Member Spotlight

BRUCE L. McCARTNEY, P.E.

Publications such as the new ASCE Manual No. 107: Ship Channel Design and Operation, do not “just happen”, but happen most often because certain dedicated members champion a cause and spend the time and energy to make it happen. In this case the champion was Bruce McCartney, the Lance Armstrong of navigation and waterways champions.

Bruce was the Editor and Principal Author of this recently released manual. He recognized the need for such a

publication, obtained the support of the COPRI Waterways Committee, and basically wrote the manual himself. Completing an undertaking of this magnitude is a tremendous accomplishment and anyone would be proud to leave such a legacy. But even more noteworthy is the fact that this is the third ASCE manual where Bruce was the Editor and Principal Author. In 1991 Manual No. 80: Report on Ship Channel Design was published, followed in 1998 by manual No. 98: Inland Navigation: Locks, Dams and Channels. All of these manuals are extremely important in this day and time considering that Navigable Waterways received a D- grade on the 2005 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card.  The D- was the lowest grade given to any of the categories evaluated and the grade reduction from the previous Report Card was the greatest of any other category.

Bruce is a renowned expert in the field of navigation and waterways. He is a private consultant who has worked on numerous national and international projects. He completed a long and distinguished career in the Corps of Engineers in 1994 when he retired from the then North Pacific Division in Portland OR, where he served for fourteen years. Prior to Portland, he spent twelve years in the Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC.  Bruce also served as a Hydraulic Engineer for nine years in the Corps Seattle District followed by two years at the Coastal Engineering Research Center then at Fort Belvoir, VA. These assignments gave Bruce an appreciation for hands-on engineering and the value of R&D.  While in the Corps leadership positions, Bruce was known as a great supporter of R& D, but an even greater supporter of making sure the results were available to those who need to use them.  He carries this philosophy over today.

Like many other ASCE members, Bruce joined the Society as a student in 1962 at Oregon State University.  He has been an active member of the Waterways Committee since 1977, serving as chair twice. Since 1993, Bruce has developed the concept and is an advocate for a "Navigation Engineering" specialty in the civil engineering discipline. He sees the three ASCE manuals he has been involved with as a start on the body of literature that will support the specialty. The creation of this new specialty is a key initiative of the Waterways Committee with Bill McAnally, Mississippi State University, chairing the new Task Committee.

Bruce is a huge asset to ASCE and the engineering profession. He has made and continues to make many contributions for the betterment of navigation and waterways. Al Wortley, Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, summed it up well when he recently said, "Bruce McCartney continues to be a dedicated hydraulic engineer making major contributions to our understanding, design, and operation of the nation's waterways."