THE LOUISIANA · membership in the ASCE as an outward mani-festation of their commitment. To attain Life Member status, one must be a • Member • Associate Member or • Affiliate

Volume 13 • Number 3 May 2005

THE LOUISIANACIVIL ENGINEER

ACADIANA BRANCH • BATON ROUGE BRANCHNEW ORLEANS BRANCH • SHREVEPORT BRANCH

Journal of The Louisiana Section

LO

UIS

IANA SECTION

1914

INSIDE:Branches invest in high-techBook review: Unstuck

Engineers Without Borders:Louisiana connection

Highlights of the Annual SpringMeeting and Conference

FEATURE:Horizontal directional drilling

FUTURE:Louisiana Civil Engineering

Conference and ShowSeptember 15-16, 2005

Section Annual MeetingSeptember 16, 2005

2 THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2005

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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 Kim E. Martindale, Telephone: (225) 379-1345 or e-mail: [email protected].

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THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEER / MAY 2005 3

THE LOUISIANA CIVIL ENGINEERCONTENTSPresident’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Horizontal directional drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5News from the Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Book Review: Unstuck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Branches invest in high-tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Highlights from the Annual Spring Meeting

and Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Student Chapter News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Section News and Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Engineers Without Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19TEA-LU: It’s now or never . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Editor’s Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Professional Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 30-31Services and Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2, 32

LOUISIANA SECTION • AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

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

PresidentNorma Jean Mattei, PE

University of New OrleansPresident-Elect

Kim E. Martindale, PELouisiana DOTD

Vice PresidentTimothy M. Ruppert, PE

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersSecretary-Treasurer

E.R. DesOrmeaux, PEE.R. DesOrmeaux, Inc.

Past PresidentBarbara E. Featherston, PE

Camp Dresser & McKeeDirectors-at-Large

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

Ali M. Mustafa, PECity of Shreveport

Patrick J. Landry, PELouisiana DNR

Christopher G. Humphreys, PEProfessional Services Industries, Inc.

Assigned Branch DirectorsDaniel L. Bolinger, PE

DMJM+Harris, Inc.Thomas A. Stephens, PE

Stephens EngineeringBranch Directors

Kimberly Landry, EILafayette Consolidated Government

André M. Rodrigue, PEABMB Engineers, Inc.

Deborah D. Keller, PEPort of New Orleans

Kurt M. Nixon, PESmith and Raley, 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

PresidentKimberly D. Landry, EI

Lafayette Consolidated GovernmentPresident-Elect

Dax A. Douet, PEC. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc.

Vice PresidentM. Jamal Khattak

University of Louisiana – Lafayette

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE:Kim E. Martindale, PE, Chair (225) 379-1345Branch 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 facsimile to (225) 242-4552, by e-mail to [email protected], or by mail to the Publications Committee c/o James C. Porter,PE • 2608 Terrace Avenue • Baton Rouge, LA 70806-6868.

SecretaryJoseph P. Kolwe, Jr., EI

Huval and Associates, Inc.Treasurer

Clint S. McDowell, PESite Engineering Inc.

Past PresidentJohn E. Bosch, Jr., PE

Maritime International, Inc.Baton Rouge Branch

PresidentAndré M. Rodrigue, PE

ABMB Engineers, Inc.President-Elect

Thomas T. Roberts, PEWaskey Bridges, Inc.

Vice PresidentBrant B. Richard, PE

Shaw GroupSecretary-Treasurer

Robert W. Jacobson, PEURS Greiner Woodward Cycle

DirectorsGregory P. Sepeda, PE

Sigma Consulting Group, Inc.Adam M. Smith, EI

Owen and White, Inc.Stephen M. Meunier, PE

Louisiana DOTDPast President

David M. Burkholder, PELouisiana DNR

New Orleans BranchPresident

Deborah D. Keller, PEPort of New Orleans

President-ElectWilliam H. Sewell, Jr., PE

DPW City of New OrleansVice PresidentChristopher L. Sanchez, EI

Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engrs., Inc.Secretary

Nathan J. Junius, EILinfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc.

TreasurerRonald L. Schumann, Jr., PE

DMJM+Harris, Inc.Directors

Benjamin M. Cody, PEEustis Engineering Company, Inc.

Mohammed Tavassoli, PEProfessional Services Industries, Inc.

Past PresidentChristopher G. Humphreys, PE

Professional Services Industries, Inc.Shreveport Branch

PresidentKurt M. Nixon, PE

Owen and White, Inc.

President-ElectAshley T. Sears, EI

Aillet, Fenner, Jolly and McClellandSecretary

Rusty L. Cooper, EIAlliance, Inc.

TreasurerElba U. Hamilton, EI

Aillet, Fenner, Jolly and McClellandPast President

C. Eric Hudson, PEAlliance, Inc.

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 Jason Duhon

P. Brian Wolshon, PELa. Tech Daniel Hill

Aziz Saber, PEMcNeese Nick Pestello

Janardanan (Jay) O. Uppot, PESouthern Kevin Cowan

Yvette P. Weatherton, PETulane Joe Simpson

John H. (Jack) Grubbs, PEULL Justin Peltier

Paul A. Richards, PEUNO Eric Dallimore

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. Ruppert, PE Ralph W. Junius, PEURS Greiner U.S. Army Corps Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc.Woodward Clyde of Engineers


President’s MessageNorma Jean Mattei, PE

Life MembersI recently had the pleasure of inviting the

Section’s newest Life Members by letter toattend the awards banquet that is part of theSection Annual Spring Meeting Conferencehosted this year by the Acadiana Branch inLafayette. There, as guests of the Section Boardof Directors, they and their spouses were hon-ored and presented with their Life Member cer-tificates. This year there are 15 new LifeMembers in the Section — 3 from the AcadianaBranch, 3 from the Baton Rouge Branch, 6 fromthe New Orleans Branch and 3 from theShreveport Branch. I would like to again con-gratulate these fine men on attaining their LifeMember status and to wish them well in all oftheir future professional and personal endeavors.

You may be wondering — especially if youare a younger member — what you have to do toattain Life Member status. Life Member statusis an ASCE membership grade. It is consideredan honor and a privilege that is conferred on theASCE members who make and live a careercommitment to the civil engineering professionand who sustain that commitment with theirmembership in the ASCE as an outward mani-festation of their commitment. To attain LifeMember status, one must be a• Member• Associate Member or• Affiliate Memberof the ASCE who has• reached the age of 65 years• paid dues in any membership grade other

than Student Member for 30 or more yearsand

• 10 years of continuous membership imme-diately preceding attainment.

Life Members are exempt from paying mem-bership dues. However, if they wish to contin-ue their subscriptions to the ASCE’s CivilEngineering and the ASCE News that were paidfor as part of their membership dues, they mustpay for them.

HappinessNo more ASCE dues! Now that would

make me happy. Then I thought about it — hap-piness — in 20 years or so when I join the LifeMember ranks, will I be able to say that I havebeen and that I am truly happy? Given theunalienable constitutional right to pursue myown happiness I wondered, how I am supposedto pursue it and what precisely do I have a rightto? Is happiness a fate or a choice? What makesanyone happy, if they can honestly define it forthemselves?

So being the engineering academic that Iam, I decided to do a little research on happi-ness. Subjective well-being (SWB) is the nick-name that experts in this field give to happiness.Since your hell may be my paradise, subjectivi-ty is clearly the single greatest variable in thehappiness equation. For example, homelesspeople in Calcutta have been found to be lessunhappy than those in California because they

have a stronger sense of community.Each of us is born with a happiness set

point, a genetic level around which our SWBtends to settle, regardless of what happens to us.A study of identical twins reared in differentenvironments suggests that the set point deter-mines about half of our disposition to happiness.“Happiness is genetically influenced but notgenetically fixed,” says professor emeritus ofpsychology David Lykken. If we really want tobe happier, we have to learn the kind of thingsthat we can do, day-by-day, to bounce our setpoint up. SWB-raising tools range from• getting sufficient sleep and exercise• nurturing close relationships• maintaining an optimistic outlook and• using your best skills in work and play

to — for some people — meditation and prayer.Regardless of which particular tools we

choose to help lift our own set point, I foundsomething curious in my research. Specialists inthis area have found that we are better off aim-ing for happiness moment-to-moment ratherthan trying to engineer happiness through long-term planning. This is because we humanbeings are fairly hopeless at predicting what willmake us happy and how long our happiness willbe sustained. Harvard psychologist DanielGilbert says, “We usually overestimate howthings will affect us and rarely underestimatethem.” This discrepancy, known as the impactbias, causes a great deal of miswanting. Forexample, we work, scrimp and save for a betterhouse, only to find ourselves too exhausted fromoverwork once we attain it to enjoy the newswimming pool.

Experts agree that a lifetime of chasing thealmighty dollar rarely raises one’s SWB. Oncemiddle-class comforts are in place, the linkbetween income and happiness becomes surpris-ingly weak. Gilbert agrees: “The first 40 grandmakes a dramatic difference, but after basicneeds are met, the next million does almostnothing.” Hmm, I don’t know about that!

A single, consistent factor in SWB studies isthe critical need for a close connection with oth-ers, the camaraderie of friendship and otherclose relationships. Friends are good, and fami-ly is even better in serving this need. In a surveyof 23,000 Americans over the past two decades,41 percent of those who were married describedthemselves as “very happy,” while only 22 per-cent of those who were never married, divorced,separated, or widowed would agree.Psychologist David Myers reports that“Intimacy, commitment and support do — formost people — pay emotional dividends.”

Martin Seligman, the godfather of the posi-tive psychological movement, developed a 3-zone model of happiness. The first zone — theHollywood view — is attained by getting asmuch positive emotion as possible — moremoney, more beauty, more power, more choco-late, more shoes, more of everything... The sec-ond zone is attained through discovery of one’ssignature strengths, such as honesty, kindness,

forgiveness, ingenuity, the love of learning...The third zone consists of the use of one’sstrengths in the service of something larger thanone’s self.

WorkSimilar to happiness, there are 3 basic

approaches to work that are independent ofoccupation. Psychiatrist Howard Cutler says,“People tend to see work as a job, a career, or acalling.” As a job, work is seen as a means to anend — money — offering no other reward. As acareer work is seen as a deeper personal invest-ment, marking achievements not only throughmonetary gain but through advancement withinan occupation or profession. As a calling, workis seen as a passionate commitment for its ownsake. People with a calling focus as much onfulfillment — relationships; how their workaffects the world — as on monetary gain.

Results of a study of people in various occu-pations, from menial to high-level, found thatreported SWB-levels were consistent with theapproach each individual took toward his or herwork. Those who viewed their work as a callinghad a significantly higher SWB than those whoviewed their work as a job or a career.

Perhaps we are fortunate to have chosencivil engineering as our profession. It is certain-ly a profession that allows us to use our strengthsin the service to something larger than ourselves.Sometimes we lose sight of this because we areso wrapped up in the details of getting that proj-ect completed on time and within budget. Weforget that the project on which we are workingis ultimately going to benefit society — a sewer-age treatment plant, a pump station, a bridge, a

______________________________________About the cover: A visible part of the horizontaldirectional drilling project presented in the fea-ture article. The completed concrete terminationstructure with its A-frame structure installed andcarrying the overhead transmission lines to theexisting system. Also visible at the top of the ter-mination structure are the 8 termination assem-blies transitioning underground transmissioncables to overhead transmission lines.

(Continued on Page 14)


IntroductionIn December of 2002 Entergy commis-

sioned Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, Inc.to provide a screening study to determine if hor-izontal directional drilling (HDD) could be usedto install an electrical transmission line under theMississippi River just downriver from the City ofNew Orleans. The study was required to notonly determine if the project was technically fea-sible and practical but if the regulatory agenciescould provide the required permits to meetEntergy’s schedule. In a few short weeks, it wasdetermined that the project was technically feasi-ble and practical, and that the governing agenciescould permit the project in a timely manner. Theselected design called for a 40" diameter bundleof 12 high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipesforming a duct consisting of 8 - 10" peripheralpipes, 3 - 2" pipes and 1 - 18" center pipe to beinstalled under the Mississippi River. Onceinstalled, 230 kV electrical transmission cableswould be pulled through the 8 - 10" pipes andfiber optic cables intended for future use wouldbe pulled through the 3 - 2" pipes. The 18" cen-ter pipe provided several important functions thatinclude• maintenance of the circular shape of the 40"

pipe bundle• sufficient cross sectional area to resist pull-

back (discussed later) stress• the spacing required to adequately dissipate

heat generated by the electrical transmissioncables in service and

• access for the 4" water line (discussed later)used during pullback operations.In January 2003 the detailed design and per-

mitting effort for the river crossing was initiatedwith a target completion date of June 1, 2004.The under-river electrical transmission line

crossing was energized May 1, 2004, 30 daysahead of schedule and under budget — a crown-ing achievement for this challenging and suc-cessful project. What follows are the highlightsof the interesting and challenging design andconstruction details.

Location

SitingThe most logical site for the entry and exit

points of the HDD was the batture close to wherethe existing electrical transmission towers werelocated. This would allow under-river transmis-sion lines to connect directly to the land-sidetransmission system and provide the shortest,most direct path for the HDD operation. As thedetailed design progressed and geotechnical databecame available, it was quickly realized that thewindow required for a HDD installation did notexist at this most logical and preferred crossing.

The window required for the HDD installa-tion was defined by the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers (Corps) and the regulatory agenciesresponsible for the Mississippi River flood pro-tection system. These requirements are a mini-mum 10' clearance above the bank stability curveand a minimum 25' clearance below the riverbottom or the revetment. The bank stabilitycurve clearance is critical to protect the integrityof the river bank and the levee system becausebreaching the bank stability curve could compro-mise the integrity of the levee system leading tobank and levee failures.

The 25' minimum clearance under the riverbottom and the revetment is also critical to pro-vide cover and protection for the duct frommarine activities and accidents on the riverresulting in items being dropped or dragged on

the constantly changing river bottom. The mostobvious example would be ship anchors, espe-cially considering that there is an emergencyanchorage located just upriver from the crossing.It is interesting to note the river bottom in thisarea is made up of mounds of sediment continu-ously moving downriver that are approximately11⁄2 stories high.

The lack of a window required for the HDDinstallation in the preferred area required aninvestigation into adjacent alternate sites thatwould meet the required criteria while having theleast impact on the land-side transmission linetie-ins. The x-y-z coordinates from the river bot-tom, revetment and batture surveys, and the loca-tion of the bank stability curves were used todevelop a three-dimensional model of the riverupstream and downstream of the preferred cross-ing site. This investigation revealed a feasibleroute indicated by the profile view in Figure 1and the plan view in Figure 2. Located 1200'downriver of the preferred location on the westbank, this route provided the required window

Horizontal direction drillingBy Arthur J. Smith, III, PE

Arthur J. Smith, III, PE, earned his BS degree in electrical engineering from Tulane University in 1978. He is a licensed professional engineer in thestates of Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Smith’s professional experience includes many areas of electrical engineeringwith particular emphasis in electrical safety, power generation and power distribution. Smith is a member of the Society of Tulane Engineers, the NationalFire Protection Association 70 National Electrical Code, Code Making Panel 11; and he is active in several components of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers. Smith joined Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, Inc. as a part-time student employee in 1975, and became a full-time employeeupon graduation in 1978. He has since remained in continuous service with the Company and is currently a Vice President. Smith has authored and co-authored a number of technical papers presented at national and international conferences.

Editor’s note: This article was extracted from the article by the author titled “Mississippi River 230 kV transmission line under river crossing” pub-lished in the “Consultant,” the newsletter of Waldemar S. Nelson and Company, Inc., Vol. 47, No. 4, July/August 2004. It is the basis for the author’s pres-entation made during the 2004 Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show and titled “High-tech under the Big Muddy: Entergy’s MississippiRiver crossing project.”

