Civil Engineering

Kevin Mclain | Teaching Assistant Professor

Photo of Jack McClain

Ph.D. - Iowa State University

Civil Engineering/Construction Engineering/Project Management

M.S. - Iowa State University

Civil Engineering/Construction Engineering/Project Management

M.S. - Kansas State University

Civil Engineering/Geotechnical Engineering

B.S. - Kansas State University

Civil Engineering

Contact information

2139 Fiedler Hall
mclain88@k-state.edu

Professional experience

Kevin McLain received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Lafayette college in 1988. Kevin Worked worked as a structural engineer from 1989 to 1991in the Bridge Division of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) in Jefferson City He then transferred to the Geotechnical Section where he worked in the field and wrote recommendations for foundations of bridges and retaining walls. Kevin also directed drilling and repair operations for landslide resolutions. He became a licensed professional engineer in 1995 licensed in Missouri. Kevin is also licensed as a Registered Geologist in Missouri (1996).

Kevin went back to Kansas State University via distance learning, where he earned his master’s degree in 2003 and second masters in 2010. Kevin became the State Geotechnical Director for MoDOT in 2013. He then pursued his doctorate at Iowa State and gained his PhD in 2015. Kevin Started teaching at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T) in Rolla as an adjunct professor. Kevin retired from MoDOT in 2020 so he could teach full time at MS&T. Kevin returned to K-State in the spring semester of 2024 as an Assistant Teaching Professor.

Teaching

McLain’s teaching centers on Geotechnical Engineering and Construction Engineering and Project Management. He has taught classes in Soil Mechanics, Advanced Soil Mechanics, In-situ Testing, Geosynthetic Engineering, Construction Methods, Scheduling Strategies and Construction Fundamentals.

Research

Mclain is mainly involved in teaching but his research interest includes Soil Compaction Testing Methods, Intelligent Compaction, Cone Penetration Testing, and Alternative Contracting Methods.

National/International Engineering Activities

Member of FHWA, AASHTO and TRB scanning team, June 2002 which investigated Innovative Technologies for Accelerated Construction of Bridge and Embankment Foundations in Europe.

Panel member of NCHRP Project 20-5, Synthesis of Highway Practice 37-14, Cone Penetration Test Design and Methodologies.

Member of FHWA Peer Review Panel for Review of Foundation Testing Branch of the California Department of Transportation, September – November 2012.

Member of National Transportation Evaluation Program (NTPEP) -Technical Committee on Geotextiles and Geosynthetics.

Recipient of the Kanas State Engineering Professional Progress in Engineering Award in Civil Engineering, October 21, 2006.

Publications
  • Dumas, C., Mansukhani, S., Porbaha, A., Short, R. D., Cannon, R. R., McLain, K. W., Putcha, S., Macnab, A., Lwin, M. M., Pelnik III, T. W., Brown, D. A., Christopher, B. R. (2003). Innovative technology for accelerated construction of bridge and embankment foundations in Europe, Federal Highway Administration.
  • Gransberg, D.D., McLain, K. W., and Loulakis, M.C. (2016). “Answering the $64,000 question: Geotechnical risk in design build projects.” Geostrata, July/August, 32-36.
  • McLain, K.W. (1998). “Soil nailing: the MoDOT experience.” Proceedings Fourth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, University of Missouri Rolla, St. Louis, MO.
  • McLain, K.W. (2008). “Design-build procurement process for slope repairs and slope stabilization projects for roadways on the Missouri state system.” M.S. thesis, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
  • McLain, K.W. and. Shane, J.S. (2009). “A case for design-build with the Missouri Department of Transportation.” Kansas City Business Journal, Design Build Institute of America Supplement.
  • Mclain, K.W., Gransberg, D.D., and Loulakis, M. (2014). “Managing geotechnical risk on U.S. design-build transport projects.” Australasian Journal of Construction Economics and Building, 14(12), 1-19.
  • McLain, K.W., Gransberg, D.D. (2016). “Life cycle cost evaluation of alternatives to the nuclear density gauge for compaction testing on design-build projects.” Journal of Structural Integrity and Maintenance, 1(4), 197 -203.
  • McLain, K. W., Granberg, D.D. (2017) “Contractor furnished compaction testing: searching for correlations between potential alternatives to the nuclear density gauge in missouri highway projects.” International Journal of Quality and Innovation, 3(2-4), 91-106.
  • McLain, K.W., Bumblauskas, D.P., White, D.J., and Gransberg, D.D. (2018). “Comparative analysis of repeatability and reproducibility of compaction testing.” Journal of Structural Integrity and Maintenance, 3 (2), 106-113.
  • Powers, W.F. and McLain, K. W., (1998). “Design-build soil nail wall helps repair box culvert damaged during highway landslide. “Foundation Drilling Magazine, February, 2-7.