F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 8 V o l . 4 I s s u e 1 1
C E L E B R AT I NG T H E D E S I GNE R S OF T H E WOR L D A ROUND U S
Dr. Menzer Pehlivan Earthquake Engineer
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CONTENTS
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THE COVER Earthquake engineer Menzer Pehlivan, Ph.D., P.E., is out to save lives, and to prove no dream is too big — story on page 14. Photo: ©Stefanie Felix ON THE RISE 12 Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering 13 Awards, promotions, and new hires MANAGEMENT FILES 14 Unshakable professional passion 20 The ‘what’ and ‘why’ of internal marketing CHANNELS SOFTWARE + TECH 24 Project accounting will change the way you work 25 Evolution of 3D design models in transportation 28 Software licensing versus a subscription model 29 Five construction technology trends of 2018 STRUCTURES + BUILDINGS 30 Deep piles and constant dewatering support a technologically advanced theater 32 Building envelope integrity WATER + STORMWATER 34 Record HDPE HDD installation saves sewer line 36 EPA recognizes excellence and innovation in clean water infrastructure 39 Reducing barriers to green infrastructure 41 Increases in wildfires-caused erosion could impact water in the West ENVIRONMENT + SUSTAINABILITY 42 Using adaptive management to restore damaged ecosystems 44 Development revives commuter rail access 46 Steel industry releases guide to LEED v4 certification 46 Broadening approaches and conceptions of design TRANSPORTATION 48 Major interchange revamp relieves congestion 50 New construction technique replaces support structures with an air cushion 51 Florida to deploy shared automated vehicles in Tampa 52 MDOT reports significant interest in $9 billion proposed highway P3 UAV + SURVEYING 54 Disaster preparation and recovery 57 LiDAR helps identify unstable California cliffs CONTINUING EDUCATION 59 NASCC: The Steel Conference 60 CFSEI webinar: Change orders and cold-formed steel 61 Bentley Institute Press announces availability of ‘Plain Language BIM’ 62 ACI webinar: Engineering ethics 62 ITS America to hold its 2018 annual meeting in Detroit departments 7 Civil + Structural Engineer Online 65 Reader Index 66 Benchmarks Columns 06 From the Publisher: Time is not on your side By Mark Zweig 08 Engineering Our Future: Becoming a best firm to work for By Chad Clinehens, P.E. 10 Events 63 Specify
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csengineermag.com
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 11 csengineermag.com
publisher Mark C. Zweig | 508.380.0469 | mzweig@zweiggroup.com DIRECTOR OF SALES Beth Brooks | 479.502.2972 | bbrooks@zweiggroup.com Production & circulation manager Anna Finley | 479.435.6850 | afinley@zweiggroup.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Bob Drake | 616.741.9852 | bdrake@zweiggroup.com EDITORial Chad Clinehens, P.E. | 501.551.2659 | cclinehens@zweiggroup.com H. Kit Miyamoto, PH.D., S.E. | miyamotointernational.com Will Swearingen | 479.435.6977 | wswearingen@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | 479.856.6122 | rmassey@zweiggroup.com ART director Donovan Brigham | 479.435.6978 | dbrigham@zweiggroup.com
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Civil + Structural Engineer (ISSN 23726717) is published monthly by Zweig Group, 1200 North College Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72703. Telephone: 800.466.6275. Copyright© 2018, Zweig Group. Articles may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Zweig Group. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self- addressed envelope. Subscriptions: Annual domestic print subscription rate is $15 for 12 issues or $30 for 24 issues. Annual digital subscription is free. All print subscribers receive digital editions in addition to print subscription. Call or write for international rates. To subscribe or update your subscription information, please visit our website www.csengineermag.com/ subscribe/; or mail subscription requests and changes to Circulation Dept, C + S Engineer, 1200 North College Avenue, Fayetteville, AR 72703; or call 800.466.6275.
