Virtual Team on Road Tunnels Team Member Profile

Ralph J. Trapani, P.E.

EARLY YEARS

Born in Buffalo, New York, May 21, 1952 Moved to Colorado in August 1970 to attend engineering school in Boulder

EDUCATION

B.S. degree, Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, December 1974
European Rail Systems Study Trip, April 1998
German Passenger Rail Car Study Trip, March 1999

WORK EXPERIENCE

Colorado Department of Transportation from August 1975 to May 2002

• Served as Project Manager for the award winning Glenwood Canyon I-70 Project from 1980 to 1992, including managing the design and construction of the Reverse Curve and Hanging Lake tunnels
• Served as Project Manager, Mount Sopris Transportation Project and President, Colorado Transportation Institute from 1992 until 1995
• Region 3 Program Engineer for SH 82 Corridor and Colorado Intermountain Area

Engineering Consultant in private practice, June 2002 to present

AWARD AND ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Who's Who in the West, Current Edition.
Outstanding Young Men in America, 1987.
14th place World Championships, 1990 World Mountain Bike Championships, Durango, Colorado
Channel "9" Person of the Week, October 1992.
Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce "Top Brass" Award, 1992
Jane Silverstein Ries Award, Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, 1993
General Palmer Award, American Consulting Engineers of Colorado, 1998
Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1999
Transit Supporter of the Year, Roaring Fork Transit Agency, 1999
Glenwood Springs Community Center Hall of Fame, 2001

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Registered Professional Engineer, Colorado.
Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Member, ASCE Social and Environmental Concerns in Construction, Technical Subcommittee.
Member, National Society of Professional Engineers.
Member, Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee on Tunnels and Underground Structures

Publications/Presentations

• Co-author, "Glenwood Canyon I-70: Environmental Concerns", Journal of Transportation Engineering; American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), May 1983.
• Chairman, ASCE Technical Session, "Environmental Concerns in Heavy Construction Projects", Denver, May 1985.
• Co-author, "Stress Wave Propagation Testing of Large Diameter Caissons, Glenwood Canyon, Colorado", International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Third International Conference, May 1988.
• Co-author, "Design Provisions for a Replaceable Segmental Bridge Deck", Transportation Research Board, Third Bridge Engineering Conference, Denver, March 1991.
• Co-Chairman, Conference on Construction in Difficult Terrain, Snowmass, Colorado, August 1993
• Author, "Ten Years of Segmental Bridges in Glenwood Canyon," American Segmental Bridge Institute, November 1993
• Co-author, "Geotechnical Aspects of the Hanging Lake Tunnels", Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, 1993.
• Author, "Case Study-Glenwood Canyon I-70", Transportation Research Board, January 1994
• Author, "Citizens Instigate Innovation", ASCE National Convention, San Diego, CA, October 1995

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES

Avid father, skier, bicyclist, and windsurfer.