Ed Morales is a Project Manager/Structural Design Engineer with nearly three decades of experience in the Project Management, Design, and investigation of various civil and structural projects.

TEAM-Ed-Morales-JrIn addition to serving as president for Morales Consulting Engineers, Ed’s responsibilities include Project Management, Civil and Structural Design. His project background includes numerous design and management of infrastructure projects for the Florida Department of Transportation, the US Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and various Port Authorities, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and various private industries.

Ed started his career after receiving his BSCE from the University of Florida. His first employer was the Florida Department of Transportation where he was accepted into the Professional Engineering Training program. After completion of the program, Ed received his professional Engineer license and began to practice structural engineering for the Department of Transportation. As a young engineer working for the FDOT, Ed developed several structural engineering computer programs that were used throughout the state.

In the next two years, Ed completed several in-house design projects, garnered Project management responsibilities for two major consultant design projects on I-95, and served as the District 4 shop drawing engineer. In 1994, he became a consulting engineer in private practice. As a consultant, Ed has provided professional engineering services to a variety of clients including the FDOT, DOD, FDEP, USACOE and various municipalities in Florida. In addition, Ed also managed the South Florida office of the startup of Morales & Shumer Engineers. Next, Ed was Vice President of Transystems Corporation, responsible for Florida operations with over 70 personnel throughout Florida. Ed then opened a new Regional Office for Bergmann Associates in 2001, and later opened another branch office in South Florida, which has consistently been one of the most cost-efficient offices while growing NSR to over $1.8 million yearly. During his tenure at Bergmann Associates, he rose to serve as an advisor to the Board of Directors. From a single employee, he built a cost-effective and dynamic team of seasoned and younger professionals that competed against the largest and most capable firms in Florida.

Ed has 28 years of Florida experience in the project management, design, and construction of all types of infrastructure projects. As a leader, his strongest assets include a proven track record of accomplishment in the areas of operations management, business development, and technical expertise. His leadership skills have been augmented through certification from the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. He’s also received continuing training in the areas of business development, leadership, and project management.

Design Build Project Experience

NAVFAC GTMO // Hal Jones Contractor // Ferry Boat Landing // Guantanamo, Cuba // D/B Partner // Project Manager, Project Engineer Team provided Design services for contractor Hal Jones. Services included designing and permitting of repairs and new ferry boat landing on the Guantanamo Naval Base. Project included TDY to GTMO during design.

Florida Department of Transportation // I-95 over Trout River // Duval County, Florida // Hal Jones Contractor D/B Partner // Project Manager, Project Engineer Team provided Design services for contractor Hal Jones. Services included designing all of the temporary false work including four construction trestles. At the end of the construction trestles, team designed a movable ramp so that the crane could crawl onto and off of a Barge that would temporarily carry the equipment while the construction was in the navigable channel.

Florida East Coast Railroad // Bridge No. 1 over the St. Johns River // Duval County, Florida // Hal Jones Contractor // Project Manager, Project Engineer Team provided design services for the repairs of the fender system to the first railroad bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The repairs to the steel sheet pile cellular structure included placing concrete sheets all the way around the structure. The sheets were embedded in the soil and tied at the top with a new cap. The annular space between the old and the new structure was then filled in with flowable fill.

Hal Jones Contractor // Equipment Loading Pier // Duval County, Florida // D/B Partner // Project Manager, Project Engineer Team provided design services for contractor Hal Jones. Additional services included designing and permitting of a 700 foot long heavy equipment loading pier on the St. Johns River. Worked directly with the contractor utilizing existing materials and available equipment in order to maximize the cost benefit ratio. The pier was eventually built in phases, but the permit was obtained for the entire pier at the beginning.

Florida Department of Transportation District 4 // Powerline Road // Broward County, Florida // Ranger Construction D/B Partner // Project Manager, Project Engineer Team provided design services for contractor Ranger Construction. Services included designing the Value Engineering alternative design for the replacement of an existing small bridge. Original design required complicated repairs to the existing structure. Team was able to replace the structure with a pre-cast box culvert that allowed the maintenance of traffic to continue and reduced the construction time in half.

