Tribute to Robert Card: Recipient of ASCE Pipeline Engineering Bechtel Award

I am pleased to pay special tribute to Mr. Robert “Bob” Card, the 2015 winner of the Stephen D. Bechtel Pipeline Engineering Award, which is awarded annually to an ASCE member who has made significant contributions to the advancement of pipeline engineering in research, planning, design, or construction.

Bob has served as chief pipe engineer for the design and consulting firm, Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN), since 2009. He is widely recognized as an international pipe expert, having designed more than 2,000 pipeline projects throughout his 35-year career, solving pipeline problems in 40 states and six foreign countries. Bob joined LAN in 2009 and oversees their pipeline design tasks. He has also worked with pipe and coupling manufacturers and consultants and is a registered professional engineer in nine states including Texas. He is author of the book Structural design of buried pipes, a LAN publication that is considered a quick reference guide for pipeline owners to use, especially when encountering jobsite problems requiring an immediate answer. He has published numerous papers on pipe and joint design, pipeline rehabilitation, and joint repair.

Problem solving may be a quality essential to engineers, but for Bob, one must be able to not only solve pipeline problems, but also communicate to others how to do the same. His teaching abilities have been perfected through his role as a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Utah State University.

He actually has a love of teaching that stems from growing up with a teaching mom, Janet Card, who taught fifth-grade English, Math, and History for 25 years at public elementary schools in Farmington and Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Bob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut but considers his education to be an ongoing process that requires awareness of all the changes that make pipeline engineering the challenging profession that it is today.

Bob’s mentor, Dr. Reynold K. Watkins, often reminds him of the need to give back not only to the young engineers who are just starting their careers, but also to the industry as a whole. Bob is often found in the LAN offices working with the young engineers to share his pipe knowledge with them. Additionally, he has been actively involved with American Water Works Association (AWWA), ASCE, and ASTM since the early 1990s, working on numerous standards and specifications for the betterment of the piping industry.

Early in Bob’s career, problems started to pop up around the country with prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP). One day, while walking through and “sounding” large-diameter PCCP for the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), it occurred to him that there is no “perfect” pipe product for all applications. Since that pipeline walk through for SDCWA, Bob has witnessed an entire new “condition assessment of PCCP” industry emerge. As a result of this, Bob opened his mind to make room for all pipe materials, as long as they are appropriately used and equally specified as to quality and service life.

Bob’s message at the ASCE 2015 Pipeline Conference was based on educating, mentoring and paying it forward, in which he paid tribute to the mentors who were most influential in his career, Dr. Reynold King Watkins and the late George J. Tupac.

Bob’s ASCE 2015 Pipeline Conference Bechtel Award presentation highlighted the value of his family and their support throughout his professional career. He and his wife of 33 years, Adriana Card, reside in Sugar Hill, Georgia. They raised three beautiful daughters, Valerie, Allison, and Emily, and are still awaiting their first grandchild! When asked what his plans for the future are, he said, “I love what I’m doing and have no plans on stopping. I guess some day I will have to give up the 8 to 5 job but hopefully not for many more years.” Bob would like to follow in the footsteps of his mentor, Dr. Watkins, who is still going strong at 96 years young.