This year’s ACI 123 Forum brings Baltimore’s engineering savvy to the multi-objective challenge of balancing cost, performance, serviceability, and safety in reinforced concrete design, exploring how advanced materials shift the equilibrium and reveal the curve of diminishing returns. Participants will dive into data-driven trade-off analyses to guide practical decision-making for urban infrastructure. Expect a lively, interactive atmosphere where ideas flow freely and every perspective sharpens our collective understanding. Attendees are invited to pose thought-provoking questions, share real-world experiences, and engage in spirited debate throughout the session. Whether you’re an emerging engineer, seasoned practitioner or just like Old Bay Seasoning, you’ll leave energized with new insights into the delicate art of balancing competing objectives.
Learning Objectives:
(1) Discuss multi-hazard strategies for resilient reinforced-concrete design (earthquake, fire, wind, tsunami);
(2) Explain how advanced materials—3-D printed concrete, UHPC, and other high-performance concretes—can reshape resilience and life-cycle cost;
(3) Name data-driven tools for balancing safety, serviceability, and budget in new and retrofit projects;
(4) Review practical takeaways from recent failures and rebuilds that translate research into codes and field practice.
This session has been approved by AIA and ICC for 2 PDHs (0.2 CEUs). Please note: You must attend the live session for the entire duration to receive credit. On-demand sessions do not qualify for PDH/CEU credit.
Resiliency of Modern Concrete Structures Under Fire Hazard
Presented By: Venkatesh Kumar Kodur
Affiliation: Michigan State University
Description: Bio: Dr. Venkatesh Kodur, University Distinguished Professor and Director of MSU’s Centre on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics, is a global authority on structural fire behavior. Author of 550+ papers (25,000 citations, h-index 88), he shaped fire-safety codes, helped probe the WTC collapse, and is a Fellow of seven academies.
Abstract: Fire remains a critical threat to buildings. While high-performance concretes (HPC) deliver greater strength, durability, and sustainability than normal-strength mixes, they rapidly lose capacity and may spall explosively at high temperatures; slimmer cross-sections further erode fire resilience. This presentation examines how severe heating, unfavorable structural configurations, and inherent material weaknesses amplify risk in modern HPC structures. Experimental and analytical results highlight practical solutions—bent-tie confinement in columns, fiber additions to curb spalling, and other member- and material-level measures. Case studies show that applying these strategies can markedly improve the fire resistance and overall resiliency of HPC systems.
Durability and Service Life for Concrete Structures: From Standards to Practice
Presented By: Bruno Fong-Martinez
Affiliation: Kiewit
Description: Bio: Dr. Bruno Fong-Martinez joined the Kiewit Concrete Materials team in 2020. Prior to this, he earned his civil engineering Ph.D. with a focus on concrete durability from The University of Texas at Austin. As a Concrete Engineer, Bruno uses his technical background to improve concrete operations with an emphasis on practicality. He regularly develops and reviews technical specifications, optimizes concrete mixture designs, troubleshoots field issues, participates in technical risk assessments, develops protocols for durability, and performs service life analyses.
Abstract: Critical infrastructure projects now often require 100-year or greater service lives to address sustainability and resiliency concerns. However, the terms ‘service life’ and ‘durability’ are commonly misunderstood or undefined. Additionally, improvements in durability and sustainability cannot be made at the expense of constructability. Thus, a comprehensive, well-defined, and performance-based approach is best suited for these complex projects. This presentation will showcase how to qualify and model a new 100-year concrete mixture by featuring examples from large-scale construction projects, highlighting changing patterns, disparities between measured and expected values, risks of accelerated and alternate testing, and a new systematic approach to predict permeability.
Structural Optimization: Reducing Material, Increasing Resilience
Presented By: Aubrey Smading
Affiliation: American Cement Association
Description: Bio: Aubrey Garinther (Smading), M.S., P.E. is the Director of Concrete Design and Technology at the American Cement Association and works to advance ACA’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality. Aubrey leverages her experience as a structural design and forensics engineer to support decarbonization of the concrete and construction links of the industry’s value chain.
Abstract: Resilience in the construction industry requires efficient use of our materials. One strategy in reducing the carbon footprint of concrete is optimizing the structural design of concrete buildings. Research and pilot projects have explored innovative design and construction methods in an effort to reduce the amount of concrete on a project while maintaining the required strength and durability. One study suggests that by employing optimized design methods, the embodied carbon of concrete structures has the potential to be comparable to that of timber structures.
Methods such as parametric design, voided slabs, 3D-printing, and post-tensioning have been successful in reducing material and carbon. Others are exploring the idea of reusable concrete elements, fabricated with reuse in mind to support the circular economy. With design for increasing environmental hazards evolving, how does our industry ensure safe and resilient structures can be constructed with these innovative methods?
Strength is essential, but otherwise unimportant’ – Why the words of Hardy Cross matter for Performance-Based Design in 2025
Presented By: Mervyn Kowalsky
Affiliation: North Carolina State University
Description: Bio: Mervyn Kowalsky is the Christopher W. Clark Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering at North Carolina State University and the Chair of ACI 341 – Performance-Based Seismic Design of Bridges. His research group utilizes large scale tests and dynamic analysis to study the seismic behavior of structures.
Abstract: As structural engineers, we take advantage of the latest advances in materials, whether they are improvements to traditional materials (UHPC and High Strength Reinforcing Steel), or unconventional/newly developed materials. Often these advances are aimed at increasing the strength of materials. These advances are sometimes intentional, and in other instances a byproduct of better processes. Whichever the case, this talk will explore the benefits and drawbacks of increased material strengths within the context of earthquake engineering while opening a discussion to debate Hardy Cross’ famous quote.
Ultra-High Performance, Ultra-High Coexistence, from Strength to Symbiosis: Visions for a Resilient Nature-Positive UHPC Infrastructure
Presented By: Kay Wille
Affiliation: University of Connecticut
Description: Bio: Kay Wille is Professor and Interim Director of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He advances cementitious materials, fiber-reinforced composites, and concrete durability research. His recent work champions nature-positive infrastructure that restores ecosystems. Ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists, he is dedicated to mentoring students.
Abstract: Concrete has long interacted with nature—from Roman seawater concretes that mineralized in situ to oyster-encrusted breakwaters and vegetated revetments. These precedents suggest moving beyond “resistance only” toward resilient structures that cooperate with living systems. This talk outlines a paradigm of structural–ecological symbiosis using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as the platform. UHPC’s strength, toughness, and durability enable slender sections and protective shells that preserve safety while creating room for biofunction. Near-term work targets: (1) bio-receptive UHPC and surface morphologies with tuned roughness, porosity, and nutrient microchannels to support benign biofilms, lichens, shells, or engineered mosses; (2) fiber/lattice exoskeletons that mechanically support climbing vegetation or root mats without sacrificing cover or durability; and (3) quantifying growth-induced actions—root pressure and biogenic mineralization—on cracking, stiffness, transport, freeze–thaw, abrasion, and fire. The aim is practical: nature-positive UHPC elements that protect people and infrastructure while inviting habitat.