Theodore P. Zoli, III is an American structural engineer, and a leading designer of cable-stayed bridges.
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Zoli has focused on the retrofit of bridges across the United States.
He developed a novel composite material for lightweight, blast-resistant coverings for a broad array of construction applications[2] stating, “Engineers learn from events, and what 9-11 taught us was that we have to design for unforeseen events; that’s what I’m interested in: designing for things we can’t anticipate.” [3] His blast-resistant bridge work helped earn him the 2009 MacArthur Foundation award.
[5] Zoli led completion of the design of the Lake Champlain Bridge in an unprecedented 10 weeks in an effort to mitigate community impacts of the prior bridge closing due to structural deterioration of unreinforced piers.
The project performed permitting, final design, and advertisement all occurring concurrently, coining the term dynamic design/bid/build.