Mitchell McAnally first got interested in aviation while taking a pavement design course at Oklahoma State University. The thought of designing pavement structures that had to support 200,000-pound landing aircraft was much more intriguing compared to the typical highway loadings.
“I value the relationships I have made within the aviation community,” he said. “Aviation is at the forefront of technology and attracts innovative thought leaders.”
Since McAnally began his career in 2008, his leadership, collaborative nature and attitude have helped grow Garver’s Texas airports clients from three to more than 40. In that time McAnally has gone from managing $12 million in airport improvements to more than $649 million in total construction.
His experience includes providing innovative solutions for taxiways, runways, ARFF improvements, terminal expansions, hangar designs, lighting improvements and master plans to airports of all sizes across Texas. For the Dallas Love Field Taxiway Bravo Rehabilitation project, McAnally designed a supplemental underground stormwater detention system underneath the taxiways that will handle a 100-year storm event without changing the outfall flow conditions into Bachman Lake, utilizing six 96-inch barrels that are 210 feet long each.
As a part of the Runway 33 RSA improvements project for the Addison Airport, McAnally designed a rainwater harvesting system utilized by the parks department. The rainwater harvesting system consists of a SRPE cistern with a capacity of up to 10,000 gallons of rainwater collected from the South Addison Airport outfall.
McAnally encourages the involvement of disadvantaged business firms on project teams. He advocates for teaming opportunities to support their growth through meaningful work and partnered with more than 20 disadvantaged business firms in Texas, totaling over $10.5 million in work.
McAnally volunteers each year with Frontiers of Flight's Engineering Week event, providing aviation engineering demonstrations to Dallas Independent School District students. This event aims to motivate young learners to consider engineering as a career path.
“In the last 15 years, hard copy construction plan sets have shifted to digital copies on tablets. Airfield pavement inspections have gone from walking the runway to flying drones,” he said. “As a project manager, my team's impact on airport layouts, designs, and terminal experiences puts us at the forefront of changes in the aviation industry.”
