AECOM announced today that it has added two key leaders to its Design and Consulting Services, Americas, complex bridges practice.

Rick Land has joined the firm as bridge quality practice leader, and Barry Colford has been hired in the role of preservation practice leader.

Based in Sacramento, Calif., Land will be responsible for the quality oversight of AECOM’s national complex bridge practice from tender phase through final design.  Land is also responsible for coordinating AECOM’s overall North America bridge practice, which includes almost 800 bridge engineers located in 85 offices.   Over the past 15 years, Land has gained national experience holding leadership roles on several committees for the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials, including the Standing Committee on Highways and the Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures.

Prior to joining AECOM, Land spent the majority of his career with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), working on the design and construction of bridges and structures on the state highway system.  He completed his career with Caltrans as the chief deputy director, appointed in 2012 by Governor Jerry Brown, and earlier in his career he served as the department’s state bridge engineer and then chief engineer managing the statewide project-delivery organization.

“Rick has been involved with many of California’s recent, complex bridge projects and brings a valuable balance of technical knowledge, leadership and collaboration skills to AECOM,” said Kenneth Butler, senior vice president and chief bridge engineer, complex bridges, Design and Consulting Services, Americas.  “Rick further positions AECOM as a recognized leader in the field through his understanding of the owner’s perspective when dealing with difficult technical challenges that arise during the design and construction of large, complex bridge projects.”

Additionally, Barry Colford will be responsible for business development and project delivery of AECOM’s growing complex bridge preservation business in North America, with a concentration in the northeastern United States.  Based in AECOM’s Philadelphia office, Colford will manage communications with the public as well as with clients’ technical staff, management and governing boards.  He is a chartered civil engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London; and he has been an active member of the International Cable Supported Bridge Operators’ Association for more than 10 years, helping to shape and develop this owners and operators forum.

Before joining AECOM, Colford spent the last 19 years as chief engineer and bridgemaster of the Forth Road Bridge, a 3,300-foot suspension bridge near Edinburgh, Scotland.  He was responsible to the Forth Estuary Transport Authority, the Board that owned and operated the Forth Road Bridge, for approximately US$100 million of improvement and strengthening works carried out on the bridge, with projects including strengthening the steel main towers, replacing the suspenders and cable band bolts, and bearing and joint replacement.  In addition, works also included investigations and inspections of the main cables and anchorages, and the retrofitting of dehumidification and acoustic monitoring.

“Barry will play a key role in the management of projects for owners with a major, complex bridge inventory,” said Butler.