Awards of excellence
National Engineers Week
February 16-22
Specialization from the Plains, Page 5
Nebraska engineers around the world, Pages 6-7
ACEC/N honors, Pages 8-10
Special Section
February 16, 2014
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Awards of excellence
National Engineers Week
February 16-22
Specialization from the Plains, Page 5
Nebraska engineers around the world, Pages 6-7
ACEC/N honors, Pages 8-10
Special Section
February 16, 2014
Engineers
A special advertising section
of the Omaha World-Herald,
produced in conjunction
with the American Council
of Engineering Companies/Nebraska.
Special sections editor: Shelley Larsen
Content editor: Howard K. Marcus
Designer: Jan DeKnock
Copy editor: Melinda Keenan
Contributors: Jeff Barnes and Mike Whye
Advertising coordinator: Deb McGauley
On the cover: Four winners
of the 2014 ACEC Nebraska
Engineering Excellence Awards;
for details, see Pages 8-10.
For special section advertising
information, contact Dan Matuella,
402-444-1485.
Gudeman to receive ACEC/N
Young Professional Award
Sarah E. Gudeman, a mechanical engineer and energy analyst with Morrissey
Engineering in Omaha, has been named the
2013 Young Professional of the Year Award
recipient by the American Council of Engineering Companies/Nebraska (ACEC/N).
The award recognizes accomplishments
of Nebraska engineers under age 30 who
have contributed to the state’s engineering
profession and positively impacted their
communities.
Gudeman combines her expertise in mechanical design with a lifelong interest in
sustainability and the natural environment.
Her engineering role includes energy modeling, sustainable design, energy auditing,
measurement and verification, and HVAC
design for a variety of commercial building
types.
Gudeman earned a bachelor of science
in mechanical engineering from Iowa State
University and joined Morrissey in 2008.
She is committed to designing buildings
that maintain a healthier environment,
provide occupant comfort, and lower utility
and operating costs.
While at Morrissey, she has been integral
in expanding the firm’s green building design efforts, resulting in higher-performing
buildings.
Outside of work, Gudeman is involved in
Nebraska Flatwater, the local U.S. Green
Building Council Chapter, and is chapter
chairman.
Sarah E. Gudeman has been an engineer and analyst for Morrissey Engineering since 2008.
She also is a mentor for the Mpower
program at her alma mater, Marian High
School. The program gives Marian juniors
an opportunity to explore their career
interests.
Gudeman will be honored Tuesday
during the ACEC/N 2014 Engineering Excellence Awards banquet at Happy Hollow
Country Club. Her name will be forwarded
to the national competition for ACEC Young
Professional of the Year.
— ACEC/Nebraska
PRIDE
Award goes
to HDR
SAC Federal Credit Union
Headquarters
Papillion, NE
PLANNING
ARCHITECTURE
ENGINEERING
INTERIORS
leoadaly.com
ACEC/Nebraska has presented HDR
with its 2013 Public Relations, Image
Development and Enhancement Award
(PRIDE) in the Public Relations/Media
Relations/Crisis Management category.
HDR is a global employee-owned firm
providing architecture, engineering,
consulting, construction and related
services through its various operating
companies.
The company’s submittal on the Integrated Management Plan (IMP) of the Lower
Platte South Natural Resources District
goal was to “achieve and maintain a sustainable balance between water uses and
water supplies by developing a comprehensive inventory of all available ground
and surface water supplies and all current
water uses.”
The IMP included a thorough investigation of challenges and efforts associated
with this topic.
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Planning in detail
Building Information Modeling software lets engineers see all the angles.
By Mike Whye
World-Herald Correspondent
In the first “Star Wars” movie, the robot R2-D2 taps into
the computer system of the Galactic Empire’s Death Star
and generates a see-through, three-dimensional hologram
that floats in the air and reveals all the components of the
Death Star — air shafts, passageways, compartments,
structural elements and more.
The fiction depicted in that movie has almost become
reality to those involved in designing buildings, such as
electrical engineer George Morrissey.
But instead of viewing floating holograms, Morrissey sees three-dimensional
images on a computer monitor that allow
him to look completely through the buildings he is helping to design, and from any
angle he chooses.
