Xavier
Font Solà
e-mail:
xavier@bierot.net |
Enginyer
de Camins, Canals i Ports (Spain)
CEng
MICE (UK)
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Civil engineer
experienced in regional planning, site
development and structural and bridge design. For the last seventeen
years I've
been involved in the design and construction process of twenty-eight
bridges, fifteen
of which have been built under my supervision.
Some
of my works have been given prizes from international engineering,
architectural and restoration awards, and have been published at
several books, magazines and web sites from all around the world.
I regularly give
lectures on engineering at international conferences.
From
2008 on, I teach Creative Engineering Design at the School of Civil
Engineering of
Barcelona (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
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| 1. Education |
Civil Engineer,
1987, from the
E.T.S. Enginyers
de Camins, Canals i Ports de Barcelona of the Universitat
Politècnica de Catalunya . |
| 2. Work history |
Alfa Polaris S.L.
(January 2007-present)
At
the beginning of 2007 I started again to work for my own company, and
I’m currently involved in the concept design, the detailing documents
and the site supervision of various schemes.
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MLM Consulting
Engineers (April
2005-December 2006)
I
worked
as a Bridge Designer and Project Manager for MLM Consulting Engineers.
I designed structures according to the British
Codes and applying CDM regulations. I attended in-house Health and
Safety and welfare courses as well as Quality Assurance ones. I
encouraged the use of 3D CAD techniques among my colleagues and
employers,
and promoted them giving in-house speeches. I was member of the team
that carried out detailing documents for a new highway; I was in charge
of the design of a major bridge over a mainline railway. I worked as
Project Manager of two footbridge design projects for two
Spanish
clients. I negotiated the contracts and was the responsible to the
clients
for these jobs. I lead a team of engineers and CAD technicians
which delivered tender
and construction stage
documents to a fixed deadline.
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Alfa Polaris S.L.
(March
1992-March 2005)
Alfa Polaris is my
own firm which is dedicated to civil engineering design as well as
urban and regional planning. There I have the responsibility of
obtaining contracts, negotiation with customers and the direction of
the teams who carry out the work. In the field of civil engineering I
have designed bridges, roads, river canalizations, municipal equipment
and
so on. Most of the projects have received the approval of the Catalan
Environmental Agency when needed, and had to be designed following
sustainable and environmental principles, as well as Health &
Safety policy according to the Spanish Laws. We have worked for the Diputació
de Barcelona,
the Vallès Oriental County
Council and
several borough
councils and private companies of Catalonia. Most of the works that I
have designed
were constructed afterwards under my supervision. I also worked for the
Pla Territorial Metropolità de Barcelona of the
Generalitat de Catalunya,
which was the regional
planning agency of the Regional
Government of Catalonia. For them, in collaboration with Mcrit,
S.L.
consulting, I was involved in several studies on the impact of large
infrastructures in the metropolitan area of Barcelona and the planning
and preliminary design of two railway stations for new high speed train
lines.
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Vallès Oriental County
Council (September
1989-February 1992)
In
September 1989 I obtained the
position as a Head of the Planning
Area in the Vallès
Oriental County Council that I occupied until February
1992.
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CITRAME
(May
1988-August 1989)
I
was part of a four engineer team
that worked jointly with the International Commission of the Transport
in the Mediterranean (CITRAME) and the Catalan Institute for the
Development of the Transport, conducting the study of The Regional
Accessibility in the European Mediterranean Countries. This work was
ordered by the Regional Development European Centre (CEDRE). For the
development of this study I had to work with the regional governments
of the studied regions in Spain, France, Italy and the former
Yugoslavia.
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EXCOVER, S.A. (January
1986-April 1988)
I
was site engineer
responsible for budget control and technical content for various works
carried out by the contractor EXCOVER, S.A.
During that time we carried
out public works for different city councils and the Regional
Government of Catalonia.
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SEIT, S.A. (April
1985-June 1985)
SEIT,
S.A. (April 1985 - June 1985). I
was in charge of
controlling the execution deadlines for manufacture and delivery of
Kaplan turbines for two electric power stations, which were carried out
by SEIT, S.A. The manufacture of the turbines was done in the workshops
of Mecánica de la Peña, in Bilbao, Spain.
