James E. Roberts was a noted American civil engineer. He was recognized with industry and government awards for his leadership in bridge engineering, especially in the area of seismic retrofit

Seismic retrofit

Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers,...

. He was the state bridge engineer at Caltrans during the Loma Prieta Earthquake

Loma Prieta earthquake

The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...

 and Northridge Earthquake

Northridge earthquake

The Northridge earthquake was a massive earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 04:31 Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 10–20 seconds...

. His public service career lasted more than 50 years in the US Army, US Army Reserves and Caltrans. Roberts career spanned over 50 years and covered some of the most active years for engineering experienced in California from the design and construction heyday of the 50’s and 60’s to his leadership during the reconstruction efforts and seismic retrofitting programs created after two significant California earthquakes the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake

Loma Prieta earthquake

The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...

 and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Education

Roberts was the son of a carpenter who made his living working in the oil industry of the San Francisco Bay area as a contractor. Roberts developed an early interest in construction through working with his father and determined early on that his career choice would be Civil Engineering. He obtained his engineering degree at the University of California at Berkeley in 1953.

US Army and Reserves

Upon graduation from UC Berkeley he started his employment with the California Department of Highways and worked in the area of bridge construction until leaving to fulfill his military commitment with a tour of duty in Korea. He retired as a colonel in the US Army Reserves. Roberts served as a Civil Engineering officer during this tour, returning to the California Department of Highways and bridge construction as the Interstate highway program began.

Caltrans

He worked in California’s Southern Central valley in Bakersfield. He spent several years commuting in the evening to attend courses toward the completion of his Masters degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Southern California completing his degree with research work in the area of long term deflections of concrete bridge decks. Roberts sought and obtained more responsible assignment in the California bridge department’s design office where he worked for several years as a bridge designer. His strengths on the design floor were complemented by his experience in construction and he soon was offered an opportunity to lead a design section where he sought projects that offered opportunities to innovate. The Tuolumne River Bridge, which would ultimately be re-named after him, was one of the many bridges designed by his design section. Roberts final posting was Chief Engineer for the California Department of Transportation.

He is remembered by colleagues for his contributions toward seismic design of concrete structures. Highlights of his career include his work as lead on the planning and design of the downtown area of Sacramento for its light rail project

Sacramento Regional Transit District

The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as RT, is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition of the Sacramento Transit Authority...

, which was designed at Roberts’ insistence by state staff to demonstrate the flexibility that state highway engineers could have.

Professional Associations and Honors

Roberts was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...

, the Structural Engineers Association of California and served one year (1972) as State President of the Professional Engineers in California Government

Professional Engineers in California Government

- General Info :Professional Engineers in California Government represents 13,000 state-employed engineers and related professionals responsible for designing and inspecting California’s highways and bridges, ensuring that schools and hospitals are safe during earthquakes, and protecting our air,...

, the bargaining unit

Bargaining unit

A bargaining unit in labor relations is a group of employees with a clear and identifiable community of interests who are represented by a single labor union in collective bargaining and other dealings with management. Examples would be "non-management professors"; "law enforcement professionals";...

 which represents Professional engineer

Professional Engineer

Regulation of the engineering profession is established by various jurisdictions of the world to protect the safety, well-being and other interests of the general public, and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes authorized to provide professional services to the...

s, land surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

s and related classes who are civil servants for the state of California. He was an Honorary member of the American Concrete Institute

American Concrete Institute

The American Concrete Institute is a non-profit technical society and standard developing organization . ACI was founded in 1904 and its headquarters are currently located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA.- ACI History :1904-1929:...

 among many other memberships.

In 2007, the Members of the California State Legislature

Members of the California State Legislature

These are tables of members of the California State Legislature .-Members of the California State Senate:-Members of the California State Assembly:-Sources :* * * * * * * *...

 passed the bill to rename the Tuolumne River Bridge as the James E. Roberts Bridge

James E. Roberts Bridge

The James E. Roberts Memorial Bridge is a 1,400 foot two-lane highway bridge on California State Highway 120, in Tuolumne County, California. The bridge spans the Tuolumne River just north of Lake Don Pedro, near the community of Chinese Camp. It opened in 1971.Originally named the Tuolumne River...

.

He received the Roebling Medal by the ESWP Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania for Lifetime Achievement in Bridge Engineering.

Selected References

1. Dokken Richard A., Salveson Matthew, James E. Roberts – More than an Engineer’s Engineer. ASCE Structure Magazine, Feb 2009, pp 48–49

2. Alden, Don, et al. Oral History James E Roberts, California Department of Transportation

California Department of Transportation

The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...

 Caltrans, pp

3. Kempton, Will, Land Richard, et al. James E. Roberts Memorial, California Department of Transportation, [Caltrans], DVD, 59 minutes

4. Roberts, James E., 50-Years as bridge engineer History James E Roberts, California Department of Transportation [Caltrans], DVD, March 14, 2001

5. Wilson, Bill, Nothing Earth-Shattering –Roebling Medal, Roads & Bridges Magazine, August 2001, www.ROADSBRIDGES.com pp 24–25