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KEVIN J. THOMPSON (AASHTO CO-CHAIR) is currently the State Bridge Engineer for

the California Department of Transportation. External responsibilities include AASHTO Vice Chair for the Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures and California Board member for Western Bridge Engineers, Inc. Thompson also serves on the American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI) Executive Board. He is also the Deputy Division Chief for Structure Design in the Department’s Division of Engineering Services. As Chief of Structure Design, Thompson directs the work of approximately 375 people in five structure design offices. In addition, he is ultimately responsible for the work of all structure design technical committees and specialists in the

review, approval and maintenance of bridge design standards and guidance material. Thompson has worked for the California Department of Transportation for 26 years. During that time, he has held a variety of positions in bridge design, highway and structure construction, contract advertisement and award, and transportation management. The majority of his experience is in the area of bridge design. He received a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Arizona State University in 1983 and he is a licensed Professional Engineer in California.

JESUS M. ROHENA (FHWA CO-CHAIR) is the senior tunnel engineer for the FHWA Office of

Bridge Technology in Washington, DC. Rohena is responsible for managing FHWA’s Federal-aid tunnel program for all States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. He is leading the FHWA effort to develop National Tunnel Inspection Standards (NTIS). He has worked with FHWA in the field of tunnel engineering since 1990. Prior to 1990, Rohena worked on roadway design and construction projects for the Federal Lands. He served as the assistant tunnel engineer from 1990 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004 he moved to the FHWA Resource Center as the complex structures specialist, however he kept working closely with the senior tunnel engineer in all matters related to tunnels. In 2004, when the senior tunnel retired, Rohena was selected as the FHWA senior tunnel engineer. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree in structural engineering from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. He is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia. He serves on the TRB Tunnels and Underground Structures Technical Committee, and is a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the World Road Association (PIARC) Technical Committee C4 Road Tunnel Operation, and the International Tunneling Association (ITA). He serves as the FHWA liaison to the AASHTO Subcommittee T-20 on Tunnels.

Highway Department. He has worked for the Massachusetts Highway Department Bridge Section in various positions since 1983. In 1995, Bardow was appointed Bridge Engineer, and, in March 2006, was promoted to the newly created position of Director of Bridges and Structures. In this position, he oversees the operations of the MassHighway Bridge Section, including the design of bridge and bridge preservation projects, and the inspection and load rating of bridges. In the wake of the July 2006 Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse, Bardow was in charge of the design of the ceiling remediation project. He received both his BSCE and MSCE degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a Professional Engineer registered in Massachusetts. Bardow is a voting member of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures (SCOBS) and serves on the following technical committees: Welding, of which he is the Chair; Timber, of which he is the Vice Chair; Seismic Design; and Tunnels. He is a member of the PCI New England Technical Committee and is a member of both American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section (BSCES) of ASCE. He has served in several elected offices within BSCES, including as President for 2004–05.

BARRY B. BRECTO is the Division Bridge Engineer for the Washington Division of the Federal

Highway Administration. In that capacity he has overseen the federal aid program for the design, construction, maintenance, and inspection of bridges and tunnels in Washington State over the past 19 years. Brecto has been involved with several major tunnels, such as the I 90 Mount Baker Ridge Tunnel, the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, the I 90 Mercer Island Lids, and Seattle’s Battery Street Tunnel. Prior to his current position he was the Regional Structural Engineer for FHWA Region 10, with responsibilities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. He is a member of FHWA’s team to develop National Tunnel Inspection Standards and has

participated in FHWA efforts to update bridge inspection standards, coding guides, and inspection manuals. He received his bachelor of science degree in Civil Engineering from Washington State University, and is a licensed Civil Engineer in the State of Oregon.

