About Protea
Protea Engineering is a woman-owned bridge inspection firm founded by Paige Foster in 2022. Protea holds DBE certifications in Colorado, Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee as well as MWBE/ESB/SBE certification with the City and County of Denver, CO, and RTD Denver. We are also SBA-certified EDWOSB and WOSB.
Protea is headquartered in Boulder, CO, with additional presence in the central and southeast United States and the capabilities to travel and inspect all over the U.S.
Protea’s team holds a unique passion for the clients we work with and a passion for the bridges themselves. We are proud and enthusiastic about the work we do and want to witness the success of the asset management programs we are involved in firsthand. We are excited to be a part of preserving our world’s infrastructure and will work hard to deliver exceptional work with an unmatched dedication and energy.
Our Team
Paige Foster
Paige is a bridge EIT and structural inspector with 10 years of inspection, project management, and asset management experience. She is an FHWA/NHI certified Team Leader and has completed thousands of structural inspections of varying types and complexity, including routine, fracture critical, in-depth, and emergency response. She has worked extensively in Colorado and Tennessee as well as Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, New York, West Virginia, Nebraska, California, Nevada, Iowa, Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Paige has extensive experience in writing and reviewing inspection reports and created a detailed QC/QA workflow for her team. She is well versed in several asset management and remote data entry software systems and has assisted numerous owners in gathering and compiling structure data to analyze and manage more efficiently and effectively.
As a SPRAT Level II rope technician Paige has achieved over 1200 rope access hours and has attended yearly SPRAT refresher trainings for the last 4 years to ensure her skills are kept up to date.
Paige is energetic and outgoing and takes pride in providing quality deliverables in an efficient way. She strives to listen to her clients’ needs and exceed their expectations on every project.
“Working with Paige on a variety of projects over many years, I can say with authority that Paige is a remarkable engineering professional. She brings a singular focus to her work and tirelessly seeks out opportunities for professional growth.
She is the consummate teammate, always works with a pleasant demeanor even when the conditions are austere. She is universally sought after as a team member for a variety of work tasks and pursuits.
Combining these two traits, Paige is a focused bridge inspection professional that has demonstrated capability to work at a high level in a myriad of field settings. In the bridge inspection industry, this ability to maintain diligent attention to detail consistently is paramount.
I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Paige and happy she has remained a part of our industry in her new endeavor. ”
“Thanks for all your help, putting up with the mud, and knocking out the bonus bridge. Make sure I get copied on your sure-to-be stellar reports. No worries about coming up one short - that’s due to weather and conditions, not a reflection of your performance. Would be great to work with your crew again in the future. Nicely done.”
- Matt DeAmico, US Bureau of Reclamation
“I worked in depth with Paige on multiple bridge inspection projects locally and throughout the U.S. Her positive attitude and kind demeanor is contagious. Bridge inspections can be a tedious, mundane task (especially reports), but Paige was able to figure out how to make them more exciting and fun to lift everyone’s spirits.
She is a team player (often leading the team) with an extensive background in bridge inspections and asset management that proves valuable on any project she works on. I relied heavily on Paige during her time at HDR to take on logistics, coordination, and report management of the projects we worked on together.
She managed her own work and that of projects efficiently and communicated effectively to the team at all steps or any challenges faced. While we do greatly miss Paige at HDR, we are excited to see where Paige will go in this next step of her career with Protea. And we hope to continue to partner together on future projects!”
“Paige worked in the TDOT Region 2 Bridge Inspection Department where she performed FHWA-NBI level 1, hands on inspections. Paige was a team leader and led technical crews during field inspections. Paige was always very professional and treated the inspectors under her with respect.”
-Steve Hutchings, TDOT