Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius was installed as the 2023-2024 Secretary-Treasurer of the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) at their recent annual meeting and technical conference. Thorius’ term will run through April 2024. Additionally, Thorius was recognized as NACE’s 2022 Rural County Engineer of the Year. One of only four awards bestowed by NACE, Thorius was recognized for his work to reshape and stabilize gravel roads in Washington County for overseeing the improvement of over 175 miles of gravel roads while improving nearly 54 miles of paved roads. Thorius has secured over $2.7 million in State safety funds and grant funds for various road projects. Thorius had this to say after being presented with the award at the Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, “I couldn’t have gotten this award without, well really, my family supporting me in all I do to help improve the county, and then back to you gentlemen the board and the previous boards to allow us to do the work that we’ve done to improve our various gravel roads and structures here in the county. It’s an award to me, but really it goes back to the county and my staff because this isn’t just a single person doing a job; this is everybody doing their job, and thank you gentlemen for the support for our department to be able to do what we do.” 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. Since 2019, he has served as NACE’s South-Central Region Vice-President. Thorius has also served on the Advisory Board for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Iowa.