ASCE has honored Randall P. Bass, P.E., with the 2020 Rickey Medal for his mentorship of young civil engineers in the field of dam engineering and safety assessment, and for numerous presentations to the Georgia Geo-Institute chapter of ASCE.
Bass has more than 40 years of experience in the planning, design, construction, regulation and inspection of dams, spillways and other water storage and control, and has served as the senior quality control reviewer on many high-profile dam projects. He has been a state dam safety regulator, an engineering consultant and a contractor leading dam construction, and has represented the Portland Cement Association as an expert in concrete for dams and hydraulic structures.
As the former Dam Safety Program Manager for the state of Georgia, his experience involved the inspection of over 350 high-hazard dams and the technical review of design reports, drawings and specifications prepared by consultants for dam rehabilitations and new dams. Bass worked with federal and state agencies on dam safety responsibilities and requirements.
He has been an instructor for more than 40 seminars on the design and construction of water control structures using roller-compacted concrete (RCC) and soil cement. He has served on the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Technical Training Committee for the past 15 years. He was an instructor for dam owner workshops in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, and presented webinars on the use of RCC in water control structures and quality control practices for dam construction.
Bass is also an instructor for an ASDSO short course developed by Schnabel on the design of reinforced concrete hydraulic structures. He served on an independent external peer-review panel where Schnabel performed a detailed review of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam safety program. The panel interviewed staff at several districts, divisions, headquarters and at the risk management center to evaluate their inspection program, design review procedures, and instrumentation and monitoring programs for dams, as well as to develop emergency action plans.
The Rickey Medal recognizes achievement in the field of hydroelectric engineering.