Project Management & Structural Engineer Experience

ALL Aboard Florida // Section 06 North South Corridor Bridge Design // Florida // Project Manager / Project Engineer This project provided complete designs and contract documentation for 18 bridge sites located along the FEC corridor. Project is a high-profile short-schedule part of a $1.5 billion investment in intrastate passenger rail service. Ed’s responsibilities were to provide Project Management and Senior Structural Engineering for our section. Design: $1,500,000 // Construction: $200,000,000.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District // Highway Design Interface with FDOT // Florida // Project Specifications Engineer Project provided for a section of Tamiami Trail to be replaced with a mile long structure. The project was federally funded and handled by the Corps of Engineers, however, the new roadway and bridge were to be built to State Department of Transportation standards and specifications. Ed’s responsibilities were to coordinate the corps’ specifications to reflect the DOT’s criteria. Design: $100,000 // Construction: $250,000,000.

Colombian Coast Guard // Cutter Pier // Buenaventura Colombia // Project Manager / Project Structural Engineer Provided structural design and master-planning for a floating pier facility located near Buenaventura Colombia. Buenaventura is located on the Pacific coast of Colombia. The pier was to accommodate up to 4 Point Class Coast Guard cutters that the United States was delivering to Colombia as part of the $1.2 billion Plan Colombia Aid package. Pier consists of 4 distinct sections: a flat maintenance platform upon which there are two 10,000 gallon tanks, fuel distribution pumps, firefighting pumps, and a waste collection system. The Platform has a fuel containment system with a recovery valve and a ballistic screen to protect the tanks. The second section is a fixed access walkway from the platform, out 100 meters to the boat mooring area. The third component is a fuel off-loading dock located along the fixed walkway. The fourth component is a floating dock system for the Point Class Cutters. Design: $100,000.

Florida Department of Transportation, District // Pineda Causeway over I-95 // Florida // Project Manager Ongoing design of an interchange in Brevard County which consisted of a two-span prestressed concrete girder overpass structure which will carry traffic over the interstate. A smaller structure over the Brevard Zoo Trail is a part of this project.

City of Jacksonville// 7th Street Pedestrian Overpass // // Jacksonville, Florida // Project Manager The project involved design of elongated helical reinforced concrete approach ramps for a new $1.65 million simple span box truss pedestrian bridge over 7th Street and the adjacent CSX railroad tracks. Design: $350,000 // Construction: $3,000,000.

First Baptist Church // Pedestrian Bridge Inspection // Jacksonville, Florida // Project Manager – Project Engineer Conducted the first post-construction inspection of seven pedestrian bridges linking the downtown church. Several of the structures crossed state highways, the rest crossed city streets. The inspections of the cladded structures required use of optical scopes to gain access. Since the original inspections, have performed three cycles of bi-annual inspections.

Baptist Medical Center // Pedestrian Bridge Inspection // Project Manager – Project Engineer Conducted the first post-construction inspection of the multi-span pedestrian bridge from Baptist Hospital to Wolfson Children’s Clinic over I-95 in Jacksonville. Since the original inspections, have performed two cycles of bi-annual inspections.

FDOT/TriRail // Hollywood Train Station Rehabilitation // Hollywood, Florida // Project Manager Project included evaluation and rehabilitation design of historic building and platform canopies. Conducted soil boring and testing program to evaluate settlements and foundation requirements. Project also included historic interior renovation of Amtrak ticketing, waiting room, and restroom facilities. Design: $70,000 // Construction: $750,000.

Florida Department of Transportation District IV, Ft. // Miscellaneous Structures Repair // Ft. Lauderdale, Florida // Project Manager – Project Engineer: Seventeen individually assigned projects within the 2-year contract. Two projects involved development of the “Shear Lock” device, used to prevent independent slab movement in horizontally post-tensioned voided slab units. The original mild steel bar, which provided the compression between the slab units, would stretch and the slabs would not transfer the live load. The shear lock provided a positive connection between adjacent units and prevented the independent movement, thereby increasing the load carrying capacity of the structure. The “shear lock” device was designed for use as a repair but was also effective in providing a connection for the widening of an existing transversely post-tensioned slab bridge to the new widened slab unit section. Two other projects within this contract were for the development of plans and specifications for the installation of Noise abatement walls along the I-95 corridor.

Florida Department of Transportation District VI // Miscellaneous Structures Design // Miami, Florida // Project Manager – Project Engineer Twenty individually assigned projects within the 2-year contract. Several projects consisted of providing complete designs for unique structures located along Miami Beach, such as La Gorce Island and Noremac Avenue bridge replacements were nominated for aesthetic awards. Other projects included in this contract included the structural analysis of existing sign structures for additional loading of variable message signs.