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February 2018
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
Last month was rough. A nice young fellow who kept my antique cars cleaned was killed in a New Year’s Eve altercation with a gun-wielding criminal. Several of my friends and acquaintances, including one former student, were diagnosed with bad cancers. A close friend lost his wife from a sudden heart attack. Another friend’s husband — six years younger than me — is on life support and may well not make it. Now that I have you cheered up—my point is that a lot of bad stuff happens to good people. And I don’t think any of them got up in the morning expecting whatever happened to them that day. You have to use your time wisely. When your time is up, it’s done. We all could probably do better living each day as if it were to be our last, although the truth is none of us often do. Here are some things to think about: Spend time with the people you care about — Besides the obvious family members and loved ones, this also includes who you spend time with at the office. Who inspires you?Who are you mentoring? Ditto for clients. Which ones do you really care about as people? Give the people who matter the benefit of your attention. Be willing to take some risk — You don’t have unlimited time to be successful in life or make your life what you want it to be. Engineers, by nature, are risk averse. You cannot keep putting off all risk, thinking that makes you smart. Real accomplishment is probably going to take real risks (and sacrifice). Stop wasting so much time —When you are really busy and have a million commitments it’s one thing to take some time to relax and recharge the batteries. This could be called “productive time-wasting” because there is a benefit that comes from it. I contrast this with non-productive time wasting. That includes things such as wasting hours every day on social media or playing repetitive computer games, versus face-to-face interaction with real people or doing something productive with your time. Too many people waste too much time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Increase your time (above ground) as much as you can — Better diet, exercise, not smoking, stress reduction—all of these are important. Go to the doctor for regular checkups. I cannot understand people who go five or 10 years without a check-up. Get your lab work done and ward off problems. Get on those long-term projects now — Time to start making headway on building that vacation house, restoring your Dad’s first car, writing your novel, or whatever else it is you have been talking about doing for a long time — now . Contrary to the Rolling Stones song, time is not on your side. Better start acting like you know that before it’s too late!
Time is not on your side
Use your time wisely before it’s too late.
MARK C. ZWEIG mzweig@zweiggroup.com
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C+S ENGINEER ONLINE
Civil + Structural Engineer provides news and articles online to supplement content in this print issue. Visit csengineermag.com daily for the latest news and check out the following article posted online with the February 2018 issue:
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Project Profitability: Miscommunications By Howard Birnberg, Association for Project Managers
The key function of a project manager is to communicate. He or she serves as the primary link between members of the project team. Each design consultant, contractor, and client should be represented by a project manager able to communicate their needs, questions, and status to other team members. To accomplish this function, project managers must be skilled communicators. How does a project manager communicate? With drawings, sketches, letters, memos, emails, reports, verbally, face-to-face, on the telephone, with gestures, through demonstrations, with presentations, and through dozens of other ways. Public speaking skills must be learned and polished through extensive practice or with formal training. Writing skills must be developed to a high degree. Project managers should attend university or community college writing courses to learn fundamentals, technical writing, and persuasive writing. The focus on these soft skills should not be treated as an afterthought and given lower priority in the discussion of the role of project managers. These skills are of great importance and no project manager can be effective without mastering them. Computer software is an assist, not a substitute for effective communications. Everyone today uses widely available software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, AutoCAD, and many other packages. These are valuable tools, but are just that — tools. It is the person using them who is most important, and they need to know how to communicate effectively.
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engineering our future
Becoming a best firm to work for A great place to work starts with the people.
It is a great and wonderful thing to work at the firm at which everyone wants to work. It is the cool place, the desirable place to be, the hip place. Those are just some of the attributes that the firms that make the annual list of Best Firms To Work For possess. Creating a great workplace starts with you, however, not with management. Giving firm leaders feedback on what would enhance your experience and improve the workplace is a great way to start the conversation. Best Firms To Work For tend to have strong management-staff alignment that translates into programs and opportunities. The most desired attributes and benefits of the most recent survey of more than 11,000 AEC professionals included professional development, career growth opportunities, training quality, and frequency of training. Other things that drive employee satisfaction include publicizing financial information, grooming future leaders though formal ownership and leadership training programs, compensation and recognition for extraordinary effort, and increased frequency of raises and bonuses. Communication is always one of the biggest and most important issues in firms. It’s a two-way street, though. Communication must go from the top down and from the bottom up. Let your leadership know that clarity of direction and confidence of leadership is important to you. Knowledge of the business plan through the entire org chart is important. It can also be one of your best recruitment tools. So what are you doing right now to become a Best Firm To Work For? Are you waiting for management to roll out programs or are you ready to take the initiative and lead the effort? Now is the time to work on these things while the market is good and firms have more cash to invest in new programs and initiatives. A great place to work starts with the people!
CHAD CLINEHENS, P.E., is Zweig Group’s president and CEO. Contact him at cclinehens@zweiggroup.com.
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New Member Benefits Including Unprecedented Digital Access to the Institute’s 200+ Guides and Reports
Other new benefits for individual members include: • Free media mail shipping • Discounted access to ACI codes and specifications • Discounted access to ACI University’s monthly webinars and on-demand course subscription Plus ACI’s existing membership benefits.
