VDOT Leadership
Barton A. Thrasher, P.E.
Chief Engineer
Barton “Bart” Thrasher was selected as the agency’s chief engineer in June 2019. He has more than 25 years of transportation experience, including previous roles as the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) statewide location and design engineer and the Richmond District engineer.
Thrasher provides strategic oversight to key programs across the Commonwealth’s 124,000 lane-mile network, including location and design, construction, materials, structure and bridge, transportation planning and alternate project delivery.
Since joining VDOT as a transportation engineer trainee in 1997, he has served in multiple leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
As state location and design engineer, Thrasher was responsible for the statewide project management and preconstruction activities of VDOT’s $2 billion construction program.
As Richmond District engineer, Thrasher led a complex transportation program resulting in the successful completion of several projects, including:
- The GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit project in the city of Richmond
- The Interstate 95 Temple Avenue interchange improvements project and roundabout in the city of Colonial Heights
- The Lewistown bridge replacement project over I-95 in Hanover County
- Continued progress on the Interstate 64 widening project in Henrico and New Kent counties
A licensed professional engineer, Thrasher holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering technology and a master’s degree in business administration from Old Dominion University, as well as a bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry College.
He is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ National Transportation Management Institute.