by January 31for entry into a drawing for an Apple iPod digi-tal audio player.

Start your future today with ASCE CareerConnections — go to www.asce.org/careers.______________________________________

Editor’s note: The Section Board ofDirectors considered something similar to theCareer Connections job bank to be placed on theSection website when it was under initial devel-opment. With some regret, it was decided at thetime that the effort to maintain and operate sucha service effectively did not fit easily into theSection’s volunteer member service environmentthat would support the website. Since there werespecialized websites available that offer resumeand job availability posting services for poten-tial civil engineering employers and employees,the Board opted not to support a job bank for theSection. Now the opportunity emerges as anational ASCE membership asset.

Career ConnectionsYounger Member Newsletter (Winter ’03 - ’04)


Highlights of the March Board of Directors meetingThe Board met in Shreveport in conjunction

with the Section Annual Spring Meeting andConference hosted by the Shreveport Branch.Eric Hudson, PE, reported that the Conferencewas going well with about 80 in attendance whoare registered, 12 exhibitors and about 12 speak-ers. The Board congratulated him and his com-mittee on their effort and it was noted that theSection would contribute the $1800 budgeted tocover part of the cost of the Conference.

Norma Jean Mattei, PE, reported on theZone II Leadership Conference workshop thatwas well attended and deemed successful. Theonly items covered that are of specific interest tothe Section were the discussions about the con-tinuing evolution of ASCE Policy 465 and theproposal to restructure the national governanceof the ASCE.

The Section website needs to be updated andit is hoped that this will be accomplished duringthe next 2 months. It was questioned whether thesecretary the Section shares with the LouisianaEngineering Society may be able to makeupdates. This will be looked into as a possibili-ty.

The Board responded to the solicitation fromthe Louisiana Engineering Society to be a spon-sor of the National Society of ProfessionalEngineers President’s reception for incomingNSPE President, Bobby E. Price, PE, with a

$500 contribution.Ashley Sears who was sponsored by the

Board to attend the ASCE legislative lobbyingseminar in Washington reported what shebelieved the important outcomes of the seminarfor her were• meeting with Rep. McCreary of Shreveport• learning about a new bill to assist smaller

communities in upgrading their water sys-tems and

• learning there was a bill to do away withqualifications-based selection for engineer-ing services in Louisiana.

The Section leadership has interest in buildingan active legislative effort through the service ofAshley and others who attend this seminar.

The Board was advised that the ASCEnational governance proposal will be on the Julyballot for the election of the membership. Aspreviously discussed, it does away with the cur-rent Districts. The current proposal on the tablefor the new regions would combine District 14and District 10 — the state of Florida — into anew region. The Section is part of District 14and its leadership does not consider the newalignment objectionable. The prospects of thegovernance proposal passing are consideredexcellent based on a history of the national mem-bership approving all changes recommended bythe national Board of Direction.

The office of District 14 Director will beopen in the next election cycle. Though membersections of the District are normally in a rotationto provide an official nominee, finding a nomi-nee for this election cycle is problematic. Thenomination is needed by March 24, 2004 and theLouisiana Section may be asked to provide thenominee out of turn. Featherston has spoken toone person and asked for suggestions from theBoard. Ruppert suggested any past president ofthe Section would probably make a good districtdirector.

It was suggested that more large displayadvertisements would be desirable for the jour-nal. There was discussion concerning the possi-bility that the Section could offer a link on itsweb page in addition to the advertisement in thejournal at no extra charge as an added incentive.

The Section Nominating Committee reportwas presented. The slate of official nominees tobe candidates to stand for election to theSection’s offices during the section membershipmeeting — the Section Annual Spring Meeting.One nomination was not filled by the Committee— the Director-at-Large from the New OrleansBranch. Charles L. Eustis, PE, was selected bythe Board to fill the position until such time asthe New Orleans Branch provides a Director-at-Large.

HB1342State Representative Troy M. Hebert, a

Democrat from District 49 (Iberia and VermilionParishes) with offices in Jeanerette, Louisiana,whose occupation is listed as the oilfield equip-ment rental business pre-filed House Bill 1342for the 2004 Regular Session of the LouisianaLegislature. The bill, if adopted into law, willtruly be a poison pill for the engineering profes-sion for providing engineering services to publicentities in Louisiana and to these public entitiesthat rely on them. Judging from the immediateresponse to it from some engineers, the bill isconsidered an act of pure effrontery.

The essence of Hebert’s bill is to amend andreenact LRS 38:2211(A)(10) relative to thePublic Bid Law and LRS 38:2310 relative to theState Procurement Code. It would place con-tracts with engineers under the Public Bid Lawalong with the contracts for making public worksand the purchase of materials or supplies. Itwould simultaneously eliminate engineeringcontracts from being defined as professionalservices in — and exclude them from — theProcurement Code.

