U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000


Skip to content
Facebook iconYouTube iconTwitter iconFlickr iconLinkedInInstagram

Office of International Programs

FHWA Home / Office of International Programs

Appendix C Team Members

Steven L. Ernst
(FHWA Co-Chair)
Senior Engineer, Safety and Security
FHWA, Office of Bridge Technology
HIBT-1, Room 3203
400 Seventh St., SW.
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-4619
Fax: (202) 366-3077
steve.ernst@fhwa.dot.gov

Mahendra G. Patel
(AASHTO Co-Chair)
Chief Engineer, Highway Administration
Pennsylvania DOT
Commonwealth Keystone Building,
8th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone: (717) 787-6898
Fax: (717) 346-0346
mahpatel@state.pa.us

Harry A. Capers
Manager
Office of Transportation Security
New Jersey DOT
PO Box 600
Trenton, NJ 08625-0600
Phone: (609) 530-2558
Fax: (609) 530-5151
harry.capers@dot.state.nj.us

Donald Dwyer
Technical Services Division
GeoTech Engineering Bureau, Mailpod 3-1
NYDOT
50 Wolf Rd.
Albany, NY 12232
Phone: (518) 457-4724
Fax: (518) 457-0282
ddwyer@dot.state.ny.us

Chris Hawkins
Senior Supervising Engineer
Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc.
One Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10119
Phone: (212) 465-5538
Fax: (212) 465-5583
hawkins@pbworld.com

Gary Steven Jakovich
FHWA
400 Seventh St., SW.
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-4596
Fax: (202) 366-3077
gary.jakovich@fhwa.dot.gov

Wayne Lupton
Supervisor
Maintenance and Operations
Colorado DOT
15285 South Golden Rd., Building 45
Golden, CO 80401
Phone: (303) 273-1840
Fax: (303) 273-1854
wayne.lupton@dot.state.co.us

Tom Margro
General Manager
Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)
300 Lakeside Dr., 23rd Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 464-6060
Fax: (510) 464-6009
tmargro@bart.gov

Mary Lou Ralls
(Report Facilitator)
Ralls Newman, LLC
2906 Pinecrest Dr.
Austin, TX 78757
Phone: (512) 422-9080
Fax: (512) 371-3778
ralls-newman@sbcglobal.net

Jesus M. Rohena
Senior Tunnel Engineer
FHWA Office of Bridge Technology
HIBT-10, Room 3203
400 Seventh Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20590
Phone: (202) 366-4593
Fax: (202) 366-3077
jesus.rohena@fhwa.dot.gov

Mike Swanson
(representing IBTTA)
Chief Operating Officer
Massachussetts Turnpike Authority
694 Haverhill St.
Rowley, MA 01969
Phone: (617) 248-2824
Fax: 617) 248-2916
mike.swanson@mta.state.ma.us

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Steve Ernst (FHWA co-chair) is a senior engineer for safety and security with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Bridge Technology. Ernst is responsible for safety and security technology programs, policies, standards, and practices and for training and research activities related to bridge and tunnel security and safety. He was the FHWA lead for the FHWA and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Blue Ribbon Panel on Bridge and Tunnel Security. He leads an engineering assessment team that evaluates critical U.S. bridges and tunnels for security, and developed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a workshop to train engineers to understand and mitigate threats and vulnerabilities to bridges and tunnels. Ernst is a registered professional engineer in Virginia. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor's degree in English from Arkansas State University. His 20 years with FHWA include 9 years as a bridge design engineer. He is the FHWA liaison to the AASHTO Technical Committee on Security and the AASHTO Special Committee on Security and is active in cooperative efforts with the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal, State, and local agencies on bridge and tunnel security issues.

.G. Patel (AASHTO co-chair) is the chief engineer for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). He is responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating policies, standards, criteria, and procedures for highway and bridge design, construction, maintenance, public safety, and operation. Patel is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania and has a master's degree from Brigham Young University in Utah. He has more than 30 years of tenure with PennDOT, including 8 years as chief bridge engineer and more than 4 years as director of the Bureau of Design. He is a member of the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways, which is responsible for approving national standards, criteria, and policies on highway transportation.

Harry Capers is the manager of highway, bridge, and tunnel critical infrastructure in the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Office of Transportation Security. He is responsible for coordinating critical infrastructure vulnerability assessment efforts; developing, evaluating, and recommending new security standards and procedures for highways, bridges, and tunnels; and developing and implementing best practices and other highway, bridge, and tunnel transportation security programs for NJDOT. Previously, Capers served as State bridge engineer and manager of the Bureau of Structural Engineering for NJDOT. He was responsible for directing all matters pertaining to highway structures and geotechnical engineering, including bridge management, design and inspection of fixed and moveable bridges, policies and design standards, scopes of work, and capital investments. Capers earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY, and a master's degree in public administration from Rutgers University in Newark, NJ. He is a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey and New York and a certified public manager in New Jersey. He chairs the AASHTO T-20 Subcommittee on Tunnels and serves on the Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures. He also serves that group as chair of the Loads Committee, vice chair of the Seismic Committee, and a member of the Moveable Bridge and Bridge Security Committees. He chairs the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on General Structures and Subcommittee on Bridge Safety and Security and is a member of the Committee on Bridge Management Systems. Capers has published and presented more than two dozen state-of-the-practice papers on bridge management, construction and design, and transportation security at various conferences in the United States, Japan, and China.

