CAREER STORY
Building a Legacy of Learning
Karl Higgins, P.E., D.GE, ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC
By Jess Campbell
The beauty of a long career is the ability to learn from
various opportunities as they come along. Karl Higgins,
P.E., D.GE., is the senior vice president and chief engineer
at ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC. While this role encompasses myriad
responsibilities, Higgins now finds himself as a teacher, building
a legacy of learning for the next generation of ECS engineers.
After graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in civil engineering,
Higgins began working for a geotechnical engineering
firm in Virginia Beach, garnering his first real exposure to deep
foundations. But then, as opportunity would have it, he would
move to a completely different market and spend the next two
decades building buildings, bridges and civil infrastructure – and
his career.
“I moved to Washington in 2001 and started working in that
market. There’s a lot more variability there in terms of foundation
types versus in Virginia Beach,” said Higgins. “I got exposure to lots
of different deep foundations techniques other than just driven
piles, which was great.
“I also helped introduce driven piles into the D.C. market that
were not previously used. The practitioners in the D.C. market at
Photos courtesy of Karl Higgins
The DC Wharf in 2015
www.piledrivers.org PILEDRIVER | 61
/www.piledrivers.org
