Richard Dunne is a licensed professional engineer who has managed and directed structural design, bridge inspection, and geotechnical engineering activities on numerous projects throughout New Jersey.

Prior to joining Rutgers CAIT, he was with Michael Baker International (MBI) for seven years. At MBI, Dunne contributed technical expertise for transportation-related projects and initiatives. He served as a senior project manager/deputy project manager for several bridge projects and as a technical advisor on asset management, bridge preservation, and on large bridge projects as well as the company’s pursuits of such projects across the nation.

For the 29 years before he joined MBI, Dunne held several management positions with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), including those of State Transportation Engineer and State Bridge Engineer. As the New Jersey State Bridge Engineer, he directed and supervised activities of the agency’s structural inspection and rating; geotechnical engineering; and structural design units.

He also was responsible for developing NJDOT’s structural asset management plan and the bridge portion of the NJDOT capital program. This required he formulate alternative delivery recommendations for various bridge needs ranging from preservation projects to bridge replacements costing hundreds of millions of dollars. He conducted initial screening and scope development. He also provided design and construction guidance for several accelerated bridge deck and superstructure replacement projects, plus, technical support on construction, operations, and maintenance as required.

His next appointment was as NJDOT director of design and the New Jersey State Transportation Engineer.

As director of design, supervised all activities relating to delivery of in-house projects. He oversaw re-engineering of NJDOT’s project design pipeline, implementing a Project Management Organization approach and a culture shift that incorporated tenets of CSD/CSS into the project delivery process through training, workshops, and case study development.

As state transportation engineer, he served on the AASHTO Subcommittee on Design and various TRB Committees, notably the Context-Sensitive Design and Solutions (CSD/CSS) Task Force.

Dunne served a one-year special assignment in the NJDOT Office of the Commissioner overseeing and ensuring delivery of the agency’s entire capital program. During this time, he was specifically involved with the NJDOT’s Hyper-Build Program, a forerunner of today’s Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) programs.

Now moving into academia as a CAIT senior research engineer, Dunne continues to be active in the bridge engineering community. He is on the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures; the chair of the TRB General Structures Subcommittee (AFF10); and a member of the TRB subcommittees on asset management, on bridge preservation, and on the construction of bridges and structures.

Dunne also is the industry representative and serves as director of the Northeast Bridge Preservation Partnership board within the Transportation System Preservation Technical Services Program (TSP∙2) Bridge Preservation Partnership (BPP)—an organization that disseminates highway infrastructure preservation information to AASHTO member agencies.