Figure 1. Profile view of the river showing the location of the planned drill line for the planned HDD river crossing project.


for the entire length of the HDD. The “jog” inthe west bank levee that is shown in the aerialphotograph provided in Figure 3 was constructeda number of years ago when the existing leveewas relocated away from the river. This locationprovided the required window for the HDD andan excellent site to locate the horizontal drillingrig.

Drill lineThe HDD route was planned to meet the

minimum clearance criteria of the window. Itrequired an 11º angle decline entrance slope ofthe drill line at the west bank entry point to a2000' radius vertical curve transition to a hori-zontal drill line at elevation -185. (All elevationsprovided are in feet and based on the North

American Vertical Datum.) The drill line thencrossed the remainder of the river at elevation-185 passing under 6 gas transmission pipelinesthat cross the site and proceeded to a compoundcurve - a 2000' radius vertical curve and a 1500'radius horizontal curve. The compound curvewas required to thread the drill line between 2dolphins and achieve its planned 18º angle

Figure 2. Plan view of the river crossing project site showing the planned location of the drill line.

Figure 3. Aerial photograph of the planned HDD river crossing proj-ect site.

Figure 4. Aerial photograph showing an outline of the backstring fab-rication site.


incline exit slope as the drill line approached theeast bank exit point. This path not only meets therequirements of the Corps, it also provides max-imum cover under the river bottom and revet-ment, and maximum clearance from the gaspipelines.

Backstring fabrication

Site locationWith an acceptable drill line found, the for-

mal permitting process and the detailed design toprocure the permit and construct the crossingproceeded. The HDD process requires the pull-back of a backstring in one continuous lengththrough the drill hole. The backstring is the ductthat would eventually carry the transmissionlines under the river. This required a fabricationsite for the backstring or duct adjacent to the eastbank exit point that is approximately 3900' longand wide enough to accommodate its fabrication.

An existing plant road in an adjacent east

bank facility was identified that would allow thebulk of the backstring fabrication without signif-icant interference with plant operations. Toaccomplish this, the fabrication site shown inFigure 4 required the location of one temporarybridge as shown in Figure 5 to support the back-string and provide plant operations personnelaccess to the facilities either side of the road dur-ing fabrication.

The plant road was not long enough toaccommodate the fabrication of the entire back-string and a portion of the Port of St. Bernardproperty along the St. Bernard Highway wasrequired to complete the fabrication. The condi-tions on the Port property along the fabricationsite required a pontoon bridge to support thebackstring.

ProcessThe 10" and 18" diameter pipes that form the

duct are HDPE that are supplied in 50' lengthsand fused together to fabricate the 3900' contin-

uous backstring required to cross the river. Tofuse the HDPE pipe segments, a fusion machinepictured in Figure 6 is clamped to the ends of thepipe segments to be joined. Rotating knifeblades shave the pipe ends to form smooth andtrue matching faces. The rotating knife bladesare removed and a heated plate is insertedbetween the pipe faces to bring the HDPE mate-rial to a semi-molten state — the fusion temper-ature. The plate is removed and the fusionmachine brings the semi-molten pipe endstogether maintaining a specified contact pressureuntil the pipe ends cool sufficiently to achieve anadequately bonded joint.

The fusion process leaves beads of theHDPE pipe material that is squeezed from thejoint during fusion. The bead on the inside sur-face of the pipe joint must be removed to allowthe electrical transmission cables to be success-fully pulled through the pipe. The bead on theinside surface is removed with a manually oper-

Figure 5. Temporary bridge for the backstring to provide access to theplant facilities on either side of the backstring fabrication site.


Figure 6. Fusion machine for joining the 50’ high density polyethylenepipe segments.

Figure 7. Trailer mounted HDD rig shown in position to begin drillingoperations.

Figure 8. End view of the drill bit oriented with its 2 open mud jetslocated at the top and its plugged mud jet located at the bottom.


News from the Branches

SHREVEPORTBy Kurt M. Nixon, PE, President

The April general membership meeting ofthe Branch will be held on the Louisiana TechUniversity campus. It will feature a one PDHethics presentation to be made by Tech ProfessorAziz Saber and a catered meal will be served.The planning for this meeting has been in theworks for a couple of months as a cooperativeevent between the Louisiana Tech ASCE StudentChapter and the Branch.

The Branch’s annual spring golf tournamentis scheduled for May 9th at Southern TraceCountry Club. This tournament is always a greatevent held during a great time of the year. Theproceeds from the tournament provide the fund-ing for two scholarships for civil engineering stu-dents at Louisiana Tech — one for an outstand-ing junior and another for an outstanding senior.If you have any questions concerning the tourna-ment, please contact Ashley Sears [email protected].

Elba Hamilton has resurrected the Branch’sdormant Younger Member Committee. Elba hasmade a great effort to plan and develop ideas forboth social and civic activities in which the mem-bers of the Branch YMC will have the opportuni-ty to participate. One idea that she and AshleySears are planning to implement is so appreciat-ed that there are plans at the Section level to

implement it statewide. Way to go, Elba andAshley! So, if you have the joy of being under35 and would like to hang with some of your fel-low peers in the profession let us know so that wecan keep you apprised of the future YMC activi-ties scheduled.

The February general membership meetingof the Branch was a joint meeting with theShreveport Chapter of the Louisiana EngineeringSociety and it was an outstanding success. Thefeatured speaker was William L. “Bill”Melancon, PE — an attorney and licensed engi-neer. He made a very informative presentationon how engineers can better protect their clientsand themselves from liability claims and contractdisputes. From the number of members whoattended — over 45 — this is an area that is andshould be of significant concern to many civilengineers. Hopefully, few have actually experi-enced any serious problems in this area and willbe able to reduce the risk of future problemsbecause of Bill’s presentation.

On behalf of the Branch, I wish to againextend its appreciation to Bill for traveling fromLafayette to Shreveport to make his presentation.Also, I wish to thank the Shreveport Chapter ofthe Associated General Contractors for the use oftheir building and the members of the LES

Shreveport Chapter who helped arrange Bill’svisit.

The March general membership meeting ofthe Branch was very well attended and will beremembered as one of the better meetings of theadministrative year. Professor Erez Allouchefrom Louisiana Tech was our planned speaker,however a family emergency required his returnhome to Israel. Our prayers and sentiments arewith him and his family. In his place ProfessorReymond L. Sterling, Director of the TrenchlessTechnology Center at Louisiana Tech University,provided a great overview of trenchless technol-ogy including; new installations, rehabilitation,and condition assessment. On behalf of theBranch I wish to extend a hearty thank you toProfessor Sterling for rearranging his busyschedule to make his presentation to the Branchwith less than a 36-hour notice.

If you have an interesting news item youwould like to share with your fellow Branchmembers, any ideas or requests for meeting top-ics, or you are interested in publishing an articlein the newsletter, please email me [email protected]. I look forward to vis-iting with you during the next Branch member-ship meeting.

BATON ROUGEBy André M. Rodrigue, PE, President

The Branch ventured away from its usualgeneral membership meeting luncheon venueand format in March to meet in the facilities ofthe Vincent A. Forte River and CoastalEngineering Research Laboratory. This newlaboratory facility, located on the LSU BatonRouge campus, houses a small scale model of theMississippi River delta. Clinton S. Willson, PE,the featured speaker, briefed the Branch mem-bers present on the history of the river model thatwas built by Sogreah Consultants in France. The$1.1 million required to fund the river model andthe laboratory facility to house it was providedby the Louisiana Department of NaturalResources, the LSU College of Engineering andForte and Tablada, Inc.

The river model is initially intended to per-form studies to predict large scale river behaviorthat is used to develop effective projects for thediversion of the sediment-ladened river water torestore and maintain the subsiding Gulf coastarea of Louisiana. The scale of the model isexaggerated in elevation to a 1:500 vertical scalecompared to a 1:12000 horizontal scale. Willsonexplained the difference between small and largediversions in terms of the flow rates being divert-ed from the river — from 15,000cfs to 500,000cfs respectively. For a frame of reference, theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers allows 1.2 million

cfs flow through the river that is represented bythe river model. This flow is at maximum floodstage that is controlled by the diversion of floodwaters through floodways and control structuresup river.

Several scenarios have been evaluated forproposed diversion projects along the river delta.The scenarios studied are based on long-termeffects that are estimated to occur in time periodsranging from 10 to 100 years. The model cali-bration results in one hour of model time beingequivalent to two days of real river time.

The water level along the river model ismonitored using tiny stakes as river gauges. Adye is injected into the river model’s water totrace flow patterns. A special sand-like sub-stance manufactured by Sogreah is introducedinto the river model’s upstream channel to evalu-ate potential sedimentation.

Because of the large size of the river model,a gantry walkway provides access to any area ofthe model without interrupting a test run. Toobtain a bird’s eye view, a camera is installed ona large gypsy crane giving a view of the entiremodel in one photograph. At the end of a modeltest run, the researchers• evaluate the photographs• perform a gradation analysis of the sand-likesubstance at outfall

• consider dredging requirements and• consider the impact of a rising sea level onthe river stages.

Though the model does not provide quantita-tive results, the analysis of qualitative resultsreflecting the impact of the river’s behavior forthe various proposed diversion projects and sce-narios provide intriguing and valuable results.The results provided by the model thus far havesparked interest in the evaluation of additionaldiversion projects along the Atchafalya River andother major waterways.

The Branch awarded $500 scholarships to 2civil engineering students during the EngineeringWeek banquet in February. The banquet heldthis year in the facilities of the Baton RougeCountry Club is sponsored by the Baton RougeChapter of the Louisiana Engineering Society.Civil engineering students Shannon Chambers ofSouthern University and Garrett Sutley ofLouisiana State University were the scholarshiprecipients.

❖ Quote ❖Ethics: It is difficult to get a man to under-

stand something when his salary depends on hisnot understanding it.

- Upton B. Sinclair, writer and politician


NEW ORLEANSBy Deborah Ducote Keller, PE, President

The Branch continues to work on several ini-tiatives to bring more meaningful programs to itsmembers and the civil engineering community.In February, many of our Branch members wereinvolved in the community outreach to middleschool and high school students. They partici-pated in the Louisiana Engineering Society spon-sored MATHCOUNTS competition and theGreater New Orleans Science Fair. Both eventswere held in the facilities of the University ofNew Orleans.

The Branch and its Structures Committeepresented awards to the winners of the GreaterNew Orleans Science Fair in the civil engineer-ing and the structural engineering categoriesrespectively. It was an honor to present the stu-dents their awards as recognition for theirachievement in researching and effectively pre-senting their engineering topics.

The Tulane University and the University ofNew Orleans ASCE Student Chapters are bothhard at work in preparation for the competitionsplanned during the upcoming Deep SouthConference. The Conference consisting ofASCE student chapters from Louisiana,Mississippi and Arkansas is being hosted by the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette StudentChapter in Lafayette in early April. The studentshave dedicated many hours to showcasing theircivil engineering knowledge while learning andapplying valuable teamwork and leadershipskills along the way.

The Structures Committee, chaired by Om P.Dixit, PE, has conducted several technical semi-nars and has tentatively scheduled additionalseminars for May 5, June 9, August 16, andOctober 13. All of these seminars are scheduledduring the evening hours in the University ofNew Orleans, College of Engineering auditori-um.

The regular attendance during the recentBranch general membership meetings and lunch-eons has been approximately 90 people. Thishigher than usual attendance is apparently due toa winning combination of excellent topics and aselection of good restaurants housing the meet-ings. During the March general membershipmeeting, the guest speaker was Joseph R. Becker,PE, with the New Orleans Sewerage and WaterBoard. He made a presentation concerning anongoing sewer system evaluation and rehabilita-tion program. Upcoming luncheons have been

scheduled for April 27, May 25, and June 22.Chris Sanchez, Branch Chair of the 2005

Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference andShow, is hard at work with the various commit-tees planning this annual event. This work isbeing done in cooperation with the Branch’s co-sponsor, the Louisiana Chapter of the AmericanConcrete Institute. The Conference is scheduledfor September 15th and 16th in Kenner.

It was my privilege to attend ASCE NationalGovernment Leadership Training in GovernmentRelations in Washington, D.C. March 8-9 as theSection’s representative. I was proud to repre-sent Louisiana’s civil engineers participating inthe discussions regarding America’s infrastruc-ture crisis. There is a detailed account of thisevent provided elsewhere in this issue.

Information about many New OrleansBranch activities can be found on the recently re-designed Branch website, www.asceno.org. Itincludes a calendar of events and the links for theBranch officers, directors, and committee chairsprovided for easy contact. Branch members areencouraged to visit the website and register theiremail addresses to receive regular email noticesof Branch activities.

Structures CommitteeBy Om Dixit, PE

The annual Greater New Orleans ScienceFair was held March 1, 2005 with over 500entrants presenting topics ranging from medicineto engineering. The Structures Committee of theNew Orleans Branch participated in the ScienceFair by providing judges for those projects relat-ed to civil and structural engineering and byfunding two awards each in the junior and seniordivisions. Om Dixit presented awards to thewinners March 3rd in an evening ceremony thatwas held on the University of New Orleans cam-pus.

There have been 2 seminars sponsored bythe Committee and held since the last journalpublication. A brief summary follows:

Non-destructive testing of concrete: Fivetest methods that can save you money was pre-sented March 2, 2005 by Luke Snell, PE fromEdwardsville, Illinois. The 5 concrete test meth-ods were discussed in the context of their appli-cation and expected accuracy. The methods dis-cussed are (1) Rebound Hammer — the quickestand easiest method to estimate concrete strength;(2) Moisture Meter — to estimate the moisture inconcrete; (3) Metal Locators — to determine thelocation and depth of reinforcement/find safecoring/drilling locations; (4) Non-contactThermometer — to determine concrete tempera-ture and monitor curing temperature; and (5)Distance Measuring Devices — to measure dis-tances, areas and volumes electronically withouta measuring tape. Snell explained that the use ofthe non-destructive methods discussed that usesimple, portable equipment could save a signifi-cant amount of the money when compared to thecost of the more expensive, destructive investiga-

tions. At the end of the seminar, the nondestruc-tive testing equipment discussed was demon-strated and those in attendance were given theopportunity to handle it.

API RP 2A Section 17 (2003 Revision) —Recommended Practice for the Assessment ofExisting (Offshore) Platforms was presentedJanuary 27, 2005 by Paul Versowski withChevron Texaco. The subject of the seminar pre-sented was the requirements to measure fitnessin the assessment of all off-shore structures that

is required every 5 years. Currently, all plat-forms in the Gulf of Mexico should have under-gone an exposure category evaluation, a platformassessment initiator review, and a preliminaryscreening for further assessment. The presenta-tion covered the logic of platform assessment,the recent additions and clarifications to Section17, and the work presently under way to incor-porate Section 17 into a new recommended prac-


Some of the participants in the hands-on demonstration of the non-destructive concrete testingequipment following the seminar are (from left) Norma Jean Mattei, 2 unidentified participants,Luke Snell, Darrell Elliot, and Bill Sewell.


ACADIANABy Kimberly D. Landry, EI, President

The Branch Board of Directors had theopportunity to participate in the Region IIScience Olympiad on the University ofLouisiana at Lafayette campus February 19,2005. The Board members and volunteers fromthe University of Louisiana at Lafayette ASCEStudent Chapter, provided judging for DivisionsB and C of the Storm the Castle competition.Teams participating in this competition design,construct, calibrate and operate a device capableof launching a projectile as far and as accuratelyas possible using only the energy from a fallingcounterweight.

