The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering society in the United States, with its constitution based on the older Boston Society of Civil Engineers (1848)
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History
ASCE was founded in New York City on November 5, 1852, when a small group of twelve engineers and architects--Julius W. Adams, J. W. Ayres, Alfred W. Craven, Thomas A. Emmet, Edward Gardiner, Robert B. Gorsuch, George S. Greene, James Laurie, W. H. Morell, S. S. Post, W. H. Talcott, and W. H. Sidell--met at the offices of the Croton Aqueduct and formed the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects. It was the first national engineering society created in the United States. In 1869 the "Architects" was dropped from the name, as the architects formed their own society, the American Institute of Architects, in 1857.
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.
The 21st century
The prospect of a new millennium led the ASCE to reflect upon the civil engineering achievements of the 20th century with two events. First, the Millennium Challenge in 1999 identified the top-ten "civil engineering achievements that had the greatest positive impact on life in the 20th century", which were to be "broad categories", rather than "individual achievements", which were reserved for the second event. Monuments of the Millennium selected and recognized feats of civil engineering that demonstrated a "combination of technical engineering achievement, courage and inspiration, and a dramatic influence on the development of [their] communities".
The achievements and the monuments that best exemplify them include:
- Airport design and development - the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan
- Dams - the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the United States
- Interstate Highway System - "the system overall"
- Long-span bridges - the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California
- Rail transportation - as exemplified by the Eurotunnel rail system connecting the UK and France
- Sanitary landfills and solid waste disposal - "sanitary waste disposal advances overall"
- Skyscrapers - the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City
- Wastewater treatment - the Chicago wastewater system
- Water supply and distribution - the California State Water Project
- Water transportation - the Panama Canal
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Publications
ASCE is the world's largest publisher of civil engineering information with publications being the largest revenue-producer for ASCE. The Publications Division produces 36 professional journals, conference proceedings, Standards, manuals of practice, technical reports, and monographs under the ASCE Press imprint. The ASCE corporate website hosts the society's bookstore. In addition, Publications maintains the online ASCE Library providing access to all journal articles published since 1983, all conference proceedings since 2000, and over 300 e-books--well over 1 million pages of content.
Journals
ASCE's 36 peer-reviewed highly cited journals, including the Journal of Structural Engineering, facilitate the exchange of technical and professional knowledge among civil engineers. Information published in the journals forms an archival record of the technical advances of today's civil engineering profession. The complete volumes from 1983-Current are available online.
- ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
- International Journal of Geomechanics
- Journal of Aerospace Engineering
- Journal of Architectural Engineering
- Journal of Bridge Engineering
- Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
- Journal of Composites for Construction
- Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering
- Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
- Journal of Energy Engineering
- Journal of Engineering Mechanics
- Journal of Environmental Engineering
- Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
- Journal of Highway and Transportation Research and Development (English Edition)
- Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
- Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
- Journal of Infrastructure Systems
- Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
- Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction
- Journal of Management in Engineering
- Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
- Journal of Nanomechanics and Micromechanics
- Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
- Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practic]
- Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
- Journal of Structural Engineering
- Journal of Surveying Engineering
- Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment
- Journal of Transportation Engineering
- Journal of Urban Planning and Development
- Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
- Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
- Leadership and Management in Engineering
- Natural Hazards Review
- Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Books
ASCE publishes books on civil engineering research and practice. Prior to publication, each title is peer-reviewed by subject matter experts. The list includes more than 1,500 standards, manuals of practice, committee reports, proceedings, and ASCE press titles.
Magazines
ASCE publishes Civil Engineering, the Society's monthly magazine, as well as the weekly enewsletter, ASCENews. Civil Engineering is also published as a digital edition, which provides enhanced content of the monthly print edition. The Civil Engineering website provides members with web-exclusive news and feature content updated on a weekly basis. The Society also publishes Geo-Strata, a bi-monthly magazine, on behalf of its Geo-Institute.
Conferences and education
Each year, more than 55,000 engineers earn continuing education units (CEUs) and/or professional development hours (PDHs) by participating in ASCE's continuing education programs. ASCE hosts more than 15 annual and specialty conferences, over 200 continuing education seminars and more than 300 live Web seminars. In addition, ASCE offers customized on-site training, hundreds of online programs, including webinars on-demand and in-depth online courses, as well as live and on-demand P.E. exam review courses on the Web.
