Professor; Director of Online Master's in Engineering in Construction Engineering Management
Hoehn Room 310
(205) 934-1685
Research and Teaching Interests: Construction engineering, equipment and methods, erosion and sediment control, estimating, project management, safety and health, construction and post-construction stormwater, sustainable construction, use of unmanned aerial vehicles in construction
Office Hours: Open door policy and by appointment
Education:
- B.S., University at Buffalo, Civil Engineering
- M.E., University at Buffalo, Civil Engineering
- Ph.D., University at Buffalo, Civil Engineering
Wesley C. Zech is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and serves as the Director of Civil Engineering Construction Management. Prior to his appointment with the University of Alabama Birmingham, he was the Brasfield and Gorrie Professor of Construction Engineering and Management at Auburn University. He earned a B.S. (1999), M.E. (2000), and a Ph.D. (2004) from the University at Buffalo in Western, NY. He was employed at Auburn University in 2004 and taught courses in the areas of construction engineering, project management, construction safety and health management, construction equipment and methods, erosion and sediment control applications in construction, and sustainable design and construction.
In addition to teaching, he has conducted external research in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Transportation and Ohio Department of Transportation that led to the development of the Auburn University Erosion and Sediment Control Testing Facility. His research efforts focused on applying full-scale testing techniques to evaluate the performance of various erosion and sediment control practices commonly used in construction, including: silt fence tiebacks, the use of polyacrylamide, hydromulches, ditch checks, inlet protection measures, sediment barriers, catch basin inserts, and sediment basins. Many of the research results from these efforts have been adopted as standard erosion and sediment control practices used on highway construction projects in the state of Alabama.
His current research endeavors include characterizing the performance of sediment barrier systems, using unmanned aerial vehicles for construction site inspections, and the design and deployment of a rainfall simulator used to evaluate erosion control measures. Other areas of research expertise include construction safety, work zone safety, and the use of unmanned aerial systems for construction site inspections. He is married to his wife April and they have two children, Watson and Winter.
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Select Publications
- Perez, M.A., Zech, W.C., Vasconcelos, J.G., and Fang, X. (2019). Large-scale Performance Testing of Temporary Sediment Basin Treatments and High Rate Lamella Settlers. Water, 11(2), 316, [DOI: 10.3390/w11020316].
- Rogers, T.M., Zech, W.C., Shambley, J., Donald, W.N., and Rueda, J. (2018). State-of-the-Practice for Liquidated Damages, Incentive/Disincentive, and Road User Cost Provisions on High Value Contract Transportation Projects. ASCE J. of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, Vol. 11, Issue 2, May 2019, [DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)LA.1943-4170.0000286].
- Basham, D.L., Zech, W.C., Donald, W.N., and Perez, M.A. (2019). Design and Construction of a Large-scale Testing Apparatus for Evaluating the Performance of Catch Basin Inserts. ASCE J. of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 1-9, [DOI: 10.1061/JSWBAY.0000868].
- Whitman, J.B., Zech, W.C., and Donald, W.N. (2018). Full-scale Performance Evaluations of Various Wire-Backed Nonwoven Silt Fence Installation Configurations. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 00(0), pp. 1-11. [doi: 10.1177/0361198118758029].
- Bugg, R.A., Donald, W.C., Zech, W.C., and Perez, M.A. (2017). Improvements in Standardized Testing for Evaluating Sediment Barrier Performance: Design of a Full-Scale Testing Apparatus. J. Irrig. Drain Eng., Vol. 143, Issue 8. [doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001194, 04017029].
- Ghorghi, F.B., Zhou, H., and Zech, W.C. (2016). Red-Light Running Traffic Violations: A Novel Time-based Method for Determining a Fine Structure. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Volume 93, pp. 55-65, [doi: 10.1016/j.tra.2016.08.015].
- Perez, M.A., Zech, W.C., Donald, W.N., and Fang, X. (2016). SEDspread: Sediment-Basin Design Tool for Construction Sites. J. Irrig. Drain Eng. [doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001099, 04016064].
- Donald, W., Zech, W.C., Fang, X., and Perez, M. (2016). Hydraulic Method to Evaluate the Performance of Ditch Check Practices and Products. J. Hydrol. Eng. [doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)HE.1943-5584.0001311, 04016042].
- Perez, M.A., Zech, W.C., Fang, X, and Vasconcelos, J. (2016). Methodology and Development of a Large-Scale Sediment Basin for Performance Testing. J. Irrig. Drain Eng. [doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0001052, 04016042].
- Perez, M.A.*, Zech, W.C., Donald, W.N. and Fang, X. (2015). Installation Enhancements to Common Inlet Protection Practices (IPPs) using Large-Scale Testing Techniques. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2521, pp. 151-161. [doi: 10.3141/2521-16].
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Academic Distinctions and Professional Societies
- Transportation Research Board
- International Erosion Control Association