Robert J. Close
ASCE Member Since 1972
Robert J. Close, PE, M.ASCE was born in Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Lake Forest, California. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology (ITT) in 1972, and then received his MBA in Corporations Management in 1976.
Mr. Close is currently employed at Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. His past employers include Cook County Highway Dept., Novak Dempsey, Inc., HDR Engineering, Inc., Tait & Associates, The Keith Companies, DKS Associates, CRSS (Jacob Engineering, Inc.), Washington Group International (WGI), and STV, Inc.
Of all the positions Mr. Close has worked, he found being the Area Manager at WGI as most gratifying. His most significant career achievement was growing the WGI Irvine office from 24 staff to 120 staff and having the office become the most profitable engineering operation for 18 straight months. His other significant career achievements include:
At Cook County, he created a computerized inventory and rating system for the 800 miles of County Highways, created the department’s first Snow and Ice Control Policy and Manual, established a County Highway numbering and signing program, and reorganized and streamlined the Procurement Office improving operations.
At Novak Dempsey, he expanded a pavement testing analysis to be a fully computerized application and developed a computer program to predict the most cost effective repair and the timing and costs for each tested street segment.
At CRSS, he assembled a design build team with Jacobs Engineering as the lead and led the pursuit for the TCA Foothill Transportation Corridor – South design build project, pre-qualifying the design build team.
At Washington Group, he oversaw the design side that won two major build projects, the Pasadena Gold Line LRT and the SR 125 Toll Road. For these efforts, Mr. Close received a WGI’s National Award of Performance (the Eagle Award).
At Parsons Brinckerhoff, he was part of the pursuit team responsible for winning the PB’s first Design Build Project in California as a design partner (Expo 2 LRT), to a D/B construction Joint Venture.
Being married to his wife, Ginger for 42 years and having a happy and healthy family is what Mr. Close considers as his most significant lifetime achievement. His professional positions held and organizations include ASCE–Fellow, ACEC National-Fellow, AASHTO/ACEC-Joint Committee, ACEC CA-Board of Directors, ACEC OC-Past President, and Caltrans Committees.