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Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges & Highways To be held in Charleston, SC, July 27-30, 2008

The Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridges & Highways will be held July 27-30, 2008 in Charleston, South Carolina. The key organizers are the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Transportation Research Board (TRB), the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and MCEER, University at Buffalo.

This sixth in a series of biennial workshops will emphasize “Seismic Technologies for Extreme Loads” as its theme. The conference objective is to increase awareness of natural hazards and to enhance the technical expertise of engineering professionals so they can have the latest tools to mitigate the risk of damage to the highway infrastructure. The focus will continue to be on earthquakes but the technical program will also include discussions on hurricanes, flooding, and other hazards to explore how seismic experience and completed research might be applied to these concerns.

Past conferences have been held in San Diego (December 1995), Sacramento (July 1997), Portland (April 2002), Memphis (February 2004) and San Francisco (September 2006).

"The historic city of Charleston is an excellent location for the Sixth National Seismic Conference on Bridge and Highways," said Secretary of Transportation H. B. Limehouse, Jr. "Charleston’s notable past includes the massive earthquake of 1886, while its future is symbolized by the state of the art Cooper River Bridge. Join us in this wonderful setting for the latest information on seismic research around the world."

The conference will provide a forum for exchanging ideas. Over 60 papers will be presented and researchers will share their findings from regional and national perspectives. The conference will also feature select international speakers, recognized as authorities in the field, who will be able to provide yet another perspective. In addition to the oral presentations, poster displays will detail other interesting projects and studies. Both oral and poster presentations will be published on a proceedings CD. In addition, conference organizers are planning a special “hands-on” session as a way to explain some of nature’s unique phenomena.

On the last day of the conference, there will an optional technical tour of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River. The bridge, which links Charleston with Mount Pleasant, is the longest cable-stay span in the northern hemisphere. It opened in 2005 with many state-of-the art features and a cutting-edge design built to enable the bridge to be back in service within hours following an earthquake.

Corporate support from engineering firms, institutions, and companies who provide products and services for use in the field have joined forces to make this conference possible. Additional sponsorships remain available.

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