Rod Dell’Andrea began his federal government career in November 2003, when he reported for work as the Regional Structural Engineer in the Alaska Region. His assigned bridge program management duties involve coordinating and directing bridge design development and the regional bridge inspection program. Other duties include structural design development and reviews for USFS administration and recreation facilities.

Rod received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1976 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is a registered professional civil engineer in the States of Alaska and Ohio. In addition, he is certified by the USFS as a bridge program manager and possesses the NHI/FHWA endorsement for fracture critical bridge inspections.

With almost 40 years of experience in civil/structural engineering obtained mostly in the private sector, he has spent most of his career providing design and construction administration services on major infrastructure projects. He developed extensive skills in project management control systems while serving as an Asssistant Engineering Manager in Cairo, Egypt on the construction of a high-volume cement plant project funded by US AID. Prior to his USFS employment, Rod worked as a project engineer for a water/wastewater management agency in NE Ohio, administrating tunneling contracts for multi–million dollar combined sewer overflow control projects.

Between January of 2008 and March of 2010, Rod supervised the structures group in the Pacific NW Region, covering the regional bridge engineer duties in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.

Rod served as the principle reviewer for the design of the 280 foot span Placer River Trail Bridge which was an ARRA–funded project constructed on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula in July 2013. While working with the USFS small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) users group in FY 2015, he worked vigorously with other dedicated USFS specialists to obtain agency authorizations to conduct the first sUAS mission in Alaska. Mission collaboration with the University of Alaska and George Mason University successfully demonstrated that a “drone” outfitted with high–definition cameras would be a useful tool in conducting bridge inspections. Mission results will also help inform the USFS in developing its policy on their future use.

Rod and his wife Claudia make their home in the Mendenhall Valley in Juneau and both enjoy the lengthy summertime days in Alaska to walk their dogs along the scenic trails near Mendenhall Glacier.