News and Upcoming Events
February and March 2019
Presented nine seminars throughout New Zealand on Structural Forensic Engineering. Pictured above with then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Helen Davidson of Engineering New Zealand.
Coming November/December 2025
Masonry Master Class for CMU Checkoff Region 1 senior architects and engineers sponsored by the Upstate NY MCAA Chapter and funded by the Block Design Collective.
June 2025
Speaker for Mason Contractors Association of CT, "Stabilize, Repair, and Strengthen Masonry"
April 2025
Speaker for Masonry Institute of St Louis.
" Essential Masonry Tips for Design and Construction Detailing"
January 2025
Speaker for Central NY ACI Chapter meeting, Syracuse, NY. "Stabilize, Repair, and Strengthen Masonry"
December 2024
Presented five Master Classes on masonry design and detailing for architects and engineers sponsored by the Upstate Chapter of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA)
November 2024
Speaker for Central NY Engineering Expo, Syracuse, NY.
"The Art and Science of Masonry Arches"
October 2024
Keynote speaker and panelist at the Croatian Building Fair in Rovinj, Croatia.
Invited as technical committee member on earthquake retrofitting in Zagreb, Croatia in cooperation with the Croatian Centre of Earthquake Engineering
April 2023
Recognized as a 50-year member of American Concrete Institute at the ACI Spring Concrete Convention.
February-March 2023
Biggs received Fulbright Specialist grant from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Served as a Lecturer/consultant to the International Masters program Structural Analysis of Historic Monuments and Constructions at the University of Minho, Guimaraes, Portugal.
March 2023
Recertified as a Safety Assessment Program Evaluator for the State of California to be assigned Essential Emergency Duties during times of disaster or emergency.
February 2021
David Biggs was appointed an Honorary Associate Professor of the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
December 2020
David Biggs became a member of New Zealand Structural Engineering Society (SESOC)
Radio interview - 2020 https://player.fm/series/hudson-mohawk-magazine/ancient-architecture-and-engineering-w-david-biggs
April 2019
Interviewed by BBC World News regarding the Notre Dame cathedral fire.
Lectured for the International Course on Stone Conservation sponsored by the Getty Conservation Institute of Los Angeles, CA, and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome, Italy.
September 2018
Presented: "Stabilizing the Early Phrygian Gate Complex at Gordion, Turkey - Conservation Preparation" 11th at SAHC (Structural Analysis of Historic Construction) Conference, Cusco Peru.
April 2018
David Biggs was presented the 2018 Dennis L. Tewksbury Award by the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) of ASCE.
July 2015
Lectured for the International Course on Stone Conservation sponsored by the Getty Conservation Institute of Los Angeles, CA, and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome, Italy.
May 2015
Leader of an international team of structural engineers who went to Nepal for earthquake damage assessments.
Current/Recent Projects
Completed the restoration of 1906 Civil War Monument, Delhi, NY
Investigation of historic Bandstand, Schroon, NY
Completed historic restoration consultant for Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Bologna, Italy.
Renovation of an 1880s brick and timber cottage in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Completed preservation consultant for historic French Old Fort Niagara. Oldest building in the Great Lakes basin (c.1726).
Member of Masonry-industry Task Group to develop prototype tornado storm shelters for communities.
Prefabricated masonry design and development.
Completed the temporary stabilization of an historic clock tower (c.1887).
Completed the historic restoration of walls from Gordion, Turkey (c.900 BC).
Completed assessment of historic concrete construction (C. Completed 1950) for the George Nakashima Foundation, New Hope, PA. Funding support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Publications
Publications
Since January 2017
Columnist for Masonry magazine - "Marvelous Masonry" and Masonry Design magazine - "Technical Talk"
July 2024
Co-authored "The Effect of Insulation Inserts on the Composite Performance of Reinforced Concrete Masonry Walls" for the 18th International Brick and Block Conference in Birmingham, England.
April 2023
Co-authored " Effect of Opening Size in Unreinforced Masonry Walls Subjected to Lateral Loads: Computational
Modeling and Code Comparison" published in ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 2023,149(7)
December 2021
Published a 20-year retrospective article titled "THE RESILIENCY OF MASONRY FOLLOWING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001" on the World Trade Center Disaster. This was an invited article from the Brazilian Structural Association for their magazine Revista Estrutura.
Co-authored " Design and Construction Guidelines for Dry-Stack Concrete Masonry, TMS 1430-21" for The Masonry Society.
Sept 2021
Presented a paper "Restoration Authenticity or Reality - A Case Study" for 12th International Conference on Structural Analysis for Historic Construction.
May 2021
Presented a paper "The Environmental Benefits of Using Masonry-Specific Building Information Modeling Software". Co-authors Tom Cuneio of 3DiQ and Mark Swanson, IMI for the 14th Canadian Masonry Symposium.
September 2019
“FEMA P-2062, Guidelines for Wind Vulnerability Assessments of Existing Critical Facilities", contributing Author on Masonry Veneer, Federal Emergency Management Agency
June 2018
Co-authored "Comparison of Modelling Approaches to Analyzing Masonry Arch Bridges" with Jonathan Knudtsen and Petr Kable for 10th International Masonry Conference in Milan.
August 2017
Authored “Crossings: Bridges in the Adirondacks”, included in "The Adirondack Architecture Guide, Southern-Central Region" by Janet Null, SUNY PRESS, ISBN13: 978-1-4384-6666-8
August 2016
“Compressive Strength of Dry-Stacked Concrete Masonry Unit Assemblies”, S. Atamturktur, B. Ross, J. Thompson, D. Biggs, J. Mater. Civ. Eng., American Society of Civil Engineers, 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001693, 06016020.
“In-situ assessment of the physical and mechanical properties of vintage solid clay bricks”, D. Dizhur, R. Lumantarna, D. T. Biggs, and J. M. Ingham, Journal of Materials and Structures, Springer (2016) 50: 63. doi:10.1617/s11527-016-0939-9
June 2016
“Post-tensioned concrete masonry roof panels: A case study”, D. Biggs, Proceedings of 15th International Brick and Block Masonry Conference, Padua, Italy.