BIJAN KHALEGHI is the State Bridge Design Engineer with the Washington State Department

of Transportation (WSDOT) Bridge and Structures Office. He received his Master and Doctor of Engineering degrees from the National Institute of Applied Sciences, Lyon, France. He is a member of many committees and task forces, including the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Technical Committees on Concrete Bridges T-10, Research T-11, Tunnels T-20, ASBI and PCI Bridge Technical Committees. Before his current position, Bijan was the Concrete Specialist for WSDOT Bridge and Structures office. Among his other responsibilities, Bijan is the designated structural engineer for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Tunnel project in Seattle. He is a registered Civil and Structural Engineer in State of Washington.

B I O G R A P H I C A L S K E T C H E S

LOUIS RUZZI is the District Bridge Engineer for District 11-0 for Pennsylvania Department

of Transportation (PennDOT). Ruzzi graduated from University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, with a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology, in 1980. He worked for a consulting firm for 4 years doing structural steel, concrete design and design of nuclear pipe supports/ instrumentation supports until 1985. Ruzzi has worked for PennDOT for over 25 years. He has spent 7 of those years in District 12-0 and 18 in District 11-0. At PennDOT he has worked in the Bridge Unit as a Bridge Designer, Bridge Inspection Squad Leader, and Assistant Bridge Engineer. For the past 11 years, Ruzzi has been the District Bridge Engineer for District 11-0. He is a member of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures. Ruzzi is a licensed professional Engineer.

MICHAEL SALAMON is the Tunnel Superintendent for the Colorado Department of

Transportation. He has been employed by the Colorado Department of Transportation since 1977. His entire career has been dedicated to the operation and management of the Eisenhower/Johnson Memorial Tunnels on Interstate 70. Salamon has been involved with every aspect of the operation of this 8900 ft, two tube tunnel with a current average daily traffic count of 30,000 vehicles. He is a member of American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures.

FULVIO TONON is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin where he

established the International Tunneling Consortium and a Master in Tunneling endorsed by the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association (ITA). Chair of the ASCE Rock Mechanics Committee and chair of the Research subcommittee for TRB Committee AFF60: Tunnels and Underground Structures, he has more than 14 years of research experience in the fields of geomechanics with emphasis on rock mechanics and rock engineering, numerical modeling in geomechanics, underground excavations and tunneling; uncertainty modeling, design process and optimization, and artificial intelligence as applied to Civil Engineering. He has

published 2 books on tunneling, 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 35 papers in conference proceedings. Besides having more than 7 years of university teaching experience, he also has over 13 years of professional experience in geotechnical and structural engineering with projects completed in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Design experience includes: cut-and-cover and bored tunnels in rock, soft ground and mixed face conditions, with or without the use of Tunnel Boring Machines; foundations and special foundations; rock and soil slope stabilizations; precast concrete and steel-concrete composite bridges; hydraulic infrastructures for dams, purification plants and rivers; renovations of ancient masonry buildings; and reinforced concrete buildings. He received his “Laurea” in Civil Engineering from the University of Padova, Italy, in 1994, a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and he is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and Italy.

Ralls Newman, LLC in Austin, TX, specializing in the advancement of structural engineering technologies. Before becoming an independent consultant in late 2004, Ralls was a structural engineer with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for 20 years, the last five years as state bridge engineer and director of TxDOT’s Bridge Division. In this position, Ralls was a member of the AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures and was chair of the Technical Committee for Security and vice chair of the Technical Committee for Research. Ralls earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1981 and 1984, respectively, and became a licensed professional engineer in Texas in 1987. She was the report facilitator for the 2005 FHWA / AASHTO / NCHRP “Underground Transportation Systems in Europe: Safety, Operations, and Emergency Response” international scan, the project manager for an expert panel to evaluate technical qualifications of proposing teams for the 2006 Florida Department of Transportation Port of Miami Tunnel and Access Improvement Project, and chair of a 2008 Maryland

Transportation Authority Bridge & Tunnel Inspection Peer Review Panel. Ralls is chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Design and Construction Group, which includes the Tunnels and Underground Structures Committee.