MDOT presents the Extra Mile Podcast.

Welcome in to another edition of the Extra Mile podcast presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I'm Paul Katool And as always, I'm joined by my cohost, Will Craft. And, hey, listeners, viewers, if you use our interstate highway system, this episode is very relevant to you. We've got one of our awesome MDOT engineers on.

We have state roadway design engineer, Chris Nail, joining us in studio today. Chris, thank you so much for making time to speak with The Extra Mile.

I appreciate the invitation. I'm glad to be here.

Awesome. Awesome. So we're gonna throw you a a softball right off the bat. So listen. Tell us about you.

You know, where'd you go to school? I know you've been at MDOT a while, but you've had kind of a interesting path to get to the position that you have now.

Okay. Well, I grew up in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Proud Kosciusko High School graduate 1991. Go Whippets! Whippets.

After graduating high school, I went to Starkville and attended Mississippi State University. Graduated there in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Side note on that, after I had been working at MDOT for a while, I decided to go back to school, and I got my master's degree in civil engineering from Kansas State University. Oh. So that was I did that distance education, that that route, which is pretty cool.

That is.

After I graduated at Mississippi State, I began working at the Newton Project Office in Newton, Mississippi. That'd be District 5. Started there in June 1996. And for nineteen years, I worked in the project office at Newton.

Right.

In 2015, I got an opportunity to go over to the district office and I worked for two and a half years doing LPA projects, local public agency projects, which was really fun. Got to meet a lot of different people around the district and saw a lot of unique projects. In 2017, I got the opportunity to go to a different role, and I was the district preconstruction engineer for district five. And in that position, I was sort of the liaison between the district and all the design divisions. So if we had a preference for how we design things, I was the guy that was responsible for making sure that, you know, that they did it the way we wanna do it.

Nice. Okay. And now parlay that, you have managed to come all the way up the ladder, if you will, and you are the head of this division here that we were just talking about roadway design. What all do you guys do?

Well, we we have a lot of responsibilities. I'm gonna move my notes around here a

little bit.

We've got a lot of responsibilities. Thankfully, we have a lot of people that with certain specialties. Sure. Our main objective is that we help the districts and the other divisions to put together plans for construction projects. Those projects would include bridge replacement projects, bridge repairs, safety projects where we would build a J-turn or the dreaded roundabout.

Yeah.

We do widening projects where we're adding capacity to existing roads or maybe a road out through the middle of the woods. We also assist with mill and overlay projects, and then there's any number of other miscellaneous type projects that we work on.

So, I mean, you guys are in just about every step seemingly of of the the design process, the completion, the construction. Y'all are in a little bit of everything.

We we touch a little bit of all of that. You know, one of the things that we've started doing more in the last few years is we work with our utility division and the district utility coordinators to evaluate the presence of existing utilities that are in an area where we're gonna be doing work. And we review permits for for relocation of utilities. And we also look to see if there's any way that we can design around those utilities to keep from moving them. For instance, like transmission lines, whether it be gas or power, something like that.

Those are really expensive. So we we look at it pretty in-depth to see if there's a way to avoid that.

Y'all ever get out on a job and find utilities that you're not expecting to be there?

It happens quite often. And, you know, it it's not fun when you find those things, but you roll with the punches and you just deal with it.

Yeah. I can imagine. Probably lots of trials and tribulations and different things that you guys have have done and undertaken. What do you think some of the the work that you guys do again since it's so multifaceted and you y'all are plugged into so many different things. Your experience coming from the district, from the, you know, the local side of it and seeing things two ways and then coming to Jackson, has that been helpful?

It has. You know, I still am trying to learn more about the design side of it, and there and I learn something every day. But coming from the construction side of things, I have a different perspective in that I can look at a set of plans, and it helps me to do a quality control check to see if we've left out pay items or if there's a better way of doing something or we if in the unlikely event that we just absolutely miss something Sure. I I can see those things because I've got the experience of of reading the plans.

Been out there before when it was missing.

Right. And and if I have, you know, designers that come and say, hey. How do how is this doing? Then, you know, I can explain it to them. And if I don't know, then I I still have connections to contractors.

We can call them up and say, hey. We're gonna do this on this project. How in the how do you do this?

Yeah.

And and, thankfully, all of our contractors are very helpful, and they they they are willing to lend a hand at any time because, I mean, it's to their benefit too

Sure.

To help with that design because they're the ones gonna have to build it.

Yep. That's no doubt. So listen. You were kinda bragging on your team a little bit before we we got on air. Lots of big accomplishments in the roadway design division.

