Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State civil engineers are teaming with private industry to conduct a forensic study of the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast, with an eye toward strengthening state building codes as an essential part of the rebuilding effort.
Utilizing $30,000 in support from the Ready-Mix Concrete Research Foundation and $25,000 from the Mississippi Concrete Industries Association, experts from the university's civil engineering department already are evaluating the wind and water impacts of Hurricane Katrina on residential and commercial structures along the coast.
"Our team is in the process of documenting the type of damage caused by Katrina, and a draft of the study will be available in January," said Tom White, head of the department, a part of the Bagley College of Engineering.
The Mississippi Construction Industry Coalition also is helping draft a bill for introduction in the 2006 legislative session to establish a review board that would oversee the implementation of a proposed statewide building code.
The coalition includes an industry cross section of contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and executives and officials from the public and private sectors.
"Right now, there are no standard statewide building code requirements in Mississippi," said Robert Varner, executive director of the Ridgeland-based concrete industries association. "It is left up to the city and county officials to determine."
Varner said his organization--a non-profit trade association representing the concrete industry in Mississippi--hopes results from the MSU study will "provide the background and assessment necessary to bring attention to the need to adopt a statewide building code."
One member of the MSU civil engineering group, veteran professor Dennis Truax, said the team will study coastal topography, historic land use in the area and meteorological conditions that prevailed during Katrina Aug. 29.
"Issues related to survivability and the repair of transportation systems and infrastructures supporting municipal services are being defined," said Truax.
"For example, U.S. 90 has been destroyed or reduced to a single lane in several areas," he explained. "We will be studying how it failed and what might be done to prevent a similar failure if another event like this should occur."
He said another area of major concern will be "preventing sewers from filling with sand and debris as flood waters recede."
In addition to White and Truax, faculty colleagues on the team include associate professors Bill McAnally and Harry Cole, and assistant professors Chris Eamon, Li Zhang and Phil Gullett. Pat Fitzpatrick, an associate research professor at the Stennis Space Center office of MSU's GeoResources Institute, also is working with the team, which made an initial inspection visit to the Gulf Coast Oct. 30 and 31.
"The results from this study will be vital to ensuring that the rebuilding plan will significantly improve property protection and life safety, should the area be faced with another devastating storm," said Julie Luther, executive director of the RMC Foundation. The Silver Springs, Md.-based foundation supports research and educational programs that will advance and improve the concrete industry.
For more information, contact Julie Lemons at (662) 325-8098 or jlemons@engr.msstate.edu.
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NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: As a part of the study, a workshop Dec. 16 at the Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg will address ways to prevent damage from natural disasters and the need for standardized codes and regulations. Participants will include county and city officials, legislators, engineers, contractors, and others who may have an interest in the topic. Media representatives interested in attending should contact Robert Varner at (601) 957-5274 or rvarner@mississippiconcrete.com.