Meet the Team: Brian Amos
Meet the Watson Engineering Team: Brian Amos
As a geotechnical engineer Brian has had his share of grand adventures.
You don’t have to be around Brian Amos long to recognize he loves the outdoors and sharing a story. And as a geotechnical engineer he’s had his share of grand adventures atop mountain peaks, near one of the world’s largest open pit mines, and on the cactus plains of the Sonoran Desert.
Brian initially studied mechanical engineering at Arizona State University but somewhere along the way realized a mechanical engineer sits behind a computer all day. A summer job on a construction site and conversations with a geotechnical faculty mentor confirmed switching his major to civil engineering meant Brian could go out and play in the dirt and get paid for it. And not only that, he could put his analytical mind to use.
“I’ve never been great at doing the same thing all day, every day,” confides Brian. As Watson Engineering Company’s Geotechnical Manager, he typically spends part of his day in the office and part of his day in field managing testing projects, training new technicians, and performing fieldwork for geotechnical or environmental investigations. At any one time he manages dozens of materials testing, geotechnical, and environmental projects.
As one of the first engineering firms in the area to provide geotechnical engineering services, the immediate coordination and communication between civil and geotechnical engineers, surveyors, drafters, and special inspectors enables Watson Engineering to provide better solutions for our clients. “We thrive when we’re all working together on the same project. We coordinate our efforts so we have the best understanding of site conditions to overcome challenges,” Brian describes. “And since it’s so easy to work together, we can get that result with the least amount of time.”
While Brian spends a fair amount of time on commercial, residential, renewable energy, and industrial projects, his favorite assignments are geotechnical investigations for antenna towers. One of the most memorable was for three towers along I-70 between Salina and Green River, Utah. Brian recounts coercing an excavator friend to drive together pulling an excavator on a trailer with a truck. After getting stuck on a muddy access road, they unloaded the excavator to pull their pickup through the mud and then reloaded the machine and hauled it to the top of the peak where a tower was to be built. “We could see the Tushar Mountains to the south, and the Sevier Valley to the north,” he recalls. The second site offered beautiful views of the Emery County geology.
The last site was on top of a butte just west of the San Rafael Swell. The butte sat 150 feet above them and the only way up was on foot. “I climbed with a shovel, my electrical resistivity equipment, and a bucket,” describes Brian. “Once on top I could see to the edge of the Swell and beyond to the Colorado Rockies.” Lucky for us he always take photos when he visits a job site.
There are plenty more stories like this one. And they all speak to Brian’s love for his job and nature. While engineering is about understanding the small details, it’s also about being able to see the big picture. When he walks onto a job site he can visualize a house, a family and the dog. He can also imagine the wind that could blow or the earthquake that could strike. “As geotechnical engineers we have the gift (or curse) of being able to see what Mother Nature can throw at the foundation of a building,” Brian explains. “And through schooling and experience, we are able to see how the soils will respond and from there we can determine the best way to mitigate the issues.”
Brian really enjoys all the different things being a geotechnical engineer has given him the opportunity to experience. “I never would have had all these amazing experiences if I were a mechanical engineer. It might be a little more comfortable sitting in an air-conditioned office than being outside exposed to the elements, but it definitely wouldn’t be as rewarding.”
We think regardless of the career path Brian chose he would have embraced it wholeheartedly. But we sure are glad he chose civil engineering and Watson Engineering.