Meg Pirkle has served as Chief Engineer for GDOT since January 1, 2015. She is responsible for the Divisions of Engineering, Construction, Operations, Intermodal, as well as the Office of Engineering Services.  Pirkle also oversees the Divisions of P3 and Program Delivery, responsible for the Department’s $3 Billion statewide capital program. Pirkle began her career with GDOT in 1989 as an engineering trainee and has served in a variety of roles throughout her career.  Her experience consists of Transportation Planning Engineer, State Scheduling Engineer, Assistant Director of Preconstruction, Director of Administration and Executive Assistant to the Chief Engineer, where she was the Program Manager for the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) program. Prior to being named Chief Engineer she served as the Director of Operations for three years, where she spearheaded the initiatives to implement the Governor’s Winter Weather Taskforce recommendations for the Department.

Pirkle is involved in several American Association of Highway and Transportation Organizations (AASHTO) committees, including the Council on Highways and Streets, the Transportation Policy Forum and AASHTO Innovation Management. Pirkle is the Chair of the AASHTO Committee on Traffic Engineering and also Chairs the AASHTO delegation on the National Committee of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Pirkle serves as Chair on the NCHRP 20-68A Project Panel for Domestic Scan Studies.

Pirkle is a member of the Georgia Section of Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS) and is an emeritus member of the Georgia Tech School of Civil Engineering External Advisory Board.

Pirkle earned a Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1989 from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Civil Engineering in 1997 from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Pirkle is registered Professional Engineer in the State of Georgia.