最近的一个星期天下午，当他在纽约市中央公园骑自行车时，西奥多·佐利（Theodore Zoli）的手机响了。这是美国陆军工程兵团高级研究员詹姆斯·雷（James Ray）的电话，阿富汗小姐的工程研究与开发中心（Biloxi）的工程研究与开发中心（Biloxi）担心一座被火灾损坏的桥梁。他们可以安全地越过它吗？

雷讨厌在罕见的一天中打断臭名昭著的Zoli，但他迫切需要答案。雷知道，他必须称呼HNTB Corp.的国家首席桥梁工程师，该工程以使建筑物对爆炸和大火的抵抗力（无论是事故，恐怖主义还是敌人的火灾）而闻名。

雷说：“他坐在自行车道上，详细阐述了我的详尽帮助。”“我目睹了泰德（Ted）在许多情况下都将其视为其他考虑因素的优先事项，包括金钱。他对他的同胞和我们国家的关注是他的最大优先事项。”

2009年秋季，纽约州运输部（NYSDOT）不得不关闭纽约和佛蒙特州之间的尚普兰湖桥梁，这是两个在100英里内没有其他连接的社区的生命线。是否可以设计一个可以快速，经济地建造的桥梁，同时还可以满足社区的满足？Nysdot官员不确定 - 直到他们遇到了Zoli。

"Ted was instrumental in our being able to communicate the message about the closure to the public," recalls Mary Ivey, NYSDOT regional director. "He was so convincing to the [stakeholder] committee that even the historians said to me, 'Now that we've heard Ted Zoli, we understand.' " Zoli went through input from hundreds of residents and created a half-dozen options for them to evaluate. He produced a modified network tied arch design that echoes the old bridge, yet is safer and sleeker. Inclined crisscrossing hanger cables redistribute the main span's weight throughout, creating redundancy. The $76-million crossing opened two years later (ENR 11/7/11 p. 17). "People are thrilled," says Ivey. "It could have been out of character or more of a signature bridge, but it's a beautiful fit."

Zoli's work has been at or near the center of multiple similar scenarios: on the Mary Avenue Bridge in Cupertino, Calif. (ENR 3/9/09 p. 17); the Happy Hollow Bridge in San Jose, Calif.; the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha; the Blennerhassett Bridge in West Virginia; and the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Avenue viaduct in New York City (ENR N.Y. 11/07/11 p. 84).

“他不仅是工程师的工程师，在技术领域中很棒，而且是文艺复兴时期的[人]，”前运输首席工程师乔·迪亚尔（Joe Deneault）说，他的知识基础是如此广泛，如此广泛他与人合作并从设计团队中获得最好的能力使他与众不同。如果他成为Bridgebuilding历史上的巨人之一，我不会感到惊讶。”

For these reasons and for his consistent ability to optimize and integrate innovation with practicality as well as his tireless dedication to enhancing the safety and well-being of society in multiple aspects, Engineering News-Record has chosen Zoli as its 2012 Award of Excellence winner.

桥接社区

尽管一月份在新罕布什尔州朴次茅斯的一月天气里，居民还是伙计们开放屋，以了解横跨Piscataqua河的可移动纪念桥计划的新设计。旧的桁架桥是紧急关闭。

紧凑型肌肉发达的Zoli穿着仔细的发型，眼镜，预科毛衣和领带，看起来像是常春藤联盟教授和蓝领承包商的后代，而且他都是。用教授的语调和外行的术语，他耐心地向听众解释了他设计新电梯桥的原因。讨论进行了几个小时。

该结构将是世界上没有毛板的第一座桁架桥，使用均匀的65英尺金属截面拼接并用板加固。Zoli使用了冷弯曲的钢，这是另一个用于桥梁 - 并在主跨度下方的机房。

With new generations of steel available and a better understanding of cold bending, Zoli saw these aspects of the new bridge as examples of "a very subtle departure in the way we do things, yet very big. We tend to do the same things over and over again. We should always be trying to expand upon what we know about."

Most attendees seemed pleased by the explanations, and many praised him. But one man demanded to know why the bridge could not be more of a signature bridge. He asked, didn't Portsmouth deserve its own version of Boston's Zakim Bridge?

佐利（Zoli）专心听，然后描述了原始移动桥的设计师约翰·瓦德尔（John A.L.但是这个人坚持了下来。