KINGSTON CHIRWA

        17617 Midway Road

      Dallas, TX 75287

    Telephone: 469-321-2189

kchirwa@hotmail.com

 

SUMMARY

24 progressive years of work experience in the design, field engineering, construction and project management of transportation (roadways and bridges) projects for various DOTs and local municipal governments. BSc degree in Civil Engineering and MSc degree in Civil Engineering (with an emphasis on Transportation Engineering), plus 5 years of post-Master’s degree graduate studies (towards a PhD degree) in Civil Engineering (with an emphasis in Transportation Engineering.) Proficient in using various highway design, project management, and office productivity software. Working knowledge of highway laws, codes, standards and specifications pertaining to highway design. Experience working with various DOT agencies, districts and local municipal governments.

 

CAREER OBJECTIVE

Civil Engineer with broad knowledge in transportation engineering seeking a position in an engineering organization where my skills set will be effectively utilized and also to further my professional transportation engineering career.

 

EDUCATION

·   Post-Master's Degree Graduate studies (towards a PhD degree), Civil Engineering (Transportation), University of Southern California, 2007 to 2010, Montana State University, 2004 to 2006, Iowa State University, 2003

·   M.SC., Civil Engineering (Transportation), The Pennsylvania State University, 2002

·   B. S., Civil Engineering, University of Zambia, 1989
 

TECHNICAL SKILLS

·              Strong design/engineering skills in highway geometric design, roadway drainage design, traffic analysis

and design, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), technical report writing (including traffic impact

studies and environmental impact studies), specifications writing and cost estimating, and preparation of contract/construction documents for transportation engineering projects

·              Knowledgeable in Contract and Project Management

·              Experience in Construction (Roadways and Bridges)

·              Knowledgeable in Contract Law

·              Valuable field experience supervising many types of transportation projects

·              Proven ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously

·              Ability to develop and follow various project development phases from inception to final design

·              Proficient in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, etc.)

·              Familiar with current industry quality standards (QA/QC.)

·              Knowledgeable in transportation environmental compliance requirements of  NEPA

·              Knowledgeable in Project Controls and Budgeting

·              Skilled in preparation of roadway project reports and construction plans

·              Competent in the following design software: MicroStation, InRoads, Project-wise, Primavera,Smartsheet, GeoPak, RoadEng, HCS, Synchro, SimTraffic, Corsim, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, AutoTurn, GuidSign, SignCAD, AG132, MATLAB,Torus, CaiCe, HEC-RAS, HEC-14, HEC-15, TransCAD, CUBE, Traffic Noise Modeling (TNM) and GIS (ArcView, ArcScene, ArcEditor and ArcInfo.)

·              Conversant with the following FHWA, DOT agencies, Cities and local municipal governments design

manuals/standards: AASHTO Highway Design Guide (Green Book), Highway Design Manual (HDM), Roadside Design Guide, Plans Preparations Manual (PPM), Project Development Procedures Manual (PDPM), CADD Standards and Procedures Manual, American with Disabilities Act – Accessibility Guidelines, Drainage Design Manual, Standard Plans and Standard Specifications, Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and Manual of Traffic Signal Design.

·              Excellent verbal and written communication skills

 

AFFILIATIONS

·   Member, Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), 11/01 - present

·   Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 08/00 - present

·   Fellow, International Roads Federation (IRF), 01/02 – present

·   Member, Parsons Toastmasters Club, 02/07 – 08/10

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

AECOMDallas, TX

Transportation Engineer IV5/15-Present

 

My job as a Transportation Engineer IV entails working on both traditional design  and design-build projects. This also involves performing roadway design (profiles and alignments), drainage design and traffic control design as part of PS&E package preparation on TxDOT/NTTA projects and under other local municipalities. The job involves the development of construction plans on various aspects of design (roadway geometrics, traffic control and drainage design.)

Responsibilities:

The job also involves the production of geometric roadway plans, typical section plans, cross section and roadway profiles/alignments (horizontal and vertical.) The job specifically involves performing production associated activities for design and design build projects including roadway designs, typical sections, pavement designs, drawings and specifications through different submittal phases.

