Michael “Mike” V. Aderman, a bridge and construction engineer in Louisiana and a former president and active member of the Baton Rouge Branch, has died. He was 76.
Aderman, P.E., M.ASCE, had a reputation for patience that when paired with his talents, helped calm and reassure others on structural projects including bridges, hospitals, medical centers, ports, docks, industrial plants, and parking garages. He was a licensed engineer in Louisiana and 10 other states.
A love of bridge design began at the Louisiana Department of Transportation, where Aderman’s work included designs of prestressed concrete bridges, vertical lift and swing spans, and semi high-level crossings of the Intercoastal Waterway. Two projects of special pride were a complete design of the Ellender Ferry Bridge in Calcasieu Parish, and a design for the Point Coupee Parish Port Commission's cargo dock that won a special jury award from the Prestressed Concrete Institute for his “simple, imaginative structural design.”
In 1974, he went to work for Brown and Butler as a senior design engineer, then in 1977 he joined Domingue, Szabo & Associates of Lafayette as a project engineer. After a few years of commuting, he opened their Baton Rouge branch before opening his own structural engineering firm in 1986, Michael V. Aderman and Associates.
In 1991, Aderman partnered with Jim Ragland to form Ragland, Aderman, and Associates, where he led the firm into computer-based production. RA&A’s consulting services included design and preparation of construction documents, feasibility studies, and the like, and staff developed specialties in medical facilities and port facility rehabilitation. Expansion through the south included refinery work and major expansions to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport and the Baton Rouge River Center.
Born in Houston, Aderman and his wife, Kathy, were high school sweethearts who married shortly after graduation. After initially attending Georgia Tech, he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1971. As a senior he joined the Army Reserve Engineering Unit, based in Lafayette.
In addition to ASCE, Aderman also belonged to the Louisiana Engineering Society, the American Concrete Institute, the American Welding Society, the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, the Construction Specification Institute, and the Post-Tension Institute. He received the F. Hugh Coughlin Young Engineer Award from the Louisiana Engineering Society in 1982.
A love of flying led Aderman to qualify for his private pilot’s license in 1985, and he continued to fly for more than 35 years.