The February Branch membership meetingfeatured special guest speaker Dee Stanley, ChiefAdministrative Officer for the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government. He was invit-ed to discuss the progressive and controversialFiber to the Home / Fiber for the Future initia-tive of the Lafayette Consolidated Governmentand Lafayette Utilities System. The ultimategoal of Fiber to the Home is for the local, pub-licly owned utility provider, Lafayette UtilitiesSystem, to build a fiber-optic network that willprovide its benefits directly to area homes andbusinesses. This would provide its customerswith a high speed Internet connection over a sin-gle line from the Lafayette Utilities System thatis faster than provided by• DSL or cable modem service• the latest digital cable technology and• local and long distance telephone service.

The Board participated in the EngineeringDay activities hosted by the College ofEngineering at the University of Louisiana atLafayette on March 18, 2005 by manning anindustry booth and fielding questions about civilengineering from visiting high school seniors.Engineering Day is an annual event intended tointroduce high school students from across thestate to engineering prior to their entering theuniversity system. The students go on guidedtours of all of the engineering departments, havea chance to speak to college engineering studentsand practicing engineers, and participate inEngineering Day events such as the egg drop andthe mystery design contests.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette ASCEStudent Chapter met its substantial EngineeringDay hosting obligations while planning to hostthe Deep South Conference April 7-9, 2005.Congratulations to the Chapter for doing such afine job in the midst of its significant obligationsand best wishes to those universities who by win-ning certain of the regional conference competi-tions qualified for — and are looking forward to— the national competitions.

Due to the demands of the ongoing prepara-tions to host the 2005 Section Annual SpringMeeting and Conference, the Branch did nothave a membership meeting in March. However,the April membership meeting and luncheon fea-tured guest speaker Gerhard Lang whose topicwas “Introduction to mechanized tunneling andpipe jacking.”

The May membership meeting was a special

treat — the annual crawfish boil at the AcadianaPark pavilion in Lafayette. Jointly hosted by theAcadiana Branch, the Lafayette Chapter of theLouisiana Engineering Society and the LafayetteSection of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers the crawfish boil gives usthe opportunity to thank our members for theirsupport by providing the food and beverages forthis event free. On behalf of the Board, I wouldlike to thank our active members for their con-sistent attendance and participation during themonthly membership meetings.

On behalf of the Branch, I would like tothank everyone who attended the 2005 LouisianaSection Spring Meeting and Conference hostedby the Branch from March 30 through April 1.We hope that everyone who attended theConference enjoyed the presentations and tookthe opportunity to visit with their fellow ASCEmembers.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thankthe Conference sponsors and exhibitors, whose

financial contributions made the Conference pos-sible, and our guest speakers for their supportand participation during the Conference. A list-ing of the Conference sponsors and exhibitors isposted on the Branch website at www.asceacadi-ana.net/2005conference.htm. We are also grate-ful to Patrick J. Landry, PE, Section Director-at-Large, for presenting the Life Member certifi-cates during the Awards Banquet, and to JeromeM. Klier, PE, the Louisiana Section StudentAwards and Activities Committee Chair, for pre-senting the Student Awards during the banquet.

I would like to express my personal appreci-ation for the tireless work provided by my fellowBranch officers in organizing the Conference.They selected the topics for the technical ses-sions, recruited speakers, and handled the bigand small items on the to-do list that were essen-tial to the success of the conference. The high-lights of the Conference appear elsewhere in thisissue.

— Calendar of Events —June 2-3, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Design and Strengthening of

Shallow Foundations, Nashville, Tennessee.

June 2-3, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Design of Waste Containment,Nashville, Tennessee.

June 23-24, 2005 ASCE Seminar * Comprehensive Site DesignWorkshop, Atlanta, Georgia.

June 26-29, 2005 Tri-State Engineering Society Meeting (LouisianaEngineering Society, and the Arkansas andMississippi state societies), Destin, Florida. For moreinformation visit the LES website.

July 28-29, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Earthquake Induced GroundMotions, Atlanta, Georgia.

August 11-12, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Pumping Systems Design,Atlanta, Georgia.

August 25-26, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Bridge Rehabilitation,New Orleans.

September 15-16, 2005 Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference and Show,Kenner. For more information visit New OrleansBranch website.

September 16, 2005 Annual Meeting of Louisiana Section, New Orleans.For more information visit New Orleans Branchwebsite.

September 22-23, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Water Hammer in Transmissionand Distribution Systems, Dallas, Texas.

September 29-30, 2005 ASCE Seminar * on Finite Elements, Memphis,Tennessee.

September 30, 2005 Tulane Engineering Forum: Engineering in a coastalenvironment. For more information visitwww.eng.tulane.edu/tef.

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


Branches invest in high-techThe Baton Rouge Branch switched to an

electronic newsletter sent by email to each of itsmembers in March 2005. It was noted in thisnewsletter that the principal reasons for theswitch were the additional cost to produce andpublish (reproduce, address and mail) a papernewsletter and the additional time and effort thatis required to do so. The April Branch newslet-ter will be the first delivered exclusively byemail. The March newsletter was the transitionissue published in both electronic and paperform to give Branch members the opportunity toprovide or correct their email address in thenational ASCE membership database accessedthrough its website, www.asce.org. The branch-es and the Section rely on the national ASCEmembership database for all member contactinformation. Branch members in need of addi-tional information are encouraged to contact theBranch President-Elect, Tommy Roberts, PE, at225-952-4451 or at [email protected].

The New Orleans Branch has relied upon itswebsite, www.asceno.org, for several years as acost-effective means to communicate with itsmembers and others in the engineering commu-nity. Broad acceptance of the webpage as a pri-mary communications source has been so com-plete that the Branch is hiring CarrolltonTechnology, a full-service technology company,to re-design it. The new website expected to bein service sometime this Spring will have a morecontemporary look and provide• a branch calendar that committee chairs can

update• an e-commerce capability for conference

registration and fee payment processing• a user-friendly, secure interface for officers

and committee chairs• a facility for customized reports and• a database of members and others who

attend Branch functions to email meetingnotices.

From experience, the only thing worse thanno website is an outdated one. The focus will benot only on using the website as a communica-tion tool but a means to keep the Branch activeand to archive information as a resource.

The Acadiana Branch tentatively convertedto an e-newsletter during the 2003-2004 admin-istrative year to conserve funds and eliminate thetime involved with mailing the paper version.This was a trial period for both the Branch offi-cers and members to determine which versionwas preferred. Those responsible for publishingthe newsletter liked the ease of producing thedigital version and the Branch Treasurer wasequally pleased. There were difficulties encoun-tered in regulating the content and size of thedigital file so that those with dial-up connectionscould quickly access it. It was discovered to oursurprise that the more vocal of our active mem-

Book review: UnstuckBy André M. Rodrigue, PE

It is possible that you can find your profes-sional life — your career — stuck. You know thefeeling. You are trying to get somewhere in yourcareer, but you are being hindered. Either you donot know how to get where you want to go orthere are barriers in the way of getting there.When this happens, you need to unstick yourcareer.

You may want to stay with your currentemployment situation but feel overwhelmed orfrustrated that you just cannot achieve all youwould like with your current team. You may beseeking a new position that offers an environ-ment that fosters achievement. Authors KeithYamashita and Sandra Spataro have written abook, Unstuck: A Tool for Yourself, Your Teamand Your World, published in 2004 by thePenguin Group which addresses these issues.For more information visit www.unstuck.com.They assert, everyone who is trying to achievesomething gets stuck sometime. “Sometimesgetting stuck is merely a sign that you areattempting something ambitious and pushingyour team hard.” The question is, How do youget unstuck?

To understand how to get unstuck, you haveto understand the causes for getting stuck in thefirst place. The authors describe the seriousseven causes of getting stuck:1. You are overwhelmed. You are stuck because

you do not know what to do next. This iscaused by having no process through whichto attain your goals.

2. You are exhausted. You are working veryhard but politics and other factors keep get-ting in the way of achievement. This iscaused by concentrating too much in certainareas instead of balancing your effort in allareas to achieve a common goal.

3. You are directionless. Again, you are work-

ing hard but see little accomplishment. Thisis caused by lack of a clear strategy.

4. You are hopeless. You feel defeated — unin-spired. This is caused by no apparent pur-pose for your work.

5. You are battle-torn. You and your team can-not get along. This is caused by a lack of ahealthy interaction between team members.

6. You are worthless. You are unable to recog-nize success. This is caused by unclearmeasurement of results and commensuraterewards for achievement.

7. You are alone. You and your coworkers donot feel a sense of belonging. This is causedwhen your team loses its culture.So let us say you experience to some degree

all of the above causes for getting stuck. Whatcan you do about it? The authors recommendthat you evaluate your role in several areas to getback on your feet. This is relevant whether youare seeking to improve the working environmentin your current job or identify a positive workingenvironment in a new job. Yamashita andSpataro urge the reader to focus on the followingareas that together will get to the root cause(s) ofbeing stuck:

Your purpose. The driving ambition thatshapes what you and your organization aspire toachieve and work collectively to make a reality.

Your strategy. The smart way you go aboutachieving your purpose or the way you and yourcoworkers interact. How you and your team areassembled and rallied to execute the strategy and— as important — how you treat each other toget the work done.

Your structure and process. How is yourteam structured? -• Who makes the decisions• Who is included and who is not• Who has authority over whom

• Who is in charge and• Who has informal authority — not necessar-

ily a title but lots of influence?What is its formal process — the understood

method by which the team collaborates to get thework done?

Your metrics and rewards. The activitiesand actions that get measured — or at least towhich attention is paid — as indicators ofwhether your team or organization is deliveringon its purpose. Once measured, your organiza-tion rewards those who are part of the accom-plishment.

Your culture. The largely unwritten set ofrules that govern behavior. As one CEO offered,it is how work gets done when you do not speci-fy how the work should get done.

Once you have evaluated how each of theseareas in your work environment affect your abil-ity to achieve, you can choose a course of actionin the areas that you deem to be problematic.What can you do to change your performanceand what can you do to foster change in the per-formance of others when it comes to• purpose• strategy• teamwork• process• metrics• rewards and• culture?

The answers to this question can help youget unstuck in your current job or effectively finda more fulfilling job to unstick your career.

Editor’s note: This book review was André’spresident’s message to his branch membership inthe Baton Rouge Branch Newsletter, March2005.



A small gathering in the Conference registration area.ASCE national President-Elect Dennis Martenson is introduced to a not-so-delicate Louisiana delicacy.

The 2005 Spring Meeting and Conference ofthe Section hosted by the Acadiana Branch wasdeemed very successful with over 90 registrants,10 exhibitors, 11 sponsors, 14 guest speakers,and a special guest and keynote speaker, ASCENational President-Elect Dennis R. Martenson,P.E. The Conference was kicked off onWednesday evening, March 30, with an informalmeeting between members of the LouisianaSection Board of Directors and President-ElectMartenson followed by the crawfish boil ice-breaker and social. The crawfish boil was well-attended and boisterous despite the inclementweather. Our intrepid Conference photographercaught President-Elect and WisconsiniteMartenson befriending a crawfish - albeit, toolate to save it.

The first full day of the Conference beganThursday at 7:30 am with registration and theopening of the exhibitors’ display area thatserved as the break area between the concurrenttechnical sessions during the Conference. TheConference keynote speaker for the luncheonwas ASCE National President-Elect DennisMartenson. His speech primarily focused on the2005 National Report Card for America’sInfrastructure recently released by the ASCE.Martenson cited both national and state statisticsprovided by the Report Card. He also addressedthe ASCE governance issues, the ongoing devel-opment of the Body of Knowledge that is defin-ing the education required for a practicing pro-fessional civil engineer and that is associatedwith ASCE Policy Statement 465 — AcademicPrerequisites for Licensure and ProfessionalRegistration — and the public relations effortsby the ASCE to familiarize the general publicwith the practice of civil engineers and its impacton their daily lives. Martenson also outlined theagenda that he plans to pursue his year as the

ASCE National President — instituting a new,long-term strategic plan, recruiting and retainingmore government-employed engineers, andencouraging more involvement from youngermembers.

The Awards Banquet scheduled that eveningserved to honor the Section members whoattained their Life Member status in 2005. Theyare:

Acadiana BranchWilliam H. Hidalgo, Sr., PEKam K. Movassaghi, PEPaul A. Richards, PECarroll G. Westbrook, PE

Baton Rouge BranchGreer E. Coursey, PEJames C. Porter, PE

New Orleans BranchJ. A. Badeaux, Jr., PEArthur A. DeFraites, Jr., PEMorris R. HeinzenLeonce P. Waguespack, Jr., PEThomas R. Wartelle

Shreveport BranchLloyd G. Hoover, PEGordon M. Naquin, PERobert A. Neff, Jr.Donald F. Sorgenfrei, PE

After completing dinner, those in attendancewere introduced to Patrick J. Landry, PE, SectionDirector-at-Large from the Acadiana Branch,who presented the Life Member certificates tothe 5 Life Members who were in attendance.Landry noted that Life Members must satisfycombined requirements of age, years of member-

ship, and years of paying dues to qualify for theLife Member status. Landry introduced the LifeMembers to the banquet audience by presentinga brief biography of each as they were presentedtheir certificate.

Arthur A. De Fraites, Jr., PE, earned fromTulane University his BSCE in 1953 and hisMSCE in 1958. He is President of GSEAssociates, Inc. Engineers, Architects,Surveyors, Planners in Houma, LA. Art hasserved in several volunteer leadership capacitiesin the Louisiana Engineering Society and theNational Society of Professional Engineers andhe has received numerous awards from the LES,the ASCE and the American Council ofEngineering Companies recognizing his servicein and to the profession. Art and his wife of 40years Helen Starnes have 5 children and they liketo travel. His favorite thing about his engineer-ing practice is his service to the public and hisprofession. To graduating senior civil engineer-ing students Art advises that opportunities forservice are so numerous that he believes there isa partial vacuum in the profession’s leadershipresulting in few limits to the extent one can riseprofessionally who seeks to serve.

Lloyd G. Hoover, PE, earned his BS in 1965from LSU, studied in the Geotechnical MS pro-gram at LSU from 1968 to 1971 and he has beenPresident of Tetra Tech since 1971. Lloyd is alicensed real estate broker, a certified forensicengineer, a geotechnical engineer and an envi-ronmental engineer. Lloyd and his wife Bonnie— a real estate agent — have 4 children. In hisfree time Lloyd likes to hunt, fish and play golf.The favorite part of his engineering practice ishelping engineers and laymen alike to answerquestions and solve problems. Lloyd’s advice tograduating civil engineering seniors is be profes-sional. Put your profession first and be involved.

Highlights of the Annual Spring Meeting and ConferenceBy Kimberly D. Landry, EI


Don’t think that it will function well withoutyour support.

Kam K. Movassaghi, PE, earned his BS in1963 from the University of Louisiana atLafayette and his MS and PhD from LouisianaState University in 1965 and 1971 respectively.He is currently President of C.H. Fenstermaker& Associates, Inc. in Lafayette and President andCEO of Movassaghi Group, PEC, in BatonRouge. Kam worked as an engineer in severalengineering firms early in his career then joinedthe University of Louisiana at Lafayette facultyand ultimately served as head of its Departmentof Civil Engineering. In 1998 Kam was appoint-ed by Governor Foster as the Secretary of theLouisiana DOTD where in his 6 years of servicehe led and facilitated a 78 percent increase in therate of construction project lettings with noincrease in annual revenues, and led the imple-mentation of a comprehensive management planto expedite the TIMED program — the largesthighway construction program in the history ofthe Department. Kam and his wife Mazie have 2children.