www.concrete.org /membership
events
FEBRUary 2018
AEC Business Development Training feb. 23—seattle june 22—miami
International LiDAR Mapping Forum Feb. 5-7—Denver
Specifically developed to help design and technical professionals become more comfortable dealing with clients and promoting the firm and its services. http://zweiggroup.com/seminars/aec-business-development-training 4th Residential Building Design & Construction Conference feb. 28-Mar. 1—state college, PA. Forum for researchers, architects, engineers, other design professionals, product manufacturers, builders, developers, and code officials to discuss challenges to sustainable, energy efficient, healthy, environmentally friendly, natural hazard resistant, and affordable residential construction. www.phrc.psu.edu/conferences/residential-building-design-and- construction-conference/4th-RBDCC.aspx
Technical conference and exhibition showcasing the latest airborne, terrestrial, and underwater LiDAR as well as emerging remote-sensing and data-collection tools and technologies. www.lidarmap.org IECA Annual Conference Feb. 11-14—Long Beach, Calif. International Erosion Control Association’s annual conference and exhibition brings together engineers, contractors, regulators, and providers of erosion control and stormwater management products and services. www.ieca.org/ieca/ieca%20Events/2018_annual_conference.aspx Grouting Fundamentals and Current Practice feb. 12-16—austin, tExAS 39th Annual Short Course covers pressure grouting as a method to improve geotechnical properties of soils and rock masses, with special focus on mechanisms, theories, and practical applications of grouting to ground densification and strengthening, permeability reduction, and groundwater cutoffs. http://executive.engr.utexas.edu/epd/grouting18.php PCI Convention & National Bridge Conference Feb. 20-24—Denver Precast/prestressed concrete industry event offering committee meetings, education sessions, and peer-reviewed paper presentations. The event is held in partnership with The Precast Show. www.pci.org/convention Excellence in Project Management feb. 21—San antonio, tExAS july 18—boston oct. 17—salt lake city nov. 28—atlanta Tutorial and case study workshop sessions present critical areas every project manager should know from the perspective of architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms. http://zweiggroup.com/seminars/excellence-in-project-management Real Marketing and Branding for AEC Firms Designed to bring clarity and distinction between marketing and sales, this course will aid all levels of staff to understand how to market the firm and build the brand in their respective roles. https://zweiggroup.com/seminars/real-marketing-and-branding-for-aec-firms feb. 22—seattle june 21—miami
march 2018
Women in Engineering & Construction March 5-6—Denver
Conference brings together women and men across related sectors in the engineering and construction industry to discuss strategies for leveraging professional development resources and technical advances in engineering and construction to invoke change for diversity and inclusion. www.euci.com/event_post/0318-women-engineering Design-Build for Water/Wastewater mar. 19-21—portland, ore. Event for design-build owners and practitioners in the water industry co-hosted by the Design-Build Institute of America, the American Water Works Association, the Water Environment Federation, and the Water Design-Build Council. https://www.dbia.org/Conferences/water/Pages/default.aspx AASHTO GIS for Transportation Symposium March 19-22—Little Rock, Ark. The symposium offers keynote speakers, discussion forums, workshops, presentations, and a technology hall exhibiting services related to the use of GIS for transportation purposes. www.gis-t.org ASBPA Coastal Summit March 20-22—Washington, D.C. Conference focuses on policy, technology, and advocacy for shore and beach preservation. In addition, a series of short courses will be presented as modules for the Certified Coastal Practitioner credential. http://asbpa.org/conferences
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Design-Build in Transportation mar. 21-23—portland, ore.
Nearly 1,000 public and private owners, design-build practitioners, and exhibitors address the growing nationwide role of design-build project delivery. https://www.dbia.org/Conferences/transportation/Pages/default.aspx The Concrete Convention and Exposition March 25-29—Salt Lake City Engineers, architects, contractors, suppliers, and others collaborate on concrete codes, specifications, and practices. American Concrete Institute will hold more than 300 committee meetings, 40 technical sessions, and an industry trade exhibition. www.aciconvention.org
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april 2018 Complete Streets Conference apr. 3-4—nashville, tenn.
Under the theme, Intersections: Creating Culturally Complete Streets, attendees will learn practical ways to integrate arts and culture to create streets that not only are safe for everyone, but also better reflect the unique character of their communities. https://smartgrowthamerica.org/program/intersections-creating-
V isit WWW . Clearspan . Com or call 1.866.643.1010 to find out how we can help with your structure needs
culturally-complete-streets NASCC: The Steel Conference (see conference preview on page 59) Apr. 11-13—Baltimore
Educational and networking event for the structural steel industry, bringing together structural engineers, structural steel fabricators, erectors, and detailers. In addition to seminars on the latest design concepts, construction techniques, and cutting-edge research, the conference offers an extensive trade show. www.aisc.org/nascc Structural Design Topics in Wood Construction apr. 16-18—blacksburg, va. This course offers a range of topics related to the structural design of wood-frame buildings as well as design measures that can enhance the in-service performance of structural elements. www.cpe.vt.edu/sdtwc/index.html
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Check online at csengineermag.com/event-directory/ for events later in 2018. Send information about upcoming conferences, seminars, and exhibitions relevant to civil and structural engineering to bob drake at bdrake@zweiggroup.com.
