Riccardo Ciccarelli
Riccardo Ciccarelli MASc., P.Eng., PMP.
Partner, Structural Engineer, Project Manager
Primary Office: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Riccardo Ciccarelli is a Project Manager and Structural Engineer with 11 years of experience providing consulting structural engineering services, as well as heavy-civil project management services for a variety of projects. In 2023 Riccardo received his Master of Applied Science in Civil (Structural) Engineering from Dalhousie University. He has been involved in the design and management of multiple bridge erection, demolition, and rehabilitation projects as well as damn and marine projects. His responsibilities have included preliminary and detailed design of structural members (both permanent and temporary), detailed structural inspections, project and construction management, and providing owners representation throughout various project stages. Riccardo has been a member of the Harbourside team since 2015.
Professional Activities:
Consulting Engineers Nova Scotia (CENS), Provincial Committee Chair, Nova Scotia, 2025
Riccardo’s Projects
About Riccardo
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Mr. Ciccarelli is a Structural Engineer with 11 years of experience providing consulting structural engineering services, as well as heavy-civil project management services, for a variety of projects. His graduate research, which involved field testing of steel box girders during erection, combined with his involvement on the MacDonald Bridge Re-decking Project and South Park Street Crane Collapse Removal has allowed him to gain unique experience that has further developed his technical knowledge.
Since 2013, Mr. Ciccarelli has been involved in the design of multiple bridge and construction projects. While working with other structural engineers, his duties have included: preliminary and detailed design of structural members; load development; and review of various structural steel and reinforcing steel shop drawings. Through his work on construction engineering projects, he has performed various tasks, including 3D finite element modelling and design of temporary works.
In 2014, as part of his graduate work that investigated the web behaviour of steel bridge box girders during incremental launching, Riccardo designed an experimental program to record strains during the launch of two steel bridge box girders of the Shubenacadie River Bridge (Halifax Bound Structure). This work involved extensive planning with the steel fabricator to ensure that strain gauges could be installed on box girder segments while they were still in the fabrication shop/yard, and that additional data acquisition equipment could be installed on site. Mr. Ciccarelli performed independent inspections of the girders in the fabrication shop to ensure the tested girder segments were within allowable geometric tolerances. Once the box girder segments were complete, strain gauges were installed on both webs and flanges, at predetermined locations along the girder’s length. Mr. Ciccarelli worked closely with the contractor to coordinate launching schedules on site.
From 2015 to 2018 Riccardo was almost exclusively involved on the MacDonald Bridge Re-decking Project known as ‘The Big Lift”, providing site representation for the owner, Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB). Mr. Ciccarelli had the unique experience to have conducted structural inspections on the individual deck segments while in the fabrication process as well as on site, during the erection and installation of the deck segments. Following the deck segment erection phase of the work, Mr. Ciccarelli was involved with the review of installation procedures and coordination related to the installation of various bridge components including the modular expansion joints, traction rods, maintenance travellers, and the main cable dehumidification system. Mr. Ciccarelli was also involved with field inspections of structural bridge components which were not replaced during the Big Lift. In 2019, he began leading the annual inspections of the MacDonald and MacKay Bridges (and associated ancillary structures) on behalf of Harbourside Engineering.
In the fall of 2019, Mr. Ciccarelli was involved with the removal of a collapsed tower crane in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The crane collapsed during Hurricane Dorian onto a building on South Park Street. Riccardo was involved with the pre and post inspection of the affected buildings and worked with the demolition contractor to execute the demolition plan.
In 2019, Mr. Ciccarelli was deeply involved with the Port Lands (Bridges) Flood Protection project as part of the Quality Verification Engineering team on behalf of the fabricator, Cherubini Metal Works (CMW). He was involved with the review of quality documentation and shop procedures related to the fabrication of the bridges including fabrication procedures, welding procedures, personnel certifications, material certifications, and shop drawings. Additionally, Mr. Ciccarelli conducted regular fabrication shop site visits to ensure the approved fabrication procedures are being followed and to work with the fabricator to problem-solve unforeseen issues. Mr. Ciccarelli has also been involved with various fabrication and erection engineering tasks such as the design of temporary support frames, erection phasing, and bearing installation procedures (including bridge jacking to achieve desired loads and/or elevations at support locations).
For the past several years, Riccardo has been on secondment for the Halifax Harbour Bridge Commission, aiding with the maintenance and planning around the province of Nova Scotia’s two most important bridge structures.
Awards & Recognition
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