DALLAS — CTL|Thompson Texas, a full-service geotechnical, environmental, and materials engineering firm, announced that Robert Patton, one of the founding principals of the company, has returned to manage operations of the office, which has provided materials testing, pavement design, and geotechnical services for projects ranging from the Trinity Parkway to the Dallas Zoo’s Giants of the Savanna exhibit.

Patton, most recently a senior consultant with Fugro Consultants Inc., is renowned for his professional contributions to the field of geotechnical and materials engineering and has worked on many of north Texas’ major infrastructure projects. Patton has held lead roles in the geotechnical engineering and design for such projects as the Trinity River Corridor, President George Bush Turnpike/Dallas North Tollway extensions, and Cook Canyon Dam and Reservoir, and major expansion projects at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and the 72-story Bank of America Tower, to name a few.

Patton was instrumental in starting CTL|Thompson Texas, when his former company, Patton and Burke, joined forces with CTL|Thompson founder Bob Thompson. The remaining company, Patton, Burke and Thompson, LLC, became CTL|Thompson Texas, LLC, in 1995. Patton left in 2001 to work on very advanced technical projects, but returned as managing partner of CTL’s Dallas office, located at 8607 Ambassador Row, to replace an outgoing manager.

"CTL|Thompson has such a fine reputation for technical expertise, I wanted to ensure its presence in Dallas,” Patton said. “I owe my career to the Dallas engineering community, and feel I had a responsibility to keep good engineering jobs in our city and to train new entries into our dynamic profession."

Patton holds professional registrations in nine U.S. states and has worked in Central America, acting as the principal geotechnical engineer for reconstruction of the Panama Canal Railway ending in Colon, Panama. Additionally, he is one of a very select group of Diplomates of Geotechnical Engineering, a specialty certification in civil engineering, awarded to fewer than 200 engineers throughout the United States.

Patton is a graduate of Texas A & M University and has lived in Dallas, with his family, for more than 40 years.