Brooke decided on which college to attend based on her hobbies - snowboarding, so ended up at the University of Utah because there are 6 ski parks nearby!
She thought she wanted to be a lawyer. As she progressed, she applied for scholarships (applied for 50?!) and ended up with 2 full scholarships offers. She took a scholarship that required her to specialize in a math related subject.
Initially she thought she was going to do mechanical engineering, but then after taking a couple of classes she decided it was going to be civil engineering.
She did internships when she was in college. She got to work on designing road signs. It was when she started her work on internships that the academic subjects she was studying in school started to be applied to the real world.
She talked about 4 of her favorite projects she's worked on.
She thought she wanted to be a lawyer. As she progressed, she applied for scholarships (applied for 50?!) and ended up with 2 full scholarships offers. She took a scholarship that required her to specialize in a math related subject.
Initially she thought she was going to do mechanical engineering, but then after taking a couple of classes she decided it was going to be civil engineering.
She did internships when she was in college. She got to work on designing road signs. It was when she started her work on internships that the academic subjects she was studying in school started to be applied to the real world.
She talked about 4 of her favorite projects she's worked on.
Lower Granite Removable Spillway Weir, Snake River
Young juvenile salmon migrate upstream along the Columbia river. Because of constructions such as the Lower Granite Dam there are concerns this has been harming the salmon's ability to swim upstream, so one solution has been to provide a removable spillway weir - this reduces the flow of the water and the depth of the water the salmon have to swim in to move up stream.
Above is a photography of the removable spillway. All the sides of the spillway shown in the photo are made of steel, which can be flimsy, so Brooke's job was to design plates on the spillway that would strengthen the steel sides. This spillway also needed to sink when required, such as if there was a flood and they needed to let all the water flow as quickly as possible. She had to calculate the center of gravity of each of the pieces so that it would collapse safely to sink, and then it would be raised by inflation devices.
Young juvenile salmon migrate upstream along the Columbia river. Because of constructions such as the Lower Granite Dam there are concerns this has been harming the salmon's ability to swim upstream, so one solution has been to provide a removable spillway weir - this reduces the flow of the water and the depth of the water the salmon have to swim in to move up stream.
Above is a photography of the removable spillway. All the sides of the spillway shown in the photo are made of steel, which can be flimsy, so Brooke's job was to design plates on the spillway that would strengthen the steel sides. This spillway also needed to sink when required, such as if there was a flood and they needed to let all the water flow as quickly as possible. She had to calculate the center of gravity of each of the pieces so that it would collapse safely to sink, and then it would be raised by inflation devices.
Murray Morgan Bridge, Tacoma, WA
Brooke shared the project management responsibility for the renovation of the Murray Morgan Bridge. The part of the project she was responsible for was $35 million dollars! The main road span of the bridge can be raised horizontally, it works with a counter-weight pulley system (the two big rectangles near the top of the pillars in the photo). Because they were going to be removing parts of the bridge she needed to design a lock to hold the weights in place so they didn't lower while the work was being completed. The old lead paint on the bridge also needed to be removed and because its not healthy to let the lead paint blow into the air they had to create a plastic wrapper around the bridge so the work could happen inside - figuring out how to wrap the bridge in a plastic casing was her responsibility.
A problem did occur on this project as she'd been told that the maximum wind speed the plastic wrap had to withstand was 75mph, but while they were working on the project a wind of 90mph was recorded and this caused the wrap to break in some places (see photograph). This then lead to some pollution clean up work and working with environmental engineers.
In addition to designing elements of the project Brooke was also responsible for coordinating many of the different teams that worked on the project, managing the schedules for the work, and to make sure the work was done without overspending the budget.
And on a personal note Brooke met her fiancee while working on this project!
Brooke shared the project management responsibility for the renovation of the Murray Morgan Bridge. The part of the project she was responsible for was $35 million dollars! The main road span of the bridge can be raised horizontally, it works with a counter-weight pulley system (the two big rectangles near the top of the pillars in the photo). Because they were going to be removing parts of the bridge she needed to design a lock to hold the weights in place so they didn't lower while the work was being completed. The old lead paint on the bridge also needed to be removed and because its not healthy to let the lead paint blow into the air they had to create a plastic wrapper around the bridge so the work could happen inside - figuring out how to wrap the bridge in a plastic casing was her responsibility.
A problem did occur on this project as she'd been told that the maximum wind speed the plastic wrap had to withstand was 75mph, but while they were working on the project a wind of 90mph was recorded and this caused the wrap to break in some places (see photograph). This then lead to some pollution clean up work and working with environmental engineers.
In addition to designing elements of the project Brooke was also responsible for coordinating many of the different teams that worked on the project, managing the schedules for the work, and to make sure the work was done without overspending the budget.
And on a personal note Brooke met her fiancee while working on this project!
