American Society of Civil Engineers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
"ASCE" redirects here. For the Nigerian stock exchange, see Abuja Securities and Commodities Exchange.
American Society of Civil Engineers


Motto A better world by design.
Formation November 5, 1852
Type Engineering society
Headquarters Reston, Virginia
Membership 141,000
Official languages English
President David G. Mongan
Website asce.org

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward building a better quality of life. Its world headquarters is in Reston, Virginia.

Contents

[edit] Vision and mission

ASCE envisions a world led, in part, by engineers who can assist in building a better quailty of life for everyone.

ASCE's mission is to provide essential value to its members and their careers; to its partners and to the public.[1] ASCE seeks to provide value by:

  • Developing leadership skills in its members and supporting civil engineer leaders;
  • Facilitating advancment of the technology utilized by the profession;
  • Encouraging and providing tools for lifelong learning within the profession;
  • Advocating infrastructure and environmental stewardship; and
  • Promoting professionalism and the civil engineering profession.[2]

[edit] History and heritage

ASCE was founded in 1852 when twelve members of the organization met at the Croton Aqueduct on November 5 and decided to incorporate what was then known as the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects.[3]

As part of understanding the history of civil engineering and promoting the civil engineering profession, a survey of the historic accomplishments of civil engineers is continually conducted by ASCE members. Such reviews of civil engineering accomplishments have produced various lists of the notable categories and projects of the profession.

[edit] Monuments of the Millennium

The society canvassed its members in 1999 to identify the ten civil engineering achievements that had the greatest positive impact on life in the 20th century. They chose to recognize broad categories of achievements rather than individual projects:[4]

[edit] Peer reviews

ASCE provides peer reviews of public agencies and projects, at their request. Peer reviews are "a means to improve the management and quality of [public agency] services and thus better protect the public health and safety with which they are entrusted."[5][6] On December 7, 2007, ASCE announced the appointment of retired U.S. Rep Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., to lead an independent task force of outside experts to review how the professional organization participates in engineering studies of national significance. [7] ASCE President David Mongan said the review is aimed at addressing criticisms of the organization's role in assisting the Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored investigation of Katrina failures. The results are expected in July 2008.

[edit] Controversy in New Orleans levee investigation

In October 2005, after the failures of the federally controlled levees in Greater New Orleans, Lt Gen Carl Strock P.E.,M.ASCE, commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers requested that ASCE create an expert review panel (ERP) to peer review the Corps-sponsored Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET), the body commissioned by the Corps to assess the performance of the hurricane protection system in metro New Orleans. Lawrence Roth P.E.,F.ASCE, Deputy Executive Director of the ASCE led the ERP development, served as the panel's Chief of Staff and facilitated the panel's interaction with IPET.[8] The role of the ERP - composed of 14 specialists who possess a range of technical expertise - was to provide an independent technical review of the IPET's activities and findings. Roth stated at a National Research Council meeting in New Orleans, that "an independent review panel" such as the ERP "ensure[s] that the outcome is a robust, credible and defensible performance evaluation."[9] All members of the ERP panel received Outstanding Civilian Service Medals from Lt. Gen Strock on February 12, 2007.[8] The ERP's findings were released three months later on June 1, 2007 in a report entitled The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why.[10][11]

Shortly after the release of the ERP's findings, ASCE administration was criticized by The Times-Picayune for an apparent attempt to minimize and understate the role of the Army Corps in the flooding. The Times-Picayune editorial called attention to a press release issued by ASCE which accompanied the ERP report that contained information not present in the report and information that conflicted with the report.[12]

On November 5, 2007, New Orleans-based grassroots group Levees.Org released an online Public Service Announcement criticizing the ASCE's close relationship with the United States Army Corps of Engineers [13]. On November 12, 2007 the ASCE asked Levees.Org to take the video off of the internet, threatening the organization with legal action[14]. On November 13, the Times-Picayune reposted the controversial video on their website, NOLA.com[15].