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on the rise
Civil + Structural Engineer is seeking nominations for its seventh an- nual Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering, recognizing young- er professionals whose exceptional technical capability, leadership ability, effective teaching or research, or public service has benefited the civil or structural engineering professions, their employers, project owners, and society. The rules are the same as in previous years, but the dates and nomination method have changed: • Nominees must be 40 years of age or younger as of Dec. 31, 2017, and working in the United States as a civil or structural engineer for a private-sector company (or self-employed), public agency (i.e., federal, state, county, or city), military, non-profit organization, or educational or research institution. Self-nominations are acceptable. • Nominees should have a record of demonstrated exceptional abil- ity and professional accomplishments related to civil or structural engineering in one or more of the following capacities: project design; management; leadership; teaching; research; and/or public service. • All nominations must be made online at https://www.research. net/r/2018RisingStars. Nominations must provide the following infor- mation: 1. Category — civil engineering or structural engineering 2. Nominee’s information, including name, credentials/certifications (i.e., P.E., S.E., LEED AP, etc.), title, employer, city, state, email address, and age as of Dec. 31, 2017 3. Nominee’s degree(s) earned, including school(s) and major(s) 4. Nominee’s professional accomplishments — Describe the nominee’s demonstrated ability and specific accomplishments related to civil engi- neering or structural engineering in one or more of the following capaci- ties: project design; management; leadership; teaching; research; and/ or public service (maximum of 500 words) 5. Significant projects the nominee has been involved with and the nomi- nee’s role in each (maximum of 250 words) Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering Nomination period opens for 2018 awards. By Bob Drake
6. Describe the nominee’s involvement, if any, with professional organi- zations (local, state, regional, or national), community groups, and/or public service (maximum of 250 words) 7. Name and email address of person submitting the nomination • Each nomination should include a publication-quality digital photo (jpg or tiff file) of the nominee — 2 by 3 inches or larger at a resolution of 300 dpi. The image file name should include the nominee’s name. • The nomination period closes at midnight (Eastern Time) on March. 12, 2018. • Any private-sector company, public-sector agency, military unit, non- profit organization, or educational or research institution may submit a maximum of four nominations in each category — civil engineering and structural engineering. • There is no charge for submitting nominations or for any engineer se- lected as a Rising Star to be featured in the Civil + Structural Engineer article, scheduled for the May 2018 issue. Selection process • All completed nominations submitted by the deadline will be con- sidered by judges representing Civil + Structural Engineer magazine and/or Zweig Group. Nominees with incomplete nomination forms may not be considered in the selection process. • Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering will be selected from the nominations at the discretion of the judges based solely on the in- formation submitted online as described above. • Nominees selected as Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering will be notified via email on or before May 1, 2018. Two important notes: 1) Rising Stars in Civil + Structural Engineering are selected exclusively from the nominations received; and 2) selec- tion is based entirely on the information contained in the nomination. So, please take some time to consider the younger, highly skilled and hard-working civil and structural engineering professionals you know who deserve recognition — and then submit a nomination at https://www.research.net/r/2018RisingStars.
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Awards, promotions, and new hires
Baxter & Woodman appointed Dan Bounds, P.E., D.WRE , to Infrastructure Department manager. He has more than 23 years of engineering and regula- tory experience with the Illinois EPA and other companies and is a recognized expert in municipal infrastructure management, planning, and regulatory compliance. Dewberry promoted Andy Kioko, P.E. , to associate. Based in the firm’s Fairfax, Va., office, Kioko is a project manager and civil engineer working with commercial, residential, military, and rail and transit clients. Eileen Collins, P.E., PTOE , was hired as the traffic engineering services department manager in the firm’s Carlisle, Pa., office. With nearly 30 years of experience, Collins has managed a variety of highway and traffic-related projects. Darren Even, AICP , joined Dewberry as a senior planner based in the firm’s Charlotte, N.C., office. He has nearly 15 years of experience preparing NEPA studies, demo- graphic reports and community impact studies, and environmental analyses for transportation projects. Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D. , joined Dewberry’s board of directors. She is professor of the practice of policy and engineering at the University of Southern Cali- fornia and previously served as executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. Rob Snow, P.E., PMP , and Paul Dean were promoted to associate in the firm’s Fairfax, Va., office. Snow has more than 17 years of private and military experience planning, designing, and managing construction engineering projects. Dean has been in the industry for 15 years and has served in a variety of project management roles under contract with the FEMA Hazard Mitiga- tion, Public Assistance, and Individual Assistance programs. Elese (Lisa) Adele Roger, PMP , joined Dewberry as executive director, IT and technology. Darin Goodwin, MPH, CHMM, RBP , joined GZA as a senior project manager, responsible for provid- ing a broad range of Industrial Hygiene and Occu- pational Safety assistance to GZA clients. Heather Audet, P.E. , joined GZAas a senior project manager. She has almost 20 years of experience in geotechni- cal engineering and heavy underground design. KAI Design & Build hired Michael Hein, AIA, PMP , as chief integration officer. Hein will work closely with KAI President Michael Kennedy, Jr. to drive the firm’s strategic initiatives.
