AASHTO Journal - AASHTO Names Collins Vice Chair of Water Council

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has named Chris Collins (above) – director-waterways within the Office of Multimodal Commerce at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development – to a two-year term as vice chair of its Council on Water Transportation.

[Above photo by Louisiana DOTD]

A native of Baton Rouge, Collins has been with the Louisiana DOTD since May 2015. In his current role, he serves as the state’s project manager for navigation projects including the Mississippi River Ship Channel Deepening, Houma Navigation Canal Deepening, Acadiana to the Gulf of Mexico Access Channel Deepening, and J. Bennett Johnston Waterway Channel Deepening.

A graduate of Louisiana State University with a B.S. and M.B.A. with an early career focus on government and finance, Collins worked for two Louisiana governors and the Louisiana legislative auditor in the 1990s before transitioning to the private sector in the 2000s; working in the healthcare industry managing clinical care operations until 2011.

In May 2011, Chris returned to public service and joined Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority before transferring to Louisiana DOTD four years later.