Editor's Note

Each year, the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (TCFE) traditionally selects one paper published in the Journal the previous calendar year for our Outstanding Paper Award. This year, the Publications Committee, the Awards Committee, and the TCFE Executive Committee unanimously selected two equally outstanding papers for the award. One paper is from our special issue, Construction on Expansive Soils, and the other was chosen from the remaining issues published in 2011. The award recipients are (1) David W. Mockbee and Jud R. Jones and (2) Denis Mitchell, Jacques Marchand, Paul Croteau, and William D. Cooke. Award certificates mounted on wall plaques will be given to each recipient, and they will be recognized on November 2, 2012, at the Sixth ASCE Forensic Engineering Congress in San Francisc.

The Mockbee and Jones paper, “Engineer’s Legal Exposure for Facilities Built on Expansive Soils,” appeared in the special topic issue, Construction on Expansive Soils, in January/February (Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 7–17). The Journal Publications Committee noted that the well-written paper explores the legal liability exposure facing professional engineers engaged in the design and construction of projects located on expansive soils. It includes a detailed discussion of the important technical aspects of expansive soil environments and litigation avoidance recommendations. The informative content of the paper makes it a very useful contribution for practitioners.

David W. Mockbee, J.D. (Fig. 1) is president of the Mockbee Hall & Drake, P.A., law firm in Jackson, Mississippi. Mockbee is an elected Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers. He was also voted the 2011 Jackson, Mississippi, Construction Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. Mockbee has served for a number of years as General Counsel for the Mississippi Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association and has been an adjunct professor for the Mississippi State University School of Architecture since 1983 where he teaches “Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process” to fifth-year architecture students. His practice is limited to the representation of companies and firms in the construction industry, including architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. Mockbee is also the author of Mississippi Construction Law (Second Edition), a 370-page treatise published in 2005; and he has also written numerous articles relating to construction and the law in general and has lectured extensively on the subject of construction law.

Jud R. Jones, J.D. (Fig. 2) has practiced with the Mockbee Hall & Drake, P.A., law firm since graduating from law school in 2006, where he specializes in construction law matters. He obtained his undergraduate degree in civil engineering (B.S., magna cum laude) in 2002 from the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University and his law degree in 2006 from the University of Mississippi School of Law (J.D., cum laude). Jones’s engineering and legal education and experience provide him with a unique understanding and perspective on technical issues that commonly arise in advising construction industry clients. He is licensed to practice law in Mississippi and Tennessee. In his practice, Jones regularly represents architects, engineers, and specialty subcontractors on a wide variety of general construction-related matters. He is a frequent lecturer on topics related to construction law.

The paper by Mitchell, Marchand, Croteau, and Cook, “Concorde Overpass Collapse: Structural Aspects,” was published in the November/December 2011 issue (Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 545–553). It is a concise and well-illustrated presentation of the technical details uncovered by the forensic investigation of a prominent structural collapse, the failure of a major highway overpass near Montreal. The collapse occurred on September 30, 2006, after 40 years of service, and with minimal live loads present. Five people were killed; six others suffered injuries. A careful reading of this paper provides important lessons for engineering practitioners and serves as a valuable example for forensic investigators.

Denis Mitchell, Ph.D., F.CSCE, F.ACI (Fig. 3) is a James McGill Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics at McGill University, Montreal. He has an international reputation for predicting the response of concrete structures and for contributing to the development of codes of practice. He chairs the Canadian Code Committee for the Design of Concrete Structures and sits on numerous national and international code committees including the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, the National Building Code of Canada, and the Canadian National Committee on Earthquake Engineering. During the course of his career, Mitchell has received a number of awards for his research from the American Concrete Institute (ACI), ASCE, Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), Canadian Society for Civil Engineers (CSCE), Canadian Standards Association, and Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, ACI, CSCE, and Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Jacques Marchand, Ph.D., F.ACI (Fig. 4) is president of SIMCO Technologies, Inc., an engineering firm offering leading-edge solutions for the optimum design and maintenance of concrete infrastructure. From 1993 to 2012, he was a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Laval University. Over the course of his academic career, Marchand was elected director of the Research Centre on Concrete Infrastructure (CRIB) and held two research chairs. He is a Fellow of the ACI and RILEM. As an internationally recognized specialist in concrete durability modeling, he is involved in the design and construction of major concrete construction projects in Canada and abroad. In 2006 and 2007 he co-chaired with his colleague Denis Mitchell the Committee of Experts hired by the Public Inquiry Commission on the Partial Collapse of the La Concorde Overpass.

