3/27/08

Local engineer earns national honors

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest visitors, ecosystem benefit from his work

Last fall when thousands of hikers, sightseers and local residents cheered the reopening of Mountain Loop Highway after a four-year closure to repair flood damage, they had Peter Wagner to thank. Now, after 30 years working as an engineer for the U.S. Forest Service, Wagner has earned top honors as the National Technical Engineer of the Year.

Wagner, a resident of Mount Vernon, is a bridge engineer, although he started his career in the geotechnical field. He had a growing interest in bridges, and was especially fascinated by the challenges of designing and building bridges in the treacherous, forested, mountainous terrain of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascades.

Throughout the years Wagner has now been involved in the construction of over 60 new road and trail bridges, including several for the North Cascades National Park. In addition, he manages over 200 existing road and trail bridges in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

“It is very challenging, with every crossing unique and different,” he said.

Wagner is not tied to a desk in a cubicle like a stereotypical engineer. He can be found building and repairing structures at the headwaters of wild and scenic rivers, on steep hillsides, in narrow canyons, and many times in locations where access has been so limited that building materials had to be flown in by helicopters.

In his award nomination, Wagner’s colleagues cited his creativity and innovation in getting the job done, calling him “the ultimate problem solver.”

That may be why Wagner cannot chose one project over another as his favorite or most memorable. He fondly described the curved Boulder Creek Bridge on the south slope of Mt. Baker, and the steel-truss South Fork Snoqualmie Bridge near the Denny Creek Campground, where he had the opportunity to replicate a historical bridge dating back to the early 1900s. But he also enjoyed designing and building the 700-foot-long six-span Carbon River Bridge near the northwest corner of Mt. Rainier National Park.

The 240-foot Baker River Trail Bridge was special to him because it is a very rare cable-stayed bridge.

Wagner said that the Mountain Loop Highway was especially challenging because at two spots the road was pinned between the Sauk River on one side, which couldn’t be encroached upon, and a solid rock hillside on the other side. Even though a bridge had been planned at one of the washout sites, Peter’s solution was not building one at all—instead he used a rock hammer to chip away at the rock cliff and then build a retaining wall anchored to the bedrock just above the river.

“Even though the projects I work on for the Forest Service are not as big as urban or state highway civil engineering jobs, I believe in the Forest Service motto: ‘Caring for the land and serving people.’ When I get the road or trail open, people really appreciate it, and it’s very rewarding.” 

Although most of Wagner’s projects provide access to forest visitors, much of his work also benefits the ecosystem. For instance, replacing old culverts with bridges or other natural bottom structures restores the natural stream function and reduces the risk of future washouts, which is important to watershed restoration. “The fish just don’t send thank you notes like the people do,” he added.

Wagner graduated from the University of Idaho in 1976 with a BS degree in civil engineering, and has been a registered Professional Engineer in Washington State since 1986.

In April he will go to Washington, D.C., to accept his award, accompanied by his wife Shelley and his son Collin.

Learn more about the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/.