Simon Engineering & Consulting, Inc.Dallas, TX

Project Engineer9/13-04/15

 

My job as a Project Engineer involves independently performing engineering tasks like the preparation of  roadway design details (profiles and alignments), roadway construction plans and also plans for other civil infrastructure facilities, preparation of quantities, and specifications in accordance with the TxDOT, AASHTO and the City Of Dallas roadway design standards. This includes the designing of highways, streets, freeways and other civil engineering infrastructure projects related to transportation for state and local agencies. The job also involves calculations of quantities and cost estimating for various infrastructure projects and also responding to various requests for proposals from various institutions.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involves designing many civil projects varying from water and wastewater design,

grading and drainage design, site development, roadway, highway and transit design.

 

USKH, Inc.Anchorage, AK

Civil Surface Transportation Engineer9/10-08/13

 

My job as a Civil Surface Transportation Engineer involved the preparation of roadway designs as per the Alaska DOT, AASHTO and Municipality Of Anchorage design standards. This included working on a wide range of transportation engineering projects, including the design of major and minor roadways, which were both in urban and rural environments. The job involved the geometric design of roadways using AutoCAD and Civil 3D design software, construction plans production, quantity take-offs and cost estimates, writing of specifications and preparation of engineering technical reports.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involved the preparation of roadway geometric layouts plans, preparation of roadway horizontal and vertical alignments, roadway profiles, typical cross sections, grading designs, roadway drainage design, traffic signal design, pavement striping plans, utilities plans, street lighting design, roadway signing plans and traffic control plans during various phases of the project design process.

 

Parsons Corporation.Pasadena, CA

Highway Design Engineer2/07-08/10

 

My job as a Highway Design Engineer involved the preparation of roadway/highway designs as per the Caltrans, AASHTO and City of Los Angeles design standards. This included the preparation of roadway geometric designs, doing traffic analysis (both intersection and roadway corridor capacity analysis), preparation of construction plans, specifications and cost estimates (PS&E) for highway/roadway projects.

The job also involved the preparation of geometric layout plans, horizontal and vertical alignments, super-elevations, roadway profiles, typical cross sections, Intersection and Interchange layouts (profiles and alignments), sight distance determination, detour drawings, construction detail drawings, traffic signal design, traffic signs plans and pavement striping plans.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involved performing various transportation planning and preliminary engineering studies (such Traffic Impact Studies, Project Study Reports, Project Reports and Conceptual Engineering Studies), materials takeoffs, preparation of bid packages, project/contract management and project scheduling.

 

Western Transportation Institute (WTI) Bozeman, MT

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)04/04-12/06

 

My area of research as a Graduate Research Assistant (PhD) included rural transportation issues, particularly involving roadway safety, operations and mobility. My job involved researching, analyzing, selecting, and applying Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) engineering concepts to improving safety on the roadways. The job also entailed doing literature reviews, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, analyzing the survey results data and doing some technical reports writing.

Responsibilities:

The research projects and tasks that I worked on included:  Conducting ridership surveys and doing some statistical analysis as part of the transportation planning process; Studying the deployment and effectiveness of various Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) tools (e.g. VMS, weather monitoring systems, etc.) to better monitor and assess traffic operations; Studying various Traveler Information Systems, and studying various Traffic Management Systems as part of the ITS systems.

Montana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)                                                          Bozeman, MT

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)01/04-03/04

 

My area of research as a Graduate Research Assistant (PhD) included strategies for managing and maintaining  safe, cost-effective and environmentally sound transportation systems for local authorities in Montana. My job involved providing technical information and other proven technologies dealing with roadway maintenance and safety methods to municipal governments in Montana. The job also entailed doing literature reviews, doing field data collection, analyzing the data and doing some technical reports writing.

Responsibilities:

The research projects and tasks that I worked on included: Investigating the effectiveness of pavement additives as part of pavement designs; Advising local transportation authorities on affordable pavement designs, and giving technical advice on various needs (safety, cost effectiveness, etc.) to local transportation authorities designed to help state’s municipalities make the best use of their roadway maintenance funds.

Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE)                                           Ames, IA

Graduate Research Assistant (PhD) 01/03-12/03

 

My area of research as a Graduate Research Assistant (PhD) included safer roadway designs and road accident crash data analysis. My job involved extracting crash data from the Iowa DOT Office of Traffic and Safety statewide crash data base, analyzing it and suggesting effective countermeasures on various roadway corridors. The job entailed also doing literature reviews, doing field data collection, analyzing the data and doing some technical reports writing.

Responsibilities:

The research projects and tasks that I worked on included:  Providing/creating crash severity maps at intersections and various roadway corridors using GIS; Doing accident crash analysis at various intersections and roadway corridors using data from the crash database; Doing intersections and corridor traffic capacity analysis; Doing statistical analysis of the historical data of traffic crashes; and providing well engineered solutions/countermeasures to address roadway safety and operational problems.

 

Pennsylvania Transport Institute (PTI)                                                                                 State College, PA
Graduate Research Assistant (MSc)                                                                                           09/01-08/02

 

My area of research as a Graduate Research Assistant (MSc.) included roadway safety improvements, traffic operations, human factors in transportation engineering, and highway design. My job involved collecting traffic and transportation data, building various transportation databases and the analysis of the transportation data for various purposes on projects. The job also entailed doing literature reviews, doing field data collection, analyzing the data and doing some technical reports writing.

Responsibilities:

The research projects and tasks that I worked on included: Investigating the ride quality of Pennsylvania roads from the motorist’s perspective as part of the human factors effects on highway designs; Investigating the highway engineers’ awareness of the interaction between road signs and their messages, and the driver and roadway in the transportation planning process; Investigating the relationship between human performance and safety in transportation, and investigating the safety effects of various traffic and geometric roadway features for various highways.

Hess & Fisher Engineers, Inc.                                                                                                                Clearfield, PA

Civil Engineer - Drainage                                                                                                      5/01-8/01

 

My job as a Civil Engineer (Drainage) involved the preparation of hydrologic and hydraulic studies and reports for use in the design of highways roadway designs as per PennDOT and local municipal design standards. This included performing hydrologic and hydraulic calculations to estimate peak flows at various points of interest along roadway corridors.

Responsibilities:

The job also involved interpreting hydraulic analyses and developing roadway drainage systems, design of highway drainage elements such as culverts, storm sewers, and open roadside drainage channels and calculation of quantities for drainage structures. Highway drainage design software (TR 55 and HEC 26) was used to design the drainage structures.

Gannett Fleming, Inc.                                                                                                                Pittsburgh, PA
Civil Engineer - Highways                                                                                                    5/00-4/01

 

My job as a Civil Engineer (Highways) involved the design and development of various design elements and transportation project studies as per the PennDOT, AASHTO and City Of Pittsburgh design standards. This included the development of horizontal and vertical alignments/profiles, typical cross sections and the preparation of traffic control plans. The job also involved the preparation of construction cost estimates, and the development and review of construction documents, which included plans and specifications for local streets and state highways.

Responsibilities:

The job also involved doing traffic analysis on various roadway corridors, site surveys, performing traffic impact studies and the development of environmental impact studies.

Ministry of Local Government and Housing                                                                 Lusaka, Zambia
Principal Roads Engineer                                                                                                     10/97-04/00

 

My job as a Principal Roads Engineer involved providing technical leadership on the completion of projects deliverables and ensuring that goals and objectives were accomplished within contracts terms. The job also included providing leadership in the planning, execution, and progress reporting on all the roadway projects that were being done by the roads department; Overseeing the institutional restructuring of the Road Sector throughout the country as a member of the National Roads Technical Committee; Assessing the country's needs for the improvement of the infrastructure with regard to the future traffic demands and economic realities; Providing training with regard to institutional development and support for the critical technical staff in local authorities; Supervising the development of projects from initiation to the project completion and supervising road condition surveys and mapping.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involved developing design engineering and construction roadway contracts for the local authorities as per the general and special conditions; Ensuring that legal and various government policy requirements were complied with; Evaluating contract bids, which included the technical and financial components of the contracts; Negotiating contracts with consultants and/ or contractors; Providing overall supervision of engineering contracts including weekly monitoring of actual work performed by consultants and/or contractors; ensuring that fiscal requirements on the projects were complied with; Developing a national highways database which included engineering and construction services for cost estimating purposes; Preparing inventories of roads under local authorities, and compiling relevant engineering and construction services base prices (unit rates) for bids evaluation purposes. 

