Greetings, Members and Friends of ASBI

Editorial by Barton Newton,
ASBI President

I am honored to hold the position of ASBI President for the next two years. These are incredible times to be involved in the US Transportation industry. Whether in the western, middle, or eastern sides of this great country, we are now witness to unprecedented attention being given to solving the problems of an aging infrastructure, significant growth in population and increased goods movement. Keeping our country moving is in the best interest of the US economy as well as the global economy.

Why Are These Current Conditions Important To ASBI?
The public expects our industry to deliver the highest return on the monies invested. ASBI provides the neutral tenet to “advance, promote, and innovate segmental bridging technology; share the knowledge; educate stakeholders; build professional relationships; and increase the value of our infrastructure by providing sustainable solutions.” Our organization believes in the mission above and asserts that segmental bridges are a valuable tool in transportation design.

Why Does ASBI Need To Succeed?
New bridges will be needed. Existing bridges will need to be well taken care of. The industry and especially bridge owners need to know, that for the appropriate application, “Segmental bridges can offer the best value bridging solution.” These bridges are efficient, durable, and long lasting. They solve many of the issues related to tight urban condition or large bridge gaps for the transportation system. It is our job to ensure that decision makers are aware of the latest in design and construction innovations. We can achieve this by communicating our message through presentations at the annual convention, delivery of educational materials in manuals, training, and seminars, and by marketing to both internal and external customers. It is our responsibility to inform and dispel myths and misunderstandings in the industry.

How Will ASBI Make This Happen?
By staying true to our values, keeping our membership strong and growing, and having the discipline to following our Strategic Plan. As many of you know, in 2014, ASBI developed a Strategic Plan in order to guide its growth and development over the next 25 years. This document helped align the organization’s resources and activities with its goals and objectives. This Strategic Plan includes 5 goals supported by 10 objectives that are in turn supported by 31 strategies.

The goals and expected outcomes of the plan are organized to align with our committee structures. The success of each committee, sub-committee, and work group is dependent on the members involved and their level of active participation.

The life blood of ASBI is its members. There are two consistent desires I hear from our membership as to why they are members- first, a desire to gain knowledge from their peers; second, to contribute to advancing the engineering science of concrete segmental bridges.

As members, we all have a responsibility to make the most of our roles within ASBI. If you haven’t already, please consider active participation on one of the ASBI Committees.

I would to thank all the committee members, especially chairs- you have expended personal effort to advance the committee work.

ASBI will continue to be proactive in solving the transportation issues of today, as well as innovating for the future.

Let us all work together to bring a new energy level to ASBI in the coming years.

Our future success depends on it.