ASCE has honored Gerald Voigt, P.E., M.ASCE, with the 2023 Wilbur S. Smith Award for his active involvement in developing and implementing technologies to improve the norms and standards of practice for highway concrete pavements for more than 37 years.
Early in his career, Voigt developed a simplified standard for the specification of dowel bars for jointed pavements, which has been adopted by nearly all state departments of transportation, Federal Highway Administration, and other agencies worldwide. This standard has virtually eliminated joint faulting, a problem plaguing early concrete pavement designs. He also developed a stepwise solution for laying out the pavement jointing pattern through complex at-grade intersections, roundabouts, and interchanges, including the diverging diamond style. His method simplified the process, delivering crack-free patterns, and has since been adopted by highway agencies across the world.
Voigt more recently devised the strategic plan and led a research and development team in developing the Next Generation Concrete Surface Texture. This technology uses a specially controlled grooving and grinding texture to produce a concrete surface texture measuring among the quietest tire/road noise surfaces available. The texture is now applied as a routine option on pavement and some bridges for noise-sensitive areas in states across the country. Voigt has also advocated for "Performance-Engineered Concrete Mixtures," an initiative currently in development through a joint effort of Federal Highway Administration, a pool of state departments of transportation, and the concrete pavement industry. This effort will fundamentally change the way concrete pavement quality is specified and tested in the future.
The Wilbur S. Smith Award recognizes contributions to the enhancement of the civil engineer’s role in highway engineering.
