William J. Nugent

Experience

William Nugent joined WJE in 1976 and has since completed over five hundred investigations, testing, and repair design projects. Mr. Nugent’s experience includes investigation of structural failures, field and laboratory testing of structures, seismic damage assessment and retrofit design, and numerous assignments involving building facades, curtain walls, and glass. This latter experience has included the design and installation of instrumentation to measure wind pressure and motions of buildings; review of curtain wall designs; and investigation of curtain wall, glass, and cladding system failures. He has also been involved in the recladding of several buildings. Mr. Nugent has authored numerous technical reports dealing with a variety of structural and materials problems. He has presented lectures on structural failures, seismic performance, and cladding problems and repair techniques.

REPRESENTATIVE PROJECTS

Failure Investigation

• Hatchie River Bridge - Covington, TN: Reinforced concrete bridge collapse
• TWA Flight 800 - Long Island, NY: Reconstruction of Boeing 747 aircraft

 

Glass Breakage Investigation

• CNA Building - Chicago, IL: Fractures of annealed glass facade panels
• Fox Plaza Building - Los Angeles, CA: Fractures of tempered glass facade panels

 

Laboratory Testing

• Anheuser Busch Breweries - Northbrook, IL: Abrasion resistance of various floor systems
• New England Patriots Stadium - Northbrook, IL: Laminated glass baluster railing system

 

Load Testing

• Crown Center Garages - Kansas City, MO: Reinforced concrete parking structures
• Crown Plaza Hotel - Orlando, FL: GFRC cladding panels

 

Repair and Rehabilitation Design

• Poplar Street Bridge Approaches - East St. Louis, IL: Seismic and redundancy retrofits to elevated roadway structures
• Salvation Army Headquarters Building - Des Plaines, IL: Exterior recladding system

 

Windows and Curtain Walls

• John Hancock Building - Chicago, IL: Corrosion of aluminum facade elements
• South Coast Metro Center - Orange County, CA: Window, sealant, and stone cladding failures

Professional Affiliations

International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)
Safety Glazing Certification Council (SGCC)
Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI)

Registrations

Civil Engineer in AZ, CA, LA, MA, and NH
Professional Engineer in AL, AR, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IA, IN, KS, KY, ME, MD, MI, MS, MO, MT, NC, ND, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, and WV
Professional (Civil) Engineer in ID and MN
Professional (Structural) Engineer in OR, SD, UT, and WY
Structural Engineer in IL and NE

Education

University of Notre Dame
Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, 1973

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master of Science, Structural Engineering, 1977