Articles

Keynote Speakers - June 2024

Clayton Zacha, P.E., the McLennan County Area Engineer for TxDOT Waco 

Blake Axen, P.E. from BGE, Inc.

Topic: 35 4B Waco: Rebuilding Main St. in the "Heart of Texas" 

Clayton Zacha is the Area Engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Waco Area Office, which oversees all maintenance and construction activities in McLennan County including the recently completed $346 million IH 35 expansion project through Waco. He started with the Department as a summer hire in 2005 and began full time employment in 2009. During his 15+ years with TxDOT and the Waco District, he has had extensive IH 35 project experience through Bell and McLennan Counties. He received his civil engineering degree from Texas A&M University in 2009 and has been a licensed Professional Engineer since 2013.

Blake Axen has over 19 years of experience in the field of transportation engineering. For the past 10 years, he has served as a project manager for BGE’s construction management team on both CEI-managed design-build projects and as construction oversight manager on design-bid-build projects. His project portfolio includes the $2.5B North Tarrant Express Segments 1 & 2W design-build-concession project in the mid-cities area of Tarrant County, the $330M SH360 Tollway design-build project through Grand Prairie, Arlington, and Mansfield, and the $370M IH 35 Segment 4B design-bid-build reconstruction project in Waco. Blake is currently serving as the CEI project manager for the $345M, 10-mile reconstruction of IH 30 through Rockwall County for the TxDOT Dallas District.

While his career follows a series of working on some of Texas’ highest-profile projects, Blake credits the success of these projects to the people he gets to work with every day. Regardless of project size, Blake’s team embraces the challenges that come with all projects and work together to resolve issues while mitigating impacts to the client.

Blake enjoys giving back and making a difference to the very community that he and his family live in. Currently in his 3^rd and final 2-year term, Blake serves as a commissioner on the Planning & Zoning Commission for the City of Mansfield and serves on the Mansfield Capital Improvements Advisory Committee.

In his downtime, Blake enjoys spending quality time with his family. His favorite activities include dancing lessons with his wife, Candace, playing “Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza” with his daughter, Emery, and all things Aggie sports!