Florida Department of Transportation // Jensen Beach Causeway // St. Lucie County, Florida // Project Manager, Project Engineer Performed the structural portion of the PD&E Study, and the completed the Bridge Development report for the high level intracoastal waterway crossing located near the town of Jensen Beach. The existing crossing was via a causeway with two relief bridges and one movable main channel bridge. The BDR required investigation into several bridge types, both movable and fixed. Superstructure options were concrete segmental, steel beams, and concrete beams. Beam options had several span configurations with different beam and span spacing. Vessel collision study was done to determine the proper ship impact load for the eventual design of the piers. Several pier configurations studied as part of the BDR eventually providing a recommended and public accepted alternative. Also in consideration was the long-term scour caused by the causeway, and how the new bridge would affect the deposition. This area of the Indian River lagoon is home to many endangered species, including several species of grasses. With the presence of the sea grasses, the construction sequencing and construction methods had to be explored in detail in order to obtain a permit to build the bridge. It was determined construction could not be done from barges due to the shallow water, therefore temporary construction trestles would be built when work over the water was necessary.

FDOT // Post Design Services // St. Lucie and Indian River Counties in Florida // Project Manager Provided assistance to FDOT construction personnel for problems that would arise during construction of various projects in South Florida, including re-designs during construction to minimize claims by the contractors.

Army Corps of Engineers // Site Development for U.S. State Department on Colombian Military Bases // Colombia // Project Manager – Project Engineer Twenty million dollar project provided initial site visit, master planning, and final design for $20,000,000 of international aid for Colombia’s drug war. Project consisted of infrastructure improvements to remote bases in the Amazon basin within Colombia. Three bases were primarily affected, Tres Esquinas, Larandia and Tolemaida. At Tres Esquinas, Ed provided structural design for living and dining facilities as well as the structural design for a multi-story tower located in the river used to access floating piers. River had a 30-foot seasonal elevation change. Other projects at Tres Esquinas included force protection, which involved locating and designing fighting and defensive positions. At Larandia, the project involved transforming a small army base of 300-500 personnel to a 3,000-man heliport base with up to 70 helicopters complete with maintenance facilities. Projects at this base included helicopter parking and taxiways, living quarters, dining facilities, fire station, maintenance hangar, maintenance shops, command and control buildings, control tower, sewage and water facilities, ammo storage, fueling facilities, warehouses, and training fields. At the army base at Tolemaida, the effort added 40 helicopters and related maintenance facilities to a functioning air base. Projects at this base included helicopter parking and taxiways, living quarters, dining facilities, fire station, ammo storage, fueling facilities, and warehouses. At all of the bases the main problems were obtaining labor and materials for construction. The selection of construction method and materials required careful consideration, selection would vary depending on the base and the local condition of the war against the rebels. Design: $1,000,000 // Construction: $20,000,000.

Florida Department of Transportation District V // Miscellaneous Structures Repair // DeLand, Florida // Project Manager – Project Engineer Thirteen individually assigned projects within the 2-year contract. Projects included providing for the structural rehabilitation of the SR 520 bridge over the intracoastal waterway and installing an induced current Cathodic protection system. Another project included making repairs to bridges on I-4, where the approach slabs were being undermined by water leaking through cracks in the rigid pavement. Additional project included making structural steel repairs and replacing expansion joints on several structures on I-4, and replacement of sub standard overhead cantilever sign structures for as many as 20 separate structures. Design: $1,000,000 // Construction: $40,000,000.

DEP Office of Greenways and Trails // Structural Design Projects // Florida // Project Manager and Chief Structural Engineer. Included 14 structural investigation and design projects. Typical projects included trail bridge rehabilitations, replacement, and inspections. Original trail bridges were railroad structures, some of which were wood, some concrete. Developed a resurfacing procedure for the concrete structures, now being applied to all of the concrete structures that were rehabilitated. Design: $500,000 // Construction: $10,000,000.

City of Jacksonville // Shipyards // Jacksonville, Fl // Project Manager Waterfront structural design of $370 million public-private development located in downtown Jacksonville. Project scope included replacement of the original Jacksonville Shipyard bulkhead and provisions for the extension of the City of Jacksonville’s Riverwalk. Design: $1,000,000 // Construction: $20,000,000.

DEP/Office of Greenways and Trails // Inglis Lock rehabilitation Study // Inglis, Florida // Project Engineer Responsibilities included evaluation and rehabilitation design of the original cross Florida Barge canal lock. Conducted several teams of investigators that inspected the lock structurally, mechanically, electrically, and environmentally. As lead engineer for the rehabilitation study, Ed oversaw the completion of the findings report.

