Jun 01 2023 72 mins
Watch on Youtube.
Mark Van Buren came to Queens University in Kington, Ontario looking for a degree in Architecture. He stayed 8 years and ended up with Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, concentrating on water management. He spent the next decade or so in California and Milwaukee on large water management projects, largely storm run-off systems. Turns out the storm was in the contract delivery system and not in the pipes. Disgruntled with the delivery process, he jumped at the chance to head back to Kingston about 20 years ago. Since then he has risen through City Engineering ranks to become the Deputy Commissioner of Major Projects. In that capacity he and his team just delivered the Waaban Crossing, the “third” crossing in Kingston that unites the City through the middle of the Cataraqui River. The $180M dollar IPD project was the first IPD bridge project in Canada. Unlike most civil structures and megaprojects, this one landed in Bent Flyvbjerg’s .5% of projects: it was on time, on budget and delivered all the benefits initially proposed. Join us for a thoughtful hour with this unique bridgebuilder.