With a few keyboard taps, he can route
electrical conduits through a building
without interfering with elements such as
columns and girders.
Morrissey
Tapping a few more keys rotates a
building design to show how sunlight can
affect the heat load of the building in the winter, allowing
lighting and heating systems to be used more economically than when the building was sited as originally planned.
The overall process of viewing building designs this way is
called Building Information Modeling, or BIM.
Morrissey, who owns Morrissey Engineering Inc., a
45-person mechanical-electrical design firm in west Omaha,
uses a type of BIM software called Revit, one of about half
a dozen such programs available to designers.
For years, all building design work was done using
two-dimensional drawings such as plans and elevations,
but those could lead to mistakes when a building was being
constructed. For example, one contractor might realize that
a column would block the path of an air duct — something
that wasn’t evident by looking at the drawings as they were
then.
“Revit allows us to accurately predict where everything
will be and how much energy will be used,” said Morrissey,
who first used Revit in 2011. “It also helps us predict the
operating costs for the life of a building.”
Robert Beckerbauer Jr., Revit coach and a technician
at RDG Planning & Design in downtown Omaha, said BIM
also helps designers and contractors plan how and when to
construct components of a building. BIM also helps owners
see how using materials differently will affect the operating costs of a building.
As an example of what Revit can help a designer see,
Beckerbauer brought up images on his computer monitor
of a multi-story building in its design phase.
At first, the exterior view of the building appeared, but
then Beckerbauer began doing things that had been impossible to envision except in one’s brain until a few years ago.
An exterior wall disappeared, revealing a staircase. Then
air ducts between rooms became visible. A section of an
interior wall opened up, showing the metal studs and gypsum board that made up the wall. It was like looking at a CT
scan of a building.
If a designer at RDG wanted to change something in the
design of that building, Revit would compensate for the
change. For example, if someone wanted a particular window made 2 inches taller, Revit would update other building
components so the taller window could be installed, or warn
Mike Whye for The World-Herald
Brian Barrett, an electrical engineer with Morrissey Engineering
Inc., uses Revit software to demonstrate how building
information modeling can reveal at one time the many
mechanical and electrical systems in a building — a public
school, in this case.
the designer that problems would arise, such as a structural
beam getting in the way.
“It’s 3-D modeling with intelligence,” said Ralph Bond,
a spokesman with Autodesk, which in 2002 purchased the
company that developed Revit.
Anthony Hauck, senior production line manager for the
building authoring group at Autodesk, said Revit has been
used to create many large structures, including the AT&T
Stadium used by the Dallas Cowboys professional football
team.
“Revit is the largest advance in designing buildings in
the last 600 years,” Hauck said.
The program was also used in the design of Kingdom
Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That 3,281-foot structure
will be the world’s tallest building when it is completed in
2016.
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Specialization from the Plains
Nebraska firms
and engineers
are proving that
you don’t have
to be on the coasts
to have an impact.
Did you know Nebraska
engineers did this?
Strong, High walls
Dan Thiele, the president of Thiele
Geotech, began his firm in 1996 as a civil
engineering graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, focusing on
geotechnical engineering and design
work in earth-retaining systems. Thiele
has always worked with the Henry
Doorly Zoo in Omaha and its seemingly
constant string of projects. You can
see Thiele Geotech’s retaining walls at
the zoo, on exhibits including apes and
zebras.
The firm’s years of
zoo experience — and
experience with a
specialty precast-modular wall product
for which his firm
wrote the engineering
manual — brought
Thiele Geotech to the
Thiele
Houston Zoo. There,
zoo officials want to
bring back gorillas, which haven’t been
displayed for 20 years.
“There’s an urban site on the backside
of the enclosure, with a hospital and all
kinds of grade changes, a service area,
and the need of a moat to keep the gorillas enclosed,” Thiele said. “It’s a very
unique, very difficult project.”
His firm used the precast modular
walls to build up the height between
the gorillas and the outside world, with
panels of 6,000 pounds each. That weight
is essential, as gorillas can pick up anything weighing less than 3,000 pounds.
