February 25, 2010
**MEDIA ADVISORY**
American Society of Civil Engineers Sends Post-Disaster Assessment Team to
Study Earthquake’s Impact on Drinking Water, Roads, Power Supplies, Etc.
WHAT: A technical assessment team from the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering will travel to Haiti to study the impact of the January 12, 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the region’s infrastructure. The team will examine the performance of systems such as drinking water and sewage, roads and power supplies, ports and telecommunications, and schools and hospitals; as well as gather information that could aid in sustainable and resilient development efforts.
WHO: Curt Edwards, P.E., F.ASCE, Team Leader, Psomas
Alex Pierre Augustin, E.I.T., State of California
Don Ballantyne, P.E., MMI Engineering
Bill Bruin, P.E., Halcrow, Inc.
Rick Carter, State of Oregon
Stu Werner, P.E., Seismic Systems and Engineering Consultants
Brucely Joseph, URS Corporation
Aimee Lavarnway, Shannon & Wilson
Nason McCullough, P.E., CH2M Hill
Mark Pickett, Ph.D., P.E., University of Toledo
Dave Plum, P.E.
WHEN & February 28 to March 6, 2010
WHERE: Port Au Prince and the surrounding areas affected by the earthquake.
WHY: As part of its disaster response procedure, ASCE forms technical teams to study infrastructure damage caused by natural or man-made disasters. Such studies are conducted so that engineers may learn from the disaster, and perhaps more importantly, so that those lessons learned may be documented to inform future actions. ASCE has participated in more than a dozen assessments in the last decade, including studies of the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001; earthquake assessments in Italy, China, Peru, Japan, Sumatra-Andaman, Algeria, Alaska and California; and assessments following hurricanes Katrina and Ike.
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 144,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. For more information, visit www.asce.org.
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Contact: Joan Buhrman, 703-295-6406 (w), 571-213-3812 (c), jbuhrman@asce.org