Consider this, if you ever have cause to won-der why affiliate societies such as the LouisianaSection of the ASCE and the LouisianaEngineering Society of the National Society ofProfessional Engineers should even exist consid-ering that they seem so dedicated to such thingsas soliciting funds for social events of curious ifnot questionable value. It would be reasonablefor you to assume that representatives of theSection and more particularly the LES will beworking behind the scenes and in Legislative

committee hearings if necessary to defeat thisand other such bills that are clearly — at lease forthose with a depth of understanding of the issues— not in the interest of either the engineeringprofession or the State of Louisiana.

Without such organizations and their con-stituents at the state level where engineeringlicensure and public contract law is encoded andgiven substance, engineering would probably not

be considered or treated like a profession today.Through the prominence these organizationshave earned we — as a profession — try to beever alert to ferret out the poison pills such as HB1342 that are typical in most legislative sessionsand to successfully support legislation beneficialto the profession which is even more difficult. Ifnot them – Who else?

— Calendar of Events —

June 3-4, 2004 ASCE Seminar * on Hydrologic and Hydraulic Design ofCulverts in Little Rock, Arkansas.

August 19-20, 2004 ASCE Seminar * on FEMA in Nashville, Tennessee.

September 9-10, 2004 Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show inKenner.

September 10, 2004 Section Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

September 17, 2004 Tulane Engineering Forum “Advanced Technologies forHomeland Security” in New Orleans(www.eng.tulane.edu/tef). For more information contactJenny Kottler at 504-891-1044 or [email protected].

September 23-24, 2004 ASCE Seminar * on Structural Condition Assessment inHouston, Texas.

* For more information, call ASCE toll free at(800)548-2723 or visit the ASCE web pagewww.asce.org.


- Career Benchmarks -

Candidate for District 14 Director nominatedThe District 14 Council Chair, Tony D.

Fagan, PE, announced to the leadership of all ofthe sections under its auspices — this includesthe Louisiana Section — that on March 23, 2004at the close of voting the Council nominatedSteve McCutcheon as a candidate for the officeof District 14 Director to serve during the 2005-2007 term. McCutcheon is scheduled to be theASCE official nominee for the office on the bal-lot for the next national ASCE election.

We are reminded that the proposition for thereorganization the governance of the NationalASCE will be decided in the same election.Depending on the outcome of this election and

how rapidly the ASCE can transform itself to itsgovernance structure if the proposition passes,the office of District 14 Director may cease toexist sometime during the 2005-2007 term.

If all of this comes to pass — and all indica-tions are that it will — McCutcheon, if elected,should be the last District 14 Director to serveour district. The current 21 district directorsserving on the national ASCE Board ofDirection will be replaced with 9 regional repre-sentatives. District 14 and District 10 — thestate of Florida — are proposed to be merged toform Region 5 — one of the 9 regions that willreplace the districts.

Governance/alignmentproposal

A recommended new political alignment of9 proposed geographic regions has been recom-mended by the national ASCE Board ofDirection. It is deemed to be consistent with theproposed constitutional revision for nationalgovernance scheduled to be considered by theASCE membership on a ballot this Summer.The political alignment proposal was placedbefore the membership for comment by a letterto the current Society leadership from BlaineLeonard, the chair of the GovernanceRestructuring Implementation Committee,dated February 19, 2004. The proposal wouldreplace the current political alignment of the 4zones and their several districts each. TheLouisiana Section specifically would be placedin the new proposed Region 5 that would com-bine the current District 14 in which theLouisiana Section is now located and District 10that includes the whole state of Florida.

The current national zone, district and sec-tion political alignment can be found on theASCE national website — www.asce.org —sidebar menu Sections & Branches. The pro-posed geographic regional alignment can alsobe found on the ASCE national website — side-bar menu Members Only — popup menu ASCENews Online — popup menu GovernanceRestructuring Model... Comments should bedirected via email to Wendy Cowan — [email protected] — as soon as possible but no laterthat May 1, 2004.

Section members John R. Bernard, PE,Thomas H. Buckel, PE, Dante O. Fratta, PE,William M. Hays, PE, Mark A. Killen, PE,Daniel S. MacDonald, PE, Paul D. Miller, PE,Herbert E. Moore, II, PE, David A. Pertuit,Jr., PE, Thomas B. Ponder, II, PE, Daniel J.Tullier, PE, Karla E. Weston, PE, recentlyearned their civil and/or environmental engi-neering license in Louisiana. If you are in con-tact with any of these engineers, please offerthem your congratulations on their accomplish-ment.

