ASCE has honored Craig A. Davis, Ph.D., P.E., G.E., M.ASCE, with the 2020 Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award for his outstanding contributions in promoting the seismic resilience of water supply systems.
As a program manager for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Davis initiated the department’s Water System Resilience Program. That program integrated all aspects of the water system, including operation and maintenance; addressed multiple hazards (especially earthquake); and undertook risk assessments. Davis advocated for the use of seismic pipes throughout the United States and around the world. He initiated the first seismic-resilient pipe network program in 2012 with a plan to use seismic-resilient pipelines in supply, transmission and distribution networks in a consistent way to withstand earthquake and other geo-hazards and meet targeted performance objectives for providing services.
As part of this effort, Davis led the development of a Seismic Resilient Water Supply Task Force consisting of the California Department of Water resources, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and LADWP to allow the agencies to respond in unison following a major San Andreas Fault event affecting all imported water supply to Southern California, and to mitigate its effects by increasing the supply system resilience in advance of an earthquake. He also helped with the implementation of projects in Los Angeles for reducing risks for fires following an earthquake. An important contribution in this area was the implementation of the first performance-based design procedure comprehensively addressing all aspects of the Los Angeles Water System, which led to a set of performance objectives correlated with different event recurrence intervals. The program identified critical customers, water system service categories, and the distribution of emergency water supplies following catastrophic events.
The Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award is presented to an individual who has made a definite contribution to the advancement of lifeline earthquake engineering.