Paul A. Richards, PE, earned a PhD in civilengineering during his 21 years of military ser-

vice as a civil engineer. During this time, heserved 6 years on the faculty of the U.S. AirForce Academy, 2 years as Associate Dean of theSchool of Civil Engineering of the Air ForceInstitute of Technology and 2 years on theTactical Air Command Inspector General Team.Paul was appointed to the faculty of theUniversity of Southwestern Louisiana CivilEngineering Department in 1984 — the year heretired from the Air Force. During this time Paulserved as Acting Head and Head of the CivilEngineering Department and Director of theDepartment’s Center for Louisiana Inland WaterStudies from 1989-2004. Paul and his wife Ann— married for 39 years at the time of her deathin 2003 — have 2 children, Paul Jr. and ChristineMarie, and 5 grandchildren. The most gratifyingachievement in his practice was co-authoring ofthe text, Unit Operations and Processes inEnvironmental Engineering, adopted for use bycivil engineering and chemical engineering fac-ulties in their courses in many universities in theU.S. and abroad. Paul’s advice to graduatingcivil engineering students is “Be professional ineverything you do — at work, at play, in yourrelationships with others and in life in general —

be professional.” Paul plans to retire inDecember 2005 and work hard at playing golf,fishing, and traveling; and then for variety heplans to travel, play golf and fish; then fish, playgolf and travel with his stated goal of “...improv-ing my golf game, compete in amateur events,and hopefully qualify for a senior PGA tourevent.”

Leonce P. Waguespack, Jr., PE, earned hisBS from Louisiana State University in 1963 andaccepted employment with the Louisiana DOTDinvolved with the I-10 Bridge over the IndustrialCanal. In 1964 he began employment with NewOrleans Public Service Inc. — now Entergy NewOrleans Inc. — in the Engineering Departmentas an Assistant Engineer. Leonce held manytitles at Entergy working for many of its sub-sidiaries including Louisiana Power and LightCompany, Entergy New Orleans Inc., andEntergy Gulf States Inc. He retired from EntergyServices Inc. in November 2004 after nearly 40years of service specializing in the design andplanning of gas distribution and transmissionpipeline systems. Leonce served in the ASCEbecoming President of the New Orleans Branch

Art DeFraites receives his Life Member certifi-cate from Acadiana Branch President KimLandry.

Lloyd Hoover receives his Life Member certifi-cate from President Landry.

Kam Movassaghi receives his Life Member cer-tificate from President Landry.

Paul Richards receives his Life Member certifi-cate from President Landry.

Leonce Waguespack receives his Life Membercertificate from President Landry.

Jeanne Arceneaux accepts her commemorativeplaque for the Section’s Outstanding CivilEngineering Senior Student award fromPresident Landry.



(Continued from Page 13)

and of the Louisiana Section. He and his wifeLinda are now enjoying retirement.

It was a pleasure to meet these distinguishedengineers from around Louisiana who have con-tributed so greatly to our profession, learn oftheir personal experiences and appreciate theirwords of wisdom and encouragement to thegraduating civil engineering seniors.Congratulations again to all of the Section’s newLife Members.

The evening was also dedicated to acknowl-edging and celebrating the accomplishments ofoutstanding senior civil engineering studentsfrom the ASCE student chapters and civil engi-neering departments in the Section. TheDistinguished Civil Engineering Senior Studentawards were presented during the banquet byJerome M. Klier, PE, Chair of the SectionStudent Awards and Activities Committee. Thecivil engineering department faculties of eachuniversity in the Section with a student chaptermay nominate one graduating senior student forthis honor. Klier presented each recipient pres-ent with a $100 award and a commemorativeplaque acknowledging him/her as their respec-tive university’s Distinguished Civil Engineering

Senior Student. These deserving students are• Jeanne C. Arceneaux, Louisiana Tech

University• Shannon Chambers, Southern University• Clayton R. Colmier, McNeese State

University• Eric J. Dallimore, University of NewOrleans• Bart D. Grasso, Tulane University• Justin Charles Peltier, University of

Louisiana at Lafayette and• Anna Wheeler, Louisiana State University.

Jeanne C. Arceneaux was announced andrecognized as the Louisiana Section’sOutstanding Civil Engineering Senior Student.Arceneaux additionally was presented with aspecial plaque commemorating her award andshe and the Louisiana Tech University ASCE

Student Chapter each received a $250 cashaward.

The last day of the conference began at 8:00am with the opening of the exhibitors’ displayarea followed by concurrent technical sessionsstarting at 8:30 am. The Section’s Annual SpringMembership Meeting to elect officers was heldprior to the scheduled luncheon that also featuredour second keynote speaker, Section PresidentNorma Jean Mattei. Her presentation was theConference’s Ethics seminar, titled Engineeringand Business Ethics: Is There A Difference?Following Mattei’s presentation, door prizeswere raffled off to lucky winners after which the2005 Annual Spring Meeting and Conferenceofficially came to a close. Following the lunch-eon, the Section Board of Directors held itsscheduled meeting.

The Distinguished Civil Engineering Senior Student award recipients from their respective studentchapters who received recognition and commemorative plaques are (from the left) Eric J.Dallimore, University of New Orleans; Jeanne C. Arceneaux, Louisiana Tech University; ShannonChambers, Southern University; Bart D. Grasso, Tulane University; and Justin C. Peltier,University of Louisiana at Lafayette.— 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 and LandSurveying Board:

http://www.lapels.com

building, a cruise terminal... I view civil engi-neering as a profession that easily lends itself tobecoming a calling.

What if what it is you seek is true bliss andyou are in the “career” mode? Are you doomedto average happiness? When I was an under-graduate engineering student in the late 1970s, Iworked one summer at the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers New Orleans District office. One dayI got into a conversation with an engineer whohad been with the Corps for over 20 years. Sincecivil engineering was my planned future profes-sion, I was curious to find out if he loved hiswork. He told me that what he really loved wasdabbling in the stock market on the weekends.So I asked, why didn’t he change careers? After

thoughtful consideration he observed that heliked being an engineer but he loved playing themarket. However, if he became a stockbroker,playing the market would not be so much fun. Ifengineering is not a calling, it can, as in this case,allow the monetary freedom to indulge in ahobby or other activity after work that may be apassionate commitment.

In the end, I conclude that happiness is achoice. It is the lens through which we choose tosee the world. My hope for you is that your lensis — or will become — rose-colored!

This article is dedicated to the memory ofGreer Eugene Coursey, PE, 2005 ASCE LifeMember, Baton Rouge Branch.

(Continued from page 4)


Student Chapter NewsSOUTHERN UNIVERSITYBy Kevin Cowan, Jr.

The Chapter enjoyed a busy semester begin-ning with its delegates attending the Zone IIWorkshop for Student Chapter Leaders inOrlando, Florida. We have held a few successfulfund raisers and social events, participated in theDeep South Conference and will be hosting anOrder of the Engineer Ring Ceremony April27th.

Deep South ConferenceThe University of Louisiana at Lafayette

could not have picked a better weekend to hostthe 2005 Deep South Conference. The weatherwas beautiful — not too hot and not too cold.The threat of rain held off so that the activitiesand competitions scheduled for outside venueswere not compromised. As a result, all the par-ticipants were able to thoroughly enjoy the com-petition and other activities. It was disappointingthat the water resources/environmental competi-tion was cancelled, but we were still able to par-ticipate in two other events for which we wereprepared to compete — the land surveying com-petition and the Daniel W. Mead paper contest.

Chapter member Phillip Salaam presentedhis Mead paper addressing computers and ethics.More specifically, he addressed whether or notengineers should use computers to solve prob-lems that they cannot solve by hand. He con-tended that engineers using software in this man-

ner violated the code of ethics because in doingso they place profit before people and jeopardizepublic safety, health and welfare by providingservice in an area in which they are not compe-tent.

UL Lafayette did an excellent job in hostingthe conference this year; from the careful plan-ning and organization of the events to the tastycrawfish. Everything was fantastic!

Member receives national recognitionIn February, Past Chapter Vice President and

current member Shannon Chambers was recog-nized as an Outstanding Young Leader inTechnology during the Black Engineer of theYear Awards Conference in Baltimore,Maryland. As a part of this honor, she was fea-tured in the March/April 2005 issue of US BlackEngineer & Information Technology magazine.Shannon has received numerous honors, includ-ing the Civil and Environmental EngineeringDepartment’s Student Achievement Award forthe student with the highest grade point averageand the Southern University ASCE StudentChapter’s Distinguished Civil EngineeringSenior Student awarded by the LouisianaSection. Shannon is scheduled to graduate inMay and she is planning to attend graduateschool.

Shannon Chambers

Phillip Salaam presents his paper in the regional Daniel W. Mead papercontest as the judges observe his oral presentation.

Chapter members pictured near the University of Louisiana at LafayetteStudent Union following the business meeting of the Deep SouthConference are (from the left) Jacques Gilbert, Yvette P. Weatherton, PE(Faculty Advisor), Danielle Cooks and Kevin Cowan, Jr.

The results of the competitions held duringthe Deep South Conference hosted April 7 - 9,2005 in Lafayette by the University of Louisianaat Lafayette Student Chapter reflect the winningstudent chapters and the competitions:• Tulane University - Concrete Canoe

Competition

• Louisiana State University - Steel BridgeCompetition

• Tulane University - Daniel W. Mead PaperCompetition

• University of Memphis - SurveyingCompetition

• University of Memphis - Asphalt PigeonsCompetition

The teams from the winning student chaptersof the concrete canoe and steel bridge competi-tion, and the individual from the winning studentchapter of the Mead paper competition qualify tocompete in the respective national competitionsscheduled later in the year.

UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTEBy Justin Peltier


TULANEBy Joe Simpson

Recent ActivitiesThe Chapter’s intramural sports team, Strike

Force, has been “rollin’ on” and “lightin’ it up”again this semester both on the basketball courtand on the soccer field posting undefeated regu-lar seasons in both sports. Both teams qualify forthe playoffs in their respective sports and theycontribute to the Chapter’s aim to claim its 1stever Reily Cup. Also, the Engineering StudentCouncil hosted the 1st annual Elympics this yearpitting the various engineering departments oncampus against each other in several athleticcompetitions. Coming out on top, as expected,was the civil engineering department.

The Chapter’s Mardi Gras celebrations werewell represented with 20 plus members in atten-dance for the various parades. Also, the Chapterhad a St. Patrick’s Day party and it plans to tra-ditionally close out the academic year with theannual End of the Year Party on April 29 on theMississippi River. The next Chapter member-ship meeting scheduled is the Chapter’s annualmeeting with the election of officers on the agen-da. The guest speaker will be Deborah D. Keller,PE, President of the New Orleans Branch of theASCE Louisiana Section.

2005 Deep South ConferenceThe Chapter enthusiastically anticipated this

year’s Conference in Lafayette. Many long

hours went into the design and construction ofthe competition steel bridge and concrete canoe.There was a record number of members prepar-ing for the Conference and the Chapter continu-ally strives to increase participation each year tomore effectively compete in every event. TheChapter considers its performance this year asoutstanding. Senior student Steve Shirareceived the top award for the Daniel W. MeadePaper contest. The steel bridge team, headed byBen D’Arensbourg, had fastest constructiontime and drew the largest crowd for assemblyand loading, despite its lack of experience indesign, fabrication, and the timed building effort.Unfortunately, due to a tragic pre-assemblyevent, the competition steel bridge was disqual-ified for exceeding maximum vertical deflectionunder load.

The Chapter returned to the surveying com-petition again this year with a team of 3 sopho-mores who had a great time and learned a lot.The highlight of the Conference for the Chapter,however, was the concrete canoe competition. Itwas the Chapter’s first-ever regional victory inthis competition. The concrete canoe competi-tion team is anxiously looking forward to partic-ipating in the national competition June 25-27hosted by Clemson University. T Boat and “TheSmaller the School the Better the Boat” will be astaple in the fabric of Chapter’s organization in

the future. The Chair of the concrete canoe com-mittee, Bart Grasso, wishes to thank the concretecanoe team: Joel Dixon, Reilly Thompson,Jenna Addis, Kristin Moan, Bridget Kelly,Josh Moore, and Courtney Miller; and theteam’s corporate consultant Bennet &Associates. Those wishing to provide any mon-etary donations to assist in covering the team’scosts to participate in the national competitionplease inquire at [email protected] or [email protected]. All donations will begreatly appreciated.

Tulane Student Chapter steel bridge competi-tion team confers during the competition.

LSUBy Garrett Sutley

The Chapter competed and managed to dowell in the steel bridge and concrete canoe com-petitions held in conjunction with the DeepSouth Conference in Lafayette. The thoughtfulorganization of the Conference events and theefforts of the host chapter, the University ofLouisiana at Lafayette Student Chapter, to keepthe conference on schedule and an outstandingexperience for all the participants was greatlyappreciated. The Chapter placed 1st overall inthe steel bridge competition by placing• 1st in economy

• 1st in lightness• 1st in efficiency• 1st in construction speed• 2nd in stiffness• 2nd in aesthetics

The Chapter managed an overall 3rd placefinish in the concrete canoe competition by plac-ing• 1st for design paper• 1st in the women’s sprint race• 2nd in the men’s sprint race• 2nd in the coed sprint race



bers simply preferred the paper version in themail. The Branch has since returned to publish-ing the paper version by mail. At the inceptionof the Branch website in 2002, a Newsletterpage was created to publish the current issue andarchive past issues.

The Shreveport Branch has not consideredan e-newsletter. It enjoys a very good relation-ship with a local printer that takes care of theprinting, folding, addressing and mailing of itsnewsletter for a reasonable price plus thepostage, minimizing the cost and effort to theBranch. This year the Branch started a modestemail reminder and RSVP for general member-ship meetings. It only states the who, what,when and where and requests a reply from thoseplanning to attend.

tice, RP 2SIM - Structural Integrity Management.The seminar attracted 70 engineers, mostly fromthe offshore industry.

There are 4 seminars currently scheduled forthe remainder of the calendar year. All will beheld on the University of New Orleans campus.Those who attend will receive a certificate for 2PDHs for each seminar they attend. The semi-nars are as follows:• May 10, 2005 Annual David Hunter Lecture:

Architecture’s dream is an engineeringnightmare — Solutions to gravity defyingarchitecture, by Jon Magnusson, PE.

• June 2, 2005 Advances in precast concrete

structures — details and assembly, by AlvinEricson.

• August 16, 2005, Wind design seminar byMarc Levitan, Director of LSU HurricaneCenter.

• October 13, 2005 Offshore seminar, topicand speakers to be announced.Information for all Structures Committee

seminars scheduled is maintained and updated onthe New Orleans Branch websitewww.asceno.org.

Norma Jean Mattei, PE, will once againdirect the effort to foster awareness of civil engi-neering in young students by sponsoring a hands-

on exhibit at this year’s New Orleans Jazz Fest.Materials for the Box City project were partiallyprovided by funding from the national ASCE.

The committee has also received fundingfrom the national ASCE to continue its efforts topromote civil engineering in some form of publicannouncement. Last year, the New OrleansBranch partnered with its Structures Committeeto produce a television commercial. Methodsdiscussed this year range from extending the TVcommercial to renting billboard space. Theadvertisement may be used to publicize upcom-ing ASCE events planned in the New Orleansarea.


Highlights of the November Board of Directors meetingSome decisions concerning the Section web-

site have been made. The website developmentand the webmaster will be provided throughGator-T and the website host will be CrystalTech. With some relief it was noted that the con-tents of the previous website were preserved andcan be incorporated onto the new website when itis activated.

It was mentioned that one benefit of the newASCE Regional alignment anticipated will be thereplacement of the Zone leadership conferenceswith a series of alternating 2-region conferences.The 2 regions participating in each conferencefrom year-to-year will be different with the inten-tion of cycling through all of the permutations.This will give the leadership of each region theopportunity to network with the leadership in allof the other regions over time.

A photography contest was proposed and itis being further considered for implementation.It will be limited to images of the civil engi-neered infrastructure in Louisiana. The partici-pation will be limited to high school students.The winning photographs and those of honorablemention will be compiled to produce a calendarfor sale by the ASCE student chapters as a fund-raiser.

