The minutia of calculations that is required to design a bridge is mind-boggling. Bridge designers must factor time, wind, water pressure, vibrations, load capacity, and seismic activity. They have to envision wear, damage, and vulnerability, calculate these variables multiple times, and then again just to be sure.  For Andrew Van Schooneveld, PE, this has become second-nature, and it is what he finds most engaging about his role as a bridge engineer. “I love finding solutions to what seems like unsolvable problems. Whether it’s designing finite element pier structures to support a bridge’s mid span, configuring its pile layouts, or quantifying rebar to provide the necessary flexural strength to the structure, the variety of challenges makes me excited to come to work every day." 

Andrew is the lead designer on four of the bridges in the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Roadway Reconstruction and Widening Project (Between MP-A31 and A38). This project will allow traffic to flow freely up the northeast extension by expanding the current turnpike from two to three lanes in each direction, between the Lansdale and Quakertown interchanges. Andrew has been working on this section of the Turnpike for the past year, but the Turnpike, as a whole, for five years. But more than design and calculations, Andrew 's devil-is-in-the-details work ethic, ability to maintain sharp focus on projects big and small, some years in the making, and straightforward personality makes him a vital asset to the Turnpike, as well as the Urban Team.