Chris Asiala, PS , is Giffels Webster’s newest part- ner. As the survey manager of all GPS applications and high-definition 3D laser scanning at Giffels Webster, Asiala brings more than 20 years of survey- ing experience. Val Higgins joined Stambaugh Ness as director of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Advisory Services. An accomplished speaker, she is known for her project management training work- shops. EFK Moen expanded its operations with an office in Atlanta. Chris Williams, P.E. , who has been with EFK Moen’s St. Louis office for 13 years, will man- age the new location. Williams brings more than 24 years of transportation/structures-related engineer- ing project management experience to the role. Stantec added Adam D. Smith, P.E. , as senior roadway engineer. He has more than two decades of experience in civil engineering, with a strong em- phasis in transportation. Joel Mann, AICP , is a new principal in Stantec’s Urban Places Group in Atlanta, working on transit and multi-modal projects. Stewart named Lee Anne Nance as its new chief strategic officer. Her responsibilities include brand and market development through new business and strategic partnerships, strengthening relationships with clients, building positive awareness of the firm, as well as strategic planning and implementation of initiatives. Kevin Thibault, P.E. , joined TranSystems Corp. as Southeast Regional vice president and Florida trans- portation leader. He will work out of the company’s Orlando office, overseeing operations in a five-state region and serving toll agencies across the country. TranSystems promoted Lawrence Kirchner, P.E., S.E. , of the firm’s Chicago office to vice president and senior associate. He has more than 30 years of experience in structural design and project manage- ment for a wide range of bridge, roadway, and rail projects.
Dan Bounds, P.E., D.WRE
Andy Kioko, P.E.
Eileen Collins, P.E., PTOE
Darren Even, AICP
Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D.
Rob Snow, P.E., PMP
Paul Dean
Elese (Lisa) Adele Roger, PMP
Darin Goodwin, MPH, CHMM, RBP
Heather Audet, P.E.
Michael Hein, AIA, PMP
Val Higgins
Chris Williams, P.E.
Adam D. Smith, P.E.
Joel Mann, AICP
Lee Anne Nance
Kevin Thibault, P.E.
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MANAGEMENT FILES
Unshakable professional passion
Earthquake engineer Menzer Pehlivan is out to save lives, and to prove no dream is too big. By Richard Massey
In October 2017, Pehlivan inspects earthquake damage in Mexico. Photo: Menzer Pehlivan
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Menzer Pehlivan, Ph.D., P.E. , said she’s always been in a hurry. And that’s surely the truth. The geotechnical engineer from Turkey knows four languages, has a Ph.D., spent two years working in NewYork, was featured in a movie, and is now in the Seattle office of CH2M, one of the largest firms in the world. And all of that by the time she was 31. A rising earthquake engineer who’s passionate about a science that advances with each seismic shift, Pehlivan sees nothing but — and has earned nothing but — opportunity. During a recent research trip to Mexico, where in September 2017 a 7.1-magnitude earth- quake rocked the nation’s largest city, Pehlivan witnessed firsthand what good engineering, and the building codes they inspire, can do. While hundreds did perish in September — af- ter rigorous codes had been installed — it was but a fraction of those who died there in 1985 when an 8-magnitude earthquake killed around 10,000. “You can save people’s lives,” Pehlivan said, speaking to the highest calling of her profes- sion. “When you see what [an earthquake] can do to a community, it becomes your passion.” If Mexico City proved up to the challenge in September, the same cannot be said of many other parts of the world. In 2008, more than 69,000 died in Sichuan, China. In Haiti, as many as 160,000 died in 2010. And in Nepal in 2015 — a scene to which Pehlivan traveled for research — around 9,000 died. The list is long; the numbers are staggering. The geotechnical engineer’s work, it seems, is never done.
