Wright named FHWA Engineer of the Year - Personnel - Brief Article

Public Roads, Sept-Oct, 2003

On March 19, 2003, Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters announced that William Wright earned the distinction of being the Engineer of the Year for 2002. Wright, who oversees the structures laboratory at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA, received the Engineering Excellence Award from FHWA for outstanding professional achievement and for earning the prestigious title, Engineer of the Year.

Wright, who joined FHWA in 1988, is FHWA's key technical expert on issues related to the design, fabrication, construction, and inspection of structural steel for highways. He led FHWA's forensic investigation of the Hoan Bridge failure in Milwaukee, helped identify the cause of the brittle fracture, and dratted technical guidance to deal with similar problems on other bridges.

Wright also directed the national pooled fund research project to conduct full-scale testing and comprehensive analytical modeling of curved steel girder highway bridges. This work developed a new AASHTO specification for the design and construction of steel highway bridges. The National Society of Professional Engineers, along with other distinguished engineers with the Federal government, recognized Wright as engineer of the year at FHWA.

Wright serves on several technical committees, including the Steel Bridge Committee of the Transportation Research Board and the Fatigue and Fracture Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a master's degree in structural engineering from the University of Maryland, and he completed his Ph.D. in structural engineering from Lehigh University in June 2003.