Concrete Specialist Expert Witness

Expert Witness No. 129

Texas

Academic Training Degree              

United States Military Academy at West Point, Bachelor of Science, 1945

Experience          

Jun. 1945- Nov. 1952                           Commissioned Officer, U. S. Army

Jun. 1952- Sept 1969                           Vice President, Self-Owned Testing Laboratory, Inc. and President, Architectural Concrete Consultants, Inc.

Aug. 1969 - June 1977                          President, Architectural Concrete Consultants Division of General Portland, Inc.

June 1977 to Present:                           Chairman, Self-Owned Construction Company

Background and Experience

Concrete technical and construction experience spans 60 years.  While working at the Testing Laboratory during the summer of 1938, conducted first research in concrete mixtures to study use of sawdust as an aggregate "so concrete could be sawed."  Served as batch plant inspector for construction of a shipyard in 1942 when orders arrived to report to the United States Military Academy as a cadet. After military service, returned to the Testing Laboratory starting as an inspector and moving to Baton Rouge, LA branch office (25 staff) management (1955 - 1961). Management responsibilities work with concrete, asphalt, soils, steel, coatings, and welding.

In 1961 moved to Houston office and invented an architectural concrete construction process known as Arbeton for use in high rise buildings designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill.  Organized Architectural Concrete Consultants, Inc. in response to architectural, engineering, and contractor requests for such services.  From offices in Houston, Washington, and San Francisco, provided special consulting services for design and construction.  That firm was acquired by General Portland Cement Co. to continue consulting services and assist in the support of their architectural cements including the tan product developed to match a color we suggested.  During this period worked with most major architectural and engineering companies in the U.S. The construction value of projects we served in US and abroad exceeds $60 billion.

Projects included the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, Dallas/Ft Worth Airport, Newark Airport terminals, New Orleans Superdome, Equitable Building in Los Angeles, and many others in most major metropolitan areas of the U.S.

Overseas work included the development of concrete process technologies in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Dubai. Working in that region without the benefit of standard materials and methods created major challenges. The Summer Palace for the Shah of Iran at Chalus was designed as a geodesic dome shaped, cast in place architectural concrete structure.  Due to complex steel reinforcement, conventional construction methods could not be used. The design had been evaluated for construction methods by European and Japanese construction professionals but none had been able to develop a solution.  Our creative thinking and knowledge of special processes led to our developing the solution in three days.  Three stories had been completed when the Shah left the country.

The architectural concrete consulting experience contributed to development of a special knowledge of concrete and publication of the paper "Concrete Construction Making the Process Work."  Architectural concrete work requires special expertise in materials, mixtures, reinforcement and details, forming, placement, compaction emphasizing vibrator characteristics and manipulation techniques, testing, curing, and finishing.  It is through that experience that we have unique skills.

Since resigning from General Portland Inc. in 1977 to pursue personal interests in concrete consulting work, have worked with major construction including buildings, highways, bridges, power plants, dams, tunnels, and other major concrete construction types.  While we continue to work with architectural concrete such as the Rock & Roll Museum in Cleveland, our special emphasis is on concrete durability. Found that traditional practices of proportioning concrete predate World War II and are seriously faulted for the needs of the supply chain of this era.

Have developed concrete mixture software that is in use across the United States and 70 other countries.  The programs include mixture technology, statistical analysis, and materials databases. The programs are of such significance the American Society for Testing and materials modified the standard for aggregate because the software demonstrated that the standard contributed to construction and durability problems.  The American Concrete Institute modified documents dealing with such subjects as slabs on grade, proportioning concrete mixtures, specifications for structural concrete, and sanitary structures based on introduced technology from this expert and his company. Public agencies such as state departments of transportation and US Air Force have adopted his technology.  The influence is so broad that, in many areas, the name is used generically.

Construction and quality leadership and forensic studies have been provided for all types of concrete construction including industrial slabs, buildings, highways, bridges, and tunnels.

Citations and Honors

Available Upon Request

Technical Committee Activities

Available Upon Request

Selected Publications

Available Upon Request