The New Orleans Branch is making anadministrative revision in the operation and

financing of its normal hosting duties for theSection Annual Meeting in New Orleans. TheSection Annual Meeting has long been hosted bythe Branch in conjunction with the LouisianaCivil Engineering Conference and Show that itnow cosponsors with the Louisiana Chapter ofthe American Concrete Institute. Since the ACIjoint sponsorship and the trend toward a largedifference in those who attend the two events —the Conference and the Annual Meeting —merging their registration on the same form hasbecome difficult. Accounting the revenues col-lected in fees for both events and then disbursingthese revenues between the Branch and the ACILouisiana Chapter has become difficult toadminister. For this reason, the registrationforms and the revenues and expenses of the twoevents will be accounted and managed separate-ly by the Branch.

The Shreveport Branch is investigating thefeasibility and member interest in annually hold-ing one of its regular membership meetings inRuston. Its purpose is to make participation inBranch activities and professional developmentseminars more available to the ASCE membersand other civil engineers resident in the Ruston-Monroe region.

The District 14 Council is currently chairedby a Louisiana delegate, Timothy M. Ruppert,

PE, and operated in conjunction with — and insupport of — the District 14 Director who is cur-rently Steven C. McCutcheon, PE, of the GeorgiaSection. The progress toward District 14 merg-ing with District 10 — also the Florida Section— to form the new proposed region appears to bemoving rapidly forward and may be completed ineffect well ahead of the scheduled time line.

The infrastructure report card as it may besuccessfully implemented in the LouisianaSection was discussed. To successfully accom-plish its purpose, the infrastructure report cardmust not be viewed as a political document but asan effective communication tool. The participa-tion and review of state and local governmentsshould be sought. There would appear to beopportunities for workshops to enhance the con-tent and quality of the report card.

The past sporadic and limited participationof the branches to recognize the outstandingmembers in their communities in a parallelawards program with the Section and to advancethem for consideration in the Section awards pro-gram was noted. The branches were asked toconsider making more of an effort to make thebranch level awards to their outstanding mem-bers and submit their candidates to the Sectionfor consideration as the Section award recipients.

A meeting of the Region 5 Formation Teamwas planned as part of the March 2005 District14 Council meeting. However, due to the inabil-ity of key R5FT members to attend, the meetinghad to be postponed. The R5FT did have a con-ference call meeting early in March to form com-mittees to write the Region 5 bylaws and beginplanning. The next R5FT meeting is beingplanned and scheduled for either April or May.James C. Webb. PE, is the Louisiana Section rep-resentative to the R5FT.

As it can be observed from the accompany-ing map, two current districts — District 10 andDistrict 14 — will be combined to make up thenew Region 5. District 14 covers a larger areathan District 10 — the Florida Section — and itcontains 4 sections including the LouisianaSection and it contains a total of 7014 members.District 10 — the Florida Section — thoughsmaller in area contains a total of 7399 members.These demographics are expected to affect theoutcome of the R5FT negotiations covering rep-resentation and governance in the new Region 5.The 5 sections and their total membership inDistrict 10 and District 14 that will remain intactto form Region 5 are:District 14:• Louisiana 1903• Alabama 1723• Georgia 2571• Mississippi 817

Total 7014

District 10:• Florida 7399

If you are interested in the political realign-

ment of the sections that will reorganize thepolitical structure of the ASCE from 15 districtsand 4 zones to 10 regions, both maps can befound on the ASCE website atwww.asce.org/files/pdf/governance/uszonesre-gionssections.pdf.

The District 14 Council currently has a bal-ance of $1380 in revenue that is budgeted entire-ly to cover the travel expenses of the District 14Director and the Council’s Secretary-Treasurer.

Steven C. McCutcheon, PE, District 14Director, reported on the State Public AffairsGrant program administered by the nationalASCE. He noted a major shift in the nationalASCE view of — and policy for — the use of

SPAG funds. They are now only intended to pro-vide funds to start new programs and not to sus-tain existing programs that have previouslyreceived SPAG funding. The section or branchsubmitting a proposed program for SPAG fund-ing is expected to independently sustain the pro-gram if it is to be continued into future years. Asa result, several sections and branches discoveredthat their ongoing programs that had been previ-ously funded from year-to-year with SPAG fundswere not approved in the last funding cycle.

It was reported that the national ASCE endedthe 2005 fiscal year with a surplus of approxi-mately $5 million of which the bulk will beplaced in the ASCE reserve fund. With thesefunds added to the ASCE reserve fund, it isexpected to reach approximately 26 percent ofthe annual operating budget. The reserve fundhas been below 25 percent of the annual opera-tion budgets in recent years though its desiredamount is between 25 and 50 percent of theannual operating budget.

The ASCE Finance Committee is developingthe national ASCE budget for the 2006 FiscalYear and it is considering either a $5 increase inannual dues or no increase in annual dues using aportion of the surplus to balance the FY ’06budget. The District 14 Council passed a resolu-tion recommending no dues increase and using amodest portion of the surplus funds to balancethe operating budget.

District 14 Council News

Sections News and Information

M. Naquin, PE, Robert A. Neef, James C.Porter, PE, Paul A. Richards, PE, Donald F.Sorgenfrei, PE, Leonce P. Waguespack, Jr.,PE, Earl W. Wardlaw, Jr., PE, Thomas R.Wartelle, and Carroll G. Westbrook, PErecently attained the ASCE membership gradeof Life Member.


Section members Samuel D. Amoroso, PE,Thomas A. Cancienne, III, PE, Stephen M.Chandler, PE, Travis A. Fox, PE, Timothy F.Gaines, PE, Michael J. Lanclos, PE, Chien B.Ly, PE, Jason P. Phillips, PE, Russell J. Rome,Jr., PE, Daniel L. Rosenquist, PE, Shaun R.Simon, PE, Jarrod C. Tramonte, PE, JeffreyD. Wilson, PE, recently earned their civil and/orenvironmental engineering license in Louisiana.If you are in contact with any of them, pleaseoffer them your congratulations on their accom-plishment.

Louisiana residents Christopher A. Arts,PE, Kiley F. Bates, PE, Jacquelyn M.Baumann, PE, Todd E. Baumann, PE, DavidC. Besselman, PE, Jennifer D. Branton, PE,Brandon S. Breaux, PE, Andree F. Cortez, PE,Rados B. Croom, PE, Staci L. Danna, PE,Dennis J. Dean, PE, Joffrey E. Easley, PE,Kenneth R. Ferachi, Jr., PE, Rhonda S.Fetters, PE, Kimberly A. Fitzgerald, PE, JohnE. Guidry, PE, Robert B. Harrell, PE, JamesB. Heaslip, II, PE, William S. Huffstetler, PE,Traci L. Johnson, PE, Heather R. Klingman,PE, Scott M. Lobell, PE, Kimberly M. Martin,PE, Edward H. Miessner, PE, Jinyoung Park,PE, Christopher L. Rogers, PE, Clarence J.Savoie, III, PE, Scott M. Schoolmeyer, PE,Michael L. Smith, PE, Scott C. Sollay, PE,Chad M. Stevens, PE, Kathryn M.Thibodeaux, PE, Robert F. Vinet, PE, Lisa D.Wadsworth, PE, Gordon L. Walters, Jr., PE,Clinton S. Willson, PE, Amber L. Wooten, PE,recently earned their civil and/or environmentalengineering license in Louisiana and are notmembers of the ASCE. A copy of this issue ofthe journal is sent to them as an informal intro-duction to the Section. If they wish to joinand/or find out more about the ASCE, they arehereby encouraged to visit the ASCE nationalwebsite, http://www.asce.org. If you are in con-tact with any of these engineers, please considerformally introducing them to the Section byinviting them to attend a branch meeting as yourguest.

Section members J. Alvin Badeaux, Jr.,PE, Greer E. Coursey, PE, Arthur A.DeFraites, PE, Dennis W. Godso, PE, MorrisR. Heinzen, William H. Hidalgo, PE, Lloyd G.Hoover, PE, Kam K. Movassaghi, PE, Gordon

- Career Benchmarks -C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates

announces the appointment L.G. “Bo” Waltersas manager of its business development divisionto expand its business in its oil and gas and gov-ernment services. He will work to refine andenhance the marketing and sales focus, toexpand business through strategic long-termrelationships with current and future clients,and to strengthen professional relationshipswith the departments of transportation and nat-ural resources in several states.

Providing consulting services atFenstermaker since 2003, Walters, a graduate ofthe University of Houston in ElectricalEngineering, has over 25 years of experience.His experience includes defining marketrequirements and coordinating efforts with theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Departmentof the Interior, and the Texas General LandOffice prior to which he worked in sales andmarketing for and with major corporations serv-ing the pipeline, electrical transmission, ship-building, architectural/engineering and con-struction industries. Early in his career Waltersserved as a lead engineer and project managerfor the design and manufacture of products inthe pipeline and airline industries.

Ehab Meselhe, PE, received the CoastalStewardship Award during the 10th annualCoastal Stewardship Awards Banquet. Meselheis the Director of the Center for LouisianaInland Water Studies and an Associate Professorin the Civil Engineering Department at theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette and theAssistant Engineering Division Manager at C.H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc. playing akey role in the firm’s coastal restoration andmodeling efforts.

Editor’s note: There are three disciplinesthat are licensed by the Louisiana ProfessionalEngineering and Land Surveying Board andthat may be considered closely related to civilengineering. They are the environmental, struc-tural and architectural engineering disciplines.As of January 2005, the active engineeringlicenses conferred by the Board were approxi-mately 6128 in civil, 746 in environmental, 51in structural and 1 in architectural.

Bo Walters

Ehab Meselhe

- Observation -Environment:

The answer to the rhetorical question, Howdid a roadside ditch get to be part of the “watersof the United States?” is, A ditch is a federalwaterway whenever the U.S. Court of Appealssays it is... according to columnist JamesKilpatrick on the op-ed page of the Baton RougeSaturday 1/3/04. He reports:

On June 12 the court asserted federalauthority over a ditch (3 feet wide) along atwo-lane country road near Parsonsburg,Md... It trickles into a culvert, thence toanother drainage ditch, thence through fiveculverts, three ponds and five dams to theWicomico River... (It was) found... sufficientthat sediment created by the ditching “poten-tially” could reach navigable water eight

miles away.On September 10 the court similarly

asserted authority over a tract of land inNewport News, Va... (where) the waterway inquestion is a spur ditch, leading to a drainageditch, leading to a culvert, traveling to anoth-er drainage ditch, reaching the Western Armof Stony Run, which is defined as “not navi-gable-in-fact”... (It) intersects the CentralArm of Stony Run at a point where surfacewater may intermittently enter the WesternArm. Stony Run eventually flows into theWarwick River, which intersects with theJames River, which flows into ChesapeakeBay... The notion that the Clean Water Act of1972 covers every leaky hose in the UnitedStates is an absurdity...

To the argument... that a ditch is not atributary... (it is) asserted that the word “trib-utaries means what the Corps says it means.”Beats reliance on dictionaries...

When a 3-foot ditch gets the respectaccorded the Mississippi River, we have float-ed into a Wonderland indeed.I must share Kilpartick’s sense of derision

concerning how the interpretation the 1972 lawhas evolved in the activist courts into somethingprobably its writers never envisioned or intended.When will it get to the point, if it hasn’t already,that we are hugging trees so tightly that we stran-gle our development and economy into joblessgrowth, regression or depression. - Editor


When it comes to engineering, volunteerismhas no borders. Engineering students fromLouisiana State University are demonstratingthis while they dedicate their time and effort todesign and build a water supply system to pro-vide the village of Nyamilu, Kenya with cleanand reliable water year-round.

The Engineers Without Borders LSUStudent Chapter was chartered in the Fall of2004. Engineers Without Borders is a humani-tarian non-governmental organization. Throughits student chapters, it gives student members theopportunity to apply engineering skills throughhands-on projects that benefit people in develop-ing areas. “One of the most important purposesis working in conjunction with developing coun-tries and training a new generation of globallyaware engineers,” states Andrea Stancliff, VicePresident of EWB-USA’s West CoastProfessional Partners.

EWB-USA seeks out projects that involvethe conceptual, design, implementation, andmonitoring phases typical of engineering proj-ects. Many of these projects are ongoing andmay span several years. Projects are conductedby groups of students under the direction of uni-versity EWB-USA chapter faculty members andprofessional engineers from partnering engineer-ing firms. EWB-USA projects focus on water,wastewater, sanitation, and energy.

Projects are initiated by — and completedwith — contributions from the receiving com-munity that is trained in the process to inde-pendently operate the systems provided. EWB-USA attempts to reasonably ensure that its proj-ects are appropriate and self-sustaining in scaleand complexity. A recent accomplishment ofEWB-USA was in Mali. Students fromColorado University — Boulder teamed up withengineers on a Mali assistance project to• repair a water pump• coordinate the drilling of deeper wells• construct a soil cement-lined water storagebasin and• build a pilot drip irrigation system for a

YMC project advancesBy Yvette P. Weatherton, PE

The Younger Member Committee chairs ofthe Baton Rouge, New Orleans and ShreveportBranches, and the Section have a mutual planunder way to organize and conduct a statewidephotography contest. Participation in the contestwill be extended to high school and college stu-dents in Louisiana who will be invited to submitamateur photographs that depict positive imagesof civil engineering throughout the state.Southern University will host a website and anemail address for contest entries to be submittedfor consideration. The web and email addresseswill be publicized with the guidelines for thecontest at a later date.

The top 12 photographs judged to bestdepict positive images of civil engineering will

be selected and the photographers submittingthem will each receive $100. These 12 photo-graphs will be distributed for sale to engineersthroughout the state incorporated in a full-colorcalendar. The proceeds will be used to fund thestudent chapters and YMC activities.

Professional photographers and retired engi-neers are being asked to serve as judges.Corporate sponsorship is also needed to fund theprizes and defray the anticipated printing costsof the calendars. Anyone who is interested insponsoring this project should contact Yvette P.Weatherton, PE by email [email protected] or by telephone at(225)771-5870.

community garden in the village of FoutakaZambougou.

EWB-LSU is collaborating with EWB-Dartmouth in the construction of a water supplysystem in Nyamilu. It is a village of 10,000 peo-ple in scattered homesteads and located in thesouthwest corner of Kenya. Villagers currentlycollect water from rain and streams for drinking,cooking, and washing. As a result, rampant out-breaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera,typhoid, dysentery, and diarrhea are common.Using rainwater that is sparse, the villagers growvegetables to sell. The only well in the village isshallow and it dries up during the dry seasons.Our goals for the project are to• supply clean drinking water to the commu-

nity• use sustainable and appropriate technology

and• give the community input into the design

and a sense of ownership.Students from Dartmouth will travel in June

to install a solar-powered pump in the existing50' well. The LSU students will travel in Augustto install a water storage tank and piping fromthe tank to five distribution points in the town.The villagers will be trained in the operation andmaintenance of the technology to reasonablyassure they will be able to sustain the systemonce the EWB volunteers leave.

The project is anticipated to have many pos-itive impacts on the community of Nyamilu.The project will bring the community togetherduring the implementation and cultural values

will be shared between the villagers and stu-dents. The community will be able to plant andgrow more trees that will reduce wind and soilerosion. The time now spent by the women inthe community looking for water can be usedfor business and farming. The rampant water-borne diseases should be controlled, allowingresources previously spent on hospitalizationand medicine to be used for food and education.Members of the community will better learnhow to survive with minimum external interven-tion.

The EWB-LSU Student Chapter is present-ly finalizing the design and raising funds. TheChapter continuously seeks the expert servicesof professional engineers and the sponsorship ofcompanies willing to help cover the expenses.If you are interested in this effort, the Chapterwould welcome your support, please [email protected]. For more information visitwww.ewb-lsu.org or www.ewb-usa.org.

