Dr. Baidar Bakht, P.Eng

Through his work with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario over the last two decades, Dr. Baidar Bakht has become a leader in bridge design. In addition, his research and its practical application have saved the province millions of dollars. His most recent innovation, a steel-free bridge deck slab, has caught the attention of industry. His glass-fibre- reinforced plastic grid system, which makes it possible to build bridges with no reinforcing steel, may revolutionize the way engineers design bridges around the world. It has been estimated by the transportation ministry that steel-free bridge construction could save the province more than $100 million over the next 20 years. Bakht's evaluation of the load-carrying capacities of numerous bridges, made on the basis of full-scale load testing, has also saved the province money. Bridges that might otherwise have been demolished or repaired at great cost have been pronounced safe by Engineer Bakht's testing method. Most of Bakht's research has been incorporated into the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, which he was instrumental in implementing several years ago. Bakht has published widely on many aspects of bridge design, and is a winner of the Moisseiff Award, of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Prately Award, from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.