Tom D'arcy Semi-Retires
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Tom D’Arcy Semi-Retires After “A Great 40 Years” In addition to his enormous technical contributions to PCI and the industry, Tom D’Arcy has found the time to live a life of adventure and many interests. At the PCI Convention in Orlando, Florida, this fall, Tom will be awarded the Medal of Honor — PCI’s most prestigious award for exceptionally outstanding contributions to the industry and Institute. homas J. D’Arcy, principal in Working with Pete was exciting be the firm of The Consulting En cause of Pete’s imaginative engineer Tgineers Group, Inc., and ing mind. Under his tutelage, the con founder and president of CEG, San cept of combining pretensioned Antonio, Texas, is going into semi concrete with post-tensioning resulted retirement after four decades of stellar in the construction of the state-of-the- service to the engineering profession art 32-story Gulf Life Office Building and PCI. in Jacksonville, Florida. However, aside from his consulting White-acid-etched concrete beams, work and committee activities, the columns, and segments up to 20 ft (6.1 Tom D’Arcy many PCI members do m) long were shipped to the site where not see is a true romantic with a pas they were erected and supported by sion for his many loves, which include shoring. They were then post-ten his wife, family, friends, sports, cook sioned together to achieve a 150 ft ing, and music. A native of Chicago, (45.7 m) beam with a 50 ft (15.2 m) Illinois, Tom obtained his bachelor’s center span and two 50 ft (15.2 m) degree in civil engineering (structures) cantilevers. Tom designed the long from the University of Illinois in 1955. segmental beams (which may be the Tom’s love affair with precast, pre first precast segmental beams con stressed concrete began when he was structed in North America, connected asked, in the late 1950s, to work on a aged seminars/workshops and conven by post-tensioning). At that time, “end precast, prestressed concrete bridge as tion sessions. In those early days, bursting” of anchorages in post-ten a young, up-and-coming structural en spouses also pitched in with the load sioned beams was an important issue. gineer at Hazelet & Erdal in Chicago. and have continued to lend support to Life in the South involved numerous One of his first assignments was the the PCI through the years. adjustments, one of them being the ad design of a section of the Wisconsin Tom’s love and interest of the pre dition of a son. Furthermore, Tom’s ex Interstate System using this new build cast, prestressed concrete industry de tracurricular activities and interests pos ing material. termined the course of his family’s itively influenced work and home. His Then, in 1960, a co-worker showed life. When career opportunities arose, church life has been important, exem him an ad that said PCI was moving the family moved. Pete Verna, past plified by his volunteer hours managing from Florida to Chicago and was look chairman of the Institute (1958-1959), retreats for teenagers and adults and ac ing for a multi-task engineer. His inter convinced Tom that he needed to tively participating in the Cursillo, a view with Norman L. Scott landed him know more about the product by work charitable Christian organization. the job as the first full-time employee ing in the industry, and Tom agreed. Sports has been an important ingre of PCI in Chicago, which was all-in So, in 1964, with three daughters in dient in his life — basketball has al clusive: He produced and edited the tow, Tom and his wife, Marie, moved ways been his first love. But, he also PCI JOURNAL and PCltems, was away from their hometown of Chicago learned to be a good tennis player. PCI’s first technical director, and man- and began life in the Carolinas. Now, he works on improving his golf 166 PCI JOURNAL The Florida Suncoast Dome, St. Petersburg, game at Horseshoe Bay, Texas, where crete took him to work with other pre he has access to three Robert Trent stressers like San-Vel (at that time, Jones challenge courses. His love of one of the largest and most progres music includes classical, folk, and, sive precast companies in the country) best of all, jazz. This passion was real in Massachusetts, where he served as ized by a stint as a jazz disc jockey on vice president of engineering and mar KTU, the Trinity University Radio keting, and also learned how to ski. Station in San Antonio, Texas. Later, he became vice president and His devotion and search for more president of Rocky Mountain Pre knowledge of precast, prestressed con- Stress in Denver, Colorado, which at Detroit Metropolitan Airport parking structure, one of the world’s largest. Gulf Life Building, Jacksonville, Florida. 