October 2019 – 5OBC
SEI San Francisco Chapter hosted the 5th International Orthotropic Bridge Conference (5OBC) – OCTOBER 2019 NEWSLETTER
First internationally hosted conference a success!
On August 14-16, 2019, the SEI San Francisco Chapter hosted the 5th International Orthotropic Bridge Conference (5OBC).
Recognizing orthotropic steel deck bridges are a specialized area within bridge engineering, the Sacramento Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Capital Branch, initiated the first orthotropic bridge conference in 2004 so all bridge engineers around the world could share their ideas, insights and projects.
Since 2004, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conferences have attracted many notable bridge engineers from across the USA and around the world. The San Francisco Bay Area has the largest concentration of orthotropic steel deck bridges in the USA, and hence made a logical location for the 5OBC.
The SEI San Francisco Chapter partnered with Santa Clara University as the host venue. For three days, orthotropic bridge engineers from industry and academia, representing six countries, collaborated on orthotropic steel deck bridge analysis and design advancements; fabrication and construction methods; inspection, maintenance, and repair; monitoring, serviceability and structural health monitoring; and seismic design and retrofit.
The conference also attracted students from local universities, providing them with a unique and real-world application of their civil/structural engineering coursework.
The conference also featured a banquet dinner, recognizing one of California’s long-span bridge engineers, Charles “Chuck” Seim, with a Life Time Achievement Award. Chuck, who was scheduled to be keynote speaker at the conference, passed away in early 2019.
On the day following the conference, there was an optional tour. The tour, provided participants to a few orthotropic steel deck bridges and an overview of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The 5OBC not only gave our local chapter international recognition but gave the over-all ASCE great exposure.
Conference Participants: over 60, representing 6 countries.