FDEP/Office of Greenways and Trails // Rodman Spillway Manatee Protection System // Florida // Project Manager/Structural Engineer Redesign of the Manatee protection system for the Rodman Spillway. Services included analysis of existing failed Manatee Protection System and development of a cost-effective solution reusing as much of the original system as possible. New system was stronger and easier to clean than the original. Design: $20,000 // Construction: $500,000.

FDEP/Office of Greenways and Trails // Buckman Lock Manatee Protection System // Florida // Project Manager/Structural Engineer. The design of a Manatee protection system for the Buckman Lock. Services included conducting pre and post construction underwater inspections. Manatee Protection System included a system of gratings that could be raised for maintenance and then lowered back into position. Design: $40,000// Construction: $350,000.

Client // New Port Entrance // West Palm Beach, Florida // Project Structural Engineer. Study to provide a grade separation entrance to the port. Existing condition had an at-grade intersection with the railroad. Proposed structure would provide direct connection to US-1 while going over the railroad. Preliminary engineering study completed and the port awaits funding to proceed.

FDOT/TriRail // Hollywood Train Station Rehabilitation // Hollywood, Florida // Project Manager Project included evaluation and rehabilitation design of historic building and platform canopies. Conducted soil boring and testing program to evaluate settlements and foundation requirements, and historic interior renovation of Amtrak ticketing, waiting room, and restroom facilities. Design: $70,000 // Construction: $750,000.

Forensic Investigations: Waterfront Structures

• Conducted site evaluations for the Sailfish Marina located on the intracoastal waterway near West Palm Beach. The 85-slip marina had a combination of floating and fixed piers. Damage from Hurricane Francis and Hurricane Jeanne were evaluated for cause of damage and repair cost estimates. The marina was valued at over $3.5 million. Repair cost exceeded $600,000.

• Conducted site evaluations for the Ft. Pierce Marina located on the intracoastal waterway near Ft. Pierce. The 280-slip marina had a combination of floating and fixed piers and damage from Hurricane was very significant – valued at over $12 million.

• Conducted a site evaluation of Brown’s Creek Fish Camp at 5212 Heckscher Drive, Jacksonville, Florida. There to assess reported damages and determine cause of the damage. The facility was a 8’x 350’ fixed dock with a 30’ long access bridge and several floating dock facilities no longer on site. The all-wood facility was severely damaged by the storm and the entire deck had become detached from the foundation and was no longer usable. The overall value of the damages to the facility was $30,000.

• Conducted a site evaluation of the German American Club at 4165 Lakeside Drive, Jacksonville, Florida. Assessed the reported damages and determine cause of the damage. The facility was a 6’x 99’ dock with a 10’ x 20’ water ward platform and a 10’ x 65’ landward platform along the shore. The all-wood facility was severely damaged by the storm and was in an unsafe condition. The overall value of the damages was $37,000.

• Conducted a site evaluation for the Ocean Reef Club at 110 Anchor Drive, Key Largo, Florida to assess the cause of the loss. The facility was a part of a large marina and boat yard and a 75-foot section of seawall had recently collapsed during a boat storage operation. A large fork list carrying a 20,000 pound boat caused the wall to fail. The repair cost was approximately $100,000.

• Conducted site evaluations for the Trade Winds Marina near Appling, GA to assess reported damage, attempt to determine cause of the damage, and prepare repair/replacement cost estimates for the damaged elements of the facility. The facility was made up of 11 floating docks, each of which housed 80 house boats, some of which had large roofed boat houses. Area had been subjected to a micro-burst of straight line winds during a recent storm. Both storm and micro-burst were recorded by local weather monitoring agencies. Weather phenomenon lasted only a short time, during the event several of the floating facilities either broke free from their anchorage or dragged them along. The floating boat houses then crashed together near the southern end of the marina. The damages to the facility exceeded $1,000,000.

• Conducted site evaluation for The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge Fender replacement project. The project was under construction by LL&G Construction Company, went to assess the cause of the loss. The project site is located near Mile Marker 16 on the causeway bridge approximately 8 miles from the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain. During Hurricane Katrina the facility suffered damages, the repair estimate was $800,000.

