Washington County Engineer named head of national association

Washington, D.C. — Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius was installed as President of the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) at their recent annual conference. Thorius’ term will run through April of 2026.

NACE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional association in its 69th year, representing over 3,000 county road officials and related professionals in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., local roads account for about 75% of highways and roads, or 2.93 million miles. Counties manage 1.74 million miles of those roads. Counties also own 231,000 bridges and operate one-third of the nation’s transit systems.

“It is an honor and privilege to serve the nation’s county road professionals this year,” Thorius said in a statement. “With infrastructure playing a key role in our nation’s economic success, I look forward to engaging with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure county road and bridge infrastructure receives the attention needed to provide our nation with a safe, reliable transportation network.”

Thorius has served as Washington County Engineer since January of 2012. He is also involved with the Iowa County Engineers Association, serving on their Executive Board, safety committees and as a member of the Iowa Highway Research Board, which is tasked to find ways to improve Iowa’s infrastructure. Thorius has served as NACE’s South-Central Region Vice-President and as the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer and President-elect.