John E. Breen, James O. Jirsa, civil engineering professors, and M. Keith Thompson, former student under Dr. Jirsa, were recently awarded the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research from the American Concrete Institute for their paper on “Behavior and Capacity of Headed Reinforcement.” The paper reported results of tests used to develop design recommendations for the latest concept for reinforcing concrete structures, “headed reinforcement.” The concept involves attaching steel plates or “heads” to ordinary reinforcing bars (“rebar”) to further prevent the bars from pulling out of concrete.
The award is given to authors of a peer-reviewed paper published by the Institute that describes a notable achievement in experimental or analytical research that advances the theory or practice of structural engineering.
Breen develops reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge and building systems and has studied structural concrete, column design, reinforcement development, general structural integrity, segmental bridge design, corrosion protection and bridge aesthetics. He is the Nasser I. Al Rashid Chair in civil engineering.
Jirsa researches the behavior and design of reinforced concrete structures, including the anchorage and development of reinforcement, detailing, durability and rehabilitation of structures in seismic zones. Jirsa is the Janet S. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering.
Thompson researches the development of reinforcement, strut-and-tie modeling, concrete bridges and civil engineering pedagogy. Thompson is an alumnus of the Cockrell School of Engineering and currently serves on the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
