WSU Experts on Bridge Construction and Structural Failure

What happened to the Minneapolis bridge? Are Washington state structures built to last? Washington State University experts on bridge construction and structural failure are available to media representatives.

Ken Carper, professor in the School of Architecture and Construction Management at WSU, is a national and international leader in the field of construction failure. He has written and edited four books on forensic engineering and structural failure and has received a national award for his work as journal editor. He recently published Why Buildings Fail.

His book, Forensic Engineering, also came out in its 2nd edition. In 1986, Carper became a founding member of the national American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Technical Council on Forensic Engineering. He later became chairman of the group. He also was named the founding Editor-in Chief of the ASCE’s Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. The journal is dedicated to learning lessons about the causes and costs of failures and performance deficiencies in constructed projects.

Carper was awarded the National Forensic Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1997. He has been recognized with several teaching awards, including several awards from the School of Architecture and Construction Management, the outstanding educator award for the College of Engineering and Architecture, the 1999 faculty award from the WSU Honors College, and the Outstanding Faculty Member award from the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Education Association. In 1994, he received the all-university President’s Faculty Excellence Award.

Carper can be reached after 2 p.m. today at 509-335-1229 or kcarper@acm.wsu.edu.
Home Page: https://www.arch.wsu.edu/~kcarper.

David McLean is a structural engineer who specializes in concrete structures and bridges. Research areas include behavior and design of reinforced concrete, masonry, and timber structures; seismic response and strengthening of structures; infrastructure rehabilitation; and experimental testing of structural systems and components.

McLean has worked to retrofit existing bridges to make them better able to withstand earthquakes. Especially in the earthquake-prone Seattle area, he and his colleagues have designed and worked with the Washington State Department of Transportation on retrofitting projects that have been implemented on hundreds of bridges.

The researchers recently designed a solution for the problematic Spokane Street overpass, located in South Seattle, just off I-5. Using computer modeling to determine the optimal retrofit, McLean’s group developed circular steel jackets to cover the bridge’s knee joint, similar to a brace on might use for an actual knee injury. The steel jacket overlaps with another steel jacket that was developed to strengthen the column base. To allow for the dissipation of energy that an earthquake would create, the researchers cut a two-inch bare spot between the two steel jackets.

He teaches courses in Earthquake Engineering; Innovation and Design; Steel Design; Reinforced Concrete Design; Prestressed Concrete Design; and Reinforced Masonry Design. McLean has a doctorate degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; a master’s in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.

He can be reached during the day at 509-335-9578 or mclean@wsu.edu.
Homepage: https://www.ce.wsu.edu/Faculty_Staff/Profiles/mclean.htm.