March/April 2024 - 77

MEMBER PROF I LE
Andrew Verity is Tops by All Accounts
Ask anyone in Terracon's transportation
and infrastructure sector and they'll tell
you just how valued a professional
Andrew Verity is to its function.
Terracon is a 100% employee-owned
consulting engineering company
specializing in environmental, facilities,
geotechnical and materials services.
The firm has more than 6,000 employees
in more than 175 locations
serving all 50 U.S. states. As the national
account manager in the transportation
and infrastructure sector, Verity is the
single point of contact for some of
Terracon's national account clients who
specialize in transportation and infrstructure
projects. He has also been
acting as the client development
specialist for the firm's recently formed
geodesign and instrumentation sector.
So how does a civil engineering graduate
of Queen Mary University of London,
England, arrive in this place at this time?
Engineering Was Always in
the Plan, Almost
There was a time in Verity's middle and
high school years that he thought that
he wanted to be a doctor. Since one of
his objectives was to travel the world,
he decided that being a doctor might not
afford that opportunity. As a child he
enjoyed, as he puts it, " building stuff, "
especially sandcastles, moats and
tunnels. One of the things he likes most
about geotechnical engineering is he
feels that you never know for sure what
you are going to find until you explore
beneath the surface. He thinks of a
geotechnical engineer as being sort of a
" soil doctor, " so he actually has realized
both early goals. Soon after graduating
with his engineering degree in 1993, he
" cut his eye teeth " working with a
AUTHOR S. Scot Litke, Hon. BC.GE
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * MAR/APR 2024 * 77
comment from a client, T. Craig Morton,
vice president, freight rail and industrial
development with Ames Construction.
Morgan says, " I have known Andrew
since 2015 when I was on the railroad
design side within Aecom. His passion
and thorough understanding of the
geotech world showed the first time I
met him. Andrew knows what the
owners need in terms of geotech service.
He has always developed great solutions
for some of my most complex
geotech issues. His sense of customer
service has always been second to none.
He is a trusted partner. "
Camaraderie Is a DFI
Hallmark
Verity at the 2015 Trust 5k Fun Run/Walk
number of companies in France,
England and the U.S. in a variety of
specialty roles. Several of these are in
the railroad industry, in deep foundation
design and construction, as
well as in product development and
manufacturing. This broad-spectrum
experience has stood him well as he has
traveled along his career path.
Building Relationships
Is His Forte
At Terracon, which he joined in 2014, a
good deal of what he does involves
working with people of all types in
multiple spheres. He finds this akin to
geotechnical engineering. As he puts it,
" Building and maintaining relationships
with people is just like studying soils,
you never know what you are going to
find until you explore beneath the
surface! " Confirming this approach is a
Verity joined DFI in 2012. At the time he
was working as a product engineer at
Gerdau Long Steel North America with
a focus on business development for
the company's sheet piling products.
He jumped right in serving on DFI's
Driven Pile Committee, becoming its
chair in 2013. In 2020, Verity was the
recipient of DFI's President's Award. He
has been a member of the Subsurface
Characterization for Deep Foundations
and the Women in Deep Foundations
(WiDF) committees. He states, " The
camaraderie of the profession is what
keeps me engaged in DFI. Competitors
come together to develop best practice
in their field. We are all trying to make
the industry more attractive to the
next generation. "
When he ruminates about the engineering
profession he reflects that,
" Engineering isn't for everyone but I
think that it is a misunderstood industry.
In English the word engineering
comes from 'engine' so you think of
getting your hands dirty. In French
http://www.BC.GE
March/April 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2024
