PROFILE
Experienced structural engineer seeking to expand my skill set
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Forensic Engineer Dec 2022 – Present
Omega Forensic Engineering
• Performs forensic evaluations of buildings and structures to evaluate cause and origin of
distressed conditions. Evaluations typically include inspections, documentation, and
engineering reports.
Transportation Structures Engineer June 2019 – Present
Sarasota County Government
- Bridge asset manager of Sarasota County’s 176 bridges including 4 movable bridges.
- Most important part of my job is evaluating the structural condition of bridges, traffic signal mast arms, culverts, retaining walls, weirs, walkways, and stairs.
- Regularly called upon to assess damaged or deteriorated structures, determine on site- if they are safe to remain in service, design emergency repairs and manage long term repair or replacement.
- When appropriate, specify destructive and non-destructive evaluation such as GPR,
concrete cores for compressive strength testing, petrography, steel coupon testing for toughness and strength, dye penetrant.
Project Manager – Bridges Feb 2014 – June 2019
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
- Performed routine annual inspections of ninety-six (96) bridges owned by GCRTA; most were designed to carry trains and included skewed steel trusses, steel through girders, steel deck trusses, reinforced concrete arches, post-tensioned segmental concrete box girders and prestressed concrete box beams.
- Performed hands-on inspections of the fracture critical bridges for some of the bridge inventory every two (2) years. Identified and inspected fatigue details on all bridges.
- Load rated bridges, designed bridge rehabilitations and developed construction plans, specifications and cost estimates.
- Over my 5 years with GCRTA, I received two Safety Awards.
Project Engineer Dec 2011 – Feb 2014
W.E. Quicksall & Associates, Inc.
- Designer and Detailer of a Reinforced Concrete Water Treatment Tank for the City of
Cambridge Water Treatment Facility. Calculated forces for various load cases for
foundation design and design of the reinforced concrete water tank. Carefully detailed reinforcing steel at tank corners and wall-to-foundation connections to ensure structural capacity and resist cracking. - Lead Bridge Engineer on the MIL-37-60 Bridge Replacement Project, which replaced a single span truss bridge with a. three-span continuous steel beam bridge on integral abutments and cap-and-column piers. I completed preliminary engineering study tasks, such as the Red Flag Summary, generated structure type alternatives, construction cost estimate, and wrote the bridge narrative portion of the study. I also performed the hydraulic analysis and flood hazard evaluation using HEC-RAS.I designed the concrete deck, steel beams, elastomeric bearings, bolted field splices, integral abutments, piers and foundations, and performed the bridge load rating to AASHTO LRFD Specifications. I also created the majority of the construction plan sheets using AutoCAD Civil 3D.
- Lead Bridge Engineer on the TUS-77-17.85 Bridge Rehabilitation Project, which replaced the concrete deck and steel beams of three-span continuous twin structures. The existing steel beams were replaced with shallower steel beams to increase the deficient minimum vertical clearance and the abutments were converted to semi-integral. A counterflow MOT scheme was utilized to replace the existing structures in phases. I completed preliminary engineering study tasks such as the Red Flag Summary, generated structure type alternatives, performed life-cycle cost analysis and wrote the bridge narrative portion of the study. I designed the concrete deck, steel beams, bolted field splices, and elastomeric bearings. I also created many of the construction details using MicroStation v8i SS.
- Lead Bride Engineer on the SUM-CR 12-1.40 Bridge Replacement Project which replaced a structurally deficient concrete arch bridge with a single 84′-6″ span steel beam bridge on 25′ tall abutments. A faux concrete arch was placed at each fascia to commemorate the original concrete arch bridge. I designed the reinforced concrete deck, the composite steel beams, the elastomeric bearings, the reinforced concrete arch, the full-height abutments, foundations and performed the bridge load rating to the AASHTO LRFD Specifications. I also created all construction plan sheets using AutoCAD Civil 3D.
- Lead Bridge Engineer on the JEF-Titanium Way-1.06 Bridge Replacement Project which replaced a 37′ -0” single span bridge with a 106′-0″ single span steel beam bridge on semi-integral abutments on cast-in-place concrete piles. I completed preliminary engineering study tasks such as the Red Flag Summary, generated structure type alternatives, construction cost estimate and wrote the bridge narrative portion of the study. I designed the reinforced concrete deck, the composite steel beams, the elastomeric bearings, the reinforced concrete arch, the full-height abutments and piles and performed the bridge load rating to the AASHTO LRFD Specifications. I supervised the development of and
thoroughly checked all construction plan sheets. - Structural Analyst checking structural member and connection designs for an aluminum building housing an emergency generator. Utilized local building codes, ASCE 7 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures and the Aluminum Design Manual as standards.
