The American Surveyor

Haitian Lifeline Systems’ Performance to be Studied by Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers Sends Post-Disaster Assessment Team to Study Earthquake’s Impact on Drinking Water, Roads, Power Supplies, Etc.

WHAT:    A technical assessment team from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering will travel to Haiti to study the impact of the January 12, 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the region’s infrastructure. The team will examine the performance of systems such as drinking water and sewage, roads and power supplies, ports and telecommunications, and schools and hospitals; as well as gather information that could aid in sustainable and resilient development efforts.

WHO:      Curt Edwards, P.E., F.ASCE, Team Leader, Psomas
    Alex Pierre Augustin, E.I.T., State of California
    Don Ballantyne, P.E., MMI Engineering
    Bill Bruin, P.E., Halcrow, Inc.
    Rick Carter, State of Oregon
    Stu Werner, P.E., Seismic Systems and Engineering Consultants
    Brucely Joseph, URS Corporation
    Aimee Lavarnway, Shannon & Wilson
    Nason McCullough, P.E., CH2M Hill
    Mark Pickett, Ph.D., P.E., University of Toledo
    Dave Plum, P.E.

WHEN     February 28 to March 6, 2010

WHERE:     Port Au Prince and the surrounding areas affected by the earthquake.

WHY:    As part of its disaster response procedure, ASCE forms technical teams to study infrastructure damage caused by natural or man-made disasters. Such studies are conducted so that engineers may learn from the disaster, and perhaps more importantly, so that those lessons learned may be documented to inform future actions. ASCE has participated in more than a dozen assessments in the last decade, including studies of the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001; earthquake assessments in Italy, China, Peru, Japan, Sumatra-Andaman, Algeria, Alaska and California; and assessments following hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

For additional information on the team and its work, please visit http://content.asce.org/TCLEE/Haiti2010.html.

About ASCE
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 144,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. For more information, visit www.asce.org.

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