Read about the latest ethical issues each month in ASCE News' column, "A Question of Ethics," devoted to recent ethical cases considered by the ASCE Committee on Professional Conduct or ethical issues brought to the attention of ASCE's counsel.
- December 2010, Volume 35, Number 12
In his annual state of the Society report, which he delivered at the business meeting held on October 21 in Las Vegas in conjunction with the 140th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, ASCE’s executive director, emphasized the membership’s leadership position in a number of areas and assured members that the Society was moving forward its key strategic priorities.
Opening with a discussion of ASCE’s vision that civil engineers are global leaders building a better quality of life, Natale noted that “we are currently working on three strategic priorities: infrastructure, sustainability, and competency.” With respect to infrastructure, he said that “ASCE continues to take the lead promoting the critical need to repair our crumbling national infrastructure” and pointed out that both Blaine D. Leonard, p.e., d.ge, Pres.10.ASCE, and Andrew W. Herrmann, P.E., SECB, F.ASCE, the Society’s president-elect, recently appeared on national news broadcasts to discuss the nation’s neglected infrastructure. He also noted the recent mention of ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure in People magazine and stated that so far 30 state and local “report cards” have been created and released. Read the full article here.
- November 2010, Volume 35, Number 11
SITUATION: A state department of transportation (DOT) has awarded two grants for the purpose of funding a yearlong “smart highway” research and development project. The project is organized as a competition between the two recipients; each is to prepare design specifications for an automated highway and car control system, and at the end of the year the DOT will award one recipient a $25-million contract to implement its design. To ensure the integrity of the competition and to protect each team’s intellectual property, the four DOT staff members assigned to this project are split equally between the grant recipients, each staff member providing help and input only to his or her team. Read the full article here.
- October 2010 Volume 35, Number 10
SITUATION: An ASCE member and professional engineer is left searching for work when the small firm at which he has been employed runs into financial difficulties and is forced to close. When a suitable engineering position does not materialize, he decides to respond to a newspaper ad seeking a construction inspector on a department of transportation project. While the member does not meet the particular qualifications requested, the state department and the consulting firm overseeing the hiring process decide that his engineering qualifications are more than sufficient for the position, and they hire him. Read the full article here.
- September 2010 Volume 35, Number 9
SITUATION: An asce member employed as a university professor is commissioned by the state auditor-general to help peer-review the design review and project management processes of the state department of transportation (dot). After a five-month investigation that includes interviews with dot staff members, on-site observation of processes, and a review of project documentation and correspondence, the professor and his team of reviewers issue a report that is harshly critical of the dot’s quality control procedures. Read the full article here.
- July/August 2010 Volume 35, Number 7/8
SITUATION: An ASCE member and geotechnical engineer is contacted by a local structural engineer with a proposal concerning a large subdivision project on which the structural engineer has been retained to perform work. The structural engineer informs the member that the owner is seeking to retain a geotechnical engineer to perform work on the subdivision project and that he, the structural engineer, is prepared to recommend the ASCE member to the owner. However, in exchange, the structural engineer would expect the member to pay him a flat fee of $500 for each lot the member is engaged to perform work on as a "referral fee." The structural engineer claims that the owner of the subdivision plot is aware of and has agreed to this proposed financial arrangement between the structural engineer and the member.
Concerned with the ethical implications of this transaction, the member contacts the ASCE ethics hotline, which in turn forwards the question to the Committee on Professional Conduct for its views on the matter. Read the full article here.
- May 2010 Volume 35, Number 5
SITUATION: As an executive of Cant Construction, Unoco knows that his company recently paid a heavy fine for its involvement in a "pay to play" contracting scheme and that it might sustain even greater damage to its reputation and financial stability if it engages in illegal conduct in Ethicana. Although concerned about the financial arrangements for this multimillion-dollar project and aware of the history of corruption in the country, Unoco relies on his understanding that such financial institutions as the one funding the Ethicana project typically place strict conditions on loans to ensure that the funds are managed properly. Read the full article here.
- April 2010 Volume 35, Number 4
SITUATION: In the December 2009 column, we presented a hypothetical case in which an engineer who is redesigning a town's sewage plant headworks suspects that the treatment room does not comply with National Fire Protection Association requirements for "explosion-proofing," despite assurances from the local fire official. Read the full article here.
March 2010 Volume 35, Number 3
SITUATION: An ASCE member is appointed to serve as the municipal engineer for a township in the state of New York. His duties include reviewing proposed subdivision and site plans for compliance with zoning regulations before the applications are considered by the local planning board. Read the full article here.
February 2010 Volume 35, Number 2
SITUATION: The driver of a small passenger vehicle is seriously injured when his car spins out of control on a rural road and slams into a tree. The driver files suit against several defendants in connection with the accident, including his car’s leasing agency, the auto manufacturer, and the engineering firms responsible for the design and construction of the road. Read the full article here.
January 2010 Volume 35, Number 1
SITUATION: The driver of a small passenger vehicle is seriously injured when his car spins out of control on a rural road and slams into a tree. The driver files suit against several defendants in connection with the accident, including his car’s leasing agency, the auto manufacturer, and the engineering firms responsible for the design and construction of the road. Read the full article here.
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