When James “Skip” Wilson drove his ’74 Vega station wagon to Jefferson City in 1985 to apply for the job in bridge maintenance for MoDOT, he wasn’t sure the vehicle would get him there and back.However, he made the trip, applied for the job, and on the way home, with smoke blowing out the tailpipe, he stopped to pick up a hitchhiker.Hesitant after seeing the Vega blowing smoke, but thankful for the ride, the hitchhiker told Wilson he was a seminarian needing a ride home. Divine intervention, or just a trusted old car, Wilson and the seminarian made it back to Hannibal without incident.With several years’ experience in bridge maintenance for Burlington Northern Railroad, Wilson was hired as a result of his trip, and for the next several years would travel around the state of Missouri inspecting bridges on the state’s transportation system.“Inspections involved physically getting under the bridge, really seeing what was going on, and I found it fascinating,” he said.He also had the opportunity to use the Snooper truck, which is a large piece of equipment used with a bucket that holds an inspector and allows him to get under large bridge spans.In 1991, Wilson was hired as a construction inspector for MoDOT’s Northeast District, which afforded him the opportunity to learn more engineering techniques about building roads and bridges.“Ken MacDonald, who was the resident engineer at the time, allowed me many opportunities, from inspecting foundations 50 feet under the river surface on the new Mark Twain Memorial Bridge to the erection of the truss 200 feet above,” he appreciatively recalls.One of the highlights of Wilson’s career as a construction inspector was overseeing the demolition of the old Mark Twain Bridge.In 2002, Wilson was promoted to district bridge inspector within MoDOT.“This part of my career has been what I’ve really loved to do,” he said.In this role, Wilson has worked with counties and local agencies to inspect their bridges and help them improve these structures and their local transportation system. He credits Maurice Knueppel as his mentor. Knueppel was the first district bridge inspector for MoDOT in the state.Wilson is retiring from MoDOT this month with almost 30 years as a public servant to Missourians. He will continue to work with local agencies through other avenues. Wilson also plans to continue his personal passion, which is playing tennis.Besides being a coach, Wilson is competitive in the game and even participated in the National Tennis Championship in 2011. A rounded athlete, Wilson also plans to put many more miles on his bicycle and remembers hitting a metric century (62-mile bike ride) in 2013.Wilson resides near Palmya, is married to Donna, a retired teacher, and they have a son, Sam, who attends John Wood Community College.Wilson retires as MoDOT bridge inspector