Institutes
ASCE also has nine full-service institutes created to serve working professionals working within specialized fields of civil engineering:
- Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI)
- Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI)
- Construction Institute (CI)
- Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI)
- Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI)
- Geo-Institute (G-I)
- Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI)
- Structural Engineering Institute (SEI)
- Utility Engineering & Surveying Institute (UESI)
Divisions
More than 6,200 civil engineers and allied professionals serve on numerous technical committees and provide other services. The Society's Committee on Technical Advancement (CTA) has 10 Divisions, some of which are further divide into committees. The 10 Divisions include:
- Aerospace Division
- Committee on Adaptation to a Changing Climate
- Cold Regions Engineering Division
- Computing Division
- Energy Division
- Forensic Engineering Division
- Geomatics Division
- Infrastructure Resilience Division
- Pipelines Division
- Wind Engineering Division
Engineering programs
Each year, more than 6,000 civil engineering professionals contribute volunteer technical expertise through participation on ASCE technical committees. These committees are housed in the divisions of the Committee on Technical Activities (CTA) or in the Society's institutes.
The efforts of these volunteers advance the profession in many ways including the numerous conferences held each year, manuals of practice, journals and standards. As an ANSI-accredited standards development organization, ASCE committees use an established and audited process to produce consensus standards under a program supervised by the Society's Codes and Standards Committee.
Civil Engineering Certification Inc. (CEC), affiliated with ASCE, has been established to support specialty certification academies for civil engineering specialties and is accredited by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB). The Committee on Critical Infrastructure (CCI) provides vision and guidance on ASCE activities related to critical infrastructure resilience, including planning, design, construction, O&M, and event mitigation, response and recovery.
Certification is the recognition of attaining advanced knowledge and skills in a specialty area of civil engineering. ASCE offers certifications for engineers who demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills in their area of engineering.
- American Academy of Water Resources Engineers (AAWRE)
- Academy of Geo-Professionals (AGP)
- Academy of Coastal, Ocean, Port & Navigation Engineers (ACOPNE)
Awards and designations
ASCE honors civil engineers through a well-developed recognitions program of more than 90 Society Awards that showcases the profession's commitment and accomplishments in public service, leadership and management. Honors and awards include the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards in the categories of construction, design, education, government and management, the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) for projects, the Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research and the Charles Pankow Award for innovation. Information about ASCE's awards, including the profession's highest accolade, Distinguished Membership, can be found on the awards section of the ASCE website. The Society also supports student members in good standing through 11 Society scholarships and Society fellowships. ASCE also designates national and international Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.
World wonders
In an effort to recognize a contemporary equivalent to the heralded ancient Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the ASCE has designated the following Seven Wonders of the Modern World:
- The Empire State Building, New York City, New York
- The Itaipu Dam, Brazil and Paraguay
- The CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario
- The Panama Canal, Panama
- The Channel Tunnel, France and the United Kingdom
- The North Sea protection works, including the Zuiderzee Works and Delta Works, Netherlands
- The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards
ASCE holds an annual black-tie event to present the Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards. There are four awards: the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA), the Lifetime Achievement Awards, the Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research, and the Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.
The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA) has been presented annually since 1960. It "honors the project that best illustrates superior civil engineering skills and represents a significant contribution to civil engineering progress and society". As a project award, it recognizes the team effort of all the engineers involved in completion of the project.
The Lifetime Achievement Award has been presented annually since 1999. It recognizes a lifetime of achievements and accomplishments to five different individual leaders. One award is present in each category of design, construction, government, education, and management.
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.
Controversies in New Orleans levee investigations
Press release containing conflicting information
ASCE provides peer reviews at the request of public agencies and projects as 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". In October 2005, after the failures of the federally designed and built levees in Greater New Orleans, Lt Gen Carl Strock P.E., M.ASCE, commander of the U.S. 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. 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". All members of the ERP panel received Outstanding Civilian Service Medals from Lt. Gen Strock on February 12, 2007.
On June 1, 2007, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued its External Review Panel (ERP) report, and also an accompanying press release. However, the press release was considered controversial because it contained information that was not present in the report, included information that conflicted with the report, and minimized the Army Corps' involvement in the catastrophe. The press release stated, "Even without breaching, Hurricane Katrina's rainfall and surge overtopping would have caused extensive and severe flooding--and the worst loss of life and property loss ever experienced in New Orleans." Meanwhile, the ERP report stated that had levees and pump stations not failed, "far less property loss would have occurred and nearly two-thirds of deaths could have been avoided." This determination was on page 39 of an 80-page report. The ASCE administration was immediately criticized by the Times-Picayune for an apparent attempt to minimize and understate the role of the Army Corps in the flooding.
