Chris Oliver, PE
Project Engineer at W&A Engineering
Meet Chris Oliver, PE, Project Engineer at W&A Engineering with seven years of experience in the planning and design of multiple residential and commercial land development projects. As a member of the Civil Engineering Department, Chris has supported multiple transportation and roadway projects including intersection and roundabout enhancements, road re-alignment and widening, multi-use trails, and culvert improvements.
Since joining the W&A team in 2018, Chris has gained experience in planning and designing water/wastewater infrastructure, stormwater management, and transportation projects for public and private clients. Chris is often responsible for the design and development of site/utility plans, grading/stormwater management plans, and erosion and sedimentation control plans, the design of temporary and permanent stormwater BMPs, and the preparation of permit submittal packages, construction drawings and specifications.
When asked what he loves most about civil engineering, Chris replied, “I love it all. I love solving problems. I mean, that’s why I’m an engineer, solving problems. Buck and I work on these large, multi-family developments, 30 to 40 acres, and you’ve got to get creative. I get to look for ways to be efficient and cost effective. For example, avoiding costly elements such as retaining walls or hauling soil away from or to the site. Believe it or not, soil is expensive! It’s not so hard when you have an open site with few constraints, but almost 100% of time there are constraints like streams, wetlands, trees, utilities…things we have to design around.”
Outside of work at W&A, Chris is truly a family man. He and his wife have four daughters! Their most recent child was welcomed into the family back in December of 2020. The Olivers’ family rite of passage involves teaching their young children how to gather eggs. “You break a lot of eggs, but that’s how they learn, and, best of all, they get to teach each other.” A resident of Oglethorpe County, Chris has been training to be a volunteer firefighter, and he recently passed his certification exam in December. One of the reasons he wanted to be a firefighter was to set a good example for his daughters. Chris wanted to model what it means to sacrifice for others. “They love that Daddy is a firefighter. I had a drill that I had to do a million times, ‘rapid dress’. You have to get into your gear in less than two minutes. I’d go out in the yard and the girls would have a stopwatch and time me,” said Chris.
A valued member of the W&A family and his local community, we are truly thankful for employees like Chris who exemplify W&A Engineering’s core values and help us further our mission of building better communities.