Louisiana residents Maryella Begley, PE,Charles P. Brandstetter, IV, PE, Kye F.Cantey, PE, Michael M. Darby, PE, Scott E.Develle, PE, David A. Einsel, PE, Lloyd R.Erikson, III, PE, Craig J. Fuselier, PE,Gretchen S. Hammond, PE, Kirk J. Henry,PE, Ryan C. Koenig, PE, Lucien M. Larche,PE, John D. Maiden, PE, Robert C. Myers,PE, James E. Powell, Jr., PE, Mohammed K.Sardar, PE, Debra A. Stanley, PE, Beau J.Tate, PE, Kevin C. Vanderbrook, PE, Jennifer

Ann Wedge, PE, recently earned their civiland/or environmental engineering license inLouisiana and are not members of the ASCE. Acopy of this issue of the journal is sent to themas an informal introduction to the Section. Ifthey wish to join and/or find out more about theASCE, they are hereby encouraged to visit theASCE national website, http://www.asce.org. Ifyou are in contact with any of these engineers,please consider formally introducing them to theSection by inviting them to attend a branchmeeting as your guest.______________________________________

Editor’s note: As a matter of interest, thereare two other disciplines that are now licensedby the Louisiana Professional Engineering andLand Surveying Board and that may be consid-ered closely related to civil engineering as is theenvironmental engineering discipline. They arethe architectural and structural engineering dis-ciplines. As of January 2004, there were 0 and55 licensees registered with the Board in thesetwo engineering disciplines respectively.

President’s addressBy Barry P. Gahagan, PE

Returning home last Friday from our LESstate board meeting in Lafayette, I reflected onthe varied topics at issue and on the back-grounds of the two dozen or so (board) memberswho have committed themselves in service totheir profession. With this time on my hands asI drove alongside truckers heading east acrossthe Atchafalaya Basin, I was taking home asense of respect for these officers and directorswho, despite their demanding careers and fami-ly lives, have made such commitments of timeand effort in service.

While the issues of the day were oftenheavy with consequences beyond this group, itwas apparent that there was no posturing forprivilege or recognition. This was a meeting ofpeers joined to promote, enhance and preservethe profession of engineering. Issues includedthe recommendation of professionals for theGovernor’s selection to our state board of regis-tration (LAPELS), the discussions of the organi-zation’s position regarding upcoming design-build legislation and the mundane issues of bal-lot casting procedures for the upcoming stateelections. As the 2003-2004 year will soon bedrawing to a close, Spring is upon us and we canlook forward to a renewal of LES through this

month’s elections and committee appointments. In a brief discussion with State President-

Elect Phil Meyers, we touched upon his upcom-ing responsibilities and the challenges of thecommitments; and compared them to similarcommitments held by those individuals who hadserved before. There had been a sense that per-haps the professional engineers of generationspast had more time available; that their liveswere somehow not as hurried. Then the recog-nition that no; what we had then was a strongsense of duty and purpose. Those such as TomBrokaw had referred to as our finest generationwere common individuals who — after learningat a very young age what was truly important inlife — returned (home) to lead lives of service totheir communities through their profession andbeyond.

My hope is that we take a page from ourforefathers (record). Cast your ballots for boththe state and chapter officers. Offer your assis-tance to the incoming leaders. The truth remainsthat so many of our committees that provide realvalue to the organization remain understaffed.My challenge to the LES membership is to stepup and be counted. A successful and rewarding

Chapter (effort) can only be achieved through anactive membership...______________________________________

Editor’s note: I find it so rare that a sensevalues and personal perspective relative to theexperience of service to the engineering profes-sion are the subject of a message from our elect-ed leadership. Who really cares that there wasa nondescript membership meeting held Friday,April 1, 2003 at 11:45 am in the bowels of this-or-that restaurant, etc. It was like a breath offresh air to read Barry’s president’s address inthe April 2004 newsletter of the Baton RougeChapter of the Louisiana Engineering Society.It cut straight to my heart. I have experiencedthe same feelings that Barry expresses betterthan I could even imagine doing and I suspectthat all of us who share this common experiencecan genuinely appreciate what he shares. Ithink that it should also serve as inspiration forthose of us who have not had the opportunityand/or the experience to serve our profession toactively seek them out.


Board of Directors electedSection members in attendance during the

Annual Spring Meeting elected the SectionBoard of Directors for the 2004-2005 adminis-trative year. They will take office following theirinstallation during the Annual Meeting,September 10, 2004 in New Orleans.

Officers:Section members elected the following slate

of officers with the exception of the Presidentwho assumes the office after having immediate-ly served the previous term as the President Electand the Past President who will continue on theBoard after having immediately served the previ-ous term as the President:

• Norma Jean Mattei, PE, President• Kim E. Martindale, PE, President-Elect• Timothy M. Ruppert, PE, Vice President• E. R. DesOrmeaux, PE, Secretary-Treasurer• Barbara E. Featherston, PE, Past President

Directors-at-Large:• J. Keith Shackelford, PE• Ali M. Mustafa, PE• Patrick J. Landry, PE• Charles L. Eustis, PE

Assigned Branch Directors:The assigned branch directors are intended

to provide more balanced representation on the

Board of Directors for the larger branches in theSection. These two directors are appointed bythe Board of Directors of their respectiveBranches before July 31 otherwise they areappointed from the Section at-large by theSection Board of Directors. • Daniel L. Bolinger, PE (New Orleans)• Thomas A. Stephens, PE (Baton Rouge)

Appointed Branch Directors:Each branch appoints a director to one term

and to serve at the pleasure of the Branch.Usually the branch president serves in this posi-tion.

