Theodore P. Zoli, P.E.
National Bridge Chief Engineer, HNTB

Minimizing materials, which is at the core of the way we teach and practice bridge design, is becoming less relevant.   Fabrication, transportation, and erection dominate the costs of modern bridges, and offer new opportunities for innovation.  Given these new sets of constraints there is great potential to create much safer, more robust, structural systems than before. These ideas are explored through a number of recently built structures. 

Ted Zoli is one of the bridge engineering and design industry’s most recognized figures, the subject of profiles in magazines such as Esquire and Popular Mechanics, and the first structural engineer to receive the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Genius Award. To his leadership position as HNTB’s national bridge chief engineer, Zoli brings international acclaim as the innovator behind numerous bridges — long span, movable, pedestrian and rail. Among his most notable projects are the cable-stayed Leonard P. Zakim Bunkerhill Bridge in Boston, the curved cable-stayed Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha, Neb. and the Lake Champlain Bridge between New York and Vermont.
 Ted Zoli’s areas of expertise range from network tied arch bridges, bridges in disaster relief and terrorism protection to other unique bridges. With more than two decades at HNTB, Zoli's noted accomplishments include Blennerhassett Island Bridge over the Ohio River and the 396-foot-long Squibb Park Bridge in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Zoli is also using a grant from the MacArthur Foundation to develop a lightweight, ultra-portable pedestrian rope bridge for rural areas,as well as a lightweight hypar semi-permanent shelter that is an adaptation of boat hull technology. In terrorism prevention, his innovations have included protective measures for the main cables and hangers of suspension bridges incorporating advanced composite materials.
Zoli is recognized throughout the world as an expert in creating safer, less expensive, more sustainable and better-performing bridges of all kinds.