You wanna kinda shout any of those out that you guys have accomplished over the years?

Well, let me just start with the people

Yeah. Sure.

That we have in the Roadway Design Division. I can't say enough about the the employees that we have or the team that we have in the Roadway Design Division. We're pretty young. I'm really thankful that we've been able to attract a lot of young, talented engineers, and and we've built a very good team.

They're all very hungry, and they're willing to learn, and they're and they're doing a really good job. We're all learning together. So I'm very thankful for that. Some of the things that we've been doing lately are we've started getting into 3-D modeling and alternative delivery type stuff where we are actually creating three-dimensional models of the roadways Mhmm. With the hope of one day getting to where we don't have a set a a paper set of plans.

Right.

We've just got a a digital model that we provide to the contractor and to our inspectors, and we go out and build that project and you can, you know, inspect it off of an iPad. So we've we've got some talented folks that embrace that, and they're digging in and they're learning so much more above the minimum of what we want, but they dig in to get a little bit a little bit deeper to say, hey. Did you know it can do this and it can do this? And and embracing that technology and and just seeing that go forward is is been great.

That's amazing. How many people are in the roadway design division around?

We got 46.

46. Okay. Lots of smart engineers doing their thing.

Yep. Got a lot of a lot of good folks. You know, while we're talking about the folks, you know, we've got a lighting engineer. We've got two hydraulic engineers. We've got an engineer that works with our environmental division and also outside agencies to get storm water permits and other resource permits.

We've got a CAD engineer that maintains our CAD software. He facilitates training in the CAD software. And also, he's a problem solver. So if, you know, one of our folks in house has got problems or one of our consultants has got problems, they can just call him up and and he gets into it and he'll figure out a way to make it work. So it it's really cool to, you know, have have those, very talented people working with us.

That's amazing. Yeah. It's something you just alluded to sort of a minute ago with the, you know, sort of advent of of new alternative delivery and technology. You know, what are the changes in your programs that you guys are seeing? Is that sort of the main two kind of things you've been looking at?

Yeah. A lot of the things that we do are sort of the the way we've always done them, and a lot of people hate to hear Right. But we do a lot of things that we've always done, putting together plans and that type stuff. But as I mentioned earlier, you know, we're getting into the digital delivery stuff where we're producing those three d models. But also, we're working with the alternative delivery division to where we are getting into design build jobs, CMGC projects, progressive design build, ways of being able to accomplish those projects in a in a much more expedient manner.

Yeah. Have any of those sort of changed your recruitment model? I mean, you successfully sounds like you're you're having no issues with recruitment, maybe even retaining, but some of that contributed to that?

I think so. You know, one of the things that we do when we go and we interview somebody is we take a laptop or we bring them into the office and we we get out a laptop or we put it on the big screen and we show them the software that we use and all the things that we do. And we start zooming in and looking at the three d models and all that. They just go, wow. That's cool.

Yeah. And, you know, knowing that in two or three months of, you know, getting training, they can go in there and create those three d models and all and all that. And it it's really cool. I can't do that, but I know folks.

Yeah. Absolutely. Hey. Does that as as long as the train is moving forward, you know, as they say. Absolutely.

For sure.

And so we're doing a little more capacity projects these days rather than just kind of the maintenance thing that we that we're doing for a while. Is that kinda changing things too? Kind of like the day to day that y'all handle?

It is. It it makes gives us plenty of work to do. You know, we've got thankfully, a lot of those projects that were being developed ten or fifteen years ago are are being pulled out of the grave. And, you know, since we've got those other funding sources, we're able to dust those off and refurbish them. And we've got a lot of work that's going on up in the Northeastern part of the state with Highway 15 expansion in Union and Tippa and whatever other county.

There's so many.

I know.

Yeah. But we've got those going on. We're designing Highway 25 expansion up around Monroe County. I 55 in DeSoto County, which, you know, is a really busy place.

Oh, yeah.

Here in the metro, we've got I 55 up toward Gluckstadt. We got 25 Lakeland Drive. And, of course, 90 And 49 down on the coast. So we've got a lot of those projects that are coming up. We've got some other large projects that are in the in different stages of development such as the Port Gibson Bypass down at Port Gibson.

We've got some work that's coming up around Hattiesburg. So there's plenty to do.

Orange barrels all around the state. Will like to say we're wide open here. That's right. We are wide open. Absolutely.

So Will also mentioned recruitment and, you know, you're a shining example. So you've been with MDOT forever. So why why did you decide to stick with MDOT so long? Like, tell us the benefits of being a state servant.