The UNO Student Chapter steel bridge team during the 2004 Deep SouthConference and the timed construction portion of the steel bridge competi-tion.

The UNO Student Chapter environmental competition team in actionduring the 2004 Deep South Conference.

The Department of Civil Engineering isproud of its students and pleased with the profes-sional development they have gained through

their volunteer Chapter activities. TheDepartment is looking forward to the Chapter’sparticipation in the Conference competitions

next year with as much interest and enthusiasmas are the returning Chapter members.


Did You Know . . ....that founded 90 years ago in 1914 the

Louisiana Section is celebrating its 90thanniversary this year? The branches werefounded as follows:• Shreveport Branch in 1953• Baton Rouge Branch in 1962• New Orleans Branch in 1962 and• Acadiana Branch in1982.

...that there are 15 plastic highway bridgespans that are either finished or in the works inOhio and that New York has 7 plastic highwaybridge spans that are in service?

- Wall Street Journal

...that the National Society of ProfessionalEngineers provides its members with a specialservice by periodically providing by title, syn-opsis and reference, 10 current news items fromvarious online news sources that are selected tobe of particular interest to a broad spectrum ofprofessional engineers? NSPE Members maysubscribe by e-mail at [email protected].

...that the Texas Board of ProfessionalEngineers licenses software engineers? There isno licensing examination at present.Educational requirements limited to board-approved engineering, computer science, highlevel math or science degrees and the minimumexperience required is 16 years of softwareengineering. The experience requirement is 12years of software engineering for a candidatewith a degree from an ABET (AccreditationBoard for Engineering and Technology) accred-ited engineering program.

- Licensure Exchange, NCEES

...that managers through monitoring thetemperatures on their PCs in the recently com-pleted One Verizon Way building in ThousandOaks, California have reduced its HVAC costsby nearly half.

- Mechanical Engineering 6/2/02.

...that half the civil engineering professionis employed in private practice and a third of itis employed in government — federal, state andlocal.

...that veteran engineer, Larry W. Emig,with the Kansas DOT collaborated with theNational Society of Professional Engineers tolaunch an annual national campaign for saferdriving. Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day sched-uled for October 10th includes events urgingpeople to buckle up, stop speeding...Acknowledging that engineers are major playersin traffic safety designing facilities, vehicles andtraffic control devices, the NSPE works withengineering, transportation, safety groups andfederal agencies to establish this safety initiativenow in its second year. The date was chosenbecause of the higher-than-average highwayfatalities in October.

- Kansas City Star 10/10/02


Is your portfolio positioned for 2004?By Thomas R. Thurmond

With the 2003 equity markets having experi-enced their first positive returns in four years,investors finally have a reason to applaud. Butwith a new year comes the question of the mar-ket’s outlook going forward and a reminder torebalance your portfolio with a suitable assetallocation strategy.

Why does asset allocation matter?After an almost 20% return on the S&P 500

and a 40% surge in the NASDAQ, one can cer-tainly make the case that the easy money hasalready been made. Simply riding the wave is nolonger an option. Rather it is imperative to pro-tect your portfolio against a possible downturnwhile positioning your holdings for the best pos-sible returns. Your asset allocation decisions arecritical in balancing these two needs. In fact,history has proven that exercising a sound assetallocation strategy has a larger impact on a port-folio’s returns than picking individual securities.

How can I use asset allocation strategies to myadvantage?

In its simplest form, asset allocation willoffer a basic means of balancing and rebalancingyour portfolio to suit your individual investmentprofile and objectives. It can also be used to helpimplement your particular investment style andaid you in diversifying across various industriesor sectors.

• Balancing your portfolio to your investorprofile. Traditional asset allocation is basedon three primary asset classes: stocks,bonds, and cash. This should depend onyour outlook, timeframe, and risk tolerance.Conservative investors, whose primary con-cern is protection of principal, should gener-ally have less exposure to equities and a larg-er portion of their assets devoted to fixedincome. More aggressive investors maywish to be more involved in stocks.

• Weighing growth vs. value. When the mar-ket is booming, growth stocks usually out-perform, but when it’s not, value stocks tendto shine. While you cannot predict thefuture, you can allocate your assets with asuitable mix of both growth and value in away that properly addresses your outlookand needs.

