James E. Roberts (November 30, 1930 - July 6, 2006) was a noted American civil engineer. He was recognized with industry and government awards for his leadership in bridge engineering, especially in the area of

seismic retrofit Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent exp ...

. He was the state bridge engineer at

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

during the

Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...

and

Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately ...

. His public service career lasted more than 50 years in the

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US Army Reserves The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020, ...

and Caltrans. Roberts career spanned over 50 years and covered some of the most active years for engineering experienced in California from the design and construction heyday of the 1950s and 1960s to his leadership during the reconstruction efforts and seismic retrofitting programs created after two significant California earthquakes the 1989

and the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately ...

.
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Education

Roberts was the son of a carpenter who made his living working in the oil industry of the San Francisco Bay area as a contractor. Roberts developed an early interest in construction through working with his father and determined early on that his career choice would be Civil Engineering. He obtained his engineering degree at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

in 1953.

US Army and Reserves

Upon graduation from UC Berkeley he started his employment with the California Division of Highways and worked in the area of bridge construction until leaving to fulfill his military commitment with a tour of duty in Korea. He retired as a colonel in the US Army Reserves. Roberts served as a Civil Engineering officer during this tour, returning to the Division of Highways and bridge construction as the federal

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program began.

Caltrans

Roberts worked in California’s Southern Central valley in

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. He spent several years commuting in the evening to attend courses toward the completion of his master's degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Southern California completing his degree with research work in the area of long term deflections of concrete bridge decks. Roberts sought and obtained more responsible assignment in the California bridge department’s design office where he worked for several years as a bridge designer. His strengths on the design floor were complemented by his experience in construction and he soon was offered an opportunity to lead a design section where he sought projects that offered opportunities to innovate. The Tuolumne River Bridge, which would ultimately be renamed after him, was one of the many bridges designed by his design section. Roberts final posting was Chief Engineer for the California Department of Transportation. He is remembered by colleagues for his contributions toward seismic design of concrete structures. Highlights of his career include his work as lead on the planning and design of the downtown area of Sacramento for its light rail project, which was designed at Roberts’ insistence by state staff to demonstrate the flexibility that state highway engineers could have.

Professional Associations and Honors

Roberts was a member of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, the Structural Engineers Association of California and served one year (1972) as State President of the Professional Engineers in California Government, the

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which represents

Professional engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...

s, land

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s and related classes who are

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for the state of California. He was an Honorary member of the

American Concrete Institute The American Concrete Institute (ACI, formerly National Association of Cement Users or NACU) is a non-profit technical society and standards developing organization. ACI was founded in January 1905 during a convention in Indianapolis. The Institu ...

among many other memberships. In 2007, the

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passed the bill to rename the Tuolumne River Bridge as the James E. Roberts Bridge. He received the Roebling Medal by the ESWP Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania for Lifetime Achievement in Bridge Engineering.

Selected References

1. Dokken Richard A., Salveson Matthew, ''James E. Roberts – More than an Engineer’s Engineer''. ASCE Structure Magazine, Feb 2009, pp 48–49 2. Alden, Don, et al. ''Oral History James E Roberts'',

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...

, pp 3. Kempton, Will, Land Richard, et al. ''James E. Roberts Memorial'', California Department of Transportation, altrans DVD, 59 minutes 4. Roberts, James E., ''50-Years as bridge engineer History James E Roberts'', California Department of Transportation altrans DVD, March 14, 2001 5. Wilson, Bill, ''Nothing Earth-Shattering –Roebling Medal'', Roads & Bridges Magazine, August 2001, www.ROADSBRIDGES.com pp 24–25

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, James E. American civil engineers 2006 deaths 1930 births 20th-century American engineers California Department of Transportation