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Mary Lou Ralls portrait

TTI Council Member, Mary Lou Ralls

TTI Council Member: Mary Lou Ralls

Mary Lou Ralls is an engineering consultant and principal of Ralls Newman, LLC in Austin, specializing in the advancement of structural engineering technologies in particular related to accelerated bridge construction

Ralls earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981 and 1984, respectively. She joined the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in the Division of Bridges and Structures in 1984 and worked in various engineering positions before being appointed Director of the Bridge Division in 1999. In this position as State Bridge Engineer she oversaw the various programs for the 49,000 on-system and off-system bridges in Texas including bridge program and project development; structural and geotechnical design; standards and plan development; plans, specifications, and estimates review; safety inspection; and bridge construction and maintenance support to the districts. She retired from that position in September 2004 after 20 years of TxDOT service.

Ralls chairs the Transportation Research Board's Structures Section in the Design and Construction Group. She serves on various National Cooperative Highway Research Program panels and was chair of the Future Strategic Highway Research Program's highway renewal panel. Awards include the 1994 Dewitt C. Greer Award presented by Texas A&M University, 1996 Woman of the Year Award presented by Executive Women in Texas Government, 2002 President's Award in Research Category team award presented by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 2003 Dr. L.I. Hewes Award presented by the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and 2004 Administrator's Public Service Award presented by the Federal Highway Administration. She is a member of the Leadership Texas class of 1995.

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