Army Corps Engineering Manual & AREMA Specs

Location:  Frisco 1

Speakers:  Margarita Takou, PhD, P.E. & Josh Beakley, P.E. – ACPA

Presentation Description
When you think of national standards for reinforced concrete pipe and box culverts, AASHTO and ASTM are the two associations that usually come to mind. However, there are other national standards bodies that have their own specifications to follow when designing, manufacturing, and installing precast products. The role of the Army Corps of Engineers is becoming more critical in these times of extreme weather events as they attempt to address topics such as flood risk and coastal storm damage reduction, as well as addressing climate resilience. At the end of 2020, the Army Corps published a totally revised “Engineer Manual for Conduits, Pipes, and Culverts Associated with Dams and Levee Systems”. The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) maintains its Manual for Railway Engineering, which is a document you will want to be familiar with if you are providing product for the railroads. This seminar will update you on both Engineering Manuals.

Speaker Bios
Josh Beakley
Josh Beakley is Vice President of Engineering for the American Concrete Pipe Association. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Virginia. Josh received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ and received his Masters in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Josh has been with the American Concrete Pipe Association since 1994. Prior to joining ACPA, he worked as a Civil Engineer for the Bechtel Power Corporation.

In his job functions for the American Concrete Pipe Association Josh represents the industry on national standards making committees. He also coordinates research and design programs for the precast concrete culvert industry. Occasionally, he assists engineers with the design and specification of precast concrete pipe and box culverts as well as performing educational seminars.
Josh is a member of ASCE, ACI, ASTM, and participates in AASHTO functions. He is a Spangler Award Winner, and an Award of Merit Honoree of ASTM, as well as a Heger Award Honoree of ACPA. He was also an ASCE Outstanding Reviewer in 2020 for the ASCE Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice.

Margarita Takou
Margarita Takou is the Technical Resource Engineer for the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA), a spokesperson for the concrete pipe industry in all matters affecting the industry’s welfare. Margarita holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Structures and Applied Mechanics from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a licensed Engineers in the state of Texas.
She has been with ACPA since 2016 and has mainly worked on reviewing of national standards, managing the ACPA’s QCast plant certification program, and supporting technical requests on pipe and box design. Margarita is also highly involved with ACPA’s committees as serves as a staff liaison for the Research, Technical, Quality, and Safety Committees.

Ms. Takou chairs three ASCE Committees and is the Secretary of the ASTM C13 committee on Concrete Pipes. She is highly involved with AASHTO, AREMA, and TRB committees. Margarita has received the President Award from the ASTM C13 Committee and was selected to participate at the ASTM Emerging Professional program.

Margarita and her husband, Dimitrios, reside in Richardson, TX with their two kids Anastasios and Irene.