 

Ministry of Local Government and Housing                                                                 Lusaka, Zambia
Senior Roads Engineer                                                                                                            10/96-09/97

 

My job as Senior Roads Engineer involved overseeing a variety of quality control inspection activities designed to ensure that highways, bridges, and related transportation facilities conform to the plans and specifications contained in contractual construction documents; Designing of preventive roads maintenance programs; Providing on-site supervision and monitoring of roadway construction projects for compliance to applicable standards; Monitoring and maintaining all roadway projects correspondence and preparing, compiling and submitting reports and documentation relative to project progress.

Responsibilities:

The job also involved preparing technical reports on proposed and on-going road programs in local authorities to facilitate sourcing of funds for their execution; Analyzing and consolidating road inventories and condition surveys to facilitate their storage and retrieval in the department’s database and monitoring the preparation and execution of road maintenance programs in the local authorities throughout the country’s municipal jurisdictions; Preparing work orders and contract modifications for work item changes; Representing the roads department at meetings with the public, other agencies, and utility companies and reviewing project documents and quality of work in order to support the payment or denial of payment to contractors.

 

Nemerit Enterprises Ltd                                                                                                             Lusaka, Zambia
Lead Civil Engineer-Highway Construction                                                                       06/94-09/96

 

My job as a Lead Civil Engineer (Highway Construction) involved developing and maintaining  roadway and bridge construction work schedules, preparing monthly reports of physical completions of various components of the project (paving, culvert, bridge decks, etc.); ensuring compliance with local design standards, codes, designs and specifications, and performing construction inspections and quality assurance on the roadway projects.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involved participating in preconstruction meetings with the roadway construction team (design engineers, sub-contractors and local authority officials); Responding to queries from the clients; Preparing bids for new projects procurements, and supervising construction sites, including plant and labor.

Shonga Steel Ltd.                                                                                                          Lusaka, Zambia
Senior Civil Engineer/Contracts Manager              - Highway Construction                                       07/91-05/ 94

 

My job as a Senior Civil Engineer/Contracts Manager (Highway Construction) involved reviewing schematic design documents and specifications/cost estimates for compliance with sound engineering principles in roadway and bridge construction and environmental issues on the project site; meeting with all construction project key players to establish project milestones, scheduling, payment arrangements to make sure that the construction project was done in the most cost effective manner.

Responsibilities:

The job also involved planning, directing, supervising, and controlling the execution of technical, fiscal, and administrative functions of the highway construction projects; Being in charge for the technical excellence of the various construction functions of the project including coordination of different technical disciplines, procurement of materials and equipment; Making sure that the procedures on the construction site were in compliance with applicable laws and standards for the relevant projects; Developing the project work schedules, and budgets for the various assigned project elements; Monitoring progress on the projects in order to meet the schedules and budget requirements, and  identifying and documenting changes in scope of works.

 

 

Minestone (Zambia) Ltd                                                                                                            Lusaka, Zambia
Civil Engineer – Highway Construction                                                                                    12/89-06/91

 

My job as a Civil Engineer (Highway Construction) involved ensuring that the highway projects were built in accordance with plans, special provisions, existing design standards, specifications and estimates. This entailed inspecting the roadway and bridge construction work on a daily basis by keeping a daily record of construction site instructions regarding the plans and specifications interpretations; coordinating with an independent testing laboratory for any materials testing required by project specifications; verifying quantities for payment for monthly payment requests, and also providing for public safety during the project construction period.

 

Responsibilities:

The job also involved devising project construction methods, supervising and managing labor and plant on several construction sites; Reporting on construction progress, costs and other project related issues; Monitoring construction activities in relation to compliance with specifications requirements; Reviewing and executing change orders; Administering the construction contracts; and supervising the construction activities to ensure compliance with the contract provisions.