“There are very strict controls on the
height as well,” Thiele said. “They have
to be at least 14 feet, 6 inches from edge
to the ground to prevent them from
reaching the top.”
This new retaining wall is strong
enough for the zoo to transplant fully
grown oak trees with root balls of up to
30 feet at the top, establishing a green
sound barrier around the enclosure.
Island-based airfield
Airfields are needed everywhere,
and Virgil Oligmueller, a senior project manager with Lamp Rynearson &
Associates, has certainly seen his share
around Nebraska after 18 years as a
civil engineer for those projects. But increasing work in international locations
has him going somewhere not likely to
be imagined — the middle of the Indian
Ocean.
“People ask ‘Where is the British Indian Ocean Territory?’” Oligmueller said.
“I tell them to grab a globe and spin it to
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THIELE GEOTECH
For its “Gorillas of the African Forest” exhibit, the Houston Zoo called upon Thiele Geotech
to design a large gravity retaining wall to accommodate earth berms needed to enhance
sightlines from public spaces. The wall was constructed using large precast concrete
modular units along the back of the exhibit.
the opposite side from Nebraska.”
Oligmueller has been working on the
update of a 12,000-foot runway for a
U.S. Navy facility at Diego Garcia —
the largest in a chain of islands. This
includes updating the airfield lighting
system and improving navigational
equipment for the not widely known but
essential base.
“It’s a very strategic location, and has
to be big enough to land a B-2 bomber,”
he said. “Some of the
approach lighting is
actually on the edge of
the ocean.”
Oligmueller said
he had to do a Google
search when he first
found out that he
would be there, but
geography wasn’t necOligmueller
essary while getting
his undergraduate and graduate degrees
from UNL. His work in aviation engineering has primarily been in this area,
but recognized expertise has landed his
firm in international work during the
past five years.
He has made just one trip to the
island, for the site-approach survey.
The project is currently in the design
phase, with construction in the spring.
He will return in July for final commissioning. It’s not the exotic vacation some
would imagine — accommodations are
a barracks with a bunk bed and a sink.
“But the water and white-sand beach are
beautiful,” he said.
Modern modeling
Who hasn’t experienced a building
that was too hot, too cold or just not
positioned right for its surroundings? As
a building owner, wouldn’t it be worth it
to know that in advance of construction
and make adjustments?
Nearly 14 years ago, M.E. Group
began offering building information
modeling to its architect partners.
“If an architect wants to use natural
light, we can simulate what it would
be like 365 days of the year,” said Nate
Maniktala, vice president of the firm.
“If you’re a university, you don’t want
direct sunlight hitting students right in
the face in the classroom.”
With its software,
his firm can let clients
know how to position
the building, and the
right materials to use
to envelop the building to get the greatest
efficiency. The same
technology can be used
to determine where
Maniktala
sensors should be
located to automatically turn lights off
and on.
“We can actually predict the energy
consumption of a building and focus on
very low energy consumption,” Maniktala said. “By modeling HVAC systems as
well, we can determine the best options
for the project. This is leading-edge —
seven of our buildings are at net-zero
energy consumption.”
The company has worked with clients
from coast to coast and internationally, with consulting and design work in
the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Bahrain and
Canada.
It has worked on dozens of medical
facilities at military bases, including the
recently completed 60,000-square-foot
Air Force Post-Graduate Dental School
and Clinic at Lackland Air Force Base in
San Antonio.
— World-Herald correspondent
Jeff Barnes
Aquatics engineering — Provides comprehensive
life support engineering services to the zoo and
aquarium industry, and design of municipal, institutional and commercial swimming pools and water
features.
Commissioning — A quality-control process that
ensures the owner receives the fully functional
building it has paid for; helps prevent wasted energy
and capital by allowing more coordination from
design intent through construction and occupancy.
Airfield lighting, airfield facility design and
navigation expertise — These specialties bring
together aspects of civil engineering (runway design,
which requires expertise in structural design of
pavements); geotechnical engineering (study of
the strength of the underlying soils); surveying and
navigation (safety analysis surrounding landscape
and obstructions to permit safe landings); and
electrical engineering (design of specialized lighting
systems.)
