A legend remembered: Ernest Barenberg

Illinois Center for Transportation is sad to announce the passing of professor emeritus Ernest J. Barenberg on Jan. 19, 2021.

An influential pioneer in the field of concrete pavement, paving materials and railroad track systems, Barenberg received his bachelor’s in civil engineering from Kansas State University and his master’s in structural engineering from the University of Kansas.

He went on to receive his doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Illinois, where he worked as a faculty member for nearly 40 years and as Associate Head for four of those years.

Throughout his career, Barenberg also served as an associate director for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Center of Excellence for Airport Technology, director of the Association of American Railroads’ affiliate program at Illinois, and was a founding member and the first president of the International Society for Concrete Pavements.

Barenberg’s achievements span many areas of transportation engineering and have a lasting impact today. He was key to developing design standards for pavements at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport and London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports as well as several post-conditioned pavements still in service at O’Hare and Rockford airports.

Barenberg and longtime colleague Marshall Thompson’s friendship began in 1960, when the two were officemates as graduate students. Together they developed the background and framework for pavement mechanistic-based design procedures currently in use by Illinois Department of Transportation.

“Ernie was an all-around very, very capable fellow,” said Thompson, Illinois professor emeritus. “He was highly respected technically and as a person throughout the country and the world.”

“He was always just a solid, hardworking and dedicated guy, and I had a lot of admiration for him,” he added.

Barenberg was also actively involved in building Illinois’ Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Laboratory, a transportation research, educational and testing laboratory housed at Illinois Center for Transportation.

“Ernie was a legend in the pavement community,” said Imad Al-Qadi, ICT’s director and Illinois Bliss Professor of Engineering. “He was one of the key players in building the UIUC pavement program as a top program worldwide.”

“He’s someone I’ve always looked up to, and we’re going to miss him tremendously,” he added.

Throughout his career, Barenberg was the recipient of many distinguished awards, including:

• CEE (Civil and Environmental Engineering) at Illinois Distinguished Faculty Award in 2017.
• Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies in 2004.
• Educator of the Year by the American Concrete Pavement Association in 2002.
• Honorary Member of International Society for Concrete Pavements in 2001.
• American Society of Civil Engineers’ Robert Horonjeff Award in 1998.

Barenberg leaves behind a big legacy for future generations, including a professorship created by his former students to honor his accomplishments.

His former student Jeff Roesler, Illinois professor and associate head for Graduate Affairs, became the first Barenberg professor in 2020.

“Jeff is an ideal person to receive the honor of this professorship and carry on the great work of Ernie,” Al-Qadi said. “His hard work and dedication to the field of concrete pavement is a testament to Ernie’s legacy.”

The undergraduate concrete materials laboratory in CEE’s building will also be named in Barenberg’s honor.