Consulting firm Wantman Group, Inc. (WGI) recently added an office in Ft. Lauderdale, headed by two engineers specializing in bridge design and rehabilitation. Senior structural engineers Coriann Salas and Julie Vers are leading the WGI structural engineering team’s South Florida bridge design and inspection efforts, the company announced in a news release. This includes work on major design-build projects and projects involving complicated road work.
WGI says the Ft. Lauderdale office, its eighth, is strategically located to be near key clients, including Florida Department of Transportation’s District’s 4 and 6 and the City of Ft. Lauderdale. On the heels of winning the Design-Build Institute of America – Florida Region’s Transportation Award for the Big John Monahan Reconstruction project in western Martin County (part of FDOT District 4), the Ft. Lauderdale office will expand WGI’s structural division, building on offices already firmly established in Jacksonville and Tampa.
Both women were hired to develop the new office and to establish the presence of WGI’s Structures Division in South Florida. They will pursue clients such as FDOT District 4; FDOT District 6; Miami-Dade Expressway Authority; Broward, Miami Dade and Monroe Counties; City of Ft Lauderdale; City of Miami; and City of Port St Lucie, among others. In addition, the new office will include roadway engineers, landscape architects and planners.
Salas is a registered Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Central Florida. Her experience encompasses structural design/rehabilitation projects consisting of AASHTO/FIB girder bridges, steel truss bridges, bridge widenings, noisewalls, retaining walls, box culverts, foundations and various pedestrian facilities such as pedestrian bridges, elevated platforms, boardwalks and other miscellaneous concrete and steel structures.
“I’ve been practicing bridge engineering in South Florida for fourteen years and bring local knowledge and experience to the design table in Fort Lauderdale,” Salas said. “Julie and I will be the structural lead on pursuits in South Florida in the transportation discipline. I am excited to be a part of WGI’s structural division and gain experience working with WGI’s talented engineers on many of the firm’s the high-profile projects.”
Vers comes to WGI with more than 15 years’ experience with specific expertise in the structural design of concrete, steel, and timber bridges, sign structures, marine structures, retaining walls, foundations, and bridge inspection. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Florida International University. Her career has been split between Florida and Connecticut and she is a licensed Professional Engineer in both states. Vers is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and participates in the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS). Her experience primarily consists of new bridge design, bridge rehabilitation and repair, and bridge inspection. A significant project on her resume is the design of Andrews Avenue over Martin Luther King Boulevard and the CSX Railroad in Pompano Beach, a three-span continuous horizontally reverse-curved steel plate girder bridge.
WGI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women and minorities to join the team with their elite skill sets. WGI’s family has grown to over 250 professionals, including last year’s acquisition of the well-known planning and landscape architecture firm, Land Design South. WGI is now one of the largest full service Florida-based firms, offering a full menu of engineering, planning, environmental, surveying, landscape architecture, and creative services to cities, counties, state and federal agencies, and private clients throughout Florida. WGI is recognized for its innovative and cutting-edge approaches to solving Florida’s transportation, environmental, and water resources issues.
“We are pleased to have the forward-thinking talent of Coriann and Julie leading our engineering team in Fort Lauderdale,” said WGI president David Wantman. “Our menu of structural services alone is keeping us very busy. And we have the confidence to take on any project with our experienced team of professionals.”
