Bridge Expert Visits College of Engineering

Posted: 

April 1, 2009

A civil engineer with national and international experience as a consultant on major bridge projects will address “The ABCDs of Bridge Building: Affordable, Beautiful, Constructable and Durable,” on campus this Friday.
John Breen, the Nasser I. Al Rashid Chair in Civil Engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, will speak from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 3, at 410 Hitchcock Hall, 2070 Neil Ave. He will discuss the interrelation of aesthetics with overall bridge design, construction and maintenance.
Breen, whose research group has had a major impact on the principal design and construction standards for concrete bridges and buildings nationally and internationally, will be available for a media question-and-answer session from 4:30 until 5 p.m. to discuss his area of expertise and to comment on the Bridge Life Extension Act of 2009, which was introduced in the U.S. House March 24. Sponsored by Reps. Michael Conaway (D-TX) and Betty Sutton (D-OH), the bill has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
“This bill sets new standards for bridges that receive federal funding by requiring the states to strictly define the preservation of structures and include corrosion mitigation and prevention plans for all bridges undergoing repair, rehabilitation or construction,” Conaway wrote on his blog. “States will also be required to develop a project maintenance program that must contain expected useful life of the bridge and details of corrosion mitigation and prevention methods in construction and maintenance of the bridge.”
Breen , a member of the National Academy of Engineering, has been a consultant on a number of major bridges including the Sunshine Skyway (Florida), T.Y. Lin Bear Creek Bridge (Texas), Illinois River Bridge (Illinois), Second Severn Crossing (England and Wales) and the Storebaelt West Bridge in Denmark. His work has been recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Concrete Institute and the International Federation of Structural Concrete.
He is visiting campus at the invitation of Ohio State civil engineering professor Hojjat Adeli, who hosts the Lichtenstein Distinguished Lectures.
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Contact: Professor Hojjat Adeli, (614) 292-7929, adeli.1@osu.edu, or Joan Slattery Wall, engineering communications, (614) 292-4064, wall.107@osu.edu
 

Category: Faculty