On behalf of the Structural Engineering Institute and the American Society of Civil Engineers, I am pleased to welcome you to the 2004 Structures Congress and Exposition. The Congress will be held downtown at the Nashville Convention Center, which is attached to the conference hotel, the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Nashville not only provides numerous activities but also a full array of structures — from historic to ultra modern, from buildings to transportation systems.

The theme for the 2004 Congress is Building on the Past: Securing the Future. Revised codes and standards along with new materials and methods are not only ensuring that the structures we create today are designed for high performance, they are also driving efforts to restore and retrofit the structures of the past. Structures 2004 will explore the latest changes in code — including wind and seismic provisions — along with important new approaches, such as blast resistance, to enhance the security and stability of the structures we build. Rehabilitation and retrofitting emerge as a critical topic for 2004 as private companies and government agencies alike upgrade existing structures to hold the line on insurance premiums and to meet FEMA guidelines. The 2004 Structures Congress has been designed to maximize the interaction of practicing engineers with those in academia, helping to drive practical application of cutting–edge research. To meet the high expectations of our conference participants, the 2004 Congress has been divided into nine tracks:

  • Innovations in Infrastructure Design
  • Recent Trends in Transportation Structures
  • Design Approaches for Different Model Building Codes
  • Restoration and Repair of Existing Structures
  • Seismic Design Concepts
  • Project Delivery Systems
  • Business and Professional Practice in Structural Engineering
  • Ongoing Theoretical and Experimental Research Activities
  • Computational Methods

    In addition, a student poster session is scheduled during the Tuesday night reception in the Exhibition Hall. Please stop by the student posters to observe some of the current research and development work that is taking place on our college campuses. In addition, this will give you an opportunity to meet and discuss structural engineering with some of the bright young minds on our campuses as well as serve as a potential recruitment effort for new engineers.

    On behalf of the Structures 2004 Congress Steering Committee, we hope you enjoy your conference here in Nashville. If there is anything that I or the staff can do to make your stay more enjoyable, please do not hesitate to ask. We also ask that you complete the evaluation forms at the various conference sessions so that the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE can continue to improve on the quality of our Structures Congresses and Expositions.

    Thomas S. Tarpy, Jr., Ph.D., P.E.
    Steering Committee Chairman
    2004 Structures Congress
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