Articles

October 2014 Technical Seminars

Morning Technical Seminar with the History & Heritage Committee
Begins at 11am

Topic: Bethel Park - Preservation and Restoration of Historic Masonry Walls

Speaker: Jacob Bice, Ph.D., P.E.

Presentation Summary: The Bethel Missionary Church was the first church in Texas founded and built by former slaves.  In 2007, this historic structure which had been previously abandoned caught fire and burned to the ground.  The only surviving elements of the facility were its masonry walls, which remained untouched until the City of Houston elected to create a public park at the site.  This presentation discusses (1) the stabilization of these walls, (2) the evaluations and testing that were performed to understand its construction and capacity, and (3) the approach to strengthening and preserving these walls as an integral part of a new community park.  The Bethel Park was awarded the 2014 Preservation Houston Good Brick Award and the 2014 Houston Business Journal Landmark award for historic preservation.

Speaker Biography: Jacob Bice is a Senior Associate and Project Manager at Walter P Moore and Associates in Dallas, Texas.  He received his bachelors and masters in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX and his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2006.  Dr. Bice manages a variety of general restoration and rehabilitation projects, and has assessed and repaired structures throughout the Unites States and Canada.  He specializes in concrete behavior and durability, and has a passion for developing holistic and durable solutions for the as-built environment.  He is secretary of ACI Committee 224: Cracking and a voting member of Committee 228: Nondestructive Evaluation of Concrete.

Afternoon Technical Seminar with Environmental Water Resources Institute (EWRI)
Begins at 1:10pm

Topic: Reducing Run-off with Permeable Pavers

Speaker: Glenn Herold, P.E.

Presentation Summary: Permeable Interlocking concrete pavements are one of the most popular and appreciated BMP’s. They answer both qualitative and quantitative needs for precipitation water flows. As water rains on the pavement, it seeps through the ground, reducing surface flows, often greatly reducing or even eliminating your stormwater infrastructure.
This presentation will discuss design applications for projects utilizing permeable pavement systems and their specifications for construction and the concept of improved land planning with the use of open graded aggregate for underground stormwater storage. Attendees will also learn design applications for LEED projects utilizing permeable pavement systems, as well as the benefit in utilizing a pavement system a long design life.

Speaker Biography: As the National Engineer for Oldcastle, Glenn assists design professionals throughout the country with designing, gaining regulatory approval for, and constructing Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement (PICP) Systems. In this capacity, Glenn has encountered a multitude of issues, hurdles, and / or concerns, the most frequent of which are the focus of this presentation.

Glenn has helped write the "Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement Design, Specification, Construction and Maintenance Manual" from ICPI, is on an ASCE Committee that is developing a Structural Design Manual for Permeable Pavements, and sits on an ASTM Task Group that is creating an infiltration test for PICP systems. He has been an invited presenter at various trade events throughout the continent, has lectured at several post-secondary institutions on hardscape products, and teaches contractor certification courses on behalf of both IPCI and NCMA.

Glenn is a graduate from the University of Waterloo and has a Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Civil/Environmental Engineering.  He majored in Water Management with a Minor in Transportation Engineering.