Bauer-Furbush, P.E.

Ewa is owner/principal of Bauer-Furbush Engineering and Management Advisory and retired Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. She was the eight person and the first woman to hold the position of the Golden Gate Bridge Chief Engineer since the formation of the Bridge District in 1920's. In 2019, she received the ASCE's Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Award for Management.

Bauer-Furbush Engineering and Management Advisory offers assistance in evaluating and managing complex projects and advice on the organizational structures needed to achieve success; provides consultancy services, participation on advisory and directorial boards and expert witness services.

As Chief Engineer she was an officer appointed by the District's Board of Directors. She reported to the Board and advised and presented recommendations to the Board and Bridge District's executive team on matters needing professional engineering opinion and management strategies.  She retired from the District in July 2024. Her 30-year service as District's Deputy Chief Engineer and Chief Engineer was focused on organizing and managing the District's 40-person Engineering Department and teams of in-house and consulting professionals engaged in implementation of capital improvement projects for the Golden Gate Bridge and District's bus and ferry transportation facilities. Three of these projects significantly improved the structures and operations of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge: the Bridge Seismic and Wind Retrofit, the Moveable Median Barrier, and the Physical Suicide Deterrent.

The Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit project to upgrade the iconic Suspension Bridge and its approach structures to the latest engineering standards is the largest capital improvement project since the original construction of the Bridge in 1930's. Phase 2 of the Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit received the 2007 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for resourcefulness in addressing planning and design challenges, impact on the environment, pioneering uses of materials and techniques, and contribution to well-being of people and their communities.   

The installation of the 1.7-mile long Golden Gate Bridge moveable median barrier in January 2015 eliminated head-on collisions on the Bridge. After careful planning, the barrier was rapidly installed during a weekend bridge closure and the Bridge was opened to traffic six hours ahead of schedule. The project was recognized by Engineering News Record with an Award of Merit in the Highway/Bridges category and by the California Transportation Foundation with the Safety Project of the Year Award.

A distressing aspect of the Golden Gate Bridge is its attractiveness to those contemplating suicide. The push to save lives at the Bridge while maintaining its esthetic qualities resulted in the Golden Gate Bridge Physical Suicide Deterrent Project that installed 380,000 square feet of a stainless steel horizontal net on the bridge structures.

She holds the Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree, summa cum laude, from Swietokrzyska Polytechnic in Poland, and a postgraduate diploma in Residential Architecture from Warsaw Polytechnic in Poland.