Value engineering — A structured approach that
improves projects, products and processes; used
to analyze manufacturing products and processes,
and design and construction projects. Helps achieve
balance between required functions, performance,
quality, safety and scope. Considers alternative
design solutions.
Underwater bridge inspection — Engineer-divers
(certified commercial divers who hold inspection and
testing certifications) identify items of importance
during inspections, make recommendations
and provide design services for repairs and
maintenance.
Bathymetric surveying — Measures depth of
lakes, rivers, oceans and other bodies of water using
sonar. Information collected can be used to produce
detailed maps showing water depth. The maps can
be used for engineering, construction and navigation
applications.
Geotechnical engineering — Testing, evaluation
and design with earth materials (soil and
aggregates). Geotechnical engineers support other
engineers in the design of foundations, pavements,
embankments, levees and dams.
Fire protection engineering — The study of fire
prevention from a scientific perspective. Such
engineers use their knowledge to understand how
fires spread and to evaluate building use and safety.
They design systems to detect, prevent and control
fire.
Structural engineers — Responsible for analysis,
design and document preparation for a building’s
structure. Must understand construction materials
and the interaction of different material types. They
design projects for all types of climatic conditions.
Telecom engineering — This specialty brings
together electrical engineering with computer
science to enhance telecommunication systems.
Telecommunications engineers are responsible for
designing and overseeing installation of telecom
equipment and facilities.
Acoustical engineering — This field includes
architectural acoustics (evaluation of spaces to
determine optimal shape, size and materials needed
to provide an acoustically acceptable environment),
acoustical consulting (mechanical room design for
sound isolation, vibration isolation of mechanical
equipment and noise control of HVAC systems),
industrial acoustics (noise control of manufacturing
plants and mechanical shops) and environmental
acoustics (control of environmental noise/vibration
issues that are often subject to compliance with
municipal noise ordinances).
Source: ACEC/Nebraska
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
AROUND THE WORLD
Nebraska engineers reach across the nation and around the globe, taking part in all kinds of projects.
BRIDGE INSPECTION
Locations: U.S. Navy bases
in the U.S. and Guam, Japan
and Cuba
Firm: Benesch
Services provided: Bridge
inventory and rating services,
and underwater inspections
for the U.S. Navy.
OMAHA-MIDLANDS DATA CENTER
Location: Omaha
Firm: Morrissey Engineering
Services provided: Mechanical, electrical
and plumbing (MEP) design, commissioning and
LEED consulting services
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT PIER 17
MULTI-USE DEVELOPMENT
Location: New York City
Firm: Schnackel Engineers
Services provided: MEP consultation
services related to a 250,000-squarefoot glass and steel building that will
feature retail, dining and entertainment.
TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE REPLACEMENT
Location: New York City Firm: HDR
Services provided: Lead design for a new,
$3 billion bridge that will replace the 58-year-old
Tappan Zee Bridge.
DAM PROJECT
ON THE
KIZILIRMAK
RIVER
Location: Sinop
Province, Turkey
Firm: TD2
Services
provided:
Structural
engineering of
two types of
steel towers.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
UYTENGSU AQUATICS CENTER
Location: Los Angeles
Firm: Schnackel Engineers
Services provided: MEP engineering design
and consultation
ALA MOANA CENTER EWA MALL EXPANSION
Location: Honolulu
Firm: Schnackel Engineers
Services provided: MEP engineering
EVIE GARRET DENNIS K-12 SCHOOL
Location: Denver Firm: M.E. Group
Services provided: MEP design and energy modeling for
seven projects tracking net-zero annual energy
consumption. Net-zero buildings rely on renewable
sources to produce as much energy as they use.
GREEN LOGISTICS
FACILITIES
Location:
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Firm: M.E. Group
Services provided:
Hired to provide
green-building
consultation to reduce
construction costs of
logistics facilities
while still achieving
LEED certification.
MILITARY MEDICAL FACILITIES
Location: Texas, Florida and Bahrain
Firm: M.E. Group
Services provided: MEP design, energy modeling,
building commissioning and LEED consulting for more
than a dozen Air Force medical facilities.
