Jean-Louis Briaud, Distinguished Professor and holder of the Spencer J. Buchanan Chair in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, was selected by the Geo-Institute (GI) to receive the 2016 Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award.
Briaud was selected in recognition of the outstanding contribution of his geotechnical engineering paper, “Scour Depth at Bridges: Method Including Soil Properties,” which is published in the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Briaud will be presented with the award during the 2017 Geo-Congress.
“Twenty-five years ago, one in 20 bridges collapsed due to scour, the removal of sediment from around bridge supports,” said Briaud. “We have contributed to the improvement of that number to one in 120. Research truly does pay off.”
A distinguished member of ASCE and a registered professional engineer, Briaud received his bachelor’s degree from the Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics in France in 1972, and his doctorate from the University of Ottawa in Canada in 1979. His expertise is in foundation engineering and more generally geotechnical engineering. Over the last 35 years, Briaud has conducted about $10 million in research, most of which was on foundations and retaining walls.