• Diversifying exposure across all sectors.The old cliché, never put all your eggs in onebasket, rings especially true with stocks; ithas become increasingly evident that it iscrucial to diversify your holdings throughoutthe various sectors of the economy. Toomuch exposure to one area can be risky andkeep you from benefitting from positive per-formance in other sectors. For example, aninvestor who had most of his or her moneyinvested in Industrials in 2003 would havefaired well through the 3rd quarter, with

17.7% return, but would have missed out onparticipating in the even better 36.5%* per-formance of the Technology sector. ManyWall Street strategists now offer recom-mended weightings on sector allocations in amodel portfolio compared to the S&P 500.

______________________________________* 2003 Performance figures through September

22, 2003.

Thomas R. Thurmond, Senior Vice President,Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley in NewOrleans, Louisiana. He may be contacted by e-mail at [email protected] by telephone at (504)587-9669 or (800)659-0009. This article does not constitute tax orlegal advice. Consult your tax or legal advisersbefore making any tax- or law-related investmentdecisions. Any particular investment should beanalyzed based on the terms and risks as theymay relate to your circumstances and objectives.Information and data in this article wereobtained from sources considered reliable andpublished 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.

Editor’s JournalBy James C. Porter, PE

Global economy

Should the environmental and workplaceregulations in the United States be considereddraconian to the economy when compared to thebenefits they provide? This may be an importantquestion when the resulting costs to business arecompared to those in the less regulated globalcommunity. The domestic costs for these regula-tions, along with the comparatively heavy taxburdens on wealth generated, the high wage andbenefit packages for labor, and the correspond-ingly high minimum wage, apparently come withconsequences — encouraging domestic busi-nesses that compete in the global economy tomove facilities and jobs offshore.

It is the maxim of every prudent master ofa family never to make at home what it willcost him more to make than to buy.

- Adam Smith 1776.

In a global economy where competing busi-nesses are free to move beyond national bound-aries to the more inviting of the global businessclimates, the cost of doing business related toregulation, political stability and the workforceavailable for example would appear to be part ofthe forces driving the geographic location ofbusinesses, and jobs. The extent and the short-term effect of the “jobless recovery” in theUnited States may or may not be overstated.

However, it also may explain in part an invest-ment climate consistent with the excellentprospects of high profitability expected from themovement of domestic businesses offshore toless regulated business climates and lower paid,competent labor. It makes clear sense for theireconomic survival.

The current administration appears to beconfident that leaving the domestic market most-ly open to the economic forces in the global mar-ket will result in long-term good consequences.The connection between the domestic regulatoryclimate governed by health, safety and welfarepriorities and its consequences on the economicclimate — driving some of the loss of domesticbusinesses and jobs offshore — seems wellappreciated according to the political rhetoric asdo some alleged incentives in the federal corpo-rate tax code. One quixotic solution proposed isthe imposition of the domestic regulatory climateon other nations or closing the market betweenthe United States and those nations who refuseto, thereby “balancing the playing field.”Another solution is to penalize domestic busi-nesses for moving offshore through punitiverevisions to the tax code. This would surelyinclude eliminating incentives in the codedeemed to facilitate domestic businesses movingjobs and facilities offshore.

Historical precedent would suggest that thefailure of a business to follow Adam Smith’smaxim to search for and exploit the best laborresources and the least costs available globallyhas economic consequences — loss of competi-tiveness and ultimate failure. Before — andleading up to — this failure it is anticipated thatconsumers will pay more, investors will have lessto invest and there will be less job creation.

It may be more appropriate for serious intro-spection concerning the cost to the economy ofsome domestic priorities and the resulting regu-latory climate — an avoided and/or neglectedengineering and economics problem. Are theregulations and their costs reasonably balancedagainst the forces driving competition in theglobal market and their effect on domestic eco-nomic prosperity? Is it prudent to attempt toimpose political influence over the business reg-ulations of our trading partners or control overthe profitability and competitiveness of domesticbusinesses by punitive regulations that restricttrade, increase costs and cripple competitive-ness? Is this any way to treat our partners —ourselves?

It would appear that the anemic job growthperceived in an otherwise robust domestic eco-




nomic recovery may indicate that job creationwhile significant is not sufficient to support anequally robust recovery of the domestic job mar-ket. This appears to be caused by the economicsdriving the offshore placement of so many of thejobs being created. The offshore placement ofdomestic jobs has been dubbed outsourcing.This is a term that was once used to describe thejobs in the vertically integrated businesses thatwere not part of their core business activity andthat were contracted out to more efficient spe-cialty contractors to improve competitiveness.

Unlike the recoveries in recent economiccycles when mostly blue collar manufacturingjobs were lost to outsourcing, white collar jobsare also expected to be lost to outsourcing facili-tated by internet communications. I would addthey may also be further devalued by the contin-uing growth of automated high tech applications.If white collar jobs experience domestic declineand devaluation, it would appear that engineer-ing will not be immune. In the short range, out-sourcing is expected to only modestly depresscompensation for — and the growth of —domestic white collar labor. It is estimated by

Forrester Research — a highly regarded industryanalyst and monitor — that of the current 140million domestic tech and professional jobs thatare increasing as the economy recovers, 0.6 mil-lion — 0.4% — will move offshore by 2005 and3.3 million — 2.4% — will move offshore by2015.