SOURCE: ACEC/Nebraska
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
2014 Engineering Excellence Awards
What is the American
Council of Engineering
Companies?
The American Council of Engineering
Companies, or ACEC, is the only national
organization devoted exclusively to the
business and advocacy interests of engineering companies. Its members, including
46 firms in Nebraska and 5,700 throughout
the United States, are engaged in a wide
range of engineering and construction
projects.
Engineers solve problems. They investigate the challenge, then develop innovative
solutions for their clients. Engineers are
involved in designing many construction
and renovation projects — from bridges
and prisons to water-purification plants and
energy efficient generation and distribution systems.
They design ventilation and electrical
systems, and figure out how to suspend
bridges, cleanse rainwater, build earthquake-resistant buildings and renovate
wastewater treatment systems. They
design and construct the components of
the “built environment” — roads, bridges,
tunnels, buildings, sewers and more — to
make life safer, cleaner and more comfortable.
The awards featured on Pages 8-10 will
be presented Tuesday at the ACEC/N Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet
at Happy Hollow Country Club.
Grand Award
Omaha CSO Program,
Nicholas Street Sewer Phase
Lamp Rynearson & Associates
for the City of Omaha
Category winner:
Water and Wastewater
The Nicholas Street Sewer
Extension Phase I project was
designed and constructed to
provide combined sewer overflow
relief to the north downtown area
of Omaha in accordance with
Omaha’s long-term control plan
approved by the Environmental
Protection Agency. The City of
Omaha contracted with Lamp
Rynearson & Associates to
provide design and construction
administration services.
The complexities of the project
required design expertise,
communication and coordination
with multiple parties, and
construction administration
experience — all provided by
Lamp Rynearson. The project
team, including Thiele Geotech
for geotechnical consultation,
CH2MHill for environmental
services, Midwest Right-of-Way
for acquisitions and Trekk Design
Group for video inspections,
worked closely with the City of
Omaha on the first of several
phases of sewer separation in
L a m p R y n ear s o n & A s s o c i a t e s
a drainage area of about 3,650
acres.
Lamp Rynearson worked with
the project team to maximize
the combination of existing
technologies to address the
large, complex project. This
included hydrodynamic hydrologic
and hydraulic modeling, coupled
with video inspection services,
to determine the overall scope
and specific details of the
sewer separation requirements.
Development of the Materials
Handling Plan and guidance
for environmental compliance
were instrumental in addressing
contaminated soils. Use of a
single software database allowed
project team members to provide
up-to-date information throughout
the project on the status of the
design and construction.
The Nicholas Street project
was unique due to the size and
number of sewers built in one
trench. The three 108-inch pipes
and 24-inch sanitary sewer pipe
were generally constructed using
an open cut trench method.
All pipes were constructed in
a single trench approximately
50 feet wide. The trench walls
were supported using sheet
pile that was driven prior to
trench excavation. Due to the
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shallow level of groundwater and
poor soils, dewatering and soil
stabilization using large rip-rap
was required to provide a solid
foundation to construct the
sewers.
The project progressed along
two corridors simultaneously
to minimize the impact on
surrounding businesses.
Originally scheduled for
completion by Dec. 1, 2013,
construction was completed
ahead of schedule and under
budget. Final construction was
completed Aug. 8, with a final
construction cost of $15.5
million. This project is one of
the first major projects in the
city’s combined sewer overflow
program and was distinctive for
its many challenges. Valuable
information was discovered
relating to sewer constructability,
how to deal with dewatering and
soil stabilization issues, how
best to address contaminated
groundwater and soil, and how
to coordinate successfully
with permitting officials. This
information will be used on
future projects to benefit not
only the engineering profession,
but also the City of Omaha’s
long-term ability to address water
quality in the basin.
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Sunday, February 16, 2014
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Honor Awards
F e l s b u r g H o lt & U l l e v i g
14th and Old Cheney Elevated Roundabout
Felsburg Holt & Ullevig for the City of Lincoln
Category winner:
Studies, Research and Consulting Engineering Services
The travel challenges faced in southwest Lincoln have
been acknowledged for many years. However, solutions
receiving public and policymaker support have so far
escaped the transportation planning process.