167 July-August 2003 Lyman Award for co-authoring the ar ticle about this project, “The Florida Suncoast Dome,” which appeared in the January-February 1990 PCI JOURNAL. A new client and structure type was added in 1990 with the design of the first prison for the Corrections Corpo ration of America, an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facility in Laredo, Texas. CEG Texas quickly became a leader in the design of all precast concrete prisons, particularly the application of precast cell mod ules, which they pioneered in the 1980s. Today, CEG has engineered over 100 precast prisons all across the United States. Over the next dozen years, in both Jeff Carison, Norm Scott, Tom, and Walt Korkosz celebrating at the CEG Texas 20th offices, CEG Anniversary Party. the Texas and Chicago engineered over 40 stadiums. In 200 1- 2002, CEG Texas completed the one time had six plants spread from tures. Notable structures include the Texas “Tri-fecta-plus-one,” providing Albuquerque, New Mexico, to two 2500-car Mall of America parking the precast concrete engineering for Chicago. He learned how to play ten structures and the structural frame de the Spurs, Rockets, Astros and Texans nis in Colorado. Subsequently, he sign of the Detroit Metropolitan Air stadiums, all engineered by Walter J. worked at Stanley Structures in Texas port 11,600-car parking structure. Korkosz , the first engineer hired from just before opening the CEG office in In the late 1980s, Torn, Norm, Jerry the Chicago office to the Texas office. San Antonio, reuniting with his long Goettsche, and Les Martin spent a Over the years, the client base grew time friend, Norm Scott. The CEG of weekend together converting the cast- and continues to grow under the lead fice grew slowly and cautiously to a in-place concrete domed stadium in ership of Walt, who became president well-performing crew of 30. St. Petersburg, Florida, to an all-pre this spring. Walt has long been a solid Focusing on parking structures cast concrete structure. Teaming with anchor of CEG’ s engineering efforts throughout the United States, CEG precaster Pomco of Tampa, they made and will fill Tom’s shoes in that role. took on projects from the Florida a presentation of a precast solution Tom has lectured frequently on pre Keys to Maine to California. Tom’s which was accepted, and CEG entered stressed concrete design and construc personal experience includes the de the stadium design business. In 1990, tion and has published several articles sign of more than 200 parking struc Tom was a co-winner of the Robert I. on parking structure design, mainte nance, and durability. His commit ment to the industry and PCI has been demonstrated through his years of serving with and chairing eight techni cal committees, including the chair of the Technical Activities Committee. He has won four PCI Certificate of Merit Awards for his contributions to the Connection Details, Durability, Detailing, and Parking Structures committees. He was the co-editor of the first PCI Design Handbook and the first Parking Structures Recommended Practice for Design and Construction. Tom first served on the PCI Board of Directors from 1993 to 1996 and became a PCI Fellow in 1995. In 2000, Tom was named chair of PCI’s Research & Development Committee. “The Concrete Chefs” —Jim Voss, Chuck Magnesio, Bob Vitelli, Tom D’Arcy, Nancy His term will end in 2004. Currently, Peterson, and Ted Coons. he is serving on the PCI Board. 168 PCI JOURNAL Tom is a Fellow of PCI, ACT, and AS CE, and he founded the PCI Pro fessional Member Committee. Addi tionally, he has served on various committees of ACT as well as the Parking Consultants Council of the National Parking Association (NPA). He was a member of the board of di rectors of NPA. and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), American Civil Engineers Council (ACEC), and American Correctional Association (ACA). During Tom and Marie’s travels, they’ve visited cathedrals, castles, sta diums, and bridges. They especially enjoy France and Italy. Furthermore, they are both gourmet cooks, having initiated a San Antonio gourmet din ner group more than 20 years ago. Their latest European trip was an El derhostel “Cooking in Provence” pro gram. They cooked in small hotel kitchens under the tutelage of their chefs in Lyons and Nice, France. For Easter dinner this year, they in troduced their family to “A Taste of Provence.” Tom has also shared his love of cooking as one of “The Con crete Chefs,” a group that started cooking for PCI members at Commit tee Days in 2002. The Chefs, which this year included Tom, Bob Vitelli, Chuck Magnesio, Nancy Peterson, and Jim Voss, collaboratively cook for this well-received annual cookout held at JVI Headquarters in Lincolnwood, Illinois.