Dr. Raymond Seed submits ethics complaint
In October 2007, Dr. Ray Seed, University of California-Berkeley civil engineering professor and ASCE member submitted a 42-page ethics complaint to the ASCE alleging that the Corps of Engineers, with the help of the ASCE, sought to minimize the Corps' mistakes in the flooding, intimidate anyone who tried to intervene, and delay the final results until the public's attention had turned elsewhere. The Corps acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter but has refused to comment until after the ASCE's Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC), led by Rich Hovey, comments on the complaint. It took over a year for the ASCE to announce the results of the CPC. When the results of the self-study were finally announced, the ASCE panel did not file any charges of ethical misconduct. They blamed their errors in their June press release on its creation by "staff level and not by review panel members."
ASCE convenes two review panels to examine allegations of ethics breaches
On November 14, 2007, ASCE announced the appointment of U.S. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. (ret), to lead an independent task force of outside experts to review how the professional organization participates in engineering studies of national significance. 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. 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".
The results of the external probe released on September 12, 2008, recommended that the society should immediately take steps to remove the potential for conflict of interest in its participation in post-disaster engineering studies. The report made several major recommendations, the most important being that funding for peer reviews over $1 million should come from a separate source, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The report also recommended that the ASCE Headquarters should facilitate but not control the assessment teams, and that dissemination of information to the public and press not be under the extremely tight controls that Dr. Seed and his team experienced. The report concluded that ASCE should draw up an ethics policy to eliminate questions of possible conflicts of interest.
On April 6, 2009, the internal probe with the ASCE issued a report that ordered a retraction of the ASCE's June 1, 2007 press release. The panel determined that the press release "inadvertently conveyed a misleading impression regarding the role of engineering failures in the devastation of New Orleans." The release also incorrectly said that surge levels along Mississippi's coastline were higher than water levels caused by a tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, and incorrectly repeated estimates of deaths and property damage that might have occurred in New Orleans if levees and floodwalls hadn't been breached.
Grassroots group release spoof of relationship between ASCE and USACE
On November 5, 2007, New Orleans-based grassroots group Levees.org led by Sandy Rosenthal released an online Public Service Announcement criticizing the ASCE's close relationship with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On November 12, 2007, the ASCE asked Levees.org to remove the video from the internet, threatening the organization with legal action if it did not comply. On November 13, the Times-Picayune reposted the controversial video on their website. Flanked by lawyers with Adams and Reese in the presence of extensive media coverage, the group ignored the threat and reposted the controversial video to YouTube citing Louisiana's Anti-SLAPP statute--a "strategic lawsuit against public participation"--which allows courts to weed out lawsuits designed to chill public participation on matters of public significance. In a response for comment, President David Mongan P.E. replied, "Since the video has already been widely reposted by other organizations, moving forward, we feel our time and expertise are best utilized working to help protect the residents of New Orleans from future storms and flooding."
Accusations that ASCE used grant money from USACE for disinformation
In a press conference on March 2008, Levees.org announced that records obtained in a request under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that as early October 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers directed the ASCE and later paid the group more than $1.1 million for its peer review (Grant Number: W912HZ-06-1-0001). Levees.org claimed the grant also paid for a series of ASCE presentations which the non-profit said were misleading and were an attempt to shift blame away from the corps and onto local levee officials. 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. Levees.org claimed the records showed how the External Peer Review would be done in four "phases." Phase 1 was research and analysis on the performance of the levees, floodwalls and other important structures. Phase 2 was provision of information on the current system to prevent future flooding. Phase 3 was provision of information to evaluate alternative approaches to flood protection. Phase 4 was transfer information and knowledge gained to a broader audience within Corps and its consultancy community to communicate lessons learned. The group claimed that these records were proof that the powerpoint presentation that the ASCE was routinely giving in 2007 and 2008 were a public relations campaign to repair the corps' reputation. Officials responded that the society paid for the powerpoint presentations itself and had not used the grant money from the USACE for that purpose.
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