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Published: August 13 2015

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Fast growing consulting firm Wantman Group, Inc. (WGI) recently added an office in Ft. Lauderdale, headed by two engineers specializing in bridge design and rehabilitation. Senior Structural Engineers, Coriann Salas, P.E. and Julie Vers, P.E. are leading the WGI structural engineering team’s South Florida bridge design and inspection efforts. This includes work on major design-build projects and projects involving complicated road work.

The Ft. Lauderdale office, WGI’s eighth, is strategically located to be near key clients, including Florida Department of Transportation’s District’s 4 and 6 and the City of Ft. Lauderdale. On the heels of winning the Design-Build Institute of America – Florida Region’s Transportation Award for the Big John Monahan Reconstruction project in western Martin County (part of FDOT District 4), the Ft. Lauderdale office will expand WGI’s Structures Division, building on offices already firmly established in Jacksonville and Tampa.

Both women were hired to develop the new Ft. Lauderdale office and to establish the presence of WGI’s Structures Division in South Florida. They will pursue clients such as FDOT District 4; FDOT District 6; Miami-Dade Expressway Authority; Broward, Miami Dade and Monroe Counties; City of Ft Lauderdale; City of Miami; and City of Port St Lucie, among others. In addition, the new office will include roadway engineers, landscape architects and planners.

Coriann SalasSalas is a registered Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Central Florida. Her experience encompasses structural design/rehabilitation projects consisting of AASHTO/FIB girder bridges, steel truss bridges, bridge widenings, noisewalls, retaining walls, box culverts, foundations and various pedestrian facilities such as pedestrian bridges, elevated platforms, boardwalks and other miscellaneous concrete and steel structures.

“I’ve been practicing bridge engineering in South Florida for fourteen years and bring local knowledge and experience to the design table in Fort Lauderdale,” Salas said. “Julie and I will be the structural lead on pursuits in South Florida in the transportation discipline. I am excited to be a part of WGI’s structural division and gain experience working with WGI’s talented engineers on many of the firm’s the high-profile projects.”

Julie VersVers comes to WGI with more than 15 years’ experience with specific expertise in the structural design of concrete, steel, and timber bridges, sign structures, marine structures, retaining walls, foundations, and bridge inspection. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Florida International University. Her career has been split between Florida and Connecticut and she is a licensed Professional Engineer in both states. Vers is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and participates in the Women in Transportation Seminar (WTS). Her experience primarily consists of new bridge design, bridge rehabilitation and repair, and bridge inspection (for highway bridges). A significant project on her resume is the design of Andrews Avenue over Martin Luther King Boulevard and the CSX Railroad in Pompano Beach, a three-span continuous horizontally reverse-curved steel plate girder bridge.

WGI is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women and minorities to join the team with their elite skill sets. WGI’s family has grown to over 250 professionals, including last year’s acquisition of the well-known planning and landscape architecture firm, Land Design South. WGI is now one of the largest full service Florida-based firms, offering a full menu of engineering, planning, environmental, surveying, landscape architecture, and creative services to cities, counties, state and federal agencies, and private clients throughout Florida. WGI is recognized for its innovative and cutting-edge approaches to solving Florida’s transportation, environmental, and water resources issues.

“We are pleased to have the forward-thinking talent of Coriann and Julie leading our engineering team in Fort Lauderdale,” said David Wantman, PE, president of WGI. “Our menu of structural services alone is keeping us very busy. And we have the confidence to take on any project with our experienced teams of professionals.”

About Wantman Group, Inc. (WGI)
As a multidisciplinary consulting firm, WGI has seven offices throughout Florida and is comprised of eight separate divisions devoted to the following disciplines: Civil/Municipal Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Surveying and Mapping, Subsurface Utility Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Environmental, Planning and Creative Services. Most recently, WGI debuted on ENR’s list of the Top 500 Design Firms, and is ranked number 14 in ENR’s Top Southeast Design Firms. Also in 2015, The Zweig Group ranked WGI #39 on the “Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies” list and placed WGI on the “Best Firms to Work For” list as well as its ”Hot Firms” list. WGI also ranked number 6 on the “Top 25 Engineering Firms in South Florida” list and number 70 on the “Top 100 list of Private Companies” by The South Florida Business Journal. In 2014, WGI ranked #3767 on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America and is among the 437 private growth companies that were Hire Power Awards honorees for 2013, featured in the 2nd annual edition of Inc. Hire Power Awards, recognizing the private businesses that have generated the most jobs since 2012. For more information, please go to www.WantmanGroup.com.