Editor’s note: The ASCE and EngineersWithout Borders executed an agreement toestablish a relationship to more effectively pro-vide assistance with the engineering needs fordeveloping areas worldwide. This is to be pro-vided through the involvement and training ofengineers and engineering students in the proj-ects facilitated by EWB-USA. The execution ofthese projects sends engineering students intodeveloping countries to work on civil engineer-ing projects under the supervision of profession-als and provides the students with hands-ontraining in the process. The ASCE does not pro-vide the opportunity for its members to work indeveloping countries. The memorandum ofunderstanding signed February 27, 2005, givesthe ASCE, through its association with EWB-USA and its participating members, the oppor-tunity to become more actively involved asgood-citizen engineers around the world. TheASCE does bring two important assets to thetable, access to its vast network of civil engi-neering department heads and student chapters,and a vast reservoir of talented professionalengineers willing to mentor students in theclassroom and in the field. The agreementbrings together these two organizations withcommon goals and objectives in a way that eachcan fill significant holes in the other’s needs.

Did you know. . ....that a recent Harris poll indicated that

over half of the U.S. public did not know whatengineers are or what they do and further mostengineering works were not perceived oracknowledged? It is conjectured that the envi-ronmental problems publicized in the recentpast that are attributable to engineering workswere ascribed to the engineering profession bythe public promoting its negative publicimage. The Rx: a massive public relations adrecruitment effort. - EEE Spectrum 10/04

Engineers Without Borders: Louisiana connectionBy Leah Lemoin


Technical committee activityThe Section was recently advised that there

are numerous Section members who serve onASCE national technical committees, and thefollowing listing was sent identifying these mem-bers, their contact information and their respec-tive committee assignments. This information isprovided in the event that you may have a partic-ular interest in the work and/or the activities of

any of these technical committees and wish touse a Section member contact to facilitate yourparticular interest.

Branch and Section technical committee per-sonnel should also take note of these nationaltechnical committees and their members in theSection for any parallel committee interests orpursuits that may be of mutual value if pursued

through these individuals. For brevity, the ASCEcode or abbreviation is provided for the ASCEcommittee or institute under which each techni-cal committee listed is organized and operated.The ASCE Official Register (available on-line)provides a full listing of the institutes and com-mittees, and the technical committees includingtheir mission, scope and personnel.


Q I am more interested in investing for incomeover the long term rather than in participat-ing in the daily ups and downs of the stockmarket. What would be a good investmentstrategy for me?

A One choice for income seekers may be qual-ity, long-term dividend-paying stocks. Manyname brand companies have not only paiddividends consistently since the early 1900s— in some cases they have also steadilyraised their dividends.

Q What makes these stocks attractive to long-term investors?

A Consistent dividend growth stocks may beattractive for long-term investors who canhold the stocks as dividend payments rise.Although the stocks’ current yields may notseem competitive at first, growth in dividendpayments can significantly increase the yieldon an original investment.

Q Why is dividend growth so important?

A An investor seeking income could purchaseconservative fixed-income investments, suchas Treasury bonds. In fact, every well-bal-anced portfolio should contain such invest-ments. However, without the power of divi-dend growth, inflation will take its bite, andthese investors may end up losing ground toinflation over time.

Q What should I look for in a quality stock?

A Consider 3 factors that can help limit yourrisk and keep your income growing whenyou are looking for income among stocks:

• A low payout ratio gives the dividend roomto grow. The payout ratio is the percentageof a company’s earnings per share paid outas dividends in the current year. The lowerthe ratio, the more room for potentiallyboosting the dividend. Remember, for aleading company to retain its leadershipposition, it will have to channel a good por-tion of its earnings toward growth. Thus,payout ratios may be lower for these stocksthan they are for electric utilities or othercompanies in slow-growth industries.

• Capital appreciation potential can enhancereturns. Regardless of whether or not theyreceive a dividend, most investors buy astock hoping its share price will rise.Consider how the value of your investmentwould increase if, in addition to annual div-idend increases, the company’s stock pricealso rose, for example, in line with the S&P500 average.

• Dividend payment history can provideclues about the future. Although past per-formance does not guarantee future results,a company with an unbroken record of pay-ing dividends for 30-plus years would seem

to be reliable for income. A history ofgrowth in the dividend is equally impor-tant.

However you choose your income stocks, thekey is holding them for the long term, whichmeans that daily and monthly price swings maynot be as important. Remember that time in themarket, not timing the market, is most importantto investment success. If you would like moreinformation please feel free to contact the writer.

———————————————————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 an offer orsolicitation to sell or buy any securities or com-modities. Investments and services are offeredthrough Morgan Stanley DW Inc., member SIPC.

Investing for income? Consider long-term dividend-paying stocksBy Thomas R. Thurmond

TEA-LU: It’s now or neverBy Deborah Ducote Keller, PE

It’s great to be a civil engineer! It seemsevery time one attends an ASCE function withnational president William P. Henry, PE, presenthe begins by addressing the audience of civilengineers with this signature opening line toenergize the crowd. The March gathering inWashington, D.C. for the ASCE’s 2005 PolicyWeek was no exception. Over 100 ASCE mem-bers representing their respective states con-verged on the capitol with 20 members of theNational Society of Professional Engineers for aday of leadership training in government rela-tions. This training was in preparation for thefollowing day of pre-arranged visits between theengineers and their congressional delegations todiscuss the dire need for federal funding forAmerica’s infrastructure.

The highlight of the week was the publicrelease of the ASCE 2005 Report Card forAmerica’s Infrastructure on March 9th. Sad tosay, this year’s report card with a D average waseven more dismal when compared with the pre-vious report card in 2001 with its D+ average.Others attending the ASCE’s 2005 Policy Weekfrom Louisiana were ASCE members ShannonS. Spell, PE, Marc Levitan, and Bobby E. Price,PE, who is also the national President of theNSPE.

The leadership training sessions that were

conducted focused on the nation’s declininginfrastructure and more particularly the effect ofthe 2003 expiration of the $218 billion TEA-21legislation which was kept alive by the Congressthrough short-term extensions. A new trans-portation trust fund bill should have been author-ized upon its expiration, but it became the victimof election year political posturing.Authorization of the new transportation trustfund bill for 2005 referred to as theTransportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users(TEA-LU), will be the key to funding approxi-mately $284 billion in transportation projectsover the next 6-year period. The exact amount tobe budgeted is still under debate. WhileCongress and the President review the revenueprojections for the Highway Trust Fund, as esti-mated by the Congressional Budget Office, thestates are marking time with many projects heldin limbo until the new legislation is passed.

If projecting the tax revenues generated bythe sale of gasoline is not complicated enough,the debate over what minimum percentageshould be returned to the donor states rages on.The TEA-21 stipulated that every state — partic-ularly the donor states — would receive at least90.5 percent of the fuel tax paid from its gasolinesales. However, the donor states that contributea higher share of fuel tax to the trust fund monies

than is returned to them are hoping to up theirminimum share to between 92 and 95 percent.One quickly learns that in Washington, the havesand the have nots are referred to as the donee —recipient — and donor states. Louisiana has his-torically been a donor state.

I was fortunate to be able to witness the actu-al voting process the evening of March 9 whenthe House of Representatives passed TEA-LU.There are over 4,000 special projects in the billof which 1,000 or so were added in the finalhours of debate before its passage. One of thesespecial projects is Louisiana’s I-49 project thatwill require a 20 percent state match for everyfederal dollar received. This could prove a con-siderable challenge for the state given thedemands within its own budget priorities oncethe federal dollars start flowing again.

Infrastructure funding that is competing withTEA-LU in the President’s proposed budget isthe Environmental Protection Agency’s CleanWater state revolving fund program, the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works budget,and the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act.These are all areas of great concern to civil engi-neers. During the training session we were toldthat the next hurdle for TEA-LU is Senate pas-



Science and engineering: Only Einsteins need apply?By Deborah Ducote Keller, PE

I knew when I entered the College ofEngineering in 1975 that few women had gonebefore me. My mother pointed out, there wereno ads in the newspaper’s Help Wanted Femalecolumn for engineers. For you post-babyboomers — yes — classified employment adswere once segregated by gender. Yet, I was notdeterred. It was probably because this was a timewhen women were expected to do the unconven-tional. After all, it was the 1970s.

In my 26-year career as a practicing civilengineer in both the private and public sectors, Ihave had my fair share of funny and not-so-funnyexperiences with prejudice, discrimination, andstereotyping that many of us encounter. Frommy experience, however, there is one havenwhere I can certainly attest that neither gender,race, creed, nor color have anything to do withone’s ability to participate, be heard, volunteer,or serve. It is in the ASCE.

This has not gone unnoticed on the nationallevel of the ASCE. I am often asked how it isthat the Louisiana Section has so many women inits elected leadership at the Section and branchlevels. I reply that there is so much to be doneand the gratification from the resulting activitiesis so rewarding that we members are really toobusy to notice our differences because of thelarger issues. I believe that we simply share astrong common bond of being civil engineersfirst.

That said, I hope you were as taken aback asI was recently by the remarks this past Januarymade by Harvard President Laurence Summersas the speaker during a luncheon for a seminar ondiversifying the science and engineering work-force. Summers suggested that innate differ-ences may account for the gender gap in employ-ment. His controversial remarks made headlinesin the national media and triggered a formalresponse by nearly 100 leaders in science andengineering academics, technical organizations,and industry, that is re-printed here. I am pleasedthat the coverage in Business Week included asidebar story that featured Patricia Galloway, theASCE Past President. It highlighted her careerachievements and experiences as a woman engi-neer.

I feel well-qualified to state my belief thatthere are differences between men and womenengineers, just as one could find differencesbetween a Yankee engineer and a Southern engi-neer. My brain is wired distinctly differentlyfrom that of my spouse’s. Like so many engi-neer-couples, I see the subtle differences in howwe problem-solve and the non-technical skillswe bring to a solution due to what would appearto be genetic differences. Advice: Unless youare an engineer, do not go on vacation with engi-neer-couples. The organization and the efficien-cy can otherwise overwhelm the non-engineer.

I often tell students that my career was pro-pelled not by my technical abilities as much as itwas by my ability to communicate. This, Ibelieve, is because our profession is full of thetechnical genius that typically resides in the left

side of the brain where spatial and mathematicalcognitive abilities are supposedly more dominantin men due to genetics, according to the experts.However, when my technical knowledge washoned through my engineering education, it metup squarely with the dominant right side of mybrain where the same experts suggest that lan-guage and communication abilities are moredominant in women due to genetics. Therefore,with so few women in engineering, it is logicalthat the engineer who can more easily absorbcomplex technical information and translate itfor non-engineers, confidently make presenta-tions and speeches, and write reports, studies,and even articles for a journal such as this, willbe particularly valued, regardless of gender.

Summers was voicing his own opinion as towhy there are not more women in science andengineering. He concluded it is genetics. As anexperienced woman engineer and the mother of awoman freshman engineering student, I can averfrom my perspective that it is not genetics asSummers opined. I have observed over mycareer gifted and not-so-gifted students graduateand become practicing engineers. The differ-ence, in my opinion, is the guidance and thementoring received by — and the support sys-tems available to — the students that give themdirection relative to what can be achieved.

Nobody told me that I could not be an engi-neer when I was growing up. It may have beenbecause nobody thought to ask a little girl in the1960s what she wanted to be in the first place.Although the universities do have slightly morewomen enrolled than men, one fact is clear,many women students are opting for an educa-tion in professions such as medicine and law thatare financially more lucrative than science andengineering. This may explain in part the lownumber of women students in the science andengineering curricula.

If we want to see more diversity in our pro-fession, we need to continue our outreach pro-grams by participating in career days, judgingscience fairs, letting students job-shadow us,mentoring students, employing student interns,and volunteering in the schools from kinder-garten through college. The ASCE branches areoften contacted by guidance counselors andteachers begging for engineers to participate in

Response toDr. Laurence Summers

January 18, 2005Last Friday, Dr. Lawrence Summers,

President of Harvard University and an econ-omist, spoke before a meeting of the NationalBureau of Economic Research, about thecauses for women’s underrepresentation inscience. He suggested that, since fewer girlsthan boys have top scores on science and mathtests in late high school, perhaps genetic,rather than social, differences explain why sofew women are successful in these fields.

We would like to respond:Well-accepted, path-breaking research on

learning (see, for example, Bransford, et al.,“How People Learn,” and Claude Steele’swork on “stereotype threat”) shows thatexpectations heavily influence performance,particularly on tests. If society, institutions,teachers, and leaders like President Summers,expect (overtly or subconsciously) that girlsand women will not perform as well as boysand men, there is a good chance many will notperform as well. At the same time, there is lit-tle evidence that those scoring at the very topof the range in standardized tests are likely tohave more successful careers in the sciences.Too many other factors are involved. Finally,well-documented evidence demonstrateswomen’s efforts and achievements are not val-ued, recognized and rewarded to the sameextent as those of their male counterparts (see,for example, Virginia Valian’s work on genderschema).

As leaders in science, engineering, andeducation, we are concerned with the sugges-tion that the status quo for women in scienceand engineering may be natural, inevitable,and unrelated to social factors. Counter-examples to this suggestion are drawn quicklyfrom the fields of law, and of medical science.In 1970, women represented just 5 percent oflaw students and 8 percent of medical schoolstudents. These low percentages haveincreased substantially in response to socialchanges and concerted institutional and indi-vidual effort. Obviously, the low rates of par-ticipation in 1970 were indicative of social,and not genetic, barriers to success.

We must continue to address the multi-tude of small and subtle ways in which peopleof all kinds are discouraged from pursuinginterest in scientific and technical fields.Society benefits most when we take fulladvantage of the scientific and technical talentamong us. It is time to create a broader aware-ness of those proven and effective means,including institutional policies and practices,which enable women and other underrepre-sented groups to step beyond the historicalbarriers in science and engineering.

...my career was propelled

not by my technical

abilities as much as it

was by my ability

to communicate.




sage, and it could possibly be the end of summerbefore the final bill is sent to the White House.Whether TEA-LU is finally authorized at theproposed $284 billion or the $375 billion thatsome are seeking, my personal message to thoseI met was to please pass something!

There is a reason the airports, bridges, dams,waterways, parks, railroads, roads, schools, tran-sit systems, drinking water, wastewater and solidwaste facilities are declining in the United States.It is due to lack of major maintenance or replace-ment once their useful life has been exceeded.The ASCE estimates that it would require asmuch as $1.6 trillion to immediately and fullyaddress these needs.

As the oldest engineering society in theUnited States, the ASCE has taken a leadershiprole in exposing the poor condition and the ongo-ing state of its infrastructure since it released itsfirst report card in 1998. President Henryreminded us that for civil engineers there is noother organization better than the ASCE to objec-tively assess the nation’s critical infrastructureneeds in the public works arena.

Some in the media have questioned themotives of the ASCE in advocating infrastructureneeds, as if to imply that its vested interest is tocreate work for its constituent civil engineer andcontractor members. I like to make the point thatthe ASCE membership is comprised of more thanprivate sector civil engineers and contractors.One need only look at the diversity within theleadership of the Louisiana Section that is repre-sentative of the diverse membership of itsbranches representing university professors andgovernment civil engineers employed at the fed-eral, state, parish, and city levels, as well as other

units of government such as port authorities andlevee districts.

