ASCE Golden Gate Branch November Dinner Program w/ SF YMF and SEI: Bridges to Prosperity
On November 17, the Golden Gate Branch, SF YMF and SEI will host Mike Keever and Jeff Carlson from Bridges to prosperity, a non-profit organization based in Denver, CO, and has the mission of providing isolated communities with access to essential health care, education, and economic opportunities by building footbridges over impassable rivers. B2P does work all over the world, but is primarily active in Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, Rwanda, and Bolivia.
Mr. Keever and Mr. Carlson will discuss B2p's latest trip to Lurá, Panama where a group of 11 volunteers built a 166 ft long suspension Bridge. This team was unique in that it was comprised of volunteers from 10 different companies/organizations; including, 4 state DOTs, HDR, WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff, CH2M Hill, Utah Pacific Bridge and Steel, Hirschfeld Industries, and the National Steel Bridge Alliance. The volunteer team lived for two weeks in the local community and worked closely with Bridges to Prosperity representatives and local residents to build the bridge. The team worked cohesively as a unit and completed the bridge ahead of schedule.
Location: Pacific Coast Brewing Company, 906 Washington St., Oakland, CA 94607Mike Keever Bio
Mike Keever is the Chief of the Division of Engineering Services (DES) at the California Department of Transportation. DES and its staff of over 1600 dedicated employees is the lead project delivery organization responsible for the design, construction and oversight of bridges, buildings, walls, and other transportation structures on the California State Highway System, as well as responsibilities statewide for geotechnical investigations, materials engineering and testing, structure and seismic policy, construction contract standards, and the advertising and award of construction contracts. Mike has been with Caltrans for over thirty years serving in a variety of roles, but primarily focused on supporting project delivery as well as managing research and developing structure policy. In addition he has been actively engaged nationally including serving on the AASHTO Subcommittee on Bridges and Structures, chair of the Transportation Research Board Seismic Committee, and he has chaired and served on several National Cooperative Highway Research Program panels.
Jeff Carlson Bio
Jeff is the Western Regional Director for the National Steel Bridge Alliance. He grew up on a farm and ranch in Colorado and received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. From Fort Collins he went to Austin Texas where he received a Master’s degree in Structural Engineer from UT-Austin. After graduate school, Jeff practiced as a design engineer and project manager as a forensic structural engineer for 7 years. He holds a P.E. license in the states of Colorado and California. In his final years as a consultant, Jeff attended the University of Denver where he received an MBA in 2011. Jeff’s role with the NSBA is to provide free technical assistance, education tools and resources pertaining to steel, economic and market information, national representation on transportation-related legislative issues, and university support programs. Jeff also has a passion for social responsibility. He organized and acted as project manager for the Bridges to Prosperity-Lurá, Panama project that was completed in April of 2016. Jeff is currently working on organizing a 2nd volunteer team to build a suspension bridge in Nicaragua in late summer 2017.