Tirolo Joins STV Tunnels and Underground Structures Practice

By TBM News June 22, 2017

Vincent Tirolo Jr., a project manager and tunneling/geotechnical engineer with more than 45 years of experience leading the design and construction of complex transportation and infrastructure projects, has joined STV as tunnels and underground structures discipline leader.

Tirolo will oversee a number of the firm’s tunneling projects in the New York region. These include: Amtrak’s Gateway tunnel, which will expand capacity along the Northeast Corridor; the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway extending from 96th Street to Harlem’s 125th Street; and the ongoing construction of the East Side Access project to bring the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal. He will also be involved with the Sound Transit University Link connecting downtown Seattle to the University of Washington and the extension of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Purple Line.

Tirolo served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attaining the rank of captain. He went on to join New York City Transit. He subsequently worked for a number of tunneling consultants until becoming the chief engineer for a major heavy construction contractor. He has worked on several major tunnel projects including Boston’s “Big Dig” Central Artery/Tunnel project, and the MTA’s Second Avenue Subway (Phase 1), the 63rd Street connector, and several MTA subway station, tunnel and reconstruction projects.

An expert in geotechnical and tunnel engineering, including support of excavation design, specification of contractor means and methods, and risk analysis for complex underground projects, Tirolo has authored more than two dozen technical papers. He holds professional engineer’s licenses from five states and the District of Columbia, and has extensive experience in the design of shafts, microtunneling, cut-and-cover tunnels, and bored tunnels, as well as the monitoring and assessment of structures located near excavations.

Tirolo is a member of The Moles, a prestigious organization dedicated to promoting the tunneling industry, and is a past president of the Metropolitan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He is also a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Tunnels and Underground Construction Committee and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering, Tirolo has taught civil engineering courses for more than 35 years. He earned a bachelor of engineering, civil engineering degree and a master of civil engineering degree from City College of New York.