Utility Engineering

Texas A&M Transportation Institute
1100 NW Loop 410
Suite 605
San Antonio, TX 78213
(210) 321-1231
[email protected]

Ms. Jenny Naranjo is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Utility Engineering Program at TTI. Ms. Naranjo has undergraduate degrees in civil engineering and environmental engineering, as well as a master’s degree in civil engineering from Los Andes University in Colombia. Before joining TTI, Ms. Naranjo worked for more than seven years in a consulting company for which she was also a co-founder and acted as project manager for several PPP highway projects and light rail projects, specifically in utility conflict management and right-of-way management.

Ms. Naranjo has worked for the private sector, where she recognized the normal practices in terms of utility conflicts resolution strategies based on the different industry’s needs and standards. This developed and understanding of the opportunities for improvement in the utility conflict management, and right-of-way acquisition based on the project stage, and the project delivery process.

Ms. Naranjo contributed to NCHRP 11-08 research project supporting a nationwide statutes, policies and regulations review to consolidate the legal bases of each state for utility compensation and right-of-way acquisition, identifying the best practices to improve the utility process. She also played a pivotal role in the NCHRP 15-69 project, analyzing over 150,000 change orders to uncover utility-related issues during construction, resulting in targeted recommendations and a detailed list of root causes.

Jenny has also been instrumental in a TxDOT research project in which she helped develop a more accurate and simplified methodology for calculating utility relocation reimbursement eligibility by reviewing DOT practices and analyzing utility agreements. Currently, she is co-leading NCHRP 10-120, which focuses on integrating right-of-way and utility considerations into value engineering studies to enhance coordination and project delivery.

Ms. Naranjo is active in several committees and organizations. At the Transportation Research Board (TRB), she was appointed Secretary of the AKD60 Standing Committee on Utilities and is also a friend of the AJL60 Standing Committee on Eminent Domain and Land Use. At the Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI), she serves as a member of the Standardization Committee.

Other projects that she is currently supporting include areas of utility conflict resolution strategies during the project delivery process and new technologies for construction and utility inspections. She has been involved in several tasks as the gathering and analyzing sizeable databases, as well as nationwide surveys and interviews, leading to the identification of different practices among transportation agencies, aside from the identification of exemplary approaches that could be used as case studies for potential implementation.