Manager, Western Region Traylor Bros., Inc. Long Beach, California
Dan Collins has deep roots at Oregon State. His parents met while attending classes, and extended family members played key roles in constructing several buildings on campus. As an undergraduate, he worked summer jobs for the U.S. Geological Survey, Marion Construction Company, and CH2M HILL.“Oregon State grounded me very well in the fundamentals of engineering, mathematics, and design,” said Collins. A month away from graduation, he thought he would go into structural design, but a faculty member encouraged him to explore civil construction and landed him an interview with Lee Kearney at Kiewit.At Kiewit, Collins quickly came up to speed in formwork design, surveying, cost control, scheduling, purchasing, and work planning.
As his career progressed, he honed his estimating skills on numerous marine projects. After a short break from Kiewit, he returned as a field superintendent.When Kiewit was awarded the $800 million San Joaquin Hills transportation corridor project — one of the first major design-build transportation projects in the United States — Collins became involved in design coordination, engineering, supervision, and project management.
In March 1998, he moved on to Traylor Bros., where he has procured 15 major construction projects, including two post-Hurricane Katrina projects: a $454 million widening of the Huey P. Long Bridge and a $1billion Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is now a regional manager, with responsibility for procurement and operations.Collins participates in Oregon State’s Civil and Construction Engineering Industry Advisory Board, lectures on campus, and recruits Oregon State graduates for Traylor Bros.
Degrees
- B.S. Civil Engineering, 1980