 

 

MAJOR PROJECTS THAT I HAVE WORKED ON INCLUDE:

 

Project Title: Northern Lights Blvd @ UAA Drive Channelization Improvements

Project City, State: Anchorage, AK.

Project Description: This project involved designing some safety improvements at the Northern Lights and UAA Drive intersection. This project involved the addition of an extra left turn lane and an exclusive right turn lane to reduce some of the rear end accidents that were common at this intersection. A second westbound left turn lane from Northern Lights Boulevard to UAA Drive was installed in the median area to help mitigate the westbound left turning crashes. Another southbound lane on UAA Drive was added to accept the second westbound left turn lane. The bus stop on UAA Drive was relocated in order to accommodate the second southbound lane. 

Northern Lights Boulevard is a divided four-lane two-way urban minor arterial roadway.  UAA Drive is a two-lane two-way urban collector. There are three approaches to this intersection: an eastbound, westbound, and a northbound approach.  There are three approach lanes in the westbound direction consisting of one left turn lane and two through lanes.  There are three approach lanes in the eastbound direction, one right turn lane and two through lanes.  On the northbound approach there are also three approach lanes, a left turn lane and two right turn lanes.

There are two bus pullouts near the intersection, one in the southbound direction of the southern approach and one in the eastbound direction of the eastern approach. 

There are accessible sidewalks along the north and south sides of Northern Lights Boulevard west of UAA Drive, and on the north side only, east of the bus stop at the intersection. There are pedestrian cross walks across the western and southern approaches of the intersection. 

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Designed the channelization at the intersection of Northern Lights and UAA Drive.

·   Prepared the signing and pavement striping plans along both the Northern Lights Blvd and UAA Drive.

·   Prepared roadway geometry plans and profiles

·   Designed ADA compliant accessible ramps along the roadway corridor

 

Project Title: Bragaw Street @ 16th Avenue Channelization Improvements

Project City, State: Anchorage, AK.

Project Description: This project involves safety improvements at the Bragaw Blvd and 16th Avenue intersection. This project involved the addition of a raised island (puzzle piece) at the 16th St intersection in order to restrict left turns and through movements from the 16^th Avenue approaches to Bragaw Street. A left turn pocket along the median was installed in order to reduce some accidents that were common at this intersection. A raised median across the entire 16^th Avenue intersection was installed in order to restrict all left turning and through movement to and from 16^th Avenue.

Bragaw Street is a four lane two-way urban minor arterial roadway. 16th Avenue is a two lane two way local street serving neighborhoods on either side of Bragaw Street.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Designed the channelization along Bragaw Blvd and at the 16th St intersection.

·   Prepared the signing plans.

·   Prepared roadway geometric plans and profiles

·   Designed sidewalks

 

Project Title: Seward Highway at MP 88 Project

Project City, State: Anchorage, AK.

 

Project Description: This project involves safety improvements along the Seward Highway at milepost 88. This project involves provision of adequate sight distances by re-aligning the roadway at milepost 88. It also involves replacing the existing signs with oversized ones and installation of curve/advisory speed signs at the beginning of the curve (in accordance with MUTCD), in order to improve motorist awareness of the curve.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Prepared the signing plans, as per the MUTCD standards.

·   Prepared  road  re-alignment plans.

·   Prepared roadway plans and profiles

·   Calculated quantities

 

Project Title: The E Street Corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project

Project City, State: San Bernardino, CA.

 

Project Description: This project involved a 15.7 mile-long transit route improvement that connects the northern portion of the City of San Bernardino with the City of Loma Linda. The transit route begins in the vicinity of Palm Avenue and Kendall Drive and ends in the vicinity of the Veterans Administration Hospital located at Barton Road and Benton Street. The project also involved the provision of a combined side-and center-running Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) containing segments of exclusive and mixed-flow routes. The work included the provision of 16 station stops, spaced approximately 1-mile apart to facilitate higher operating speeds.