Well, I've been here for twenty nine years, and I really enjoy what I do. I love the people that I work with. You know, it feels like a family to me. It is a family because I've been here so long that, you know, I've seen a lot of the faces change over the years and that's you know, if you stick around long, you see that. Sure.

But I've seen the changing of the guard many times. But, again, I I enjoy what I do, and I I like the people that we work with. And it's fun being a public servant and sort of being in the know of things that are coming

Oh, yeah.

And trying to make a difference in the state's infrastructure.

That's perfect, James. We'll clip that one right there.

Absolutely. Yeah. I would second that. I mean, it is we we throw that around so often talking about how it's such a family environment. But, again, I would submit to anybody out there listening that we we didn't rehearse this, you know, coming into it.

It people say it all the time. And, I think I said this maybe a year ago on an episode. I I truly hope that everybody has an opportunity to work at a place that feels as family oriented and and together sort of in unity, as MDOT is. It's just a great place to work, great place to be. Lots of technology and and things the modern world of of engineering in full force here.

Great spot to work. Are are you hiring right now? There's the

next question. Hiring.

Hey. There we go.

You know, I I can't put a finger on on a number of people that that we have hired. I'm not gonna say I have hired anybody, but we as a division have hired probably 10 or 12 people in the last three years.

Oh,

wow. And, you know, we're not gonna slow down. We we're being selfish. We wanna hire people Sure. The more people we can.

And, of course, as I told somebody the other day, I'm team MDOT. So if we can't get somebody, if we can get them to go to Bridge, if we can get them to go to planning or environmental or out to one of the project offices, hey, as long as it's MDOT.

Yeah. Love that. Yeah. I'm saying.

And I'll plug that website. If you are looking for a job in engineering or really anything at MDOT, visit gom..com/careers. It's really great little web page right there, everything for you. Go apply for a job and and join. Come to MDOT.

Please. Absolutely. Moving fast and furious here, but just real quick talking about your division. I know there's a lot of things, a lot of projects that you've worked on. Maybe anything that, a project that you're most proud of or one that you're most looking forward to.

Put you on the spot with that one.

That's okay. You know, I would have to say this is gonna be one of the projects that is in the local area to me. I live in Smith County, so I'm, you know, way out away from all the hustle and bustle in the metro. But I travel Highway 25, Lakeland Drive a good bit, going out to Northwest Rankin High School. So I'm really looking forward to Highway 25 getting expanded because if you drive 48 lanes.

Five, it's it's pretty rough. And, you know, I've been driving out that way for a long time. My wife was a teacher out there and principal out there for several years. That's where my daughter went to school. Okay.

And so we go out there still a lot, and so I'm looking forward to that expansion.

Hey. As a as a ranking county native out there, I I submit the same. I'm very much looking forward to that. They're just building houses left and right out there. You know?

Nothing wrong with that, but more more houses usually got more people driving cars.

That's right. That's

right. It's a it is a a fragile place to be from about July to 08:30. It's a or maybe not fragile. Hostile.

There you go.

A better word. For sure. No. Appreciate that. Absolutely.

Yeah. And whatever we can do to make 25 into 48 lanes, I'm I'm a big fan of.

I hear about this every morning. Big fan. 25. Yeah. Yeah.

There we go.

No. Absolutely. Look. Moving on. Paul, did you have anything else on that?

I did not. Hey. That's that's a lot of good information about Red Weed Design.

We wanna move into the fun questions as we like to refer to them around here, as a podcast. As a people, we like to eat. We like music. So I wanna throw these two at you. One, I'll I'll still, let's go.

I'll still have the music question today.

Okay. We're switching it up.

You know, just throw people a curveball when we can. Okay. What about a favorite concert you've ever been to? Doesn't have to be in Mississippi, but just one that maybe stuck out to you.

Yeah. I hadn't been to a lot of concerts in my day, but I got the opportunity this summer to travel to Atlanta, and I went to see Metallica.

Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah.

It's one of my favorite bands of all time. My wife and I got tickets and went over to Mercedes Benz Stadium. Yeah. She really stepped up and got us very good seats Oh. In a suite.

So we had all you could eat, all you could drink. Oh, man. Really comfortable seats, but that was just a side note. But Metallica put on a really good show. It was loud, and it was, you know, a lot of colors.

And, I mean, it was it was just really cool.

I can only imagine. And let me parlay that a little bit, I suppose, but now you're you're are you in a band? Were in a band? You're very musically talented as well.