President Henry likes to refute such allega-tions by asking if someone would go to anaccountant for a medical examination? We, ascivil engineers, are the experts on the civil engi-neered infrastructure and the ASCE provides thecivil engineering profession the means throughthe collective voice of its membership to effec-tively reach those who set our nation’s policiesand agenda. This is the whole point of ASCE’s2005 Policy Week and the ASCE 2005 ReportCard for America’s Infrastructure. And yes,TEA-LU will create jobs — all sorts of jobs —whether you call it trickle-down economics orspin-off benefits. Some estimate that for every$1 billion spent on transportation projects, it cre-ates 47,500 jobs. Is there anything wrong withcreating domestic jobs and reaping the long-termeconomic benefits from repairing and re-buildingour nation’s infrastructure?

The ASCE arranged for us to visit with ourrespective congressional leaders. We were ableto collectively meet with the staffs of SenatorsMary Landrieu and David Vitter. Part of ourmessage was to volunteer the membership of theASCE as a resource on technical matters con-cerning the public works infrastructure in theUnited States. We also separately met with ourrepresentatives. I was able to discuss these sameissues with Representative Charles Melancon,who represents my district. Preaching to theLouisiana congressional delegation in favor ofthese issues was like promoting the Americanflag. They are keenly aware of the infrastructureneeds of Louisiana with respect to federal fund-ing for transportation. They were cordial and

attentive, and appreciated the well-presentedmaterials provided by the ASCE delegation.

Some sections have also created individualinfrastructure report cards for their states.During a recent Section Board of Directors meet-ing, President Norma Jean Mattei, PE, discussedthis possibility relative to the Louisiana Section.Daniel L. Bolinger, PE, a past president of theNew Orleans Branch, accepted her appointmentto chair a task force to develop a Report Card forLouisiana’s Infrastructure. Later this year, hewill be recruiting help from the engineers in thevarious areas of government and from othersources to aid in developing the report card.Please consider volunteering your expertise anddata sources to aid the process and cooperatingwith the process if your services are sought.

Editor’s JournalBy James C. PorterProgressive Collapse

Recent interest and discussion about pro-gressive collapse of structural systems and thesubject in general gives me reason to be curiousabout how progressive collapse may be techni-cally defined and characterized. Withoutresearching previous discussions of the issue inany detail, my best guess is that progressive col-lapse can be conceptually defined as the total orpartial collapse of one or more components of astructural system precipitated by the failure ofanother component. The mechanism of the pro-gressive collapse of a structural system may becharacterized by the lack of a fail-safe feature.

Fail-safe describes a feature incorporated toautomatically counteract the effect of an antici-pated mode of failure. The effect to be counter-acted here is progressive collapse. The fail-safeconcept applied to the progressive collapse ofone or more components of a structural systemmay be characterized by two concepts — redun-dancy and equilibrium — as they may apply tothe structural system. These two concepts aretypically covered — if not rigorously — concep-tually and briefly in the first chapters of someelementary structures texts.

Fail-safe features in a structural systemintended to prevent progressive collapse may be

accomplished by structural redundancy, forexample. In the event of an anticipated compo-nent failure, redundancy may be accomplishedby either the redistribution of the stresses in thefailed support path or the redirection of thestresses into one or multiple alternate supportpaths to carry the load.

The redundant capability to redistribute orredirect support stresses alone is not enough tocharacterize a viable fail-safe feature to avoidprogressive collapse. The additional capabilityof providing stable equilibrium must occur afterthe anticipated component failure. Equilibriumis defined by its three conditions — stable, neu-tral and unstable. The conditions of equilibriumthat characterize redundant behavior if activatedby the anticipated component failure are• If the redundant path of redistributed or redi-

rected support stresses activated by the antic-ipated component failure provides a greaterload capacity than the path of support stress-es originally provided then it may providestable equilibrium.

• If the redundant path of redistributed or redi-rected support stresses activated by the antic-ipated component failure provides the sameload capacity as the path of support stresses

originally provided then it may provide neu-tral equilibrium.

• If the redundant path of redistributed or redi-rected support stresses activated by the antic-ipated component failure provides less loadcapacity than the path of support stressesoriginally provided then it may provideunstable equilibrium.For a structural system to be fail-safe from

progressive collapse whether for an anticipatedstrength failure or service load failure — fatiguefailure for example — the redundant supportpath in the structural system must provide stableequilibrium if it is activated by the anticipatedcomponent failure.

The engineering would appear to be moredifficult than the technical concepts and mayrequire substantial creative thought beyondapplying a standard specification. It may include• anticipating causes and modes of progressive

collapse and their probability of occurrenceto be considered for a given structural systemand

• selecting a cost-effective structural systemthat provides fail-safe conditions for theanticipated causes and modes of progressivecollapse.

Did you know. . ....that there is a suggestion to rename pro-

gressive collapse disproportionate collapsesince almost all building collapses are progres-sive and should be of concern only when theirprogressive collapse is disproportionate towhat caused it? As an example, the WorldTrade Center towers on 9/11 suffered progres-sive but not disproportionate collapse becauseno rudimentary structural change in the designwould have been capable of reducing the scaleof the collapse. The three main structuralmethods to resist progressive collapse areredundancy or alternate load paths, localresistance or the hardening of vulnerable com-ponents, and structural interconnection toboost redundancy. - ENR 04/12/04


Something of value

The Our Views column on the op-ed page ofthe December 28, 2003 issue of the Baton RougeSunday Advocate lambasts Louisiana’s state gov-ernment’s propensity to create unnecessaryboards and commissions. The column focuseson Louisiana’s retail florists who are a licensedand regulated profession under the HorticultureCommission of Louisiana. It was noted that thepractice recently attracted national derision in aWall Street Journal article. The pertinent textnotes

We can think of no good reason why thestate of Louisiana ought to determine who isqualified — and who is not qualified — toarrange flowers in a vase.

Yet under Louisiana law, every floralbusiness must employ at least one licensedflorist. Business owners who fail to obtain alicense personally must hire someone thestate decides is fit to do the job. If thatemployee quits, the business under law mustclose its doors until another is found...

Obtaining a floral license is not as easyas demonstrating one can cut stems off a rosewithout slicing a finger. In addition to pay-ing $150, applicants must pass a difficulttest, including a written portion and a floralarrangement portion...

Tests are graded by licensed florists. Inother words, those with an interest in limit-ing the number of competitors in Louisiana’sfloral industry...

Flower shops are not the only businessin Louisiana that are over-regulated. TheLegislature’s Internet site lists 534 boards

and commissions...State boards and commissions and agen-

cies are stacked with thousands of members,many of whom are appointed by the gover-nor. How many boards do we need? Ifboards act only to restrict competition, theycost every consumer something every day.And that’s not counting the direct costs ofemployees and executive staff in the moreaffluent agencies...

IntroductionThe Louisiana Professional Engineering and

Land Surveying Board (Board) is one of the 534boards and commissions in Louisiana and I sus-pect among the more “affluent” ones to whichthe article referred. We licensed engineers pay abiennial license fee to sustain the cost of its oper-ation independently of state funding. In realitythis fee is a state license tax paid directly to theBoard rather than to the Treasury and disbursedto the Board from the general fund. We like tobelieve that the Board has a real reason to exist.I am confident that the intrinsic value of theBoard would resonate with the public if itsintended function as I understand it was placedunder scrutiny.

I believe in some important ways the Boardcan and does effectively regulate the character ofthe practice of engineering in Louisiana.However, in operation it may create seriousproblems for itself and those it regulates byadopting inappropriate rules and enforcementpractices. Ostensibly the rules are an extensionof the enabling statutes to guide and regulate the

appropriate practice of engineering but they justhappen to also unfairly limit competition in theprivate sector favoring those who are exclusivelyrepresented on the Board. I further believe thisbehavior results in conditions that “restrict com-petition... (and as a result unnecessarily) costevery consumer something,” corrupt the integrityof this important public regulatory asset andforce licensed engineers in Louisiana into profli-gate waste and behavior.

It is interesting that a rare few state boardshave demonstrated the courage of conviction andthe insight not to succumb to thoughtlessness indeveloping their rules. It cannot be ascertainedor known with any certainty whether consciousor base motive, or just thoughtless coincidenceled to some of the poorly considered rules adopt-ed by the Board, but I believe that irrelevant ofculpability the adverse effects on licensed engi-neering practice in Louisiana are clear.

TestingSome 30 years ago the Board appears to

have blindly lifted the model law of the NationalCouncil of Examiners for Engineering andSurveying (NCEES) that arbitrarily and incor-rectly assumed that the principles and practiceexamination (PE) measures the educationobtained during internship after graduation. TheNCEES recently renounced its own obviouslyincorrect premise doggedly held for 30 years. Ibelieve that the Texas Board of ProfessionalEngineers was one of the few that recognized theobvious fallacy in the NCEES assumption and


Experience and instinct

It was reported in the New York Times11/09/03 that some of the construction workerssensed structural problems prior to the collapseof a parking garage on October 30, 2003, while itwas under construction in Atlantic City, NewJersey. These construction workers, and nottrained structural engineers, observed prior to thecollapse• false work supporting recently placed floors

“bent out of shape”• concrete that had not set completely and• cracks in the floors and supporting columns.

These observations led to such serious con-cerns about the safety of the structure that theworkers expressed them to their foreman. Theywere advised not to worry. The resulting col-lapse killed 4 and injured 20 workers.Construction safety has been an issue in the pastfor the same concrete placement contractor whenin 1995 an incident resulted in it being found in“willful violation” that resulted in fines and asecond incident in 2002 that resulted in OSHAviolations being charged and another fine.

This incident brings to mind an early experi-ence I had working in the bridge design environ-ment. There was a pedestrian bridge beingdesigned in the office in which I was notinvolved. However, one of the most experienceddraftsmen in the office, whose desk was adjacentto mine, was assigned to draft the structuraldetails for its steel superstructure. When he was

near completing the structural details, for somereason he asked my consultation on a naggingconcern he had. His explanation to me was, “Idon’t know why but there is something aboutthese details that does not feel right. Would youlook at them and see what you think.”

I reviewed the details he was referring tospecifically which focused on the center bearingof the two-span continuous girder superstructure.After my review and giving the details somethought without formal analysis it became clearthere was possibly a significant problem. Thebearings for this very light pedestrian bridge,steel girder superstructure had no provision foruplift. The bridge was located in an open costalarea and a hurricane-prone region that wouldappear to make uplift an important issue for sucha light structure. The bearing was detailed verysimilarly to those used on intermediate spanhighway bridges in the area for which hurricanewinds do not produce uplift in excess of theirsubstantial mass. Needless to say, uplift provi-sions were needed and made in the final designand structural details.

In another example, we were having chronicproblems with a large inventory of approximate-ly 3000, 19-foot, simple span, treated timberbridges many of which were seriously under-strength. Their stringers in or near the wheelpath were routinely fracturing near their thirdpoints. This was where the direction of the more

or less diagonal wood grain structure in thestringer was perpendicular to the diagonal (prin-cipal) tension stresses caused by the imposed liveload plus dead load shear. This apparently pre-sented the weak plane in the timber to the diago-nal tension stress leading to failure. The conven-tional solution was to add stringers to either sideof the broken stringer — a difficult and time con-suming maintenance procedure that was oftennot successful.

A senior technician in charge of the mainte-nance inspection and repair of many of thesebridges with substantial experience in inspectionand in making the repairs developed and inde-pendently field tested an efficient and effectiverepair method. It required a small fraction of thecost, material, time and effort of the convention-al repair and had the additional advantage ofbeing more reliable. With some trepidation heshared his repair method with me. Upon review,I discovered that the repair appears to essentiallybehave like conventional stirrups in a reinforcedconcrete beam intercepting diagonal cracks andcould be analyzed and justified similarly. I stilldon’t know how we well-educated engineers socompletely missed this simple, inexpensive solu-tion, but we did and this technician did not. Ittook the instincts and courage of this technicianto independently discover and test it inside of anengineering organization. He seemed to instinc-



never bowed to its model rules requiring that thePE be administered only after 4 years of intern-ship. The Texas Board realized the obvious thatthe test principally covered education obtainedprior to graduation and that it was only importantif, and not when, the required knowledge isdemonstrated.

NCEES now openly admits that the onlyeffect the 4-year waiting period had was toimpede qualified candidates in getting licensedand to discourage others from even applyingbecause of the unreasonable rule that principallytests academic training prior to graduation andthus one’s memory to retain it for 4 years. Justthe notion of a prerequisite for testing of an arbi-trary 4-year waiting period to when it is arbitrar-ily and incorrectly assumed that one possessesthe required knowledge to be tested goes beyondreason. It is purely ridiculous considering itincreased the failure rate and decreased the appli-cation rate of many qualified people. This possi-bly affected their career-long income and theirrelative success in the profession. It also thwart-ed an expressed interest in the engineering pro-fession in more universal licensure.

News flash! I believe the right thing mayhave been done for the wrong reason. The acad-emicians who originally promoted this falsepremise in the NCEES recently relented. Itappears that they now wish to use the PE alongwith the fundamentals examination (FE) as astandard outcome assessment of their engineer-ing curricula. Otherwise, this farce would bethoughtlessly and indefinitely perpetuated by theNCEES and most of its member state boards.

Professional developmentI will not get into the incredibly convoluted

story of architects and fire code, and the logic —or the lack thereof — that finally pushed theBoard into requiring full-blown, mandatory con-tinuing professional development rules forlicensed engineers. It will suffice to say that theprincipal force that was never enough to make ithappen had long been the mistaken premise thata certain group of licensed engineers inLouisiana were considered “poorly educated,unethical and incompetent” by their competitorswho are active in the engineering societies and

who serve on the Board. Mandatory continuingeducation was deemed their solution to this prob-lem.

Having participated in the mandatory contin-uing professional development process, I believethat the education deemed acceptable is so spe-cious that apparently no one has the gall to referto it as education — hence, professional devel-opment. I suspect that the alleged educationproblem identified among those certain engi-neers can now be laid to rest with the ineffectivemandatory continuing professional developmentthey have to purchase. I further suspect that thisis made possible because no significant continu-ing education is required and no significantincompetence problem ever existed. Needless tosay, the alphabet soup of organizations (ASCE,LES, et al) who are heavily represented on theBoard do not object to the seminar and confer-ence registration fees they collect and are wastedby the audiences forced to attend them to meetthe mandatory continuing professional develop-ment requirements.

Plan stampingThe Board changed its rules concerning the

use of seals to be consistent with the NCEESmodel rules which I view as questionable inintent. In Louisiana the rules appear to be sub-ject to a wide and subjective interpretation thatseems to change like the wind to mean whateverthe Board wants them to mean and depending onwho is violating them. In any event, the literalrules are flagrantly and necessarily violated byall practicing engineers involved in plan andspecification preparation because they essential-ly have the effect of copyrighting every detailand note of every set of engineering drawingsand specifications that were ever produced andthat by practical necessity are, for the most part,used repeatedly from project to project. Thisappears to be an area of copyright law that Ibelieve is completely outside of the Board’sstatutory jurisdiction.

I believe that the rules have been arbitrarily,conveniently and selectively enforced againstone- and two-man operations that do not have theresources to defend themselves by appealing theBoard’s ruling to a court of law that is beyond the

jurisdiction of the Board. Whether intended ornot, these rules and their enforcement inLouisiana have the effect of selectively restrict-ing the practice of individuals and small engi-neering businesses that are conspicuously notrepresented on the Board. The rules and theirselective enforcement undermine and discouragethe practice and competitiveness of small engi-neering businesses — that same group of engi-neers alleged to be “poorly educated, unethicaland incompetent” by their competitors.