I-405 South Bellevue Design Build - I405/I90 Interchange
A couple of years ago there was a major road project at the I405/I90 interchange as new lanes were added to I405. Many companies were involved in the project and responsible for different pieces. Brooke got to work on one of the projects. One part of the project was related to managing the drainage of the area. When the rain falls on a piece of land, it seeps into the ground or runs off on the soil to find a natural point back into the earth. As houses and roads are built it changes the natural way the falling rain drains from the area. This project required Brooke to consider how the rain water would drain from the area so that it wouldn't cause landslides, flooding, or any type of environmental damage. She had to calculate the water run-off rate for different situations. She did this mostly with the a CAD (computer automated design) system. They constructed a large detention pond that you can see on the photo (triangle of land in the lower right of photography). When there's a high rainfall the water can run-off the road and construction to this space without causing problems. The water also has to be treated before its allowed to flow into the water ecosystem. When we're driving through intersections we may see trees and landscaping but the there is a lot of engineering work that goes into constructing safe and environmentally friendly environments that we don't always know about. As Brooke said, "Often if we get our job right, you won't notice the work of civil engineers because you just get to do what you want to do without any problems."
A couple of years ago there was a major road project at the I405/I90 interchange as new lanes were added to I405. Many companies were involved in the project and responsible for different pieces. Brooke got to work on one of the projects. One part of the project was related to managing the drainage of the area. When the rain falls on a piece of land, it seeps into the ground or runs off on the soil to find a natural point back into the earth. As houses and roads are built it changes the natural way the falling rain drains from the area. This project required Brooke to consider how the rain water would drain from the area so that it wouldn't cause landslides, flooding, or any type of environmental damage. She had to calculate the water run-off rate for different situations. She did this mostly with the a CAD (computer automated design) system. They constructed a large detention pond that you can see on the photo (triangle of land in the lower right of photography). When there's a high rainfall the water can run-off the road and construction to this space without causing problems. The water also has to be treated before its allowed to flow into the water ecosystem. When we're driving through intersections we may see trees and landscaping but the there is a lot of engineering work that goes into constructing safe and environmentally friendly environments that we don't always know about. As Brooke said, "Often if we get our job right, you won't notice the work of civil engineers because you just get to do what you want to do without any problems."
Bridges to prosperity - Ducuale Grande, Nicaragua
She took a leave of absence from her job so she could work on a volunteer project in Nicaragua. The project was called Bridges to Prosperity (LINK to learn more about the cool program and internship possibilities). Seasonal weather can cause problems for communities. In one neighborhood, communities were cut off from services because when the heavy rains came it caused flooding of rivers making it impossible to access roads to get into towns nearby. The organization designs the bridges for the projects and the work is completed by volunteers in the community, with donated supplies. Brooke's role was that of project manager. She lived with a family while she worked on the project for 2 months. She helped the project acquire the resources from donations, made sure they had the right supplies and tools for the work, and organized and supervised the teams of volunteers to actually construct the project. The project in Nicaragua required planks of wood, these were provided by a man with a chain saw chopping down trees and turning into planks! The project is one of her favorites as she found it incredibly rewarding working in the village where the project was constructed and actually knowing the people of the village who would be using it. She said she spoke some Spanish before she went and learned more while there, but with acting out what was required, or drawing on paper she was able to communicate a lot with the volunteers.
Brooke has worked in small and large companies and her preference is for smaller companies as she gets to know more of the people in a small place. Depending on the job she's signed up for she can sometimes spend up to 25% of her time out of the office on the project sites. Today, after talking with us, she was going to be visiting the site of Bertha, the tunnel digger, in Seattle that hasn't been working for several months.
She took a leave of absence from her job so she could work on a volunteer project in Nicaragua. The project was called Bridges to Prosperity (LINK to learn more about the cool program and internship possibilities). Seasonal weather can cause problems for communities. In one neighborhood, communities were cut off from services because when the heavy rains came it caused flooding of rivers making it impossible to access roads to get into towns nearby. The organization designs the bridges for the projects and the work is completed by volunteers in the community, with donated supplies. Brooke's role was that of project manager. She lived with a family while she worked on the project for 2 months. She helped the project acquire the resources from donations, made sure they had the right supplies and tools for the work, and organized and supervised the teams of volunteers to actually construct the project. The project in Nicaragua required planks of wood, these were provided by a man with a chain saw chopping down trees and turning into planks! The project is one of her favorites as she found it incredibly rewarding working in the village where the project was constructed and actually knowing the people of the village who would be using it. She said she spoke some Spanish before she went and learned more while there, but with acting out what was required, or drawing on paper she was able to communicate a lot with the volunteers.
Brooke has worked in small and large companies and her preference is for smaller companies as she gets to know more of the people in a small place. Depending on the job she's signed up for she can sometimes spend up to 25% of her time out of the office on the project sites. Today, after talking with us, she was going to be visiting the site of Bertha, the tunnel digger, in Seattle that hasn't been working for several months.