Pehlivan said growing up she wanted to be an actress, but that changed after the early morn- ing of Aug. 17, 1999, when the 7.8-magnitude Kocaeli earthquake struck about 200 miles northwest of Pehlivan’s hometown of An- kara, Turkey. The high-rise apartment building where she lived shook. The family poured out of the home, spent the night in their car, and awoke to the terrible news: As many as 17,000 people dead, another 40,000 injured, and 250,000 without a home. “I knew in 45 seconds what you could lose,” Pehlivan said, referring to this turning point in her life. But transitioning from dreams of Tinseltown to reality as an engineer took years. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil en- gineering from Middle East Technical Univer- sity in Ankara by 2009. From there she went to the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her Ph.D. in civil engineering in 2013. During and after her formal education, she was frequently published in peer-reviewed journals, and honed her public speaking with numerous presentations. Fittingly, a seismic event took place in the engineering industry, one that Pehlivan says will be beneficial for U.S.-based geotechnical engineers like herself. In August 2017, Jacobs announced the $3.2 billion acquisition of her employer, CH2M, the result being a mega-firm with about 74,000 people and a backlog of $27 billion. “I see opportunities there,” she said of the merger. “I’m positive about it.”
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Pehlivan in December 2017 at The Seattle Public Library. Photo: ©Stefanie Felix
A still photo from “Dream Big,” with Pehlivan using everyday items to demonstrate to children how engineers design and build earthquake-proof structures. Photo: courtesy of MacGillivray Freeman Films, “Dream Big”
With a seemingly clear-cut path in front of her, Pehlivan has an excel- lent vantage point from which to see the industry and the science, and what they can do for mankind. So far so good — think Mexico City — but more can, and must, be done, Pehlivan said. As it stands, earthquake engineering is good at securing a structure so that people can survive a quake, but the building itself may no longer be viable. “I’m not telling you the building will be usable, but that you can get out safely,” Pehlivan explained. She wants to take it to the next level, beyond critical buildings like hospitals, to residential and commercial. “Build it in a way that the damage can be repaired,” she said, invoking keywords prevalent in engineering circles — resilience and redundancy. In developed countries like the U.S., where resiliency is underway all along the West Coast, and in Japan, which has some of the most rigor- ous building codes in the world, that’s possible. But in underdeveloped countries such as Nepal, or in cash-strapped nations like Iraq and Iran, where a border quake struck and killed hundreds in November 2017, resilience is much more difficult to attain. And Pehlivan admits as much. “It comes back to what you can afford,” she said. “They do not have access to better resources. It’s unfortunate that is the case. It is a chal- lenge.” Another challenge is that earthquake science is young and constantly
evolving. “Every single earthquake teaches us something,” Pehlivan said. “That’s how we advance the field.” And while the body of knowledge is ever expanding, scientists and engineers have not figured out a way to predict exactly where and when a quake will erupt. As a result, people from Seattle to Istanbul are wait- ing on “the big one,” but have no idea when that time will come. “It’s very difficult to model Mother Nature,” Pehlivan said. “We don’t know where it is going to happen.” A big distinction in the field lies with hazard versus risk. While some parts of the world might be at a high hazard for earthquakes, the risk might be low. This is the case in a sparsely populated area. The issue is complicated by high-population regions with dense cores and urban sprawl. Enter the earthquake engineers, the awareness they create, and the knowledge they bring to the table. “We cannot change Mother Nature, but we can improve our risk,” Pehlivan said. To expand the body of data, it’s necessary to head out into the field to collect real-world information that cannot be simulated in a laboratory. In her 2015 trip to Nepal, captured in a first-person account published in 2016 in Civil Engineering magazine, Pehlivan described her experi- ences as part of the team sent by the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association.
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The shake map of the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake in Turkey. Image: U.S. Geological Survey
Pehlivan in a December 2017 interview with Civil + Structural Engineer magazine at The Georgian, Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. Photo: ©Stefanie Felix
The shake map of the 2017 Central Mexico earthquake near Puebla. Image: U.S. Geological Survey
Along with the science and discovery — subsurface soils, infrastruc- ture performance, slope stability problems, and surface ground motions — Pehlivan also described the joy of working with a diverse group of peers, the majesty of seeing Mount Everest towering up from the Himalayas, and the heartbreak of watching a family vacate its home. A big world for a big mind, right where Pehlivan wants to be. For earthquake engineering to truly be effective, people outside the industry need to be aware of what it can do for society. Codes need to be regularly updated, implemented, and the greater public — from national officials to local permitting agencies — need to be educated about resiliency and its benefits. “We know more now than when the infrastructure was built,” Pehlivan said, referring to the difference between what was, and what can be. Doing her part for awareness, Pehlivan participated in the 2017 movie, “Dream Big: Engineering Our World” (https://csengineermag.com/ article/filmmakers-dream-big), which, among other things, is geared toward inspiring a new and diverse generation of engineers. Sponsored by Bechtel and the American Society of Civil Engineers, the film fea- tures Pehlivan and engineers Angelica Hernandez, Avery Bang, and Steve Burrows. In the promotional collateral associated with Dream Big, Pehlivan said, “The one thing I really love about the movie is that it encourages and inspires kids. … If we can do it, they can, too.”
