23rd Annual William Barclay Parsons Lecture

ABOUT THE WILLIAM BARCLAY PARSONS LECTURE:

The William Barclay Parsons Lecture series was installed in 2003 with the sponsorship of Parsons Brinckerhoff. It honors the ingenuity, resolve, and engineering achievements of General William Barclay Parsons and his contributions to the advancement of the field of underground engineering and infrastructure construction in New York City. William Barclay Parsons was the Chief Engineer of the New York Rapid Transit Commission that designed and constructed the first section of the New York City Subway in 1904. The lecture series is intended to focus on the state-of-the-art topics in geotechnical engineering with a particular emphasis on tunneling and underground construction.

Registration: ASCE MET members please use promo code "ASCE" to waive registration fee. $10 fee for non-members.

LECTURE SUMMARY:

Although Los Angles had an extensive historic rail transit system until the 1960s, the current LA Metro urban rail transit system that serves Los Angeles County, California opened in 1990 and following incremental expansion now comprises four light rail and two heavy rail transit lines serving over 100 stations and some 35 km constructed in tunnels. Currently Metro is completing the construction of 15 km of tunnels and 7 underground stations for the Westside Purple (D) Line extension on the Westside of Los Angeles.

The ongoing program of countywide transportation improvements also includes more tunnels and underground stations. The tunnelling challenges include construction in a dense urban environment, existing underground infrastructure, earthquakes, and the presence of oil wells, methane and hydrogen sulfide gases in the ground. Amanda will discuss these challenges over time and how engineering strategies and details enabled the safe efficient construction and then operation of this underground work.

THE SPEAKER:

Amanda Elioff’s background is in planning, design development, and delivery of light and heavy rail transit systems. She has served as a project manager, and engineering manager for multiple phases of Los Angeles Metro’s Purple Line Extension (D line) and prior Metro subway projects. Her responsibilities have included conducting geotechnical investigations, developing design criteria; preparation of geotechnical baseline reports; and providing design support during construction.

Amanda's career is marked by her contributions to complex underground engineering projects. Her experience includes design of water and wastewater tunnels as well as tunnels for transit systems. Currently, she is WSP’s manager of the Purple Line Extension Section 1 Project in Los Angeles. Recently she was Engineering Manager for the San Francisco Bay Area’s Link21 Planning and Engineering Team (ARUP/WSP JV), studying a second Bay Tunnel Crossing and Megaregional transportation.

In addition to her technical work, Amanda is known for her leadership and mentoring within the industry. Amanda has been active in professional associations: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE- Past President, LA Branch), Director - American Underground Construction Association, and VP, International Tunneling Association. Recently, she was a member of the committee preparing the ASCE publication “Geotechnical Baseline Reports: Suggested Guidelines.” (3rd edition 2022). This Manual of Practice explains the role of GBRs in allocating and managing risks associated with subsurface construction

Host or Publisher ASCE Met Section Geo-Institute Chapter