Bruce Barnes, P.E.
Vice President- East Region Civil/Structural Division
How did you get into the Forensic Consulting industry?
I began my career in forensics in 2000 in the Denver market. Prior to working in forensics, I was employed as a structural engineer designing water and wastewater treatment facilities around the world. At that same time, I was teaching undergraduate and graduate level structural engineering classes at the University of Colorado. The department chair in the Civil Engineering department pointed out that a local company was looking for a forensic structural engineer. I’ll never forget the department chair describing forensics to me as “research with bad data”! That description intrigued me and I dug deeper. I shifted gears from the design world into forensics and I’ve never looked back. I love the day-to-day variety and the challenge that this industry provides!
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Each and every day, I’m privileged to meet and work with a wide variety of people. Many of the people that I have met, I will never forget as they, in their time of a loss, are gracious and wonderful individuals.
What’s one of the most interesting projects you’ve been involved with as an employee at Envista Forensics?
A truly interesting project I worked on involved a fire loss in the basement of a five-story assisted living facility. The fire heavily damaged and buckled structural steel bar joists of the floor structure immediately above the fire, and led to questions about the capacity of the surrounding structural elements. During the initial inspection, it was found that a concrete column supporting the five stories of structure above was heavily compromised and in danger of collapse. Working in conjunction with the contractor, emergency shoring was designed, detailed, and installed. Subsequent to the stabilization of the structure, our investigation identified all of the damaged components and we provided plans and specifications to restore the damaged structural steel elements to a code compliant condition that included a complicated repair to the damaged concrete column and its connection to the competent materials above.
What is your favorite thing about working at Envista Forensics?
I love building the business and getting out to meet people in different locations.
I have been blessed with a loving wife and four wonderful children.
I love spending time with my family at our cabin in northern Minnesota.
I have a strong Scandinavian heritage and grew up spending summers and learning to work on Grandpa Knutson’s farms in northern Iowa.
My father was a mining engineer so I grew up around explosives!