8th Dr. Anwar Wissa Lecture

The American Society of Civil Engineers, West Coast Branch, Geo Institute held the 8th Dr. Anwar Wissa Lecture at the Marshall Student Center, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida on November 5, 2019.

This year’s speaker was Dr. John E. Garlanger of Ardaman & Associates, Inc.  Dr. Garlanger discussed the importance of analysis in the design and construction of civil, mining and environmental engineering projects.   The use of model calibration or verification through post-construction measurements and observation on several projects with different soil conditions as a prerequisite to reliance on engineering judgement was emphasized.

Dr. Garlanger is chief engineer at Ardaman & Associates, Inc., a position he has held since 1975.  Prior to joining Ardaman in 1973, he was on the civil engineering faculty at MIT.  He received his B.S. M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois, where he was an instructor in soil mechanics and foundation engineering and did research on the strength and compressibility of partially-saturated soils.  He was also a teaching assistant at Harvard University and a research fellow at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, where he studied the creep properties of highly plastic clays. 

Dr. Garlanger’ s presentation was preceded by a presentation of a current research project on the measurement of grout continuity in External Post-tensioned Tendon Conduits.  The presentation was by Hani Freij, PhD Candidate in Civil Engineering at the University of South Florida.   Professor Gray Mullins, PhD, PE of the University of South Florida also presented a paper on Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Resistance Factors for Tip Grouted Drilled Shafts.

The 2019 Dr. Anwar Wissa Lecture was organized by a Committee of the ASCE West Coast Branch Geo Institute lead by Mr. Curt Basnett of Jacobs Engineering with Ross McGillivray of Ardaman & Associates, Inc. as a member of the Committee.  The lecture has been held on an Annual Basis since 2010, in honor of Dr. Wissa who served as Ardaman’s president for over three decades.  The lecture invites presentations by leading geotechnical engineering researchers and practitioners, both nationally and internationally.  The lecture was attended by undergraduate and graduate students, engineering faculty of the University of South Florida and  engineers from the local area.