• Conducted site evaluation for the Key Biscayne Bay Yacht Club at 2540 S. Bayshore Drive in Miami, Florida. The visit purpose was to ascertain the Actual Cash Value of the facility before the recent storm damage. The site is located in Southern Miami on Biscayne Bay. Investigation was limited to the fixed portion of the main dock facility. Main dock facility can accommodate approximately 64 boats of varying sizes at the same time, and was comprised of a 420-foot-long main access pier with two 140-foot-long cross piers. There were 24 finger piers providing access to 50 boat slips, and approximately 29 utility pedestals with double electric meters before the storm. An Actual Cash Value of $855,000 was determined for the facility.

Previous Employment

• Miscellaneous Structures Repair for Florida Department of Transportation – District IV, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – Project Manager, Project Engineer, 17 assigned projects
• Miscellaneous Structures for Florida Department of Transportation – District VI, Miami, Florida – Project Manager, Project Engineer, 15 assigned projects ($750,000 design fee)
• Hallandale Beach Boulevard Bridge for Florida Department of Transportation – District IV, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida – Project Manager
• Jensen Beach Causeway, St. Lucie County, Florida – Project Manager, Project Engineer, PD&E Study, BDR analysis
• State Road 7 (US 441), Palm Beach County, Florida – Project Manager, Project Engineer, Noise Walls, Sign Structures
• Post Design Services in Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Indian River Counties in Florida – Project Manager
• Emergency repairs to I-95 over Blue Heron Blvd. (W.P.I. No. 4640822), Project Engineer
• Boynton Beach Blvd. over L-5 Canal (W.P.I. No. 4157611)
• Port St. Lucie Blvd. over The Florida Turnpike (W.P.I. No. 4119394), Project Engineer, New Bridge design
• Member of design team on Merrill Barber (W.P.I. No. 4115392) and the Roosevelt Bridge Replacement Projects (W.P.I. No. 4116229)
• Completed first in-house BDR in FDOT District 4 for Port St. Lucie over the Turnpike
• Structural Repairs – Key West Air Force Base, Key West Florida – Project Manager, Project Engineer
• State Road 9A – Project Manager for the entire project as well as Project Structural Engineer on 10 structures and Design Engineer on two structures and all overhead sign structures.
• Army Corps of Engineers – Plan Colombia – Project Manager / Project Engineer, $20,000,000 site development for U.S. State Department on Colombian Military bases.
• Boynton Beach Blvd. over E-3 Canal, Palm Beach County – Project Manager/ Project Engineer, new bridge design
Atlantic Blvd. over E-3 Canal, Palm Beach County – Project Manager/ Project Engineer, new bridge design
• I-10 / I-95 Interchange – Project Manager / Chief Structural Engineer 9 new interstate Bridges and 3 major widening
• Floating pier and tower for Colombian Mariens (Tres Esquinas Colombia) on the Ortigesa River with 30 foot seasonal elevation changes, US Army Corps of Engineers, Plan Colombia – Project manager, Project Structural Engineer
• US Army Ranger Training swimming pool repairs, complete structural and mechanical repairs to pool in Key West Florida, • US Army Corps of Engineers – Project Manager, Project Structural Engineer
• Evaluation of Hess Oil pier impact damage, Armada Hess Corporation, Jacksonville, Florida – Project Manager

Additional Structural Design Review Projects include:

  • Sheridan Road at I-95 (W.P.I. No. 4140820)
  • SE 10th St. to Sawgrass Expressway (W.P.I. No. 4110722)
  • I-95 and Davie Blvd. Interchange (W.P.I. No. 4140872)
  • I-95 Broward Interchange (W.P.I. No. 4140867)
  • District Shop Drawing Engineer – reviewed more than 1,000 shop drawings on projects ranging from I-595 to miscellaneous sign structures

Education

• BS, Civil Engineering, University of Florida, 1986


Professional Engineer License

• Florida


Certification

• PMI Project Management Professional (PMP)


• FDOT Advanced MOT


Work History

Bergmann Associates 2001 – 2013


Business Segment Leader (Infrastructure) 2011-2013


Regional Office Manager 2001-2011

Transystems Corporation 1995 – 2001

Vice President – Florida Regional Manager

Morales & Shumer Engineers 1992 – 1995

Vice President –Office Manager

FDOT 1986 – 1992

Project Engineer Structures Design 1990 – 1992


Professional Engineer Trainee 1986 – 1990


Professional Affiliations

• American Society of Civil Engineers


• Society of American Military Engineers


• American Society of Highway Engineers


• Women’s Transportation Seminar


• Project Management Institute


• Florida Engineering Society