BD engr designs largest US civil work project

[integra]

BD engr designs largest US civil work project

A Bangladeshi engineer has earned the repute of being the coordinator or principal engineer of the ever-largest project in US civil work's history to save its coastlines from hurricane onslaughts.

The United States army selected Anwar Zahid, a graduate of Bangladesh University of Engineers and Technology (BUET), to lead the construction of the two multi-billion dollars giant structures for the protection of its New Orleans and Louisiana states coastlines from hurricane and storm surges.

"As the super hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Louisiana, United States Army Corp of Engineers has taken the mega project at an estimated cost of around US$ 11 billion to build various types of mega engineering structures to protect the two states from future upsurge," Zahid said on Friday.

Talking to BSS on the sidelines of a technical presentation at the Institution of Engineers (IEB) in Dhaka where he shared his experiences with Bangladeshi engineers, 40-year-old Zahid said he was selected as the designer of record (DOR) or lead coordinator and project manager of these complex projects for his research background on the issue.

"I was offered the task to rebuild the Twin Tower in New York, but I preferred the task of using my expertise in building the structures to prevent hurricane or cyclone damages thinking that it may benefit Bangladesh someday or someway as the coastlines of the two states are largely identical to that of Bangladesh," he said.

He said the US army chose him as the appropriate person on the basis of his Ph.D thesis on "wave propagation" which was considered crucial for the mega project that also needed expertise on electrical and electronics, mechanical engineering, social studies alongside the civil constructions.

"Under the project, we are constructing complex hydraulic structure ranging from floating steel gates, steel sector gates, vertical lift gates, closure gates, pump stations, concrete T-walls, levees, bridges and complex foundations," he said.

Zahid added that he needed to deal with alternative study phases for cost proposal preparation, alternative selection and later developing plans and specifications while his background encompasses project management, designing complex hydraulic structure and foundations, transportation projects and forensic analysis.

Asked how he thought Bangladesh could replicate the project considering the cost involvement, Zahid said the project he designed allowed the constructors to build them in phases taking a long time while deltaic Bangladesh could also partly replicate it to protect the most vulnerable or economically sensitive parts of "our southern coastlines".

"My experiences can be implemented, at least, to mitigate partly the recurring cyclone and flooding problems of Bangladesh," said Zahid, who had won the gold medal from Bangladesh government for his excellent academic performance in BUET.

A former associate professor of BUET, Zahid obtained a BS and MS from the same university and a Ph.D in structural engineering and mechanics from the US North Carolina State University and a researcher fellowship from the world's top Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

 

[integra]

By the way if anyone missed there is another Architect/Engineer
who is considered the father of high rise tubular structures and
designed The Sears tower which was the tallest for decades.

His Name is Fazlur Khan from Dhaka.

"I was offered the task to rebuild the Twin Tower in New York, but I preferred the task of using my expertise in building the structures to prevent hurricane or cyclone damages thinking that it may benefit Bangladesh someday or someway as the coastlines of the two states are largely identical to that of Bangladesh," he said.

And now we have a second one I guess.

 

[integra]

Another point just crossed my mind is if this lad
actually went for the task of rebuilding the twin towers
project then he being a muslim,
would the Americans accept that? Seems they did, ironically.
Though it went futile.

 

[UKBengali]

"I was offered the task to rebuild the Twin Tower in New York, but I preferred the task of using my expertise in building the structures to prevent hurricane or cyclone damages thinking that it may benefit Bangladesh someday or someway as the coastlines of the two states are largely identical to that of Bangladesh," he said

What a patriot!

 

[akash57]

By the way if anyone missed there is another Architect/Engineer
who is considered the father of high rise tubular structures and
designed The Sears tower which was the tallest for decades.

His Name is Fazlur Khan from Dhaka.



And now we have a second one I guess.

Great man. Did a high school project about him. Went well, got a really good mark (93%)!

 

[fallstuff]

Dr Anwar Zahid of Arcadis: protecting New Orleans

“Arcadis has three large divisions: infrastructure, program and construction management and environment,” explains principal engineer Anwar Zahid, PhD. Dr Zahid is a PE in the state of Louisiana, and has experience in transportation and bridge projects. He is in Arcadis’ infrastructure group, working on flood protection in New Orleans, LA.

After hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, New Orleans became notorious for its crumbling infrastructure. Levees alone can’t protect the city: Zahid is working on floodgates, precast concrete retaining wall systems and a pumping station that will likely be the world’s largest.

The company has flood protection projects in other states, including Texas, Florida and California, but Louisiana is the biggest to date. “We’re running against a June 2011 deadline to achieve 100-year flood protection,” Zahid explains. “We’re increasing levee height to thirty-one feet and creating concrete walls to help keep water out of the city.”

Born in Bangladesh, Zahid has a 1997 BSCE and a 1999 MSCE from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Dhaka, Bangladesh) and a 2005 PhD in structural engineering and mechanics from North Carolina State University.

The new Dr Zahid began as a structural engineer with Kimley Horn (West Palm Beach, FL).
In 2007 Arcadis hired him to handle especially challenging projects. “My job has three parts: expanding our practice, mentoring young engineers and developing our group,” he explains. “We have eight to ten engineers in our office now and I have four direct reports.”

Bridge design and flood protection are naturals for Zahid, since Bangladesh suffers from frequent flooding during the monsoon season. Zahid grew up in the capital city of Dhaka, but his grandparents lived in the country and the family had to take a ferry to visit them. “Today they have one of the world’s longest bridges over the Jamuna River,” he says.

When he saw the flood problems in Louisiana caused by Katrina, Zahid was immediately drawn in. “I thought that if I worked on problems here in Louisiana, maybe someday I could bring our solutions back to Bangladesh.

“The work is very challenging,” he notes. “You have to be creative, ready to take the challenge. We know the work we do will be here for a long time.”

Zahid has a medal from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for graduating first in his university class, and a “young researcher” fellowship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s a member of ASCE and the Louisiana Engineering Society. Although he enjoyed cricket growing up in Bangladesh, today he watches football with his son and daughter.



Civil engineers do important work