Meet Traci Powell, P.E., Senior Consultant in LB’s Pittsburgh office. With more than two decades of structural engineering experience and a SPRAT – Level 2 technician certification, Traci brings deep expertise in façade assessments, historic renovation, façade rehabilitation, structural repair, and concrete and masonry restoration.
Traci joined
Lerch Bates’s Building Science team, formerly BECS, six years ago as a Project Manager focused on façade restoration. She later served as the firm’s Structural Engineering Subject Matter Expert before stepping into her current role as Senior Consultant.
One of Traci’s favorite aspects of her work is performing rope‑access assessments. Her passion for the skill began unexpectedly: during a previous role, she volunteered to rappel down a building to investigate cracking terracotta. That single experience sparked a lasting interest in evaluating façades that can’t be reached by traditional swings or scaffolding.
“We can tie off to evaluate almost any building,” Traci explains. “Even without roof anchors or conventional anchorage, we can get creative. I’ve run ropes up and over buildings and tied off to hitches on vehicles.”
Rope access is not only cost‑effective—it also provides unmatched flexibility for reaching complex or delicate areas. Traci leads internal trainings to ensure LB’s team of repair & modernization experts can utilize Rope Access nationwide, equipping LB Building Science clients with creative solutions to façade assessment and testing services coast to coast.
Traci is currently applying her expertise at Allegheny General Hospital, recognizable from the show
The Pitt. In reality, the hospital is preparing for significant façade restoration after a routine inspection of its intricate terracotta exterior revealed repair needs. Traci and the Lerch Bates
Building Science team recently completed the repair drawings with construction scheduled to begin this spring.