Don Dwyer is an associate soils engineer for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). Dwyer is head of the Highway Design and Construction Section, which provides geotechnical support and quality assurance for all NYSDOT projects, from scoping through design and construction. He and his staff also provide geotechnical support and technical assistance for emergency repairs after floods, highway washouts, etc., as well as for routine maintenance. Dwyer is spearheading the beneficial use of recycled materials in highway construction in New York State, including the use of recycled scrap tires. Dwyer has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the State University at Buffalo. He is a licensed engineer in New York, and serves on several technical committees of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), as well as on two technical committees of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures: T-15 (Substructures and Retaining Walls) and T-20 (Tunnels).

Chris Hawkins is a senior supervising engineer with the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc. Working as project manager and engineer, he has gained broad experience in the design and installation of underground life safety systems and mechanical/electrical support systems. The scope of his work includes metropolitan subway systems, highway tunnels, railroad tunnels, and water/sewage tunnels. He has worked onsite at major underground transportation projects in Europe, Asia, and the United States. This experience encompasses new facility work as well as rehabilitation of existing works. In addition, his design and construction experience includes facility layout, code compliance, cost estimating, equipment selection, and complete contract documents. He has held key positions of responsibility during all phases of underground construction and mining, from conceptual design to project commissioning. Hawkins is a graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in mining engineering and a master's degree in business administration. He is a licensed professional engineer in New York, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Gary Jakovich is a structural engineer with FHWA. Since completing the FHWA Highway Engineer Training Program in 1979, he has been assigned to the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division in Sterling, VA. As a Bridge Design Team leader, Jakovich is responsible for directing the development of plans and specifications for the construction and rehabilitation of federally owned highway structures in the United States. Over the years, he has participated in the design and construction of numerous projects, including the Linn Cove Viaduct in North Carolina and the Arch Bridge carrying the Natchez Trace Parkway over Tennessee Route 96. His design experience with tunnels has involved the rehabilitation of existing structures on National Park Service roads in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He is a graduate of Renssalear Polytechnic Institute and a registered professional engineer in Virginia, and serves as an FHWA liaison to the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures.

Wayne Lupton is the director of maintenance operations for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Lupton directs the maintenance and operations programs for CDOT and his responsibilities include emergency preparedness coordination for CDOT. In the past, he was the maintenance superintendent for the Hanging Lake Tunnels in Glenwood Springs, CO. During his 31-year tenure with CDOT, Lupton has used different types of highway maintenance techniques, including 6 years of tunnel maintenance and operations. Lupton has been involved in the use of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies for the past 11 years. He has worked on FHWA's Lead State program, two Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center panels, and FHWA's Peer-to-Peer Program for ITS, and is now on three NCHRP panels. He holds degrees in electronic technology and computer maintenance.

Tom Margro is the general manager of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). Margro is responsible for managing the entire BART rapid transit (heavy rail) system, which encompasses 169 route kilometers (105 route miles) and 43 stations and carries more than 300,000 passengers daily. Before becoming general manager, he was assistant general manager of transit system development, responsible for implementing the BART Extensions Program. Before coming to BART, Margro was with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority for 18 years, working in engineering, operations, and capital projects. During his time with the authority, he served as manager of facilities engineering, senior program manager of electrical facilities, chief engineer, and assistant general manager of engineering and construction. He also worked for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, where he was director of maintenance and engineering services and chief engineer. Margro has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Syracuse University and a master's degree in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He also completed additional postgraduate studies in systems engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has served on several American Public Transportation Association (APTA) committees.

Mary Lou Ralls (report facilitator) is an engineering consultant and principal of Ralls Newman, LLC in Austin, TX, specializing in the advancement of structural engineering technologies including accelerated construction and transportation security. Before becoming an independent consultant in late 2004, Ralls was a structural engineer with the Texas Department of Transportation for 20 years, the last 5 years as State bridge engineer and director of the 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. She was also a member of the AASHTO Task Force on Transportation Security. 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. Since 2003, Ralls has served as chair of the TRB Structures Section, which includes the Tunnels and Underground Structures Committee, and is a member of the TRB Critical Transportation Infrastructure Protection Committee. She is also a member of several NCHRP panels on transportation structures and security.

Jesus M. Rohena 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. Before joining the Office of Bridge Technology in 2005, he served as the complex structures specialist at the FHWA Resource Center in Baltimore, MD. Rohena has worked with FHWA in the field of tunnel engineering since 1990. 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 C3.3 on Road Tunnel Operation, and the International Tunneling Association (ITA). He serves as an FHWA liaison to the AASHTO Subcommittee T-20 on Tunnels.

Michael W. Swanson is the chief operating officer and chief engineer of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), where he is responsible for managing the Engineering, Construction, Toll Collection, and Maintenance Divisions and the activities of Troop E of the Massachusetts State Police. Swanson directed the transition process for Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel Project to ensure that all Central Artery elements turned over to MTA for operation, maintenance, and ownership were constructed properly and that the facilities were safe to open and operate. He also directed the staffing assessments necessary to ensure that MTA had the human and equipment resources necessary to safely operate the new tunnel and highway elements. From 1993 to 1996, Swanson served as the deputy secretary for capital and transportation planning, where he managed the capital and transportation planning programs of the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. He is a registered engineer in Massachusetts.

<< PreviousContentsNext >>
Page last modified on November 7, 2014
Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 | 202-366-4000