Elizabeth M. Smith

Elizabeth M. Smith, PE, GE, D.GE (Liz) is a national transportation program manager and Senior Principal at Terracon Consultants. She graduated from Virginia Tech with Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering. She has significant expertise in geotechnical design for highway structures and has successfully managed several complex geotechnical design-build projects with geotechnical design fees over $7.5 million. She is a registered professional Civil Engineer in 11 states and a registered Geotechnical Engineer in California.

Ms. Smith’s primary role is as the geotechnical design lead on major design-build projects, working on the design-build contractor side of the project. However, she has been involved in several projects in other roles, including consulting for design-build teams to resolve geotechnical problems on complex projects; providing consulting and oversight on the Owner side on design-build projects; and acting as a liaison for a design-build contractor to facilitate resolution of comments and help move submittals through to acceptance. She has served as the geotechnical design lead for several major projects such as the I-35E Managed Lanes Project in Dallas and Denton Counties, Texas. This $1.4 billion design-build project is a major urban highway that is being improved and widened over 30 miles through nine cities in two counties. Other noteworthy Texas projects include the SH 121 Segment 6 Chisholm Trail Parkway near Fort Worth, US 281 Loop 1604 Design Build Project in San Antonio, and the 183A Turnpike in Austin. Ms. Smith has been the geotechnical engineer of record on projects and major pursuits in Texas, Missouri, New Mexico, California, Washington, Arizona, Minnesota, and Hawaii.

She has over 20 presentations and publications and is a mentor and advocate for up-and-coming young professionals. She is former chair and 2-term member of the Virginia Tech Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Board and is also active in several professional organizations including the Transportation Research Board, Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), the ASCE GeoInstitute, ADSC: The International Association of Foundation Drilling, and WTS (former president of the Austin chapter). She is active in her neighborhood homeowner's association and enjoys participating in a neighborhood wine tasting group.

Liz lives in Round Rock Texas with her husband Jack and they recently celebrated their 30th anniversary. She has three sons in college: Carson (Austin Community College), Dylan (University of North Texas) and Ethan (Texas Tech).