Georgia DOT under new direction

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and the State Transportation Board announced the appointment of Harold E. Linnenkohl as the new Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation. Linnenkohl had served as deputy commissioner of the GDOT since May 2000 and has 35 years of experience with the department. He is replacing J. Tom Coleman, Jr., who retired.

Linnenkohl graduated in 1968 from Southern Polytechnic State University in Georgia with a degree in civil engineering technology, and shortly thereafter began his career with GDOT as a bituminous construction engineer. He served in the U.S. Army for two years, returning to the department afterward.

In 1983, Linnenkohl was promoted to assistant state bituminous construction engineer. Two years later, he was promoted to state aid engineer and then state aid administrator in 1993. In 1995, he assumed the additional responsibilities of executive assistant to the department's former commissioner Wayne Shackelford.