Tunnel and Shaft Design Services

Arthur “AJ” McGinn, PhD, PE

President and CEO

Syracuse, NY

AJ is our hands-on President and CEO. He is known for his enthusiasm for mentoring others in underground construction, both at Brierley Associates and elsewhere, by speaking at conferences or serving as a guest lecturer at Cornell University in the areas of excavation support design, rock mechanics, and advanced soil behavior.

AJ has a unique ability to develop innovative, cost-effective, and constructable designs for tunnels, support excavation systems, and provide real-time solutions that manage challenging ground conditions, contractor logistics, and construction phasing issues. He completed his undergraduate studies at Purdue University and earned his PhD in civil engineering with a concentration in geotechnical engineering from Cornell University.

Nancy Nuttbrock, PE, DBIA®

Chief Operations Officer

Houston, TX

Nancy is our Chief Operations Officer and keeps our ship running smoothly while managing our Southwest Region operations and leading Brierley’s Design-Build practice. She has developed a well-rounded career spanning over 20 years in tunneling and underground development; engineering and regulatory expertise relative to the mining industry; high-level project management and successful leadership. Nancy brings a unique perspective gained from her tenure with Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) where she served as the Administrator of the Land Quality Division and Deputy Director of Wyoming’s DEQ.

Jon “Ike” Isaacson, GE, CEG, PE, PG

Tunnel Sector Leader

Milwaukee, WI; Chicago, IL

Ike, our Tunnel Sector Leader, is a true renaissance man. He is licensed as a professional engineer and a professional geologist, in addition to being a licensed aircraft pilot. His interdisciplinary knowledge of engineering and geology, experience as a consultant, owner’s representative, and tunnel contractor is truly unique.
Ike’s tunnel experience includes design review, constructability, grouting, ground improvement, ground freezing, geotechnical instrumentation, rehabilitation, construction logistics, hyperbaric interventions, ground loss mapping and remediation. Mr. Isaacson’s broad knowledge, skill sets, experiences, and keen multi-perspective insight provide him with a well-rounded, pragmatic approach that promotes project success.

Sean Harvey, PG, CEG

Tunnel Sector Leader, Western Region

Woodland Hills, CA

Sean is a licensed professional engineering geologist with more than 20 years of progressive experience in geotechnical and geologic engineering applications for underground design and construction, trenchless and tunnel design and construction, mining, and commercial construction. He routinely manages projects for underground design and construction, underground feasibility and design evaluation, initial support design and evaluation, rock mechanics, geotechnical investigations, geologic interpretation, and construction observation. He completed a Master of Science degree in Mining and Earth Systems Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and is a Certified Engineering Geologist and registered Professional Geologist.

Bill Zietlow, PE

Denver Office Leader

Denver, CO

Bill has worked in geotechnical engineering for more than 25 years and specializes in design of earth support systems for tunnels, shafts, road cuts, and temporary excavations such as soil nail, tieback, sheet pile, soldier pile, and micropile walls. He has also designed deep foundations and landslide stabilizations. He primarily provides design services for specialty contractors on design-build projects but has also provided geotechnical designs for public and private owners, primarily on transportation and utility works. He has design, construction observation, geotechnical investigation, and project management experience on a wide variety of projects and ground conditions across the Western and Midwestern United States. His responsibilities include engineering design, project management, and claim support services. He completed a Master of Science in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Minnesota.

Jeremiah Jezerski, PE

Tunnel and Advanced Geotechnical Design Engineer

Washington, DC

Jeremiah’s knowledge and adaptability makes him an indispensable team member on many tunnel, shaft and advanced geotechnical design and construction projects. Jeremiah has served as Design Manager on some of our most challenging projects including Northeast Boundary Tunnel, a $580 million CSO design/build project in our nation’s Capital, and the award winning Twin Box Vehicle Tunnels at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, which featured an innovative “box pulling operation” beneath three Norfolk Southern railway lines. Jeremiah knows how to get things done by building the right team for the job.

Tom Pullen, PG

Engineering Geologist

Cottage Grove, MN

Tom leads Brierley’s Upper Mid-West project efforts. He is another of Brierley’s project leaders who bring real-life perspective to design and troubleshooting, as he was a foreman for a utility contractor specializing in trenchless construction prior to his academic education. Tom’s experience includes underground design; geotechnical site characterization; trenchless design and construction; grouting programs and tunnel rehabilitation; and claims analysis and evaluation for both owners and contractors.

Phil Burgmeier, PE

Geostructural Engineer and Finite Element Modeler

Syracuse, NY

Phil is one of Brierley Associates’ 3D Finite Element Modeling specialists and geostructural engineers who effectively deploys 3D finite modeling to support efficient design and constructability of tunnels, shafts, support of excavation systems, deep foundations, and soil modification. He has expertise in seismic ground motion analysis, ground settlement prediction, structural underpinning and dewatering analysis. During the course of his career, Phil has built a successful track record developing conventional and unconventional approaches to assess and solve challenging construction issues.

Kevin Mandeville, PG

Engineering Geologist

Austin, TX

Kevin has more than 20 years of geotechnical investigation, geologic interpretations, tunnel construction experience through the hard and soft ground as well as through complex geologic environments with mixed-face conditions and faulted terrain. Kevin’s knowledge of the land and marine subsurface exploration, in-situ and laboratory testing methodologies, geotechnical instrumentation installation and interpretation and preparation of Geotechnical Baseline Reports (GBRs) is applied to a wide array of the tunnel, shaft, and pipeline projects. Mr. Mandeville is one of Brierley’s FAA licensed Drone Pilots and has a great eye for well-composed project photos.

Neal Wedding, PE

Shaft and Tunnel Engineer

Independence, OH

Neal brings a wealth of design and construction knowledge through his position as Chief Engineer for one of the premier design-build shaft sinking and tunneling contractors in North America. He has a proven track record in the design of equipment for drill and blast shafts and tunnels, and equipment for record-setting shafts excavated by both blind bore and raise bore methods. He has served as a consultant and as a designer to contractors, owners, and engineers on tunnels and shafts for mining, transportation, water supply, and sewerage.

Russell Berends, PE

Geostructural Engineer

Denver, CO

Russell specializes in support of excavations, tunnels, and deep foundations. His geostructural design capabilities encompass foundation engineering, slope stability analysis, shoring, earth dams, and landfills. Russell’s design projects include 7,500-feet of trench shoring for the BART metro line extension in the San Francisco Bay Area and  pre-cast tunnel liner segment design for over 10,000-ft of 10-ft diameter EPB-TBM tunnel in Los Angeles. He has co-authored several papers including: “Tunnel Lining Design: Seven Things You Need to Know,” and “A Measurement of Filtration Effects on the Transmissivity of Geocomposite Drains for Phosphogypsum.”

Danny Maine, PE

Geotechnical Engineer

Austin, TX

Danny specializes in Geotechnical and Civil Engineering. His career encompasses a wide variety of projects ranging from large scale Design-Build and P3 projects to smaller scale on-call contracts with local municipalities. He has designed in a wide range of challenging geologic environments ranging from soft soils in alluvial and marine environments to stiff residual soils and rock. In addition to design, Danny has a solid foundation in geotechnical investigations, planning and executing site work, managing drilling and testing subcontractors, as well as a good working knowledge of heavy civil construction practices.