So, if Pehlivan is now in the position to inspire dreams and to encour- age people to follow them, it begs the question: How did she get to where she is? As a turning point, the Kocaeli earthquake is an obvious signpost. But in 1999, Turkey had a population of about 62 million people, so what made Pehlivan, one of millions of teens alive at that time, different than the rest? What made her envision a career that many might have thought beyond her reach? And what gave her the strength to pursue it? According to her, it all started with family. Her mother, Ulku, was a positive and powerful influence, as was her grandfather, Osman, who always told her, “Whatever you want to be, you’ll be great.” She took it to heart, and once she made up her mind to be a civil engineer, nothing, as time has proved, could stop her. The larger political backdrop was that Pehlivan came of age in the modernized Republic of Turkey, a secular state established in the early 1920s and for many years led by Mustafa Kemal, honorifically known as Ataturk, who brought equal political and civil rights to women and who opened thousands of schools. “The Turkey I grew up in is not a lot different than what we have here [in the U.S.],” she said. “I did not feel disadvantaged. We were in a lucky generation. I was able to grow up in an environment with free speech, dressing how I wanted to dress and going where I wanted to go.” She has certainly brought that mindset to the U.S. An admitted “girly
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girl” with an abiding love of designer shoes, she can scamper in high heels, transition from casual to formal in a blink, do the salsa and the merengue, and in general, enjoys a jet-set life. One of her goals — already deep into the process of being achieved — is to shatter the stereotype that important engineers can only be men, and that women aren’t cut out for the work of building bridges and skyscrapers. She chronicles her social and business lives on her Instagram account, where she has more than 550 followers. Last fall, she appeared in Seoul, South Korea, where she spoke about research on seismic activ- ity, and traveled to New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Nashville. But beneath the glamour is the capacity for work and the drive to suc- ceed. She proved to herself that anything was possible back in Austin while working on her doctorate. She dropped her hard drive in De- cember 2012, losing all the data for her dissertation. Consternation, of course, but then she regrouped, recreating everything from scratch and finishing her studies by May 2013. “I lived in a 24-hour coffee shop,” she said of the effort it took to reproduce her doctoral thesis: Incorporating Site Response Analysis and Associated Uncertainties into the Seismic Hazard Assessment of Nuclear Facilities. While her friends and family back home might have been concerned, coming to the United States sight-unseen was never a problem for Pehlivan. Arriving on an extremely hot and humid day in Austin in 2009, she was ready for the adventure, even if her luggage had been lost in transit. Soon finding herself in an international circle of friends, UT-Austin more than sufficed as the place to hang her hat. “I was never homesick,” she said. In New York, when she worked in the Geo-Seismic Department at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, she lived on the Upper West Side — Lincoln Center, Central Park, Michelin-starred cuisine — and loved the city. But when an opportunity to work at CH2M presented itself, she left for Seattle. Considered by many a destination, the Pacific Northwest might just be a stop along the way for Pehlivan. For now, however, life with CH2M-Seattle is good — snow- boarding in the Cascade Mountains, oysters on the half-shell right out of Puget Sound, world-class nightlife and cultural attractions, and plenty of professional challenges with important, complex projects. But for Pehlivan, is there something else out there other than a mega- firm and the opportunities it enables? “It’s not the only way to be known in the industry,” she said. “It’s not the only career path.”
Résumé synopsis Menzer Pehlivan, Ph.D., P.E., is a geotechnical engineer who specializes in the analysis of site response, liquefaction and other natural hazards, soil-foundation-structure interaction, probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), and the seismic design of foundations for bridges, nuclear facilities, and other structures. She has been actively involved with pioneering research projects advancing the state-of-art and state-of-practice of geotechnical earthquake engineering. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Select projects • Tacoma All Hazards Vulnerability Assessment, Tacoma Water (Tacoma, Wash.) — Seismic evaluation of Hood Street facilities, Tacoma Pump Station, and Water Operations Building for the City of Tacoma. Performed geotechnical field investigations, site-specific seismic site response, and seismic hazard analysis. • Rock Creek Reservoir Intake Replacement (Corvallis, Ore.) — Replacement of existing failing intake structure for the 4.5 million-gallons-per-day design capacity Rock Creek Water Treatment Plant. Performed deterministic seismic hazard analysis for the new intake structure. • Puyallup River Flood Risk Mitigation (Puyallup, Wash.) — Feasibility study for potential flood risk mitigation measures in the Puyallup River Basin. Identified critical sections along 18-mile-long levee segments, performed stability analysis for proposed levee and flood wall sections, and evaluated preliminary liquefaction hazards. • Anchorage Port Modernization Project (Anchorage, Alaska) — Developed representative dynamic soil profiles and estimated seismic ground motions via equivalent linear site response analyses. • Seismic and Wind Investigation at RFK Bridge (New York City) — Estimated seismic ground motions and seismic design loads at the bridge piers, performed soil- structure interaction analyses for the bridge piers, and evaluated liquefaction potential and seismic-induced settlement at bridge piers. • Seismic Engineering Services for Torre Reforma 432 (Mexico City, Mexico) — Performed site-specific PSHA, calculated seismic design ground motions, estimated soil-structure interaction effects, and evaluated seismically induced settlements at the site. Source: Menzer Pehlivan
RICHARD MASSEY is director of newsletters and special publications at Zweig Group and editor of The Zweig Letter. He can be reached at rmassey@zwieiggroup.com.