A million American workers... currentlyleave their jobs every week, two-fifths involun-tarily... A million, more or less, are also newlyhired... every week. This process is not new,(and we) can be confident that new jobs willreplace old ones, as they always have.

- Alan Greenspan, ChairmanFederal Reserve Board

The net loss of blue collar jobs was and willcontinue to be painful and clearly outside of thelaborer’s control. For this reason, it is rational-ized by many that an appropriate role of govern-ment is to soften this pain through subsidyincluding the cost of retraining. A loss of whitecollar and more particularly professional jobsmay not — and possibly should not — beviewed with as much sympathy for those affect-ed. This is because the loss of professional jobs

is not as clearly outside of a profession’s controlon the whole. Further, the continuing educationrequired of a professional may also preclude theneed for retraining.

For example, proactive innovation and effi-ciency — value added — in engineering practiceeven within the domestic regulatory environmentcan have a direct and important effect on thecompetitiveness of civil and environmental engi-neers and the portion of the work and their jobsthat will be outsourced. Also, domestic engi-neering businesses have the opportunity todirectly compete in the global market by devel-oping and providing services via the internet.

With the current salaries of engineers off-shore being as little as one-fourth of domesticsalaries, global competition for jobs is surely anuphill battle. It is observed that as the offshoreengineering jobs grew in India for instance —outsourced jobs grew there 60% in 2003 — thesalaries of these engineers escalated rapidly andthereby made them less competitive. The moreserious long-term problem appears to be thatthere are substantial numbers of engineers being

Engineering education and employmentIt is getting so tiresome! The education-

industrial complex continuously whines aboutthe potential shortage of engineers consideringthat the BS degrees earned in engineering haveprecipitously declined over 20 percent from the77,572 peak in 1985 to 60,914 in 1998. Thereare many forces driving this trend and relatedconcerns. It may be observed that• a large portion of the population of practic-

ing engineers are baby boomers reachingretirement age

• the job market for engineers may becomechronically affected by the migration of site-independent engineering work to the compe-tition overseas

• the job market for engineers has and willcontinue to be chronically affected by thedisplacement of labor-intensive engineeringservices by the proliferation of engineeringsoftware applications

• there is immigration of competing foreignnational engineers into the job market, and

• underemployed and unemployed engineersare making career-ending occupationchanges to survive economically.The whining from academia suggests that

the civil engineering curriculum is too tough, andinnovative ways should be sought to make it eas-ier or more palatable to the 40 percent of theentering freshmen who drop out. In the face ofsagging demand for engineers, civil engineeringdepartments are busting a gut to make the civilengineering curriculum more palatable by shift-ing prerequisites — repackaging.

As the engineering profession enters a3rd feast-to-famine job market cycle that I canremember witnessing, it seems that nothingappears to be learned from history. No doubt thecontinuously rosy yet irrational prediction ofhigh immediate and long-range demand for engi-

neers will continue largely unabated and largelyignored. Like the time on a broken clock beingright twice a day, this prediction inspires neitherconfidence nor a serious audience. The motiva-tion for it appears to be an attempt to encouragean oversupply of engineers with low compensa-tion in industry and to encourage an oversupplyof undergraduate students to justify enlarginguniversity engineering faculties and facilities’research capacity.

In the absence of honest and reliable jobmarket demand predictions, the only reliableinformation is the current demand and compen-sation in the market. This appears to cause thesupply of engineers to fluctuate nearly 180º outof phase with demand.• The engineering curricula accept increasing

numbers of students in response to emergingcompetitive compensation and strongdemand for engineers.

• This results in an oversupply of engineerswith poor compensation.

• Student interest quickly wanes and the outputof graduate engineers precipitously declines.

• The oversupply dissolves and a demand forgraduate engineers with competitive com-pensation re-emerges.

• The engineering curricula accept increasingnumbers of students in response to emergingcompetitive compensation and strongdemand for engineers.

• And so on infinitum.The best sense I can make of this observation

is that the number of engineering BS degreesproduced is purely market driven. All of the pan-icky talk about shortages is perceived as just talkand all of the lies about demand are perceived asjust lies. If prestige, opportunity, compensationand demand for engineers are reasonable, thenthe curriculum will not be too tough for the

entering freshmen thus motivated and the supplyof competent and successful graduate engineerswill be adequate.

It would seem that if the education-industri-al complex was truly concerned about its stu-dents and employees — Heaven forbid! — andtruly understood its own best interest; it wouldhave disciplined itself long ago to provide realis-tic predictions instead of hyperbole about theengineering job market. This would have builtconfidence and credibility in their message thatmay have eventually gotten the supply of engi-neering graduates in phase with demand andthereby stabilized compensation and made engi-neering a much more attractive profession andcareer.