To identify creative solutions to accommodate existing and
future traffic at the convergence of 14th Street with Old
Cheney Road and Warlick Boulevard, the City of Lincoln
employed a bold strategy by creating a design competition
among engineering and planning firms.
The project team of Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, RDG Planning
and Design, and JEO Consulting Group developed and
evaluated many alternative concepts during the five-month
competition.
The project team chose an elevated roundabout design
concept as the option that best satisfied the city’s
goals and objectives for the competition. The elevated
roundabout concept provides a grade-separated
movement for the heavy north/south traffic volumes on
14th Street, with the heavy east/west traffic volumes on
Old Cheney Road.
This concept includes important safety features, such as
reducing the number of conflict points from 86 to 44, a
reduction of nearly 50 percent. The concept also provides
enough capacity to efficiently accommodate traffic well
beyond the year 2040 design life.
Morrissey Engineering
TD Ameritrade Corporate Headquarters
Morrissey Engineering for TD Ameritrade Holding
Corporation
Category winner:
Building/Technology Systems
In early 2009, the TD Ameritrade Corporation determined
that its Old Mill campus needed new facilities to
accommodate its headquarters departments, brokerage
operations, and other support groups and spaces
in a new building. In November 2009, William Tao &
Associates and Morrissey Engineering were engaged
as part of the design team for the new TD Ameritrade
Corporate Headquarters and Operations Center.
Throughout the planning process, TD Ameritrade
expressed a desire for a state-of-the-art facility that would
meet the highest levels of energy efficiency and reliability.
The owner and the design team were committed to
achieving Platinum LEED certification, the highest level
of LEED certification achievable. The facility is in the final
stages of the application process, tracking toward a total
of 86 out of a possible 100 points. Once finalized, the
facility will be the largest in the state to achieve LEED
Platinum certification.
The facility also houses TD Ameritrade’s brokerage
operations and associated data center space. Because
elimination of downtime was important for these spaces,
special consideration was given to system designs that
promote a high level of dependability while remaining
maintainable by the owner’s building maintenance staff.
Morrissey Engineering, as part of the building design
team, implemented an innovative approach to the system
design to provide TD Ameritrade with a facility that meets
their current and future needs regarding sustainability,
reliability and maintainability.
O l s s o n A s s o c i at e s
West Haymarket Redevelopment Infrastructure Design
Olsson Associates for the City of Lincoln
Category winner: Special Projects
The City of Lincoln passed a $25 million bond issue in
May 2010 to support redevelopment of 400 acres of
blighted and underutilized ground west of the Haymarket
business district — the largest redevelopment project in
the city’s history.
Anchored by a 16,000-seat arena, the bond issue passed
in the middle of an economic downturn and during a time
when delivering on project promises such as meeting
schedules and staying within budget were main priorities
for members of the community.
Olsson Associates, along with its Lincoln Haymarket
Infrastructure Team partners, was selected by the West
Haymarket Joint Public Agency to provide comprehensive
engineering design services for the project. This included
design for site development, grading, stormwater,
environmental, transportation, utilities, a pedestrian grade
separation and historic canopy restoration.
Olsson also provided overall program management for the
engineering design services.
Despite an aggressive project schedule, a multitude of
firms involved and the technical complexity of the project
itself, the West Haymarket infrastructure project was
completed early and on budget.
The final as-constructed project demonstrates that
innovation, creativity and wide-ranging collaboration
can and does result in robust solutions and impressive
results.
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Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Omaha engineer
receives national honors
2014 Engineering excellence awards
Merit awards
Studies, Research
and Consulting Engineering Services
NDOR ECODatabase
Felsburg Holt & Ullevig for the Nebraska Department
of Roads
University Village
HDR Engineering for the University of Nebraska at
Kearney
Transportation
Colton Crossing Flyover
HDR Engineering for Union Pacific Railroad
Category winner
Joseph Flaxbeard, a professional engineer for Omaha-based
Lamp Rynearson & Associates, has been selected as a recipient
of the 2014 American Council of Engineering Companies Young
Professional of the Year national award.