The Indiana Board of Registration mistaken-ly attempted to enforce essentially the samestamping rule against an engineer employed by alarge engineering firm with the resources todefend him in court and it did so successfully. In1992, the Indiana Court of Appeals in the case ofBoard of Registration v. Nord essentially con-sidered the preparation of engineering drawings(and written specifications) separate from theengineering work required to prepare them —which it is! The Court ruled in favor of the engi-neer. (Civil Engineering, 3/93, p.32)

ConclusionIntrinsically, I believe there is clear justifica-

tion for the existence of the Board to regulate andlicense engineers in Louisiana. This is particu-larly true when compared to the commission thatregulates and licenses retail florists. However, Ibelieve that some extrinsic acts of the Board toregulate engineers appear to create the sameshortcomings for which the regulation of retailflorists is held to ridicule. It is my belief that ifinappropriate rules and acts of the Board“...restrict competition... (and unnecessarily) costevery consumer something every day...,” theyweaken or destroy the intrinsic value of theBoard. These rules and acts increase the costs ofengineering services through inappropriate regu-lation and offer no apparent value to the publicsupposedly served and protected by the Board. Ialso suspect that some of these rules and actsmay violate federal antitrust law by menacing thepractice on individuals and small businesses withstamping rules and increasing their overhead costand reducing their efficiency by requiring theirpurchase and participation in unnecessary andirrelevant continuing professional development.

tively know with confidence that it would workbefore any engineer did, yet to this day he can’texplain technically why it works even though Itried with little success to explain it to him.

The details of this repair were publishedsome years later in an NCHRP synthesis reportand dubbed as the “Wyoming” repair for timberstringers. Its discovery is credited to theWyoming Department of Transportation. Whilewe may have independently discovered the samerepair, I suspect otherwise because I provided therepair details to an office of the U.S. ForestService in Wyoming some years before thereport was published.

Living in an industrial area, I have oftenheard complaints expressing strong resentmentfrom technicians — mostly in construction,

operations and maintenance — that engineerstend to have an air of arrogance and certainty andyet a lack of depth of understanding of the prob-lems that they are sometimes faced with. Notbeing open to advice from — or discussion with— experienced technicians and operators, theysometimes make decisions that lead to pre-dictably unfortunate, if not disastrous, conse-quences that are a direct result of their hubris.The war stories seem endless.

I don’t know how the technicians in theseexamples cited sense the problems they do anymore than the construction workers sensed theproblems they did. However, I believe that theexperience of the informally trained non-engi-neer technicians with long years in conscientiousservice is real and should not be ignored simply

because they lack formal training or because theymay not even technically understand what theymay instinctively sense.

I believe that the message in these stories isthat in engineering as in life native wisdom issometimes available from the most unlikelysources. Am I willing to have the humility andpatience to be open to its discovery?




such activities. Given the opportunity, please getinvolved. From my experience, engineering is anequal opportunity profession, so do not let a guyfrom Harvard lead public opinion to the beliefthat engineering and the sciences are for babyEinsteins only.


ated cutter mounted on a 52' extension handle.The removed bead is carefully inspected for eachcompleted joint to verify that no beads or sharpedges remain inside the pipe joint and that noconstriction — reduction in the inside diameter -caused by the fusion process exists.

With the backstring fabrication underway,the HDD operation under the Mississippi Riverbegan with a targeted completion to reasonablycoincide with the completion of the backstring.

DrillingThe drilling was accomplished using the

HDD rig mounted on a flatbed trailer chassisshown in Figure 7. It functions similarly to aconventional oil drilling rig and it uses much ofthe same standard drilling equipment and opera-tions used in oil drilling. The rig was situatedand elevated to provide the planned 11º angleslope at the entry point on the west bank batture.The drilling rig was supplied with a separatehydraulic pump unit for powering a hydraulicmotor to rotate the drill string. This hydraulicpump unit also powered another hydraulic motorthat was used to push or pull back the drill stringas well as operate a set of chocks to tighten orloosen the drill pipe couplings.

Throughout the drilling operation a mixtureof river water and naturally occurring bentoniteclay — referred to as drilling mud — is used tomaintain the integrity of the drill hole, and pro-vide lubrication for drilling and the fluid mediumto remove the drill cuttings. The drilling mudused has a density of approximately 12 poundsper gallon compared with that of river water atapproximately 8 pounds per gallon. The drillingmud being more dense causes a sustained hydro-static pressure on the wall of the drill hole

throughout its length that prevents its collapsefrom the pressure of the river water and the riverbottom soil overburden.

SteeringThe drilling rig used a standard 45⁄8" diameter

drill pipe in nominal 30' lengths with industrystandard couplings. The drill bit used and pic-tured in Figure 8 is similar to those used in oilwell drilling. It was attached to a length of drillpipe with a bend that directs the drill bit 11⁄2º offof the axis of the drill string. The drill bit isequipped with 3 mud jets 120º apart about itsaxis of rotation one of which is intentionallyplugged. Shims are inserted as required behindthe drill bit as the bit is screwed on the drill pipeto align the 2 open mud jets with the inside of 11⁄2ºbend in the drill pipe once the drill bit is attached.

To steer the drill string, the orientation ofpipe bend and open mud jets are indicated in thedrilling rig control room on an instrument thatresembles a clock. Steering of the drill string isaccomplished by orienting the 11⁄2º bend and themud jets to the desired change in direction andpushing the drill string forward without rotationand with the mud jets operating.

LocationThe location of the drill line is provided by

an accelerometer like the one shown in Figure 9.It is installed in the drill string just behind thedrill bit. The accelerometer measures the mag-netic field of the earth and is used to provide thex-y-z coordinates of the drill bit at the comple-tion of each 30' length of drill pipe. Theaccelerometer installed in the drill string behindthe drill bit is connected to instrumentation in thedrilling rig control room via a single wire con-

ductor. As each added length of drill pipe is cou-pled to the drill string, a length of wire is alsodrawn through it and connected to the previouswire in the drill string with a waterproof splice.

The magnetic field of the earth can be dis-torted by large, nearby metal objects and electri-cal fields. To compensate for this possible dis-tortion, a loop of electrical wire is laid out on theground in the form of a delta with its apex anglebisected by the design drill line path and the apexlocated near the drill line entry point. A loop ofelectrical wire is similarly placed near the drillline exit point. A welding machine is used toimpress a direct current through the loop causinga static magnetic field that can accurately locatethe drill within the loop. The trade name for theloops and the accelerometer steering device isthe true-tracker system. When the drill bit istravelling between the wire loops near the entryand exit points, directional tracking relies entire-ly on the magnetic field of the earth.

After traveling approximately 3300', the drillstring approached the east bank loop which wasstrung from the planned exit point to dolphins inthe river. When the loop was energized, it wasdetermined that the drill string was located 2'


Figure 9. Accelerometer resting on the fenderof a construction implement before beinginserted in the drill pipe directly behind thedrill bit.

Figure 10. Drill emerges 4" from the plannedexit point. The point of the delta loop is visibleto the right of the exit point as are the electricalwires that lead to the 2 dolphins — one shownin the background.

Figure 11. 48" swab followed by the 54" reamer being pulled through the hole as it emerges at thedrilling rig.


higher than the planned drill line. To correct thiserror in elevation, the drill string was pulled back3 drill pipe segments — approximately 90'. The11⁄2º bend and mud jets oriented to provide thesteering required to correct the error and achievethe desired exit point. The drill string was thenpushed back without rotation until the error wascorrected. The drill bit rotation was resumedafter the correction was made and the drill lineremained on the design drill line path until thedesired exit point was achieved. The drill bitbroke ground September 13, 2003 just 3 daysafter the HDD operation started. After the drillstring had traveled almost 3500' the exit point

was only 4" from its planned exit point as shownin Figure 10.

Reaming and swabbingWith the drilled hole complete and the

accelerometer-surveyed HDD route matchingthe planned route, the drill hole was enlarged tothe 54" diameter required for the installation ofthe backstring. To enlarge the size of the drillhole, 4 progressively larger reamers were suc-cessively and individually pulled through thedrill hole with the drill string. Each reamer waspulled by the drilling rig from the east bank tothe west bank until it exited at the rig.

The first ream from the east bank — a 24"diameter reamer — was connected to the end ofdrill string followed by a drill pipe segment con-nected to the reamer. As the reamer was pulledthrough the drill hole to the west bank, drill pipesegments were progressively added and coupledat the east bank exit point. This required the drillpipe that was uncoupled and removed from thedrill string at the west bank entry point to betrucked to the east bank where it was beingadded as the ream progressed.

The initial 24" in diameter ream was fol-lowed by a 36" diameter ream with a 20" diame-ter swab. The swab was used to center the ream-er in the hole and to remove cuttings and debris.A swab is a short piece of pipe with mud jets andcutting teeth located on end bells at each end ofthe pipe. Following a 30" diameter swab withouta reamer to remove cuttings, a 48" diameter reamwas made followed by a swab without a reamer.The reaming and swabbing were completed witha 54" diameter ream and a 42" diameter swab aspictured in Figure 11. This was followed by 2,42" diameter swabs without a reamer.

Pullback operationsAs drilling and reaming progressed, the

fusion process for the backstring was completed.After the reamed hole under the river was com-pleted, the pullback operations began using thedrill string and the drilling rig to pull the back-string through the drill hole under the river. OnOctober 14, 2003 pullback operations began withthe backstring shown in Figures 12 and 13 enter-ing the hole as shown in Figure 14 at 12:32 pm.Backstring installation was completed the morn-ing of the next day at 5:14 am when the pullinghead emerged from the west bank batture asshown in Figure 15.

Figure 12. View looking north away from theriver of backstring ready for pullback opera-tions.

Figure 13. View looking south toward the riverof backstring ready for pullback operations.

Figure 14. Backstring on the east bank batture at the beginning of thepullback operation showing the 12-pipe duct bundle strapped with stain-less steel bands.

Figure 15. Backstring on the west bank batture at the end of the pull-back operation showing the 12-pipe duct attached to the pulling head.



The backstring was bundled using 2" stain-less steel straps and the bundle was attached to apulling head as pictured in Figure 15. A 4" waterline was inserted in the 18" diameter center pipeto the pulling head which acts as a manifold todistribute water supplied by the water line to thepipes in the bundle as the backstring is pulledunder the river. Filling the bundle with water onland would have added so much weight the back-string may have become very difficult if notimpossible to handle. Water was added to fill thebundle to approximately the same elevation asthat of the river as it was pulled under the river.The water-filled bundle substantially reduces thebuoyant effect of the backstring once it enters thehole reducing its vertical component of force onthe top of the hole and thereby the sliding frictionon the backstring during pullback operations.

Following pullback operations, the bundlewas tied to the drilling rig for 24 hours to prevent

the end of the duct from creeping back into thedrill hole as a result of any potential relaxation ofthe HDPE pipe. Upon successful installation ofthe backstring, the integrity of each pipe in thebundle was proved with a gauging pig that wasalso used to pull a 3⁄8" diameter rope through thepipe to serve as a tag line. The tag line would beused to pull a steel wire cable through the pipe topull the electrical transmission cables throughthe pipe. After the integrity of the pipes was con-firmed, the ends were temporarily sealed withthe tag lines installed while the concrete termi-nation structures were constructed around theduct ends on both banks as shown on the coverand in Figure 16.

Cable installationThe concrete termination structures serve to

protect the electrical transmission cables exitingthe duct ends, and support the electrical trans-

mission cable terminations and the A-framestructure pictured on the cover. The terminationstructures also provide for the transition from theelectrical transmission cables to overhead elec-trical transmission lines that connect to the exist-ing utility transmission system via the A-framestructure.

DeliveryThe 8 electrical transmission cables to be

installed in the duct passing under theMississippi River were manufactured in Japan.They arrived at the Port of New Orleans duringthe construction of the termination structures —each on a 72-ton reel. The reels were transport-ed by truck as pictured in Figure 17 arriving onthe east bank site in preparation for their instal-lation. For brevity in notation, the electricaltransmission cables will be referred to here for-

Figure 16. Construction of a termination structure showing the end ofthe duct entering through the floor.

Figure 17. Truck transporting one of the 72-ton cable reels from the Portof New Orleans to the east bank site.

Figure 18. Ramp to support and guide the cable into its pipe from thereel mounted on the handler on the east bank.

Figure 19. Ramp to support and guide the cable from its pipe to thecrown of the levee on the west bank.



ward simply as cables.Once the construction of the termination

structures was completed, temporary ramps wereinstalled to support and guide each cable into itspipe in the duct. The ramps were placed from thecable reel to the duct on the east bank as shownin Figure 18 and from the duct to the crown ofthe levee on the west bank as shown in Figure 19.When the cable installation preparations werecomplete, the first cable reel was moved to thereel handler that is powered by a hydraulic pumpunit and positioned to feed the cable from thereel to the duct as shown in Figure 18. The oper-ator of the reel handler controls the play outspeed of the cable off the reel to closely matchthe cable installation speed.

Process and controlThe cable is pulled through its pipe in the

duct by attaching it to the steel wire cable

installed in the pipe and drawn by a winch on thewest bank The installation speed is thereforedetermined by the winch pull rate. Control of thecable reel play out speed is to prevent excessiveaxial tension or compression forces in the cablethat would either add significantly to the pullingtension on the cable or cause the cable to buckleand kink.

Cable haulers shown in Figure 20 alsoknown as caterpillars were installed just beforethe cable entered the duct in the east bank termi-nation structure. These caterpillars have thecapability of holding back or pushing on thecable during its installation. Since the first leg ofthe cable’s travel in duct under the river is at an18º angle decline, there was a concern that theweight of the cable would tend to pull cable fromthe reel. Actually, the caterpillars were neededduring cable installation to hold back on thecable as it traveled through this downward slope

of the duct to elevation -185' and through theentire horizontal run at elevation -185' across theriver. Once the cable started up the 11º angleincline to the exit on the west bank batture, thecaterpillars started pushing on the cable as need-ed to minimize the pulling tension on the cable.

Reduction of the pulling force on the cablecaused by its weight was also achieved by fillingits pipe with potable water. The displacement ofthis water by the cable reduces its weight by theweight of the water displaced. Thus the forcesare reduced that would otherwise result from thegross weight of the cable and the higher slidingfriction throughout the installation.

RackingOnce all the cables were pulled through the

duct they were coiled in the termination struc-

Figure 20. The cable haulers or caterpillars located near the entrance ofthe cable to the duct in the termination structure on the east bank.

Figure 22. The cable coil support structure inside a termination structure.

Figure 21. A cable is being lowered by a craneand coiled or racked on the coil support struc-ture.

Figure 23. The strands at the end of a cableare being manually splayed in preparation forsandblasting to remove the enamel insulation.

Figure 24. A termination assembly is beinglowered to attach it to a sandblasted and rewo-ven cable end and complete the termination.

(Continued on Page 30




tures. The coiling of cables known as racking isdone to address two needs. The first is to providea sufficient length of cable should re-terminationof a cable ever be required. The second is toaddress the thermal cycling movement of thecable and the resulting tendency of the cable tosnake in the duct throughout the life of the instal-lation. The maximum cable extension out of —and retraction into — the duct was calculated toaccommodate this movement in the rack design.The cable racking required a crane with a 255'boom to lift each cable by the end and lower it asshown in Figure 21 into a coil supported by aseries of racks designed for that purpose and

shown in Figure 22. To facilitate this installa-tion, removable panels are provided for each ter-mination structure for unobstructed access.

TerminationAfter all the cables were racked, each one

was terminated. This is accomplished by a cranelifting each cable end and securing it to scaffold-ing for support and access to allow termination.One interesting aspect of the cable design is thateach copper conductor strand in the cable is insu-lated with an enamel to increase current carryingcapacity. For termination, however, the enamelhas to be removed by splaying a length of the

strands at the end of the cable as pictured inFigure 23 and sandblasting them to remove theenamel. The splayed strands are then rewoven totheir original shape to complete the terminationby attaching the termination assembly shown inFigure 24. The installed termination assembliesare shown extending above the top of the com-pleted termination structure shown on the cover.Once all of the terminations were completed, theA-Frame structures were erected and the finaloverhead connections were made to the trans-mission grid on both sides of the river and theriver transmission line crossing was energized.



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