On November 14, 2007, following the controversial video affair, the ASCE confirmed the launch of an internal ethics probe of its staff and members based on complaints[16] by University of California-Berkeley professor Dr. Raymond B. Seed, who served on a separate independent panel investigating levee failures. [17] President David Mongan, in a letter to the Times Picayune assured the citizens of metro New Orleans that ASCE takes "this matter very seriously and that appropriate actions are being taken."[18]

On December 14, 2007, Levees.Org reposted the controversial video to the internet citing Louisiana's Anti-SLAPP statute which allows courts to weed out lawsuits designed to chill public participation on matters of public significance.[19].

In March 2008, Levees.Org announced that records obtained in a request under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that as early October 2005, the US Army Corps of Engineers directed the ASCE and later paid the group more than $1.1 million for their peer review and for giving presentations which the non-profit claimed contained at least 10 falsehoods, 4 significant omissions and numerous misrepresentations. Members of the ASCE are forbidden from making false or exaggerated statements and also from making statements for an interested party unless this is disclosed. [20]

[edit] ASCE Designations

ASCE designates national and international Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

[edit] World Wonders

Similarly, in an effort to recognize a contemporary equivalent to the heralded ancient Seven Wonders of the World, the ASCE has designated the following Seven Wonders of the Modern World:[21]

[edit] Publications

ASCE sponsors a large number of civil engineering related professional publications in the United States. Journals published by ASCE include:

[edit] Awards

ASCE sponsors numerous awards for outstanding work in various areas of civil engineering, some of which are based on papers submitted to its many journals.

[edit] Wesley W. Horner Award

Initially created in 1968 by ASCE's Sanitary Engineering Division, the award is named after former ASCE President Wesley W. Horner. The award is given to a recently peer reviewed published paper in the fields of hydrology, urban drainage, or sewerage. Special consideration is given to private practice engineering work that is recognized as a valuable contribution to the field of environmental engineering.[22]

[edit] Competitions

ASCE also sponsors competitions for student chapters. Each regional conference determines the events. Two major national competitions include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ ASCE Profile ASCE. Accessed 13 October 2007.
  2. ^ Strategic Planning ASCE. Accessed 13 October 2007.
  3. ^ 150 Years of Civil Engineering ASCE. Accessed 17 November 2007.
  4. ^ Monuments of the Millennium ASCE. Accessed 10 October 2007.
  5. ^ Peer Review for Public Agencies ASCE. Accessed 17 November 2007.
  6. ^ Peer Review ASCE. Accessed 17 November 20007.
  7. ^ Task force will review engineers' studies- NOLA.com
  8. ^ a b (March 2007) Strock Honors ERP Members with Outstanding Civilian Service Medal ASCE News. Accessed 10 October 2007.
  9. ^ Roth, Lawrence "Larry", on behalf of ASCE External Review Panel. (20 March 2007) National Research Council Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects, Meeting 2. New Orleans, LA. Accessed 13 October 2007.
  10. ^ News Release. (1 June 2007) Move Beyond Sound-bites and “Armchair” Theories to Make the Nation Safer From Disaster, Engineers Say ASCE. Accessed 12 October 2007.
  11. ^ ERP Report Now Available ASCE.com. Accessed 11 October 2007.
  12. ^ (19 June 2007) EDITORIAL: Sound bites and spin jobs The Times-Picayune. Accessed 10 October 2007.
  13. ^ Levees.Org » Watch our new Public Service Announcement!
  14. ^ Engineer group not amused by online spoof of levee review- NOLA.com
  15. ^ Controversial Levees.org video - New Orleans Video - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
  16. ^ Microsoft Word - W F Marcuson III_a_.doc
  17. ^ Engineer group not amused by online spoof of levee review- NOLA.com
  18. ^ ASCE is investigating- NOLA.com
  19. ^ Levees.org reposts controversial video - New Orleans News - NOLA.com
  20. ^ http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl032608bhlevees.300274a.html
  21. ^ Seven Wonders of the Modern World ASCE. Accessed 10 October 2007.
  22. ^ Wesley W. Horner Award ASCE. Accessed 10 October 2007.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_of_Civil_Engineers"
Personal tools