Flaxbeard also will be ACEC’s featured representative for the
“New Faces of Engineering 2014” national program.
In 2013, ACEC/Nebraska named Flaxbeard as its Young Professional of the Year.
He has also received the American Society
of Civil Engineers Central Region 2014 Younger Member in Community Activities award
and the ASCE Nebraska Section’s 2010-2011
Outstanding Service award. He is currently
vice president of the ASCE Nebraska Section.
A senior project engineer with a bachelor’s
degree in civil engineering from the University of Nebraska, Flaxbeard’s primary focus
Flaxbeard
at Lamp Rynearson is public infrastructure
and site design. He has worked on Omaha’s
Combined Sewer Overflow Program and the Aksarben Village
redevelopment project.
Flaxbeard is also a community volunteer. He leads Lamp
Rynearson’s Community Involvement Committee and has
organized the firm’s participation in events including the Missouri River Flood Relief Cleanup, Keep Omaha Beautiful Parks
Cleanup, Strike Out Hunger with Food Bank for the Heartland,
and Habitat for Humanity build events.
His past community involvement has included assisting in
construction of an exhibit for the Omaha Children’s Museum’s
Itty Bitty City, participating in the Nebraska Children’s Home
Society’s Sand in the City event and serving as a mentor in the
Nebraska “Future City” Competition, which helps raise awareness about engineering among sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade
students. — ACEC/Nebraska
South Lincoln Quiet Zone
Felsburg Holt & Ullevig for the Lincoln Lancaster County
RTSD
Kearney East Interchange and Bypass
Kirkham Michael for the Nebraska Department of Roads
Building/Technology Systems
Scott Data Center Expansion
Alvine Engineering for the Scott Data Center
East Campus Readiness Center
HDR Engineering for the Nebraska Army National Guard
Energy
Landfill Gas to Energy
HDR Engineering for the Lincoln Electric System
Category winner
West Haymarket TEF
Farris Engineering for the District Energy Corporation
Water Resources
Ameritrade Stormwater Management
Thompson Dreessen & Dorner for TD Ameritrade
Corporate Real Estate & Facilities
Category winner
IPERS Modernization
KPE Consulting Engineers for the Iowa Public Employees
Retirement System
Rock Creek Augmentation Project
Miller & Associates for the Upper Republican NRD
Small Projects
Tyrrell Park Water Quality Improvement
EA Engineering Science & Technology for the City of
Lincoln Parks & Recreation
Category winner
Sediment Augmentation Pilot Study
HDR Engineering for the Platte River Recovery
Implementation Program
Warner Filling Station
Parsons Brinkerhoff for the City of Geneva
ENGINEERING
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
National Engineers Week is February 16 - 22
ENHANCING
Powering your future
p: 402.467.6813
e: jobs @les.com
www.les.com
LES, located in Lincoln, Neb., is one of the
nation’s leading municipal electric utilities.
So, if you’re looking for a career, and not just
a job — LES may be the place for you.
We’re recognized for low costs, financial
stability, innovations, environmental
stewardship, community involvement and
superior customer service. We offer
competitive wages, a comprehensive
benefits package and a stable workforce.
We are recruiting for the following
engineering positions:
environments
and
connecting
COMMUNITIES
• Engineer, Substaon Operaons and
Compliance
• COOP, Engineering
For more information and to apply, go to www.les.com. LES is an EEO employer.
rdgusa.com/markets/urban-design
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Sunday, February 16, 2014
What’s old is new
Left: To preserve
the historic
external
appearance of the
Highline building
at 2223 Dodge
St., venting for
the apartments
was placed on
the roof of the
building.
Far left: Electrical
meters for the
apartments are
grouped on every
third floor. Shown
in one of the
Highline meter
rooms is Bob
Heffernan, job
superintendent.
Engineers work to turn historic office buildings
into downtown residential options.
By Jeff Barnes
World-Herald Correspondent
This is a boom time for downtown Omaha
apartment construction, with new projects
coming online and being filled nearly as
soon as they are completed. Instead of new
construction, these projects are historic
office buildings, renovated and repurposed
for domestic living.
