The eLearning Center for Gatlin Education Services

Overview

In coastal areas, proper siting and design require an accurate assessment of the vulnerability of any proposed structure or building site, including the nature and extent of coastal hazards. Failure to properly identify and design against coastal hazards can lead to severe consequences, causing building damage or destruction.

This course discusses the following topics:

  · Hazard identification and risk assessment for natural hazards that can affect coastal construction
  · Hazard mapping procedures used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and by various states and communities

Additional details on hazard identification and risk assessment issues can be found in a number of references. One of the most comprehensive is a recent report, Multi-Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, produced by FEMA (1997b).

The student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of thirty (30) questions at the end of this course to earn PDH credits.

Specific Knowledge or Skill Attained

This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
The most significant natural hazards that affect the coastlines of the United States and its territories can be divided into five general categories:

  · Coastal flooding and Tsunamis
  · High winds
  · Erosion
  · Earthquakes
  · Other hazards

This course provides an overview of each of these hazards, describes their effects on residential buildings and building sites, and explains where along the U.S. coastline each hazard is likely to occur.

This course also covers:

  · Review of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
  · Review of the Modified Mercalli Earthquake Intensity Scale
  · Review of the Modified Classification for Northeasters

State Board Acceptance

This course can be used by professional engineers to fulfill PDH requirements mandated by state and provincial licensing boards. Decatur Professional Development is an approved provider of continuing education in all states that pre-approve course providers. In all other states that mandate continuing education for engineers, it is the individual engineer's responsibility to determine the suitability of activities for PDH credit. The state boards typically accept online* courses that cover technical, managerial** or ethical content and which are relevant to the practice of engineering. The course must have a clear purpose or objective with a content that will maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge of the licensee's field of practice. For questions about your mandatory PDH requirements, visit the website of your state licensing board.

*Online courses are accepted by all state licensing boards that mandate continuing education. Other than New York (which limits online courses to 18 PDH) and Iowa (which limits online courses to 6 PDH), there are no limits placed by other states on the number of hours that can be earned through online continuing education. Consult with your state licensing board if you have any questions about the acceptability of online courses.

**The New York State Board of Engineers does not accept general office management courses, but will accept project management courses that are offered by an approved provider and that are technical in nature and contribute to the engineer's professional practice.