STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Kavanagh Lecture - Biographical Sketch
The Nineteenth Thomas C. Kavanagh Memorial Structural Engineering Lecture
April 5, 2012
7:30 pm
122 Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center
Creating Bridges as Art
by
Linda Figg
President and CEO
Figg Engineering Group, Director of Bridge Art
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
During her 30-year career at Figg Engineering Group, including President and owner since 2002, Ms. Figg has overseen a wide range of bridge designs and construction. With construction values totaling $10 billion, FIGG bridges have been completed, are under construction, or are being designed in 38 states and six countries. Many of these extraordinary bridges have set new industry standards in design, technology, materials, constructability, and efficiency. FIGG-designed bridges have been heralded on the covers of more than 200 publications and in seven documentaries on The History Channel, Nova, and National Geographic. Ms. Figg leads a family of companies that specializes in creating world-class bridges by blending an engineer's passion with the sensitivity of an artist. FIGG customers have received 337 design awards for their bridges, including three Presidential Awards through the National Endowment for the Arts for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Blue Ridge Parkway Viaduct, and the Natchez Trace Parkway Arches.
Ms. Figg, a Civil Engineering graduate of Auburn University, is a world leader in bridge design and management from concept through construction on first-of-a-kind bridges. She is experienced in all aspects of bridge development, including design, project management, innovative financing, construction engineering, and public involvement. Additionally, Ms. Figg is a producer of the award-winning educational video, Big Cable Bridges - How Did They Do That?, which has won five awards for contribution to the education of children. Engineering News-Record honored her as one of the 22 Newsmakers of 1998 who served the best interests of the construction industry. She has served as Chair of the Construction Industry Round Table, is a former board member of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, and is currently Vice-Chair of the American Segmental Bridge Institute. She received Auburn University's Engineering Achievement Award in 2006 and was named in Concrete Construction magazine's list of the most influential people in the concrete industry in 2007. In 2010 Ms. Figg was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.
