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Distinguished Lecture by Randal W. Poston Mon, Feb 25 @ 4pm- CECE Bldg Rm 209
Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
Distinguished Lecture
Monday, February 25, 2019
CECE Room 209, 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Randall W. Poston, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., NAE
Senior Principal at PIVOT Engineers



Topic: One Collapse, Two Load Tests and Several Repairs

Abstract: During concrete placement at the roof of a new transit maintenance facility in California, the formwork shoring collapsed below a large bay. Fortunately, no one was injured during the collapse. Unfortunately, the collapse left concrete, formwork, and reinforcement piled on the elevated slab below and damaged in-place critical structural elements that could not be easily replaced. Given the loads and impact to the elevated slab, the Owner was concerned about its integrity and damaged structural elements. In addition, there were still several more concrete placements remaining at the time, so the Owner and Contractor wanted to understand the cause of the collapse, so it would not be repeated during remaining placements. The Contractor retained Pivot Engineers to help them move forward from the collapse and respond to the Owner’s concerns. To address the in-place structure, Pivot performed an investigation of the remaining structure, designed repairs for the damaged structural elements, and then performed a load test to verify its structural adequacy. To address the cause of the collapse, Pivot performed analyses of the shoring, identified the deficiency, and designed retrofits to prevent collapse of future placements. After the project ended, Pivot performed a second set of load tests on the shoring system to review our analyses and the identified deficiency. This presentation will review the project, including the challenges, solutions, and lessons learned. Further, this presentation will share the shoring load test results, which impact reported factors of safety of similar shoring systems. Beyond the project, this presentation will provide information and experiences from a forensic structural engineering practice for those students interested or not aware of this career option.

Bio: Randall W. Poston is an internationally recognized expert in structural engineering and member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Dr. Poston has established himself as one of the preeminent structural consultants in the United States. He has authored and delivered hundreds of papers and presentations related to the structural engineering and championed the repair of existing structures for the last three decades. He was Chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Code Committee 318 during 2008-2014. During his tenure as Chair the concrete code was completely revised. Engineering News-Record (ENR) named him a "Top 25 Newsmaker" in 2014 since the document is used for all concrete construction not only in this country but in many other countries. He and his projects (e.g. Guggenheim Museum Exterior Restoration in New York, Marina del Rey Sea Wall Repair in Los Angeles) have received numerous national awards of excellence. Dr. Poston earned his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering in 1984, M.S. in 1980, and B.S. in 1979 in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2014, Dr. Poston was selected as a Distinguished Graduate of School of Engineering of UT-Austin.

Reception to follow room 218: Hors d’oeuvres
Posted:
2/19/2019

Originator:
Lisa Gonzales Betancourt

Email:
lisa.m.betancourt@ttu.edu

Department:
Civil Environ Construct Engineering

Event Information
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Event Date: 2/25/2019

Location:
Civil Engineering (CECE) Building room 218


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