MEA Profiles: Christopher J. Szalay, PE, Project Manager

Christopher Szalay is a Project Manager at Menlo Engineering Associates, Inc. and reports directly to the firm’s executive management team.

Since 2016, Chris has been a key Project Manager for Menlo Engineering, preparing and overseeing full engineering designs, supervising technical staff, and providing expert testimony.  Chris started his career at Menlo Engineering in 2008 after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Rhode Island College of Engineering, with his initial responsibilities mainly involving flood hazard and culvert design.  In 2013, Chris was licensed as a Professional Engineer and his responsibilities extended to full site plan, subdivision, and stormwater management designs. 

Chris is the Project Manager responsible for the full site plan design of the Meridian at Holmdel – a 4-story, 118-bed assisted living facility located on a 10-acre site that was a portion of the General Development Plan for the Commons at Holmdel along Route 35.  Chris prepared a phased construction design for the project, with the assisted living facility as Phase 1 and a 3-story, 130-bed skilled nursing facility slated for Phase 2, and his design also required the preparation of a Flood Hazard Area Verification of a segment of Waackaack Creek, as well as a freshwater wetlands delineation.  Some of his other designs include:  a 4-story apartment building at 34 Meadowlands Parkway in the NJSEA (Meadowlands) zone in Secaucus that required clearing and filling a previously disturbed site to elevate it above the tidal flood elevation of the Hackensack River; Texas Road Plaza III, a mixed-use development that includes 15,000 square feet of retail space, 35,000 square feet of office space, and 250 age-restricted residential units in three buildings on a 36-acre tract of land in Old Bridge Township; the site plan and stormwater design for the phased construction of an equipment yard with renovations to the Verizon data center in Piscataway, as well as the construction of a 110,000-SF addition to the data center; and the full site plan, stormwater, and hydrologic design (and associated NJDEP permits) for a 6,738 square foot, 2-story office building located along Truman Drive in Edison.

Chris was instrumental in the site plan, stormwater, and hydrologic designs, as well as extensive construction coordination, for Chimney Rock Crossing, a 220,000 SF retail development on a 50-acre previously developed/quarry site, including a flood plain analysis of approximately 3,000 LF of Middle Brook and obtaining the required NJDEP Flood Hazard and Freshwater Wetlands Permits.  He was also involved in the hydrologic design to replace the existing 5-foot reinforced concrete pipe and deteriorated concrete box culvert with a 16’ x 51’ three-sided, open bottom box culvert on South Avenue crossing over Bonygutt Brook in the Boroughs of Dunellen and Middlesex and the Township of Piscataway.