- One word to describe yourself: Devoted
- Alma Mater: Michigan State
- Favorite book: “Mother Earth Father Sky: by Sue Harrison
- Favorite TV show: "The Simpsons"
- Favorite movie: "Uncle Buck"
- Favorite hobby(ies): Playing with his kids
- Fun fact: He is a proud Yooper
- What is your favorite transit system (outside of the one you work for or have worked for!) and why?: Moscow metro because of its ornate station architecture.
Nathan Galer has over 15 years’ experience in structural engineering for bridges, and light rail infrastructure as well as commercial, residential and industrial buildings. He has performed bridge inspections and condition assessments, monitored structural construction and developed repair /retrofit recommendations where appropriate. Before his employment at Sound Transit, Galer provided consultant structural engineering services for notable transit projects including the Sound Transit East Link preliminary engineering phase, and the 520 Eastside Corridor Transit and HOV Project, in which he served as lead transit structural engineer for the $300+ million design-build contract.
Galer moved to Seattle in 2007 in hopes of joining in the strong green building movement the region has embraced. After a short stint with a residential high-rise consulting firm, the recession hit and he shifted over to a company with steady infrastructure work. There he had the opportunity to work on light rail projects. As a full time employee of Sound Transit since 2014, Galer takes pride in helping free people in the region from traffic and internal combustion engine vehicles.
Notable projects Galer has been actively involved in as owner’s technical representative include: Sounder Point Defiance Bypass, Freight House Square Amtrak Station, U Link Maintenance of Way Building, East Link and Federal Way Link light rail extensions.
For the East Link extension, Sound Transit has the unique challenge of adding light rail to the Homer Hadley floating bridge crossing Lake Washington. Galer worked with designers, University of Washington faculty, and the GC/CM contractor to help develop and test a resilient rail plinth block attachment system with minimal impact to the existing bridge structure. For this light rail segment, he also initiated and oversaw design for the retrofit and re-use of an existing WSDOT pedestrian bridge, which was originally slated for demolition.
Galer enjoys working on small projects as well as the big ones. As an example, installing radiant heaters in the vehicle wash-bays was a fun project and it was rewarding to help improve the comfort of Sound Transit’s hardworking maintenance team during the chilly Seattle winters. In addition, Galer has worked closely with Facilities and Operations developing programs for pedestrian bridge inspection and maintenance of Sound Transit’s aerial guideway structures. Demonstrating his technical ability, flexibility, and his willingness to take on any immediate needs of the agency, he has recently accepted a role as ST engineering liaison with external stakeholders for utilities coordination efforts for Northgate Link, which is due to open in 2021.
Steve Gleaton, Sound Transit’s structural engineering manager noted that “Nathan’s contribution to development of light rail infrastructure has enhanced our ability to successfully deliver safe guideways and stations. His experience with both building and bridge structures provides Nathan with a set of technical skills and insights that is unique among younger engineers.”
"I really enjoy the people I work with at Sound Transit, they're really exceptional, very smart, capable people and I really enjoy being in that environment around those types of people. The projects that I work on are very challenging, very complex projects that are fun to work on."
"I got into the transit industry kind of by accident, and I'm really glad that I'm here now. At the very beginning of the recession I was working for a company that did high-rise residential structural engineering, all of our projects were basically put on hold and we could kind of see the writing on the wall — it was a small company and the owner of that company actually sought our places for their employees to go instead of outright firing them. My resume was one of the ones that was sent over to a local company that did a lot of infrastructure work and one of their projects was working as consultants for Sound Transit's East Link project for the preliminary engineering. I moved over to that position and I really enjoyed that project."
"I like being able to see our work and how people are using it and benefiting from it as the whole public. Working in a private development sector I really didn't get to experience or use the facilities or buildings that we were designing. These are private buildings... I live in the area where we are building light rail and I use the light rail and get to see people on it. It's just really satisfying."
"The sheer complexity of the projects we're working on, there are just so many different factors involved with the designs and you have the third party municipalities. You know, you have linear projects that are going through several different municipalities and just logistics of dealing with all of these stakeholders in addition to the project itself is just a challenge."
"It's hard to determine a personal accomplishment because we're really a team here. But one project that I worked on was delivering the U-Link on time and under budget was an accomplishment that I was proud to be a part of."