“There’s a certain character to historic
buildings that you don’t get with a new
building,” said Chris Reed, project manager
and mechanical engineer for Morrissey
Engineering, who worked on the Highline.
“We’re all interested in sustainable design
and conserving resources instead of putting
up new steel and new drywall — and it gives
a different feel.”
“Depending upon the condition of the
building, you already have the outlay,”
said Trevor Larsen, structural engineer
with TD2, in listing another benefit of the
projects. “You’ve already got the structure
— the bones of the building. You can be
aggressive as you want to be, like putting a
swimming pool on the top floor of the Wire.”
The Highline and the Wire, for example,
were essentially gutted of their mechanical,
electrical and plumbing systems, since the
codes under which they were built are long
out of date. The buildings now include new
safety engineering, with fire pumps and
sprinklers, emergency generators and stairwell pressure systems. Scores of individual
bathrooms were added, along with HVAC
and power for individual apartments — all
while keeping the structures looking as they
always looked.
Under their tax credits, certain aspects
of the buildings (such as the lobbies and
corridors) cannot be altered. The goal is to
preserve historical integrity.
The rules apply to the exterior as well.
For example, a high-rise apartment building
requires electrical meters for each unit, and
it wouldn’t do to have a bank of 200 meters
on the back of the Highline.
Since the meters had to be in the building,
where should they be located? The engineering solution was to create a meter room
on every third floor, to hold meters for that
floor, the floor above and the floor below.
“That required working with OPPD to
develop a way to put the meters on the floor
that isn’t seen,” Reed said. “The benefit of
that is that it shortened the runs of feeders
and eliminated much of the wiring previously needed, saving the client a quarter of
a million dollars.”
Dryer and bathroom vents, as well as air
intakes for each apartment, could not be
run and exposed through the walls of the
Highline. The solution was to engineer a
system of shafts going up to the roof. As
a dryer starts up, a fan kicks on to push
the air out of the shaft. The brushed-metal
venting blends in among the brushed-metal
furnishings on the roof patio.
Even when safety is the key issue,
engineers work to maintain the aesthetics
mandated for historic projects.
“At the Wire — where the roof will be occupied, with patios and a roof garden — we
have to have handrails,” Larsen said. “We
11W
Jeff Barnes
for The
W o r l d - He r a l d
had to have someone standing on another
building and on the ground yelling ‘Needs to
go back one more foot’ for the placement of
the rails.”
Engineering makes the habitation of historic commercial properties possible while
keeping landmark historic sites functioning
and open to the public.
Steve Alvine, CEO of Alvine Engineering
in Omaha, works on projects for the National Park Service throughout its 13-state
Midwest region. This includes the St. Louis
Arch, the log fur-trading structures of
Grand Portage on Lake Superior, the Truman Home in Independence, Mo., and many
other structures.
“The challenge is always in balancing the
modern mechanical, electrical and plumbing needs vs. the historical appearance and
integrity,” he said.
For example, the Truman Home, longtime residence of former President Harry
S. Truman, was turned over to the National
Park Service with everything intact, right
down to the former president’s socks in
their drawers.
“It’s essential that nothing gives the appearance of having changed since Truman’s
time,” Alvine said. For example, the original
wallpaper couldn’t be removed to install a
vapor barrier, so Alvine’s solution was to
not humidify the home for winter, and to
install better HVAC and a high-efficiency
furnace while hiding return grilles and
diffusers from lines of sight.
In other instances, the appearance
doesn’t matter — just getting to the project
is the hard part. “I’ve crawled through the
legs of the St. Louis Arch trying to replace
a pneumatic-controlled system with an
electronic one,” Alvine said. “At the foot of
each leg are 10 air-conditioning boxes, each
the size of a small refrigerator, which we
needed to retire.”
12W
Sunday, February 16, 2014
OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
A R C H I T E C T U R E | E N G I N E E R I N G | C O N S U LT I N G
hdrinc.com
Citizens by Design
Inspired design. Hard working infrastructure. At HDR, we salute the engineers
that serve our communities, because their work matters.
Celebrating Engineers Week
February 16-22, 2014
Flood Protection Basin, Papillion | Pioneer Courage Sculpture Park, Omaha