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| 3. Awards |
The Joan Camps Footbridge
scheme was given a diploma by the Construmat
2011 Awards.
I was given one of the Water
Awards 2008
held by the Catalan Association Friends of Water.
I was in charge of
the concept design and engineering of The Restoration of
the Pont Trencat
project, that
received the following awards:
Footbridge
2005 Awards hosted by the British magazine Bridge
Design&Engineering. Joint Winner
category
aesthetic, span up to 30 metres.
Puente
de
Alcantara Awards 2002-2004. Highly Commended.
Construmat 2005
Awards.
Highly Commended.
Europa
Nostra 2006 Awards. Medal.
AR
Awards for Emerging Architecture 2006. Highly Commended
Bonaplata
Awards 2004. Shortlisted
Ciencia
en Acción 2006 Awards. Shortlisted
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| 4. Teaching |
Associated lecturer at the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) for the undergraduate course
on Creative Engineering
Design (since 2008)
Co-director and teacher of the postgraduate course on Creative Design for Engineers
(2008) held by the Col.legi d’Enginyers de Camins,
Canals i Ports the Catalunya.
Invited lecturer at the Master
on Advanced Architecture (2007-2008) held by the Institute
for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia.
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| 5. Professional
association |
Member of the Colegio
de Ingenieros de
Caminos, Canales y Puertos (the Spanish institution of civil
engineers) since 1988 with membership no. 9460.
Member of the Institution
of Civil Engineers
since 2006 with membership no. 63301715.
Member of the ACHE
(Asociación Científico-Técnica del Hormigón
structural) since 1993 with membership no. A0992.
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| 6. Continuing education |
Workshop:
Materials for Footbridges - Recent Achievements
(5 Jul 2011). Wroclaw
University of Technology. Wroclaw,
Poland (8 hours).
Workshop:
Footbridge Vibration Design: Worldwide Experience
(1 Jul 2008). Fundaçao da Serralves. Porto, Portugal (8 hours).
Workshop:
Dynamic design of footbridges under pedestrian loading
(5 December 2005). IUAV Tolentini. Venice, Italy.
(8 hours).
Introduction
to LUSAS Finite Element Software
(10-12 May
2005). Finite
Element
Analysis Ltd.
Kingston
Upon Thames,
UK.
(20 hours).
Postdegree
course on Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Course.
(October
1999 – July 2000) Fundació
Politècnica de Catalunya. (150 hours).
Course
on Improving Verbal Communication
(October
1998 – December
1998). Barcelona
City Council. Barcelona,
Spain.
(15 hours).
·Course
on Strategies for Effective Negotiation
(13 & 20
March 1998). Col.legi
d'Enginyers de Camins, Canals i Ports de Catalunya. Barcelona,
Spain.
(16
hours).
Postdegree in Architecture for the Complex Scales.
Universitat Pompeu Fabra de
Barcelona (21
January 1994 – 28 Mai 1994).
Course directed by Josep Acebillo with Rafael Moneo, Santiago
Calatrava, Ricard Borfill, Enric Miralles, Julio Martínez
Calzón, Ignacio Paricio, Lluís Clotet, Albert Viaplana
and Helio Piñón as invited professors. Barcelona, Spain.
(150 hours).
Constructive Details in Reinforced
Concrete Structures. INTEMAC. Barcelona. April 1993.
The
Urban
Gardening: a Challenge for
the Future.
Fundació Narcís Monturiol. Sitges, Spain.
20-21 September 1993. (12 hours).
The
Fight for
the Territorial
Equilibrium.
Fundació Narcís Monturiol. Girona, Spain.
4-6 October, 1989. (15 hours).
The
Flooding
in the Towns of
Catalunya.
Centro de Estudios e Investigación del Agua. Cerdanyola, Spain.
15 September 1989 (7 hours).
Project and
Territory.
Fundació Narcís
Monturiol. Sitges,
Spain.
29 September - 1 October,
1988. (14 hours).
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7. Lectures and papers at conferences
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Lecture
on the Can Gili Footbridge at the Footbridge
2011
conference. Wroclaw University of Technology.
Wroclaw. 6-8 Jul 2011.
Lecture on the Callús
Footbridge over the river Cardener at the Footbridge 2008
conference. OTUA – FEUP. Porto. 2-4 Jul 2008.