I am. I play with a a few groups. We've got the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band Yeah. That meets out at Northwest Rankin High School. And it's much like a a high school band, but now we've got players in that band that go from, you know, high school age up through you know, currently, are people in there through their seventies.

We actually, a few years ago, had a tuba player that was about in his late eighties, maybe even 90 years old. So he'd been playing tuba for a long time. Yeah. But I play the trumpet, and I'm in the community symphonic band. I also, as part of that, the Mississippi swing big band.

And both of those are volunteer organizations. We don't

Oh, wow.

We're not paid employees. We do it because we love to play. Yeah. And, you know, just a shameless plug. Please.

Saturday, December 13 at 03:00, we'll be at Bellhaven, and we've got a concert. So look us up on the Internet or on Facebook, Mississippi Community Symphonic Band.

Love

it. We're gonna be playing a lot of good Christmas music. So that's that's fun. Also, occasionally play with the Bellhaven Symphony right up here at Bellhaven. Oh, cool.

And that's pretty cool. So, you know, it's good to still make music after all these years.

Amen. No. You didn't you didn't try and jump on stage with Metallica and give them a solo?

No. You know, actually, Aime Tinley, who is the he is the assistant roadway design director. He and his wife went to that concert, and they were down on the floor.

Oh, of course.

So it would have been up to him to jump on the stage, but he he knew better than that.

Yeah. Thank you thank you for behaving yourself, Ames.

We appreciate that. Now I wanna throw something out since I'm talking about band.

And Sure.

I really wanna something near and dear to my heart is my daughter is a trumpet player, and she's at Mississippi State majoring in music education.

Okay.

And the last two years, she marched drum corps with the Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps and as part of the drum drum corps international organization. And so we followed her around the last two summers to Atlanta, to all over the state, and they end up in Indianapolis at August 1 where they have the world championship competitions and all that. And so it's been really cool to see her development over time and and just following her around and getting to see her marching play. Sure. So

I I can I I have a four year old and two year old and one on the way? For those that may not know that out there, could this serves as a somewhat official announcement, I suppose. But it's all for the kids, man. I can only imagine. I bet that was very fun getting to do that, see her enjoy it.

It's great.

Yeah. That that's amazing. I'll ask you one more music related question. What's your favorite Metallica song? Gotta gotta know.

Oh.

Oh, that's really on the spot.

You Just throwing it out there.

I only know the one. Just one.

One probably is

Interesting Sandman.

I mean my favorite, but Inner Sandman is good. You know, I'm partial to the Injustice For All Yeah. And and the Black Album because those were the ones that were came about when I was in high school. But any of the songs that come off of those are great. One is a really good song and, you know, a piece of trivia there is that was Metallica's first music video.

Oh, wow. Went along with that song.

Man, I would've never known that one. Yeah.

Alright. That's amazing. I'm partial to their first album, their early speed metal stuff. Very good stuff. We'll move on.

Music question. Or we did the music question. Food question. It's mixed things up.

I know.

So you're you're driving around the state of Mississippi. I know you get out and about. So when you have to stop, get a bite to eat, where are you where are you stopping? Anywhere in the state?

Well, if I'm in Missus if I'm in Jackson, I like to go to Martin's. And I think there are a lot of us that like to go to Martin's for for lunch or or supper. It's a great place to go. And I don't go a lot of places. I'm either in Jackson or I'm at home or I'm in Starkville.

And so if I'm in Starville, probably my favorite place to go is probably a place that not a lot of people know about, but it's the guest room.

Okay. I have not heard. Have not

heard it. It's a it's one of those that's hidden, which is by design.

Not for long.

But check it out. It's actually part of the restaurant Tyler Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Restaurant, and they got really good food, and it's got a really cool atmosphere.

If you're up there during Christmas, they do really special decorations for Christmas.

Oh, cool.

And that's it's really neat to go in and see that. But a piece of advice, if you decide to go, especially during Christmas, go early because the line sometimes is two hours long.

It's it's usually a good indicator. Oh, yeah. Yep.

For sure. Well, that's a good one. I think I'm heading to the egg bowl this year, enemy territory, if you will. So I'll I'll go and stop by and and check it out. So, Chris, lots of information today.

Thank you so much for joining us. You nailed it.

Well, I appreciate it.

Absolutely. Good. See what I did there. Alright. Thank you to our loose listeners, our viewers for tuning in to the extra mile podcast.

You can listen and watch episodes by visiting Goem dot dot com forward slash the extra mile. Follow us on social media at Mississippi DOT is the handle. We wanna thank our editor producer Drew Hall for holding things down behind the scenes. And remember, to drive smart out there on Mississippi highways.