As deputy executive director at the Port of Los Angeles, Michael R. Christensen, P.E., is the second in command at the nation’s number one container port and head of the Port’s Development Bureau.
Christensen oversees the Engineering, Environmental, Goods Movement, and Construction divisions, which employ approximately 200 professional, technical, and clerical staff plus hundreds of consultant and contractor personnel in support of the permitting, design, construction, maintenance, and environmental management of the infrastructure and development projects at the 7500-acre complex. He also oversees the Board of Harbor Commissioners’ office and is liaison with outside transportation agencies on goods movement projects related to the Port.
Christensen has more than 35 years of engineering and management experience related to maritime, rail, and general transportation projects. Prior to joining the port in October 2006, Christensen served as vice president at Parsons Transportation Group where he was responsible for a broad range of local, regional, and national goods movement, port, and rail projects.
His career-to-date also includes holding senior management positions at several other transportation consulting firms plus 16 years of service to the Southern Pacific Railroad, where he held various posts including assistant chief engineer for design and construction and chief environmental affairs officer. He has held key leadership positions on a number of major projects that include the Alameda Corridor rail expressway serving the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, the Port of Los Angeles’ Transportation Master Plan, the Port of Oakland’s Maritime Development Alternative Study, and Reno’s ReTRAC grade separation project.
Christensen earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Arizona State University and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association. A third-generation civil engineer, Christensen is a registered professional engineer in California and nine other states. He currently resides with his wife and four children in Redondo Beach, Calif., where he volunteers on a school board committee, as a youth soccer league referee, and as a local Boy Scout leader.