Paul Croteau, Ph.D., P.Eng., F.ACI, M.ASCE (Fig. 5) is founder and president of Paul Croteau et Associés, Inc., a structural engineering firm based in Montreal. His structural analysis and design experience covers buildings, bridges, and marine structures; and his current practice focuses on the evaluation and rehabilitation of existing structures, building façades, and patrimonial concrete or masonry buildings. Croteau often serves as a structural engineering expert witness and has acted as the coordinator of research for the Commission of Inquiry on the Collapse of the Concorde Overpass.

William D. Cook, Ph.D. (Fig. 6) is a research associate in the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics at McGill University. His research interests include the design of regions near discontinuities and predicting the nonlinear response of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures. He has authored many technical papers on the design and structural response of reinforced concrete elements. Cook received his B.Eng., M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering from McGill University in 1979, 1981, and 1987, respectively.

Other nominees for the Outstanding Paper Award were as follows:Congratulations are extended to each of these authors. Nominations submitted by Journal readers were appreciated.

The time has come to select the winner of our Outstanding Paper Award for 2012. The Publications Committee is studying the papers published in our six 2012 issues and will soon make a recommendation to the TCFE Awards Committee. Readers are invited to submit nominations. If you wish to nominate a paper you found especially useful or informative, please write to me, indicating your reasons for the nomination. I can be contacted by mail: Kenneth L. Carper, School of Design & Construction Management, College of Engineering & Architecture, P.O. Box 642220; Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164–2220; by telephone: (509) 592–5374; or by e-mail: [email protected]

Members of the TCFE were saddened to hear of the passing of Jack Gillum on July 4, 2012, at the age of 83. He has been a loyal contributor to our activities over the past two decades. After serving in the military in Korea, Jack started his own structural engineering firm in the early 1960s. Jack D. Gillum and Associates, St. Louis, received many design awards. Among the accomplishments of the firm were the design of the University of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Tabor Center in Denver.

I first met Jack Gillum and his delightful wife, Judy, in 2000 during planning for the Second ASCE Forensic Engineering Congress, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I organized a symposium at the Congress titled, “Legacy of the Kansas City Hyatt Tragedy: A 20-year Retrospect Insight and Review.” Because of his intimate professional and personal involvement with the tragic event, I asked Jack if he would be willing to share his experiences of that night in 1981 and the following years with us during the symposium. He graciously accepted the invitation, and delivered the most informative, inspirational, and courageous presentation I have ever witnessed. A standing ovation (rare at engineering conventions) gave testament to the power of his contribution. A paper based on Jack’s presentation appeared in the May 2000 issue of this journal (Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 67–70). Titled “The Engineer of Record and Design Responsibility,” the paper is frequently downloaded and is often cited in professional practice courses, as well as whenever the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse is used as a case history in professional education. In the years since, Jack has made countless presentations to students about the meaning of professional registration, the liabilities involved with engineering design, and the solemn responsibilities inherent in the engineering profession. His story, as well as the sincerity with which he has presented it, have profoundly influenced the next generation of professional engineers. We will miss Jack Gillum. I remember him as an inspiring professional engineer and a man of great courage.

This issue marks the end of the 26th year of publication of the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. The Journal owes much of its success to the many manuscript reviewers who have donated their time to provide constructive comments to authors. Indeed, the reviewers play an equivalent role with the authors in maintaining the quality of this publication. Our reviewers serve without compensation. They are, without exception, highly respected individuals who are very busy in practice and/or academia. Yet, they find the time to contribute altruistically to the dissemination of useful information in this Journal.

At the end of each year’s final issue, we list those who have provided reviews during the year. I want to extend my personal appreciation for their efforts. If you recognize one of your colleagues in the list, please express your appreciation.