A New Age of Engineering Tools: More Time to Engineer
Engineering often requires managing enormous amounts of information. Regulatory requirements, expectations for precision, documentation, calculations, project data, and administrative responsibilities all compete for a resource that remains finite: the engineer’s time. The challenge, then, is not simply how to work faster, but how to make better use of that finite resource. How can we increase […]
Welcome and Opening Keynotes
Welcome and Opening Keynotes: From the Capitol to the Coast: Revitalizing Texas Infrastructure ASCE in Action — Advancing Infrastructure Resilience Worldwide
“I wish we had known about this sooner!” The Benefits of Inspection
It would be a tremendous asset if we possessed the ability to travel back in time and correct mistakes. Unfortunately, unless you possess a wayback machine, a phone booth at Circle K, a DeLorean, or a magic school bus, this is not yet possible. Therefore, inspection during every phase of a project: pre-construction, throughout construction, […]
Enhancing Seawall’s Resiliency against Coastal Erosion
Cracks Happen: Designing Better Concrete Pavements with Fibers
Cracking in concrete is inevitable—but poor pavement performance does not have to be. Fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) provides engineers with an opportunity to rethink how concrete pavements are designed by moving beyond traditional approaches to crack control and reinforcement. This presentation explores the role of fibers in improving the performance, durability, and resiliency of concrete pavement […]
Enhancing Seawall’s Resiliency against Coastal Erosion with Pressed-in Pipe Pile Wall
National Route 134 of Japan is a scenic coastal highway about 30 miles southwest of downtown Tokyo. The highway agency in charge added a turning lane at a couple of intersections to mitigate chronic traffic jams as well as to retrofit the functionally obsolete earth retaining concrete seawall to enhance resiliency against future coastal erosion. […]
New Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Pavement Specification for Local Agencies, Engineers and Developers
The newly released dense graded Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Specification 341M is a streamlined version of TxDOT’s 341 specification from the 2024 TxDOT Spec Book and has been developed specifically for cities, counties and consulting firms doing designs for agencies and developers. This specification has been achieved in collaboration with the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association […]
Geohazard Instrumentation & Monitoring Applications for Safer Asset Management
The conference will describe the importance of geohazard instrumentation and a comprehensive suite of geotechnical and structural monitoring technologies designed to enhance safety and operational efficiency in mining and civil projects. It will highlight solutions including advanced sensors such as ShapeArrays, vibrating wire instruments, MEMS, GNSS, InSAR, and slope stability radars, integrated with powerful software […]
CSI: Guadalupe River: Investigating the Scene of the July 2025 Flood
The devastation from the flash flood event on July 4, 2025 on the Guadalupe River was a crime against humanity. Join me as we investigate the scene of this crime to track down the culprit. Although 11 inches of rainfall fell over the basin in a 3-hour period, the devastation was more intense than anyone […]
Bob Hall Pier, A Case Study in Resilience and Durability
Bob Hall Pier is a recreational fishing pier on the beach on Padre Island. This pier is an infrastructure project that incorporates climate adaptation, resource management, durability and resilience into the design. We will discuss how the design criteria was developed and materials were selected to incorporate durability, resiliency and forward thinking practices into the […]