F. Wayne Klaiber, distinguished professor of civil and construction engineering, was recently presented with the Iowa Award for Transportation Excellence for the Academic Sector.

The Iowa Department of Transportation honored Klaiber for his contributions to the improvement of transportation systems and services through highway research at a banquet Aug. 19 in Ames, according to a press release.

Edward Kannel, professor of civil and construction engineering and associate chairman of graduate admissions and undergraduate studies, said Klaiber has been recognized for teaching, research and advising excellence.

“He has been working [with the DOT] to improve the load-bearing capacity of existing bridges without having to build new bridges, in order to save substantial amounts of money,” Kannel said.

Klaiber, who has taught at ISU since 1968, said the DOT has a lot of problems with bridges in Iowa. He said he and his colleagues have been helping counties figure out what improvements they can make using their own resources.

“The counties have their own crews, so they can construct simple bridges,” Klaiber said. He said he and a graduate student have been working on a bridge project in Waterloo this week.

“There are some bridges on roads in Iowa that only have 50 to 100 cars pass over them a day,” Klaiber said. He said the steel beams in those bridges do not have to be brand new, so used beams can sometimes be reused.

Klaiber also has had an active role in the National Science Foundation and has been a member of the U.S. delegation to three NATO bridge workshops, according to the press release.

“NATO has sponsored workshops for European and U.S. bridge engineers, and I was lucky enough to be invited,” Klaiber said. He said he also has attended similar meetings with Japanese engineers.