CEUs
1.5 LU/HSW
Cost
Free
AIA Member and others not seeking continuing education credits
$25
Non-Member architects seeking continuing education credits
Location
Zoom
Program Overview
A virtual panel discussion, moderated by Vikas Mehta, PhD, a professor of urbanism at the University of Cincinnati, will cover the programming and analysis, project planning and design for the replacement of the Western Hills Viaduct in Cincinnati, Ohio.
City officials, the design team, and experts on community health and urban design will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities posed by the site and methods for humanizing a structure designed specifically for vehicular traffic. Additionally, the immediate impact on communities at both ends of the bridge as well as how the structure could become a symbol of progress for the City of Cincinnati will be explored.
Registration deadline: noon on Monday, October 18, 2021.
Learning Objectives
After attending this program, participants will be able to:
Describe the new structural design of the Western Hills Viaduct bridge, including the strategies for making the bridge more pedestrian and cyclist friendly while efficiently managing the large volume of vehicular traffic safely.
Explain the design team’s efforts to engage stakeholders including the railroads and energy company with assets under the viaduct, and residents of neighboring communities whose lives are impacted daily by the bridge.
Identify the design strategies used to overcome site challenges that also mitigate the environmental and socioeconomic impacts the new structure will have on residents of the adjacent neighborhoods and the communities downstream.
Discuss the ways the bridge will become a symbol for the City of Cincinnati, due to its uniqueness in a city of bridges.
Panelists
Moderator
Vikas Mehta, Ph.D. - Professor, Fruth/Gemini Chair, Ohio Eminent Scholar, Urban Design Certificate Coordinator
Dr. Mehta’s work focuses on the role of design and planning in creating a more responsive, equitable, stimulating and supportive environment. He works on various dimensions of urbanity through the exploration of place as a social and ecological setting and as a sensorial art. His research, teaching, and community engagement efforts are committed to focusing design and planning toward urban vitality and regeneration, environmental sustainability through urbanism, creating place identity through urban communication, understanding of environment/behavior relationships, and multicultural understanding of place for the sustainable growth of cities and regions.
Panelists
Sajid Abbas - Senior Vice President, Director – Special Projects, Americas, T. Y. Lin International
Abbas specializes in the design and analysis of long-span bridges in areas of high seismicity, applying his extensive knowledge of the design of iconic bridge structures in the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. Sajid is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Adele Houghton, AIA - President, Biositu
Houghton, a licensed Architect in the State of Texas and LEED Accredited Professional with specialties in Building Design & Construction, Operations & Maintenance, and Neighborhood Development, is President of Biositu, LLC, a strategic consulting company dedicated to leveraging environmental sustainability to enhance community health.
Bill Shefcik, PE – Principal Engineer of the Structures Section within City of Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering
Shefcik has over 30 years experience in various aspects of bridge inspection, design, construction, and program/project management and currently is serving as the Project Manager for the Western Hills Viaduct Replacement Project. Prior to joining the City of Cincinnati in 1997, Shefcik was employed by Hazelet & Erdal, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in movable and long span bridges.
Jeffrey W. Stine, RA - Principal Architect of the City of Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering’s Urban Design Section
Stine worked for several local private firms for 15-years prior to joining public service, providing complete start to finish architectural services encompassing all building types and use groups. For the last 25+ years he has concentrated his focus on the planning and design of the City’s transportation-based infrastructure towards improving the experiential public realm environment in support of the City’s goals and objectives.