Bridge Engineer III
HNTB Corporation
- Bridge Engineer on the Cleveland Innerbelt Bridge Replacement Design-Build Project, part of which required the rehabilitation of existing bridges by replacing the concrete decks and making them composite with the existing steel beams. The twin structures were joined to form one structure to better accommodate the various MOT schemes. Designed the new composite beams, fatigue retrofits at beam continuity splices, and elastomeric bearings. Created the entire construction plans in MicroStation v8i SS. Also served as checker and detailer of a new single span steel girder bridge on semi-integral abutments behind MSE walls.
INVESTIGATIVE EXPERIENCE
Evaluation of a Fracture Critical Transit Train Bridge
- During routine inspection, observed 14” crack in the web of steel beam
- Immediately hired contractor to drill holes at the crack tips to prevent progression
- Wrote scope of services to test existing steel for fracture toughness and tensile strength; used strain gages to determine in-service live load stresses; used all of the information to calibrate a refined model of the bridge to identify stress “hot spots”
- The steel turned out to have insufficient toughness for cold Cleveland, Ohio winters
- The bridge was retrofitted to prevent future cracks
- This project was presented at the 2017 International Bridge Conference
Evaluation and Repair of Swaying Walkway at a Transit Station
- Staff architect asked me to evaluate a swaying steel walkway used by pedestrians to access a transit station. The walkway was recently constructed and began to sway when used by pedestrians.
- Visited the site for field observation and to verify that the as-built condition matched the construction plans.
- Since the walkway is similar in function to a bridge, I calculated the fundamental frequency
of the walkway in accordance with the AASHTO LRFD Guide Specifications for
Pedestrian Bridges and determined the fundamental frequency was outside of the
recommended limits - Designed lateral bracing for the walkway which was installed and the swaying stopped.
- Presented findings at the local ASCE Chapter highlighting the need to evaluate vibration during design.
Evaluation of Damaged Transit Track Bridge
- Notified that a garbage truck hit the bottom flange of a low clearance bridge.
- Performed a hands-on inspection, measured deformations, cracks, gouges and tears.
- Determined on site that the bridge was safe for traffic.
- Developed bid documents including plans, specifications and cost estimate for hear
straightening of the bent portion of the bottom flange as well as grinding out gouges and tears.
Evaluation of Post-Tensioned Segmental Concrete Box Girder Bridge
- During routine inspection, observed diagonal shear cracks in the webs of certain segments of a post-tensioned segmental concrete box girder bridge carrying transit train traffic.
- Wrote scope of services to use field instrumentation to collect strains and differential
movements (LVDT’s) to calibrate a finite element model. - It was determined that the shear reinforcement in the web was insufficient albeit in
compliance with the code in the 1990’s. - The bridge was load-restricted but the cracks grew wider so the bridge was temporarily supported and closed to traffic.
- This project was presented at the 2019 American Segmental Bridge Institute
Conference.
Evaluations of Reinforced Concrete Deterioration
- On various projects, specified extraction of concrete cores from existing concrete structures such as bridge decks, pier columns, abutments and retaining walls to measure chloride content, compressive strength testing, identify presence of alkali silica reactivity, air entrainment, percent of unhydrated cement, aggregate types and properties, etc. (typical petrographic analysis).
- Used this information to approximate remaining service life, develop repair alternatives and project timelines.
Passive Cathodic Protection of Concrete Columns
- Used destructive testing to determine chloride content in concrete columns supporting a transit train bridge.
- Assessed the structural capacity of the columns given the remaining section and condition of rebar.
- Performed calculations to determine the size and number of passive cathodic (zinc hockey pucks) elements required to extend the service lives of the columns.
- Created repair plans in AutoCAD, calculated a cost estimate, specified low conductivity concrete with manufacturers recommended mix design, and worked with procurement to advertise, award and complete the project.
EDUCATION
- B.S.C.E. emphasis in Structures – Ohio Northern University, Graduated with Honors
LICENSURE
- Florida Registered P.E.
- Ohio Registered P.E.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Recipient of 2 Safety Awards while w/ GCRTA
- Project presented at 2017 International Bridge Conference
- Project presented 2019 American Segmental Bridge Institute Conference.
CERTIFICATIONS AND TRAININGS
- NHI Fracture Critical Bridge Inspection Techniques
- NHI Bridge Maintenance
- NHI Inspection of In-Service Bridges
- NHI Inspection of Ancillary Highway Structures
- NHI Movable Bridge Maintenance
- Load Rating of Highway Bridges
- Load Rating of Railroad Bridges
- Railroad Bridge Inspection
- ODOT Level 1 & 2 Bridge Design
- ODOT Minor Bridge Inspection
- ODOT Culvert Inspection
COMPUTER SKILLS
- LARSA AD
- MDX
- CONSPAN
- Leap Precast Bridge
- Virtis
- HEC-RAS
- AutoCAD Civil 30
- MicroStation v8I SS
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word