James Keegan, MD
YEARS EXPERIENCE
32 Years
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
AMMP
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
SSPC – C-2 Planning & Specifying Industrial Coatings Projects
LANGUAGES
English
Spanish
Dr. James Keegan is a corrosion professional with 32 years of experience directing profitable corrosion laboratories and managing teams of corrosion engineers and technicians. As the president and founder of Keegan Labs, LLC, James is responsible for the growth and vision of the company where he oversees daily operations and quality control of laboratory and field studies. Previously, James established a corrosion laboratory for Schiff Associates providing chemical and physical analyses to identify corrosion threats to common construction materials.
Over the last three decades, James has developed rigorous testing methods, quality control and assurance measures, reporting standards, and a proprietary project tracking and data management system. James has performed failure analyses, soil corrosivity studies, construction acceptance testing, water aggressivity studies, cathodic protection surveys, direct and indirect condition assessments for all common pipe materials and concrete structures, and overseen the testing of more than 170,000 soil, water, and concrete samples. Most recently, he developed an innovative and cost-effective method for condition assessment and rehabilitation design for reinforced concrete structures.
Education
Chemical Engineering
California State Polytechnic University Pomona
1992-97
BS, Computer Science and Engineering
University of La Verne
2002
MD, Medical Doctor
Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, D.R.
2014
Relevant Experience
Keegan Labs, LLC
President and Founder
Pomona, CA
In 2023, James established Keegan Labs to provide high quality corrosion services building on his years of experience and using state-of-the-art equipment. As the president and founder, James has refined the proprietary methods and systems he developed over his career to provide consistent, reliable, and rapid results to his clients. James is committed to supporting his clients with personalized service including reporting and interpretation of results, project specific testing methods, and field data collection solutions. Under James’ leadership, Keegan Labs continues to grow adding new services and steadily increasing the number of samples tested each year for a wide variety of clients including geotechnical firms, water agencies, municipalities, and developers. (2023–present)
HDR Engineering, Inc.
Corrosion and Lab Section Manager & Corrosion Lab Director
Claremont, CA
Supervised the HDR Corrosion Group, which included a full-service corrosion laboratory, field services, and a team of corrosion engineers. Supervised a team that grew three-fold during this period. Marketing lead for lab services and corrosion engineering field services. In 2020, added marketing and educational webinars to market to clients across the country. Promoted to Section Manager in 2018. (2014–2023)
Schiff Associates
Corrosion Lab Director
Claremont, CA
Directed operations of the corrosion laboratory and became the marketing lead for lab services. Marketing efforts included maintaining relationships with old and new clients via multiple channels, providing technical presentations, and speaking at conferences. (2000–2008)
Schiff Associates
Corrosion Lab Manager
Claremont, CA
Established the corrosion lab for Schiff Associates. Supervised corrosion laboratory staff including regular staff and student interns. Developed novel analytical and field methods. Created standard lab practices and protocols. (1993–2000)
Select Projects
R.T. Frankian & Associates/Aidlin Hills
Project Principal
Moorpark, CA
Determined the corrosivity of 27 soil samples and provided recommendations to minimize corrosion at a planned residential housing tract. Providing onsite verification of soil corrosivity on a per-lot basis to tailor corrosion mitigation measures to the conditions at each lot. (2024-present)
Earth Systems/Ventura County Moorpark Emergency Repairs
Project Principal
Moorpark, CA
Performed field and lab testing to determine the likely cause of the corrosion-related failure of an 18-inch ductile iron waterline. Provided mitigation methods to minimize future corrosion. (2024)
MTI-KC Engineering/Pacific Gas & Electric – Pit 4 Dam
Project Principal
Vacaville, CA
Sampled and tested 12 concrete cores for pH and chloride. Data were used to calculate chloride/hydroxide ratios to determine the likelihood of corrosion of reinforcing steel. (2024)
San Diego County Water Authority
Capital Improvement Program, Support Services for Corrosion Engineer & Corrosion Technician
San Diego County, CA
Contract Manager and Project Manager for a long-term (25 year) service relationship with the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), which provides water to more than 3 million residents from a diversified water supply system. Supervised all projects and special services which included supporting the SDCWA with a fulltime on-site corrosion technician and a dedicated Professional Engineer. Typical on-call services included corrosion consultation for materials and coatings, training of SDCWA personnel, annual cathodic protection and corrosion monitoring surveys for more than 51 miles of various types of pipe, witnessing and performing construction checkouts, developing SDCWA’s corrosion control manual and standard corrosion guide drawings, conducting stray current studies, conducting electromagnetic conductivity surveys, designing cathodic protection, conducting internal pipe inspections, the use of non-intrusive test methods to locate discontinuous pipe joints in post-tensioned concrete cylinder pipelines, identifying and correcting problematic areas with SDCWA’s cathodic protection systems and maintaining SDCWA’s corrosion database. Work conducted with Schiff Associates and HDR. (1998–2023)
Inland Empire Utilities Agency District
As-Needed Corrosion Assessment Services
Chino, CA
Client Manager and Project Manager for a 5-year, as-needed corrosion assessment services contract with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA), a regional wastewater facility in southern California that operates five regional plants. Services included regular condition assessments of headworks, wet wells, influent pump stations, grit chambers, diversion structures, primary clarifiers, secondary clarifiers, digesters, aeration basins, and process piping across the five treatment facilities. Work conducted with Schiff Associates and HDR. (2018–2023)
Mojave Water Agency
As-Needed Corrosion Engineering Services
Apple Valley, CA
Client Manager and Project Manager for a long-term (26 year) service relationship with The Mojave Water Agency (MWA), a regional wholesale water provider that serves an area of approximately 4,900 square miles. Early projects included corrosion engineering support for the MWA’s first major pipeline construction, and condition assessment of existing facilities. Services expanded to include pipe-to-soil surveys, rectifier troubleshooting, stray current detection and mitigation designs, and design and construction acceptance support for the replacement of cathodic protection systems. Work conducted with Schiff Associates and HDR. (1994–2021)
Rainbow Municipal Water District
Corrosion Master Plan
Fallbrook, CA
Soil Corrosivity Lead in charge of developing a Corrosion Master Plan for the Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD), a water district located in Fallbrook, California. Supervised a team of field staff, engineers, and laboratory technicians to provide an overall system survey, soil corrosivity testing, and a targeted investigation to determine the root causes of known pipe breaks. Field and laboratory data were used to develop the Corrosion Master Plan, which included a cathodic protection design manual. Work conducted with HDR. (2020)
Long Beach Water Department
14-MG Cistern Condition Assessment
Long Beach, CA
Project Manager for the inspection of a 14-MG reinforced-concrete cistern for the Long Beach Water District during a biennial shutdown. Formulated the project testing approach and oversaw field data collection and laboratory analysis. Inspection of the structure consisted of free corrosion potential mapping, surface pH determination, aural inspection, surface penetrating radar, and chemical and compressive strength testing of concrete powder and core samples. Work conducted with HDR. (2020)