As is commonly observed, the globalizationof the engineering job market is being driven byadvancing computer and communication tech-nology. It is redefining the practice of engineer-ing in the context of both how and where. Giventhe technology available, a substantial force driv-ing the where component is cost. The engineer-ing work will move in the global market to theengineers available at lower compensation, andthe engineering costs and compensation willaverage out over time on a global basis. This willlikely reduce the engineering costs in the UnitedStates, but it may not bode well for its engineerswhose compensation is presently among thehighest in the world.

The education-industrial complex in theUnited States is probably in the early stages ofbeing marginalized as the prime supplier anduser of undergraduate engineers in a globalsense. Though it may never effectively addressthe real dynamics of supply and demand forengineers and engineering students in the market— global or otherwise — the need to do so maybe being rendered moot.




educated offshore compared to their numberbeing educated domestically. This may tend todepress offshore engineering salaries long-termand further accelerate outsourcing in the future.

It should be evident that the past failure ofcivil and environmental engineers to effectivelyparticipate in the domestic regulatory legislationand rule making that uniquely affect — andapply to — their practice may have had profoundeffects on the cost of doing business in thedomestic economy. They conceded substantiveparticipation in — and/or control of — this reg-ulation development to technologically illiterateattorneys and political hacks with little interest ineffectiveness or concern about costs (efficiency).In doing so, they may have allowed the enact-ment of ineffective and costly regulations thatresult in unnecessary loss of domestic competi-tiveness in the global market. If so, this will con-tinue to be a hard lesson from which the engi-neers affected can and must recover throughbeing more politically assertive in the future.

The conventional government measures usedto curb an economic recession are

• cut interest rates• run a budget deficit, and• cause or allow the currency to depreciate

internationally.The first two measures stimulate domestic

spending and borrowing and the last measureshifts the balance of trade by making exports lessexpensive and imports more expensive. The cur-rent administration may have unintentionallyadded a fourth measure — relax enforcement ofcostly environmental regulations. This reducesbusiness costs making products less expensive.All of these measures to stimulate the economyduring a recession are viewed as temporary.

For the nation with a more depressed econo-my, the tendency is for a shift in its balance oftrade toward exports to nations with lessdepressed economies. It is reasoned that itswages are more depressed and its businesses thatsurvive its more depressed economy are moreefficient, and, therefore, more competitive thanthe businesses that survive in a nation with a lessdepressed economy. The conventional govern-ment measures used to avoid the severity of aneconomic recession would tend to stabilizewages and forgive and perpetuate less efficientbusiness. This would appear to result in less

domestic competitiveness in the global market.The one non-government measure — proactiveimprovement in value added — suggested forengineering practice and that may be extended toother professional services would appear to be anexception.

The jobs that are being outsourced at consid-erable short-term pain to the domestic workforcemay also be viewed as a form of internationaljob creation with long-term benefits to the glob-al economy vis-à-vis workforce. The effect maybe explained by the simplistic model of the tideof economic recovery raising all ships (the glob-al economy) including those of the beneficiarynations with less utilized, low-wage workforces.

If there are long-term benefits to the globalworkforce, it would appear that the political callfor a strategy of domestic job protection meas-ures is based on shortsightedness and a mentali-ty of scarcity. Similarly, the political call for adomestic strategy to facilitate international jobcreation would appear to be based on farsighted-ness and a mentality of plenty. The former strat-egy would appear to offer no hope at all. Thehope to be found in the latter strategy — if suc-cessful — would be the opportunity to facilitatelong-term growth in the global economy. Itwould create a spectrum of jobs in the globalmarket such that individual national job marketsare more uniformly satiated. A great opportuni-ty for success would appear to be through inter-national cooperation among the more advancedeconomies. A great risk of failure could be at thehands of predatory government and businesspractices among the unregulated, more advancedeconomies.

A partial failure of the strategy to facilitateinternational job creation may manifest itself bysome combination of higher unemployment andlower compensation for the workforce in themost advanced economies. The risk of partialfailure of this strategy therefore bears mostly onthe more advanced economies that have the mostto give and something to lose compared to themore primitive economies that have nothing togive, nothing to lose, a lot to gain and no risk.The driving forces for the advanced economiesto commit to this strategy would appear to be anational sense of confidence, optimism and gen-erosity which may be alien to the domestic polit-ical culture and its vacuous debate.