Poster
presentation and paper on the Joan Camps Footbridge over the river
Congost in Granollers at the Footbridge
2008 conference. OTUA – FEUP. Porto. 2-4 Jul 2008.
I gave the
lecture The Restoration
of the Pont Trencat (Broken Bridge) at the following
conferences:
Footbridge 2005. Office
Technique pour
l'Utilisation de l'Acier (OTUA)
– University
Iuav of Venice. Venice. 6-8
December 2005.
2nd Conference on Engineering in
Catalan Language. Enginyeria i Cultura Catalana. Andorra.
19-21 November 2004.
Arch’04. 4th International
Conference on Arch Bridges. Universitat Politècnica de
Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain. 17-19 November 2004.
CEA
2004. Steel
Structures Conference. Universidade da Coruña.
A
Coruña, Spain. 22-24 September
2004.
Steelbridge
2004. International Symposium on Steel Bridges.
Office
Technique pour l'Utilisation de l'Acier (OTUA). Millau, France. 23-25
June
2004.
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| 8. Attended
conferences |
Seminar
Form
and Aesthetics on Public Works.
Col.legi d’Enginyers de Camins, Canals i Ports. Barcelona. 9th November
2007.
Seminar
Steel
in Architecture. Japan – Spain.
Col.legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya. 31st May – 1 June 2007.
Building
Better Bridges 2006.
New Civil Engineer
(NCE). London, UK. 13 July 2006.
3rd
European Biennial on Landscape. Col.legi
d'Arquitectes de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain. 27-29
November
2003.
Footbridge
2002. Design and Dynamic Behaviour of Footbridges. Office
Technique
pour
l'Utilisation de l'Acier (OTUA). Paris, France. 20-22
November
2002.
Fifth International Bridge Engineering Conference.
Transportation Research Board. Tampa, Florida, USA. 3-5
April
2000.
II
International Seminar on Structural Analysis of
Historical Constructions. E.T.S. Enginyers de Camins, Canals
i
Ports. Barcelona, Spain. 4-6
November
1998.
Conference
on Prestressed Structures and Bridges of the
Spanish Association of the Prestressing. Logroño, Spain.
12-15
November
1996.
International
Conference on Composite Bridges. State of the
Art of the Technology and the Analysis. E.T.S. Enginyers de
Camins,
Canals i Ports. 23-27
November
1992.
Cable-Stayed
Bridges. Design, Structural Analysis and
Constructive Processes. Civil Engineering European Courses.
Madrid,
Spain. 30
May
- 1 June 1990.
Aethetics
in Civil Engineering. E.T.S. Ingenieros de
Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Barcelona, Spain. 4-5
December
1989.
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9. Other papers
published
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Geocat.
Territorial Loops. Institut d'arquitectura
avançada de Catalunya. Barcelona, 2004. Text
number 4: The City of Broken Bridges.
Authors: Xavier Font and Andreu Ulied
The Broken Bridge Recovers its
Utility but Keeps on
Being Broken, published at l'Informatiu no. 223 (June 2003),
technical publication of the Col.legi
d’Aparelladors i Arquitectes tècnics de Barcelona.
The Bridge: Shape, Space and Site,
published at O.P.
Magazine no. 21, Bridges III (autumn
1991),
technical publication of the
Col.legi
d’Enginyers de Camins, Canals i Ports.
New bridge over the Vinalopó River in the City of
Elx. Proposal carried out by the 3D1 team,
published at O.P.
Magazine no. 19, Bridges I (spring 1991), technical publication of the
Col.legi d’Enginyers
de Camins, Canals i Ports.
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| 10. Complementary
activities
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Roman Bridge
Association (1996-2004): I
was one
of the founders of this association, which
purpose was to restore a bridge built in the Middle Ages, which
suffered the destruction of one of its two arcs
in 1811, during the Napoleonic Wars. Its restoration started in 2000
and it was
opened to the public in September 2003.
Strategic
Planning
of Granollers (1998): I
was chairman of the Territorial Planning
Commission of the Strategic Planning of the city of Granollers,
which has a
population of
50.000 and is situated 30 km north of Barcelona.
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Sant Vicenç de Montalt,
January 2012
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