This paper summarizes discussions held at the 1990 National Forum on Education and Continuing Development of Civil Engineering concerning geotechnical engineering education. We can attract better students by improving the public's perception and image of civil engineers. We believe more emphasis should be placed on classroom teaching. We also believe that if we put a premium on teaching, we will get excellence in teaching. However, priorities must be revised to help achieve this goal. In recognition of the ever‐changing need of our profession and the broad nature of the problems of the society we serve, we must provide a background for our civil engineers to work in a multidisciplinary world. This includes a broad‐based education with a well‐founded understanding of basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences, and traditional disciplines of civil engineering. The current flexibility in the master's program must be retained. Today, the entry‐level degree to the profession of geotechnical engineering is the master's degree, and this is as it should be.

Basic microeconomic principles are used to evaluate the widely anticipated shortage of civil engineers. Long‐term trends, demographic projections, and data on numbers of graduates and their starting salaries are considered. Civil engineering salary trends are compared to trends for other professions. The study found little evidence to support the widely accepted forecast of a civil engineering shortage. Instead, it found that we are in a period of oversupply. It also found many forecasts of civil engineering shortages during the last 35 years, but no evidence that any of these shortages actually happened. Skepticism of shortage forecasts is urged. Evidence of quality problems in civil engineering students, graduates, and practice are cited. These problems are related to the long‐term oversupply of civil engineers and the resulting weak economic and professional position of civil engineering. Since additional students will worsen these problems and further lower the quality and stature of civil engineering, recruiting should be stopped and direct action taken to raise the quality of civil engineering students, graduates, and practice.

The job opportunities are bright in the field of engineering. The need for science and engineering personnel is expected to increase by 36% over the next 10–15 years. Civil and environmental engineers are particularly in high demand as our nation's infrastructure deteriorates and as concern over environmental issues grow. Unfortunately, enrollment in engineering schools is down across the country. Consequently, predictions of impending shortages continue. This paper examines the characteristics of this national problem and its current and future impact. Potential solutions are also highlighted.

This article summarizes an investigation to determine which areas in the training of U.S. expatriate engineers and constructors are viewed by foreign engineers and construction personnel as inadequate, and to provide information on the areas that are affecting the competitiveness of U.S. firms in the global marketplace. This paper presents information generated by a study of working relationships of foreign and U.S. engineering and construction professionals. The main objective is to quantify evaluations performed by foreign nationals from engineering and construction firms from three East Asian countries, who worked on joint venture projects, or as consultants to U.S. firms, and to determine whether the training that U.S. engineering and construction professionals receive prior to overseas assignments is adequate to prepare them to work in foreign environments. This study also addresses the issue of whether the perceptions of foreign nationals differ by their occupation, by working relationship with U.S. expatriates, and by the position of the U.S. expatriates.

Civil engineers are currently faced with the design, monitoring, and maintenance of bridge piers where local scour is a concern. Current equations and models for predicting pier scour provide a single maximum value for scour depth, rather than scour depth as a function of time. Therefore, the number of years required to reach that depth cannot be estimated, and, as such, the models do not suggest the safe design life. In this paper, the primary problems currently associated with pier‐scour engineering are discussed, and direction for investigating these problems is provided. Existing bridges in scour‐prone areas need to be evaluated for vulnerability to scour. A temporal model for estimating scour depth around bridge piers, combined with quantitative risk analysis, could be used to determine whether scour‐prevention measures are necessary. The time‐dependent model and subsequent risk of failure analysis will also enable the design engineer to base a bridge‐pier design on an estimated probability of failure rather than experience or judgment only, thus providing a method for the safer design of bridges.

The importance of the disposition of engineering documents, after an engineered construction project is completed and the owner takes possession of the facility, is not always completely understood. There are three groups identified with an interest in preserving a complete set of engineering documents for a facility and protecting the integrity and encouraging the appropriate use of the documents. They are the engineers, owners, and, through the governmental entities in whose jurisdiction a facility is built, the public. Their unique and apparent interests in and position on the engineering documents, and the mutual benefits each accrues by preservation and accessibility of the documents, are discussed. A resulting proposal is intended to enhance the probability that the final disposition of the engineering documents will more effectively meet the needs of each group.

In 1988, ASCE published its Manual of Professional Practice: Quality in the Constructed Project in an effort to present guidelines for quality engineering design and construction. Publication of the manual has aroused much interest and comment in the construction industry. An undergraduate professional development course based on the manual was conducted in the spring of 1989 at Tulane University. The course was presented in a seminar format, and featured panelists representing the interests of owners, designers, and contractors. The sessions were open to the design community and were well attended by professional engineers. Panelists presented their own views on topics from the manual and responded to questions and comments from the audience. Written comments were collected from students and professionals in attendance. This paper summarizes the course sessions and presents a summary evaluation of the manual based on these comments from seminar participants.