As an individual, I would like to believe thatmy sense of confidence, optimism and generosi-ty is important and ingrained enough in my val-ues and in the values of a critical mass of othersto the extent they overcome the risk adversenature in the more advanced economies. If thereare enough constituents who can understand andaccept the risks in this context, the strategy tofacilitate international job creation may effec-tively weave its way into the domestic politicalculture.———————————————————Editor’s note: I am an employed engineer who isaffected by — rather than competes directly in— the global economy. Motivated mostly byfear, I have been following the recent discoursein the news media about the economic forcesaffecting businesses and jobs — particularly myjob — in the United States. What I discoveredand concluded inspired me to share my thoughtsthrough this article. It is based primarily on thefollowing references:

“Is Your Job Going Abroad?” by JyotiThottam, Time 3/1/04.

“Exporting Lou Dobbs and John Kerry” byJames K. Glassman, Tech Central Station2/11/04, an online journal at www.techcentral-station.com.

Performance conflict

Without conjuring up the extremes of goodand evil that would be inappropriate to describethe dispositions of the individuals in a recentmeeting where it was attempted to resolve aproblem described as chronic poor performance,there was a spectrum of behavior observedamong the beleaguered participants. They weretrying to focus on the problem each from theirown perspective. With a parody of The Good,the Bad and the Ugly, I would characterize themby their dispositions as the sweet, the sullen andthe sour.• The sweet was the distant administrator who

was ultimately in charge yet not directly

connected to the work in question and whowould decide the fate of the proceedings.

• The sullen was the supervisor who was feel-ing put upon to defend the allegation of poorperformance and maybe a little embarrassedby the spectacle.

• The sour was the individual employeewhose alleged poor performance had beencalled into question.Once the evidence and the issues delineating

the significant dimensions of the problem of thealleged poor performance were on the table, aredefinition of what had been considered satis-factory performance expectations was forged,

and agreed to — or at least not disagreed with.The meeting adjourned shortly after the employ-ee agreed to meet the redefined expectations.With the problem that caused the discord identi-fied and an apparent solution forged the way itwas, this may be considered conflict resolutionto some. However, the employee’s sour disposi-tion appeared to remain and the supervisor’s dis-position appeared to have soured from a resent-ment of the redefined performance expectations.This appeared to leave a lot of opportunity forfuture conflict. It seems to me that the journeyto the conflict resolution needed in this situationhad just begun.

Life Style: There is part of us, I think, thatloves hurtling through the day at a million milesan hour. We feel relevant, as if we are goingplaces. Being busy is a way of creating a stage-set of success... But the obvious question isalways just below the cluttered surface, tryingto push its way through: What are we hurtlingtoward?

- Joan RyanColumnist

Ethics: It’s my opinion that every one Iknow has morals, though I wouldn’t like to ask.I know I have. But I’d rather teach them thanpractice them any day.

- Mark Twain

❖ Quotes ❖



Telephone: 504-831-2251Facsimilie: 504-831-2981http:/www.bh-ba.com

3330 West Esplanade AvenueSuite 201Metairie, Louisiana 70002



CDMlisten, think, deliver.

Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.3330 Marshall Street, Suite 920Shreveport, LA 71101Tel: [email protected]

Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.7120 Perkins Road, Suite 200Baton Rouge, LA 70808Tel: [email protected]

Camp Dresser & McKee, Inc.2021 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 110New Orleans, LA 70122Tel: [email protected]

C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc.Civil Engineers Environmental Consultants Land Surveyors

Lafayette New Orleans Baton Rouge Houstonwww.fenstermaker.com

Raymond Reaux, P.E.337.237.2200

Gerry Satterlee, Jr., P.E.504.582.2201

SurveysRoadway Design & Plans Construction Layout/Inspection Land Planning, Urban DesignLandscape DesignCoastal EngineeringHydrodynamic & Sediment Transport ModelingResidential & Commercial DevelopmentStructural Engineering

GOTECH,INC.

WWW.GOTECH-INC.COM

8388 BLUEBONNET BLVD.BATON ROUGE, LA 70810

RHAOUL A. GUILLAUME, P.E.PRESIDENT

[email protected] • OFFICE: (225) 766-5358CELL: (225) 413-9515 • FAX: (225) 769-4923

THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEERJournal of the Louisiana Section-ASCENorma Jean Mattei, PE134 Ridgeway DriveMetairie, LA 70001

NONPROFIT

U. S. POSTAGE

PAID

BATON ROUGE, LA

PERMIT NO. 1911

For ASCE member address corrections, call (800) 548-2723 or visit http://www.asce.orgFor listing and advertiser address corrections, call (504) 280-5414 or e-mail: [email protected]

SERVICES AND SUPPLIERS

7731 Office Park BoulevardBaton Rouge, Louisiana 70809Website: www.etec-sales.com

Telephone: (225) 295-1200Fax: (225) 295-1800E-Mail: [email protected]

Equipment . . . Systems . . . Solutions

Water . . . WastewaterSludge . . . Air

Documents

87745 May 04 civil eng rev - l ASCE · 4 THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2004 President’s Message Barbara E. Featherston, PE Past President Charles L. Eustis, PE, recent-ly contacted