Colin J. Williams, 66, an expert in microclimate impacts on building performance and founding partner of Canadian design firm Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin, died on Sept. 17 in Elora, Ontario. The cause of death was cancer, says the company. In a 40-year career at the Guelph, Ontario, firm, he helped grow it from a small regional company to a 400-person global consultancy, says CEO Michael Soligo. Williams “was a much published author whose research and practical experience working on a vast array of projects were applied to developing criteria for wind and snow issues that are still in use today,” he says. Among projects on which he consulted were the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica and the Rankin Community Snow Fence in Northwest Territories.
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Walter Podolny Jr., 84, a bridge design expert and former senior structural engineer at the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, died on Sept. 26 in Burke, Va. The cause of death was a heart attack, his family confirms. Podolny was a much published author, whose works include a 1982 book with engineer Jean Muller on construction and design of prestressed concrete segmental bridges. He also co-authored a 1986 book on cable-stayed bridge design. A memorial service is set for Nov. 22 in Annandale, Va.
Podolny noted in a 1997 ENR article that FHWA was evaluating solutions to a problem of vibrations being induced on cable-stayed bridges from a combination of light rain and moderate wind, which caused oscillations on the order of 3 to 4 ft in 650-ft-long cables. This situation was partially responsible for a month-long closure in 1996 of the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, Holland, and had caused noticeable cable vibrations in bridges in Texas and Iowa. He said the rain spins around the cable, changing the cross section aerodynamics and causing the fluctuation. According to Podolny, FHWA had been looking at fixes that included dynamic dampers and tuning ropes that link the stays together. Both systems had proved partially successful on France's Normandy Bridge, which was opened in early 1995 and was, at the time, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge.
Henry C. “Clay” Hines Sr., 58, a structural engineer and principal at The DiSalvo Engineering Group, Ridgefield, Conn., died suddenly on Aug. 23 in Bethel, Conn. The cause was a heart attack, the company said. A master’s degree engineering graduate of Cornell University, he joined the firm in 1983 and led its school design practice. “He thrived on designing and building things, solving problems and talking to people,” says an obituary.
Hines
