ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Engineer’s Office has taken on a new assistant engineer with Daniel Boltz.

Boltz was hired Jan. 30. He comes to the engineer’s office from his prior job at Hendershot Management Company, a management arm of Ohio/West Virginia Excavation in the Shadyside area. Prior to that, he was a structural engineer with McKinley & Associates. He brings a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on geotechnical engineering.

He noted his experience with putting estimates together along with bidding projects and overseeing bridge erection and demolition procedures. Boltz added much of the work touched on highway construction, which would apply to the issues that Belmont County is looking at.

“He has a lot of construction experience, and that’s going to really help us here,” said Lively. “His structural background is going to be a big benefit with the bridge projects that we do. That type of experience is just what we need for that type of job. It’s a project management focused position where he’s going to be working on various projects throughout the county.”

Boltz is a Bellaire native who attended Ohio University in Akron. His wife is a Shadyside school teacher. Boltz has also served as a York Township trustee and stepped down from the position to take the assistant engineer’s job. However, this experience also gave him more experience in securing funding through grant applications.

County Engineer Terry Lively said Boltz would prove invaluable in expediting projects.

“With one person, it would take forever to get projects from start to finish. With two of us working on it, I think we can deliver it quicker,” Lively said.

Boltz added that since being hired he has visited the four county garages and met the engineering staff. He said he looks forward to working with them.

“Everybody’s got the same goal of looking after the county and what’s best for the county. I think there’s a lot of opportunity coming up for potential projects and securing funding,” he said, noting some immediate projects around the county.

“We’re looking at a couple of drainage culvert replacement projects, some retaining walls that are going up in the future, some paving jobs,” he said.

“We’re happy to have him,” said Lively. “We certainly can use the help.”