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management files
effort to bring the technical folks up to speed on the firm’s marketing and business development practices. Marketing/business development activities Based on discussions with A/E industry technical staff over almost 40 years, I am convinced that many technical staff members still believe that new projects appear on their desks by magic. Actually, just like a planning, design, or construction project, marketing/business develop- ment is a collection of processes. Which process and which grouping of tactics (steps) will lead to success depends on the type of project, the type of client/owner, the type of contract vehicle proposed, and a number of other factors. In addition, many processes happen either before or after development and submittal of proposals and qualifica- tions packages. Most technical staff have little or no idea what activities have to be undertaken, what challenges have to be met, and how much time it takes to put a new project on their desks. To be fair, marketing/business development staff generally suffer a similar lack of knowledge about how projects happen. Because they generally move directly from one pursuit to the next, most marketing and business development staff have little or no idea how their firms complete the projects they help to win. So, this piece of education is a two-way street — each group needs to know what the other does, how, and why. Prioritizing activities Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Requests for Qualifications (RFQs)
Sooner or later, every A/E marketer arrives at a moment when he or she must explain to a technical staff member what marketing/business development in the A/E industry is, what activities constitute the firm’s marketing and business development program, why those activities are necessary for the firm’s ongoing success, and why participation by technical (i.e., billable) staff is so important to that effort. Such internal marketing has many processes, many purposes, and many goals. These include teaching technical staff the following: • all the activities involved in marketing/business development; • how marketing/business development activities are prioritized; • how the projects they work on are pursued and won; • timeframes required for such pursuits and wins; • what other services are available elsewhere in the company; and • the role they must play in marketing/business development, and why only they can make such a contribution. Marketing/business development staff are much more likely to enjoy the helpful participation of the technical staff when they have made an The ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of internal marketing Technical staff need to understand their important role in timely business development activities. By Bernie Siben, CPSM
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generally come with deadlines, so prioritizing the related activities is relatively easy. The RFQ/RFP provides the deadline for asking techni- cal questions. If you know the steps and how long each one takes, you can work backwards from the due date to establish priorities and schedules. Obviously, positioning activities have to happen in advance of the RFQ or RFP. Solicitations generally have a window of no more than 30 days, and that is not enough time to identify a potential client, schedule a meeting, and build a relationship before submittals are due. So you will need a way to identify potential clients with upcoming projects, to start making visits before the solicitation is released. Pursuing projects Marketing/business development — it’s a process, it’s a process, it’s a process! Part of the process is dictated by your firm, and that involves how pursuit decisions are made. How does your firm find out about projects? How does your firm acquire RFQs/RFPs? Does the firm have a “Go/No Go” evaluation process that each opportunity must navigate? How do you determine what subconsultants you will need on your team? Who makes the final decision? How does your firm position itself with potential clients/owners? Once your decision to pursue a project has been made, much of the process is controlled by the client/owner and communicated through the RFQ/RFP. The solicitation document tells you what information and proofs the client/owner wants to see; how they want the informa-
tion organized and, often, other details about presentation (i.e., type font and size, margins, graphics requirements, page imitations, number of copies, etc.); when the submittal is due and in what form (i.e., print or digital); and whether there will be shortlist interviews and when. Timeframes for pursuits At one large southwestern municipal utility, once a firm makes the decision to pursue, the agency’s procurement process involves: • RFQ — Request for general qualifications in a specific technical disci- pline or group of disciplines. • Pre-proposal meeting at utility office — Utility staff provide more detail on what they are looking for. • Submittal of Statement of Qualifications — Your response to the RFQ. • Screening interview — Your technical folks talk technical with the util- ity’s technical folks to determine which teams really know their stuff. • Short-list announcement — Generally three to five firms/teams that will move to the next stage of the procurement process. • Request for Proposal — Similar to RFQ but now including the request for a project approach, how the team will be managed, schedule infor- mation, and other information. • Submittal of Technical proposal — Your response to the RFP • Shortlist interview — After determining who are the most qualified, the client/owner wants to determine who they will most enjoy working with. • Selection — Congratulations! • Contract negotiation — Final technical details, costs, terms, and condi- tions. • Notice to Proceed — Go!
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