 

The E street traverses an urban corridor, and on-street stations would be located to create a comfortable, efficient transit place that fits into the community fabric and that minimizes the need for acquisition of right-of-way (ROW). Center Platform Stations would be located in the center of the street ROW on a raised platform with access provided by crosswalks at intersections and American with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant ramps to the station platforms.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Analyzed some intersections along the transit routes to compare the existing operating characteristics with the projected future scenarios (with the project built.)

·   Used Synchro (traffic analysis) software for the analysis.

·   The measures of effectiveness of effectiveness (MOE) studied included LOS, v/c ratios and intersection delays.

 

Project Title: Crane Valley Dam Project

Project City, State: Fresno, California

Project Description: This project involves seismic retrofitting of Crane valley Dam to improve the dam’s seismic stability. The modifications to the dam include adding rock buttresses to the upstream and downstream slopes of the dam and improving the main dam’s stability by anchoring the concrete core wall to downstream rock fill mass. The project is located on the north fork of Willow Creek, about 40 miles northeast of Fresno, in Madera County, California.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Developed a truck traffic impact study in the project area. The truck traffic report included a comparison of the existing traffic conditions and the anticipated future traffic conditions during construction.

·   Developed scope of work for procuring traffic counts (and other traffic data) services. The traffic data needed included the vehicle turning movements, vehicle classifications in the traffic, ADT and average speeds.

·   Prepared a temporary traffic control plan in the work area.

 

Project Title: 1st Street Viaduct Widening Over Los Angeles River

Project City, State: Los Angeles, California

Project Description: This project was the widening of the historical 1st St. Viaduct, originally constructed 1929. The First Street Viaduct is a bridge crossing the Los Angeles River and serving communities east of Downtown Los Angeles. The project also involved the construction of a light rail on the First Street.

 

The project’s improvements on the project included widening the viaduct to approximately 26 feet to the north in order to make way for the Light Rail Transit and provide two standard 12-foot through lanes with a five-foot shoulder along the north side of the viaduct. Improvements also included seismic strengthening of bridge features to meet current design standards. The project also involved creating a 16-foot wide median to accommodate crash barriers around the column and install pedestrian enhancements such as sidewalks and lighting.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Prepared the Traffic Impact Analysis report. The report included the analysis of impacts and the proposed mitigation measures for reducing the traffic impacts resulting from detouring traffic during construction

·   Developed a traffic handling plan to manage traffic during construction. The traffic handling plan included detour routes in and around the project area.

 

 

Project Name: State Route 99 at Hosking Avenue Interchange

Project City, State: Bakersfield, California

Project Description: This project involved adding a new spread diamond interchange along State Route 99 at Hosking Avenue. This new interchange replaced the existing Hosking Road Overcrossing with a new structure that would carry three lanes in each direction with sidewalks and shoulders on both sides. The connection to State Route 99 was accomplished with a partial cloverleaf interchange. Loop on-ramps provided access to State Route 99 for eastbound-to-northbound and westbound-to-southbound directions of travel, while spread diamond off-ramps and direct on-ramps serve traffic in the northbound and southbound directions. The project also included widening of Hosking Avenue east and west of the overcrossing within the interchange area. The project also involved widening Hosking Avenue from two lanes to six lanes with a curbed median and a left turn pocket.

 

My involvement on the project:

·   Developed roadway geometry plans for the interchange modifications and street widening

·   Designed and reviewed traffic control plans

·   Coordinated with the utility companies.

 

 

Project Name: US-101/Wendy Drive Interchange Improvements

Project City, State: Thousand Oaks, California

Project Description: The project involved the widening of Wendy Drive by one lane in each direction between the southbound and northbound ramps intersections and adding a right-turn lane for northbound Wendy Drive south of the Old Conejo Road. The work also included the widening and reconstruction of the Wendy Drive Overcrossing structure and the northbound on-ramp and southbound off-ramp.

These improvements were meant to mitigate against traffic congestion at this interchange.  Other improvements included interchange landscaping, adding decorative railing and lighting fixtures, and the use of decorative concrete fascia to enhance the aesthetics of the bridge structure.

My involvement on the project:

·   Developed traffic signs plans

·   Developed roadway geometric plans

·   Developed cross sections

·   Developed road detail sheets

·   Developed quantities and cost estimates