Christopher Williams

Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering

Chris Williams received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He then earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin while working at the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory.

At The University of Texas, his research focused on the behavior of post-tensioned spliced girder bridges. The implementation of spliced girder technology provides a means for precast concrete girder bridges to reach longer span lengths than can typically be achieved due to transportation restrictions. His work included large-scale load tests on pretensioned girder segments spliced together through post-tensioning at cast-in-place splice regions. The research led to a deeper understanding of the shear and flexural behavior of spliced girders, and the resulting recommendations have practical applications for the design and detailing of new bridges.