Sask. engineer slapped with an 18-month suspension after designing bridge that collapsed hours after opening

The association that regulates professional engineers in Saskatchewan has suspended Scott Gullacher for 18 months because he designed a bridge that collapsed just hours after it opened to the public. 

Gullacher was responsible for the Dyck Memorial Bridge in the RM of Clayton, about 300 kilometres east of Saskatoon. It opened and collapsed on Sept. 14, 2018. 

No one was injured when it fell into the river. 

The engineer was found guilty on three counts of professional misconduct earlier this year by a discipline committee panel for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan (APEGS.)

On Monday, the association released its final order related to its investigation into Gullacher’s misconduct, including the bridge collapse — described in the document as a “catastrophic failure” — and other projects. 

The association determined that Gullacher didn’t operate in a “careful and diligent manner” on the Dyck Memorial Bridge, because he did not employ a site-specific geotechnical analysis and did not provide adequate engineering designs for the helical pile foundations. 

The engineer was also reprimanded for his work on five other bridges located in the Sask. rural municipalities of Scott, Caledonia, Mervin and Perdue. 

On that matter, the discipline committee panel found Gullacher’s designs “lacked relevant design information, including inaccurate representation of bridge designs,” and that they lacked critical details, among other code deficiencies.

This resulted in “five superstructure designs which were inadequate to carry the minimum loads required by the code.”

Engineer’s suspension ends later this year

According to the APEGS final order, Gullacher is currently living and working out of the province. However, it says he has expressed a desire to return to Saskatchewan and resume working as an engineer.  That could happen by December 2023. 

The start of Gullacher’s suspension is backdated to June 8, 2022 — the date he was ordered to stop practicing professionally in the province. 

However there will be restrictions if he returns.

Once his suspension period ends, the engineer will be barred from working on bridge projects in Saskatchewan for five years.

Gullacher will also be subject to three years of direct supervision. During that time, Gullacher must complete five hours of verifiable ethics training in each of the three years. 

He is also required to pay APEGS‘s maximum fine of $15,000 on top of $32,000 for the association’s investigation costs. 

The engineer has already faced some financial consequences for his actions.

During the investigation process, Gullacher testified that he paid $250,000 out of his own pocket to repair the collapsed Dyck Memorial Bridge, according to the association. He has also apologized to all of the rural municipalities affected by his actions.

The APEGS order also revealed that Gullacher lost his business Inertia Solutions Inc. after he was ordered to stop working in the province.